Salute 08

Excel in London was once again host to the biggest wargaming show in the UK (I presume, never having been to the Sheffield Triples). It’s good to see so many people playing such a variety of games, everything from traditional ranks of Napoleonics and Pike & Musket era troops to Fantasy skirmishing. Also there were more off-the-wall games such as a huge Wacky Races game, and the splendid End of Empires game run by Spirit of the Game. The game is based in Victorian times, with action starting in the streets of London and moving on to the shores of Loch Lomond. The game is more RPG than wargame, but the fantastic scenery, great characters and plot and the tireless enthusiasm of the guys running it made it the best participation game at the show for me. Last year I took my son Joshua (13) along, and he really enjoyed their game last year, and it was his main attraction this year as well.

If I was putting on a game at the show I’d certainly want to make something that looked special, and although there were a few games that seemed to consist of a cloth over a couple of books (the traditional wargaming terrain on the cheap), most of the games had obviously had a lot of effort put into them and were great to look at. There was a superb WW2 sub attack on the Turpitz, all done in 3d under the sea, and a maniacal race game around a huge pillar that had trapped the devil, with all sort of weird and wonderful denizons duking it out..