The first Hammerhead show was staged at Kelham Hall and replaced the old ‘Fantizan’ show when the Newark Irregulars decided to drop the show. A number of traders and gamers, disappointed at the loss of one of the most well-known and loved shows in the calendar, approached the COGS club in Chesterfield to see if they would take over the show. Cogs had run an annual show, on a smaller scale in Chesterfield since 1998 and agreed to take on the show which they named Hammerhead. The show remained at Kelham due to the lack of suitable venues closer to Chesterfield.

Why Hammerhead? The reason for this is simple, it was the first sensible name to come out of the COGS members heads (the Chairman’s head actually). It is non-controversial (No Armageddon protests!) and can just as easily apply to a fish as a weapon of war.

Under the stewardship of Dave Wise and the COGS group, the ethos of the show quickly changed. From the start, COGS shows had always made a point of attracting groups wanting to stage public participation games, and because they are by their very name an ‘open’ gaming society, historical games were made very welcome. By 2008 all the games at Hammerhead were public participation and there was a healthy mix of games of different genres and scales. The ethos of Hammerhead is to involve visitors in the games rather than just a shopping trip. This has worked well for trader’s sales as well, since there is no sudden exodus of people in the early afternoon after a frenzy of shopping.

COGS introduced the ‘letters of marque’ which could be won by playing the various games on offer. As well as enjoying the games, visitors can collect draw tickets from each game in which they participate (up to a maximum of 5 draw tickets per person). An hour before the end of the show, the prize tickets are drawn. The prizes are ’letters of marque’, which serve as cash tokens to spend with the traders at the show.

After running the show successfully for many years, which saw it evolve into a truly comprehensive showcase for our fascinating and absorbing hobby, with a great selection of the best looking games on the circuit, all of which visitors could play, it was time for Dave Wise and his team to hand over the baton once more. In 2013 Dave approached Sally and I at Kallistra to see if we would take over the running of the show for the following year.

Sally would become the show organiser, but we had to find an alternative venue to Kelham Hall. As a wargame manufacturer and trader, getting a fully stocked trade stand in and out of Kelham was always a challenge and the main hall was an unsuitably dark exhibition space. Also the cost of hiring Kelham was increasing to point where trade stand prices and entrance prices would have to rise. After weeks of searching for a suitable venue, one of the members of the Forest Outlaws wargame club, suggested we check out Newark Showground. We did so, and as a result, Hammerhead 2014 relocated to the Cedric Ford Pavilion. This was proved to be a great venue, very comfortable, popular with the gamers and traders with good food and a proper bar. However, with more than 600 in attendance the new venue felt rather full! We knew that for the following year Hammerhead would have to move to the much bigger George Stevenson Exhibition hall which was located on the other side of the car parking area.

Hammerhead 2015 and then 2016 became progressively larger with more traders, participation games and visitors. The 2016 show had 55 participation games and the total attendance was over 1200, and at midday, the huge George Stevenson Hall was ‘buzzing’. The tabletop sales, ‘bring and sell’, introduced in 2014 to replace the traditional bring and buy, had established a reputation as ‘the’ place to sell your second-hand wargame goodies, creating a busy and vibrant huddle in the centre of the hall.

Hammerhead 2017 was the expansion of the show to include both the George Stevenson Hall and The Cedric Ford Pavilion, the 2014 show venue, which we have named ‘The Gamers Lounge’. The two buildings are approximately 100 metres apart and share the same extensive car parking area with designated disabled parking at the entrance to both buildings. The Gamers lounge offers a large, comfortable carpeted space with its own catering facilities and a bar with plenty of ‘comfy’ chairs. This additional space has enabled us to invite a number of additional traders and manufacturers from the Hammerhead waiting list. These are located around the perimeter of the room with the central area reserved for the games. In 2017 Hammerhead hosted the DBA Northern Cup competition for the first time.

Hammerhead 2018 sees the introduction of the Wargames Illustrated painting competition: Visitors can bring their painted miniatures which will be photographed and displayed by the WI staff. The introduction of the ‘Gamers Lounge’ was a great success, especially the catering, and we have re-organised the layout for 2018 to provide more tables and ‘comfy chairs.’ It’s a great space in which gamers to take a break and relax.