24th Beer & Pretzels 18th & 19th May 2013
at Burton Town Hall
The
24th annual Beer & Pretzels Games Weekend takes place on 18/19th May 2013, from 10.00 till 10.00 on Saturday and 10.00 till 7.00 on Sunday.
The venue is the Town Hall, Burton on Trent, Staffs, a splendid, airy Victorian building. Though largely board game based - with free use of the Spirit Games board game library - there is always a significant miniatures gaming element, with a Hordes of the Things tournament a long-standing feature. Adrian Sant from the Dudley Darklords Club will be playing Dystopian Wars with a view to introducing new players to this very playable naval game. There are also role-playing sessions, mainly set up on an ad hoc basis; it is a particular feature of the event that people often end up playing something completely different from what they had planned. On one occasion a young lady turned up ready for a sci-fi RPG but spent the first two hours playing an American Civil War board game instead.
The lack of formal structure is what makes Beer & Pretzels different from most other shows and conventions. Everyone is guaranteed playing space, and a simple system matches available players to places available in games. There is hot and cold food and, of course, beer, this year featuring Worthington Red Shield and Doom Bar as the real ales (there are also some free pretzels). There are also plenty of shops, pubs, restaurants and B&Bs nearby, the railway station is a stone's throw away and there is a free car park (parking permits can be picked up on the door or in advance).
Tickets cost £5 per day/£9 for both in advance, or £6/£10 on the door.
