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A few days until the UK's biggest general wargaming show - hadn't seen a post on it yet, so please accept this half-arsed effort!
Anyone going and what sort of things are you hoping to see?
The theme this year is apparently 'pirates' I'm hoping this year to see some of the great demo games and painting competition, rather than spending loads of time muscling into vendor spaces for things that I can buy at leisure (for the same price) online..
I'm convinced to going this year (first time) but the UK train services are NOT making it easy.
I'm stuck choosing between lots of hours on replacement busses (and the fingers crossed they don't arrive late and I miss a train and suddenly its another hour late); skipping the first leg and paying parking at the train station to at least get most of the busses (not all) out of the way;
Or just driving the whole way in.
Sad thing is driving is between 1-2 hours faster and chances are the fuel+convention parking is going to be cheaper than the train ticket.
Heck I can even have an extra 1-2 hours in bed before having to leave (since I don't feel I need to be front of the line to get in) and still arrive before the trains estimate I'd get there.
I just really don't want to drive into London and for 2.5 hours both ways....
Excel isn’t too bad to get to. For London. Unless like me you’d be driving in from the Saaaarf, and have to deal with the dreaded Blackwall, or cough up for Dartford Crossing years after it was meant to be free to use.
From pretty much any non-south east direction, just take the M25 to Junction 27, M11 south, then the A406 the rest of the way.
By no means an interesting drive (gimme me wee lanes any day of the week. Those are fun!) but a pretty straight forward one.
Fed up of Scalpers? But still want your Exclusives? Why not join us?
Yeah I'm heading from the East Anglian area so its not tooo bad; but its still a big chunk of driving and I utterly hate when things get multi-lane and busy
Dead lizzie line for me, two stops and I am there. Will be on the stand with real time wargaming, demo'ing a white/red Russian riverine combat game. Participation encouraged.
Yes Overread the train prices are a joke. We usually drive to a tube station in outer London and then go in from there, Excel is reachable from most within an hour. One thing to mind out for is the ULEZ zone, depending on what car you are driving, as that has been extended out as far as the M25 in some places now.
Pacific wrote: Yes Overread the train prices are a joke. We usually drive to a tube station in outer London and then go in from there, Excel is reachable from most within an hour. One thing to mind out for is the ULEZ zone, depending on what car you are driving, as that has been extended out as far as the M25 in some places now.
Yeah I checked the ULEZ and thankfully that's at least one thing my car won't have to pay for.
I go every year but going to skip it this time since last Salute was a wash. I thought I would make a call on it last moment but trains kind of sealed the no deal for me.
Pirates is a good example of the state of things... since I dare to day the most popular, long standing, always present company at salute that deals with pirates... Freebooter. I believe it will not attend this year, again, just like last year.
Planning to go, see if I can get the hobby mojo back, but as navarro says, last year was a bit meh so I have low expectations
Warning for those (like me) driving via Blackwall tunnel, it will be closed southbound all weekend, so you'll need to either go Dartford toll or through the Rotherhithe to get back south of the river... Northbound tunnel will be open. Might be easier to park at Abbey Wood and get the Elizabeth Line which doesn't have any planned works this weekend, or park at N Greenwich and use the cable car
Yup, all set for my 9 hour pilgrimage to Salute, despite the fact the last one was underwhelming. At this point, it feels like I'm mostly going to see my friends who are also making the trek to the show. Oh, and I guess I'm also going to go and say hello to Joseph McCullough who will be at the Osprey stand in the morning!
No, but they do have to release things at the show to sell, and they do have to go to the shows. Freebooters a great example of a company that should be there (its a pirate-themed event, and there thing is pirates... seems pretty straightforward to me). but aren't. A lot of those 'oh there here, Ill grab something' companies aren't there so... I'm giving it a miss.
I really didn't enjoy last year, and the possibility of Epic Hail Caesar and Quars war plastics isn't enough to get the £80 train fare it'll cost to go.
Back from Salute 51, initial thoughts on the show... better than last year, tbh. Trader stands pretty much the same, with a few of the old regulars missing again, but a good smattering of niche stalls to pique my interest. Display and participation games seemed good, I have pics and will upload later... Saw several 'celebs' from the hobby world and many YouTubers and bloggers that I recognised - Salute is very much a social gathering it seems for these folk and why not. I spent much more than I have done in the last few years (£91), maybe that's a good sign - business seemed to be good on many of the stands. Wanted to get some Black Scorpion Old West and Pirate minis, but couldn't reach the front of the scrum round their booth... Internet order will be the way forward I think. Same applied at Crooked Dice, Zinge & Anvil Industries...
In all, though, I enjoyed the day and feeling more positive this year after the show. Now to get a coffee and put my feet up...
Trader pretty much the same as last year is a red flag for me... That was the main cause I dropped. Org should do more to lure the companies but I think they are more into getting "celebs".
Back from the day and enjoyed it. I would say it was comparably busy to last year. Some highlights for me were seeing the Warlord Epic Romans in the flesh, also the new Mantic small scale minis. Great to also see some show-specific sales - was able to get a ridiculous deal on TT combat terrain and also the Mantic Hellboy board game. Some of the display games were great as well, I'm always amazed how much effort must go into them.
They could definitely do with having a single direction queue system with the painting competition as it's very difficult to get a proper look, there was just a scrum around it all day. Similarly some of the vendors and tables seemed to be 'crunch points' in terms of crowds of people - at least this year didn't have to back off browsing after someone, I assume from the smell, had soiled themselves in amongst about 20 other people.
Don't really mind the painting and YouTube 'celebs', if it helps bring some more punters and specifically younger people that can only be a good thing.
I'll do a full summary once I'm more recovered (walking all day on hard floors is something my legs did not appreciate ).
That said was a fun show and I saw a good few things that I'd never heard of before. I also got a good reminder of how even with decent photography online; actual seeing models in person makes a huge difference.
I agree about the painting competition results; it was indeed a bit of a scrum and I drifted back there a few times, but it was just not really worth battling through for a casual glance more than once. A single walkway system might well work out well there.
The scrum around some shops was happening early on; but I noticed many still had good amounts of stock for many things even late in the day. So unless you were after something rare/exclusive then chances are you'd have a good chance to grab it and see a lot of stuff after the initial surge at the start.
Oh and I got to see these which are BIG hunks of resin for the upcoming Armoured Clash (land game for Dystopian Wars)
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2024/04/14 00:49:10
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