A Wargaming Gallimaufry: I have been to... Cavalier 2026

Wednesday, 25 February 2026

I have been to... Cavalier 2026

I only made it 1 show last year...Salute, almost a year ago. I usually get along to Colours and Warfare later in the year but these clashed with work or family things and, to be honest, I wasn't really fussed about going along. This year I feel a bit more like getting back out in the wider wargamey world but then realised that Salute this year will clash with a big day at work so that's out of the question.

One of the shows I always enjoyed going to is Cavalier in Tonbridge, Kent. Checking the blog it turns out it's been a shocking 9 years since I was last at the show. It's a fairly modest, quite traditional show and must be one of the earliest in the year. So on Sunday it was off round a remarkably quiet M25 and, after a bit of negotiating some road closures, into the Angel Centre.

Like I said, Cavalier is a pretty traditional shoe but has its own charm. Nearly all the games were historical (with a couple of exceptions) and the traders, apart from Warlord Games and a couple of others, seemed to be more smaller companies.

The games were pretty good... a good mix of demo and participation games. My usual gripe about organisers of games concentrating more on the game than interacting still stands in a couple of cases but most were pretty good at engaging the punters. I bumped into a couple of people I knew... one from my old Guildford club, and it was nice to catch up with Ray of Don't Throw a 1 fame. I bought precisely... nothing.

I spent a while browsing but there wasn't anything that caught my eye and I stuck to my resolve (mentioned in my last post) of not hoovering up yet more rules that I don't need. ( my name is Alastair and it has been 3 weeks since my last rules purchase....)

So here are a small selection of photies... sometimes I've even made a note of the subject and club, apologies if I didn't. I also missed a few games