First Salute

 

On 13th April I paid my first ever visit to the South London Warlords 'Salute' show, held at the ExCel centre in the London Docklands.  The last time I had been to the area was in the mid-1970s when the old dock warehouses were being used for various purposes, including building concrete sailing boats, a matter of interest to me then.  Now there is a huge conference centre, easily reached by rail, and, on the 13th, home to a massive wargaming show, a matter of interest to me now.

The only other wargame show I have been to has been 'Attack' held on school grounds in Devizes, Wiltshire.  The feel of the two events was very different.  The cavernous hall at the ExCel centre was a cauldron of voices and movement around a vast array of tables.  The focus was very much on painting competitions and demonstration games, many of which were lovely to behold.  While big manufacturers had stands there was not the great diversity of companies selling wargaming products that I remember from 'Attack' - though conversations suggested that this may be a consequence of Covid and the increased  use of online sales systems in recent years.   'Salute' has a very lively and busy vibe to it, quite a contrast with the more relaxed atmosphere at 'Attack'.  

Inside the hall at Salute : not much in the way of aesthetics...

...until one got to the tabletop displays : this a model of the city of Gradara and its siege in 1446 by the Sforza and Montefeltro families.

The organisers had set a theme of pirates and naval action, which elicited a variety of responses, from a massive refight of the battle of Jutland above...

...to Medieval boat battles

I am sorry that I failed to get pictures of one of the best presentations of the show, a participation game for a Viking raid on London in 1014 that was beautifully modelled, very enthusiastically presented, and very well designed to encourage visitors to join in and be rewarded with looted gold chocolate coins!

I spent a lot of time at the Society of Ancients' stand, where the Dead Arrows display team were putting on a refight of the Battle of Thapsus, fought in Tunisia between Caesar and Pompeian supporters in 46BC.

They were using the Impetus rule set, which I am thinking of trying out, so it was a very good opportunity to see the game in action and talk with friendly and experienced users of the system.

I came away with a rucksack full of new rule sets, paints, scenic materials and reference books for painting projects.  An afternoon well spent.