Obituary for Jonathan (Jon) AKERS

[NarsesofByzantium]

My apologies for the lateness of this post, but I thought it appropriate to let everyone in the FOG tournament community know what has been happening since Jon's unexpected no-show at MK Campaign back in May. Jon passed away unexpectedly at home sometime in the week prior to the Campaign show earlier this year at the age of 58. His passing was from natural causes, thought to have been primarily heart-related. Here I must give thanks to Graham Briggs who, via a cryptic message on his Facebook from Jon's cousin John (I know, right) was able to solve the mystery as to why Jon had not shown up for the first round games at Milton Keynes and, in so doing, had first news of Jon's passing.

Those involved in the 15mm ancients circuit in the UK will know Jon and his ubiquitous big red toolbox. He lived on his own in Plumstead, south east London, and his next of kin was his half-sister who lives in Scotland. In accordance with the wishes of his family, there was no traditional funeral for Jon, but a quiet cremation. I had hoped there might have been a memorial service at some point, at which I was then going to advertise that on this forum, if it was deemed appropriate. Again, though, as it turned out this didn't happen. We had a small, mainly family gathering earlier this month to mark Jon's passing.

Jon Akers was a fixture and fitting on the 15mm ancients circuit from the WRG 7th edition days of the late 1980s. Jon, Paul Westmore, Dave Handley and myself all met at Leicester University Wargames Club in 1984/5, and first cut our teeth in the old Student Nationals. After Dave Handley 'got good' and zoomed up the rankings, Paul and I brought Jon into our three-man team with which we (mostly) used to fail to qualify for the Worlds at Derby as Dave's replacement, braving the qualifiers each year at the old Woughton Campus iteration of Campaign before that show moved into the Middleton Hall in Central MK.

Although the 'new boy' in the team, Jon soon established himself as our most consistent performer, developing a reputation for grinding out a score-draw and almost inevitably he would still be playing when last bound was called. Personally, I look back on the Derby Assembly Room days with fondness, as you could surrender with up to an hour and a half to go and score 90 points...often avoiding finishing in last place by doing so. As well as his reputation as the Chris Tavare (if you don't know, look him up) of ancients wargaming, we always used to tease Jon as having an unhealthy knight fixation, likening it to Nursey's propensity for dressing up as a cow in Blackadder II, henceforth usually referring to knights amongst ourselves as 'udders'.

Unlike Paul and myself, Jon remained a committed tournament player through the DBM (wilderness) years and the various iterations of FOG, eschewing the lure of the old (DBMM) and of the shiny and new ( ADLG), treating these two imposters just the same... though seldom meeting either triumph or disaster on the way. He is already sadly missed, and will leave a larger than life Jon-shaped hole in the 15mm FOG community.

As for Paul (Westmore) and myself, it quickly became apparent to us that our fitful attendance at events was largely driven by a desire to retain meaningful contact with Jon, and his loss has prompted our retirement from the circuit.

Rest in Peace Jonathan Akers (1966 - 2024)
By Martyn Brawn (preferred adjectives: tall and thin)