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Alrighty then, now that I'm home and more or less recharged from a long day of travelling by multiple trains, time to post about all of this. I'll start things off by saying that this trip was a long time coming and I finally got to do it, meeting up with dear friends from the States who are working abroad and as an added bonus, getting to go to both Salute 2016 and Warhammer World, two items that have been on my bucket list for a long, long time now.

We initially planned for a seven days full of gaming, sightseeing and other hobby activities, but in the end we didn't game until we were past the halfway mark really, spending the evenings shooting the gak, watching movies in glorious bluray (RED, the Force Awakens, A New Hope and Stardust) and well, just generally having an all-round great time. I also got to visit a pair of US military installations, where I got a quick tour of the grounds and where my host pointed out where his office was so to speak.

Overall trip highlights:
- Got to play one final game of Bolt Action before I gave them my 500 pts of US Infantry, the army book and all of my order dice (though as of right now they haven't found out yet).
- Did a quick demo game of X-Wing on my last night of being there, showing off the mechanics to the wife of the host, who is not just a massive Star Wars fan, but also very much one of us when it comes to gaming.
- Played a 2500 pts game of 40k, my Solar Auxilia versus his Tyranids. I ended up feeling a little bit like a TFG for bringing an armour heavy list, but in the end both sides suffered massive casualties and we had fun, that's all that mattered really!
- Got a crash course in Malifaux, learning to play the game using the contents of the starter boxed set. Overall a very fun game with interesting mechanics. While this will not replace 30K as my primary game of choice, it has most certainly piqued my interest enough that I started looking into a faction I like the look of the most. Being a massive fan of costume porn, I decided to go with the Showgirls.
- A bit of a weird one perhaps, but getting to see around 5000+ points of Sisters of Battle all painted up and in a display cabinet at their home, all belonging to the hostess. A portion of that collection used to belong to me, but I ended up giving it all away back when I figured out I'd never use them anyway. It made me happy to see that the girls weren't just painted up neatly, but also very much loved by the hostess.

General non-event related swag:
- A Malifaux starter, which I will be playing quite a few times to get the hang of the core mechanics.
- A book on heraldry (The Illustrated Book of Heraldry - Stephen Slater), something they wanted to give me a few years ago when the Knights were first released but sadly got lost in the gakky mess that is the Royal Mail. I've been reading through it these last few days and I will most certainly be using the lessons learned in this book on my next two Knights when I get the boxed set this weekend.

SALUTE 2016
I'll preface this by saying that there aren't any pictures of this event, I didn't bring my iPad to Salute as I feared that it would be super-busy, plus I didn't want to be one of those gakkers who stands there with a tablet or the like, loudly moaning about people walking through the shot all the time. I did take some pictures with my Blackberry of the artefacts on display over at the "A Very British Civil War" demo table, because I'm a sucker for things like official documents and the like from that era, but they may be blurry, plus I can't upload them here anyway. Really though, I just wanted to take it all in and quite honestly, geek out whenever I saw someone or something famous / awesome / fun.

It was a nice event though, we went there by car, which wasn't a problem at all, as there was plenty of parking space and reaching Excel wasn't a bother either, despite there being several places where there were detours and road maintenance going on. Getting into the event itself was not a bother either as we were quickly processed, given a bag with goodies (single golden die, a metal steampunk mini, a magazine and a pair of plastic minis by some company called Spiral Arm Studios or something.. Huh!) and set free to roam the grounds, with people with stamps at the side exit ready to give us a mark should we want to lunch and pop back in again. Speaking of lunch, plenty of places to go to for that, though not a lot of places to sit down sadly. Though my hosts decided to go to the restaurant overlooking the food court, which was quiet and empty for the most part, posh looking even. But, good food and service and all that, bit of a long wait though.

While it was busy, it wasn't as busy as I had feared, plus the space in between the stalls was nice and spacious that you could move freely without having to worry about getting knocked aside all the time. Some of the stalls were rather tightly packed, but nothing a bit of patience and gentle sidling ever closer to your object of desire can't fix. All in all, we got to see and visit most of the stands we wanted to see, sadly aside from the Spiral Arms Studios one, which was busy as hell every time we went by it. Sorry, don't ban me now!

Overall Salute left me with nothing but good impressions really. While this isn't an annual thing for me like with some lucky folks, I do hope to attend once again a few years from now.

Salute highlights:
- Spotting the portly chap from Beasts of War angrily shouting into his phone.
- Getting to chat with Kev White from Hasslefree about his upcoming projects and his hilarious Facebook posts.
- Spotting Gav Thorpe at the Second Thunder stand(?) promoting his fantasy skirmish game.
- Spotting the Perry twins, though may have made me look like a fool, as according to my hostess I was freaking out like a fangirl.
- Seeing the Dropfleet Commander spaceship up close and for real.
- Meeting and chatting with the owners of Anvil Industries and Zinge Industries, two of my favourite bits sellers out there.
- The Blood Angel cosplayer. There were some cosplayers about, like a husband and wife both wearing WWII British army uniforms, plus the obligatory commissar, but they paled in comparison to the chap in a hulking suit of Blood Angel power armour and his wife / partner / friend in blue Cadian armour. Double points for the chap to stop and pose whenever someone asked him to. He even fist bumped with one of the kids of the hosts.

The Salute haul:
- Anvil Industries order made up of various weapon scopes, a servo-arm set and a squad of their kickass count-as Centurion robots.
- Hasslefree order made up of six resin medical cabinets, a Star Trek nurse, Grimm power fists, Justice Sedante, Widow and two sheets of etched brass.
- Second hand copy of the Battlefleet Gothic rules, which may not sound like much, especially with the rules out digitally, but I want my books in dead tree format. It makes for better night time reading. I was going to be calm and deliberate with my purchases (having only 40 quid in my wallet), but the moment I saw it lying in the box there I knew I had to get it.
- Four pins from the Forge World stand: Ultramarines, Eye of Horus, Adeptus Mechanicum and Collegia Titanica.
- I also got a free Malifaux mini (Arcanist performer) that my hosts got from a mystery box with their Malifaux purchases. This may or may not have been a bribe to get me even more into Malifaux. All I can say is, well done, it worked!

WARHAMMER WORLD
Second item on the bucket list was of course Warhammer World! We went there on Monday, which opened up with a rather anti-climatic first impression, as it seemed like quite a small building upon seeing it for realsies. However, the actual museum more than made up for this with some truly awesome miniature gaming relics on display, alongside quite a few miniatures and armies I have seen many, many times over the years in various publications, only to see them with my own two eyes. It may sound weird, but getting to see the Imperial Guard advisors and the Cadian colonel, some of my most favourite miniatures ever, painted by THE studio team, is really cool. Ditto on seeing the various characters from the Horus Heresy series painted up by Forge World's crack team of painters, simple awesome! The dioramas were also amazing to look at, some of them having an amazing amount of details hidden away.

Upon getting the tickets the chap asked us if we were up for a challenge. My hosts being Americans replied with a cheery "Bring it on!" and thus we were issued the following: find the Vindicare assassin in the mega diorama. We scoffed at that, thinking we'd find the guy up high or something, but nope! We scoured the diorama once, looking at all the high places and whatnot, with no success. We asked the other store staff about this and they all said they haven't found him either, but did confirm that there is a sniper hidden in there by the chap himself, as he was one of the people involved with building that sweet, massive diorama. When I met him again after the tour of the museum he offered us a single hint: In between a pair of rocks. So, motivated to give it another go we tried searching again, decided on a certain location where it looked like he may be hidden and told him he had to be there. Close, but no cigar was his reply. He was surprised though that we got it narrowed down to that location. I already told him, next time I'm bringing along binoculars!

That said though, aside from using it as a gaming venue and a direct source of getting Forge World kits and other exclusives, it doesn't have that much on offer. I do want to revisit it again a few years down the road for sure, if only to find that bloody Vindicare!

Warhammer World highlights:
- Spotting Dan Abnett, Alan Bligh and a bald chap (Andy? Sorry for forgetting the nam!) whose name eludes me chatting in the pub, no doubt about Prospero.
- The Vindicare assassin challenge.
- The many awesome dioramas.
- Seeing some of my absolute favourite miniatures up close and in person.
- Friendly and very helpful store staff, whether it was the chaps at the Forge World store giving me tips on how to paint yellow or the nice lady at the Black Library store, swapping anecdotes about meeting authors. I know a lot of people scoff at the folks working at GW, but these people were really radiating a love for their jobs, enjoying every moment of it.

Warhammer World haul:
- A pair of White Dwarf weeklies (#115 & #116).
- Macragge's Honour, in glorious A4 format.
- A heresy-era Imperial pin, a House Terryn upgrade kit and a squad of Veletaris with power axes.

Warhammer World pictures, spoilered because I don't want a dozen angry PM's from phone users..

Oh man, I was over there at the same time! If you saw a guy in a biker jacket and running an old school Ultramarines army, that was me. Also I'm glad you met the same staff at Warhammer World I did - they were really friendly folks.

And hey, I fanboyed at the Perrys! Glad I'm not alone on that front I got to talk to Michael Perry about how much I love his old metal IG sculpts, and that was a highlight of Salute for me.

It's funny really, as we were at Warhammer World my hostess did remark that she found it weird that there were so many Americans there that day! Though probably just like me, they went for the double-whammy of attending both Salute and WHW in the same few days.

So, does this mean you were the one who signed off the guest book with the "Sphess" thingy and small drawing of your avatar?

Awesome Brook! I had wanted to comment on this yesterday but, it seems SRM beat me to it since it took me this long to get home from the college.

Can you show me your Honor book? I don't understand if A4 is different then the one I own or not, and showing the Heraldry book would be nice too. Glad you had fun, I'm a bit jealous if I am to be nonchalant about it.

Edit:

Actually, you could just take pictures of your haul for everyone to see. I wouldn't mind that, it'd be awesome really. Also, fanboying when you meet someone you look up to is an experience of being awe struck, and honestly who wouldn't in front of someone with larger than life status or, say, you look up to?

It's a normal human reaction.

I'll take a picture or two of the swag when I'm feeling a bit better, on the trip back I got detained at Brussels by security for toting a large black bag. I caught a bit of a cold as they searched me, though I was complemented on the contents of my bag.

I have honestly been looking forward to this for a long, long time and have been quite jealous myself of the reports of people who went before me!

While the first impression of Warhammer World was a rather disappointing one, the museum and the staff more than made up for this with what was on display and their overall enthusiasm and knowledge.

Okay, swag.


Here's everything from both events and then some.


A pair of belated birthday gifts: the Malifaux starter and a book on heraldry. While the book is not the end-all answer to anything and everything related to the subject matter, it does serve as a nice bit of history on the whole thing, plus some good inspiration for future Questoris Knight projects.


The overall Salute haul, which is nowhere near as impressive as that of others. I went in with £40 in my wallet and left having spent that and only that. Sometimes it's good to not have a credit card on hand.


Closeup of the second freebie found in the bag: Swag from Dakka Dakka! Baggie comes with the sprue, a pair of bases and the cardboard shown still in bag, with the full rules and options for both models. Haven't put these together yet, but the casting quality is most excellent, on par with GW's own kits. So top marks there! For those curious, the other two freebies were a metal steampunk themed madame with sniper rifle and brolly (which has already been giving to a good friend of mine), plus a single D6 in golden finish with a steampunk symbol on the '6' facing.


What's left of my Hasslefree order at this point, as both the etched brass and Justice Sedante went to my hostess. But I still have six medical cabinets for an upcoming Halloween event, three Grimm power fists for future conversions, a free modern trooper and a lovely Star Trek themed nurse.


My Anvil Industries order! Again, many thanks to the owner for taking the time to cast up a squad of those awesome robots! Also included is a servo-arm set for future Auxilia Enginseer conversions and two packs of scopes: reflex and tactical. I have no direct use for these just yet, but these were just too cool not to get and will go into the bits box along with the other conversion bits from this company.


Reading materials! £6 for a Battlefleet Gothic rulebook? Perhaps a bit steep for some, but I had to get it! Not just because I am a big fan of the Imperial Navy, but also because I needed it for my personal collection of certain rulebooks and background publications. The magazine was found in every goodies bag as well, containing not just a map and legend of all the demo tables and retailers, but also some damned good articles in there as well, with a nice five-part(?) series on steampunk gaming, plus a painting guide for your free minis and other rather nicely done articles showing off neat stuff.


The haul from Warhammer World! Only item not shown is the House Terryn upgrade kit, that one is already soaking away to remove the greasy texture from those parts.


The museum entry ticket.


Pins! Four of these I got over at Salute, while I got the pre-Heresy Thunder Eagle from the Forge World stand itself. Really happy with the look, feel and quality of these, plus really surprised (though I probably shouldn't be!) that they also had a Collegia Titanica pin in the bunch as well.


Macragge's Honour, with a marine on 32mm base for scale. Really happy with how this one turned out, not like their first attempt at doing graphic novels in novel format well over a decade ago.





Like I said, nowhere near as impressive as the hauls of some folks! Though there was a reason for being stingy.

Well.. two actually. The first being rather practical: I still had to travel back home by train again and while the luggage restrictions aren't as strict as when you fly, you still need to lug it all along again. My poor, poor back..

The second reason..



Support thy FLGS!

Nice!!! Love that pre heresy eagle pin, and good, you confirmed my copy from my FLGS is also A4 paper.

I honestly recommend displaying the book if that suits your fancy. I went and got some book stands to display my favorite sections, I only do this for my copy of Beowulf as well sometimes. That is a damn good haul, and those Anvil scopes look good on just about anything.

You have totally convinced me to get that heraldry book now btw.

Edit: Image. Though dark and blurry as it is night now.

You have totally convinced me to get that heraldry book now btw.

Me too, bagged one on fleabay for £2.50 incl postage!

 Stormwall wrote:
Nice!!! Love that pre heresy eagle pin, and good, you confirmed my copy from my FLGS is also A4 paper.

I honestly recommend displaying the book if that suits your fancy. I went and got some book stands to display my favorite sections, I only do this for my copy of Beowulf as well sometimes. That is a damn good haul, and those Anvil scopes look good on just about anything.

You have totally convinced me to get that heraldry book now btw.

Edit: Image. Though dark and blurry as it is night now.

Oh wow, you got a copy of Index Astartes Apocrypha?! Lucky you! Was hoping to get a copy myself, but it's sold out everywhere now. How's the content quality of that one?

Putting the book on display is not a bad idea, I may do this whenever I get around to painting up my Betrayal at Calth marines as Ultras.

 Azreal13 wrote:

You have totally convinced me to get that heraldry book now btw.

Me too, bagged one on fleabay for £2.50 incl postage!

You won't regret getting it, it's pretty much "Heraldry for Dummies" but without a patronising tone or oversimplifying things. I read a few pages every night before bed now that I'm done with "Ready Player One" and it's so far been equal parts informative and inspirational for me.

I enjoyed my first and so far only trip to Warhammer World a couple of months ago.

Like you, the chance to see some of the old dioramas (MikeMcVey's Wood Elves and Horus/Emperor ones being personal favourites) was too good to miss.

Nice to see you got a photo of what happens when a Warhoundmeets a drop pod!

As for the Perrys. It was nice to be amongst the first 100 into Salute (I erred too much on the side of caution as regards public transport travel time)as I was at their stand quite fast to pick up the new British infantry and was able to have a chat before it became too busy. Apparently having close to 500 Praetorian IG makes me a 'nutter'.

Then you hear it from the horse's mouth that they were created as a joke. Aaaaargh!

Honestly, it is great. Didn't mean to show it off, I just haven't put it up yet. :p It covers everything in a jack of all trades way, has all the original art and even shows how they made the first LR in the studio. Has all the background fluff from RTBO1 and second Ed in original format, including what was retconned out later, in unaltered original form.

I love it just for the color schemes and fluff alone. Basically everything you have seen before along with some new stuff/things you haven't, all in one place. Was easily the best 30$ I've spent at my FLGS.

My FLGS has about 5-6 copies left, surprisingly. We sold out of the Imperial Marine damn near instantly however.

Also to add, I'd literally trade a copy from my FLGS for six citadel trees, haha.

Edit: Just saw the drop pod hitting the warhound. That is freaking epic.

alphaecho wrote:I enjoyed my first and so far only trip to Warhammer World a couple of months ago.

Like you, the chance to see some of the old dioramas (MikeMcVey's Wood Elves and Horus/Emperor ones being personal favourites) was too good to miss.

Nice to see you got a photo of what happens when a Warhoundmeets a drop pod!

As for the Perrys. It was nice to be amongst the first 100 into Salute (I erred too much on the side of caution as regards public transport travel time)as I was at their stand quite fast to pick up the new British infantry and was able to have a chat before it became too busy. Apparently having close to 500 Praetorian IG makes me a 'nutter'.

Then you hear it from the horse's mouth that they were created as a joke. Aaaaargh!

Oh yes! Those classic McVey diorama's of the final confrontation over Terra and the Rock! Oh man, seeing that diorama of Azrael and the Watcher seriously made me geek out.

And yes, the Perry brothers are veritable institutes of the hobby. 2nd edition Imperial Guard metals, almost everything in the Lord of the Rings range, plus their own every growing range of historical kits, those two are unstoppable!

Stormwall wrote:Honestly, it is great. Didn't mean to show it off, I just haven't put it up yet. :p It covers everything in a jack of all trades way, has all the original art and even shows how they made the first LR in the studio. Has all the background fluff from RTBO1 and second Ed in original format, including what was retconned out later, in unaltered original form.

I love it just for the color schemes and fluff alone. Basically everything you have seen before along with some new stuff/things you haven't, all in one place. Was easily the best 30$ I've spent at my FLGS.

My FLGS has about 5-6 copies left, surprisingly. We sold out of the Imperial Marine damn near instantly however.

Also to add, I'd literally trade a copy from my FLGS for six citadel trees, haha.

Edit: Just saw the drop pod hitting the warhound. That is freaking epic.

Hell, show that baby off! I've already put in an order with my FLGS and knowing the owner, he's going to do his damned best to try and get me a copy.