Britcon for the uninitiated - By Philip Bolton

I should explain that prior to Britcon, I had very little experience of wargaming. I arrived as a photographer working for myself (my degree requires that I challenge stereotypes and at this convention I came to challenge stereotype about gamers. Are they geeks?). Somewhere along the line though, I offered or was asked by JD McNeil to produce a series of pictures for Britcon, and then at the event several of the traders and some of the players asked if I would take some shots.Some of the results of this 4-day coverage, you can see here.

When I first arrived, the tables and rooms were set up as the main university dining area and looked anything but an arena for several hundred gamers to come and decimate each other’s armies. Thanks to the hard work of the BHGS however, that soon changed and over the course of the first day, I watched tables and chairs being stacked, unstacked, moved a bit, restacked, moved again and eventually take on some kind of gridiron pattern. It didn’t stay like this however. After some consideration for the problem that larger, more robust gamers might pose, the tables all began moving once again, this time to free up those extra few inches of walk-space. I then watched as the white tables became green and Britcon’s playing fields were revealed, ready for the 3 gruelling days of play and competition that were to follow, where armies from all over the world and from different periods would soon deploy and begin the largest loss of miniature-life my eyes have ever witnessed.

On the second day, I had the privilege of seeing the Flames of War guys arrive with their obvious passion for the hobby and its presentation. They brought with them some outstanding pieces of scenery which in that second day they built into a range of very distinct terrains, from desolate deserts to intricate city-scapes as well as an interesting arctic landscape touched up by a gamer called Karl Floyd (from the Yorkshire Sneaky Gits) and his giant pot of Dulux white emulsion.

Even while this was going on and the paint was drying, players were appearing, not for competition just yet but for some serious wargaming practice, often in the bar. Of particular note during this period was one of the first pair of gamers to appear with their 10-hour American civil war marathon. The participants seemed to take great pleasure in the battle as it raged, with their Confederate or Yankee forces repeatedly pushed forward time and again, gaining ground only to be beaten back by unexpected enemy reinforcements.

This was all over shadowed however by the ambitious, mammoth Napoleonic table being constructed in the demo area, close to the trophy display. Preparation for this table alone seemed to take several hours on the day but it was clear by the detail that had gone into with the tiny churches and farmhouses that the preparation actually went back much further. These guys really knew how to set up an epic game as Napoleon and his forces prepared to take on the might of Britain (I’m assuming Britain won in the end though you’d have to ask the Mailed Fist wargamers group themselves).

Alongside Napoleon in the demo area was Gerard’s Regiment of Foot with their own impressive English Civil War display. These guys were so serious that, rather than wear something formal, they decided to come dressed in their normal, everyday, 17th century jerkins and hosiery. That’s dedication! It does beg the question however of what their fellow passengers thought of the clothing, on their train ride into Manchester Piccadilly.

While all this was going on, some observant player noticed that the ceiling had sprung a leak. Indeed, more than just a leak and the solution required the water to be turned off (and for a guy with a ladder to get angry at the photographer, yell at him and then break the ceiling tiles). The result was a weekend of crossed legs and timely trips to the neighbouring Staff House building in order to visit the little gamer’s room(s) (there were several female gamers also).

Moving on to Saturday, I saw the action really begin, as the population of players in the building seemed to multiply by a factor of ten, all intent on earning one (or more) of the host of trophies or prizes donated by Slitherine Software, and the event’s many other trade sponsors. It was here that the seriousness really started and once again the BHGS worked overtime and more in their darkened bunker-room, as they struggled against PC compatibility problems and missing players to bring the various draw-programs online and up to speed.

On top of all this, the other rooms were now fully in use bringing the game-rooms up to 4. This meant an end to my laziness, as I had to now move my legs a little more frequently in order to maintain some kind of coverage over the whole event. I did my best however and during the course of the day interviewed some players for my degree and found out a little about each game.

I won’t name all the different game types I saw (mainly because I don’t have a clue) but the ones I can best remember were the following: Antietam (the America civil war battle I mentioned before), Field of Glory (wide-ranging periods, armies and players… looked fun and the players seemed to like it). De Bellis Magistrorum Militum (I had to ask people to tell me the name for this one MANY times! Some really beautifully painted miniatures!). Flames of War (Tanks and 2nd World War mayhem… cool, great scenery and models (some of which were so well painted and camouflaged that I genuinely had trouble seeing them), Epic Armageddon (great stuff! I loved the tiny miniatures and game mechanics). Warhammer 40k and Fantasy (I’ve seen these before at Games Workshop. The figures are very varied and intricate… reminds me of a 3-dimentional Manga). Wings of War (I was so taken with this game that I actually bought a copy for myself!).

The games weren’t the only ‘things’ waiting for me to see however, I also found myself several times in a room filled with boxes and some rather jovial men attempting to sell me things: Welcome to the Bring and Buy. Also, the main gaming area in the main building (the Barnes Wallace Building) was completely surrounded by a wall of traders, some of which offered painting services and some of which displayed large glass cases filled with models for purchase. These guys were often mobbed by gamers (especially at lunch-time) so I’m guessing they did well over the weekend… Even I bought something, as I said.

At the end of the day I found myself feeling rather tired. Not so the gamers however and many of them moved on from the game boards straight into the bar for BRITCON’S reknowed PUB QUIZ.. I took a few shots but rather than miss the final train of the night, I decided to jump on my bicycle and head through the torrential rain to the station. Sadly, I missed my train anyway and had unfortunately long ride back home... through the rain, in the dark. Sigh.

Sunday now and I had another long cycle in (the trains aren’t great on Sunday) to arrive bright an early on what promised to be a glorious day of sunshine, go figure. At the convention I now saw that things had changed. People in yellow jerseys (a la “Tour de France”) had appeared and they meant business! After some prompting from a guy everyone called JD, whom everyone seemed to fear, I was presented with the task of photographing them all. Figuring that as they had earned the Yellow Jerseys, they must be the elite players, I took this opportunity to interview them for my own project and discovered a surprisingly diverse collection of people, male, female, young and old. Of particular note was the fresh-faced youth of 13-year-old Harrison Pearce with his Crusader army. Considering the weighty experience most of the gamers I met over the weekend possess, then Harrison must be something special to have won the Junior’s yellow jersey. I guess we should expect big things (you heard it here first, folks!).

At the end of the day was the awards ceremony. A restrained hush fell, as we waited to find out the event’s big winners. On the stage ahead, a glittering display of books, computer games, rule-sets, DVDs, a sword and a strangely pointed helmet. Richard Sullivan the Marketing Director from Osprey was on-hand to present each award as the winners were announced. After the audience had grown in wealth (by the addition of thousands of pounds worth of games, books, DVD and others), there was a closing speech by JD and my four days of chasing gamers with a camera were over.
Apart from the question of how the big guy with a giant sword gets it home without being arrested, there remains only one thing to ask: The question of my degree itself, “are gamers geeks?”.
Well, I met hundreds of people: men, women and children, all there to game and all there for me to interview (for the degree). I found out that many players like to call themselves geeks and those that didn’t, liked to call the others geeks anyway. They’re a fairly successful bunch of people: company directors, IT managers, project managers, teachers, surgeons, military guys and police officers, airline and bank workers, restraunters, civil servants, accountants, software engineers and a whole collect of other –generally IT related- jobs with the title “manager” or “director” tagged on to the end. They all sounded pretty impressive and successful to me, at least they probably didn’t have to cycle to and from the event, in the dark and through the rain! Everyone I met was nice (apart from the plumber that yelled at me, but he was probably stressed at being called out on a Friday night) and while I don’t think it’s fair to declare them all geeks, I’m pretty sure that some of the people I met are.
Though I don’t have much experience in the matter, I feel confident in declaring Britcon 2008 a success.

Before I end this article, I thought I’d show some excellently painted miniatures that I saw: