Showing posts with label Dragon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dragon. Show all posts

Saturday, November 4, 2023

Get Your Own Treasure!

Treasure Hunting 80s Style


I quite pleased how this one turned out, and really underlines Tom Meier's sculpting skill. Given it was originally sculpted in the 80s and then released by Citadel. It is still available via Ral Partha Legacy in the USA but I got mine from in UK from an importer (https://www.miniature-heroes.co.uk/) for a reasonable price. 

I had originally planned to make the treasure pile from small discs cut from plastic rods to look like coins. But it just didn't look right. So, I mixed the plastic rods with some sieved sand and this created the right mix of sizes and shapes. 





Rob

Friday, November 3, 2023

Side Project Dragon

Another Tom Meier Dragon


I got this Tom Meier dragon last Christmas and it has taken a bit of time to work out how to paint him. This is the second time I have painted this dragon, the first time was in the nineties. The original one, a friend of mine still has, so I am hoping to get a picture and be able to compare the two.

Most of the painting on the dragon is complete, so now focus turns to the base. Which will be the dragon sitting on a small treasure hoard. 



Rob

Thursday, October 14, 2021

A Little Bit of Wargaming History

FF54 Wyvern - circa 1981 by Joe Dever


I got my own little bit of wargaming history today  with the arrival of a 1980s Fiend Factory Citadel Wyvern. This is one from the late Joe Dever's collection. Thanks to Springinsfeld (over at  BROADSWORDS AND BEASTS) for helping me out to get this classic. Who will fill a gap in Thistlewood forces.  He is selling them on behalf of Joe's family for charity so if you fancy one for yourself you can find them at: 

Items for sale by malplaquet_miniatures | eBay

He already looks very at home with halfling contingent as he is a more noble looking monster!

Rob 

Saturday, March 20, 2021

New Army Ideas

What's Next? 

From WD37 - Artist Unknown

Since finishing the first part of my chaos army, I have been thinking about what some of projects I want to take on next. I do want to do a wood elf army at some point as I have had several attempts and never managed to finish them. But I don't fancy painting up large blocks of archers at this point and my mate Stevie has just finished a high elf army so this likely to be a opponent at some point in future when we can start meeting again 

I recently came across Oakbound Studios Miniatures (oakbound.co.uk) and their range of Fae. These are excellent by the way with loads of character and really nice style. Definitely going on the list. and they also produce a set of skirmish rules.  This led to a rummage through the loft to find these beauties.

White Dwarf 37January 1983  - Cover by Emmanuel
White Dwarf 38 February 38 - Cover by Nicholas Bibby

Writing up this article I noticed that the cover was done by a Nicholas Bibby which is surely the same Nick Bibby who did many of Citadel's excellent dragons and Monsters. Including the dragons shown below.

Nick Bibby Dragons

White Dwarf did a couple of articles on the subject of using Faeries in AD&D along with some nice pictures. They also produced some AD&D rules for the Faeries several of which I plan to use in my army.

Not just tiny Faeries!

Not all goody two shoes


Which set me thinking could I build an army around a Fae theme?  The Fae from folklore are not all goodies and many of the characters are at best morally ambiguous. After a bit of searching on the internet I have found a number of companies who do figures that I think will fit this theme. 

  • Oakbound Studios  - Loads of characters and I could build some small units such as Gnomes & Goblins. 
  • Games Workshop - Sylaneth. Fits the theme with a variety of Dryad types. As usual GW have produced some excellent figures and the plastic kits give plenty of opportunity for conversion.  But they are not cheap and I don't want to spend several hundred quid on a basic force. Maybe some second hand figures and I don't want to build a GW army.
  • Ral Partha Legacy - Ral Partha actually produce both Fae and Dryad armies. Some nice figures in there but the cost of postage puts me of buying a couple to see what they are like. I have been eyeing up the 'Oldhammer' Tom Meier Giant so they may have to wait until I get that mini.
  • Reaper Miniatures - Reaper do a few characters. No real figures to build an army but a reasonable price.
  • Eureka Miniatures - These also do Fae miniatures in their Fanticide range. Reasonable prices and a good range. Definitely on the list. 
  • Ex-Grenadier Miniatures - Some of Mark Copplestone's excellent wood elves (from Fornlorn Hope & others) could provide some nice characters at very reasonable prices. 
  • The Others - I did quite a few other manufacturers who produced the odd figure which could end up in the final army. 
I don't plan to paint hundred of miniatures and I don't want ones which necessarily traditionally fit the standard Warhammer army list but perversely could be used as a Warhammer army.  I did originally did look at the Wood Elf army list (WFB 3rd) but couldn't find a way to get it to fit. I have been particularly inspired by the Lizardmen armies being built on the Old World Army Challenge which manage to build a 'legal'  Lizardman army using the Slann list.

So after a bit of lateral thinking and you will have to bear me at this point . I decided to use the undead army list. The undead army is a magically powered army with plenty of powerful spellcasters, mighty heroes, fear causing troops and monsters. Which is just the sort of army i am trying to build with the Fae. 

So Necromancers could become Druids (probably elvish ones), Skeletons can become Dryads  and Mummies can become lesser Tree men (Which are flammable which is a nice coincidence and fits the adopted profile). Other types can be worked on as I build and paint units. The profiles of these troop types fit with how i see the faeries working on the battlefield. 

Time to start working on an army list.

Rob 

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Zombie Dragon

 Tom Meier's Zombie Dragon

'Bring your pretty face to my axe'

Got this miniature for Christmas and he has been slowing been moving toward towards the finish line. Given I first saw this miniature in the 3rd Citadel Compendium (Circa 1985), I can't believe that you can still buy it new (from a Ral Partha seller on eBay). It still stands out as a great sculpt. 



Sculpted by Tom Meier, this dragon has been a main stay of many undead armies and definite must for my growing undead horde. I enjoyed painting this miniature and decided to go for muted green.   I was trying out a different wash technique on the blood which involved a Citadel Magenta wash from the early 90's (which I found in the loft). Which had a nice shiny look but doesn't come out on the photos too well.

Rob