Judging at Other Partizan

The Partizan shows are held twice a year at the George Stephenson Exhibition Hall, in the Newark Showground, Newark-on-Trent in England. Their central location in the country and closeness to the Nottingham ‘Lead Belt’ means the shows attract the best in our hobby.

Partizan and Other Partizan are run by the Newark Irregulars, a truly irregular group of wargames from the Newark and Nottingham area. Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy cover the shows live by posting directly to Social Media channels such as Facebook. As you can tell by the pictures, the shows attract truly amazing games. 

It has truly been an honour to be part of the judging team, and I thought it might be interesting to see how we come to our conclusions. It is always very hard to come to a decision, as the standard at the Partizan shows is very high. 

For the Other Partizan, the judges were myself (Guy Bowers),  Henry Hyde of Battlegames and my friend and co-podcaster Chris King.

Now, here's the problem: with so many truly amazing games, how do you judge which deserves to be best? It was a very hard decision, as there were many great games. We had to make up criteria and then see how the games faired against them. 
(a) Good Interaction with the public is essential. Explaining the game to passers-by with enthusiasm is a must.
(b) Be played as a game. Displays can look good but we have to give the edge to games which are played throughout the show.
(c) Look good. Have some amazing painted models on the table. 
(d) Look realistic. Getting away from the 2D for a standard table and having vignettes which build the overall scene of the table are a must.

(e) Originality. Scratch-built scenery or terrain or converted models will give the table an edge when it comes to judging. Also, be something the show hasn't seen before. 

Now, let's look at some of the winners. There were prizes for small-scale miniatures and the best Vignette, but thankfully these weren't part of our remit. 

The Pete Gill Shield for the best Participation Game at The Other Partizan 2023 was won by Charles Rowntree for his 6mm Star Wars Game Battle of Scarif (from Rogue One).

A number of the participation games had the potential to have won. The Editors' Panel of judges decided on this visually stunning but excellently presented game. It was busy all day and hosted with great enthusiasm. 

The Macfarlane Shield for the best Demonstration Game was won by the Shrewsbury Wargames Club for their ECW game, the Siege of Stokesey Castle.

 
What particularly impressed the Judges was the scratch-built Stokesey Castle and terrain. The game evolved from a simple skirmish to a full battle, so as the day progressed, the battle changed completely. The Shrewsbury gamers eagerly answered any questions the general public had about the game. 

Finally, we have the Newark Irregulars award for Best of Show. This award was by far the hardest to decide. 

There was one game which stood out. It had a castle, ships, vignettes, lovely miniatures painted by the participants and great interaction with the public. The Bodkins (David Imrie, Dave Andrews and friends) ran an excellent Hundred Years War game for Hennebont 1342, part of the War of Breton Succession. A well-deserved winner!

I hope this blog goes some way to demystifying the judging process. My only regret is that we have only a limited number of awards to give out. Both Partizan and Other Partizan demonstrate the best of our hobby. If you can, I highly recommend attending either or both shows.