If you were to stand directly in front of the Wargames Illustrated stand at Salute on Saturday, then sidle two yards to the right, before then shimmying four meters to the left, you would have seen a living breathing timeline of Europe’s largest wargames show. To the right of our stand were the old boys of the South-East Scotland Wargames Club, presenting a large Napoleonic demo game. To the left of our stand where the bright young things of Rogue Hobbies, selling 3D printed resin models which they market (in part) via their YouTube channel. Louise Sugden of Rogue Hobbies The South East Scotland Wargames Club (winners of the Best Historical Game Award at Salute 51) For me, this year’s Salute felt like the fulcrum of what has been coming for years; the big demo games have given way to the trader-exhibitors. That’s a statement that requires some explanation (‘citation needed’ as Wikipedia would say) - because Salute has had loads of traders for years; it’s been mainly about the shopping experience for a long time, but I’m not talking about traders selling stuff, I’m talking about traders exhibiting stuff as well. There were paint brands and terrain makers that gave up copious amounts of floorspace to demo tables where Salute-goers were furiously painting or sticking away. Figure designers were showing you how they sculpted their latest miniatures. There was a company that could scan your face and turn it into a mould, and of course, there were lots of games/rules publishers who were there to show you why their new set of rules was better than the 37 other similar ones out there. There are also several hobby personalities to meet when you go to Salute nowadays as well, like our neighbour, the charming Louise Sugden of Rogue Hobbies - who has over 100,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel, and Duncan Rhodes of The Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy and Two Thin Coats - over 300,000 subscribers. The Salute organisers are pushing that side of the show with the ‘Hobby Heroes’ seminar area, where invited guests speak about their role within the wargaming/hobby world. Salute attendees busy painting away under the watchful eye of the folks for the Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy. The ‘Game Designer’ Hobby Heroes seminar in full swing. Ten or more years ago, you or I would have gone to Salute and seen a dozen really impressive and engaging demo game tables which could have been studied in detail for twenty-odd minutes each, nowadays that’s about the total amount of time it takes to view them all (excluding the long walks in-between!). This is an organic shift. I know the South London Warlords (Salute organisers) would not
