Picking up those brushes again.

Hi and welcome to the occasional mutterings of Dave Doc, a military modeller and some time gamer. Gaming and model making has given me a real education, History & Geography(obvious really), Artistry, Politics, Economics, Logistics, Project Management -you try building miniature armies without the last 3.

I will use the blog to record my creations & the odd occasion I actually do some gaming.

I have always been inspired by the aesthetic side of gaming. Playing on well constructed terrain using excellently painted units is always a joy.

Sunday 26 April 2015

Salute 2015 - A grand day out.

Well a long day was had yesterday - out of the house at 5.30am , and back home at 11pm - all the public transport - trains ,tube,and DLR all worked with no problems. I had pre bought a ticket and breezed straight in at 10.20am to a hall full of wargames inspiration.

I did not have any targets for purchases in particular and managed to resist lots of new shiny - I know you might think whats to point of going! However the main aim for the day was to meet up with various friends.



So just a small amount of loot. A hard copy of Simon Millers "To The Strongest" (Our very own Millsy has done a cracking job on the design work I must say) , a new Red paint set as my old one is about worn out, and another stock up of terrain extras , sandbags etc from Andy and Jon at Ainsty. Some rather nice Victorian heroes and adventurer types from Wargames Foundy to do a few specials for the Sudan. Having resisted too much new "off plan" shiny stuff I will order a few other things over the next week or two.


A good chat with Mark from Wargames Holiday Centre around a mid summer play test/ photo session for the Sudan , and confirm of the first game date being the of October.

The blogger meet up took place at 1pm and there was a decent number of us - in fact I must add some more to my blog roll to keep up! It was fun to share some face to face time with the guys n girls whose virtual space we share. Clint you chocolate fudge went down very well on the train home - thanks


What is the collective noun for a group of bloggers? A "gossip" perhaps...Ray was heard asking who has a blog prize giveaway next as he has not won one for a few weeks..

The standard of games overall looked wonderful , some real work had gone into them  - really too many to photograph and do justice to I thought - so i gave up.


I met Mrs D back in London for a bite to eat , and we had a pleasant hour in the bar at the Rennaissance St Pancras hotel prior to getting our train home.

Altogether a grand day out

26 comments:

  1. Dave, I for one was gutted in not saying "Hello" and "Thank you" to your excellent self at Salute. But sadly I never managed to work my way to your end of the bloggers line so didn't realise you were there. Next year I'll start at Ray's side instead :-) Glad you had a top day and a pleasant trip back with your other half. Certainly I thought it was the busiest Salute I've been to.

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    1. Sorry I missed you in the line up too. Next time may be

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  2. Good to see you again Dave. That's a nice little swag collection.

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    1. Indeed it was good to catch up.. Time for another Blog Con I feel .

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  3. A fine haul and nice to see you once again.

    I couldn't see your game up on WHC yet, but I'll keep an eye out.

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    1. Hi Phil.. Not yet , but I will let you know ...

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  4. Glad you had a great day out!

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  5. Thanks for the info regarding your journey times. Its helped me to get an idea of what I'd face should I make my way down next year.

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    1. Roy, without rail engineering works that were on yesterday it could have been an hour off each way.. .. It took 3 hours from York to London , rather than the usual 2. It is 30 mins from Kings Cross to Excel ..

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    2. Oh.. And I live an hour from York.. So if you are near main line station you could do it quicker

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    3. Thank you for the additional information.
      We'd be departing from Darlington train station, which I believe is a straight run down to London.

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    4. It's 2 and half hours from Darlo normally . Trouble with weekends is engineering work.. But at least this time they had timetabled it so I knew in advance..

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  6. So good to catch up again Dave and glad the journey home went to plan. See you in a couple of years!

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    1. Indeed... I shall try get along next year I think, hotel stay I think. the other show I need to get back to is EuroMilitaire.. But I think this year it clashes with my holidays !

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    2. Dave, when you manage to get to Euro, you'll find Michael and I attached to a couple of beers on the balcony about 2.30pm.

      Nice to meet you at last.

      Pip pip

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  7. It's always interesting to hear about this show, even though I don't get there myself very often.

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    1. It's a bit of a rarity for me too.. But sometimes it has to be done I feel

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  8. So many people I wanted to meet and was stood just a few feet from them. Maybe next year, ghastly though it is, we should wear badges identifying ourselves. There is a TMP format for such but maybe we need a WBQ one!

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    1. Indeed, my thought too...to next year!

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  9. Sounds like you had a great day. I'm amazed at the restraint you displayed on the purchasing front. Are you feeling OK mate?

    Thanks for your props on the To the Strongest! design work. I find it rather amusing that a load of people have seen the hard copy way before me!

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    1. I still have a chunk of Sudan to crack on with so must maintain focus.. Easier with new shiny..

      Yup that's a good one , are you getting a hard copy?

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  10. I can see this was a great day for you, with not too many new toys in your bag! Sadly, I lost the meeting. Next year, perhaps!

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  11. Sounds like a lovely day out!

    Thanks again for acting as my 'hobby mule' this year Dave!

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  12. Sounds like a lovely day out!

    Thanks again for acting as my 'hobby mule' this year Dave!

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