Salute 53 - my two penneth

It's now almost a fortnight since Salute 53, Europe's largest one day wargames show.  It's taken me a little while to unravel my thoughts.  This post isn't a review of Salute (see Storm of Steel and Big Lee's Miniature Adventures YouTube channels for two excellent reviews), it's my personal take.

Much has been said and written about the show.  Salute represents where the hobby is at.  And it's dominated by Sci-Fi and Fantasy.  That's just the way it is.  I started out as a historical gamer pre-Warhammer, when Games Workshop just imported and sold other people's games.  Warhammer passed me by as I was into guitars and girls by it's release, so GW games mean next to nothing to me (apart from Warhammer Historical).  However, GW changed the hobby and with so many companies run by ex-GW people it's inevitable the GW "way" dominates the hobby and therefore dominates Salute.  This is very much how it is with the traders.  You can feel the GW influence everywhere.  

Although I understand all this, I feel it's a shame that the more traditional (and for me) more interesting and niche traders no longer attend or even worse are no longer with us.  The likes of Peter Pig, Old Glory, Gripping Beast etc. haven't attended for years.  This year there was no Baccus, Pendraken or Helion books.  It bothers me that the one show I go to is becoming less and less relevant to me.  It's certainly a different show to the  many I've attended from 2002 onwards, where the number of "proper" wargaming companies was vast and it seemed every company attended.  

Of course that was when figures were metal and there was lots of one man companies.  This old guard is being superseded by those who think the hobby began with GW.  They are schooled in the GW way and are catering for those raised on GW games.  It's similar to those that think football began with that poisonous, bloated abomination that is the Premier League.  And don't get me started on the corrupt farce that is the "Champions" League.  Excuse me for digressing....

I think there's something here with younger people having reduced attention spans, there's so many other things to distract them.  They want the instant gratification of the big shiny box where someone has assembled a force for them so they don't have to think about it.  I don't think that many are prepared to put the work in on research that we had to back in the 70's and 80's. For me the research is one of the most rewarding aspects of the hobby, but if all you want to do is push the toys around then you want it all handed to you on a plate.

Don't get me wrong this hasn't been all bad.  The quality of rules and presentation of products has improved greatly due to the GW influence.  But the trader side of Salute has changed and for me not for the better.  The projects that I have taken the most satisfaction from are the more obscure and frankly they're never going to be taken up by the big box (big buck) manufacturers.  I hold my hand up here and say I don't want them to be.  It'd spoil all the fun, like when a band you followed from the start seeing them play to few people start becoming popular.  It spoils it all a bit.

As regards the games I felt history fared better.  Ken Reilly's Italian Wars and Simon Miller's Horse and Musket game were a feast for the eyes in terms of sheer spectacle of number of figures alone.  Piers Brand's Second World War Italian Front game was sublime, absolutely stunning.  Joe Bilton's 1940 table was utter glorious madness.  Equally impressive for me was the Rubicon Models small Vietnam table for the sheer quality of modelling.  There was others as well.  

It was the historical games that swept the board in the prizes.  As adverts for historical wargaming you couldn't do better.  I have to admit I only scanned the Fantasy/Sci-Fi tables but there was nothing that drew me in to give them more than a cursory glance and nothing to match the above mentioned tables.

I had a good time.  I didn't think it was great, but I've been for the last four years and it was much of the same, so perhaps it's time for me to have a break.  Maybe it's me but I've picked up a feeling that if you didn't think it was "super awesome" then you're some sort of anti-gaming naysayer.  Bollocks to that.  Aren't people allowed to express how they as individuals feel or perceive things?  

I fully recognise and agree that wargaming/gaming needs to evolve to survive and thrive.  The more people that are exposed to historical gaming from the other genres the better, and this is where Salute is so important.  But please don't hang people out to dry just because they feel their hobby is changing in a way that leaves them feeling marginalised.  As you get older change is harder to deal with and someone in their 60s/70s or even 80s who has been a historical wargamer for decades has the right to feel how they feel.  

I spent a couple of hundred pounds but there was nothing I couldn't have bought online and most of my spending was on pre-orders.  I had a couple of really good chats (you know who you are), but it was so busy that it was difficult to see who was about and I missed meeting up with quite a few hobby pals.  The games looked great but I could see them in the plethora of Salute videos on YouTube.  I certainly won't miss being buffeted by the cupid stunts with their tactical backpacks, lack of spatial awareness and complete lack of manners and courtesy.  I spent about £50 on getting there, getting in and two cups of tea to keep me going.  That's relatively cheap for a day out in London, but that £50 would pay for a lot of postage on orders.  So where does that leave me?  Will I go next year?  Possibly not definitely.