I must be slacking. I clocked up 20,000 steps/eight miles walking around the Salute hall at ExCel last Saturday. Looking back in my diary I did nearly nine miles in 2021. Mind you, eight miles felt enough by the time I got home on Saturday night! An overview of the Salute hall, with the Hobby Heroes auditorium in the foreground. Not only did Team Wi cover every (proverbial) blade of grass, but we also took over 200 photos of entries into the Salute Painting Competition, 150 photos of games, two hours of video, and conducted a dozen interviews. Plus, we sold magazines and subs and chatted with hundreds of show-goers. So, you can expect lots of Salute 50 coverage in the next couple of magazines. But as a WiPrime Member, you get to hear a bit more about the show than the average Wi punter because it's in Editors Exploits that I like to speak more openly about all things relating to the magazine and the hobby. The previous Salute was a damp squib. Crowbarred in not long after UK lockdown restrictions had ended; running in November 2021 meant loads of traders and demo gamers pulled out and left a half-empty cavernous hall where the main attraction seemed to be two space-filling life-size wooden Spitfires (?!). It was a rather sad affair that left a bad taste in the mouth. There then followed (or rather didn’t follow) a cancelled Salute in April 2022, and much talk about that being the end for this venerable UK wargaming institution. But it became clear from mid-2022 that there was still an appetite for the event amongst a (mainly) new group of volunteer organisers at the South London Warlords. There was a flurry of communication and marketing information from the Salute team which included some proactive ideas regarding what the show could offer in 2023, all of which helped to get the message out that Salute was back and that 2021 was but a blip in the event’s illustrious history. The Wargames Illustrated/Never Mind the Billhooks Deluxe table. The Women in Wargaming panel in full flow. The ‘Eavier Metal guys strike a pose while their acolytes brush up on their painting skills. The Best of Show winning ‘London Bridge’ participation game table. It didn’t disappoint. All the old Salute foibles were still there - no daylight, eye-wateringly expensive refreshments, unforgiving flooring, etc - but those things have always been forgivable when the hobby content is good, and the hobby content was good. There were loads of good quality demo and participation games to enjoy*, traders had come from far and wide to ply their wares (many of whom were also demonstrating their products), and
