Another Salute 2013 blog entry!

I asked for the Saturday off in order to come to Salute. My request was accepted. I then proceeded to plan out how best to do it. I didn't feel like driving into London on the Marathon weekend, nor did I really want to get the train... I could have driven, and parked at my brother's house, very close to the ExCel centre, but again, the London Marathon kept scaring me from doing that.

I then discovered that on Friday night, the Farnborough Wargames club meets. I have friends in that city, so thought I could attend the club, stay over, and get the train in from closer, thus being cheaper. The problem was, to avoid parking at the station, I would need a lift. My lift would then be travelling to Watford for a performance of a show, and couldn't get me back to my car. It was all a bit of a pa lava (I have never had to write that word before...). I ended up just driving with my friend into Watford, and using public transport to travel right across London, and back again to get to her show. This meant I didn't arrive at Salute until about 2pm, afraid that I had lost my chance at filling my shopping list. To be fair, it was only a short shopping list (PSC Russian and German infantry support weapon sets).

I arrived and was handed a bag. A quick glance showed a magazine, and I thought nothing more of it. I went on to shop and admire the games going on. I lingered a little bit at the Battlegroup Overlord beach game, and admired the other Battlegroup board. I couldn't bring myself to buy the rules though, as I play barely enough as it is. 

In the end, this was my final haul:

I only have one Panzer IV, so thought I would bulk up my numbers. I also have no Allied tank destroyers, so got some Achilles to go with my Brits. I will need a lot of stowage to bring these Armourfast kits to life though, and, inspired by another modeller's blog, I will be cutting out the bottom of the turret as much as I can (read: dare) in an effort to make them look better too.

Upon arrival home (Sunday night) I unpacked all of my gear, and tipped out the Salute bag. To my surprise, a sprue fell out with the Salute figure (I thought it was awarded to pre-ordered tickets only) and a die. I love dice: collect them even, so the more special edition dice I get my hands on, the better. This one will be kept with my collection of Gencon 2012 dice.