Joy of Six 2022

 It is great to get to another real wargames show again in 2022! This time, Joy of Six just down the road in central Sheffield. I've only been to this a few times as it generally clashes with COW, but this year they were a weekend apart. Neither the club nor WD had a game to run this year so I just went for a few hours on Sunday afternoon.

Even  arriving after lunch it was still pretty busy. There were some traders but mainly loads and loads of games (all 6mm).

This one is 'Crusader 2', a sort of modern version of Operation Crusader. Anyway, it was a huge 6mm tank battle in the desert, and we all like those. One of the presenters commented favourably on my shoes, so they get top billing on the blog. The game was run with Fistful of TOWs.

Stuff going on in the town.

This is a very chilly looking game of the Battle of Lund, 1676 by Per Broden the ever great Wyre Forest Gamers using Twilight of the Sun King. Just lovely.

Charles Rowntree's Battle of the Imjin River which was also at Partisan. World class pointing about to take place.

I mean honestly, what a fabulous terrain setup. It is like being there. The poor old Gloucesters are on that hill in the middle as hordes of Chinese run up the slopes.

This one is 'All Hell Let Loose', a game covering one of the numerous battles around Hill 112. Love the cornfields, Hill 112 is that big hill in the middle!

Hill 112 from the rear. It seems to have a lot of Panthers on it, so I guess things are aren't going too well for the British at the moment.

This is a big Ancients game put on C.O.G.S, Cavalauniam (sp?) Fields in 451AD. This one was a participation game.

Lovely massed cavalry.

And another COGS game, this time Roundway Down in the English Civil War. A demo game this time.

To my surprise, JoS has extended into the big hall. The last time I was here was for one of the Hallam University Honorary Degree ceremonies along with the Great and Good of the region. The show really has got much bigger than my last visit. This hall was even more packed with games and traders. 

Although not under a WD or SWS banner, Tim C was running Gettysburg along with Chris Pringle using Bloody Big Battles. I later got to play Lee, which was a bit of a surprise(!) but will feature in a separate report.  The woods are made of flexible floor matting, and very effective they are too as they drape over the rest of the terrain.

Gettysburg from the east.

Commission Miniatures absolutely massive Napoleonic game using their MDF figures.

They look really good one masse. Here are French cavalry followed by infantry columns.

The Cold War Commanders brought their Denmark 1985 game along, this was also at Partisan. The top end with the town etc is a demo section. 

And the bottom end is the participation zone where you can push lots of tanks around using Cold War Commander.

A Soviet Tank Regiment advances across the plain.

I just love the town setup. The NATO Divisional HQ is in the bottom left, marked with the hospital tents. 

The is 'Sudan Death', a participation game unsurprisingly set in the Sudan. The game mat was just amazing, the rippling and dunes are just printed on but actually look 3D.

A truely monumental game of Little Big Horn. Given the amount of kit, I suspect it was at 1:1. Custers boys are in the middle on the hill.

Native American encampments stretching into the distance. Lovely models, all Baccus. 

There were more traders in  here. Good to see Irregular at a show again, and I actually got to have good look at 2D6 and Rapier in the flesh, both manufacturers who are new to me, although I've heard about them from other people. 

H&R had a big stand, also good to see them at a show too. I bought a fair bit off them last time I was at JoS, but I didn't have any particular requirements this time.

The stand was continuously mobbed, with people going through the endless trays of figures and models in time honoured tradition. Just like the 1970s all over again.

It was a great afternoon out, and good to catch up with some people in person rather than remotely. If you ever get a chance to go to Joy of Six in future, it is highly recommended.