Salute 2004 was hosted by the South London Warlords!
Colonel Marbles Miniatures Masterworks is published by Frothers Unite U.K., London.

In April 2004 the commanders of the Frother Brigade once more showed their mettle by infiltrating the biggest miniatures show in the UK calendar - Salute. A dangerous mission, as the growth of FU!UK puts them in increasing risk of recognition, but essential in keeping the war on track and a huge boost to morale in the ranks. Ditching the beards, which the enemy might be looking out for (also they are feckin itchy) they audaciously strolled in with only a pipe a-piece (not a pipe of peace though) to confuse the opposition and to point at display cases in a belligerent fashion.

The show was also remarkable as the first public appearance of the FU!UK Orc "Dave", sculpted by Seth "waxfive" Nash and produced by Pete "themouldmaker.com" Brown. Frother Artemis Black was again on hand and devoted an entire shelf of his display cabinet to the creature, somehow managing to sell them quicker than Seth could swap them for Steve Buddle figures! Being able to see these and the upcoming Hasslefree martial artists in the flesh (both on Artemis Black's stand) was a highlight for most of us and we can confirm that the SteveB figs are indeed gorgeous, although very slight, and Kev's kung fu masters don't actually have disproportionately large hands when you see them live.

A note - this may not be the full report you would normally expect, but other projects have pushed the Salute report onto the back burner. Also the pics are not too comprehensive (or good), as official '04 photographer UnclEvl was captured shortly after the show by 6mm fundamentalists and we have been unable to negotiate the release of him or his pictures (though if they only crank up their offer another couple of hundred we will probably get him back soon).

Another highlight was meeting up with some chaps from the boards, a chance to catch up with Artemis and Ian Newbold, plus meet some of the newer recruits such as ubik and of course Pete and Seth. I'm sure there must have been more of you who recognized us and ducked away, perhaps hoping to avoid buying us the customary pint for our year-round efforts? Never mind, we shall deduct it from your shillings at muster-out time.

For more Salute 2004 stories, check this thread in the FU!UK Forums.

Not everyone takes to their pipe at first...	Lucky for those Q-buster tickets eh?	Smoke me a pipe, my breakfast will be back soon.
More undercover agents... or genuine frothed up beardies?	Dave has his own display cabinet at AB's	Colonel M's photoshoot is disturbing Arty's customers

You buying that or what? "I was operating on adrenalin, painkillers and fumes from the frothers" - Artemis Black	Madan Mitra (Ilford Wargames Group) reveals the new sponshorship deal for De Bellis Fantasticus (his fantasy DBM supplement)
Ilford Wargames Group play "2nd War of the Host" using DBF. The point is to get as many figures on the table as possible, and whichever side tips up first is the winner (I think)!
"Cracking Salute, nice to meet so many mad frothers. Massively impressed by the superb quality of the participation games this year, they all looked fabulous." -UnclEvl
Some nice skeleton chariots on the Ilford WG table- note the centaur chariot conversion (2nd from left).

Foundry Orcs show off their natty new shields	New Ground Zero Games matrix-style hardcases	Also the Eureka VSF engineers

Navigator are expanding their 10mm range... apparently they felt under pressure to produce romans that can fight the new 10mm fantasy armies!	New from Chariot Miniatures, part of the Navigator / Magister Militum stable, a 28mm Orc wolf-chariot. Or, er, are they rats?
Also from Chariot, some natty 15mm lizardmen and monsters	More Chariot 15mm fantasy
O No! Bacchus 6mm Orcs!	Previously unseen fantasy and scifi figs from East Riding Miniatures

Scheltrum VSF figs, some unseen, from the Tumbling Dice stand...	More from the Tumbling Dice/Scheltrum stand. The Leviathan (VSF26 Kraken?) is new I think, and not yet pictured on their site.	Plus a martian. Or possibly a lightbulb and bendy straws that got melted together in a fire.

Bicorne Miniatures Italian infantry (bit yawn ,better pics at their website anyway)	Frothing with Ian at Newbold World
New Newbold Thendar and some Rangers	Thendar Command
'You *do* have some miniatures don't you?' 'Of course, sir. It is a miniatures stand, sir'	Run! While you still can!
Dead Deputy: This display shows all five I want seperately with their own product codes, so surely you can give them to me? Excalibur Staff: *runs off to check again* DD: *waits patiently* Ex: Sorry, but we have changed things so you can only get these ones in the box. DD: What about these other ones? Ex: We are not doing them any more.
Dead Dep prepares to brave the bring & buy once more. Elbow-spikes... check. Noseplugs... check.	An impressive Forgeworld display. Only £2.1m (unpainted)

		"The Spyglass minis were a bit smaller than I'd imagined, put me off slightly." -Col. Marbles "I have been wondering whether Spyglass minis should be slightly bigger. They're actually 30-32mm and for the most part are actually larger than GW figs (Maris, my smallest looking fig is taller than a GW Cadian). But I have sculpted a lot of figures with a fine design to them which makes them seem quite small." -SteveB
Watford Wargames Federation like a nice big game of Warmachine	ACW reenactors. #sigh#
Watford Wargames Federation like a nice big game of Warmachine	Gaolhouse Generals play Salty Sea Dogs. Er, with trains?

Nice Honorable Lead Boiler suit dinos...	...and cavemen	...and an armoured train, with looming tentacle (sold separately)

Ad Hoc Games Group (aka loons) play "The 19:42 from Benghazi"	North London Wargames Group brings you more War of the Worlds mayhem
Barnes Wargames Collective put on a 28mm scale Zombies game- Lunchtime of the Living Dead. Nice.	Brains. Mmm.
Aegyptus stuff from Crocodile Apparently the ladies dishing out aegyptus stuff were pretty hot but I can't really remember...	... UnclEvl had a few pics of the Colonel leering at them I think, but this is the only one now in the file. " I'm sure it says something about us frothers that men with big beards get more coverage than attractive aegyptus ladies. " -Rob

FrotherScout Ubik remembers not to actually put the end in his mouth	Frothers retire to the pub and are forced to play UnclEvl's new board game. "Shite" -Col Marbles	Pipe and a pint with waxfive. Huzzah!