This isn't relevant to LotR but rather Miniature Wargaming in general. My local Gaming Club is holding a Convention of sorts, called Smoggycon 2011 (it's third I believe). I went to last years event and had great fun, despite being stuck behind the Bring & Buy tables for most of the day.
It will be held on the 26th November at the Southlands Leisure Centre, in the Ormesby area of Middlesbrough (
Northeast England, UK). For detailed information, goto:
http://www.m-gc.co.uk/smoggycon/index.html. There is a small attendence fee of about £2 (may be higher this year).
The focus is definately on historical Wargaming but it's not limited to that by any means. There will be a HeroClix tournament as well as the finals of an Impetus tournament (whatever that is).
Expect Participation & Demonstration games ranging from a Warhammer 40K Bike Race (saw that last year, not sure if it'll be there again this year); a Pirates era naval game; a Wild West skirmish, a
very tactical WW2 skirmish game (not sure if
game is an adequate means to describe it), an epic looking Sci-Fi themed battle on an Ice Planet with robots/walkers reminiscent of the old Star Wars AT-AT walkers, and many others.
There were many miniatures traders last year, mainly small traders local to the UK (so, no GW obviously). However, there was one stockist who had a large selection of GW products.
There is a also a Bring & Buy trade stall, ran by my Club. If you've got anything you'd like to sell, just bring it along and sign a form, and a number(s) will be allocated to your items. The guys will allocate you a space on one of the tables for you to lay your stuff out (typically in an open box etc). You can then wander off for the rest of the day and come back later to collect your dosh (or reclaim your items if no-one buys them).
The Club charges a 10% fee from the total price, but if you don't sell then you aren'y charged. There was a wide variety of things on offer last year, from board games to novels and historical reference books to miniatures like LotR and 40K. I myself picked up 12 Space Marine Scouts (7 of them the
old metal snipers from before the plastic kit) to add to my Raven Guard.
There was also a few traders offering historical reference books such as Osprey publishing.
If you live in the area I urge you to come along. Last year was great fun and fascinating to see the wargaming world outside of GW. And (if I'm there, on my 3rd & final year of Uni now so its not definate) ask for Josh Pinder (a.k.a. "Shrike" on the clubs forums) if you'd like to meet me.