Tuesday, 24 April 2012

Salute 2012 - Show Review - Part 2

Here's the second part of my SALUTE 2012 pictures. I'm refraining from a long winded analysis of this excellent show simply because so many other bloggers have already covered this ground and done it well. However I do have a few observations I'd like to share.

There are still Demo games being put on with absolutely no identification of who they are, what they are playing or even just the table number. This makes identifying pictures after the event very difficult. I think I have been able to 'get' everyone I photographed but some of the games were difficult to identify. More importantly whats the point of running a demo game if nobody knows who you are? OK, I could have talked to more people running games but often there were only one or two people 'on duty' and they were already busy. A simple sign or label for the game would save a lot of messing about, and can even spark some conversation.

Talking of conversation I have to say that my home made flash diffuser started more conversations than I care to remember. If I had made a load and sold them at Salute I would have made a fortune! I would have loved to bring my SLR but to get the best from this I would have needed to bring two lenses, my tripod and other gear which would have weighed me down. As it was my Olympus digital compact performed excellently with minimal weight and space taken up meaning that my bag could be entirely dedicated to shopping (more on my show Loot in another post).

I struggled to get round the whole show this year. IMHO it has reached the point where I think it either has to stop growing, or become a two day show. I spoke about this with a lot of traders and show attendees and many people seemed to agree with me. But some of the traders were clearly uncertain if a two day event was financially viable for them because it is so expensive to have a stand at this show. That's not a criticism of The Warlords, merely an observation of the cost of hosting a show at Excel. (Talking of costs, the food/drink vendors were bordering on criminal with their prices this year!). I would love to take part in some of the Participation games but in it's current format there just isn't enough time.

I thought the standard of the display games this year went from "Impossibly Good" to "Awesome!". The Demo game eye candy is always one of the things I most like about Salute. But I have to say the Corunna table by the Essex Gamesters was amazing and a very worthy winner of this years Salute Challenge Shield. Well done guys.

Here are some more pictures from the show.

The 'Meet the Rejects' session went very well with lots of people coming to say hello. Here The Angry Lurker collects his prize from The Wargaming Girl, Tasmin. 

Uxbridge Gamers - Border Incursion

Newbury & Reading - The Battle for Homs 1620 BC

Skirmish Wargames - Falklands Skirmish

South East Essex Military Society - Kingdoms in the Dust

Les Marie Louise Des Flandres - La Der des Der

Taylor's Crew - Beyond the Tannhausser Gate

A very happy (but knackered) BigLee near the end of the show. 

The Salute Challenge Shield - won by the Essex Gamesters - Corunna 1809

Essex Gamesters - Corunna 1809

Essex Gamesters - Corunna 1809

Essex Gamesters - Corunna 1809

Essex Gamesters - Corunna 1809

Essex Gamesters - Corunna 1809

Essex Gamesters - Corunna 1809

Essex Gamesters - Corunna 1809
Star Wars 'Reenactor's'


I'm still editing the mass of photo's from Salute but everything is labelled and tagged, I just need to cut out those pictures that don't make the grade. I will make the whole album - including many pictures not already seen - available as a slideshow later today.

16 comments:

  1. I find even a smaller show like Derby really I need two days to take it all in so I would really struggle with Salute. Mind you I am strugling to think of what to buy at Triples next month. I am sure I will think of something LOL

    Ian

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  2. Cool! But wasn't Fran going to smile more this year?....

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  3. Great reports. I like the detail shots! Something I was really missing in almost all picture reports from Salute this year. Other people just showed the tables from so far away that it was at times hard to tell the period!

    THX!

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  4. Thanks Lee. Nice report, keep them coming.

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  5. That photo of the Lurker and Tamsin - Supersize vs Superskinny?

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  6. Excellent report Ray - sounds like a grand event.

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  7. keep them coming, that's really nice to be able to see what was on

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  8. Great photos, and agreed it is nice to see some of the close ups.. thanks for those!

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  9. Nice Pictures. Can agree about the labels or markers on demo games. I went to a show a few years ago and would liked to have had some incline as to what was going without disturbing the game in progress

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  10. Great pictures! Thanks for sharing!

    "Doctor for friend and foe". Is it going that bad between you and Ray Fran? :-D

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://peterscave.blogspot.com/

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  11. Great Pics Lee thanks for sharing (and looking forward to seeing more)

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