Back from Salute 2016 and as per previous years I wandered the show and took plenty of photos. If the last two years are anything to go by these posts are always popular - over 8000 hits last year !
This year the organisers can be very proud. I thought it was an excellent show, lots of traders, all the usual the vendors and more. It was interesting to see that many traders were featuring their own games both on the stands and in the general games areas.
Plus the entry system seemed to work perfectly. We pitched up at 10am and apart from 10 minutes of herding it all went brilliantly.
If anything this year felt busier than last - it will be interesting to see the numbers, and judging by what I saw most of the traders I visited appeared to be busy with plenty of cash exchanging hands.
Over the last few years I have noticed that the big historical wargame has given way to small skirmish actions on small tables. In particular science fiction must be the dominant genre given the plethora of stands selling their wares.
This I think is sad - small tables and a few figures are going to kill this industry in the long term. I do understand that not everybody can lay on big games with lots of troops but if there is no inspiration there will be no aspiration.
I met up with a good number of friends and met a few new ones. I spent too much money (I'll post the haul in a separate post) and generally got everything I wanted.
Once again thanks to the organisers for a great day...
Here are the photos...
First two from the quick queue
Until next year....
out of interest if you want to see 2015 Salute pictures they are here
http://shedwars.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/salute-2015-photos.html
out of interest if you want to see 2015 Salute pictures they are here
http://shedwars.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/salute-2015-photos.html
Great shots of a lot of games I didn't even register. It;s much easier to look at them in your pictures than in reality!
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff Mr Shed.
ReplyDeleteFelt like I was there, without the noise, sore feet and the ...
Great pictures - thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteHaven't been for years but do miss admiring the quality and effort fellow gamers put into their stuff...!
Impressive! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how many games I seemed to have missed despite wandering around for ages! Excellent show as always. Well done on your speedy uploading!!!
ReplyDeleteit took two hours !
DeleteGreat pictures. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteNice pics! As others have said, a lot of games there that I didn't spot, but they may not have been set up when I went past them (I was in early - 9am - on a press pass).
ReplyDeletePress pass? How do you get one of those
DeleteThey offered me one last year, but I'd already bought my ticket so declined, but this year they emailed me early so I accepted. I'm told it was because someone from Warlords knew about my blog's "reach" and suggested me.
DeleteVery jealous!
ReplyDeleteFantastic images thank you very much for placing them up. I went to SALUTE 20yrs ago and thought it was impressive back then.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, as always!
ReplyDeleteWhat's killing the business are videogames. When I got into this stuff, videogames had very poor graphics and were quite prihimitive, nowadays playing one of them it's like being in a movie and miniatures can't compete wth that. In assassins creed 4 for example you can fight against a fleet, explore an island and dive to a wrecked ship all in less than a quarter of hour, what will kids do wait for their turn? They go for what provides inmediate fun.
That's why the majority of wargamers are 20+ years old, back then we just had age of empires and not Total War!
Well we'll always have our childhood memories.
And that's preciselly why companies do skirmish games, fewer models, fewer waiting time and more immediate benefit, but it's doomed to fail eventually since the game in itself its too slow paced.
DeleteGreat photos of some awesome games. Thanks!
ReplyDeletei really enjoyed my first Salute, wont be my last...
ReplyDeleteFabulous tour! - thanks for that! - wish I was there (sob!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, I enjoyed the show, enough historical stuff to keep me interested and some great games.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the pics. Lots of good gamer porn for sure.
ReplyDeleteI think the smaller skirmish games are a good thing. People see them and think it's doable. Then gamer megalomania takes over and they buy 4x more than they need.
Also a boon for terrain companies, since good terrain is part of the experience rather than an after thought.
I'd probably have to agree with this - I've started more skirmish scale projects than I'd care to admit; if I'd focuses on just a single period and bought an equivalent number of figures I'd probably be refitting Waterloo at 1:1 scale by now!
DeleteThanks for sharing the pictures. I could not get there this year. It was lovely to see the games. I am actually a big fan of the smaller games. They bring new gamers in, are quite fun and achievable. I used to play very big games but no longer have the space or time to set them up. Small games are go!!!
DeleteThanks for sharing the pictures. I could not get there this year. It was lovely to see the games. I am actually a big fan of the smaller games. They bring new gamers in, are quite fun and achievable. I used to play very big games but no longer have the space or time to set them up. Small games are go!!!
DeleteThanks for sharing the pics. Awesome stuff!
ReplyDeleteWow what an excellent spread of pictures. BIG thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteNice! I even spotted you this year, although by the time I'd managed to exclaim 'hey it's that shed guy' you'd gone haha!
ReplyDeleteThank you - tremendous work. Norm.
ReplyDeleteVery nice set of pictures indeed. Unfortunately I couln't make it this year, so it's great to see all the games.
ReplyDeleteA huge variety of games. A couple look like typical club games, but most look like specially constructed for the show. Thank you for showing them.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics. Really enjoyed Salute this year.
ReplyDeleteMy word, that's an impressive record.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful bunch of pictures. Many thanks for sharing them!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Eric- Some amazing boards there. I wish I could have been there. I like the game with the uplit space scape- a fun idea. And harbours certainly seems to have been a bit of a theme this year.
ReplyDeleteGood to see all the pics. Did you not get any of the Mantic Games set up?
ReplyDeleteAs I was helping out on a game, I really only had a chance for a very quick whizz round the show. Missed loads of stuff so nice to be able to see what I missed via your Blog:)
ReplyDeleteCool pics Eric!
ReplyDeleteGreate Salute AAR !!! Thank you !
ReplyDeleteA great selection of pictures. Nicely done sir!
ReplyDeleteLovely photos. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWow, a lot of lovely tables there. Thanks for taking all the photos.
ReplyDeleteCertainly a feast for the eyes. Being here in Canada I still don't quite get the whole participation game theorem. When I go to conventions it's to play! Not watch others play. Though if I was unable to register a seat at the table I would be watching. Always great seeing homegrown rules being run using the varied miniatures that festoon the market. Oh & I would be a very poor man if I ever wandered into that vendors market.
ReplyDeleteVery nice pics. beat mine hands down.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the (tons of) pix!
ReplyDelete