By Simon Clarke
On Saturday 13th April we alighted the train for a southbound journey to the ‘big smoke’, and the show that is Salute. Given the nature of the show, and with such a lot of bodies passing through the door, we chose not to run a large, organised game. We just had on hand table and figures, which enabled us to talk through the rules and any mechanisms that passers-by might be interested in. Right from the get-go it was very busy, and we had a lot of interest from overseas players, people new to the period, and old hands.
Since COVID Salute has been slightly more spaced out, and I for one think that makes it a better experience. The fact that everyone was not crushed in gave more far more pleasant vibe about the event, and people were happy to stop and talk for quite a long time. The atmosphere was very relaxed lots of people came to see us and were interested in the game and we spent time talking about the nuances of the rules.
Salute is only a one-day show opening at 10:00 and closing at 16:00 so actually the time you have available is limited, and it does make for quite an intense experience. Well worth it though.
I hope that anybody who passed by enjoyed our discussions and took away information about the game that will be useful for them. We were opposite the Helion stand and it was satisfying to see people following the demonstration going across to flick through the rules at Helion.
The game we ran was using the Warlord English Civil War epic-scale plastic figures, which did attract a lot of attention. From a demonstration perspective it allowed us to show the differences between the Royalist and Parliament cavalry, and how some of the army traits like ‘chequerboard’ work in the rules. Renatio et Gloriam can be quite daunting with the number of rules in there so we just felt it was a good idea to keep things simple.
All the events we do are listed on the Renatio et Gloriam site here:
The next organised event we have for Renatio et Gloriam is at Battlefield Hobbies in Daventry (15/16 Jun 2024), where we will be running an event featuring armies of the British Civil War. Beginners are most welcome and there will be lots of help on hand for any assistance.
Following Coventry there will be an event at Britcon in Nottingham (9/10/11 Aug 2024). There will be a competition and some demonstration games. Again, beginners are welcome. If you don’t feel up to playing in the event, swing by the demo table and look there.
To round off the year we have an event at Warfare (Farnborough – 16/17 Nov 2024). This is for the war of Spanish succession and Great Northern War armies.
The Helion & Co. Military Book Blog 