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<\/a><\/p>\nMy trip to Partizan began Saturday morning at the King’s Cross train station in central London. \u00a075 minutes later, I was in Newark on Trent at the Newark Northgate train station.<\/p>\n
The Grange Hotel in Newark was very nice. \u00a0The woman running the hotel was extremely helpful. \u00a0The hotel was clean and well appointed. \u00a0The included breakfast the next morning was excellent! \u00a0The room was small, but it had a private bathroom with a shower, and it came with free internet. \u00a0I relaxed in my room for an hour before walking to the Newark showgrounds. \u00a0I was supposed to meet Chris and his wife there at 1600 to help set up their booth, so that we would be ready Sunday morning when the convention began.<\/p>\n Partizan was held at the George Stephenson exhibition hall at the Newark showgrounds. \u00a0It was a very nice venue. \u00a0I thought it was going to be a 2 mile walk to the showgrounds from my hotel. \u00a0The GPS on my phone, however took me on a circuitous route, across areas of busy highway traffic with no pedestrian walkways, and to the wrong side of the grounds. \u00a0I had to then set out cross country to get to the open gate to the showgrounds. \u00a0I left at 1400, thinking I would grab something light for lunch along the way and still arrive early. \u00a0I passed no food opportunities, and it took me a full two hours to get there. \u00a0Still, it was a good walk, and I enjoyed it.<\/p>\n I helped Chris set up the terrain for our Combat Patrol participation games while his wife, Ann, laid out the booth. \u00a0This was my first chance to see the Sally 4th buildings in person, and I think they are very nice. \u00a0I bought one to bring home and assemble. \u00a0They have photorealistic sheets to apply to the buildings. \u00a0These give a very nice look and also hide the exposed tabs on the MDF buildings.<\/p>\n After setting up for the show the next morning, Chris, Ann, and I had curry, and then they dropped me off at my hotel where I watched an episode of Foyle’s War and went to bed.<\/p>\n The next morning, I had a full English breakfast and walked around the hotel’s traditional garden while waiting for my cab to take me back to the convention. \u00a0I highly recommend The Grange.<\/p>\n Below are three wide views of the Stephenson hall during setup Sunday morning and later in the day. \u00a0Partizan ran from 1000 until 1600 on Sunday. \u00a0It was a very short event that was very fun, but it didn’t give folks time to play in more than one participation event and also do any shopping. \u00a0It was over before I knew it.<\/p>\n The food during the convention was different than what we would be accustomed to in the US. \u00a0Instead of hotdogs, meatball subs, and the like, the caterer had pasties, curry, sausage rolls, and other more traditional food. \u00a0They also had a beef burger (a.k.a. hamburger), cheese burger, chili chips (fries), and cheesy chips (again, fries). \u00a0I was pretty busy and didn’t try any of the food. \u00a0At one point Ann offered me a salmon and cream cheese sandwich on a roll that hit the spot and tided me over until dinner.<\/p>\n Combat Patrol Participation Games at Partizan<\/strong><\/p>\n A major reason for me to attend the show was to promote Combat Patrol<\/em>. \u00a0Chris has been a huge<\/strong> advocate for the rules in the UK. \u00a0He provided all the figures and terrain — in fact crashing to paint a platoon of American armored infantry in the ten days leading up to the event. \u00a0Participation games are relatively rare at UK shows, where the focus has traditionally been on the trade stands (vendor booths) and clubs running demonstration games. \u00a0Partizan is trying to make a large number of participation games their trademark feature. \u00a0There was an area off to one side, labelled the “Participation Zone,” where a number of game masters set up games. \u00a0Also, in the UK, since participation games are rare, it is also uncommon for folks to sign up for a participation event before the show. \u00a0For the Combat Patrol game, however, we had three people signed up ahead of time. \u00a0The down side of this informal approach was that it appeared a number of the participation games did not take place. \u00a0They were set up, and GMs were standing by, but there didn’t seem to be a set start time, so I think many of the GMs never got a quorum at any one time to begin.<\/p>\n I ran two participation games. \u00a0The first was supposed to begin at 1000, but a lot of folks wanted to get into Partizan and do a quick sweep of the vendors before starting a game — including me — so we didn’t begin until 1100. \u00a0The first game involved German infantry trying to dislodge American paras from a French village at D+2. \u00a0The second game had the Germans occupying the town and a unit of American armored infantry with halftracks trying to push them out. \u00a0The scenarios were more about showcasing the rules and letting folks give them a go than about a carefully crafted and balanced story.<\/p>\n We had four players in the first game, and we had three players in the second game. \u00a0In some cases the players were folks who had already purchased and read the rules but thought the participation game would be a good jump start. \u00a0In other cases, the players had seen the Web discussions and wanted to give them a try. \u00a0I have to say that I was happy to see a number of folks buy sets of the cards and rules as a result of these games.<\/p>\n The Sally 4th booth was right on the edge of the Participation Zone. \u00a0Ann was doing a brisk business much of the day selling the excellent Sally 4th terrain products and the equally excellent Combat Patrol<\/em> game.<\/p>\n While I was using half the table for the participation games, Chris was on the other end of the table collaring passers by. \u00a0When people walked up, he would give them a few-minute briefing on the rules and demonstrate small arms fire resolution. \u00a0This was a very good model, because it enabled Chris to reach those folks who weren’t able to devote three hours of a six-hour convention to playing a game. \u00a0Apparently the concept that really resonated with many of the Brits was the idea that the figure hit by a shot is randomized across those figures in the target area, preventing someone from sniping at the forward observer, key weapon, etc.<\/p>\n This is a shot of the first game of the day. \u00a0I got too busy to take any good pictures of the second game. \u00a0All of the players took the game in the spirit in which it was intended. \u00a0They were playing the game to win, but they were also interested in just trying out the rules. \u00a0They were friendly and amicable. \u00a0Before the second game, while I was explaining the rules to four players, one of them mumbled an obscenity under his breath and just walked away. \u00a0Apparently there was something about Combat Patrol that elicited a visceral response. \u00a0It was actually good that he chose to walk away before the game so that he didn’t ruin it for the others, but it was a little surprising — to me and to the other players.<\/p>\n A highlight for me came in the second game when I had moved over to walk a player through his first go at combat resolution. \u00a0We flipped some cards and went through the process. \u00a0Afterward he looked at me and said, “That was…” \u00a0I thought he was going to say “bad,” “complicated,” “odd,” or something negative. \u00a0Instead he said, “… really simple.” \u00a0The look on his face told me that he had had the Combat Patrol epiphany! \u00a0He and his buddy ended up buying copies of the game, and he joined the Yahoo Group before I got back to the US.<\/p>\n Other Random Photos<\/strong><\/p>\n Below are additional pictures and some musings about Partizan. \u00a0I wasn’t careful to note the periods, clubs, rules, etc. for these games as I was taking the pictures. \u00a0I don’t know for sure, but I am guessing there were about 16-20 demonstration games and a like number of participation games at Partizan.<\/p>\n This game caught my eye. \u00a0It was a demonstration game, and most of the day it seemed to have just two guys playing with each other. \u00a0The figures are made from full sized clothespins and some horse silhouettes cut from MDF or thin plywood.<\/p>\n Recently there was a bit of a kerfuffle at Cold Wars in the US about perhaps sending someone to a UK show to figure out how to bring up the aesthetic standard of games at Historical Miniatures Gaming Society (HMGS) East shows. \u00a0I saw some terrific looking games at Partizan as well as some not so pleasing games. \u00a0On balance, I thought the aesthetic standard was about the same on both sides of the pond. \u00a0Those games put on by clubs as demonstration events were generally to a pretty high standard.<\/p>\n I think the thing that surprised me most about a UK show was how demonstration events were conducted. \u00a0My concept of a demonstration event is what we did as a club several years ago at Ft. McHenry. \u00a0We had five or six of us playing a War of 1812 game in a small room near the flag pole. \u00a0We had some posters on easels to describe what we were doing. \u00a0We had two of our club members hovering nearby to explain what was going on to interested people, answer questions, and encourage people to try the game for a turn or two. \u00a0When someone was interested, one of our folks handed over his command and then acted as coach\/mentor to that person until he was ready to depart. \u00a0At that time, the club member would resume control. \u00a0For the demonstration events at Partizan, my impression was that it was largely guys in a club playing a game together, but in a public forum. \u00a0I saw very little interaction between the demonstrators and the passing gamers. \u00a0I stopped at several tables to take a photo or two, but no one stopped playing their game to see if I had questions or to explain what they were doing. \u00a0I supposed I could have interrupted them to ask questions, but that seemed somewhat awkward. \u00a0I didn’t want to be the rude Yank interrupting everyone’s fun.<\/p>\n I have always felt that naval games are at a distinct aesthetic disadvantage compared to land games, because there is relatively little you can do to provide points of interest on the table. \u00a0This game was interesting from the sheer number of ships on the table. \u00a0This game and the large game behind it were both demonstration games. \u00a0You can also see that the vendors were arrayed around the gaming area, which is something I really like. \u00a0A reason I have come to enjoy the smaller regional conventions in the US in the past few years is that \u00a0I like this model of the vendors being interleaved with games. \u00a0Players can pop over and ogle between turns, and vendors have something of interest to observe when their booth is not full of customers. \u00a0It somehow seems more collegial to me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I thought the terrain in this participation game was particularly effective. \u00a0Having grown up near Detroit when the winters were harsh and long, I can say that deep winter can feel gray like this.<\/p>\n Below are a few random shots of demonstration games.<\/p>\n In summary, I had a terrific time at Partizan and thank the organizers for putting on the show. \u00a0UK shows are along a different model than US shows. \u00a0Given that I was there as much to sell my own product as I was to just participate, I found six hours too short. \u00a0I hit the vendors as a commando raid, but didn’t really get to browse and see if something jumped out at me. \u00a0Chris and his wife were tremendously helpful and friendly, as were most of the vendors and participants. \u00a0As someone who enjoys pub food, I found the selection of food items interesting and different. \u00a0The George Stephenson center was very well lit, and the high ceilings seemed to mitigate the game floor noise that we experience at many conference venues in US shows. \u00a0I would definitely return if my schedule and resources permitted.<\/p>\n For me Partizan was a tremendous experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Since I was in England for business the weekend before Partizan, I stayed an extra couple of days to attend my first UK gaming show and also run two participation games of Combat Patrol. \u00a0Bottom line: \u00a0I had a terrific time! My trip to Partizan began Saturday morning at the King’s Cross train station in … Continue reading A Yank at Partizan 2016<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4987"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4987\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>I left my mammoth suitcase with suits and other business attire in my London hotel and just travelled with a small overnight bag. \u00a0An hour’s walk from the train station brought me to my hotel.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n