Salute 2024 - The Loot

 (and proof of life)

I am fully aware that I haven't posted anything on my blog for almost a year now. The main reason for that is that I have been suffering from a complete painting block since I finished those fatties last May. As a result, there hasn't been anything for me to post. I have played a few games at the club, but on each occasion I forgot to take my camera so there were no photos of those to post.

Anyhow, yesterday I went to Salute, partly out of habit and partly in the hope that it might give me the kick-start I so clearly need. I had a good time and it was great to see it so busy. The only downside was that after-show drinks with others from CLWC at the Fox was cut short because they were closing early for a private function.

I only had a short shopping list - some paints, some books and a small (for me) bunch of figures. I was only able to find one of the books on my list (not a problem - it's a good excuse for a trip into central London to get the rest) but did find all the paints and figures on my list (the figures were easy - they were all from Essex Miniatures). 

After the bloggers' meetup, I did a bit more shopping - last year I had bought 2 packs of plastic gunfighters from Great Escape Games (still unassembled and unpainted) and thought it might be a good project to get me back into painting. However, I don't have any suitable terrain so that was what I was looking for.

Anyway, here is my haul of loot:

Everything

Salute freebies

The one book from my list that I could find

Wild West terrain

Buildings

A wagon, obviously

Scatter

A bunch of paints

Seven Years War Russians

Now you may be wondering about the final items. Don't I have enough Seven Years War Russians? Haven't I done all the regiments which took part? The answers to those questions are "Yes and No" (I have enough for most people, but I'm a megalomaniac from time to time) and "No". These are for the Observation Corps. Of course, on getting home and checking them, I realised a small mistake I'd made - I was one pack short. It's also been pointed out to me that I should really do two units for each regiment as those of the Observation Corps were around double the size of the regular line regiments. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to place an order with Essex for the rest.

I'll be doing a post with the pics I took of all the games. One irritation I had was that I somehow managed to completely miss the "pirate living history" display. I think I've worked out where it was and it would explain the long queue I saw on one side of the Warlords' information stand in the centre of the hall.