Battleground 2025

I was at the Battleground show in Middlesbrough yesterday. One of my favourite shows with its mix of wargames, reenactors and history talks. It also has a few traders you don't see at other shows, and I don't just mean the excellent cupcakes! Tiger Miniatures is one, although I resisted the temptation to expand my Balkan Wars collection. I did give in to some new terrain, various paints, the new edition of Dragon Rampant, and some figures for the 2026 project.

The venue is a large sports hall. The car parking is probably adequate for a typical Saturday morning, but hopelessly inadequate when an event like this is on as well. The small cafe struggles as well. However, these are minor inconveniences compared to a show that always delivers a fine collection of games and is free to enter. For a change, I was not running a game, so I had time to watch and chat.

Operation Barbarossa in 10mm using Rapid Fire. 10mm was a popular scale for games here, no doubt influenced by Pendraken sponsorship of the show.

Tiger Miniatures do a Cuba range, represented on this fine table.

Another visually attractive game was this take on Gettysburg 

This game shows the strength of the Blucher rules. Waterloo on a modest table, using WoFun plastics.

Trebia isn't the most interesting of the Punic Wars battles, but it is presented on a grand scale here.

A beautifully modelled Sicilian village for this Bolt Action game.

Battle of Chairi 1701. Again in 10mm, which allows the all important fortress to appear on the table.

3 Para in Helmand, using Force on Force rules.

There were two Raphia games, with this one using a hex grid.

The ever-popular air participation game format. This one represents an attack on Berlin during Big Week 1944.

A mightily impressive collection of mostly German flats for the Battle of Domstadtl 1758. 

The Scots reached Teeside as well, with this take of the Battle of Newburn 1640 using Pike and Shotte.

The reenactors add something to the show and provide a couple of talks. 

Spanish Civil War

Medieval

This is Brickskrieg, a LEGO-style WW2 game. The models are very good.

Let's not forget cake wars. Eating them, particularly the white chocolate and raspberry version, was more fun.

On the way down, I popped in to Raby Castle, a 14th-century Neville stronghold. 

Not impressed by the masking of the armoury by a Xmas tree. Bah Humbug I say!

And fitted in giving a book talk on the Friday evening, near the very impressive Tees Barrage. They have turned an industrial necessity into a fine recreational space, which I walked around on Saturday morning.

And as Fulham won on Saturday evening at Spurs, my weekend is complete! Just Brits and Germans to scrap it out in Greece to come, at the club this afternoon.