S.P.I.T. Wargames: The Return to Arnhem!

In 2018 we ran a weekend of small, standard, large and downright ridiculous Bolt Action games in the Art Deco building you can just about see lurking behind the Stug in the photo.  That building is now part of the NH Rijn Hotel in Arnhem. In 1944 it was known as the ‘Rhine Pavilion’ – a popular bar and restaurant catering to river cruisers on the Rhine. It features in many first had accounts of the battle as ‘the pavilion ‘ or just ‘the hotel’.  It stands about 100 yards from where General Urquhart hid from the Germans and was right in the middle of the most crucial axis of the Arnhem battle as British Paratroop and Airlanding forces struggled to relieve John Frost’s 2nd Battalion at the famous ‘Bridge Too Far’.  It is also the place where we coined the name of our group ‘S.P.I.T. Wargames’ – it stands for ‘Stupid Projects In Twentyeightmil’ which pretty much covers what we do. In an ideal world we would have run the event again in 2019 , but since that was the 75^th anniversary of the battle it was hardly a surprise to discover that every hotel and B&B for miles around had been fully booked for a year and more. Much as we would have liked to run it last year it turned out there there was some sort of bug going around….you may have noticed….

This year the commemorative weekend happens to coincide with the opening of the operation – 17/-18-19^th September; which has to be auspicious! It is not yet clear what there will be in the way of commemorative events this year other than the famous parachute drop at Ginkel Heath, but it’s pretty safe to say there will be plenty to see and do during the day to complement the wargames in the evenings, but if you just want to game all day we can certainly accommodate that too! We plan to have a ‘walk and talk’ / lecture session on the Sunday morning to explore and discuss action in the immediate vicinity of the venue.

This year the commemorative weekend happens to coincide with the opening of the operation – 17/-18-19^th September; which has to be auspicious! It is not yet clear what there will be in the way of commemorative events this year other than the famous parachute drop at Ginkel Heath, but it’s pretty safe to say there will be plenty to see and do during the day to complement the wargames in the evenings, but if you just want to game all day we can certainly accommodate that too! We plan to have a ‘walk and talk’ / lecture session on the Sunday morning to explore and discuss action in the immediate vicinity of the venue.

Arnhem is easy to get to if you are flying from the UK– there is a direct train from Amsterdam Airport which takes about an hour and the hotel is a ten minute walk from Arnhem station.  There are plenty of options for accommodation nearby, but we have arranged a very good discount with the venue. The rate is especially good it you are going to share a room with a friend…and Arnhem is a great city for a non-playing spouse to explore. I have it on very good authority that the city has exceptionally good ladies’ shoe shops…..

Some of you will be familiar with S.P.I.T. projects from various Bolt Action Facebook pages – including our own page which has the imaginative title ‘S.P.I.T. Wargames‘, but we gave also set up a page specifically for this event which has an even more imaginative title –  Arnhem21 –   there is really no limit to our creativity. Pretty much anything you need to know is posted on both pages. If you are interested in taking part the best thing is to join the S.P.I.T. Facebook group in the first instance and you can PM me with any questions.

Where and when and how much?

NH Rijn Hotel, Arnhem, 17/18/19^th September. The player fee is £70 for the three days – the walk and talk session is free, but if we run a bus trip that will be a separate charge and that will depend on numbers; last time it was about £20.  Payment by PayPal is preferable, but we can make arrangements for credit transfers or cheques (remember them? Like in the olden days?) if necessary.

‘What about Covid?’ I hear you ask….

If it becomes necessary to scrap the event due to the dreaded lurgi, the hotel rooms can be canceled at 24 hours’ notice and player fees will be refunded – hence the preference for Paypal since refunding is very straightforward. We are, however, very confident that all will be well and that we will be gathering in Arnhem in September for a binge of toy-soldiering.  As mentioned above, there are not that many places – a maximum of 50 and one-third of those have already been taken, so if you fancy coming along it’s probably best to put things in train sooner rather than later!