Beware this is a long post!
Yesterday some of the Rejects visited the Excel Centre in London to attend Salute 2021.
It was a strange event if I'm totally honest, we arrived early and got into the show before it opened thanks to our Press Passes!
We were all quite stunned as there were loads of holes were both traders and club games were missing.
After speaking to a few traders we were told that some big names pulled out right at the last minute. Personally I had no plans to buy anything from Gripping Beast, 4Ground and Hasslefree, but I'm sure there were loads of people who were miffed at these big guys not turning up.
I'm not sure why these and other traders didn't attend, perhaps it was Covid, Brexit or just plain politics, but they were missed.
Now this pic really amazed me, the queue to get into the show 15 minutes before opening time!!!!
I normally take a photo when the doors open and nearly get squashed in the stampede?
I did here that number were down and only half the normal tickets had been pre bought?
This was going to be a strange day??
Taking up a lot of room were a Spitfire!
and a Hurricane
Magnificent!
10 minutes to go and there's still gaps everywhere.
Martin & Glen
Paula & Trevor
Andy from Grubby Tanks/Redoubt Miniatures
Pre order No1 picked up!
Polish Winged Hussars!
I've been eying up some of there 25mm building for some time now?
One day!
That's a long drive from windy Orkney!
The guys from Skytex, who are now selling Trent Miniatures
Rob (smiling this time) from Northumbiran Painting Service/Riever Castings
I met Barry in the food court to pick up some clandestine figures!
Yes more Donnybrook stuff!!
Charles looking very grumpy, (this was the best pic I'm afraid!) and Stephen M Carter
the author of Fighting For Liberty, Argyll & Monmouth's Military Campaigns against the Government of King James, 1685.(In his hand)
Both me and BigLee succumbed and bought a cloth mat.
Wyvern Wargames - Imjin War 1592
Japan's invasion of Korea. 12mm
Gentlemen's Wargame Parlour - 28mmVBCW Chain Reaction Air Assault
Wings of Glory Aerodrome
Random Platypus - Carnage City Chronicles
PCS - Divisions of Steel
Plastic Soldier Company - Divisions of Steel
Launch of the new rules by Simon Hall (MeG) and Mark Bevis (MicroMark)
Plastic Soldier Company - Rome
Bumped into Kyle Cruikshank
Frothers Unite UK
Fake News - Escape from Brexit
Fake News - Escape to Mexico
Loughton Strike Force - Fire on the Volga
In my opinion THE absolute game of the show!
This great looking games is bases in the white rectangle in the pic above!
Twilight Miniatures - World of Twilight
Socirty of Ancients - The Battle of Paraitakene 317BC
Eumenes v Antigonus
GCT Studios - Bushido, Rising Sun
Maidstone Wargames Society - Biggles and the Island at the Top of the World
Teal Time Wargamers - The Year of Liberty 1798
Battle of Britain
Warlords - Wellington in India
A Tribute to Stuart Askwith
Grimsby Wargames Society - Retreat to the Dneiper
Wigmore Warriors - Raid on Piddling Down
German Paras attempt to destroy a UK radar station in 1940
Also at the Excel centre was a Star Trek convention. Here are just 3 of the well dressed individuals attending their show.
In the wonderful world of Geekdom, was it only me who felt slightly superior to the Star Trek guys?
The Continental Wars Society - Fight at Bronnzell
Prussia and Bavaria come to blows over rights to use roads through the neutral
state of Hesse, central Germany.
Leicester Phat Cats - On the Palins of Panama
Pete Barfield hogging the Jaffa Cakes
The Officers Mess - XCOM Classic
Not sure who this luvvly looking game belongs to?
The Conclave - By the Will of the Saint
40K
Essex Warriors Wargames Club - Space Hulk
Little Wars Revisited - The Relief of Fort Pippin
Trumpton!
Alastair was helping them out,
?
Royal Air Force Wargaming Association - WWI Trench Football
Anschluss Wargames - Panzer Lehr Counter Attacks July1944
?
Wyre Forest Wargames - The Battle of Poltava 1709
Skirmish Wargames - Viva Mexico 1915
Naval Wargames Society - Saga at Sea
Pagan Raiders C11th Century
Caseshot Publishing - Wellington at Bay, The Battle of Villamuriel 1812
Posties big buy. Lots of painted ACW figures from Grubby Tanks, I can't say how much they all cost, just incase Mrs Postie reads this!
Numbers were down on Traders, Games and Visitors but I still enjoyed the show, I picked up 2 pre-orders and bought want I planned to, with a few other bits and bobs thrown in the mix.
Like the Space Hulk!
ReplyDeleteOdd that some vendors pulled out and it wasn't that busy either. I've seen photos from events around here and everything appears packed as usual.
It was a strange and surreal experience, this time round.
Deleteglad you had fun, did look fairly empty. Battleground show next weekend, down about 1/3 traders. See how many gamers turn up on the day.
ReplyDeleteHopefully a few more than they did at Salute. Still enjoyed the day though.
DeleteGreat photos Ray!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteSheesh! That is a lot of photos, Ray! Must be great to be back at a show.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly was Jonathan, although it to me nearly as long to do this post as it did to visit the show!
DeleteRay thanks for putting all of that together - norm.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure Norm!
DeleteNice to see you yesterday... that was definitely the oddest Salute I've been to! Lots of excellent photos of games that I missed!
ReplyDeleteIt was a very strange affair to be sure, still can't believe you didn't buy anything?
DeleteTt
ReplyDeleteSorry hiccup. Thanks for pics Ray. Charles looks a little under the weather at Helion.
ReplyDeleteYou should have seen the other picture, Charles had his naughty pants on.
DeleteGreat report, very inclusive. Liked the pics of people I would like to meet!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Glad you liked the post.
DeleteA terrific report Ray. It gave me a great idea of the event and good to see it going ahead.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lawrence, it was a long but excellent day out.
DeleteReally good report and lots of lovely eye candy, super post!
ReplyDeleteThanks Donnie!
DeleteRay
ReplyDeleteGreat report it all seems a bit surreal ! Glad you still enjoyed yourself. It seems very odd that some of the big names pulled out at last minute with no real explanation. I didn’t come down as I’m still uncomfortable at the lack of mask wearing etc. Still local show next week, Battleground - free entry as well so will give it a couple of hours
It was very strange and such a shame that so many dropped out, some at the last minute. Must have been gutting for the Warlords? Enjoy Battleground!
DeleteIt was good to the blog guys again .
ReplyDeleteI still enjoyed it despite its challenges
Yep me too Dave. I've been looking forward to the show for what seems like an eternity.
DeleteHi Ray,
ReplyDeleteIt was good to catch up with you (albeit in a rather disjointed way) and that is an impressive number of pictures for sure.
All the best,
DC
Cheers Dave, glad we met up face to face once again.
DeleteExcellent post ray, you got some good pictures.
ReplyDeleteAs did you Sir, as did you.
DeleteGreat pics Ray. It was good to see you again, even if I had to suffer the sight of you in shorts - at least they weren't budgie smugglers! :)
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with my shorts Tamsin, kept me nice and cool!
DeleteCracking pictures Ray, thanks for posting as they’re always great inspiration to get on with some of that scenery lying around.
ReplyDeleteNo problem Jamie.
DeleteThanks for the report Ray and you can't go wrong with Geek Villain mats. I have three so far.
ReplyDeleteYeh, I'm looking forward to giving it a go.
DeleteA great report/photos Ray….
ReplyDeleteSome lovely looking games.
All the best. Aly
Cheers Aly!
DeleteGreat to see you at the show, Ray. I was bitterly disappointed myself, and left shortly after mid-day. I guess I was one of the attendees fuming at the no shows too, as I had planned to pick some minis off of a number of them, and to simply not turn-up was extremely annoying. Definitely rethinking as to whether to visit again next year.
ReplyDeleteIt was great to meet up once again Simon face to face.
DeleteIts such a shame, you and others in your position spent all that time and money getting to the show to find out the traders weren't there. I was lucky. everyone I wanted to be there was. I think I'd have had a bit of a tantrum if I was in your shoes.
Fab pics Ray! I imagine it being the time of year and so many events have been crammed quite close together may of had an impact!
ReplyDeleteYep and Covid and Brexit as well. I hope things get back to normal sometime soon.
DeleteGreat Post. Thanks for doing that, for those of us that couldn't make it its a real service you've done. All the best Andy
ReplyDeleteNo problem Andy at all, glad to be of service.
DeleteGreat post Ray, with a lot of good eye candy, but to be fair there's a lot of games that left me cold too.
ReplyDeleteI'm not into fantasy game Joe, but you've gotta admire some of the paintjobs and terrain.
DeleteThanks Ray for all your efforts in taking images of Salute.I feel sorry for the Warlords because its a big financial risk for them and clearly traders letting them down will have put stress on the clubs funds. Frankly Im at a loss about numbers being down so much.I know the Warlords were limiting numbers but the place looked deserted at times, but then the building is immense. Still there were some fine games on show, I loved Poltova, Space Hulk and the 54mm games and strangely I am excited about the PSC Rome board game. So thanks again.
ReplyDeleteNo problem Robbie, I don't know what the answers are and yeh I feel sorry for the Warlords, they're the ones people are going to moan at after all. Agree about the Poltava game, that was exceptional, I'd love to paint up a 6mm project like that, but I'm not sure my eyes could handle it. The Rome game does indeed look intriguing, even if you just use it for a campaign.
DeleteNice photos, it did seem really underwhelming and disappointing, some of the trader's who did come seem to have brought a smaller vehicle than previously and not had too much stock,masses of space,still, took less time to get around so something positive?
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
That was a positive, you could get to a stall easily, you didn't have to stand around waiting for a gap to appear and risk getting a bloody nose from some twat's ruck sack.
DeleteI was lucky with all my purchases, everyone had what I needed, but I'm sure your right.
Great report..
ReplyDeleteSome of the big traders dropped out due to stock problems - I know that Hasslefree simply couldn't get enough stock to make it worth their while attending.
The disappointment to me was the number of club games that simply didn't turn up on the day without any contact with the organisers (a couple did have to cancel due to Covid).
Having the show near so many other November shows was also probably an issue with punter attendance but Warlords had no choice as apprently they had to hold the show within 6 months of Excel becoming available again or they'd lose all their money and there would be no more Salutes...
Thanks Mike, that does make a lot of sense. I can totally understand clubs cancelling due to Covid problems, but it was very short on games to be sure.
DeleteIt does make me wonder if this could be the death of a big show like Salute, perhaps it does need to be a smaller show at a smaller and cheaper venue? I hope not.
Thanks Ray, that is a really great set of pictures! Agree about Loughton Strike Force Stalingrad, that was a fantastic setup; I really liked the Poltava game too.
ReplyDeleteAnd of coure, very nice to meet you!
Agreed, it was great to meet you in person, thanks for stopping by the blogger meet up for a chat.
DeleteSo many pictures!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot!
Tables are great!
😎
Glad you enjoyed the post!
DeleteWow, you must have used up all your camera's memory there! Thanks for sharing! A bit disappointed trader and attendance numbers were down - hopefully they’ll pick up again in future.
ReplyDeleteI did take a lot of photos Mike, there were loads more that didn't make the cut as well. All on my mobile phone too! I' sure things will get back to normal soon.
DeleteNice report and pics mate. Was gutted I couldnt make it in the end but seeing and hearing from some others, although what was there looked good, looks like i didnt miss much. Hopefully next April it will be back to normal and we can all have a good catch up.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed Carl! T'was a shame you couldn't make it.
DeleteIt may have been a little quieter, but that still looks like a pretty solid set of games - agree that the volga game looked gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteIt was Markus, there were some great looking games.
DeleteWow! A lot of marvelous games and such a cool venue, Ray. Thanks for taking the time capturing all of this. Good to see folks enjoying the hobby - like the good ole days! :)
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more Dean!
ReplyDeleteA great report on a large number of excellent looking games ray - like you say, everyone, including traders, will have to come to accept the new reality and get on with things (or not). Perhaps the late cancellations were because traders knew the lower ticket sales and thought they would not get a reasonable return on investment from attending (rather than them being worried about Health and Safety risks..?)
ReplyDeleteI have heard on the grapevine, 1 company cancelled due to lack of stock, as the raw materials hadn't arrived in time to make new figures.
Deletegrand merci ray pour ces tres belles photos
ReplyDeleteNo problem Max!
DeleteGreat pics Ray! The Volga game looked super, also woudl have loved to see Poltava.
ReplyDeleteThey were both brilliant games Simon.
DeleteThanks for the pics Ray. I saw some good ideas to try.
ReplyDeleteNeil
It was a very enjoyable show Neil.
DeleteGreat pics of the day! Over here we haven't had any shows since the beginning of last year- it's nice to see all the tables. Love the Stalingrad game.
ReplyDeleteThings have started up again thank gawd. Possibly due to most people having the covid jab early on?
DeleteHad heard that the numbers of games, traders and punters was down this year. That said you have a great pictorial record of the day with some excellent displays and games.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Ross
Thanks Ross. Glad you enjoyed the post.
Delete