Category: Events

  • Manor Gaming Heads to London for Salute 2025

    Manor Gaming Heads to London for Salute 2025

    Every wargamer has their bucket list events, and for many of us, Salute sits firmly at the top. Hosted by the South London Warlords, it’s the UK’s premier wargaming convention—featuring an incredible trade hall, jaw-dropping participation games, and a chance to meet fellow enthusiasts from all over the world. This year, I’m making the journey from Gozo, Malta, to London to experience it firsthand, and I know of at least one other Maltese gamer—Ric—who will be attending as well. We connected through a Reddit post about Flames of War in Malta, though we’ve yet to meet in person.

    The Plan: Shopping, Gaming, and Connecting

    With Malta’s limited local wargaming stockists, one of my primary objectives is to take full advantage of Salute’s trade hall. Many of the specialist wargaming products—be it terrain, miniatures, rulebooks, or accessories—are simply unavailable here. As usual, I’ll be travelling with two empty suitcases to fill up with wargaming supplies. I plan to stock up on things I’ve had my eye on for months and grab a few impulse buys because, let’s be honest, it wouldn’t be Salute without a little bit of that!

    Beyond shopping, I’m particularly excited about the participation games. Salute has a well-earned reputation for hosting some of the best demo and participation games in the world, covering everything from historical battles to sci-fi skirmishes. The historical wargaming focus at Salute is especially appealing, as it’s something we don’t get as much in Malta but is quite popular here on Gozo. Whether it’s Napoleonic clashes, Vietnam firefights, or Warhammer 30k battles, I’ll be getting hands-on with as many as possible. Of course, I’ll also be taking a ton of photos to document the experience—both for the blog and to share with fellow historical wargamers in Malta and Gozo who couldn’t make it.

    Event Highlights: Exclusive Miniatures and Exciting Games

    One of the standout features of Salute is the exclusive miniatures offered to attendees. This year, the first 5,000 guests will receive a goodie bag containing the official Salute 52 miniature: Lieutenant Colonel James Macdonell, renowned for his defense of Hougoumont farmhouse during the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Additionally, a digital miniature of a Highlander Mech Pilot will be available as a free download via a QR code in the show guide.

    The event will also showcase a variety of participation and demonstration games. While specific game titles are still being finalized, past Salute events have featured a diverse range of historical and fantasy scenarios, ensuring there’s something for every wargaming enthusiast.

    Vendors to Watch: Must-Visit Stalls at the Trade Hall

    The trade hall at Salute is a treasure trove for wargamers, featuring a vast array of vendors offering unique products. Here are some of the exhibitors I’m particularly excited to visit:

    Travel and Accommodation: A Guide for Historical Wargamers in Malta and Gozo

    If you’re considering making the trip to Salute next year (or even at the last minute this year), here’s what you need to know:

    • Flights: Direct flights from Malta to London are plentiful, with options from Air Malta, Ryanair, and easyJet. Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted are all viable options, with good connections to ExCeL London, where Salute is held.
    • Accommodation: Staying near ExCeL can be pricey, but there are more affordable options in Stratford or Canary Wharf, both of which have great public transport links. Budget hotels like Premier Inn or Travelodge are solid choices, or you can go for Airbnb if traveling with a group.
    • Transport: The Elizabeth Line and DLR are your best bets for reaching ExCeL. An Oyster card or contactless payment card makes getting around London easy.
    • Tickets: Salute tickets can be bought online in advance or on the day at the venue. Buying ahead is recommended to avoid queues and get in early.

    Join Me at Salute!

    If you’re in Malta and thinking about attending, drop me a message! Whether it’s for this year or planning for 2026, it would be fantastic to get a group together and represent the historical wargaming scene from Malta and Gozo. Salute is an event that needs to be experienced in person, and I’d love to see more of us making the trip. Stay tuned for my post-event write-up, and if you’re heading to Salute, let’s connect!

  • The Other Partisan 2024

    The Other Partisan 2024

    Back in October year I visited The Other Partisan in Newark, UK.

    I took the train to Nottingham hoping to drop into Warhammer World, but unfortunately it was closed for the weekend, so I headed off to Warlord Games HQ next to stock up on Bolt Action Supplies for the club here in Gozo.

    I never got around to posting, so here is a quick photodump from the event and all the amazing tabletop displays.

    I did a bit of shopping, here’s the haul I brought back to Malta, all the bits I needed for our Bolt Action western desert campaign, my future partisan army, wild west games, WWI and any rulebook I could find:

    Next up is Salute in London coming up on 12 April 2025. Fingers crossed I’ll have a few folks from Malta coming along for the ride.

  • NOVA Open 2023: Horus Heresy Opening Salvo

    NOVA Open 2023: Horus Heresy Opening Salvo

    A year or two back I was watching my first game of Horus Heresy at the Board Room in Alrington with the Victory Gamers crew. I’d always wanted a RT/2nd Edition Squat Army and they told me about the V1 Cults & Militia army list. I was sold, so after a few too many beers I impulse purchased one squat army on Ebay, then another.

    And then Horus Heresy V2 was released. And there were no rules for Militia anymore, so I built and Imperial Fists and an Alpha Legion Army. Fast forward another year and they were released so I was finally able to run a squat militia army using the Kinfolk Helots and Survivor’s of the Dark age provenances of war. I’d purchased the Ramshackle games land train. and finally settled on proxying it as both a Malcador for the front, and a cargo 8 land-hauler for the carriages(though I never used them at the event) – the titans were for BLAM. The Baneblade is an old armorcast one. Squat trikes were run as sentinels and bikers were calvary. Lasgunners were regular infantry while those with boltguns were run as grenadiers in Rhinos. I’ll try and do a proper post on my squat army in the near future.

    Opening Salvo is the first part of the NOVA Heresy event, where you bring multiple 2500 point lists, and each mission builds upon the next across all following events before finishing off at BLAM (Big Lasers and Missles)- an epic mulitplayer 3000 point battle with no force restrictions and an emphasis on superheavies and titans.

    Of course I wasn’t the only militia player at the event. There was also an amazing 3D printed horde of RT imperial army style militia by Damien Garcia (who I later ended up playing at the Squarehammer event on the weekend) that was my favorite army on display.

    The event was great fun, with the Squats doing suprisingly well winning two games and losing 1, mostly due to the meta of the event being focused on killing marines and not being equipped for hordes of low armored infantry. The tanks got chewed up, with glancing hits counting as penetrating, but still lasted longer than I expected, and the militia lascannon squad did work!

  • NOVA Open 2023: Horus Heresy BLAM

    NOVA Open 2023: Horus Heresy BLAM

    BLAM (Big Lasers and Missiles) is the penultimate event of the Battle for Theta Garmon. I ran a maniple of Armocast Titans consisting of two Warhounds and a Reaver Titan that got chewed up after deploying a little too close and a few too many beers. An absolutely great event to participate in thats a must attend for anyone wanting to use some big toys in Horus Heresy. And – unlike the Titan walk, they allow for older Armorcast stuff!

    Check out the video from the NOVA Open team below:

  • NOVA Open 2023: Squarehammer

    NOVA Open 2023: Squarehammer

    I attended the NOVA Open in Washington DC last week, participating in the Horus Heresy and Squarehammer events running Squats in Horus Heresy as Imperial Militia and Dwarves for Warhammer Armies Project.

    First game up for Squarehammer I ended up playing the other Imperial Militia player from the 30k event who just like me had the 30k rules on the brain. Thankfully we had Blue the TO standing next to us. First time I’ve every been videoed playing a wargame and it definately threw me a bit.

    Apologies from both of us if we got things wrong, we were both re learning a game we hadn’t played in years, recovering from hangovers and getting mixed up between multiple rule systems. And yes, I had the microphone way to close to my mouth!

    Heres the army I ran, mostly battle for skull pass miniatures, along with some old GW and Marauder slayers and a unit of Hammerers and Ironbreakers that I need to give a repaint.

    I didn’t take a tonne of photos at the event, but my two favorite armies were this Oldhammer chaos army of Rustys as well as a 5th edition Bretonnian army (one of my next projects is a 3rd ed army for TOW using foundry miniatures casts):

  • Las Vegas Open 2023 & Horus Heresy Narrative Event

    Las Vegas Open 2023 & Horus Heresy Narrative Event

    This year Tim and Mike decided to travel to Las Vegas to take part in the LVO Horus Heresy Narrative event “Advance on Rioh Prime”. This 3 day event used its own unique list building format as follows:

    Day 1 (Friday): Landing Party

    The first day is designed to represent the various scouting and fast moving components of the forces landing on the surface of Rioh Prime ahead of the main advance. Lists must be built to 2000 points with the following Restrictions:

    • No Flyers without a transport Capacity – These are occupied in dog fights
    • No Primarchs
    • No Characters with the Unique Type (i.e. Named Characters)
    • No Allied Detachment

    Day 2 (Saturday): Targeted Advance

    The second day is designed to represent the reinforcement of the initial landing parties and their advancement on their objectives. Lists must be built to 3000 points with the following Restrictions:

    • Your list must contain the entirety of your list from Day 1
    • There are no additional vehicle restrictions. (i.e. you may add flyers without transport capacities)
    • No Primarchs
    • No Characters with the Unique Type (i.e. Named Characters)
    • No Titans

    Day 3 (Sunday): The Fate of Rioh Prime

    The third day is designed to represent the climactic final gambit of both Loyalist and Traitor. The conflict expanding to draw in Primarchs, Warriors of Legend, and Titan Legios alike. Lists may be built up to any point level and are UNRESTRICTED. Players may participate in either the Main Conflict Tables as Mega Battles, or in smaller conflicts at standard 6’x4’. We are also attempting to source a large Zone Mortalis to offer a Zone Mortalis Mega Battle as well. This means:

    • Alternative Force Organization Charts may be used
    • Your list does not require the inclusion of your list from days 1 or 2.
    • It is recommended you bring lists both with and without your primarch/named character (just in case)
    • Only one Primarch or Character with the Unique Type (i.e. Named Characters) may be included in your list.

    I decided to fly with carry on only using United Airlines, so was limited to what I could fit in the overhead storage – which led me to purchasing a P.A.C.K. 432 2.0 Molle Horizontal with Magna Rack Slider Load Out from Battlefoam. This is a great bit of kit that is perfect for carry on travel and the Molle attachments allow you to add extra storage when you land (I add a dump pouch and a drink bottle holder).

    For army I decided to play Traitor Alpha Legion running a Headhunter Lethiathal – this means that headhunters count as troops and I needed to have more headhunter squads than fast attack or heavy support and all vehicles start in reserve. I thought to myself, dreadnaughts don’t count as vehicles, so packed a couple of Lethiathans and some comptemptors, and ran a squad of Iron Warriors iron havoks as my reward of treachery. Throw in a large unit of 10 recon marines with nemeis bolters, a trusty imperial fist as a sabateur and some tactical marines and the army was good to go.

    With only carry on I wanted to pack light, and stuck to the essentials:

    I landed a few hours earlier than Tim, headed to the Rio (which was the official hotel – always try to stay at the official place if you can, it makes life a lot easier especially when you’ve got a few beers in you) and needed to kill some time. Which led me to visiting a place that I’ve always wanted to – Battlefield Vegas.

    I got to tick a few things off the bucket list, including firing a .50 BMG Barrett Sniper Rifle, along with Battlefield’s Cold War Warsaw Pack Package of a Czech Vz.-61 Scorpion Machine Pistol, a Hungarian AMD-65 Assault Rifle a Czech Vz-58 Assault Rifle and a Bulgarian PKM Light Machine Gun before touring their display of military vehicles and a ride back to the hotel in one of their Humvees to meet up with Tim.

    I had to take Tim to see the “real” Las Vegas, so off in an uber we went to Freemont Street, where we headed for the one and only Heart Attack Grill. For those who don’t know what the Heart Attack Grill is (like my unsuspecting victim Tim), its the sort of place where the vegan menu is Indian Spirit Cigarettes, people over 300LBs eat free and the spokesperson died of a completely unrelated heart attack. You wear a hospital gown upon admittance, the waitresses are dressed as nurses, and if you don’t finish your meal, you’ll get a paddling. Did I mention I took my wife there when she was still a vegetarian a few years back?

    I ended up playing the first two days, but ran out of energy by the 3rd day (and I needed to jump on a plane back home). I didn’t take a tonne of photos, or write down much as to be honest – I was just having fun gaming with a bunch of folks with amazingly painted armies who were just there for a great time. There were some close games, my Saboteur got up to some backline shenanigans, Headhunters did work, almost survived a drop pod assault and I got absolutely demolished by some Custodes. Every game was enjoyable, though I had to remortgage the house to pay for the convention center beer prices.

  • Historicon 2022

    Historicon 2022

    Historicon is one of those “Must attend” events if you are on the east coast and have an interest in miniature wargaming. Located in Lancaster Pennsylvania, it’s an easy drive from the Washington DC area, whether its for a day or the whole event.

    If staying the whole event, make sure to book your accommodation early as the room blocks sell out really fast leaving the only available rooms left at the last minute to be very, very expensive or you end up staying a few miles away.

    It’s an event with a wide range of historical (and not so historical) wargaming tournaments, participation games and seminars as well as one of the best trade shows in the country and Wally’s Basement, a wargaming swap meet where you’ll get some great deals on all sorts of wargaming supplies.

    Little Wars TV did an amazing job of covering the convention in the video:

    Some of my favorite tables and participation games from this years event are below.

  • Historicon 2019

    Historicon 2019

    Way back in 2019 I was running Wargaming3D.com and wrote up my experiences attending Historicon for the first time, mostly from a 3D printing perspective. You can find the original blog post here.

    Littlewars TV did some great coverage of the event here:

    Here are some of the photos that I took at the event: