SELWG 2012 - Part 1

SELWG has always been one of my favourite shows and somehow (incredibly really given this is England) it always starts with a crisp bright sunny morning and a good chin-wag in the queue outside the Crustal Palace Sports Centre. We were joined in the queue by Clint from Anything but a One who ill-advisedly hitched a list with Ray, Fran and Postie. We were later joined by David Crook of A Wargaming Odyssey and we all passed a chilly half hour in good conversation before the doors opened. 

Good conversation was the order of the day for me as I met and chatted with lots of friends old and new. In fact it dawned on me that I have lots of 'Friends' that I meet and talk to at shows that I never see outside of convention halls and some who's names I don't even know! But for me that's one of the joys of this hobby and the community we have formed because we all fall easily into conversation with each other. It is is a shared camaraderie that is hard to define but none the less real and palpable at shows like this. Anyway teary eyed sentimentality aside, here's the first batch of my pictures from SELWG 2012:

Rejects and Friends gather outside Crystal Palace waiting for the doors to open on SELWG 2012

Southend Wargames Club - The Battle of Benfleet. This is a game I have seen several times this year but always enjoy looking at.

This display game has lots of excellent details like these two fellas loading their valuables onto their ship in case the battle for turns against their side. 

Meanwhile their comrades defend the town

The standard of painting throughout the models on display was very good

Crush the Kaiser's "Race to the Sea" game was out probably for the last time. 

Again this is a game I have seen at several events this year but always enjoy looking at the details

Fusiliers Marin

German infantryman

Loughton Strike Force's game "Aspern Essling 1809" was spectacular for the sheer number of models on the table.

This really was a joy to look at with action taking place the full length of the Battlefield

The town is the centrepiece of course but the effect of the whole table is one that really demands a close look. 

Maybe less spectacular but none the less interesting was the game put on by Tunbridge Wells Wargames Society - Battle of the Yellow Sea 1904

The models for this game were all nicely labelled and based and there were some excellent explosion marker on display as well. 

I'll post plenty more pictures this afternoon (I have a few to label) so keep your eye's peeled for some more stunning display games later today.