The SELWG show is held at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. As with most of the southern shows, we set off the day before, heading to our usual digs in Hemel. There was unloading available on the Saturday night this year, but the thought of getting in and out of London on a Saturday evening didn't appeal.
On the Sunday morning, we left Hemel at 6am, with none of us particularly looking forward to navigating our way South of the river. Out of all the shows on the circuit, this one is one of the most stressful, for a variety of reasons, and the journey being one of them. Despite the Blackwall tunnel being shut again (it seems to be closed every year!), we managed to get to the venue with only one minor detour.
On arrival, we headed down to the unloading area for the Main Hall. At this show, van's queue up on the approach to the two unloading points, and then a handful are allowed into the spaces at any one time. The show info had mentioned 7:30am for access, but we got there at 7:40, and were told we had to wait til 8. The venue stewards said this was due to the organisers, the SELWG member I spoke with said it was the stewards! Either way, we got in at 8 sharp, and began unloading the van. It's a good job we bring our own racking roll cage, as the SELWG club had been dropped in it by their trolley supplier, and instead of 30 trolley's, they'd been given 8! :(
The unloading for the SELWG show is unfortunately one of the main negatives to the event. If you get stuck queueing then you struggle to get the stand up for opening, and there's always a bit of a melee outside, with traders trying to jump the queue, or jamming other people in. There isn't really any solution to the problem though, and the SELWG club do their best to keep things moving. This year was a much more relaxed affair, when compared to last year when we were up on the balcony. Balcony traders have to unload at the front of the venue, where you have to carry/wheel all your stock roughly 200 yards to the stand! Multiply that by 7-8 journey's to get everything, and you end up walking a couple of miles to unload! :o
Anyway, we got everything in and started getting the stand together. With the three of us, it went up pretty quickly, and we were just about ready to go at 10am. The only mishap was when a trolley load of stuff for Warlord came a little too close and sent all my tree stock flying. :'(
As folk enter the venue, they actually come in at the higher level, so they tend to head straight to the Bring and Buy:
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... then browse around some of the stands upstairs, and then work their way into the main hall. This took about half an hour, but once it started, we were very busy, all the way through until after lunch time.
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Among the visitors to the show were Eldamarelf, Sandinista, Republic of Tolworth, Paint it Pink and Andysmodels. As usual, I've a feeling there were more... :-\ I also chatted with Germy, who was on one of the display games.
As the clock ticked past 1pm, business slowed, so I went off for my customary wander with the camera. The show guide very handily had all the games listed, so I could tick them off as I got them done. There were some very nice games on offer, especially the Budapest and Crush the Kaiser games. I guess I'm a sucker for nice terrain! It was also great to see 10mm getting a show outing, as the Streatham and Tooting Wargamers put on a Marlburian game. There was an abundance of ACW games as well, a lot of which I think were getting a rerun from Salute this year.
One big change to the organisation of the show this year was in the loading up at the end of the day. The organisers had worked out the distances each trader had travelled to get to the show, and arranged it so that those with the furthest to travel home got to load up their vans first. Now when you're used to getting home after midnight, this is a godsend. Luckily, we were number 5 on the list, so Dave headed out shortly before the show closed at 4pm.
One of the funny moments of the day came when a trader decided to jump the loading queue, and bring their van up early. Cue a name-and-shame on the tannoy system, telling them to shift it back into the car park!
As we pressed the magic button on the till, it turned out that the busy morning had bumped us way up on last year, and overall it had been a very good day for the Pendraken team, certainly good enough to come back next year, if they'll have us! :D
With the van straight outside, we managed to get loaded up and on our way just before 5pm, which is a record for SELWG. With a stop off in Hemel for some grub, we made our way up the M1, and arrived home at 11:30!
So, enough of me waffling, let's get on to the games!
SEEMS - Hordes of the Things
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Newbury and Reading - ACW game
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Peter Pig - ACW Hammerin' Iron
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Mid Anglia Gamers - ACW game
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GLC Wargames Club - ACW, Chickamauga 1863
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Staines Wargames Club - WWII, Taranto Raid 1940
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Loughton Strikeforce - Budapest 1945
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Central London Club - WWI Air War
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South London Warlords - ACW, Bloody Lane, Antietam
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Deal Wargames Club - Operation Barras 2000
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Arbuthnot's League of Gentlemen - Dam the Torpedoes and Full Steam Ahead
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Crawley Wargames Club - WWII Operation Aster
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Shepway Wargames Club - WWII, Warsaw Uprising
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Maidstone Wargames Club - WWII, Bridge Over the River Wye
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Southend Wargames Club - ACW game
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Herne Bay & Whitstable - Crush The Kaiser
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Durham Wargamers
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Essex Warriors - Yom Kippur War 1973
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Tunbridge Wells Club - Crusades, Kingdom of Heaven
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Streatham & Tooting Club - Marlburian in 10mm!
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Society of Ancients
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Werelords Group - Lord of the Rings
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We've got a weekend off now, but then it's the final run in of the year, 5 shows in 6 weekends, before we collapse in a heap at Xmas!
:D
Thanks for the report Leon :D. I always enjoy your reports, because there is no way I'm going ever to visit one! :(
Quote from: Sevej on 21 October 2011, 05:50:47 AM
Thanks for the report Leon :D. I always enjoy your reports, because there is no way I'm going ever to visit one! :(
Maybe one day! If you start walking now, you'll be here in time for Salute next year! ;) :D
Good Job.
Tom H :d
aka Bilbo
Nicely done Leon - that new camera's taking some good pics :-bd
Quote from: nikharwood on 21 October 2011, 10:41:20 PM
Nicely done Leon - that new camera's taking some good pics :-bd
Luckily the camera seems to be better at choosing the settings than me, so I've not knacked it up yet!