A wargaming first on the Continent was the 1979 European Continental Wargames Championships which took place in (Kleine-Brogel) Peer, Belgium, on the 28th and 29th April. The Championship was organised by the Kleine-Brogel Wargamers League and was held in the disco de Nutser. The disco was originally a 200 year old farm building complex, similar in design to the famous La Haye Sainte farm provided the ideal atmosphere for the weekends events. Two well known wargames shops, the Musketeer Shop of-Kleine-Brogel and the Tin Soldier Shop of Sint-Niklaas, both of whom can credit themselves with lifting the hobbg of wargaming in the Benelux out of its dark ages, operated trade stands for the weekend competition. Large stocks of wargames figures from all the major British and American manufacturers as well as books, painted figures, boardgames and other related items were made available through these traders. W.R.G. rules with 1,000 point armies in the Napoleonic and Ancient periods were utilised in the knock-out championship. Germans, Dutchmen, Belgians along with British and Americans residing on the continent took part in the stirring competitions. Johan Doms and Benny S'Jegers of Belgium, pitted a Scottish mercenary army against a Turkish army in a very colourful demonstration of a Renaissance game. In the Napoleonic finals Dave Johnson, a novice player from Holland commanding a French army, matched wits with the veteran Mick Brady from Celle, Germany with his British army. This well-fought battle see-sawed throughout its duration resulting in a hard won victory for Mick Brady, our Napoleonic champion. The Ancient period, being the most popular was well represented, and the competition to reach the finals was fierce with several games having to be played to reach this point. In the end, Alex Strikberda of Holland using a Gothic army conceded to Dave Barnett of Celle, German, with his beautifully painted Anglo-Danish army. The winners Mick Brady and Dave Barnett, who are presently serving in the British Army, were each presented with trophies and 500 Belgian Franc gift certificates towards the purchase of goods at The Musketeer Shop. Kris Doms, President of the Kleine-Brogel Wargamers League stated that in next years championships he would like to include a 25mm painting contest, boardgaming and championship games in several different historical periods. Anyone interested in participating in next year's com petition can write for details in Dutch, French, English or German to Kris Doms, Edegemse Steenweg 77, 2500 Kontich, Belgium. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter #210 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1979 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com