The Joy of Six 2016

Most wargames shows I've attended over the years have had a wide spectrum of genre and scale. Historical tables mix with science fiction and fantasy games, and fleet battles are shown off in the same hall as skirmish games.

The Joy of Six is a little different to your average show, then, as it is focused purely on models in the 6mm scale¹. Peter Berry at Baccus 6mm, with the aid of John from Wargames Emporium have been putting this show on in Sheffield for the last couple of years, and it is now the largest wargames show² in the Steel City.

The show has expanded and improved year on year, and in 2015 moved from the Workstation to the Heartspace at Sheffield Hallam University, to allow for the size of the show. Given that this year side rooms were required to house some of the games, I think we can safely say that there is growth in the 6mm scene.


The Joy of Six tends to have four main types of attractions, even if who is putting on what may change each year. There will be participation games, display games, traders and seminars. I'm going to take a look at each area in turn, and give you an idea of what was there on the day.

UK Games Expo 2016

For the third year in a row, I've had the good luck to spend a weekend in Birmingham. To most people, that wouldn't necessarily qualify as good luck, but then I do choose to do this on the one weekend in the year when it is the UK Games Expo - one of the biggest geek events in the UK, and the self-proclaimed "largest Hobby Games Convention in the UK."

The event has obviously been growing year-on-year, and 2016 marked the first time that the Expo felt the need to expand into the NEC, taking over Hall 1 for the duration. Given that one of my concerns on the previous two trips was how little room to move there often was in the various trade halls, this seemed like a good call.

The Trouble with Triples

There's a definite advantage to having a wargaming show in your home city, let alone two. London has Salute, Edinburgh has Claymore, and Leeds is a sorry, has Fiasco. Sheffield puts on two shows a year at the minute - the 6mm-centric Joy of 6, and the scale-agnostic Triples. I attended the latter on March 19th and 20th, and came away a bit concerned.

Before I get onto why I'm concerned for the future of Triples, a quick apology - when I went on the Saturday, I wasn't expecting to write this piece, so didn't take my camera with me. On the Sunday, I just forgot. However, I can draw your attention to the picture in this post on the Pendraken Miniatures forum as to why Triples may be in trouble.