Trumpeter Salute 2013 - Burnaby, B.C.

Just got back from Vancouver, B.C. with my gaming buddy, Pat L. (aka Socal Warhammer). We attended the 40th Anniversary of Trumpeter Salute in Burnaby, B.C. It was the first time attending this convention for both of us. There wasn't as large a turn out as we had expected, but there were still a lot of nice games and the folks are very nice too. Mike Evans of Relic Miniatures stopped by on Friday night and took Pat and I to his old stomping grounds in Richmond and treated us to a fantastic Greek dinner. Pat, who is part Greek, and Mike spent the evening discussing the finer points of Greco-Roman/Hellenistic armament and tactics. I just enjoyed the lamb souvlaki and Greek beer.

Here are just a few photos of the many games that were going on throughout the weekend.

Battle of Camden 1780 (AWI) by Mike Bovill, Muskets in the America's

Battle of Crysler's Farm, War of 1812 by Colin Upton, Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon

Let's Go Find That Gun by Wayne Johnson, Bolt Action. I participated in this game and got unusually great (for me) die rolls - stopping the advance of British Commandos who were trying to destroy the German guns.

Battle of LaRothiere 1814 by Doug Hamm, General de Corps - there was a variety of 28mm figures used - from HaT 28mm and Old Glory 1st Ed. to Foundry, Perry and Victrix. They looked fine all together on the table.

Busy Day in Kandahar by Cameron Widen, Force on Force. I was remiss to go back to his table and take more photos after the game started; but I was busy holding off the British and Canadians in the Bolt Action game I was playing in at the time.

Hold that Line (FPW) by Pierre Stolte, They Died For Glory.

Battle of Mantinea by Dave Smith, Hail Caesar. My buddy Pat hung around this table providing solicited advice and opinions of the rules. This game too had a wide range of figures - from the newer plastic 28's to some very old, and OOP, stuff of slightly smaller proportions - but still grand looking on the table.

Pirates, Pirates, Pirates! by Gord Colter & Bill Elliot, Savage Worlds Showdown- a fantastic looking game with beautiful models and terrain. It won Best of Period on Sunday.

Even Whites Bleed Red by Brian Burger, Through the Mud and the Blood. A cool looking game with aircraft, armored cars, trains and cossacks.

There was a well-attended 40K tournament on Saturday, and also a Warhammer Fantasy Battles tournament on Sunday. Pat participated in the WFB tournament with his Vampire army. This was the first time I've ever seen either of these types of games played, being a historical guy. As it has been said, WAB is WFB without the magic - and so it indeed appears to be. I'm not into casting spells and such, but always admired the look of an Empire army - very Late-Medieval/Early-Rennassaince look. Fortuitously (or maybe not), I managed to pick up a couple of boxes of Empire infantry for a fraction of what they'd normally go for at the Bring and Buy. Speaking of the B&B, Doug Hamm (aka Larry Leadhead), who follows my blog (please check his out at Dots of Paint) saw I was interested in FIW and lugged about 5 pounds of Front Rank FIW lead for me. As I'm only doing skirmish he was shocked that I only cherry picked a handful of Rangers and coureur des bois - at .25 cents a piece! I even picked up some scratch-built terrain that someone was kind enough to mark for free at the Bring and Buy - I'll use them in my Bolt Action game next month.

I hope I don't regret getting these Empire troops - please feel free to share your thoughts on this venture. Those are some Relic figures, including a Minotaur, above the Front Rank guys.