Battleground, Middlesbrough

Battleground is a wargames show on Teesside, held on a Sunday in late November. Entry is free, so there's nothing to book as a visitor: you turn up during opening hours and wander in. It's a mixed show rather than a tournament weekend, which means the day is about browsing, watching, chatting and having a go, not about bringing an army and playing five rounds.

The traders cover all sizes and genres of miniatures, with scenery, books and painting services alongside. Local and visiting clubs put on display games and participation games, and the organiser says some traders use the show to demonstrate new games too. Add a tabletop sale, living history groups and, in most recent years, a short programme of history talks, and you have a show that suits the curious as much as the committed.

Who runs it

According to the show's own history page, Battleground started in 2009 as Smoggycon, run by Stuart Johnston and the Middlesbrough Gamers Club. In 2013 a Middlesbrough-based miniatures company took over the organising and still hosts the show today. From 2014 to 2023 it ran at the Queens Campus Sports Hall in Stockton-on-Tees, where it grew to more than 800 visitors, and in 2024 it moved to Middlesbrough Sports Village.

The Middlesbrough Gamers Club is still part of the day: it's on the 2026 list running a participation game.

Battleground 2026 is on Sunday 29 November 2026, open 10am to 3pm. The status reads Confirmed, which means the organiser has published the date on its own site. The show is held every November, so if you're reading this after the 2026 show, expect the next one in late November again and check the official site for the confirmed date.

It's a one-day show, and the opening window is shorter than at many bigger events. That's plenty for a relaxed look round, but if you want to see every trader, watch the display games, sit in on a talk and play a participation game, it pays to arrive near opening time.

Morning or afternoon?

The tabletop sale runs in two slots, morning 10am to 12pm, afternoon 12:10pm to 2:30pm, with different sellers in each. If second-hand bargains are your thing, a visit that spans both slots gives you two different sets of tables to look through. Talks, when there are any, have usually been spread from late morning into early afternoon.

Visitors don't need a ticket. The organiser's site says free entry, and there's no advance booking, no concession price to work out and no online checkout. That makes Battleground an easy show to bring a friend to, or to drop into for an hour if you're nearby.

The one thing worth planning is money. The organiser's venue page says there's no cash point on site, so bring cash with you, especially for the tabletop sale, where sellers are private hobbyists rather than traders with card machines.

Selling at the tabletop sale

If you've got a pile of unpainted models, finished armies or rulebooks you no longer use, the tabletop sale lets you sell them yourself, answer buyers' questions and keep an eye on your own stock. Here's how the organiser runs it:

Middlesbrough Sports Village is on the south side of Middlesbrough, just off the A174. For the sat nav, use TS4 3AE. The organiser's venue page also has a route guide for each direction you might arrive from: the A19 from the north or south, the A174 from the east and the A66 from the west.

The organiser doesn't publish accessibility details or food and drink arrangements for the show itself. If you need step-free access, accessible parking or anything else specific, the contact form on the official site is the place to ask, and the organiser says it's happy to answer questions about the venue and parking.

Making a day of it

If you're bringing people who'd rather not spend the whole day at a wargames show, the organiser's venue page points to a few things nearby: Stewart Park, with walks, a small animal area and the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, and Ormesby Hall, a National Trust house with a small cafe. There's also a hotel less than a mile away if you're travelling a distance and want to stay over.

The traders

More than 30 traders are expected, covering all sizes and genres, plus scenery, books and painting services. The organiser says there's a long waiting list for new traders and that it picks them for what they stock or make, aiming for a varied mix rather than ten stands selling the same thing. In practice that means miniatures makers, scenery and terrain, paints and brushes, books, gaming accessories and at least one stand of wargaming-themed cakes.

Display games

The organiser's 2026 list has 12 display games and 14 participation games, a few still to be confirmed. Display games are big, finished tables put on by clubs to show off a battle or a setting. The 2026 display list ranges from the American War of Independence at Saratoga in 1777 and a Wars of the Roses skirmish set near Piercebridge in 1461, to Byzantine Dyrrachium in 1081, the Indian Mutiny, massed hoplite armies, a samurai clash around a lake with a water dragon in it and a Middle-earth battle outside the gates of Moria. You're welcome to look closely and ask questions; the people running them usually love to talk about how they built it.

Participation games

Participation games are the ones you can sit down and play, no army or rules knowledge needed. On the 2026 list you'll find Guilford Courthouse in 1781, a WWII platoon skirmish, a fast Napoleonic game using DBNapoleonic, a Sengoku Japan game adapted from the Never Mind the Billhook rules, a demo of the Test of Resolve rules, a treasure hunt across mythical islands in the South China Seas, a game about the Great Emu War of 1932 and a sci-fi game in which you destroy alien cupcake pods. If you want to try a period or a rules set before you buy into it, this is the cheapest way to do it.

See the full, current list on the organiser's games page; a few entries were still marked as to be confirmed when we checked.

Living history

Living history groups are a regular part of Battleground. The groups the organiser has listed cover a wide sweep of history, from 13th-century medieval soldiers and redcoats of the Napoleonic era to the American Old West, Spanish Civil War volunteers and more recent conflicts. The line-up varies from year to year, so check the official site for who's coming in 2026. It's a good chance to see real kit up close and ask how it was worn and used, which is handy if you paint historical miniatures.

History talks

Most recent shows have had a few short history talks during the day, many with a North East link: Teesside and Sunderland volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, the Percy family in the Civil Wars, the Anglo-Scottish border, the Battle of Guisborough in 1643, Gallipoli and the First World War action at Sheikh Sa'id. The 2026 talks had not been listed when we checked in October, so keep an eye on the talks page.

Is it good for beginners?

Yes. Free entry takes the risk out of it, the show is small enough to see in a few hours, and participation games exist precisely so newcomers can sit down and play. Tell the person running the table it's your first game; they'll walk you through it.

Can children go?

The organiser doesn't publish an age policy, and with free entry there's no child ticket to worry about. Shows like this are generally family-friendly, and the living history groups and participation games tend to go down well with younger visitors. Keep small hands away from display tables and other people's models, and if you have a specific question, ask the organiser through the contact page.

More shows

Our UK hobby calendar shows where Battleground sits in the year alongside the other UK shows. Warfare in Farnborough is usually in mid November, and further north, Vapnartak in York is usually in early February. See every show we cover in miniature events around the world.