COW 2024
COW was held for the second time at Missenden Abbey in Gt Missenden in Buckinghamshire, and I think its set to be our permanent home from now on - assuming they'll keep having us back. It's a wonderful venue, with a wide range of different sized rooms for games, a big plenary room, tea and coffee on-tap (and even a bar in the evenings), lots of bedrooms, excellent food, friendly staff, a huge lawn, a wood and a railway station within easy walking distance.
Just over 50 members attended for the weekend. There were about 42 sessions (almost all games, with just a few "illustrated" discussions), with up to 6 games running simultaneously!
View the COW 2024 Programme.
![IMG_6153_sm Missenden Abbey](https://wargamedevelopments.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/IMG_6153_sm.png)
Friday Evening Games
On Friday there is traditionally a plenary game to act as an ice-breaker. This time it was the Papal Conclave of 1559, with each of playing a cardinal and either trying to be elected Pope, or more likely acheive our own personal goals (making money, securing offices, ensuring the Pope met our requirements). There was also an element of street skirmishing and mob rule involving the Swiss Guard and various street factions. After that there were a number of mostly shorter games for people to play - my sessions of Rubble Town finished around 1am, and othre games included War in the Clouds, Black September and Enemy Coast Ahead.
Saturday Games
Twenty-nine games were available on Saturday. There may even have been a few more as COW as a bit of an "unconference" vibe and if there's a spare slot you can just add a game for it onto the big wall planner. Most games have a sign-up sheet which people use on arrival and throughout the weekend to get signed up for a game.
Sunday Morning Games
Games usually only run on Sunday morning, so that we can hold the AGM immediately after lunch and people can make a reasonable getaway.
Blog Posts
Several WD members run their own blogs. Here are links to their reports on COW2024 which are likely to have more detail of the particular games:
- David Burden's Tweets - https://x.com/hashtag/COW2024?src=hashtag_click
- Graham Evans's blog - https://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/2024/07/conference-of-wargamers-2024.html
- Chris Kemp’s blog - https://notquitemechanised.wordpress.com/2024/07/18/conference-of-wargamers-cow-2024/
- Martin Rapier's blog - https://tgamesweplay.blogspot.com/2024/07/conference-of-wargamers-2024.html
- James Langham's YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@jameslangham9854
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