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April 16, 2024

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Salute 2024 Part 2 – Highlights!

So as promised here are my highlights from the show! The games and model ranges that really caught my eye from the day! These are all unsponsored links and references, this is all 100% just what I found interesting and neat.

World of Twilight

Main Website
Webstore
Kickstarter Profile – I recommend giving them a follow. They appear to do semi-regular Kickstarter campaigns to expand the model range.
Facebook Fan Community
Paintwork by Joe Karame

World of Twilight is the creation of Mike Thorp, who has been working for decades on the art, lore, designs and sculpting of this charming range of models. I’ve never heard of them before Salute and this is one of those ranges that if I’d seen them purely online I might just have passed on them being an interest. Seeing the models in person was really rewarding and they are fantastic sculpts. They cast in both metals (smaller models) and resin for the larger sculpts.
Myself I picked up a Kitahii from their stall and honestly the metal casting is really good on this, very little clean-up required at all. Honestly I wish I’d picked up a few more models from their stall. There’s a lot I like about these fantasy designs in a setting that is not your orks-humans-elves typical affair. Indeed there’s a charming feel of the 70-80s style of creature designs going on here and I really enjoy that sense of more (esp these days) unique creativity.

Note only are there charming models, but there’s also a whole game that goes with them. I did not try a demo of their game at Salute, but I will be glancing through their rules and see if I can convince any locals to give the models and game a go some time.

My Kitahii

As you can see I’ve done very little with the model thus far, no clean up nor anything, just a bit of bluetack to hold it in the base. I think it really helps show off just how good the casting quality is on this model. I’m very pleased with it and I’m very sure that I’ll be collecting more of their models.

Pendraken – 10mm SCI-FI

Pendraken had a fun display with a range of their brand new for 2024 10mm sci-fi models. Scattered about the display they also had a range of sci-fi historical and fictional characters/models as well. A few even snuck into some of my photos.
Pendraken make a LOT of metal models across a whole range of sci-fi, fantasy and historical games. Whilst they were (that I saw) just showing off the brand new sci-fi, they’ve a lot to offer and are well worth checking out.
I didn’t pick up any of their models this time around, but their metal castings in the packs they had looked clean and very well cast. This would be a great 10mm range of models to get into if you want to field larger companies and formations of tanks and troops on a battlefield in the far flung future!

Main Website
Facebook
Forums

Archon Studio

Way back when they ran their first Dungeons and Lasers Kickstarter I picked up one of their plastic Xenodragons and was mightily impressed with the quality of casting, clean up and basically everything! Indeed they had a full booth with new models on show and models for sale and I took the opportunity to grab one of their Ghost Dragon models!

Whilst I’ve not had reason to keep an eye on them for a while, they’ve been steadily making more and more awesome models and terrain kits and it seems they’ve a few new games in the works that are really looking great!

Heroes of Might and Magic

Kickstarter Link

Considering this made over 3million I think I’m probably late in telling you its a thing, but it is and the models are very cool to see. These were done in their pre-coloured option for the kickstarter campaign. I’ll be keeping an eye out as there’s some singles in this that I’d really like to get my hands on, having been a fan of the video games.

Rampart

A selection of their terrain and models from their Sci-fi series of models. Whilst the big attraction is their modular terrain, the models also really caught my eye and looked a lot of fun to put together and paint up.

Sythopian Wars

Sythropian Wars have been steadily growing over the last few years and were at Salute showing off a bunch of their models from both their current range and from a selection coming to a Kickstarter that they plan to launch later this year to help fund their production.
These quirky, rather unique styled models are very creative and feel very fresh, yet also like they harken back to the earlier days of sci-fi and some of the more wacky creations that people came up with.
Another interesting thing was that not only are they looking to do physical product, but they are also releasing their range through STLs as well. So if you’ve a home printer you can buy their presupported models off their website (link below) and print them at home right now. I suspect a few of them will creep onto my printer in the semi-near future, though their new army “The Host” is one that really caught my eye and will be appearing in their upcoming KS.
Their website also features stats for the upcoming KS, showing the new army and additions to existing ones are getting good playtesting from fellow fans.

Main Website
Facebook
Upcoming Kickstarter – be good to follow them and see everything as soon as it goes live.

Burrows & Badgers – Oathsworn

Big one here as they had not one but two great displays of their models, along with a stall on site as well. BB is a range of models that I supported one of their earlier kickstarters for a long while back. Charming models right out of the styles of the 90s ear of cartoons where it seems every other show was some kind of anthropomorphic animal. This is a fantasy line with a lot of skill and quality sculpts and a lot of fun.

Their massive siege display is by far one of the more impressive displays I saw on the day and its not even the style of game that their rules are designed for. A quick skirmisher game where you build a force of characters, where every model feels unique to tell a story of its own just from its sculpting, let alone once you put your own spin on them with paint. Seeing them do a huge fantasy siege, complete with their huge bear model charging at the walls, was a real treat.

I came across Burrows and Badgers a few years back in one of their Kickstarters, they sculpt charming models anthropomorphic characters right out of the 90s styles of cartoons. From tiny mice up to the huge bear you can see above. They use metals for much of their range and resin for the larger models and they cast very clean in both materials. Well worth checking them out if you want a few to paint or to put together a crew for their game.

Like World of Twilight, they do a decent number of Kickstarters with a fast turn around to help fund new moulds. So do check out their KS profile and give them a follow to keep in the loop for upcoming releases.

Main Website
Webstore/Oathsworn Website
Kickstarter Profile

Bushido – GCTstudios

Bushido was the game that took most of my haul from the day, a 5 for the price of 4 deal convincing me to jump on a whole host of Kitsune warrior models in a mix of resin and metals (both with very good quality castings). It’s a name I’ve heard before, but never shown that much interest in when seeing photos online. This is another of those times where getting out and seeing the actual models at a club or, in this case at a convention, really made a huge difference in my level of appreciation and excitement for a model range.
I was not alone either, twice when I was browsing their stall I overheard others gravitating toward the Kitsune range and it didn’t escape me that of the stock they had, the Kitsune line was on of the more depleted by the end of the day.

Main Website
Facebook Community Group
Discord Invite

Epilogue

And so that was my day at Salute. There were many more stalls, outlets and games on show than I took photos of or have been able to show off. It was a great show and if you take nothing else away from my ramblings, then let it be my advice to get out and see real models. The internet, high resolution photos, renders – these are all great things; but I find it takes seeing real models in the hand to really appreciate them. The internet just doesn’t create that same engaging impression. Conventions are great for finding these creators, big and small, and seeing their models first hand. Getting to handle them, chat to their creators and even pick up a few to take home. I know this show found me with one new skirmisher army and at least two or three model ranges that I’ll be dipping into in the future.

My haul from the day, showing off the Burrows and Badgers Rule book; the Dungeons and Lasers Ghost Dragon; a whole host of Bushido models; a small free container from the welcome pack as well as 3 individual models; the event model; a free warrior woman from Only Games (model by One Page Rules) and my Kitahii from World of Twilight.

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