SELWG 14 Report

Well the day had started very dull with a little chill in the air as I slowly walked down to the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre to the SELWG Wargaming Show. It was that time of year again for my only wargaming show that I go too.

Arriving at the doors at about 11 am the price of entry fee remained at £6 but I also had with me my partner and one of my granddaughters. So I purchased a family ticket for £10 which saved me a bit of cash. Once getting my ticket and the bag with the show guide in side, which did not have many pages in just the floor plan in now, I moved on.

Being that I did not have much money on me due to my situation and that I had a very sort shopping list, I was really looking forward to this as it gave me a break from job hunting.

The top hall seemed a little empty which started alarm bells ring and when we got round to the Bring & Buy stand it was rammed packed. So I came back to this later.

First on my visit around the trade stands I went to Harfields as they do a lot of second hand plastic figures, it’s were I brought a bag of Airfix British Infantry last year. To my surprise there was a lot of Napoleonic Airfix figures not only in bags but in unopened boxes and not at a bad price either. But I have all that I want at the moment until I start painting at least.

So after a quick look around the top hall, it was down the stairs to the main hall. This was well empty and in the middle of the hall was a big empty space for either wargaming clubs or traders that had not turned up.

 

So going around the trade stands I noticed that some of the big companies were not present. 4 Ground laser buildings did not attend which was a great shame but there were plenty of traders selling their kits. The Waterloo farm of La Haye Sainte in 28mm looked fantastic but at £275 it was out of my reach. I hope that this will be done in 20mm. Warbase again did not attend so as I wanted some more bases I went to Colonel Bills and found some of theirs.

With the clubs, it seems that there was not much to look at although a few caught my eye. Newbury & Reading Wargaming Society called “The Defence of France” was just one of two Napoleonic games to see.

 

The best wargame this year for me was from the Deal Wargames Society with their 15mm “Vietnam” game. Not much was moving but the display was great. 

 

The one participation game that caught my eye was from the Crawley Wargames Club with their “Chariot Race” which those who took part in had great fun.

 

 

In all the show was a great disappointment to me with empty spaces and with the attendance down, plenty of room to move around in. I left the show at 1 pm. With the anniversary of Waterloo next year, will people’s interest come back? I hope so.