AN organisation that recreates major battles in miniature and plays boardgames including Game of Thrones is looking for a new home.

The Manchester Area Wargames Society (MAWS) was founded in 1970 and has been based in the Emlyn Hall at Walkden for the past 40 years.

It has around 135 members, drawn from all around Greater Manchester and including Bolton and Bury, and meets every Monday and on two Sundays a month.

Now, the Emlyn Hall is up for sale and the club is looking for a church hall, community centre or rooms over a pub in the Farnworth, Walkden, Swinton or Worsley areas to provide them with a new home.

Wargaming is the creation of battles using model soldiers. It is played on a table top but, unlike chess which is probably the original wargame, includes terrain with features such as rivers, hills and woods.

The late 19th century Prussians used Kriegspiel (literally meaning war game) for military training but writer H G Wells was probably the first person to invent a fun wargame using toy soldiers in his book “Little Wars.”

The society caters for all manner of historical periods including Ancient, Medieval, English Civil War, Napoleonic Wars and modern conflict like World War Two as well as popular fantasy games like Warhammer 40K, X-Wing and even the Game of Thrones boardgame.

At the recent Britcon in Manchester - the largest wargames event in the UK - MAWS’ members finished first and second in the popular Field of Glory Medieval period and second in the Ancient period to give creditable results for such a relatively small club.

But now they face their biggest battle: finding new premises.

Anyone who can help should contact chairman Stephen O’Neill on 07729 473210 or email Stephen_oneill21@yahoo.com or Chris Tofalos on 07768 624802 email chris@ctp-mail.co.uk

Caption: MINIATURE BATTLES – Members of the Manchester Area Wargames Society get down to serious military manoeuvring at one of their meetings