NORTH SHORE WARGAMES CLUB
History

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This page records some history of the North Shore Wargames Club, and of New Zealand wargaming in general.

North Shore Wargames Club

The club started in 1977 meeting in a church hall on Calliope Road near the naval base in Devonport. We then moved around a bit including halls in Belmont, Takapuna, Mairangi Bay, Castor Bay, Forrest Hill, and in early 2018 returned to our old location in the Mairangi Bay scout hall. There has also been the odd hiatus between relocations in the eighties. We have hosted the Nationals Wargaming Tournament and the North Island Wargaming Tournament.

The club originally met on Saturdays, of course that was in the Old Days before we had such things as work on Saturdays or even weekend shopping. We changed to Sunday meetings sometime in the early 80s, but the exact date eludes me for now. In 2005 we changed our meeting schedule so the club now meets on the 2nd, 4th and 5th Sunday of every month (previously we met on alternating Sundays.) This was done in part to synchronise our meetings with those of the Auckland Wargaming Club, who meet on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month.

The club became an incorporated society in 2003.

The club has had several websites in the 2000s,and this website was launched in September 2011. In May 2005 our club established a Yahoo group.

Probably the most significant wargaming event to be held in New Zealand was the World Individual Championship held in Wellington on 24-27 February 2011.

National Conventions (Natcon) and North Island Conventions (Nicon)

One of the earliest events was reported in the magazine Battle for Wargamers (Vol. 5, No. 9, September 1978, p.373).
Warboard '78
The above meeting, the New Zealand North Island Wargaming Convention, was held over the Easter break in Auckland. 95 competitors attended, some travelling over 1,000 miles from the South Island. This was the largest gathering of wargamers yet held in New Zealand and titles in Ancients, Renaissance, Horse and Musket, Napoleonic, World War II, and World War II naval were contested over the four day period of the convention.
In addition to the trade displays, at which it was pleasing to see New Zealand manufacturers represented by Kiwi Models, there were a number of very successful display games organised. Particularly successful was a large Napoleonic battle, with maps on blackboards, a running total of casualties and an indication of the status of each unit, and a running commentary for spectators. The Auckland University Students Union cafeteria proved to be an excellent venue for what has been described as the most successful convention yet held in New Zealand.

This list is by no means complete and still needs some work.
Let us know if you have any information that will help fill in the gaps

There were NiCons at Tauranga and New Plymouth in the early 80's - exact details to be confirmed.

This page last updated 5 January 2021

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