Mid-Month Update: WIPs, A Little Honesty, and New Horizons

more Fallen Lineage please - waiting for more in that line :-)

I prefer "Mature" concepts - I hate dieselpunk and steampunk aesthetics (they're almost instantly a turn off buying for me) I actually like heroic looking sci-fi, almost noble-bright, rather than grim dark... mature noble bright would be interesting...

I feel that the miniature market right now is already very saturated with 'grimdark' and trench crusade things. Also personally I would prefer a more historical focus - particularly on niche periods and units that are under-represented (with greece alone there's the Mycenaeans, the post-alexander diadochi kingdoms from Egypt to Central Asia, byzantines, ottoman occupation and the war of independence). Having said this, if you were to expand into science fiction/alternative history, I think there is huge potential to create miniatures inspired by real proposals in the past, and 'retro science fiction' For example, there's the British Interplanetary Society lunar space suit which just looks awesome!! And if these miniatures are modular and compatible with your others it would open up a whole range of opportunities! Perhaps with this new direction you could start with a series of smaller warbands so we can see examples of your vision and a sense of the different possibilities - https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/nke15n/this_space_suit_designed_by_the_british/

Thanks a lot everyone for the feedback — the number of messages has been incredible. Seeing 30+ posts without us even stepping in, just because we wanted to listen first, is not something every community has. So really, thank you for that. It’s been extremely valuable for us. Don’t worry, we’re not planning to just do the same as everyone else — that’s simply not in our DNA. One thing is the general direction or theme, and another is how you actually execute it, and that’s where we always try to do things differently. That said, your input has been really helpful, and thanks to all of it we now have a more or less defined plan moving forward.

Personally I feel like "grim dark sci fi" is almost a saturated market - popular yes but SO many creators are doing 40K or Trench Crusade proxies with grim dark themes. There's a wealth of fantastic choice out there already. Of course that also means its a style where the money is, even if its a competitive area at the same time. I do wonder if perhaps something different in scifi would be welcome. Sci-Fantasy is fairly under-represented (Think Starwars or all those 70-80s era animations/classic films and so forth); it might be a viable opening considering you've already great skill at doing awesome creatures. Dragons, griffins and so forth in a space setting with a different style and take tahn GW's gridark hyper focus.

I'm a big fan of everything Last Sword has put out so far, but I'm bummed I missed so much. I would be 100% down for a 'revival' tier that includes older releases for another $8 a month. Even if it was just a coupon I'd upgrade my membership immediately.

Whatever direction you guys decide on, I am really curious on your approach and the results!

I’m not a good judge of market opportunity, but I’ve definitely got gaps in my minis I can’t reliably source. Weird war horror a la Last War, Never Going Home and Achtung! Cthulhu. Napoleonic horror a la Silver Bayonet. and Victorian steampunk a la In Her Majesty’s Name.

I think if you wanted to do a sci-fi range, trying to keep a balance between dieselpunk and hard sci-fi is the way to go right now. I think people have fatigue with the grimdark of both trench crusade and 40k, and want something that feels both unique enough to stand on its own, and similar enough to blend onto other worlds without wrecking the design language on the tabletop.

If you're leaning to steam & diesel I'd look to original sources for inspiration, Wells, Verne, etc. Perhaps leaning into Ruritanian Adventures, Castle Falkenstein, and swashbuckling stuff like Dumas & Sabitini, even Vaesen RPG. For Sci-fi I'm looking for more Traveller RPG kind of things, 60s through 80s aesthetics, Dr Who futurism, Blakes 7, B5, OR into stuff like 4 all Mankind, Expanse, Eclipse Phase, Murderbot, even Foundation & Empire ideas. Small squads, skirmish scale stuff, civilian and special characters interest me more than big uniform armies. Lately I more interested in skirmish games like Silver Bayonet, Traitors Toll, Gangs of Rome, the Tribal/Brutal games, Hametsu, Black Site games... I'd also be interested in sets dealing with mediaeval festivals, weddings, funeralS. Minis about historical-folkloric cultural rituals, beasts.

I would like to support the idea of releasing alternative miniatures for the ASOIAF game. The game remains popular and well-supported among players, and the seventh season with new rules is set to be released soon... It’s unclear whether CMON will continue to produce miniatures for this game; there’s a good chance that if they do, it will be very rarely and in small quantities, so there’s a potential niche opening up in players’ hearts :) Especially since many of the miniatures released by CMON are quite old, and many players would certainly like to update them :)

As others have noted, Trench Crusade has pretty much a lock on grimdark trench warfare ATM. One thing I don’t see out there is an ongoing steampunk line. A few others have done one-off releases (usually fantasy steampunk based around dwarves or gnomes) but there’s surprisingly little old-fashioned Victorian-styled steampunk minis.

Branching out is not a bad idea , its picking the right idea thats difficult ?! i would suggest following a path that sticks your strengths ie; i and probably most folks who originally joined your patron is that your sculpts are basically following warhammer fantasy factions but with your own "spin" on them . soo maybe look at another existing ip and do the same ( like maybe the factions of WESTEROS ?! ) not many if any do that , thier is an excisting tabletop game and shows , books , board game ect....... and quality stls knowwhere to be found ...... i think ?

I would actually like more historicals to be frank...I really like those you've done so far, but unfortunately I have no need for them. Might pick some up later, but exploring some yet unexplored areas might be great - like you did some French musketeers, why not expand it into a full Thirty Years War French army? And then make other countries too, Poles, Swedes, Imperials, Turks, it's such an underserved period that was not really explored in 3D. Sadly, as good as the Greeks currently look, they have multiple plastic kits and stls available, and the above figures does not add much to them.

I like the idea, frankly I have more traditional fantasy STL's than I can ever print. Im super interested to see what you can create thats unusual or unlike what other sculpters are making, no matter wwhat the genre or game. Originality is key imo.

I love the work you do for fantasy miniatures, and have been building both human and beast men armies while hoping for more in both lines. I know whatever you produce it'll be awesome, my drive to collect your proposed lines though is lower just because it's not associated with a system I play currently.

Give sci fi a crack - loosely based it off something popular that hasn’t been brought into the miniatures market like Dune as you can make this very grim dark if you wanted to Also please tell me that Griffon is going to have a rider with a BIG FOOKEN AXE

I believe that there is always room for quality miniatures, regardless of the setting. The marked is saturated with mostly low quality or replica 40k miniatures. Makers who want to ride on GW's surf. If you find a mature distinct personal style like you do in Fantasy, I believe it could certainly work.

Skavens!!!

I sincerely hope you definitely won’t give up on the fantasy miniatures... Otherwise, we’ll ask you to let us purchase previously released monthly sets as part of our subscription :D

I'm being honest if its not something I'm especially into, there isn't really anything else I want. And the stuff I like are mostly things that either work with some Heresy or 40k (grimdark for like Inquisitor style games) or on the other hand something for ghost in the Shell.

Please, do something new, something that we have not seen again and again. I’m tired and sad to see people on Patreon making always the same minis. You may try to mix some unexpected inspirations like a game like shadowrun does. I also like original propositions like the one of solwyte studio.

Esos hoplitas me parecen geniales, enhorabuena a Aniol y el resto del equipo!

I would be more interested in minis for something like Silver Bayonet, Dracula's America, or, if you like the trench style, A War Transformed - WWI on the Doggerland Front. I agree with some of the others the Trench Crusade thing is getting crowded.

I personally have no interest in science fiction settings, my heart firmly belongs to fantasy, especially the stylized realism your studio does so well. That said, I think branching out to attract more people who would also appreciate your style to use for their sci-fi games is a good idea, and I wouldn't even mind if there was slight dips in the output for the fantasy range. I think a financially-stable studio that caters to me and others is much better even than a studio who caters only to people like me, but is on a downward path.

Ok now you got me;-) set 1: Phileas Fogg and his treasure hunter Vs the evil Sikh cult. "Flying over the sub continent jungles on his steam train, Phineas was trying to spot a soft landing grass band large enough for the train to land. He knew he would soon set the individual jet pack hunters to access the old ruins where the Evil reside..." ----------- Set2: the Nautilus and captain Nemo --------- Set 3 : Phineas Fogg vs the cowboy gang. Explore that gold mine :-)

I have been playing a lot of Doom1490 recently, and I think there is definitely a lack of minis available for that style of mideival-grimdark setting. Trench Crusade is certainly popular and there are a bunch of grim-WW1 style miniatures available online, but there is a distinct lack of gasmask-mideival style miniatures (without guns/grenades/industrial tech). Also, steampunk minis are pretty rare, so it would be cool to see some alternate history napoleonic/victorian style warbands.

I would see some steampunk: going from London cobblestreets to the wild west, with some steam locomotives, flying of course!

I'm going to also raise my voice in support of the idea that the market for grim dark & trench stuff is very saturated. I think it's hard to get in on grim dark. Getting in on Trenchy stuff was prob a great idea when it was the "new thing" but probably less so now. I recently picked up the Shivershield game (oakbound studio) at Salute. It's a folklore mythology inspired game with some gorgeous metal minis that reminds me a bit of Dark Crystal & the old Terry Pratchett covers. I also saw the game Moonstone in a similar vein & it looked gorgeous. I absolutely think that this folklore, Labyrinth, Dark Crystal aesthetic is endearing, beautiful, very under represented & would be hugely nostalgia inducing for many people. It would also be great for people like me looking for something slightly genter to introduce younger kids to tabletop gaming. I think the folklore side ties very nicely in to your research heavy inspiration style. More generally I'd say try & find the next up & coming thing. For scifi, to me, that feels less grim sci fi, with things like Infinity War, StarCraft, Zero Genesis, etc. To do these though I really feel you need to be active in those communities to get noticed (Scoutsifer did this really well for their diesel unk stuff).

I am aligned with the previous comments: your touch - and the reason why I joined - is the historical touch. The market is saturated with fantasy and dark future, I feel there is a spot for Steam punk, if you manage to get it different from Trench Crusade

I think t's a bit silly entering an already saturated and extremely policed market. Maybe a side hussle, but not an entire channel.

The things that I think really set your sculpts apart are the care and attention on the historical influences (including on the fantasy sculpts), and the great sense of narrative and character you're able to convey through posing. If you brought that to a sci-fi aesthetic I'd be very tempted! Personally I prefer the grim dark sci-fi angle to trench tech (I feel the 3D miniatures space is pretty oversaturated with crusading trench fighters at the moment), but I think if you brought your eye for historical reference and visual storytelling to a more futuristic setting it could definitely set itself apart.