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Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right forum to post this in.

I am trying to find a website with a listing of all wargaming trade shows throughout the year. I looked on Dakkadakka and couldn't find anything and the only site I could find was http://www.partizan.org.uk/

Can anyone help? UK scene only please.

Thanks

One way to find out is to look at a well known retailer, and see what their outings list is like.

Like this:
http://www.krmulticase.com/about/shows.aspx

Thanks for the reply, very helpful!

Anymore assistance is welcome!

Wargames Illustrated has a list of shows round the world for the current and next month, but I don't see that online.

I'm sure there is a list somewhere of all the UK shows but it's fairly out of date.

What part of the country are you in?

Salute is the big one I think. Partizan and derby world war games at donnington are also quite nice shows.

If your in the south,theres a big wargames showcoming up in November at Reading.
Warfare 2013 is on the 16th and 17th of november
http://www.wargamesassociationreading.co.uk/
more details in the link above

Usually someone asks about "conventions" about once a month on www.theminiaturespage.com (http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/topics.mv?id=38) and typically it's answered with...

http://www.newarkirregulars.org.uk/calendar2013.html

I don't think they break out what is a trade show vs. tournament vs. convention though.

Smoggycon 2013 is being held on Saturday 23rd November at the Southland's Leisure Centre, Middlesbrough. In previous years it was hosted by my Club, Middlesbrough Gaming Club but this year its being hosted by Pendraken Miniatures with the MGC assisting.

There'll be dozens of traders, demonstration and participation games, and a flea market for selling your old miniatures and games. Theres also an Impetus Tournament being held, though all other games are demonstration & participation only, so only bring your own miniatures if you want to sell them or you're taking part in the Impetus Tournament.

Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
Smoggycon 2013 is being held on Saturday 23rd November at the Southland's Leisure Centre, Middlesbrough. In previous years it was hosted by my Club, Middlesbrough Gaming Club but this year its being hosted by Pendraken Miniatures with the MGC assisting.

There'll be dozens of traders, demonstration and participation games, and a flea market for selling your old miniatures and games. Theres also an Impetus Tournament being held, though all other games are demonstration & participation only, so only bring your own miniatures if you want to sell them or you're taking part in the Impetus Tournament.

By definition, that is a convention, not a trade show.
Trade shows tend to be for people "in the business."


Eric

Herzlos wrote:


What part of the country are you in?

Near Bedford.

I have made a thread in Dakka Swap Shop for foam trays for sale but I would like to attend these trade shows and sell them there as customers would save more without shipping charges.

Again thanks for all the help guys and anymore is welcome

 MagickalMemories wrote:

Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
Smoggycon 2013 is being held on Saturday 23rd November at the Southland's Leisure Centre, Middlesbrough. In previous years it was hosted by my Club, Middlesbrough Gaming Club but this year its being hosted by Pendraken Miniatures with the MGC assisting.

There'll be dozens of traders, demonstration and participation games, and a flea market for selling your old miniatures and games. Theres also an Impetus Tournament being held, though all other games are demonstration & participation only, so only bring your own miniatures if you want to sell them or you're taking part in the Impetus Tournament.

By definition, that is a convention, not a trade show.
Trade shows tend to be for people "in the business."


Eric

By that definition, I don't think there are any "trade shows" in the UK, and only one or two, if that, in the US. Also, the traditional terminology in the UK is "show", not "convention" - the focus is usually much more on access to traders than on gaming. There's a few shows that have organised tournaments, but not many whos main focus is "open gaming".

I'm confused...
...and with NO negativity intended here...

You guys call conventions "shows?" So, like, GW's Games Day is a show?
Just trying to get an idea.
Typically, if there's going to be gaming (here), we refer to it as a convention. Trade Shows, like I said, are industry only.
Just trying to get a handle on the lingo. : )

Thanks.
Eric

Yeah show and convention are pretty much interchangeable.

Most 'events' have some display and demo games run by local clubs, though the main focus is socialising and traders.

Some of them also run tournaments in addition, but they are still just shows/conventions with a tournament tacked on.

I'm not sure we have any trade shows (industry only) like you do, because the majority of our traders are fairly small companies that interact with customers directly, rather than via distributors (which is great, because it normally means the guy manning the stall is involved in the design/development phase in some category).

Games Day is a show, correct.

In all fairness, I don't really know if any shows that are strictly TRADE shows for gaming related stuff in the US. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that.
I was simply discussing the difference between gaming conventions and trade shows in general. I presume that, even if they're not gaming related, you have "Trade Shows" (by the definition I'm using) in the UK?

Eric

I've heard of reports of pure trade shows in the US; Essentially distributors demoing what's new to the gaming shops that use them.

I'm sure it came up on here because GW attended it.

Thanks for the replies people! I made another thread about selling foam, and one of them would be at these conventions.

Any input would be appreciated.

Has anyone been to Warefare in Reading? How big is it, compared to something like Attack in Devizes? I imagine there's some overlap in the traders and people who attend these.

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
Has anyone been to Warefare in Reading? How big is it, compared to something like Attack in Devizes? I imagine there's some overlap in the traders and people who attend these.

I haven't been to Attack so any comparisons are a little limited, but Warfare is a decent big show. Perhaps a little smaller than Colours at Newbury. I haven't seen any show reports from Attack but I will regularly see stuff about Reading and traders advertising that they will be there so my suspicion is that it's bigger, and they have a lot of tournament gaming going on there if you want to watch that sort of gaming as well as display games.

Here's this years traders list: http://www.wargamesassociationreading.co.uk/warfare-traders-27.html

I go about every 2/3 years (haven't decided about this year yet) it does have a decent pull as being the last big show of the year in the South. I would rate it as one of the ones worth me making a trek for (that list is Salute, Colours, Derby, Triples occasionally, SELWG when my mrs doesn't make us go away that weekend (our anniversary))

Hmm, I might try that one then as it's not far on the train line from here to Reading. Cheers!

As you're going by train, be aware that the venue is a fair trek from the town centre/ station. If I remember correctly, I'd allow £7 - 10 for a taxi there.

Looks like I will be making the trip to reading on Saturday now so if anyone's going and fancies a brew let me know

 MagickalMemories wrote:
I'm confused...
...and with NO negativity intended here...

You guys call conventions "shows?" So, like, GW's Games Day is a show?
Just trying to get an idea.
Typically, if there's going to be gaming (here), we refer to it as a convention. Trade Shows, like I said, are industry only.
Just trying to get a handle on the lingo. : )

Thanks.
Eric

I think it's a historical thing, based on different traditions. In the US, I think of events like Historicon, GenCon, etc. There, the tradition as I understand it is for people to attend to play - whether that's o0pen gaming or in a game being run by a GM. In the UK, events are more about getting a load of different traders together in one room for the visitors to buy stuff from them. In addition, the term "demonstration game" is different. Here, that means a game being run by a group (usually a wargames club) with no direct involvement from the public - ideally, the game is basically a slowly changing diorama, with the intent of provoking discussion and education about the history inspiring the game, the rules being used, the miniatures and scenery and the group running the game. That's in contrast to a "participation game", where the aim is to get passers-by to play. Most of the big shows, such as Salute, are like that, although the number of participation games is going up. By contrast, the UK Games Expo in Birmingham is more of a US-style "con". Games Day is an odd beast. Looking at some of the "gamer nostalgia" blogs popping up, it began as a traditional "show", with different traders in attendance. Over time, it became GW's in-house publicity event, with more games and less selling. Apart from this year, where it was basically a one-company trade show.

Basically, from what I can tell, the US events are mostly about getting gamers together, while British ones are more about getting gamers in front of traders.

I'm going to Reading tomorrow, will post pictures after the event to show you yanks what a proper wargames show is like.

Does anyone have any experience with Reveille in Bristol?