Bill Gaskin's Seven Years War Display Game at Partizan

[shann1870]

Back home from another fantastic Partizan suitably inspired. I am just getting going with my own Seven Years War project and there was some serious inspiration to be had:





Lots more at: https://steve-nationsinarms.blogspot.com/2025/05/partizan-another-great-day-out.html 

Enjoy!!

[**GS**]

Lovely!

[George1863]

Yes, an amazing, inspirational display. Your blog is very interesting too, not having seen it before. Thanks for drawing my attention to both.

[Count Belisarius]

It was a splendid display. Lovely figures and setting. Had a nice chat with Bill G about it.

[schoey]

Bill always provides the best and most inspirational games.  Thanks for sharing the photos.

Paul

[shann1870]

Yes it was seriously lovely. A real inspiration to keep on improving.

[yar68]

It was one of my favourites of the day, loved the castle. I had a chat with Bill about his trees, which I loved, he told me they were from JD Trees, I can't find them, does anyone know who makes them?

[bluewillow]

Just lovely

[Frostie]

Very nice!

[shann1870]

Yes, it really was stunning.

[Panzer21]

Interesting it didn't win any awards as "not fitting in any category". It has been described as a "static display" or " diorama".

Oddly, the Retired Wargamers "Berlin 1945" won best terrain at Salute despite the gentlemen forgetting their rules, tape measures and dice, as they admitted in an interview ......

No disrespect or criticism intended for those gentlemen and it was a worthy winner for megalomaniac effort alone if not the fine craftsmanship.

I just wanted to draw the parallel that it wasn't "played". Way back when, MOST Partizan games looked beautiful but were often not actually played. Does a "demonstration" game have to be played now?

I'm aware most US and Canadian gamers will be scratching their heads at the concept....?

More to the point, what do punters want? At Partizan I could hardly see some games for the backs of players who studiously avoided any contact with the public; notable exceptions being James Morris and his game and the Rome v Sassanid game with a dedicated spokesperson. Many were very nice looking games.

I suspect that in addition to the shopping and socialising, many gamers go to shows to be "inspired" whether by games that most people could achieve or those they can only inspire to. Demo games have long been problematic in it being unclear what they are demonstrating. In the case of Bill Gaskin's it was skill and artistry of him and his collaborators and I think it should be appreciated even if most of us will never get close.

Neil

[shann1870]

I agree - it was an inspiring game, particularly as I am in the early stages of my own 7YW collection. I personally don't have a problem with the "static" display, especially when it is as lovely as this was, but I suppose the show has its criteria for these things and Partizan is a fantastic day out.

[Emperorbaz]

I would have loved to see that. Thanks for sharing