Užice

 After an overnight stay in Valjavo in Western Serbia, I drove south through the mountains to Užice, a city about 90km away. This is terrain hard-fought over in both World Wars and tough going for an attacker. The mountains are not particularly high, similar to the west coast of Scotland, but with very few level routes - zig zags much of the way.

The city is famous as Tito's first partisan base. In 1941, after Nazi occupation, Užice was liberated by the Yugoslav Partisans, who chose it as the capital of the Republic of Užice. It didn't last long after facing a multi-pronged Axis attack. The partisans delayed the attack for long enough for the main force to escape to Bosnia.

The National Museum in the city has a wide range of exhibits covering this period, and they have opened some of the caves used to manufacture arms and ammunition, including 2.7 million rifle bullets. There is also a rare statue of Tito.

A French Hotchkiss tank was captured from the Germans, who used a lot of them in the Balkans.

The city was part of an early Serbian state after the Slavs infiltrated the Balkans in the 6th century. Nikola Altomanović built the stone tower, while the rest of the fortified complex was most likely made of wood. The fortress remained Serbian until 1459, when it was conquered by the Ottomans, who developed it; the crenellations in the reconstructed upper town date to that period. The Austrians gained the fortress in the early 18th century, but lost it to the Ottomans in 1738.

The best view is from the river below. However, you can drive up and visit the castle, just don't expect Mrs Google to get the route correct. She took me all around the narrow residential streets. A very knowledgeable guide greeted the weary travellers. They have done an excellent job with the reconstruction and hope to do more with the lower town.

This is the view from the river, and it's stunning.

And this is from a viewing position at the base of the upper town.

The main tower

After that, I decided to go back to Valjavo on a different route, which took me past the partisan memorial at Kadinjača. On 29 November 1941, the Battle of Kadinjača was fought here. A workers' battalion fought and died against the German assault on the Republic of Užice. The memorial is huge with great views, but sadly, the museum was closed. If I understood the notice, it was due to a contaminated water supply.

The route back runs along the Bosnian border, where the main Austrian attack came from in 1914. I'll leave you with a photo near the border that gives a good impression of the terrain. Over those distant mountains lies Srebrenica, a reminder of a more recent conflict in these hills.

Grocka and Smederevo

 I am in Serbia this week. After the usual car hire faff at Belgrade Airport, I headed for the Danube. First stop was Grocka, the site of the decisive battle of the Austro-Ottoman War 1737-39. I say decisive because it led the Austrians to agree to a peace treaty that returned much of Prince Eugene's gains from earlier in the century. However, the battle itself was only a score draw to the Ottomans.

In 1739, the village of Grocka was much smaller, and there has been development on the hills before the village and much more on the site of the Ottoman camp on the hills behind. The period map was drawn by someone who was there and looks reasonably accurate. The hills the Ottomans held are significant, and it would have been challenging to dislodge them. Sadly, nothing to mark the battle that I could find. Ottoman victories are rarely marked in the Balkans, with the arguable exception of Kosovo. More than 10,000 soldiers died here; they deserve better.

The hills on the right were the main Ottoman positions. I suspect the road into the village and the land on either side are flatter than they used to be. Contemporary notes describe it as a defile, and the top of the hill is narrow.

The river is now a stream, and the main Ottoman camp was in the hills in the background

I went a bit further down the river to the fortress at Smederevo. There is only one word for this site: enormous. The fortress is encircled by 1.5 kilometres of crenellated walls over 2 metres thick and 25 towers, each approximately 25 metres tall. It was built between 1427 and 1430 by Despot Đurađ Branković, the ruler of the Serbian Despotate, a buffer state between the Ottomans and Hungarians. It was further developed by the Ottomans after they captured it in 1459.

I last visited this site in the 1990s, and the half-collapsed tower on the railway station side still looks as if it's about to fall over. I parked well away.

Some restoration work has been done, and most of the damage was done by German ammo going off inside during WW2. Still an outstanding site to visit.

If you have the time, I would also recommend going further down the Danube to Golubac Castle. I didn't have time as I was driving right across Serbia to the western mountains for my stop in Valjevo. However, I have been there before, and it is a fabulous site right on the river. 

Partizan 2026

 I made the long trip south for what is the premier wargame show in the UK, Partizan. It is held at the Newark Showground, a fine venue with good car parking. It was packed, but the queue was reduced fairly quickly.

Partizan is primarily a show for great games. From the big eye candy spectacular, to lots of smaller games, you can spend half an hour or so enjoying. Most of the main traders were there as well (43 of them), and they seemed to be doing well, as did the societies and the author's corner. 

There were about 70 games, and although I had most of the day, I didn't attend all of them.

The Siege of Lucknow was the first big game to greet me in the main hall. Terrific job on the scenery.

Wings of Glory is always a popular participation game.

I think this was a Bolt Action game, but the work on the street scenes was very good.

I loved the use of Playmobil or similar figures in this game.

A good example of a smaller game. Tyrolean revolt.

This Charlie Don't Surf Vietnam town scene was superb.

I had a good chat with Simon Miller, who was running a War of the Spanish Succession mega game for his forthcoming Lust for Glory rules, which we have been playtesting.

Wargames Illustrated has a lovely temple scene for their Assassins and Templars game.

One of several ACW games.

British Grenadier is an old rule set, but still played.

Eastern Front Bolt Action, if that isn't too obvious. Too obvious for me, apparently, as it turns out, it was St Vith during the Battle of the Bulge.

Border Reivers using Ruckus rules. A fine setting.

The Wild Geese is still encouraging games, 50 years after the film came out.

Samurai, with a very nice fortress.

This is a new set of Napoleonic naval rules in development. Looks very interesting.

Quality table for a WW1 trench raid.

The mad baron is always an excuse for an RCW spin-off game. Excellent table.

As I have been busy painting pre-SYW Austrians, this Austrian v Prussian SYW game was superb. Lots of well-painted figures and a great castle or Schloss.

Rorke's Drift with a more realistic size final redoubt than you usually see.

Battle of Lewes using Midgard rules.

A little bit of Arnhem in Newark. Chain of Command.

Great show, well organised, and well worth the trip. I didn't buy a lot, but met up with lots of old friends and had some good chats.