Hammerhead 2016

Last Saturday I attended Hammerhead 2016 at the Newark Showground in the UK. I’d heard good things about the show, but due to agenda clashes had been unable to attend before. This year was different, with a little help from some local friends helping me break up the journey and letting me stay over.

I did a live report to the WSS Facebook page, so I’ll stick to discussing my thoughts and feelings about the show rather than repeat what I’ve said there. The venue was excellent, with ample parking right outside, good lighting (essential for photography) and heat (they had commercial blowers on).   

There was a good mix of traders, and every game was (I believe) open to participation - music to my ears! The show was very busy and, even though the Showground is a spacious venue, it was pretty packed with people, although things did quieten down after 2pm. All the traders I spoke to said they’d had a good day.

The mix of games was good with historical games rubbing shoulders with fantasy and science fiction in equal measure. There were so many of them that I only mananged to take pictures of half of the games for Facebook - my phone battery died halfway through and I had to find a socket to charge it. I particularly liked the painting demo by Dr Mike, focussing on painting 6mm and 10mm. The units on show looked very effective! There was also an innovative ’bring and buy’ system - called ‘Tabletop sales’. People used the Hammerhead online booking system to hire a table for an hour and sell their surplus wargames minis. This was a clever way to do it, as it required no staff and always meant there was new ‘stuff’ to look at and buy.  

In short, I was impressed by Hammerhead. I hear the Partizan show is moving to the same venue in May and I can see why. If you’re in the area next year, I’d recommend you check this great show out. You won’t be disappointed.