Britcon, Leicester

Britcon is a weekend of historical wargaming in Leicester. It's usually held in August at The Venue@DMU, a building on the De Montfort University campus that was once a Spitfire factory, then a sports hall, and has since been refurbished as an event space. The main hall is a single flat floor with catering and a bar, and the QEII Sports Centre next door takes the overflow games.

At its heart, Britcon is a competition weekend. Players book a place in the competition for their period, bring an army and play a set number of games across two or three days, with trophies and period prizes at the end. Around them, the trade show, demo games and bring and buy give everyone else a reason to come along, browse and watch. The organiser describes the August date as a longstanding fixture in the UK wargaming calendar.

Who runs it

The British Historical Games Society was created in 1996 to serve the historical wargaming community. Its main work is running national events where lots of historical rulesets are played under the same roof, and Britcon is one of its flagship shows. The society is non-profit: it trades as the Historical Games Community Interest Company, and says it budgets its events to break even. It also compiles UK national rankings for several periods, which decide the annual champions in the major historical competitions.

Membership is free, and everyone who enters a BHGS event becomes a member. Local wargaming clubs help support the event.

Britcon 2027: Usually August, dates to follow. The status above reads Usually held in August. When we checked the organiser's site in October 2026, its calendar still ran to the end of 2026 and the Britcon 2027 dates hadn't been announced. The 2026 show ran from 7 to 9 August, so a Friday to Sunday in early to mid August is a fair guess, but don't book anything non-refundable on a guess. We'll update this page when the BHGS publishes the dates.

How the weekend runs

Britcon has two halves that overlap. The competitions run from Friday evening to Sunday, and the public trade show runs on the Saturday and Sunday only. In 2026 the trade show was open Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 2pm.

If you're only visiting the trade show, Saturday gives you the most time. If you want to see the competitions at their most tense, the final rounds on Sunday are worth a look, but the trade show closes earlier.

Visitors: Trade show £3 on the day, under-16s free. That's the 2026 trade show price from the organiser's site. There was also a free advance registration for the trade show in 2026, which had closed by the time of the show, so it's worth watching the site in the summer in case it opens again. The organiser asks that under-16s are accompanied by a responsible adult.

Players: Competitions by pre-booked ticket only. You can't turn up on the day and play. Bookings go through the BHGS booking form, which uses an online ticketing system, and several players can book together across different competitions as long as each entrant's full name and email are given.

Prices and refunds

The BHGS doesn't print competition prices on its pages; they appear on the booking form for each period, so check there. In 2026, players could cancel through the ticketing system until a month before the show and lose only the processing fees, and the organiser said it would keep fee-only cancellations going right up to the show if the event was on track to break even. If a period gets too few players, normally fewer than six, entrants are offered a switch to another period or a full refund. The organiser doesn't say how to pay at the door, so a few coins in your pocket won't hurt.

The Venue@DMU is at 20 Western Boulevard, Leicester LE2 7BU, next to the QEII Sports Centre on the De Montfort University campus. The organiser gives the postcode for sat navs, which takes you to the front of the venue.

Disabled parking: there's a limited number of spaces, first come first served, and the organiser asks you to contact the BHGS to reserve one. The venue has step-free access through several entrances, and the BHGS will help with planning if you get in touch before the show.

Where to stay

In 2026 the BHGS offered 42 student rooms at New Wharf Hall, next to the venue. They're room only, booked for the Friday and Saturday nights together, in shared student flats of four, seven or ten bedrooms. The rooms aren't en suite: each flat shares its bathrooms and a kitchen with an oven, induction hob, microwave and kettle (check your pans work on induction if you're cooking). Each bedroom has a small double bed, a desk and a wash basin. You add a room on the booking form after you've chosen your competition ticket.

The organiser also lists several hotels and apartments in the city centre, but makes clear it has no relationship with them. One tip from the BHGS worth passing on: the King Power Stadium is close by, and if Leicester City have a home game on Britcon weekend, hotel prices and availability can suffer. Fixtures are usually confirmed in mid June, so booking a room before then is the safer bet.

The competitions

Britcon offers more than twenty historical competitions and rulesets. The headline events are the official Bolt Action GT, played over three days from Friday evening, and the official UK Saga Grand Melee, played over two days with the option of playing the Saturday only. The rest of the 2026 list included Barons War (singles on the Saturday, doubles on the Sunday), L'Art de la Guerre in 15mm and 25mm, Mortem et Gloriam, Renatio et Gloriam, Field of Glory: Ancients and Medieval, DBMM, DBA, Emperor of the Battlefield, To The Strongest!, Epic Armageddon and Armati.

Where the organiser gives a size, most events are 15mm, with 25mm events for some rulesets. Each period sets its own number of games and days, from one-day events to six games across three days, and every period has its own rules pack, so read yours before you build a list. The BHGS says it's always open to new periods, so if your favourite rules aren't there, get in touch.

The Lard Workshop

Alongside the competitions, the Saturday has a separate ticketed workshop of narrative games run by volunteers. In 2026 there were thirteen games, among them Chain of Command scenarios from Greece 1940, Russia 1943 and Normandy 1944, Sharp Practice in the American Civil War, a Napoleonic age of sail game and Hastings 1066. A full game list goes out about two weeks before the show so players can pick favourites. The ticket includes a packed lunch, the £5 trader voucher and access to the trade show.

The trade show

About 46 exhibitors were listed for 2026, and the organiser's main page said over 50, up from almost 40 in 2025. Going by the organiser's exhibitor list, the biggest group is miniatures makers, historical and fantasy, in a range of sizes, followed by terrain and scenery, rules, dice and gaming accessories, paints and brushes, books, model shops, painting services, naval models and second-hand collections. There's a bar and snack bar open all weekend, and a wargamers' bar in the trader area of the main hall.

Demo and participation games

The 2026 list had seven demo and participation games from seven clubs and companies, from Russo-Japanese battleships to the Great Plains. Some were open to visitors: a six-player refight of Tsushima 1905 on the Friday evening, a Second World War naval game set off Norway in 1940 on the Saturday, a Plains bison hunt for four to eight players on the Sunday, and a small game based on a 1960s board game for one to three players. Others were big demonstration tables, such as the Peasants' Revolt of 1525 played with Armati, plus demos on trade stands where you could have a go. Some participation places are booked in advance, so ask the organiser if one catches your eye.

The bring and buy

The bring and buy is the only place at Britcon where visitors can sell, apart from the trade stands. The main rules from the organiser's page:

Fill in the booking-in form at home to save time at drop-off, and tie together anything that belongs together, such as a box of units for one army or a run of books, marking it on the form. The organiser doesn't mention a painting competition at Britcon, so if you're after one of those, our UK hobby calendar lists the shows that run them.

Is it good for beginners?

As a visitor, yes. You don't need an army to walk the trade show, and the participation games and demos are there to let you try something without owning it. Watching a few rounds of a competition is also one of the quickest ways to work out which period and rules appeal to you. If you're thinking of entering, a one or two-day event in a ruleset you already know is a gentler start than three days of six games. The BHGS also has an introduction to tabletop wargaming on its site.

Can children go?

Yes. Under-16s get into the trade show free, and under-18s get half-price competition entry, but under-16s must be accompanied by a responsible adult. It's a long weekend of fairly serious games, so for younger visitors the trade show and the participation tables will hold their interest better than a three-hour competition round.

Our UK hobby calendar shows where Britcon sits in the year alongside the other UK shows. Looking for more historical events? Try Partizan and The Other Partizan in Newark, Colours in Newbury or Claymore in Edinburgh, or see every show we cover in miniature events around the world.