Salute 2023 Live Blog!

Join us for Salute 2023 where we’re diving into the show for another year. We’re exploring a whole host of gaming tables and more that have been put on by vendors and clubs for this year’s show.

We’re doing things a little differently this year. Instead of the traditional videos, we’re going to be doing photo galleries exploring the different tables and games being played and then presenting you with some fun and in-depth content when we get back from the show.

One of the first tabletops that totally captured our attention was for To The Strongest!, a set of rules for Ancient to Medieval warfare that is being used here to play out the Battle Of Ipsus.

This was a battle fought between King Antigonus I and a coalition of three Successor generals. It formed an important battle that decided how Alexander The Great’s vast empire would be divided up. The game was run by Simon Miller, the mind behind To The Strongest! and could well be the largest Ancient wargame played at Salute to date.

The miniatures are absolutely gorgeous and the last few miniatures for some of the phalanxes were finished just a day before the event.

Another one of the epic-looking tabletops that we have here at Salute is the impressive Death-Ride Of Gustavus Adolfus. This one has been presented by The Officer’s Mess and has been shown off as a 1:1 version of the battle. That means that this is just ONE section of the battle and represents a single regiment clashing with their enemy.

This is just a snapshot of the massive Battle Of Lutzen and is an impressive take on a clash from 1632. It is going to be very cool once all of these forces find themselves thundering towards each other on the tabletop.

You’ve already seen the Death-Ride of Gustavus Adolfus but what about the battle before that which ended up with him being shot and wounded! This is The Battle Of Dirschau / Tzcew which saw the Polish-Lithuanians going up against the Kingdom Of Sweden in a mighty clash.

The folks at The Friends Of General Haig are using a slightly modified set of rules, Pike & Shotte. The Swedish are putting up quite the fight across an absolutely stunning-looking board which is packed with gorgeous terrain.

One of the nice things about Salute is that it caters to all sorts of different gamers. You have a lot of Historical stuff but there are also plenty of Sci-Fi and Fantasy games being played as well. One such game has been the TRON racing game that was set up by the Bexley Reapers Wargaming Club.

This game features the light cycles from the TRON movies that are controlled by an X-Wing-style dial that dictates where you move on the tabletop. You have to make sure that you don’t end up ramming into other riders of course but also making sure that you can cut others off. The folks here are having a lot of fun with the game!

Another of the impressive battles being played out comes from the Hornchurch Wargames Club. They have taken to diving into some Zulu action with the battle of the Ntombi River. The British soldiers at the time were defending a convoy of wagons that was on the road from Derby to Luneberg as it came under attack by the Zulu troops.

The tabletop, once again, is absolutely stunning and it’s brilliant seeing so many miniatures on a tabletop at any one time. It will be fun seeing how people get stuck into the game over the next few hours and how the situation unfolds.

Another absolutely packed tabletop here at Salute comes from the folks at the London Wargaming Guild. They are running a game that takes place across the entire of London Bridge during The Great Frost Fayre on the River Thames.

In this game, players take on a band of different characters that have come to blows after having one too many drinks at the local tavern. Trained Men, Ruffians and the Clergy of all people have ended up getting stuck into fisticuffs!

This one, again, looks like a lot of fun and folks are really getting into it. The game uses a set of specific rules for the different parties and activations come through the drawing of cards.

Andy Callan is also here this year demonstrating his new game, Never Mind The Billhooks. This is a quick and easy set of rules (similar to some of his past work) which is great for playing out Late Medieval European battles on the tabletop. An absolutely wonderful gaming table has been put together for this showcasing a clash from sea to land.

This particular focus is on the Italian Wars and the clashes over on Europe rather than your muddy battlefields of England. It looks seriously impressive and takes place on some wonderful terrain that was provided by Wargames Illustrated.

As well as some tried and tested games out there in the hall, there are also some brand new wargames from a few different independent creators. For example, James Morris of Morris & Chums has been working on this new tabletop wargame, Midgard: Heroic Battles which can be played at a variety of different scales and with a focus towards Fantasy or Historical.

The games being shown off today focus on a clash between Norse Gods where Thor, Freya, Odin and the like are battling against an army of Frost Giants in 28mm. The other table showcases the game in 15mm scale and a more traditional Dark Age clash. Their focus was on providing a game where warbands of warriors march into battle alongside mighty heroes.

The tabletops look great and it’s nice to see another game out there that is looking to do that traditional rank-and-file style of gameplay.

One of the games pretty much right outside our little room is DAK Attack from the folks at Offensive Miniatures. This was originally designed as a solo wargame but can also be played as a multiplayer skirmish affair if you like. As you will have guessed from the name, DAK Attack is set during World War II and the Desert War between the Allies and the Axis.

In this game, you take control of the Long Range Desert Group and you will play out not just one fight but a couple of games spread out across a ten-day campaign of lighting assaults. You will draw from a deck of cards each day to see what new foes you face and in some cases, you might not even be playing out a game. When it comes to actual mechanics, the game uses D10 and D6 with D10 for shooting and D6 for saves.

Offensive Miniatures seem to have found a winner here that could be a lot of fun for World War II lovers.