Salute 2020...errrmmm...2021 - The Loot

 Today was Salute 2020...according to all the merch. The reason for that being that the original April 2020 date being lost as a result of Covid lockdowns.

I arrived at the ExCel Centre just before 10am, but decided to finish the book chapter I was reading before going in. By that time the queue for Covid pass checks at the doors had completely gone. I think I got into the show itself about 10.20 and quickly realised that things were very different. It was still a large, stuffy hangar with crap lighting, but it was much less packed than normal. 

I heard from someone who'd spoken to the Warlords that there were only around 4,000 tickets sold, about half the normal attendance. Added to that were several wide open spaces where companies (some of them big names - 4Ground, Gripping Beast, Hasslefree) had pulled out and (as a rough guess) about 60% of the games had also not turned up. That did mean that it was slightly less warm and stuffy than normal, but the main benefit of less people and more open space was that the crowd noise was much lower than normal.

Of the games that were there, there weren't many that were particularly impressive to look at. There were also a few repeats from previous years.

I did get to have a chat with a few of the traders who I haven't seen since 2019. I'm hoping that they had good sales despite the reduced number of potential marks...errmmm...customers.

I did get to have a chat with various bloggers etc, including at the 2pm meet-up. Speaking of which, here's a photo of some of us (a few more turned up after the photo):

I'll add names at some point. For now, you'll just have to deal with the queasiness caused by the sight of Ray's bare legs!

As for my loot haul:

I didn't get everything that was on my list, but made up for it with a few non-list purchases. The bits I couldn't get at the show will get ordered online this week.

Offensive Miniatures

Three packs of rioters/demonstrators to annoy my Mega City One Judges.

Bad Squiddo Games

I had seen these in Annie's recent kickstarter, but as it was the only pack I was interested in I didn't back the campaign. Rather silly of me - I'd have saved myself a couple of quid I think.

Warlord Games

Out of six packs on my list, this was the only one they had with them.

Minibits

Debris of War

Who doesn't need more barrels and crates?

TT Combat

Yes, more shipping containers. And crates, And big generators. Sadly, most of the items on my list weren't available at the show.

Eureka Miniatures UK

My pre-order of some Papuan porters and Japanese infantry for my New Guinea project. 

"Hang on, what's that she's hiding underneath the bubble wrap?"

Nothing to see here, move along...

Donnington

Some Mongol medium cavalry, some Georgian heavy cavalry and some individual Romans to use as level 1 leaders for "Infamy, Infamy!".

And of course the Salute figure and die:

I'll probably hold off on posting my photos of the games until Monday.