Broadside 2023

[Peterem]

A quick shout for today's Broadside show in Gillingham (Kent). Always the friendliest local show on the circuit, today was well up to standard, with a lovely airy venue well suited to cope with the heatwave, a nice raffle (where I won something nobody could immediately identify, but  was well worth £1) and, instead of a bring and buy, individual sales tables which tempted away more of my cash than any b&b ever has. Traders were not numerous, but included some new (to me) names and had a good range of stuff to empty wallets.

As for the games, some demos like Carentan and the invasion of Luxembourg I had seen before, though this time I did find Poirot & Hastings near the armed nuns. I was buying something so missed the result for best in show, but my favourites were a lovely and massive 15mm Sikh War siege involving more manufacturers' ranges than I ever thought were available or adaptable for the period yet managed to merge seamlessly on the battlefield, and a 28mm Kentish Smugglers vs Revenue Men Skirmish by the Posties Rejects that was played several times during the afternoon and seemed to develop differently every time. Strangely most of the brandy always seemed to get away...

Deserved more publicity and more visitors, but bear it in mind for 2024.