I arrived at ExCel just before 11.00am ... and concourse from the Elizabeth Line and DLR stations was very full.
Unfortunately for my feet, SALUTE 50 was being held at the far end of the complex, ...
... and by the time I got to the entrance I was already feeling tired.
Thankfully, by going just a little bit later and buying my ticket in advance, I was allowed straight in. I was handed a goody bag containing a copy of the show guide, a couple of flyers, and a free 28mm resin figure of a Viking Jarl ...
... and almost as soon as I walked into the main hall, I almost walked into another member of Wargame Developments, our webmaster David Burden! This set the tone for the rest of my time at SALUTE where, when I wasn't taking photographs of various games, I was talking to loads of my fellow wargamers. These included Henry Hyde, David Crook, Big Lee, David in Suffolk, Rob Young, Ian Dury, Tamsin P, Adolfo Laurenti, Mark Urban, and Andy Callan ... to name but a few!
All-in-all I had a great time, but eventually my arthritis and scoliosis became so painful that I had to go home to rest and recuperate.
Will I be going back again next year?
Judging by this year I certainly will if I am fit and well enough to do so ... but now, onto the photo-report!
Ferocious fighting at Ferozaphur, 21st December 1845 (Crawley Wargames Club)
The Dambuster Challenge (Peterborough Wargames Club)
Fallujah, Iraq, 2004 (Maidstone Wargames Society)
Bread and Beef!: Battle of Domstadtl, 30th June 1758 (Ardhammer Group)
The price of distraction, 29th June 1941 (Anschluss Publishing)
The Zagory Rebellion: A night at Heidi's (Cornwall Wargames Association)
Kaiserschlacht 1918 redux (1/72nd Wargames)
Siarus vs. Denswe 17th-century imagi-nation battle (Wyre Forest Wargames)
Oravais 1808 (Hugo's Heroes)
Getting my Airfix (Hugo's Heroes)
DAK Attack (?)
? (Scimitar Games Group)
Antigonius at bay, Ipsus 301BC (To the Strongest!)
The Eagle Has Landed! (South London Warlords)
The Gloster's Last Stand (All Hell Let Loose!)
Dirshau/Tczew 1627 (The Friends of General Haig)
Operation Desert Storm 1990 (The Friends of General Haig)
Kidnapping Queen Victoria ... Again! (Whitehall Warlords)
Inchon Landings (?)
Muskets & Springfields (Nigel Emson)
Castiglione 5th August 1796 (Caseshot Publishing)
? (Society of Ancients)
? (Real Time Wargames)
The Life and Times of Roderick Spode (Gentleman's Wargames Parlour)
Ntombi River (Hornchurch Wargames Club)
Action on the St. James Road (Tunbridge Wells Wargames Society)
Never mind the billhooks! (Wargames Illustrated)
I Ain't Been Shot, Mum: 'Ham and Jam' 'Ham and Jam' (The Two Fat Lardies)
Chain of Command (The Two Fat Lardies)
Battle of Leuctra 371BC (Jon & Diane Sutherland and Miniature Wargames Magazine)
Eagles and Lions at Carentan (Retired Wargamers Reloaded)
>Bombay Mix Up (Hailsham Wargames Club)
Any game or group indicated above with a '?' means that I was not able to ascertain what the battle was or who was staging it at the time or from the programme.
Poor, inadequate, or vague signage at wargame shows is one of my pet hates, as is not having someone who will engage passersby in conversation about the game they are looking at or that group that are putting the wargame on. Some groups are excellent at doing this ... which makes it even more irksome that there are still some that don't either see the need or who are actually quite brusque when one asks a question.
Rant over about this topic ... for the last time, I hope!
One other thing that did annoy me (and it is nothing to do with SALUTE 50) is that my camera battery went on the blink and a number of photographs that I thought that I had taken did not come out. In particular, those of the Continental Wars Society's Fighting at Forbach are completely missing. I did, however, get a copy of their excellent handout:
Please click on the image to see an enlarged version of the handout.
Damn! It was a particularly good game too!
Other than having to queue to get onto the platform at Custom House station on the Elizabeth Line due to crowding on the westbound platform, (the eastbound one, which I was using to return to Woolwich, was almost empty!) my journey home was both uneventful and quick. This new route has made ExCel even more accessible for me, and I hope to return to SALUTE next year.
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Great pics Bob, thanks fir sharing.
ReplyDeleteRay Rousell,
DeleteSorry that you were otherwise engaged, but I’m pleased that my photo-report has given you some idea what the show was like.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeletePoor game signage and missing personnel from a game is a nuisance for sure. I did not take many pictures at all, mainly due to only having my phone with me and also in many cases it was difficult to get a decent shot.
Everything ached by the time I get home and my left leg had virtually seized up when I had to get out of the car! For the record the ‘health’ app on my phone recorded me having walked some 8.5km and taking just under 13,000 steps on the day - I am quite sure that the 5 trips to and from the car were a major contributor to the total!
All the best,
DC
David Crook,
DeleteI know that some other bloggers felt that the signage wasn’t too bad, but I came away with several photos I could not attribute because there was no signage and what I saw didn’t quite tally with the show plan.
I had a couple of instances when I was barged whilst taking a photo … usually by someone who was taking a snap with their smartphone. The one good thing was the fact that there seemed to be far fewer backpacks in the hall … but not on the Elizabeth Line!
My knees are still very stiff and my leg muscles ache … but not as much as they did yesterday! My pedometer recorded me walking 3.5 miles on Saturday … which is no bad thing, so that was a big positive outcome.
Speak to you soon,
Bob
Glad you enjoyed the show Bob and even as an person helping out on a show table, by back and legs ached by the end of the dya, which was normally aobut 4-5 hours before I had to head back home. I always found it really hard to get a good view of many tables, until around lunchtime when things started to ease off a bit. Taking photos was always a challenge, as many attendees feel it's fine to barge past you to get their view of the game.
ReplyDeleteLack of signage/info and someone to talk to is a pet peeve of mine too! When I did help out on games we always had two people happy to talk to the punters.
Steve J.,
DeleteThanks for your efforts and those of the other people who help make SALUTE happen. It’s a bit of a thankless task that no one comments about unless it is to moan … like me!
I must admit that by the time I left my legs - and particularly my knees - had had it. I’ve been for mile-long walk today, and it was some time before I began to feel a bit less stiff.
Most people are courteous and helpful if you want to photograph their tabletop: it’s a minority of the other punters who can be very rude and seem to think that their need to take a photo trumps anyone else’s.
Signage, handouts, and the presence of meeters-and-greeters can make a great difference to the visitor/viewers experience.
All the best,
Bob
Thanks for sharing the photos Bob. Looks like it was a great show.
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteCheers! It was a great day out … even though I felt fairly kn*ackered when I got home.
All the best,
Bob
Great Pics. The lack of a spokesmen for games here in the colonies is not missed as most of our games are participation games. Any player will give you the lowdown if you ask. However the lack of proper signage is the bane of Wargame conventions! It is horrible over here especially as many venues are one main hall, a side hall for vendors and most of the games in side rooms tht no one can find!. I have been to conventions that I thought were poorly attended only to find that they gad between 1500 and 2000 attendees! They were all hidden in side rooms no one knew about! End of Rant!
ReplyDeleteDick Bryant,
DeleteThere does seem to be a significant difference between UK wargame shows and US wargame conventions. Our shows are very much about showcasing new products and the efforts of numerous local clubs and national groups (e.g. the Society of Ancients). At SALUTE, traders are located around the wall and in rows that divide the hall up. The games take place in rows the open spaces between the lines of traders.
Signage is a problem that some clubs and groups seem unwilling or unable to deal with. I know that it doesn’t come cheap, but what is the point in spending hundreds if not thousands of pounds on terrain and figures, and then not making sure people know who you are and what you do.
My rant over!
All the best,
Bob
Looks like a splendid time was had by all! Thanks for sharing this. I wish we had conventions like this here in the states, but the ones we do have are confined to the big cities. Being in Buffalo I'm in a wargaming desert, I'd have to travel to Toronto ( virtually impossible during covid) or NYC for a convention. Things are loosening up now so perhaps a road trip to a convention might be in the offing, but we don't have the same quality of variety of gaming here as you do in England.
ReplyDeleteMark Cordone,
DeleteCheer! I’m very pleased that you enjoyed my photo-report about SALUTE 50.
It must be difficult for wargamers who live some distance from one of the US wargame conventions to set aside the time and money to go. For most of us in the UK, there’s probably a wargame show within two-hours travelling time at some point during the year. For you, to get to a convention would probably involve a day’s travel there and back and two-nights accommodation plus food … and that’s without paying to go in and for what you might buy.
We sometimes don’t realise how lucky we are in the UK.
All the best,
Bob
Great photos, Bob! :)
ReplyDeleteLack of signage on the tables is usually a bugbear of mine, but I wasn't taking photos this year.
All of the games which I had noted beforehand to visit as they seemed interesting did have people who were willing to chat about their games, their terrain, their figures... perhaps I ws just lucky in that regard.
btw, it appears that we must have arrived around the same time.
TamsinP,
DeleteWhat is really annoying about the lack of signage etc., is that it wouldn’t cost a great deal to provide something half decent. The logic of spending hundreds (if not thousands) of pounds on figures and terrain but nothing on signage makes no sense to me.
I wonder if there is a correlation between having someone to meet-and-greet punters at a show game and how much we - the visitors - enjoy looking at that game?
I’m not surprised that I didn’t see you in the crush outside on the concourse. I probably walked past loads of people I know but just didn’t see in the crowd!
All the best,
Bob
I wish I could have been there for the event. Big Lee posted a video on YouTube of his visit and I recognized many of the games from his video in your pictures.
ReplyDeleteI kept looking for a man in his 70s with a bridge camera to the fore, but none were to be found in his records.
There must be something similar happing in NYC at some point in the near future. I'll redouble my efforts in trying to find a wargame show. ComiCon tends to be a much bigger draw and while I enjoy comics in addition to wargames, that convention scene is not my thing.
Mr. Pavone,
DeleteIf you had been able to attend, you would have been made very welcome.
Big Lee’s YouTube report was very interesting, but somehow we never managed to be looking at the same game at the same time, hence my absence.
Some of my nephews and nieces go to Comicon at ExCel, but I gather it is always very crowded. Not my cup of tea, I’m afraid.
All the best,
Bob
Thanks Bob, great pictures, thanks for showing the Sikh War game, which I meant to go back and photograph but forgot(!)
ReplyDeleteand several others which I must have missed.
Somewhere in small print of the program or the Salute website I noticed that they said the best DLR station to alight at was Prince Regent - at the other end of Excel, which made for a bit less walking to the hall. But of course on the DLR on the day, with the Marathon crowds etc, all the announcements were saying 'Custom House, alight here for Excel' , hence most people did that. I held my nerve, and was rewarded with an easier and less busy walk from train to hall - worth noting for the future!
David in Suffolk,
DeleteCheers! I’m glad that you enjoyed my photo-report and it was great to meet you and the other bloggers.
Had I been travelling on the DLR, I would have gone to Prince Regent, but as I went by the Elizabeth Line I saw no point in changing train to go one stop, especially as I would have had to go down from one platform and line to another to do so.
All the best,
Bob
Ah ha, sorry I missed that crucial detail!
DeleteDavid in Suffolk,
DeleteI did consider it as an option … and decided that I’d probably be more kn*ckered going up and down all those stairs than walking the length of ExCel.
In retrospect, I probably made the wrong decision.
All the best,
Bob
Thanks for featuring my game of Castiglione, I like to collect the photos that others have taken. On table signage I use a desktop roller banner at less than £30 which is a good option plus some flyers as seen in this photo https://twitter.com/Caseshotpublish/status/1649918465086455809/photo/1
ReplyDeleteGarry,
DeleteIt was a pleasure to feature your game on my blog.
A simple banner and handouts are all that are really required, and as you say in your comment, they don’t have to be expensive.
All the best,
Bob