Salute 2016

[James Ewins]

Does anyone *know* (as opposed to helpfully speculate) if Salute 2016 will be on Marathon weekend next year?

JDE

/
Chief Sarcaster at http://www.exmouthwargames.org.uk/
Assistant Dogsbody at http://legionaryshow.co.uk/
/

[Cerdic]

Best I can offer is helpful speculation! It has been on the same weekend as the London Marathon every year since moving to ExCel, so I can’t see why it would be different next year!

http://28mmreview.blogspot.co.uk

[madaxeman]

I was fortunate enough to be offered a free entry to attend Salute! as “press” (erm, “bloke with a website”!) this year, so in return for Warlords generosity I’ve done a pretty lengthy photo review with comments, and then rounded off with some summary stuff about the show, how it might need to develop in future, and what the trends I saw represented there might be saying about the present and future direction of the “industry”.

link

Feel free to browse and discuss….

I believe that the 2016  show is scheduled for the 16th April.

You can:
- see more of this rubbish at www.madaxeman.com
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[Guy Farrish]

Madaxeman
Very interesting report. Nice to read something thought provoking rather than just the pretty pictures we often see of Salute.

That raises a question for me (as does a thought you have in your report- more anon); Is Salute, as the prime example of where big ‘Wargame’ events are going in the UK, leading us to a position where money and/or modelling skill completely take over the idea of what wargaming is about? Pretty pictures often feel as if they give you the experience (minus the expenditure and discomfort) of what Salute is about. What about the gaming element? For me that would be gaming historical periods/events/genres but the point is more about the gaming experience rather than the period/genre. How do the damn things move and interact?

And now the ‘anon’ bit: you said ‘If the hobby can support an increasing number of increasingly professional-looking outfits and systems that surely must be A Good Thing, or at least A Good Indicator that Impending Doom and No Kids Coming Into The Hobby is simply untrue.’ Is it though?

Is the fact that clever marketing of prepackaged ‘systems’ can take money off people with disposable income the best(only?) criterion of the health of a hobby? Is that hobby just about playing games with pretty toys or does it need some research and knowledge and having at least some relevance to history (not the simulation vs game argument, honest)?

I’m not trying to denigrate fantasy/SF/Horror/Pulp gaming in the slightest but they do seem to be used as a lever to drive up unit price and erode the DIY area of the hobby. Lessons learned in flogging unlikely looking bits of resin as must have killer game winners, sit uncomfortably with needing the Spanish troops in a Peninsula game.

I have to confess I’ve never been to Salute and have no inclination to ‘remedy’ that omission. I’d rather spend the money I would spend getting there on books/figures/games with the ‘shed’ manufacturers. I have no feeling one way or the other about its existence. Its one day a year and, I hope, of supreme irrelevance to me. I say ‘I hope’ because I don’t like the idea of one large show distorting the market and I want year round purchasing patterns to be different to Salute and more money to be going to traditional historical manufacturers. I wish Salute and its organisers and attendees no ill will but I wish the rest of the hobby a healthy, prosperous and enjoyable semi-professional future.

[willz]

Cheers Madaxeman for your well balanced and informative report.

I have never had he luxury of a visit to Salute, it was nice to see lots of photo’s and informative comments.  Me thinks I could not afford to attend as there looks like lots of tempting goodies to buy.

[piers brand]

Nice pics Madaxeman… Especially the one of me!

[Earther]

Good blog post Madaxeman! Made me smile when I saw the image of the Meridian stand, as I did the artwork of the Brit and the Prussian used on their banner and I’d not seen it. 

[Author]

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