Salute 2016 - Part 1 - thoughts and first photo dump...

I'm a bit late to the party as most of the Bloggerati have already put finger to keyboard with their thoughts and photos, but with a brand new camera this year (my trusty Olympus couldn't quite manage being dropped on it's extended lens from the top of my tripod!) I had slightly more pictures than normal to sort out, but I also wanted time to marshal my thoughts....

So thoughts first.... and DG and I have attended loads of Salutes - I think we first start attending when the event was in the Town Hall in Chelsea (perhaps the last year it was there which makes our first visit 1998 or 1999), but certainly through all the years it was at Olympia and Excel - difficult to believe but this is the tenth year the show has been at Excel... either way, we have some history and we've paid our dues with the show and the Warlords..

I would say that over the years the pair of us have noticed the same changes that others have noticed, specifically the increasing ratio of fantasy/science fiction as opposed to historical, but I would say that this year in particular was the first time that I have specifically thought I was attending a fantasy/science fiction based game show where the historical side of the hobby have been invited along, where in previous years I would have said it was more the other way (though getting close).. don't get me wrong, I love to look at little metal men in whatever they're wearing but clearly my interests are historical and if there's not so much of that then the wisdom of :

• driving for 5 hours - two and a half hours each way 
• spending twenty or twenty five quid on petrol
• spending £15 on parking
• and spending £10 on a ticket each

...is questioned...  DG and I split the bill down the middle, but basically we are each spending the better part of £30 just to attend, never mind the time we are also giving up when we could be doing something else, so it does become a bit of a talking point...😏

So this year - did it live up to £30? For me yeeeeeeeeeeesss, just about... I love the buzz, the enthusiasm, the sheer size of the show..  I wonder if Charles Grant (Snr)/Don Featherstone/Peter Young and the others knew what they'd started all those years ago! I thought the standard of the games and demo's were good (if not outstanding in some cases), I was disappointed not to see more historical traders (the one thing I am in the market for is a few more TSS terrain tiles but they have made it impossible for me to buy from them - postal charges are ludicrous and they don't attend shows!). I thought the use of space was poor - stands crammed together in some cases, but surrounded by large open spaces,  I also thought the attendance was up this year which made it difficult to get to a lot of the stands...

For DG? No, he thinks he'll give it one more year and then perhaps decide not to bother...  for him the situation is a no brainer, he had money to spend and couldn't find anything to spend it on, and it wasn't as if he was looking for anything unusual - just terrain items ...

Anyway - onwards and upwards - the Warlords should be congratulated on running such a huge show seemingly effortlessly and efficiently - whether DG or I found anything to interest is immaterial compared to the behemoth task that is running Salute - well done to them..!

So on to the loot - none for me - not a sausage, nada, nuffink...  I didn't have a shopping list, but I also didn't see anything that made me think "ooh, shiny" and make me reach for my wallet...

So games, and first off a collection that I thought were brilliant enough to take pictures of, but not in my top five for the day...  so without further ado...

Almost opposite the entrance - impossible to miss - and put me in mind of all those Uhtred books by Cornwell - I'm a sucker for a boat and these Viking long ships were exquisite....

Put on by blogger Delauppror [clicky] using big battle "Lion Rampant" rules - "Battle at Foteviken 1134" - click the link for more details...

...and just to show I'm not a total xenophobe where it comes to fantasy gaming - I thought this was amazing.... completely and totally mad (as in a bucketful of frogs) but so much to look at and so much skill...  Chesterfield Gaming Society I believe...

..from the desert in the foreground, across green fields, to an ice landscape in the distance...

...and lots of woolly mammoths..  and a giant..  superb modelling whether you are interested in Fantasy or not!

More super scenery - the figures were kind of secondary! Demo game by Oshiro Model Terrain ''The Adventures of Paul Darke'' a smuggling game...

Look at the detail in those cliffs - amazing!

Back to the boats...  MDF 18th Century warships - astonishing! Marketed by Capitan [clicky]in support of their "Squadron Commander" rules..  I thought the masts were a little tall, but that's easily fixable..  what amazed was what you can do these days with MDF and a laser cutter!

So good you don't even need to paint it...!

Lance and Longbow Society's take on Hastings - TSS terrain tiles used well...

Next, New Buckenham Historical Wargamers [clicky] have a go at Agincourt, and I think do a really good job of it....

Click to embigen - well worth it...

Last pictures for this post - these are 54mm Napoleonic’s by Victrix and part of their participation game set in Spain in 1800...  not my scale, but I love the period and the theatre....

..figures were beautifully painted..

Stay tuned for a top 5, pop pickers....