The UK’s Biggest Historical Wargames Convention is
Now at the heart of the Lead Belt
11-13 August 2023
After more than a decade in Manchester, 2022 saw The British Historical Games Society’s premier event Britcon make a highly successful move to the heart of the UK’s “Lead Belt” and a new home at Nottingham Trent University’s City Campus.
Britcon encompasses three days of competition and organised play together with a two-day trade show, and in 2023 year will run over the Friday-Sunday of the weekend of 11-13 August, maintaining its longstanding “2nd weekend in August” date in the UK wargaming calendar.
The venue at Nottingham Trent is one of the largest and most modern (ie well lit and ventilated!) spaces that are a UK Wargames convention take place in, allowing us to stage all of the main competition events together in a single space as well as opening up a significant expansion into more non-competition gaming and a much larger trade show floor as well.
The City Campus buildings are right in the heart of Nottingham, and are well served by multiple transport links from across the UK and beyond. The 3-day format of the event has always been attractive to international players, and in 2023 we expect to see even more with Nottingham being on the mainline from the St Pancras Eurostar Terminus, and the venue itself having a tram stop that connects to nearby East Midlands Airport right outside the front door. This year Britcon will welcome competitors in over 20 different historical competitions and rulesets, with To The Strongest! and Bataille Empire joining favourites such as DBA, L'Art de la Guerre, Saga, Mortem et Gloriam and The official Bolt Action English Nationals. Even more rulesets will be on table at Nottingham's official Too Fat Lardies Games Day, which ran at Britcon for the first time in 2022 with a host of Lardy favourites (including Rich and the team!) on full display.
Weekend participants have the opportunity to stay on-site in our student-priced B&B accommodation – there is also a student-priced onsite bar too – allowing our gaming period to run over a variety of different timelines and formats across either a full the “Friday night + 8-8 gaming Saturday + more games on Sunday” timeline, or more traditional 1 and 2-day events and formats. In 2023 accommodation will be bookable directly from the BHGS along with your gaming event ticket
This year entry to the Britcon Trade Show will be FREE, and the show will run from 10-4 on Saturday and 10-2 on Sunday. The 2022 show featured over 25 traders and demo games (with more being added every week) including companies such as Warlord Games, Forged in Battle, Perry Miniatures, The Assault Group, Too Fat Lardies, Irongate, The Pit and many others. We will again be running a ‘Startup Trader’ Zone showcasing small independent vendors who are new to the market – expect to see a lot of 3D printing going on!
We are also working with the Nottingham Wargames Club and the Nottingham Board & Wargames Club (and Collective!) to support the event and run the Bring and Buy at the weekend tradeshow
We look forward to seeing you in Nottingham!
Britcon 2023 will take place over the weekend of 11-13 August 2023, at Nottingham Trent Uni City Campus (the same venue as last year)
To book your ticket go to the Britcon Booking Page
Here’s a review of the 2022 show from the Retro Attic Man Cave YouTube Channel
And another from Storm of Steel, focusing mainly on the Lard Workshop games
And a gallery of photos from the event.
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Britcon is supported by :
Britcon ….
- … is the UK’s biggest residential multi-period, multi-ruleset historical wargames competition
- … has events covering over twenty different rulesets and periods for you to take part in
- … offers onsite student-priced accommodation and an onsite bar all priced at discounted “university” rates
- … includes Nottingham’s only current wargames tradeshow
- …takes place over the weekend of 11-13th August 2023
As well as competitions you are welcome to come along and visit the Britcon Trade Show at the weekend
(I already know I’m going – just take me to the booking form!)
What’s happening this year?
- Periods being played
- Venue and onsite accommodation
- The Britcon Trade Show – trader details
- Britcon Bring & Buy
What else to look out for…?
- Free Food! OK, not quite… this year all player entry fees include “grab bag” packed lunches (sandwich, crisps, a drink and some fruit) for Saturday and Sunday, maximising your time at the gaming table/trade show/bar and cutting out the need to queue for food when you could be rolling (or buying) dice!
- The return of the Britcon Fiver – we will hand back £5 per player (for all of the 2-day periods) in the form of the very popular “£5 off any £10 purchase with any trader” deal.
- Accommodation bookable with your entry – Nottingham Trent University have allocated one of their top-rated student halls for Bed & Breakfast accommodation for our players, literally 5 minutes walk from our gaming venues. This year you can reserve these rooms at the same time as booking your gaming ticket. You are of course also free to book and stay elsewhere if you wish, but the easy, closest and best-priced option is to book through the BHGS
(I’ve read enough – sounds brilliant – take me to the booking form now!)
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