How does something as huge as the largest annual UK wargaming event sneak up on you? Well on this occasion Salute did, and before you could say 'be at the Waterloo McDonalds at 8.45', we had began a very organised queue experience at the Excel Centre in London Docklands. Salute is a massive event that taxes your stamina.
Above: One big clue to where any right minded wargamer (with pockets stuffed with cash) was on 22nd April 2017.
It seems that every nook and cranie of the venue is stuffed full of things great, small and peculiar. It is to the great credit of the organisers (all volunteers), and the ' just for the day' volunteers, that the huge scale does not overwhelm them. Good stuff. Gushing over let's get on with it.
Above: Pete W, Dan, yours truly and Stephen, besides ourselves with excitement.
Above: People. Lots of people.
Above: Lots of people on the move. Anticipation builds.
Into the massive aircraft hanger of a venue, and first off, the usual welcome bag containing the unusual annual Salute model (Russian woman patriot holding flag) and dice. Also, a plastic model for Wild West Exodus.
Above: Free stuff.
Not done with their queuing fun, a new queue of resin fanatics had begun forming at the Forge World stand, just inside the front door. In fact, whenever I past the stand during the day, the number of eager devotees was always constant. The picture below was taken mid afternoon and there was still no let up.
Across the other side of the entrance where two of my favourite firms, Art of War (acrylic markers), and Zinge Industries (an Aladdin's cave of useful bits and pieces).
Above: The Art of War (left) and Zinge Industries (right) doing good trade.
Above: My purchases, Infinity N3 Repeater markers (AoW), and below, light fittings from Zinge.
Next, a trip to the Drop Zone stand to catch up with Sean, Louis, Dave, James, and now, it would appear, a cast of thousands. I picked up a blister of Berzerkers for my Resistance army and some of the resin pieces they produce for the tops of buildings.
Infinity appeared a number of times in the hall, and running demo games were Lead Rising's very own Peter Acs (Black Infinity T-Shirt) and Keith S. our Warcorp from Woking.
Above: The wonders of N3 being explained. Keith is talking to Nic from our club.
Above: I have been wracking my brains for a suitable caption for this picture......so far without success........try this: One of these characters does not believe in the force. Which one?
Above: This amazing table would persuade me to play X-Wing.
Above: Beautiful vehicles and lots of other things from Micro Arts Studios.
Above: Bandua's new terrain range, and below, their Chief Executive standing in front of their stunning pre-coloured terrain.
Above: This is why Forge World is so popular.
Above: And this is why Forge World fans have the biggest muscles.
With so much to see and so many pictures taken, this had to be the first of two posts on the day. More to follow.
Happy wargaming chums.
Alex
Nice, but no pictures of the Hawk guys and there stuff? Color me disappointed... Hopefully that's what Part 2 will be all about. 8^D
ReplyDeleteSorry, but no Hawk pictures from me. Those supplied by Dan in his Orbital Bombardment post seemed to cover all that was new at Hawk.
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