Last week I got a few things off my bucket list as we took a father&son trip to England for some military history and miniatures gaming themed quality time!
First we visited the National Army Museum and the Imperial War Museum in London, then the Tank Museum in Bovington. Next up was Warhammer World and a behind the scenes tour at Warlord Games in Nottingham, and Finally Salute 2024.
National Army Museum & Imperial War Museum
I've been to London a couple of times before, but I haven't had the time to visit these two before. We were especially interested to see stuff related to the Napoleonic Wars and World War 1 and were not disappointed. Plenty to see. And a lock of Napoleon's hair.
Bovington Tank Museum
The tank museum had lots of tanks, many of which you'll be hard pressed to see anywhere else. Apart from the obvious big cats, the highlight of the collection for me was the several WW1 tanks on display there. There was also a live show with tanks driving around which was good fun.
Warhammer World
Warhammer world had plenty of huge battle dioramas, mostly made with modern miniature ranges. There was enough nostalgia available for old beards as well, fortunately. There was also a very well stocked Warhammer Store there (I finally got that copy of Realm of Chaos Lost & Damned) and of course, Bugman's bar. All in all, a great experience too. I'm a bit angry that one of the original Weta Anduril swords gifted the GW is unceremoniously crammed into a corner behind a door though.
Warlord Games
We had reserved a Behind the scenes tour at Warlord Games while in Nottingham. They manufacture, store and ship all their non-plastics on site and it was nice to see everything in action. They were very kind to us even though I'm sure Salute week meant they were quite busy.
Salute 2024
Last but not least, we attended Salute. I've always wanted to see a UK wargames show and Salute is the biggest one (at least I think so). We went there early and my son actually got pole position and was the first punter in.
It was a very trade oriented show with so many companies selling their goods a lot of our time was spent going through them and shopping. There was enough time to look at all the games too though and we participated in a couple of demo games and a 20 min speed painting competition (Not to brag but I won).
Also, Richard Clarke treated me to his rendition of the Monty Python Finland song.
The best bit of the trip was that I could share it with my son. His positive attitude and joy was infectious and we made many happy, lasting memories on our trip together. Like running three kilometers through the busiest part of London to catch our train to Nottingham as the underground service was suspended due to someone jumping on the tracks ahead. We made it to our connecting train to Nottingham sweaty, out of breath and with three minutes to spare before the platform gate closing. Good times.
Yeah. There was so much loot we could barely get our baggage to fit the airline weight limits.
