Hammerhead

I spent Saturday at the Hammerhead show in Newark and thought I'd share my thoughts on the experience.

This year's show was held in the show ground, which is just to the north-east of Newark and just off the A1. The show was split between two buildings and it took only a few minutes to walk from one to the other. (Inconvenient in bad weather, but last Saturday was fine.)  Admission to this year's show was £5.  There was basic catering (burgers, sausage rolls, pasties etc) tea and coffee in both buildings and a bar in at least one of them and ample (free) parking.  Lots of traders, including some who don't make it down to the London shows, a large number of games and a DBA competition (the Northern Cup).  There was also a "bring and buy".

The show's USP is that all the games are participation ones.  I wasn't sure about this as an idea, but, from what I could see when I went round, it seemed to work extremely well.  The Northern Cup competition is similar in that all the troops and terrain - and even dice - are provided by the organisers and the competitors just need to turn up and play (although, unlike the other games, they do have to register in advance.  A copy of the rules comes in handy too, but it isn't obligatory).

The only drawback as far as I was concerned was that it is 150 miles each way.  I stayed in a hotel on the Friday evening (a Premier Inn about a 10 minute drive from the venue), but the drive home on Saturday evening, while straightforward, was mainly in the dark and I am getting to the age where I'm not keen on motorway driving at night.  But apart from that, it was a good day and a show which offers a chance to try new games without the need to invest in any lead or plastic beforehand.

Denis