Crusade 2012 Review by Paul Davies My 2012 wargame show calendar opened, as usual, with Crusade, the annual wargame show hosted by the Penarth & District Wargames Society and held at the Penarth Leisure centre close to Cardiff in South Wales. This years show featured around 15 games and almost 40 traders!

Brown Water Navy: The Vietnam War played out in the Mekong Delta. Presented by the Major Brothers. Figure size: 20mm. Figures: Platoon 20. Vessels: Skytrex and SDD. Buildings: Mainly Military and SHQ. Rules: Riverine – Skirmish Rules for Vietnam written by T. W. Major.

Chotusitz 1742: A battle from the War of the Austrian Succession between Austrians and Prussians. Presented by: North Gower Gamers – John Watts and Jeff Jones. Figure size: 10mm. Figures: Pendraken Miniatures. Rules: The Age of Honour (based on Fire and Fury).

English Civil War Siege: A representation of a siege of a heavily defended town during the English Civil War. Presented by: Greg Suff and Richard Stone. Figure size: 15mm. Figures: Mainly Minifigs. Buildings and defenses: Scratchbuilt by Greg Suff. Rules: Newbury Fast Play.

Far East WW2 Over the years I’ve always been impressed by the WW2 and Vietnam games put on by Battlegroup South to the extent that now I just tend to pick out details that personally appeal to me. Unfortunately for various reasons I was unable to obtain much information regarding this game, but have nevertheless included a few photographs to demonstrate the high level of attention to detail which is a consistent feature of their games.

Fishguard: 22nd-25th February 1797 The battle that never was, between British Yeomanry and invading French forces. Presented by: Castle Martin Yeomanry. Figure size: 28mm. Figures: British cavalry – converted Perry French Hussars. Royal Naval figures – Mostly Perry plastic ACW figures. French – Victrix with head conversions. Women – Conversions of Perry and Redoubt figures. Figures painted by: Martin Small and Mark Davies. Rules: British Grenadier and the 3rd scenario book.

I Ain’t Been Shot Mum: Demo of the latest version of these rules by the Two Fat Lardies. Figure size: 15mm. Rules: I ain’t been shot, Mum.

Rhodesian War Skirmish: A fictional battle between Rhodesian Security forces and African guerrillas. Presented by: The Escape Committee. Figure size: 20mm. Figures: Rhodesian forces – Underfire Miniatures. Africans – Liberation Miniatures. Vehicle crews – s & s Models. Buildings and vehicles: S & S Models. Terrain: Shaun Matthews. Rules: Club rules based upon African Bush Wars and War reports.

This very short review gives a ‘flavour’ of what continues to be a very popular show, with a warm welcome always assured. I confess that as is often the case with shows these days there were a couple of games which I’d either seen before or which had been ‘re-worked’, but that’s not intended as a criticism rather an indication that with the considerable investment necessary these days to create an impressive game, it is even more important to get as much use as possible from all the components. Crusade 2013 will be held on Saturday 26th July, but given that the venue wasn’t indicated on this year’s programme, I’m presuming that the show may be at a different local venue, so to keep up-to-date with developments, I suggest that you check the Penarth & District Wargames Society website for the latest information: http://www.penarthwargames.org