The Little One wrote a blog entry last time around about his day at Salute (you can find the link here) and I said I would do the same but have not repeated the stuff he already covered (like the games we played!). A lot of people have read that one and engaged in making comments on the blog, twitter, Facebook and various wargaming forums. It is really encouraging that the hobby is so welcoming and happy to see youngsters amongst it ranks, so thank you all from the Little One and I.
For me Salute is about impressions and meeting people, In summary I felt Salute this year being spacious, having a lot variety in type of games being presented and we did have a good time – we always do. There were games that could be played on a 2 by 2 mat and there were games on very large tables, some were very simple others were pieces of art, some were storyboards conveying the passion of a period, others were bland but functional. It reflects my gaming in a nutshell as for some projects I go absolutely mad and for other projects I just want to get it on the table and play – although I do have a LUDO set with a Green, Yellow, Red and Green “fire team” somewhere.
As always we wandered around and met a lot of nice new and old friends including Henry Hyde, Mike Whitaker, The Too Fat Lardies (Rich, Nick and Sidney), Simon T, Iain Fuller , Ken Eccentric!, Dave Hickman, Neil and Josh Shuck, Peter & Dave and the other Wargames Collection Calculator crew, Mark Backhouse, Guy Bowers, Michael Leck and his Nordic Crew, the Berrys, the Space Vixen crew, Friends of General Haig, Dave Brown and then everyone I forgot as well. I wanted to run into Big Lee but I failed, hi Lee!
Between the talking, playing a few games with the Little One, doing some limited shopping and picking up some pre-orders from Baccus (from their 6mm Great Northern War range) and Gripping Beast (the New Saga supplement and a few of the custom dice), I took a few pictures of things that interested me during the day.
I just thought I put a few of these pictures here, with a few comments where appropriate. I hope this reflects a mixture of easily achievable as well as more inspirational long term projects.
Lutzen 1632 (Friends of General Haig), Stunning set-up and you can find the story about this table on a very inspiration blog here. It is one of the most famous Battles in Swedish history and would end up in a Victory but also the death of the Swedish King (Gustavus Adolphus).Windmills and Black Powder a winning combination. I really like the teddy fur mat with the roads incorporated. I always wanted to do one but have not tried it yet – it would be fun to do a mat for some Kursk tank battles or something like that.The excellent Black River Debacle, by Ged Cronin. With the text taken from the handout “The Governor has gone up the Black River (a tributary of the Red River) to inspect some warehouses. Meanwhile his wife, an amateur botanist who is quire headstrong, has wandered off looking for butterflies to improve her collection. Soon it becomes apparent that the black flags have abducted the Governor’s wife. The Black flags have done this to try and lure the French into an ambush as revenge for the loss of one of their commander’s, Liu Yung-Fu’s, favourite lieutenants. Meanwhile the Black Flags have also taken a box of jewels from a Formosan merchant. The French have heard word of this. Also, the French have heard a rumour that the Black Flags have a giant ceremonial cannon that is inlaid with gold. Can this be true?”Some excellent detail on this table
Everything just worked nicely togetherInspiring stuffThat looks superb!I think this was one of my favourites of the day in terms of visual impact. There was so much detail to explore.Another nice scene from a modern game set in the Helmand province. I shows the amazing effect of some clutter that could easily be used for a range of periods. In this particular case the vehicles narrow down the time stamp.World famous Henry Hyde taking some pictures of the beautify Ligny 1815 out on by Dave Brown using his General d’Armee rules.Ligny 1815 would become Napoleon’s last victory and his opponent was no other than the Prussian Field Marshal Prince Blucher. Even I know the importance of the Prince’s arrival at Waterloo, so the bittersweetness of the Ligny loss did not last long.Now I know from friends who play Napoleonic games that General d’Armee is a fantastic rule set. However with a fantastic table like this, who really cares.Marching columns…Stunning Jungle terrain on the Too Fat Lardies table who were doing a Malaya Big CoC (Chain of Command) battle. I took these pictures before battle commenced – it looked peaceful and beautiful. That Buddha statue in the background is one of those details that sets the scene and gives that sense of location.You can find some inspiring stuff on the build of this at the Lardies webpage here.Excellent…The units all lined up to fight!Peterborough laid on a IABSM game at Omaha Beach. Looked really fun.
Hard work getting onto that beach! The table gave a nice sense of the battle field. I went to Omaha beach a few years back and it left me with very strong emotions in just trying to imagine the hell of being there on 6th June 1944.Some games were presented just like the are out of the box – that works too. I think this was Mantic Games Hellboy?Some coffee table sized games with enough immersion to draw you in.This terrain looked like something from my back garden – bloody brilliant!, the Game Arcworlde by Warplogue Miniatures.Crawley Wargames put on a Aztec game that looked really fun.Even a wooden fort, cocktail sticks and some patience!Warlord Showing off their two naval games – first Cruel Seas, and then…… the new age of Sail Game “Black Seas”,Naval Wargames Society put on a Stingray game that looked really fun, and like many other tables there were Children playing and having fun. There was a lot of Children at the show and I think this is a good thing.Wild in the Streets – Gang Fighting. I bought their Death Metal team on a Kickstarter that is on its way. Again fun on limited space.We watched the Burrow and Badgers game for a while. I did not appreciate that it was playable on such a small table. It looked really fun. Wonderful models.
Street Wars with Funky Skull Games, really liked the compact but effective terrain. Really nice.
Red Alert by PSC games looked fun. I am resisting getting this one at the moment. I think it comes with the mat in the game? – I hope you can iron it?I think those ships would paint up really well.Another Command and Colors game especially for Jay Arnold. This was a very inspirational table.
This is how you play it!I did return to the Lutzen table at the latter part of the dayFighting was fierce!I seemed to be drawn to small city scapes? This being the Carnage City Chronicles Miniatures game.Really cool….A Seven Years wars table, the team was on break and the gentleman guarding it had no idea what it was about. Tricornes are enough for me to stop for a while.In doing some browsing on the net I think it was laid on by Rafael Fonseca & Friends And was a Seven Years War battle, where the French and Allied forces attack the Prussians.I do not know what is so special with Tricornes but the armies of this era, to sound a little bit younger than I am, really Rock!Flags and straight lines, warfare in a more civilized age!Battle of Bauge 1421 was put on by the Lance and Longbow SocietyNice little sceneThe Warlords put on (at least) two cool tables, this one showing pilum against pike……and a fabulous game on the moon…The background blur was – The Moon: 2039. Play as US and Chinese forces in secret but deadly missions in the difficult, dusty, cratered terrain and in just one-sixth gravity. But are there other forces in play…?More from the Pike and Pilum battle!Beautiful terrain from Oshiro. A Gothic horror game using the Fistful of Lead System, by Wiley Games.World Class terrain!Real Time Wargames always put on a nice show, this time some 10mm action on the North-West Frontier.Nice hills and the game was looked fun too!Boudicca vs Romans, Mancetter 61CE, To the Strongest Rules!
That is a battle line of 6mm proportions (if that makes sense)But with 28mm detail if you look close enough (wonderful, effectful, I wish I had the time and patience to do that one day! – I will stick to my 6mm for now)It is always nice to see Michael Leck and crew. He serve the Battle of Danholm 1807 using his new Rebels & Patriots rules that works as well in a Scandinavian themed setting as in North-America!I ended up chatting and with only two photos – I suggest you check Michaels blog Dalauppror (A good start is in the link here)Wings of War or Wings of Glory, this Looked fun!
Bad Squiddo Games offered a little oasis to sit down and do some colouring. The War Peegs stuff looks fun and hopefully the rules will be out soon (you can see the vehicles on their website, here)
Aughrim 1691 was a part of the Williamite Wars in Ireland 1688-1691 by Crewe & Nantwich Wargaming.It was a fantastic looking table from a conflict I knew nothing about – now I know a little bit more.
I also have to say that the new WW2 Vehicle ranges from Baccus is something special and well worth a look and I think good value for money.
We also got a little appearance on the Too Fat Lardies Oddcast, you can listen to it on youtube (link here).
Great report, many thanks. There looks to be lots of nice-looking and/or interesting games there, although I had read that both were lacking this year.
Roll a One - Wargaming Blog 
Great report! Always see something that I didn’t see in the day. Thanks for your kind words on our Lutzen game. It was great to meet you in person.
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Thank you, it was nice to meet you too!
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Great photos- thanks for putting them all up.
I agree with you- it is great to see youngsters in the hobby (FWIW I spent the afternoon teaching the nephews 11, 8, 6 to paint their first figures)
Cheers,
Pete.
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Thanks Pete! Sounds like a good afternoon.
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Great report, many thanks. There looks to be lots of nice-looking and/or interesting games there, although I had read that both were lacking this year.
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Thank you John. We had a very good day.
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Great report!
So many pictures, that’s beautifull!
Thanks for it!
😀
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Thanks for checking it out.
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