Welcome to my blog!

News from a wargamer with a special interest in the military history of the Balkans. It mainly covers my current reading and wargaming projects. For more detail you can visit the web sites I edit - Balkan Military History and Glasgow & District Wargaming Society. Or follow me on Twitter @Balkan_Dave
or on Mastodon @balkandave@mastodon.scot, or Threads @davewatson1683

Sunday, 3 August 2025

Claymore 2025

 Yesterday was the second of the big Scottish wargame shows. Claymore is held in Edinburgh College's Granton Campus. Public transport is not brilliant, but it is a large venue, with good car parking, catering, and you can avoid the city centre, always a plus during the Edinburgh Fringe!

The GDWS participation game was 'Coming, Suvorov', based on the Battle of Rymnik 1789, fought in modern Romania during the Russo/Austro-Ottoman War of 1787-92. We have been playtesting the Lust for Glory rules written by Simon Miller, and got some helpful feedback from players who were not familiar with his medieval and ECW variants. The eagle-eyed will notice the terrain was a lot flatter than that implied by the map I used in the handout. While it's a good diagram showing the direction the armies moved, it incorrectly suggests mountainous terrain. Having visited the battlefield in April, the terrain can best be described as rolling, although with some gullies, which were important in the battle.





And we won a wee prize. Very chuffed.

The problem with running a participation game is that you don't get to spend much time looking at other games. I also bought very little, other than some scenic items. During a quick sortie, these games caught my eye, in no particular order.

Samurai games are popular at shows this year. There were at least two, and the siege buildings were very impressive. It includes a memory of Derek Hodge, a past Claymore organiser, who sadly passed away last year.



Nearby, in the main hall, my pals at South Ayrshire Gamers were using Midgard for the Battle of Doon Valley, an Irish mythology game.


The guys at Glasgow Phoenix with two Mumakils, in their Lord of the Rings game.


Vietnam make popular participation games, even if finding your units can be tricky.


A rugged Peninsular War battle, using a set of rules I hadn't seen before.


In the Atrium, which was thankfully not too hot, amphibious games always look good.


My apologies to this game, as I'm not sure what it is, but the village is excellent.


The Durham guys always do striking big games. This is no exception.


More 30 Years' War from Glasgow Tradeston.


A small, but perfectly formed naval action


The Gothenburgers like a quirky game, and this Wild West game, with proper toys, meets the criteria.


Finally, back in the main hall, TSS were running a Balkan game (how dare they!), based on Dioran 1913. This is the 2nd Balkan War, rather than the better-known WW1 battles there. They used Bloody Big battles, which work well for this conflict.



As always, thanks to the South East Scotland Wargaming Club for the enormous amount of work that goes into a show like this. An excellent day out.

1 comment: