I've already posted my initial thoughts on Salute 2016 but having slept on it I have one additional observation to make and I suspect many others felt the same way as I. This years Salute had a weird vibe about it from the start. Several people and traders said the same thing and essentially I think it boils down to the fact that this years show had fewer Clubs and more traders running games. Consequently it felt more like a trade show this year rather than a celebration of our hobby. I've no idea of this was a commercial decision on behalf of the organisers or just the way it turned out but it did feel like there was a lot of unused space that could have been filled by more club demo's and participation games. I still enjoyed my day but it definitely felt different this year. I'd be interested to know what you thought.
It took a long time to sort through the 600+ pictures I took during the day! Many were reference shots of labels and posters so once I have the info transferred to the accompanying pictures I delete these. There were also a LOT of blurry pics and badly lit ones so the 600 got trimmed down to about 250, and that takes time. Then I label them, add tags and upload them, all of which takes a lot longer than writing this post! I have them in some sort of order now and here's a selection of my favourites.
There were many more smaller Demo's and lost of small Participation games but most of these seemed to be run by traders. Lots to see and even more traders to try and get around made the day even more exhausting than usual... or maybe I'm just getting old?!
It took a long time to sort through the 600+ pictures I took during the day! Many were reference shots of labels and posters so once I have the info transferred to the accompanying pictures I delete these. There were also a LOT of blurry pics and badly lit ones so the 600 got trimmed down to about 250, and that takes time. Then I label them, add tags and upload them, all of which takes a lot longer than writing this post! I have them in some sort of order now and here's a selection of my favourites.
| The obligatory shot of the queue...lots of eager gamers! |
| Inside the vast Excel centre. |
| Gillingham & Brown - 28mm - Action at Antietem |
| Gillingham & Brown - 28mm - Action at Antietem |
| The Young Padawan shooing... almost outspent me! |
| RAF - Formula Minion |
| Battle of Hooks Farm |
| Chesterfield Gaming Society - 28mm - Kings of War |
| Swordpoint - 28mm |
| Bill Gaskin & Friends -- 28mm - SYW - Battle of Wilhelmsta |
| Bill Gaskin & Friends -- 28mm - SYW - Battle of Wilhelmsta |
| Ian Smith & Friends - 40mm - Battle of Adrodas - Penninsula |
| Ian Smith & Friends - 40mm - Battle of Adrodas - Penninsula |
| Loughton Strike Force - 28mm - Russo-Finnish War - Battle of Raate Road |
| Loughton Strike Force - 28mm - Russo-Finnish War - Battle of Raate Road |
| Loughton Strike Force - 28mm - Russo-Finnish War - Battle of Raate Road |
| Operation Overlord Participation Game - Based on the Avalon Hill Boardgame I actually signed up for a game and then completely forgot the time and missed my slot! Sorry guys, the game looked excellent. |
| Emily meets the locals |
| Postie gives me a tickle! |
| The Padawn at the EM4 stand. She bought a lot from here! |
| Adrian McWalter and Quinton Dalton - Napoleonic - O'er the Hills |
| Adrian McWalter and Quinton Dalton - Napoleonic - O'er the Hills |
| New Buckenham Historical Wargamers - 28mm - Agincourt |
| Maidstone Wargames Society - 3mm - Road to Homs |
| The Blogger Meet Up. Great to see everyone again. See y'all next year! |
| Heroics and Ros - 6mm - 1986 - Soviet Invasion of Nato |
| Victrix - 54mm - Spain 1800 |
| Victrix - 54mm - Spain 1800 |
| Tunbridge Wells Wargaming Society - 15mm - All Quiet on the Martian Front |
| Tunbridge Wells Wargaming Society - 15mm - All Quiet on the Martian Front |
| A big Fantasy game but without a sign saying who was running it. |
| Lost of Fantasy miniatures |
| Someone is impressed! |
| Sheffield Runelords - 1/24th - Mad Max: Stop the Truck |
| Crew & Nantwich Club - 28mm - ECW - The Bloody Siege of Bristol |
| Crew & Nantwich Club - 28mm - ECW - The Bloody Siege of Bristol |
| Crew & Nantwich Club - 28mm - ECW - The Bloody Siege of Bristol |
| K&R |
| Essex Gamers - 28mm - The Tet Offensive |
| Essex Gamers - 28mm - The Tet Offensive |
| Hammers Slammers |
| Dalauppror - 28mm - Foteviken 1134 |
There were many more smaller Demo's and lost of small Participation games but most of these seemed to be run by traders. Lots to see and even more traders to try and get around made the day even more exhausting than usual... or maybe I'm just getting old?!