Tomorrow is Good Friday, and whilst the rest of you are scarpering to the beach in this glorious weather, clutching your melting Easter eggs, I shall be hard at work finishing issue 7 of the magazine, hoping to get it to the printers at the end of next week so that they, in turn, can deliver the finished copies in time for Salute on Saturday 21st April.
In which regard, I want to extend my thanks to John Treadaway of the Warlords for responding swiftly to my question about squeezing in a 6 foot stand for me though, sadly, he had to respond in the negative, as the show is now packed out. Therefore I shall have to join the list of those who, like vultures on a telegraph wire, are hoping for someone else to cancel.
Never mind, I shall certainly be at the show. In its new venue at Excel, this really is the UK hobby’s prestige trade event and I’m sure that many thousands will pass through the doors on the day. Doubtless it will be followed by endless complaints on TMP of the prevalence of large rucksacks and suggestions that personal hygiene products should be handed out at the door, but these are trifling matters in comparison to the sheer impact that a show of this size can have. At least, not being tied to a trade stand, I shall be able to wander around, say hello to lots of traders (hard to believe, but I know there are still quite a few I’ve never met) and, I hope, meet many of the people who have contributed to Battlegames in one way or another, whether by writing for it or simply buying it!
I’m sure that Dave Ryan of Caliver Books, Paul Meekins of his eponymous company, and Glenn Ford of Hersants will do a sterling job of selling the magazine on my behalf, and I shall load up the boot with extra copies just in case. Paul Meekins sold over 100 copies of issue 1 on his own last year, so goodness knows what might happen this time!
Right, then, back to work. I’ve just finished reading Osprey’s little introductory title about the Greek and Persian Wars, which has reminded me of many of the things I learned at university way back when. I did a course on the Greek City State, and I had forgotten how much I learned about the Greeks and Persians at the time, a sign of getting old, I’m sure, when you’ve forgotten that you already knew something! Anyway, it’s made excellent coffee-break reading for the past week, and I’m now itching to get at those hoplites again, but they’d better wait until the magazine is done or you lot will send out a lynching party!
Whatever you’re doing, have a great Easter.
You too Henry.
D.