Post-viral Salute

So yesterday we travelled back in in time to Salute 2020.  For lots of reasons this was a very odd day at Salute... not least because I was helping with a participation game rather than being there as a punter.  I was helping with the Relief of Fort Pippin game organised by Mike Lewis and Anthony from the Little Wars Revisited forum... a great looking 54mm toy soldier style game with the evil Prussians attempting to seize Pippin Fort before the British reinforcements (presumably led by  Captain Snort) can relieve them.

Some of the British troops can arrive in style on a train (again  I'm assuming that this is the Chigley train, driven by Lord Belborough... can you tell I was a big fan of what I've now learned is called the Trumptonshire Trilogy).

We didn't have any near neighbours...

We used Bob Cordrey's excellent Portable Wargames Rules with the 'sudden death' option which means units either retreat 1 square or are destroyed... very bloody but ideal for a participation game.  The rules are really easy to pick up and participants in the 3 sessions we ran needed little help and seemed to be having great fun.  The main takeaway from the game was that you should never play against children because they will ruthlessly annihilate you every time!!

So how was Salute?  Very odd...

I arrived early and immediately it was noticeable how much free space there was.  

This was before the punters entered.

I gather the hall space was larger but it was quickly obvious that there were a lot of no shows with several big companies dropping out late and lots of games not happening... speaking to some of the Warlords it sounds like maybe 40% of games didn't happen and attendance was way down.  It's not really that surprising given how the last 18 months have been.  Although I live on the edge of London this was my first proper trip to town and on the tube since Spring '20 and I was a bit nervous about it so I can imagine many people didn't want to risk it.  When you add in supply issues for traders, Brexit affecting some overseas visitors and traders and the cost of pitches its understandable why numbers were down.  There have also been quite a few shows scheduled close together as things have opened up so perhaps some fatigue has set in?

Numbers did pick up a bit by lunchtime but then quietened down again in the afternoon.

This is the only photo I took...a  shocking example of scale creep!

I got a couple of chances to have a look around but failed to take any photos of games as I was doing a bit of browsing and then hurrying back to our game.  It did feel that there was a lack of big  spectacular games...I think this is a trend that has been growing  over the last few years, but there were some exceptions.  The huge  Stalingrad game for example looked fantastic. 

My Salute loot amounted to absolutely nothing!  (unless you count a free Warlords mug and a £3.99 meal deal for lunch).  I'd decided there was nothing I particularly wanted but I fully expected to spot some unnecessary purchase: in the event nothing really caught my eye... that must be a first!

The Excel Centre was also hosting a Star Trek convention so the day was a perfect storm of nerdiness.  I'm sure Salute will bounce back and it will be interesting to hear if other shows experience the same issues.