A report on yesterdays Colours wargames show can be found on my Blog, if you're interested:

https://wargameswithtoysoldier1685-1985.blogspot.com/2025/09/colours-2025.html

Thanks for sharing, Steve.
I liked the ghost hand trying to pick up a dice.

Nice report sir

Thanks Steve. Very enjoyable viewing.

Thanks, Steve. Wish I could have been there, had to miss it for family reasons this time. Hopefully back and running a participation game as usual next year.

Meanwhile, there is Warfare in Farnborough to look forward to.

Thanks Steve - have to say I agree with your comments on most of the games. 

The strange yellow hit point cards on the horse and musket game seemed most odd - small dice would have been a much less intrusive way to convey the same info.

Awww, that was this weekend? Damn, missed it.

The Baccus Lens game was missing the volunteers who usually run the game - walk-up & participate - so that's probably why it was looking so lonely. Agree, nice idea about the inside of a wallpapering table.

Hmmm....

Several show reports mention declining numbers.
It's almost as through attendances didn't bounce back from Covid.
Or is it something else?
 * Is the hobby so fragmented by genre, rules, scale ... that a show can't provide people's needs?
 * I can understand the decline in book sales - The Internet just does that job so well.
 * Do we have so many shows that attendees see the same traders and the same club games in a different venue.

Or - the big one - are we missing something?
Is there a magic X-factor that shows don't provide that will pull in crowds?
I don't know, but the first big show that cracks that issue could prove massive.

I've seen shows that invited reenactors:
Not the draw you might expect, very demanding on space compared to games or trade stalls, and sometimes you get Nazis.

Has anybody gone down the "seminar" route, with experts talking about interesting stuff?
I don't mean influencers rehashing their YouTube material, or Industry leaders talking about the industry.
More things like historians, documentary makers, aircraft restorers...

Quote from: steve_holmes_11 on 08 September 2025, 11:11:39 AMSeveral show reports mention declining numbers.
It's almost as through attendances didn't bounce back from Covid.

For Carronade in Scotland we've seen a steady increase in numbers since Covid, we do have an active group though who look for all of these smaller gaming groups scattered around who often had no idea we even existed so advertising and reaching out to groups is an absolute must.

We do have a change of venue next year (2026) which will likely hit us hard numbers wise, but it's a better venue (all on one floor, and slightly bigger, about the same as far as travel distance from town center, more parking etc).

Your comment about seminars, an event we took part in at the national museum of flight, East Fortune, it had a lot of re-enactors,, ww2 period things, but it also had a talk by one of the people who had been on the Vulcan that bombed Port Stanley, not my cup of tea normally, but it was a really interesting and engaging talk.

I think Leon has had both re-enactors and talks at the shows he has run - not sure how critical they are regarded as part of the offering. 

The one show that is big is Salute. And I think what it offers is size, and due to that size it is often the launch of various things.

I'm not a big show attendee - and if pressed I'm not even sure what I get from attending shows. 

Partly there is a bit around browsing some stuff to find things (usually smaller terrain pieces) that are hard to find online, often as I don't really know what I am looking for until I see it!

But for bigger purchases as I tend to buy smaller scale stuff, that is often much easier to buy online. 

It can be nice to look at some of the games - but I'm not sure what I really get from these. Thinking about it now there are 3 that I can recall 

• A snowy city skirmish game - which I think was Soviet era
• World at War board game on a huge circular board
• 1930s town based game - lots of red brick walls and houses

My circle of gaming friends isn't that large so the people I know at shows are the ones I game with frequently. But I do like to have a chat with Leon when I see him at Phalanx. 

Bring and Buys - these seem to always be very crowded - but I rarely can be bothered with them. 

Shows feel like they are a bringing together of a number of groups with a common theme - which is perhaps the definition of a show, if I think of gardening shows or county shows etc. And I lot of these often get big crowds, but many people seem to wander past many of the stalls and displays - so again it feels individuals all have different wants and interests and this comes back to numbers, where a few people will be interested in each things. And at these type of shows, its often the celebrity guest who gets some of the bigger audiences. 

Not really sure I have a point to this collection of thoughts!

QuoteFor Carronade in Scotland we've seen a steady increase in numbers since Covid, we do have an active group though who look for all of these smaller gaming groups scattered around who often had no idea we even existed so advertising and reaching out to groups is an absolute must.

We do have a change of venue next year (2026) which will likely hit us hard numbers wise, but it's a better venue (all on one floor, and slightly bigger, about the same as far as travel distance from town center, more parking etc).

Your comment about seminars, an event we took part in at the national museum of flight, East Fortune, it had a lot of re-enactors,, ww2 period things, but it also had a talk by one of the people who had been on the Vulcan that bombed Port Stanley, not my cup of tea normally, but it was a really interesting and engaging talk.

I'm a regular Carronade attender.

Sometimes my only annual show, always my favourite.

I've not really noticed a massive change in numbers, but the multi-hall layout makes estimation a difficult business.
You always manage a good blend of traders, demo games and participation games.
Friendly guys on the door, and some seating outside to relax if it all gets too warm indoors.

Pendraken also have a great spot there at the end of the gym hall.

Are you ready to spill the beans about the new venue for Carronade 2026?

Thanks for the report Steve.

I did attend, I think for the first time since Covid and I certainly felt that there were less attendee's than last time I went.

Pretty much agree with all of the comments (including the ones on your blog) and certainly feel that there should be much more emphasis on games that people can actually put on at home. I do wonder how many of the more 'spectacular' looking games have actually been played as a 'normal' wargame as opposed to something created specifically for a show.

I do seem to be going to less and less wargame shows as the years roll on and there are probably several reasons for this (one of which may be linked to the fact that I have been going to shows since the late 1960's, the first one I can remember being at the Russell Square Hotel in London). But a big one for me (and speaking purely personally here) is the profusion of non 'historical' based games, be they fantasy, sci-fi, 'gangland zombie' wars or whatever. These, I'm afraid, I have zero interest in and they seem to be taking up more and more of the space at shows. Yes, I know I'm getting old. 

Never having been involved in organising a wargame show I do wonder how much control/influence the organisers have in what games people/clubs put on at shows (and I'm thinking type of game, quality, rules used, etc.)? 

Anyway, next month I am intending taking the opportunity of visiting the 'Other Partizan' show up in Newark whilst visiting my son at Uni. in Lincoln so I am looking forward to seeing what that one is like.

Thanks again Steve and apologies if this has been something of a 'rant'. And good luck with the 1809 game.

Cheers Paul

It was good to catch up with Leon on Saturday.

How's the van?!  Leon was hoping to do the 270 miles home in 6th gear!

Edward

Thanks for the report Steve, good to see you at the weekend.

On the topic of shows/attendances, I think there's a trend towards bigger shows with some type of 'pull' for the visitors.  As examples, York is the start of the year so everyone's full of enthusiasm for new projects.  Hammerhead is all about participation games, while the Partizans are about 'showcasing the hobby'.  Salute is obviously the behemoth.

So if a show doesn't have some kind of USP (Unique Selling Point) then they seem to be struggling a bit at the moment.  I think there's also a bit of a swing towards the medium/larger events too, as people want to get more for their money/time, so they're going to the shows where there'll be a lot to see, do and buy. 

We have both re-enactors and seminars at Battleground every year and whilst it's not a massive draw in terms of numbers, it adds a huge amount to the overall event.  People get to interact with the re-enactors and try on some uniforms or kit.  They can head off to the seminars during the day and listen to 3 or 4 interesting talks on various periods/subjects.  So it all combines to give people enough options to fill their day and they don't feel like leaving at midday because they've seen everything. 

It does also give some crossover potential as well, as I know we get 10-15 people each year who come along purely for the talks.  So they'll have a wander around the hall as well and might decide to buy something, or try one of the games.  A lot of our re-enactors will buy from the traders too.

Quote from: kustenjaeger on 08 September 2025, 06:34:46 PMHow's the van?!  Leon was hoping to do the 270 miles home in 6th gear!

Almost!  We weren't stationary at any point of the journey, which was interesting at some of the roundabouts!  Once we got on the M1 it was all 6th, so about 190 miles without changing gear I think.

For us Scots lads Carronade and Claymore are the shows to go to.

Some of us might venture south as far as Gateshead or Middlesbrough.