BigRedBat's Salute

Mate Ian and I set off for Salute at 7AM, and were in the hall soon after 8AM.  My new trolley-of-war, below, made getting the minis from the car park to the table, child's play; much easier than queuing to bring the car in.  It'll carry 4' boards, too.

Unfortunately, despite having it on the trolley, I failed to put the camera in the car, so the only pictures I have are of Mark's elephant, and Guy's cliffs.  If anyone has decent photos of the game (the lighting was very challenging) I'd be delighted to see some.

The game set up was very straightforward; Guy Bowers and his Brixham Berzerk mates made some great terrain (cliffs shown, below). Mark Backhouse produced some lovely ships and Frontinus' elephant, and Legatus Hedlius a splendid trireme. Jay brought his warband along, but unfortunately it (and around a third of my chariots) weren't required; I intend to put this right at the earliest opportunity, by running a big game here in the BigRedBatCave.

The game was run three times by the Berzerks, and by Mark, and was very well received by the two dozen-odd players. I believe the Romans won twice and the Britons defeated them once.  Huge thanks to all who contributed!

My favourite game was James Morris and friends' Keren, which is described on Scriv's blog. Jaw dropping. I've not heard that it won anything; if not, the judges must have been blind!

At Salute I was delighted to meet lots of people who follow the blog including fellow bloggers, old friends, manufacturers, publishers and many gaming enthusiasts. 

I have read several pieces complaining that the Salute show, in its vast hangar, is crowded, smelly, hard on the feet and somewhat characterless, and that the goods on sale could be more easily purchased by post. In my opinion all of these are true to a lesser or greater extent. For me, though,  the most important reason for attending a show is to meet people and there are better opportunities to meet more people at Salute, than at any other show I attend in the gaming year, so it remains an absolute must!