A wargamer looks at IWM and Sutton Hoo

IWM meaning Imperial War Museum.   To an american even the name sounds cool.  I had been to the IWM about 15 years earlier and had been alittle disappointed. They have to cover a great deal of history in a small space and did so primarily with story boards.   So when my Dad and brother wanted to go I set low expectations.  

The big guns out front are very cool!!

I didn't remember the main hall

having so much cool stuff!

I was pleasantly surprised.   They seemed to have much more stuff now.   The Spitfire was still there as was the Matilda but there was plenty of other stuff as well.  A sherman, Jagdpanther, Monty's tank and some WW I stuff.  In short, it was a great  (3 hours) afternoon.  While not as much stuff as Duxford it is definatly worth a visit and it is free.



This baby actually defended London during the blitz

and shot down 2 german planes!

On a separate day I went up to Sutton Hoo.  That is were the largest burial ship of Saxon times was found in Britian in 1939.  It is only about 40 minutes form my house.  You can see the burial mounds still though they have been erroded and there is a small museum.  A plus for us there a numerous walking trails that are beagle friendly.  We met this guy...

I bet he gets at least 5 attack dice in SAGA!

They also recreated the burial chamber which helped set the stage.

Across the river Styx

I enjoyed it but it focused on the archeology rather than the saxons so not wargamer useful.  There is a anglo-saxon village at West Stow that is more wargamer friendly that I will have to report on.

Just so everyone doesn't think all I do is travel around thinking about wargaming.  Below is a picture of me in the Louvre contemplating the influence of Dutch painters on the impressionist movement.







Enjoy

Joe