12th April, London, ExCel

SALUTE 2014

I should subtitle this 'An Ancient and Medieval Salute' or some such: there are endless blogs with photo collections from Salute, but none quite like this.   Most bloggers seem to focus on shopping or goblins or power armour and panzers.  Scarcely one gives you any sort of coverage of the early historical content.

But to kick off, the Society of Ancients presented another Lost Battle, this time Macedonians and Romans contesting the Dogs' Heads hills in Thessaly ...

(Salute 2014: BC197 - Cynoscephalae ... a Lost Battle from the Society of Ancients)

This is the battle that evolves from a reinforced encounter in the fog ... and the one where Roman legionaries are able to beat the Macedonian phalanx because, in part, they can cope better with the rolling terrain ...

Professor Sabin is away broadening the world's understanding of warfare at the moment so the game was run by Eric et al ( ;) ...) ...

(Cynoscephalae: the Macedonian phalanx in the hills)

(Cynoscephalae: the Roman battle line ...)

This was run twice (with a break for lunch) and involved a number of visitors and plentiful break for explanation and demos.  Sometime players get engrossed in the game, but always remember, the Society welcomes interruptions if you have any questions (and, occasionally, we might not have spotted that).

Ancient and Medieval Salute ...

Regular readers might recall my noting that there haven't been many ancients games at this year's shows (and a more Medieval theme to the early history games there have been) ... Well, Salute 2014 had a good number of core ancients exhibits.

Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy were flagshipping with Simon Miller's 'C-Day' - a cross channel beach landing (but in this case from France and under the direction of Julius Caesar ...) ..

(C-Day: legionaries wade ashore under the hostile gaze of native British warriors)

You will know I love the detail that makes up these historical tableaux, so I'm sure you will indulge some extra shots ...

(C-Day: Roman warship ... elephant on tow ... wading legionaries)

(C-Day: British cavalry and chariots thunder to the cliffs - click on the picture to enlarge)

(C-Day: more Roman ships close up to the shore ...)

Gripping Beast seemed to be respinning my game 'Welcome to Jerusalem' with this Saga based display (it wasn't being played, so hard to work out how all the components meshed - but its looks drew a lot of attention ...)...

Committee member Rob Broom was there with his War & Conquest Thermopylae game ...

(Thermopylae: the pass is denied)

The game featured a number of splendidly turned out Greek battle groups (Rob really is getting the hang of this, you know ...) 

(Themopylae: some of the many Greek prepared to block the Persians' advance)

So, we've had Greeks, Macedonians, Romans and Crusaders ... there was jousting, Chariot racing and Viking raiders ... and it was a nice surprise to see Hannibal's army turn up for the Trebia ... and in glorious 54mm!  This was a splendid game from John (that's it apparently - but he did give a nice explanation of the game).

(John's impressive Trebia in 54m)

The game itself was DBA and John reckons he has a good 6 DBA armies in the big game (so they can play a 6 contingent campaign version)

(Hannibal at the Trebia: cavalry and elephants in 54mm!)

There was some talk about the elephants but these look good to me ... relatively small, big ears etc. etc. (the towers might be a bit hefty but, really, we don't know enough ...) ..

A great advert for the standard ancients game - and geared to play, not just for display ..

(HaT 54mm Romans ... working in this scale need not cost a fortune)

The Warlord team were also there with a game ...

And Best Participation Game went to Crawley for their well thought out Chariot Racing

(Salute 2014: Ad Spatium Accedis .. Best Participation Game)

This was a card driven multiplayer game with Ben Hur style hats and lots of crashes and deliberate interference.  Great choice ... a nice take on an ancients perennial.  Insiders will know I am looking at this theme myself ...

(Ad Spatium Accedis: the Chariots line up for the start )

Apologies to those ancients games I missed, this was my best of Salute.  Overall, I was pleased to see our part of the historical spectrum putting its best foot forward and good to see all the core ancients attractions on display.

Good also to see awards going to ancients games and to historical presentations.

Of course, there was much much more ... here is a quick guide to the Best of the Rest ...

(Salute 2014 ... a big space ship ... stuff for kids ... historical societies ... Most Innovative Game for Megagame Makers ...men with guns ...) ...

I also liked ...

(10mm ECW: Wow! a real feast for the eyes ... beautiful figures - from Pendraken I believe)

... and with the centenary coming up, there was plenty on the WWI theme ...

... and some Not Quite Napoleonics (doing what Napoleonics do best ...) ...

(Salute 2014: 1837 - the Battle of Barbastro)

... and uncharacteristically, I very much liked Duncan MacFarlane's chunky 28mm Battle of Arklow ... Not Quite Napoleonics - in this case the Irish Rebellion ..

(Salute 2014: 1798 - the Battle of Arklow)

There has been a bit of moaning on some chat pages about Salute this year ... I think mostly by people whose day got off on the wrong foot due to a long queue, some unfriendly managing of the queue by ExCel staff ... and some inconsistencies.

I don't want to argue with those people: I think every enthusiast wants everyone else to have a good day out and if it gets spoiled that is annoying for all of us.

***********

For Salute, ExCel has a number of embedded problems ... fatiguing and visually ugly floor, poor lighting, weird acoustics etc. (and the room is so big you need to be clever with your camera).  Honestly (an ignoring the horrible year where it took half the morning to get in) I preferred Olympia ...

 ... but I thought this was a good Salute and I had a mix of meets and discussions that are unlikely to happen anywhere else.

A great selection of games and eye-candy ... and if anything, possibly less of a corporate feel this time around .. 

I think Salute is still a must, but I remind everyone of what I said before ... wear forgiving shoes, don't turn up before 11 as you will just get caught in a queue ... try to avoid big ruck sack syndrome and do games and Society stands first, shopping second (again avoiding scrums - few items will sell out and traders can be very generous in the afternoon, I find) ...

Terrible queue for coffee but not too expensive (and they do a very nice mocha ...) ...

Back to Montaperti galleries shortly and look out for Triples next month (and the DBA Northern Cup)

20th April, London, Docklands

SALUTE 2013

There was an ancients theme to Salute this year ... well sort of: Jason and the Argonauts - but very much the Ray Harryhausen approach as you would expect from the Warlords.

For actual historical ancients games I think there were fewer this year.   I think I may have said that last year ... but of 85 (yes, 85) games I can see listed, 14 purport to be Ancient, Dark Age or Medieval.   Some of those turn out to be fantasy - and some are purely commercial tasters.

(President and Secretary reflect during a quieter moment at Salute)

That leaves a handful of games being used to present ancient and medieval battles to a wider audience.   The Society of Ancients did an Ilipa Lost Battle, The Lance & Longbow a dramatic Impetus battle of Cravant, and the Oxford Wargames Club an innovative grid-based Heraclea.

(Eric Cruttenden and Alan Waller presented this 28mm battle for the Society of Ancients)

(the river crossing at Cravant ... from an original photo by Simon Chick)

(a panoramic battle of Heraclea)

Beautiful figures in the Cravant game from Simon Chick, and spectacular hand-finished terrain boards - a great advert for medieval battle, and not a bad demonstration of how good modern 28mm figures can look.

Full marks to the Oxford club for taking a home-grown historical game - which they had devised because they were interested in bringing out what they thought were the essentials of battle in the period. - I wish I had had longer to spend with it ...

Amongst the commercial generic games, Rob Broom's Dark Age game stood out, along with some Saga and Dux Bellorum demos ...

(Rob explains the set up over his War and Conquest game)

... and in the fantasy ancients theme, a mythical spin on that old favourite 'Escape from Atlantis' at least seemed to capture the younger minds ...

(participants attempting to Escape from Zeus ...) 

The commercial games are, of course, there to demo the mechanisms and sell copies of the games - so they pick lyouts that will be full of engaging eye candy and bring out challenges, fun and mayhem in the game.   

For now, that always seems to mean a generic rather than historical episode - which contrasts with club and society games - which generally have nothing to sell and which almost universally recreate historical events.

(15mm eye candy from the Heraclea game)

(28mm eye candy from the War & Conquest game)

In that respect, there may be less difference between this post and the BattleDay post than I'd first have thought.   It will be good to see 28mm ancients getting to grips with the challenges of depicting real historical battles.  And, yes, I know there are exceptions - I feature them here every time I see them.

The full size spectacular this year was the reconstructed beam sling featured in the reenactment zone.   Making the 'for and against ExCel' propositions, I wonder how many venues could accommodate that indoors?

I enjoyed the display, and every time I walked past, the people in the stand seemed fully engaged talking to visitors and demonstrating weapons and equipment - they were making very good use of their space I think.  Thumbs up for that!

I was very busy helping out the Pike & Shot Society this year .. But, at the show, I also managed to see ...

(Mexican American war)

(World War Two)

There were lots of plastic 28mm figures, masses of WWII and cabinets full of MDF buildings.   Even Magister Militum had a commercial spin off table (complete with players in livery tee shirts) and Kallistra had 3 tables of hexon terrain ... so, if there was a theme to the Jason & the Argonauts Salute, what would it be?   Probably playing an imaginary Bolt Action WWII scenario with plastic 28mm figures hiding in MDF ruins on a hexagon tablescape.

If that wasn't your ideal wargame, there was always Slingshot ...

Join the Society of Ancients and secure your next 6 issues of Slingshot

Me?   Well amongst a lot of predictable stuff I managed to get a look at Peter Pig's new Vikings.   OK, I had seen them on the website and in announcements on TMP etc. but they had looked a little ... er ... 'unspectacular' in Martin Goddard's customary flat grey primer.  

In fact, the figures are little beauties ...

(a handful of my new Peter Pig Vikings)

I know the picture just makes the point that most figures do look unspectacular in raw metal - but bear with me ...next time you see them they will be painted and you will get it!    

Unashamedly hollywood, they have big beards, big axes, broken shields, spears through their chests ...

With so many 54mm and flats incoming, I had pretty much decided not to do another 15mm project in the near future - but as soon as I saw them I knew that my Dark Age DBA options would need a Viking army adding!   I'll do a proper job, mind.

Next outing Milton Keynes ... see the 54mm Bosworth game ..!

21st April, London, ExCel

Salute 2012

Salute seems finally to have grown into its relatively new home at ExCel in London's redeveloped Royal Docks.  Yes, the venue is huge, so the acoustics are not great, and flash photography can be tricky ... But it pays to  walk every aisle, and stop periodically to take another look around (there is often something you have missed - sometimes the very small games are excellent and the very big ones just very big) ...

The Society's contribution was a participation game of the First Battle of Chaeronea ...

(The Society of Ancients at Salute 2012: the 'lost battle' of Chaeronea, 338BC) 

... the Macedonian defeat of the Greek Coalition, reconstructed by Philip Sabin's team of Eric Cruttenden and Alan Waller, and run by Phil using his Lost Battles system.  It was, of course, Alexander's first appearance on the world stage, leading the noble cavalry in his father's army.

We know quite a lot about this battle - but by no means everything ... so it is an ideal battle to set up historically and explore the what ifs.

(click on the pictures for a bigger view)

(Chaeronea: detail: the Macedonian phalanx)

(Chaeronea: detail: Alexander leads the charging Companions)

The battle ran through quite smoothly, and as is usual with Lost Battles, was able to be played several times during the day.   Alexander rode to glory at the head of the Companion cavalry but the Theban Sacred Band proved very tough opponents and drove their way across the table.  And by no means a one-sided encounter if you take account of the handicap the Macedonians enjoy as the more powerful of the armies.

This year was a good year for ancients enthusiasts with a wide range of games across both the more popular scales.  I can well remember some years back at Olympia when the SoA game was the only pukka ancients game in the building.  Not so today.

How about this as a little trip round ...

Hail Caesar, HOTT, Field of Glory, Warlord, War & Conquest, as well as Lost Battles: there's diversity as well as quantity, these days.

(Hail Caesar - Uxbridge Gamers, Border Incursion)

(Border Incursion: detail)

Some nice 'massed' 28mm, and quite an effective use of 'cloth + scatter' type terrain.

(Field of Glory: Agincourt)

I was very pleased to see Donnington/Ancient and Modern's 100 Years War FoG game: this is a very popular, almost ubiquitous, tournament game - but rarely does it get demonstrated and profiled at shows.  For good or ill, games should always meet the wider audience.

(Deus Vult - Fireforge Games)

(W.A.R.  Warlord: Battle for Homs 1620BC)

(Lance & Longbow Society: Grandson)

Another splendid Lance & Longbow Society game (remember Verneuil?) - with an emphasis on the figures rather than the simple layout.  

There were also a number of Japanese games at Salute this year ...

I really liked the townscape in the Oshiro offering 

(Medieval Japan: Oshiro's Battle of Komagane)

Although there are some oddities in the cast, South East Essex's HOTT Kingdoms in the Dust is basically an ancients game, and I have seen it giving a lot of pleasure across a number of southern shows.  I hope they had a good day at Salute.

(SEEMS - Biblical HOTT - Kingdoms in the Dust)

Society member Rob Broom and his Bristol chums were also there with the Peloponessian War battle at Amphipolis (422BC), notable for the mortal wounding of the much-quoted commander Brasidas.

(War & Conquest: Battle of Amphipolis)

A great collection of games.

If there is anything less than positive to say it might be that although there were a number of imaginative and innovative approaches to the wargame on show at Salute, mostly these were in the non-historical genres ... pulp, VSF, that sort of thing

(Salute 2012: a great Variety of Wargames)

Some very clever stuff going on ... and again, a great variety of games and ways to wargame on offer out there.  I very much liked 7TV's take on  classic adventure TV (the Avengers, Dr Who, that sort of thing ..).. presented with enthusiasm and confidence ...

Aside from the very big Corunna Napoleonics display (much too much to take in, and clearly there to be admired and photographed - an installation  more than an exhibit, to borrow terms from the art world), there were some excellent and accessible games in other periods ...

(Black Powder ECW: Pike & Shotte)

The Pike & Shotte game going with the Warlord Games rules had a very clever flashing lights effect in the volleys markers which worked quite well - and they tell me the game has got better too.

And, having clambered around those impossible Confederate positions, I never like to miss picturing Burnside's bridge when Antietam is reconstructed ..

(Evesham Wargames Club: Battle of Antietam)

... this time in a very pleasing arrangement using Kallistra's terrain tiling system and (12mm) figures range.

There were more than 25 modern games excluding VBCW, Sci-Fi and similar non-historical genres, and the best I can do is to direct you to a brief summary I have put on my 20th Century blog (P.B.Eye-Candy)

(Some wonderful 20th Century games at Salute 2012: click for more)

... and there were some other gems.

I really do like the use of aerial/satellite photos as a table/background for aerial games ... here with 'clouds' terrain (I have some ideas about clouds ...) ....

(HMS Aeronautica REX)

And who could not like the wonderful miniature architecture of imaginary Venetian horror/adventure ... I've no idea whether Carnevale is a good game, but it must have been fun building the sets ...

(fantasy Venice: Carnevale streetscape)

A great deal to look at, then, even if like me, shopping is not a big part of your agenda and, being a historical player, a big chunk of the exhibits are of not of interest.   Very well done, Warlords.

(fearsome Viking warriors share a biscuit at the end of a long tiring day)

An excellent day out, and a pleasure to meet and greet and chat to people.

Thanks to those of you who called by the Society stand to say hello.  Thanks to the Warlords for making us welcome.

(twilight descends over the Royal Victoria Dock)

Next outing for the shows team: Campaign in Milton Keynes - it's in a shopping centre, so you can bring the whole family.  

We will have a participation version of the new game 'Call it Qids' and another chance to try DBA V3 with my classic flats collection.