A Changing Hobby? Small Skirmish Games vs Big Battles

Is the Tabletop Wargaming Hobby shifting away from Big Battles towards small skirmish games? This subject arose during last week's SALUTE 51 and was even discussed in at least one of the panel sessions. But is the hobby changing, or is it just that this type of large trade show attracts companies that want to demo their new game-in-a-box?

Rules Review: The 1879 Anglo-Zulu War by Richard Tory

Just because a set of wargame rules are old and complicated does not mean they have no value. 'The 1879 Zulu War' by Richard Tory is over 40 years old but Is still a fascinating and useful reference book with plenty of data and ideas in it that can be worked into your own rules. If nothing else it is a very interesting read and shows just how far rules design has come in four decades. 

 

SALUTE 51 (2024) - The Blogger Meet-up

It's the day after Salute 51 and I still have a load of photos to work through. I posted my Show Report yesterday but I have been sent several pictures from the day and wanted to share a few here. 

Ray organised a 'Blogger Meet-up' for 2p, and quite a few people turned up. Not as many as in previous years, but I know that Salute isn't for everyone. 

The 2024 Blogger Meet-up (Picture courtesy of Carl Packham)

Also present were Ken Reilly, Ray Rousell (of course), Tamsin, Mike Sayce, Mike Whitaker, Carl Packham, Steve, Chris and David.

It was also great to meet up with Alex (Storm of Steel) 

And Adrian..

There were many more people I saw during the day, more than I can remember. Thank you to everyone who came up and said hello. Maybe we'll see each other again at Salute 52? Or another show??

Cheers, Lee

SALUTE 51: Full Photo Report

SALUTE 51 was another fantastic expo for the wargaming hobby in all its forms. Games big and small, from fantasy to historical and Sci-Fi were on display at the 2024 show. Here is a quick photo report of the games from the premier wargames event in the UK.

Salute 2024, or Salute 51, takes place in the Excel exhibition venue in London Docklands, a fifteen-minute drive from my home. I attended with a camera in hand as always and shot hundreds of pictures. This is a huge event, and getting around the nearly 100 games and several hundred traders in just seven hours is a challenge.

Hunting Big Cats in the Normandy Bocage

Tiger Tanks and Panzerschrek teams lurk in the woods and Bocage of Normandy 1944. This What-a-Tanker battle report combines several games testing out my supplementary rules that bring Panzerschrek anti-tank teams into the game.   

The rules are nothing fancy, just an A4 sheet of very basic rules using tokens (some of which are Blinds) for the movement of Panzerschrek teams in the Normandy Bocage in the summer of 1944. If you want a copy just drop me a line with your email address and I'll be happy to send them to you.

Time to Quit Wargaming? (So Long and Thanks for all the Fish)

What do you do when the time comes to quit a period? Do you sell your collection, put it into deep storage or throw it all in the bin?

Sergent O'Reilly's Charge - A CoC Battle Report

I've decided to give some of my old games a second life by turning battle reports from my blog into a series of Quick Strike AAR videos. This week I'm revisiting a solo game of Chain of Command that I played in 2020. These transformations into video content are only possible because I take so many pictures during games that most never made it onto the blog, so have never been seen before. My back catalogue of pictures from games and shows currently stands at over 90,000 pictures...so I have plenty of material I can share!