Salute 2025 Live Blog!

With 2 golds and a silver, David Soper wins best of Show with his Horticulus Slimux / Plague Demon / Grand Cultivator

We got to have a chat with Dave from TTCombat about his plans for what’s coming up from them about the Drop Universe (Dropzone Commander and Dropfleet Commander) as well as what they have on the cards for Operation Artemis.

There was an ace look at some of the new plastic ships which are all made from one sprue. Yep, all of that detail fits onto one sprue and should give you an idea of how far the technology has come from TTCombat. PLUS, we also got a look at Operation Artemis and the miniatures for that which will be coming VERY soon if you like fighting giant monsters.

You get a lot of cool Napoleonic games at Salute but there are often not many in the Ancient realm. We had a look at one earlier in 2mm but there was also a great game being played out by the Society Of Ancients. They dove into the Battle Of Gaugamela which featured the Army of Macedon under Alexander the Great and the Persian Army under King Darius III. A decisive battle and one that’s quite neat to see on the tabletop.

This was another of the big battles being put on by The Friends Of General Haig. They are going for a Modern game with a look at 15mm wargaming and an assault that took place during the Iran-Iraq War. This became a prepared assault by Iraqi forces across a river with a mixture of desert battles and close fighting in urban environments.

Anyaral: World Of Twilight continues to amaze us every time we see the game. The miniatures are gorgeous and unique and the world itself has grown and been fleshed out over many years at this point. The team had a couple of tables up for you to get a look at this year showcasing the game and their terrain making skills. Just look at the view from the back!

This was their largest wargame to date with a battle in Berlin during 1945 and the final days of World War II. Retired Wargamers Reloaded did an excellent job with this table showing off the ruined landscape that was left behind during these pivotal battles.

WarFulcrum Games are here showing off their World War I miniatures game, 1918. They are playing out the battles of Belleau Wood from June 1918 using their new set of rules. You could either take command of the US Marine Corps or the German Army. They are also working on a game there showcasing the first tank battle in history where the German A7Vs where pitted against the British Whippet and Mark V Tanks.

Ben takes you on a guided tour of Salute 2025 starting from the entrance and walking all the way through to the other side. We show off the mix of different traders and participation games that you can take part in alongside the likes of the painting competition, the Hobby Heroes area and much more. Whatever you’re into when it comes to wargaming, there is something for you here at Salute! It is always packed and full of people finding old games and new to play!

Sometimes its nice to step away from our traditional theatres of war and the various conflicts we’re used to playing. In this case, you could come and check out AK47 Republic and the War In Africa covering 1955 through to 1990. This set of rules is for 15mm battles on the tabletop and it’s interesting to dive into a very different warzone!

Offensive Miniatures are back showing off the game that they previewed during Salute last year. DAK Attack is a fantastic set of rules for playing Long Range Desert Group battles in North Africa with a quick and simple set of rules. What’s nice is that they also have some great ways for you to play the game both on a classic tabletop but also with a “map” where you run the full campaign.

This was an epic 6mm scale participation game where you were going to be trying your best to get up off the beach and deeper inland. There were loads of folks talking part in this particular game with a board by Charles Rowntree and with a mixture of miniatures, some of which were from Alder Miniatures. As well as running people through the game, they were also talking about the historical context of it and how they mapped the game to the real world events.

I snuck over to the Wargames Atlantic spot and had a sneaky peek at those lovely new Dwarves that the folks are working on as the next faction for Classic Fantasy Battles. It was great seeing the miniatures up close and personal and also those cavalry miniatures on the backs of the goats! Lovely stuff.

It looks like there’s plenty of buzz around the 10mm scale at the moment and it will be great to see what Wargames Atlantic do next.

You’ll have to forgive me for picking out some more Middle-earth but the folks at South London Warlords have put together a stunning tabletop featuring some larger-than-life Middle-earth “minis” as the Rohirrim are trying to stop the forces of Sauron from breaching the gates. Will they do it in time? It looks super cool seeing the game in a larger scale!

It was rather intriguing seeing this awesome game come together using Vauban’s War rules for the Wars Of The Gelderland Succession. The folks behind this are taking a light-hearted approach to the history and the battle itself with the use of “trenches, saps, mortars and colourful diseases”.

You can snap up these siege warfare rules for yourself by heading to the likes of Piquet Wargames!

Spectre Miniatures are here once again showing off their Modern Warfare wargame Spectre Operations with a little demo delving into their mechanics. They also chatted to me about Cosmic Horror and their plans for the game. There are lots more miniatures coming down the pipeline for their Lovecraftian spin-off.

Interestingly, they are also going to be working closely with Black Site Studio to bring some of their games over to the UK to make it easier to get a hold of games like Don’t Look Back.

Anschluss Wargames are putting on an excellent table packed with fascinating miniatures in 12mm scale retelling Rommel’s Afrika Korps attack on Tobruk. This has all been done to be as accurate as possible with the numbers of troops, vehicles AND the terrain matched up to what was there at the time and aerial photography of the battlefield.

The 12mm scale allows them to do some great stuff with a range of other collections but most of the miniatures are their own which you can find HERE. We even got a scoped look through a soldier’s eye view of the battlefield!

Parabellum Miniatures has set up a nice table showing off some of their 3D printed elements that they’ve been producing over on Etsy and the like. I was immediately drawn to their Balin’s Tomb collection which shows off some gorgeous alternative miniatures for The Lord Of The Rings with both a Fellowship and the Goblins of Moria.

It’s super cool and you can get your hands on some glorious terrain and more from Parabellum Miniatures too.

Soldiers Of Napoleon is being put on led by Warwick Kinrade and Piers Brand themselves and once again, it showcases how glorious you can get games of that era looking with some well-painted miniatures and some gorgeous terrain. If nothing else, these tables help to inspire you and get you fired up for painting miniatures you might not have considered before.

Does this kind of game get you fired up for battles during this period or does it end up scaring you off?!

Lust For Glory is the current name for a set of wargaming rules for “grognards and novices alike” covering the period of the 17th & 18th Century. The rules they are using for this battle are a cross between Simon Miller’s To The Strongest and For King And Parliament which was written alongside Andrew Brentnall.

The game is played out on gridded cloth using chits or playing cards alongside the miniatures that you see here. You can use miniatures of any scale which is nice for those with existing collections! Make sure to find out more from BigRedBat!

Check out some close-up sneaky snaps of the tables and terrain that people have been building for Salute tomorrow. There is a good mixture of Historical, Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Pulp games on display and this should give you a flavour of what’s on the way.

We’re excited to dive in and see what folks have to show off tomorrow. Make sure to drop some ideas in the comments down below as to who we should be scouting.