@Basementboy: Yeah, it's a lovely event. I hadn't seen Necropolis games in the flesh so far; had a little chat with one of the guys who ran that table. It sounds interesting. I'm not a fan of these small boards or all too small skirmish games (I skirmish more than enough already
), but I see the appeal.
@Sakuragi Miniatures: Yeah, wargaming in Japan seems to be an interesting topic. Back when I used Twitter I followed a whole lot of figure painters and modellers from Japan, because these guys are incredibly good and I got to see things I usually wouldn't. This way I also got to see picture and video reports of the big modelling shows and such, which is great. I'd love to go to Japan some day. Learn about the history, see the sights and the country, watch some grappling, gawk at some painted figures, gunpla and model kits. However, wargaming outside of GW didn't look to be very prevalent, at least judging from the little bubble I'm in. Do you have any idea why that could be? Is it a matter of space? Historical reasons? Here in Austria (and the whole German-speaking region) the fact that wargaming isn't as diverse and sprawling as say in the UK has historical reasons. Since WW2, militarism of course was scorned, playing war was not something that was done. When in the early 2000s stores started stocking Flames of War figures (WW2), some of them got into real trouble with incensed parents. Which of course is funny, because that was the time a huge wave of WW2 first person shooters were played on PCs and consoles everywhere.
But okay. Over the past 20 years that got more relaxed, but I think that wargaming will always be a niche thing (and that's good. Niches are good. Broad mass phenomena are something to keep a distance from, I think.).
In that sense, Austrian Salute really is a great institution, and really the only show of that sort we have here in the whole country. There are wargames clubs in Vienna and around it, but they play 90% sci-fi/fantasy things, and in a rather regulated, tournament-y, points-based fashion. Which is nice and all, but fails to show the whole variety thart wargaming has to offer. Also, it's just horrifyingly hard to run events in Vienna, since venues are extremely expensive, and the kind of people who like to organize that sort of stuff aren't wargamers, but salespeople who are after: 1.) the latest fashion, 2.) as broad an appeal as possible. And that's just not interesting, that's just one more 40k tournament with a Star Wars table on the side. Again, nothing against either, but it's just not what that sort of event should be.
We have an even smaller historical-only event called VIVAT, which used to happen annually, and which had more variety in games than events of the nature mentioned above, but since COVID it hasn't really happened. I would love to have more events such as Austrian Salute nearby, and recently a few more clubs popped up around Vienna, so maybe we'll have that in the future. I enjoy visiting comic cons, anime conventions, bigger events which also display miniature wargaming (mostly in the shape of GW or other broader fantasy/sci-fi), but at Austrian Salute I feel the most like being among people of my ilk. So yeah, great stufff.
Would be cool to see more about the Japanese wargaming scene though!
22 February 2013, 05:30:17 PM
