Long term readers of the blog will be well aware of my growing concern about the state of the Triple show in Sheffield over the last few years. It's reached a point that when I was unable to go this year, I wasn't particularly worried about it.
However, this meant that as I'd missed York in February I hadn't been to a show since the autumn. Therefore, given that it's my 40th birthday next week, I thought I'd treat myself and make the journey down to London for Salute for the first time. Wes joined me on my travels and what follows are my show highlights...
Free Stuff
More and more shows are offering free stuff on entry, but Salute was a little more than a step up. Along with a free dice and some free miniatures there was a prize draw ticket. I opened mine to discover that I'd won a free KR Multicase rucksack; a big one that can hold four of their cases.
What's more, Wes opened his to discover he'd won exactly the same thing! We were initially concerned that this was actually some kind of crude marketing scam, however, it turned out that we were just luck. I'm hoping that the foam trays I keep my Batman miniatures in will fit in it, otherwise it may turn out that KR will be getting some business from me after all.
One of the free miniatures was a limited edition Empire of the Dead miniature from Westwind games. It's a really nice model, but I'm not sure what I'd use it for. Answers on a postcard...
There was also a sprue of two plastic miniatures from a Sci-Fi game I hadn't heard of called Maelstrom's Edge. I wont be playing that game, but these miniatures may be able to be converted into something for my Marvel game.
Batman and Marvel Miniatures
This was also my first go of the game and it comes across as BMG-lite, something which appealed to Wes, and so, although he didn't buy anything on the day (he almost cracked and bought the Guardians of the Galaxy), we'll be giving the full game a try soon. I also managed to pick up another rulebook with a different scenario and splurged a little to buy a bargain-priced resin Batmobile, which is usually only available via direct order from Knight Models, which should come in handy when the vehicle rules are released next month.
Hawk Wargames
I picked up a few cheap models for my Resistance force for Dropzone Commander: a Breaching Drill and two Raven-A Dropships, which should finish off my 1500 point list perfectly. Wes also picked up two of the exclusive show-only PHR dropships.
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| The UCM Fleet |
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| The Cheatar...sorry, Shaltari Fleet |
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| The PHR Fleet |
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| The Scourge Swarm |
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| Launch Assets and City Markers |
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| The Space Station Kit |
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| A Shaltari Battleship and the Civilian Cruiser |
Last week, I managed to snaffle a reduced price copy of 7TV2 from eBay and so before it arrives, I decided to pick up the brand new cards for the Paranormal Investigators. As well as rules for characters who are definitely not the Ghostbuster, these have rules for ghosts, zombies and cops, so they'll help me to transfer my zombie games into 7TV2.
Crooked Dice also had several display games, including Scooby Doo and a quite stunning Star Wars board.
Warlord Games
As well as their usual fair, I was pleased to see some examples of the miniatures which will be appearing in the new Doctor Who Miniatures game. When it arrives, this one might just tempt me...
All in all it was a cracking day out. Loads of retailers, loads of displays, loads of deals. This is definitely going to become a regular feature of my wargaming calendar, and I feel that I'm likely to save my money and skip Triples to go to this with a full wallet in future.
Kieron, Did you attend the Bloggers Meet at 1300 hours? I'd have been delighted to have said hello and personally thanked you for all your entertaining postings. Thanks for the pics of the Dr Who minis. They were awesome looking imho - although seemed to be true 28mm in scale.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they were, I can be sure. They looked big, but that might be because, as I see now, they're stood on tanks! :)
DeleteI didn't attend the meet because: a) I had a non-blogging friend with me, b) we'd just about done and left around then, c) I was hoping to get back to Sheffield in time to see my daughter's choir (I did!), d) I'm actually quite shy about such things, e) I forgot.
However, Salute will now be a regular fixture, so maybe next time...
Glad you had a good day mate. Missed you at the bloggers meet up.
ReplyDeleteSame here. Perhaps we'll catch up at a tournament soon. Having seen them, I'm now a bit quivery about getting my hands on the DFC ships.
DeleteWow free rucksack good haul!
ReplyDeleteIt was a bit of a surprise. It's not something I would have worried about getting otherwise.
DeleteHe's is a blogger! He has a blog and everything! We've all seen it!
ReplyDeleteA blog with three posts on it, a year and a half ago doesn't count.
DeleteAnyway, why are you here, go and blog!
Well you certainly lucked in and great to see other people's perspective as I had completely missed a lot of the Sci-Fi stuff including the Doctor Who - very tempting! We will have to catch up one day.
ReplyDeleteI was looking at your article and realised that I'd clearly missed loads too. :)
DeleteLooks like you had a great day! Thanks for sharing these pictures with us!
ReplyDeleteGreetings
Peter
It was good. It's put quite a few shows I've been to into perspective. Derby now seems better that I'd thought, although their layout probably could be improved. York is doing small well. Triples is really struggling.
DeleteSounds like you had a good Salute experience Kieron. :)
ReplyDeleteHopefully will see you there next year. :)
Hopefully. It's worth the trip.
DeleteWell now. You had a good time. I was there and it would have been nice to see you in person. It always is funny how different everyone's experience is. It's like you were at a different event to me. Shiny we just drawn to what we like. Glad it went well and that you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny. I had a good time, but it's turning out that I also missed a lot too. Perhaps I need to stay longer next time.
Delete