The Society of Ancients Conference 2017

[Richard Lockwood]

When: 14-15 October 2017

Where: Chesford Grange Hotel Kenilworth

Cost: £189 for two days, including Saturday night accommodation and dinner



The Society of Ancients Conference 2017 will take place over the weekend 14th and 15th October, at the same venue as the 2016 Conference, the Chesford Grange Hotel, Kenilworth, Warwickshire.

We are limited to 40 places, so after the success of the 2016 Conference you are advised to book early to avoid disappointment!

Those who attended this year will know that we like everyone to get involved! We also need volunteers to run a session. Sessions can either be a presentation to the Conference on a subject, which with a subsequent discussion will last around an hour, or else can be running games, rules workshops, or anything else you may choose to come up with! Please send your ideas to Richard Lockwood at soaconference@soa.org.uk

The cost for the weekend is £189, which includes the two full days at the Conference, buffet lunch both days, the Conference Dinner on the Saturday evening, bed and breakfast Saturday night, and teas and coffees, biscuits and cakes etc throughout the days. Single day attendance, including the lunch, is available for £45 per day.

For those arriving on the Friday evening we have negotiated a Conference bed and breakfast rate of £105, which should also be booked in advance though us.

Because the Society is required to pay the venue in advance for the Conference we will require full payment four weeks before the Conference. However, in order to reserve your place we will initially be taking £45 deposits, either by the Society website PayPal route or by cheques made out to the Society of Ancients and sent to the Treasurer. These deposits are non-returnable unless we are able to find someone else to attend in your place.

[Richard Lockwood]

So can I ask: who is thinking of attending but has not yet signed up? Do you have questions about the event? What do you think about the concept of the Conference?

All interactions welcome!

Richard

[Hannipaul]

Hi Richard,
I am considering coming but there is a domestic commitment hanging over that weekend so I cannot confirm until that is resolved.

[Richard Lockwood]

Thanks for replying Paul. I hope you are able to come. Just as a reminder - there are "day only" options for both Saturday and Sunday, so if you cannot make the whole weekend then one day only is possible.

[Duncan Head]

Who's going for the Friday evening this year? I need to decide (and pay up) before long. It's a bit of a pricy extra but saves getting up really early Saturday morning to travel.

Come to that, who's going at all?

[smacdowall]

I will be coming on Friday evening
Simon

[Duncan Head]

I've now paid up, including for Friday, so I'll see you there.

[Agrippa]

Me too, see you all there!

[Chris]

Any information on the content of the conference?

Who is presenting? What are they presenting? What games are being played?

Thanks -

Chris

[Nick Harbud]

Something like this....

Saturday Morning
Ray Briggs introducing the campaign in which we will all be playing over the weekend, with moves being made between sessions.

Then we will have a talk on the role of mercenaries in the Second Punic War from Sam Marks.

The gaming sessions will include a taster session on the Dark Age rules Dux Bellorum and their possible wider use in our period run by Richard Lockwood, and a workshop on refighting the battle of Khadesh with Will Whyler.

Saturday Afternoon     
Matt Bennett will speak on the subject of Naval Siege Warfare

The gaming session will include Matt running a game on his talk subject (I saw him at Colours on Saturday and he tells me he is busy building ships...).

Also Simon MacDowall will follow up his recent article in Slingshot on the Vandals with a multi-player game refight of the battle of Ad Decimum 533 AD, entitled "On to Carthage"- can Belisarius lead the Romans to a crushing victory like in the actual battle?

Saturday Evening   
We will gather on Saturday evening for the Conference Dinner, and perhaps some after dinner games...

Sunday Morning   
Mark Fry kick us off with a talk on The Army of the Khmer Empire 803-1433AD – A Visual Exploration.

Games will include a retrospective look at a very different set of rules published in the book How to Play Wargames in MIniatiure by early wargaming pioneer Joseph Morschauser

Sunday Afternoon   
Roy Boss will cover warfare in the age of Procopius, the last ancient historian of the Western world.

Games will include Roy exploring his talk subject with a game.

We will finish with a "wash up" session, which will include Ray Briggs talking us through the results of the weekend's campaign.

[Chris]

Interesting!

The talk about Carthaginian mercs coincides with my reading of Hunt's book on Hannibal. (Nearly finished.)

Joseph M. ?! There's a name I haven't heard in a long time. Will be curious to see if any articles or reports are forthcoming regarding his pioneering efforts.

Additionally, will hope to see something in print (even if just a blurb or letter) about the campaign game, Roy's experiment, and the naval siege aspect. (Again, the Hannibal book contains some information on this.)

Thanks very much for the prospective program, Nick. Hope to read about how things went in a future issue.

Cheers,
Chris

[Justin Swanton]

Let me know how the conference went and I'll post it around.

Pics especially would be helpful.