Big Relicblade News!
Hard-plastic Battle Pig Adversary Character Theme Set.
Hard Plastic Battle Pigs!
That’s right! Multi-part hard-plastic Battle Pigs are on the horizon! This is a very exciting announcement. In this update, I aim to give you as much detail as possible about the project so far.
The Battle Pigs are the first Relicblade faction set to transform into an “Adversary Character Set.” This is a new evolution of the faction set that will be terrific for Relicblade fans everywhere. The new format for “faction sets” will include a frame of high-quality HIPS hard-plastic minis, a pack of cards, and a booklet. It will be similar to the metal faction sets in spirit, but expanded to fulfill my wildest fantasies for what a Relicblade set could be.
Part 1: The Minis
The new set will include a HIPS plastic frame. Like you would find from a bigger company like Games Workshop or Atomic Mass Games. The new plastic set will include FIVE miniatures instead of four minis like the metal kits include.
I am working with a company called Ashway XFound to create a frame of multi-part hard plastic minis. Ashway manufactures the plastic kits for several other popular miniature ranges, and they have been absolutely amazing to work with so far. Their team of engineers worked closely with me to make sure assembly will be a breeze and the details will be crisp.
Assembly instructions for plastic axe pig or variant shield pig.
There are tons of ways to make multi-part kits. For this project I decided to prioritize my artistic vision for the characters over modularity. I can imagine a battle pig set designed to create hordes of pigs, but that doesn’t really serve the Relicblade game design as well as making a few very cool characters.
Of course, we still want to have modularity! So this set does include variant build options for your Battle Pigs. I also carefully added wrist wraps to the characters so doing weapon swaps and other more advanced conversions will be super easy.
New plastic Battle Pigs smash into metal heroes. All Relicblade models are sculpted by Sean Sutter and blend together beautifully no matter the material.
Part 2: The Cards
The Battle Pigs are one of the oldest factions in Relicblade. They were some of the first characters I ever designed for the game, and in recent years, their relative power-level has somewhat lagged behind newer character designs.
There are certain games out there that constantly mettle with their rules in search of perfect balance. In my experience this can be fun, but it is just as likely to be frustrating. I am generally reluctant to make changes to Relicblade since people already own the cards, and not knowing if they are up to date can ruin the experience. But I just couldn’t let my dear Pigs wallow in competitive irrelevance.
For this release I worked very hard to bump up their effectiveness while retaining their essential spirit. The new cards also include some quality of life updates like what alignment the character is and what year the card is from.
Rules updates can be annoying for those of us who hate change. But I’ve just gotta see pigs dominate.
The updates to Battle Pigs will reinvigorate your battles for sure. Like I mentioned already, I am extremely reluctant to make changes. But these guys are 10 years old and I really want them to be intensely fun on the table.
Part 3: The Book
Faction sets include a little insert. You remember buying a faction set and seeing a little flier for the packaging. That half page worth of content was extremely precious to me as a creator. I am bursting with Relicblade ideas, but making stuff is extremely expensive and complicated. Each new faction set gave me the chance to write a paragraph of lore or a new scenario. It was never enough, but I’ll take what I can get.
The new faction product format gave me a burst of determination to expand that tiny 1-page insert into a 44-page booklet! If you downloaded the Severed Hand or Guild Champions faction booklets, you know exactly what to expect.
Sweet, sweet lore, mini photography, and illustration. Let me cook.
The booklet includes Battle Pig background information, tactics and lore for each of the character cards, a section on all the upgrades cards in the set, information about the pig theme character expansions (Berserker Pig, Vermin Mouth, and Hellebore), a little hobby section, and new scenarios for both Competitive and Coop game modes.
Dolg Morrin is a real sweet heart once you get to know him.
Kickstarter, when?
Here’s the deal. I had to make new Battle Pigs ASAP. They are my most popular set and I had to get them made right away.
I am still working on the new Thunder God 2-player set that I teased earlier this year. I plan to run a Kickstarter for that project. Because I ended up with the most popular Relicblade set out of production, I had to just set aside the Thunder God project and make the new Battle Pigs right away.
Thunder God Kickstarter is delayed a bit. I don’t know how soon I will have that campaign up an running.
There won’t be a Battle Pig Kickstarter. I am just going to release them as soon as I can and hope y’all buy it. Plastic Battle Pigs are already in production. I want them ready for AdeptiCon 2026.
They should be available to buy early next year.
A beautiful new box set available early 2026
Important Questions:
Q: Wait, can Metal King Studio afford to just make a plastic set without running a Kickstarter?
A: Honestly, I don’t know. I just have to make it happen. I felt weird running a Battle Pig Kickstarter a couple of months before a new Thunder God 2-player box set Kickstarter. I just gotta try to keep going. My supporters have been generous all along, so I hope they will show up when this set is available even if Kickstarter corporation isn’t involved.
Q: Is the new 2-player set for Thunder God also plastic?
A: Yes. It will be a hard plastic multi-part kit too! I am working with Archon to make that kit. I am working with multiple manufacturers in this early Relicblade-plastics phase to find the best partner for my range in the future.
Q: Metal, Resin, or Plastic… What material should we expect?
A: I want to offer the best quality plastics for new releases whenever possible. Plastic kits are generally the most loved material in the miniatures hobby. I expect Relicblade to have a hybrid Metal and Plastic range for the foreseeable future. New single character expansions will probably stay metal. I will continue to offer minis in the best quality I can. The resin models, like Lady Aurelia for example, are produced that way as special options because there were issues with the metal molds and I had no other way to keep the models in stock.
Q: But I prefer metal models.
A: I know a lot of Relicblade fans prefer metal models. I love metal models, too. But I have run into too many issues where metal is holding the game back. The sculpting style and detail on new models will be extremely Relicblade-y, and I hope the plastic material will help the game grow.
You can still purchase the metal old Battle Pigs as loose miniatures.
Q: Are you going to update the other Faction Sets into plastic?
A: I hope so. I want to make the game the best it can be! But even moving fast with almost unlimited funds: I can MAYBE release two updated plastic sets a year. I am working non-stop to make this stuff happen. I hired someone to fulfill my shipping so I can work on creative work. So hopefully Metal King Studio can be successful and we can continue to deliver this awesome game.
Be sure to order Relicblade toys sometimes so I can keep making the game. :)
Love,
Sean
Plastic pigs coming 2026!