The weekend saw Europe’s biggest wargaming event, Salute. Run by the South London Warlords, this was the 52nd show (and yes, it runs as well as you’d expect for something that has been going on for over half a century at this point), this show is THE event of the wargaming calendar, a wargames show unlike literally anything else in the UK. The size and location means you get things you wouldn’t see anywhere else – wargamers flood in from all over the world to partake in giant participation games, see some of the finest custom built games, play the first previews of a whole host of rules and get to see a whole load of traders happy to give you a new piece for your collection in exchange for the contents of your wallet.
And this time I was there! After last year off (and a punishing single day visit the year before), I returned to London for roughly 24 hours. Driving down from Leeds and staying at the finest accommodation London can provide (the Travelodge at London City Airport), I got to meet up with a whole collection of designers, writers and Warlord club members for some social drinks at the Fox close to the Excel centre. I had A lot of fun and finished the evening with a pizza in my hotel room (a plan which, based on the number of drivers coming to the hotel, I shared with the pile of people there for an international event for the TCG Flesh and Blood). Said pizza would also be the fuel for the following day, meaning I got to happily munch a slice while walking across to the convention centre.
This year, I was lucky enough to be invited down by Brad Sanders of BobMack3d and Battleground HD. A keen fan of the blog since the early days. Brad reached out earlier this year, and I took up his offer. The bonus of this was that I got a fancy red visitor band, letting me get into the show early before the usual kick-off time. It was great to run around before the show filled up with wargamers, letting me chat to some of the usual suspects before the show kicked off and all their time was taken doing glorious trade.
Speaking of BobMack3d, let’s kick off with a tour of the Cold War Corner. With Battleground HD, BobMack3d, Flank March Miniatures and Full Metal Miniatures all working together, there was an impressive display of Cold War wargaming, with figures, vehicles and a wonderful-looking Berlin Wall board, complete with apartment block, period cars, a chunk of the wall and even an exclusive figure. One thing I really like about going to wargaming shows is being able to see figures in the flesh – in this case, it was getting a chance to see the Flank March sculpts in non-render form and the metal/resin hybrid figures released by Full Metal Miniatures. Now, when I first saw the renders, I will admit the proportions looked a little dumpy and round. However, having seen them in person, that effect massively diminishes when at figure size – they may not quite have the same style as companies such as Spectre, but I think the chunkier look means that in person, you really see the exciting details.
Across the aisle, there was an area dedicated to Battleground HD, with another Player vs Player BAOR game nestled next to a step in the light green. I was lucky enough to, right at the end of the day, get to have a game of Hunters on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a PvE module for the game that pits players as MACV SOG against an AI-controlled set of NVA. The PvE system was exciting (including a clever use of a QR code to throw a wrench in your plans) but I’m even more excited to talk about Battleground HD in the next few weeks – it’s one of those systems that at first glance is a little overwhelming but as you play it, you start to see just how well it models certain elements of modern wargaming. I’m also interested in seeing how it scales up – the demo game I played was only two small teams, but it can potentially go up to platoon level, complete with vehicle support. More details coming soon – I think B is a good place to start some kind of comparison series.
Famous By Our Swords is one of my personal favourite small-scale skirmish games, and after their successful Kickstarter, I was super excited to see them at Salute. Of course, it helps that I was also picking up my printed copy of both Famous By Our Swords and the larger regimental game Clash of Banners and so hunted them down pretty quickly! They had a good pairing of a table featuring both games and the retail table showing off books, the range of hero figures for the setting.
A return I was glad to see was Spectre Miniatures! Fresh off their successes over in the States, they had a pile of new items and an exclusive figure available, while across the aisle from them, they had a demo game that was run during the day. Of course, being a filthy STL user, I’m going to have to wait for them to appear on the website before I can get my hands on the new goodies. However, one thing I was very glad to see was just how busy they were all day – a healthy Spectre is a positive thing for this little niche of ours that is Ultramodern Wargaming.
Now, COMPLETELY out of left field was 1918 – A First World War Wargame. Remember those Friday night drinks I mentioned? I ended up chatting to one of the guys behind WarFulcrum Games, a team running a patreon and making a historical wargame around the final stages of World War 1, where the static trench warfare changed into the first version of modern combined arms combat. Well, we got to talking and it turned out the mad lads were launching a Kickstarter the following morning at the show, aiming to bring a hardback rulebook and a collection of STLs to life.
The following day I turned up to find this rather impressive table showing Villers-Bretonneux, the clash of a German offensive into British-held territory. This is also the first tank on tank engagement, with both A7Vs and MK IVs hitting the table. It’s a great-looking game and I’m excited to see more once the book releases. It’s already passed its funding goal, but if you’re also interested in wargaming World War 1, you can find the project over on Kickstarter.
Also from the Friday drinks, I managed to chat to the guys at 3D Junkie. Well, more accurately, we said the magic words “3D printing” and one of the guys immediately appeared. These guys sell everything to do with 3D printing, be it machines, filaments and resin or more and were fantastic to chat to even as someone who is very much a hobbyist. I’m genuinely thinking that, when it comes to my next upgrade, I’ll be going straight to these guys.
The more dangerous thing for me was the fact that they had one of the new Elegoo Centauri printers there and some example prints. As someone who has literally moved all his terrain acquisition over to filament, this is very interesting as a possibility for getting even more detail into my terrain. And now I need to go and hide my wallet.
Something I am very excited about for this year is Chain of Command V2, the updated version of probably the Regular Opponent’s favourite WW2 game. To help demo the game, the Lardies brought with them this rather wonderful Oesterbeek game. It’s a lovely scene from the Netherlands, complete with some awesome details (from Sabotage3d). It also features a super impressive feat in tabletop wargaming – the gently sloping railway embankment.
I also missed the demonstrations of the new ruleset, but seeing the reference cards listing off new abilities using the CoC Points and chatting to Mr Skinner has got me very excited. They are aiming for a May release date, and I will 100% be getting my pre-order together when they go up.
There were also a few other super impressive games that caught my eye as I wandered through the show. Joe Bilton‘s What a Tanker game has filled my BlueSky feed with perfect shots of the ruins of Caen but it is fucking incredible seeing it in person. I managed to chat to Joe and, as well as being incredibly pleasant to chat to, he managed to talk about the process of making the board and how important a little touch such as “using the same polyfilla mix on the buildings” to make sure everything fits together. I look forward to seeing what he gets up to next!
Speaking of large WW2 games, the 15mm version of the Battle for Berlin (complete with Reichstag, flak tower and more) was awesome to see walking past. Chatting to the guys, it turns out this wasn’t even the full size that they were aiming for which is quite frankly bonkers.
Finishing the trifecta of WW2 games is this Warsaw Uprising game. I literally had a double take when I walked past it, the different levels of detail from the railway tracks up to the rooftops. The layout literally looked like a museum piece, and yet as I walked around during the day it was very clear that this was an active game. Seeing as it also won game of the show, I wasn’t the only person to be blown away by it.
I’m not getting into Battletech with terrain, you can’t make me. Even if this Alpha Strike board looked like something out of the mental image of Mechwarrior 3 that lives in my brain.
Another game that caused me to pause was Zeppelin. Ironically, the balloon was the least interesting bit for me, as the sheer level of detail on the Scottish castle and island pulled me in and made me take notice of what was going on, as it perfectly captures the feel of the remote Scottish castle. There was a wonderful level of detail to the board, and a fun backstory relating to a 1971 film. Brought a smile to my face!
Butcher and Bolt appeared on my Facebook feed the weekend before Salute (so I’m glad that Facebook’s ads actually work for some people) and it was actually cool to see the board the guys had set up to show it off. With both an industrial yard and then the UBoat pens, this was definitely a cool setup. Chatting to the guys at the stand, it sounds like the rules are well on their way to being ready (aiming for later this year) and if the crowd around the table were a guide, I think this could be one to keep an eye on.
Last but certainly not least – truly the largest game of Floorhammer I have ever seen. It’s actually pretty cool seeing this many titans, especially on a board that is a sensible size for the god machines to fight.
I was so enraptured in my game of Battleground HD that I suddenly checked my watch and realised I had to run back to my car before I ended up with a fine. However, as I walked back and then jumped in the car to head back north, I realised just how much I enjoyed the day. In previous years, I’d been done with the show in two hours flat, leading me to disappear off into London or head home. This year though I stuck around and had a wonderful time. During my time at the show, I managed to dig through the show. I also managed to say hello to a pile of people both friends (such as fellow writer Bill and the lads from Dougie’s Wargaming Blog) and people I’m a fan of (such as Arbitor Ian, Dave from EXP and most surprisingly, climate YouTuber Simon Clark), something that just wouldn’t happen at most shows. It’s a truly titanic experience and I 100% recommend anyone who is able to come to give it a go. It was also nice to see how varied the crowd was at Salute – everyone from the traditional wargamer inspecting the latest Napoleonics to cosplayers, families and more experiencing everything the hobby has to offer.
My haul from the show actually wasn’t too bad. I picked up the Bello Lundi Kalashnikov rules (another success of Friday night’s chat with Peter and Jurgen) and some items from Deep Cut Studios (some road pieces and off-cut mat pieces for forest areas). The Famous By Our Swords books are my Kickstarter rewards delivered in person (truly impeccable service), while as I left, I was handed a full-on Press Pack for Battleground HD despite halfway through my demo game saying I’d be handing some cash over. So overall, I’d say a very successful set of additions to the collection!
However, the biggest thing I took away from Salute was a return of energy for the hobby, both wargaming in general and ChargeBlog as a whole. There were plenty of nice comments about the site and getting to sit down and chat with my fellow wargamers has definitely focused the mind on the types of things I want to get around to doing. We’ll see how the inspiration goes when I return to Salute next year!
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