Diary of a nervous wreck
Or
Preparing for salute 2001
Date: Back in the mists of time.
Back when we first formed the London Gamers, a lose group of acquaintances
and occasional opponents down at the local GW Club, we were full
of ambition and vision. Our dream was to host tournaments and put
on shows, be the best we could be and get a name among the gaming
community. Needless to say you can’t always get what you want and
the logistics of the various events was way beyond our meagre means.
There was though something we could try.
One of the things we had noticed as we attended show after show
was how stuffy and inaccessible the display games often seemed to
be. The kind of games we were playing at the club, full of shouting
and jeering, arguments and above all fun, seemed to be a million
miles from the things we would see. Four or five heavily bearded
fellows with the uniform of bushy beard and stripy dowel rod sitting
about a green sheeted table. One with an enormous ring binder upon
their lap and toting a scientific calculator and slide rule whilst
their compatriots moved figures around with pinpoint precision and
reverential care. All was conducted in a priestly silence as if
to utter a word was to spoil the deep spirituality of the moment.
In a word dull.
Oh, there were those who obviously enjoyed the gaming and were glad
to be playing but this joy was never to be communicated to the public.
It was a thing for them alone and none to share but the opponent
of the day. Our task was clear. Show the world the joy of wargaming
and involve them in that joy. We must put on a game.
Date: April 2000
The first day I ever wore contact lenses. Not relevant to the tale
but we remember what we will. Having just left the employ of a well
know high street wargaming retailer (in, I might add a most spectacular
and impressive manner) the club put on the glad rags and hit the
town. We were off to Salute 2000, an enormous show and a fine day
out for all the family. This day was to become a turning point in
the clubs history. For one I was hardly ever seen in glasses there
after and became a total babe magnet! Filled with the joys of the
day and somewhat unimpressed with the GW Warmaster gaming we travelled
home and vowed we should produce a show winning demo game. And so
it began
Date: May 2000
The next big show on the calendar that we could attend en-masse
was colours. We swiftly applied and set about deciding on the theme
of our game. Many ideas were tossed into the bull-pen where one
suggestion turned out to be a clear leader.
Many of us had read and enjoyed Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord Trilogy
and were keen to recreate one of the battles there in. Should it
be Lugge Vale or the battle near London? Obviously there was only
one real contender. Mynnyd Baddon. Planning begins In earnest.
Date: July 2000
Our hopes are crushed. It appears that our application for Colours
was submitted to late. All our preparation is for naught and the
stuff was mothballed.
Date: August 2000
We’re back in business! Andy Sherwell, club chairman and owner of
Gripping beast miniatures, tips us the nod that we may have a chance
at a table at Salute2001. Corkin’! All the old plans come out and
the ground work is set. It’s gonna be big. The table is mapped out
and comes in at 12’ by 5’. I get to work on figure ratios and force
composition and we decide on a battle of around 400 figures a side.
So, the challenge then. Buy, clean, assemble and paint just under
1000 miniatures and construct 60 sq feet of table top in a little
under nine months. Easy. Then the thought occurs. What if we don’t
get the table? So we wait. Planning continues and the logistics
are worked out. Andy generously offers the club a sizable discount
on the figures and we decide to use exclusively GB miniatures. A
month later and everything is in place but still no confirmation.
Date: Late November 2000
At last. We have the all clear. The space is ours to fill and we
can get cracking on the physical work. Now though we have only five
months, with Christmas and new year that gives us only 16 Club meeting
to get everything done. 1000 figures. 80 hours. Five men on the
painting team. Maths tells us we have only 24 minutes to clean,
assemble, paint and base each figure. This could be a tricky one.
Date: December 2000
This year Christmas and New Year fall on Mondays. The club meet
on Mondays. Bugger. Two weeks lost and many members are reluctant
to take figs home to paint as many are preparing their own armies
for a tournament in January. Bugger. Things are starting to get
tense. Cash restrictions and other logistics mean we can only buy
figs in 40 man chunks so can’t get them painted fast enough. Bugger.
It all feels like its unravelling at our feet and to make matters
worse I have completely failed to budget for terrain costs. Bugger.
I put my brain to sleep for a bit and enjoy Christmas.
Date: January 2001
A new millennium and finally things are on track. Our total painted
figures as of new years day are a paltry 53. Thirty of these I painted
over the holidays. Suddenly everything goes into high gear. With
the pressure of Christmas out of the way the guys attack the task
with renewed vigour. Figures are prepped by the bucket load and
on one occasion I go home with 120 men ready for the brush. Figures
are disappearing off to the guys houses and coming back done. The
special conversions I have been doing are put on hold as we go into
full painting mode. Fantastic. The scenery guys seem to get a new
lease of life too. What seems like a lot of discussion and not a
lot of work to the painting crew suddenly transforms a pile of polystyrene
in to a fantastic rolling countryside. The team is working great.
I am finally relaxing after a couple of worrying months. I decide
now is a good time to quit the fags. Then Andy drops a bombshell
at my feet. Rob Broom, Grand Poobah of the WPS would like to incorporate
their team in with our game at salute. Then he asks if this is okay
with me. You have to understand, Andy is the guvnor and what he
says goes. You understand my confusion. This is when he tells me
that the guys see this as my baby and he wanted to check. Great
suddenly this team effort has a leader. Someone to blame if it all
goes wrong. A built in scapegoat. Suddenly I’m a nervous wreck again
and experiencing a brand new mental state, paranoia. I am however
still off the fags.
To find out how our efforts are going check out the events page
for what’s happening at the moment.
Cheers,
Soapy, nervous wreck.
Treasurer, London Gamers.
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