Colonel Marbles Miniature Masterworks - AUGUST 2003

The Colonel's daily subscription service is sadly now ended... but remember you can still visit our FrothForum to catch all the latest dispatches and to discuss any of these minis!

01/08/03

Pics of the WarCrow elf, I don't like it..

He sure is different... I don't know, I think he looks good painted as a drow, not so as a regular elf.

Shoot, was really looking forward to this, but am a little dissapointed by this one. He definitly looks better as a drow, but don't know if I'll bother with this one. I guess it does seem to fit in with the other figs they have done, but I really don't like the fuzzy slippers. -gloria_invictus

I like him. Think he's a cool dude either way. But then I do like a chap with a big chopper, as the actress said to the bishop! - Ian Newbold

With the exception of the thatched footwear and possibly the anime style ears, I quite like him too. - Beezlebrush

Looks like a character from a saturday morning cartoon. In a good way. Shame the axe isn't seperate, he might have sci-fied up well. - Perihelion

Hi! It is great to see that this miniature cause so different comments! It was done to be a drow, but you can paint it as you want... isn't drows elfs too? Hum, I would like longer ears.

I think you will be surprised and sometimes dissapointed with WarCrow miniatures, as it is a bit "experimental" range. Different sculptors doing the same races, different styles,... just look for the one you like!

Please keep telling your sincere opinion on our miniatures, it is the way to improve the range! Next miniature will be another elf, no drow this time. And completly different... let's see. regards,

- Fernando Liste (From the Corvus Belli(and Warcrow) team)

That's the spirit! Looking forward to it.

01/08/03

This is a heads up on a new project that I've had the good fortune to have seen: Disturbia.

It's some kind of Dark Gothic 1930's Sci-fi malarkey. They have some nice animated mutant toy things and obligatory Nazi's in Power armour. The ones that I have seen have been big, real big. 36mm plus, bigger for hero types.

I have to confess an interest, having done some moulding for the blokes making them (Jim Bowen & Steve from Monolith) but I thought that it's the kind of stuff that you may appreciate. - peteB

The quality seems pretty hit or miss from the few pics on the site. - TheImp

What an odd range. If I needed minis for the Puppetland RPG I'd be thrilled. As is, I guess the Nazi Sandmen might be interesting for alternate WW2 gaming. Kind of big, though. - frotherGuest

I think these are brilliant, but I'm pretty into that whole Victorian Sci-Fi thing - Mancha

Somebody asked about these here a few weeks ago: good to have the details at last! - rob

Ihe latest GI minis that I have seen are some crazy, evil looking Clowns. Insane grins with huge teeth, droll expressions and hidden weapons. Strange.

Seems to be the stuff of nightmares. They have Sandmen (who seem to be on a Nazi vibe) and Bogeymen, as well as live puppets etc. My favourite was the Bogeyman in his plague mask. Mr Punch looks suitably disturbing as well.

Oh, and apparently they're adding new figures everyday... -Mr Ed

Wow, they've added a lot since the last time I checked that site. Has anyone seen these in person? I didn't see a scale listed - 25mm? 28? -frotherGuest

I've been told most of them are 36mm+. So they're pretty big (think Rackham)

I guess it wouldn't matter as long as they're not supposed to represent humans.

I was loving them until i heard 36mm, there goes any and all usefulness they may have had for me.

still, they look good - Nudemonster.

Why? They are clearly not human, so can be any size.

I like 'em. Hands are a bit crap here and there, but this is a background that seems to work. Several purchases planned.

Wasn't Sin-Eater a pop star? - Sumo

36mm? Excellent, Steiffy the teddy bear has now become an essential purchase...giant demon teddy agogo.

Eh? most of them are human, the goth, outlanders, and nazi types i thought might work for near future skirmish alongside copplestone and others. a couple of them sure could be giant humanoids or something, but i'd rather be able to use them all. -frotherGuest

Agreed. Nazi demon-orc-things in 28mm would have been nice. 36mm is too big for general usage. -frotherGuest

The Cutter looks to be my fav, though the Teddy also has possibilities. I think the Sandmen might make E-vil foes for Eureka's Teddies an Invasion of Slumberland scenario. I've already got the boy w. teddy from West Winds Tsar pack (Romanov Holiday) to act as General for the Teddies. My other General is a Duck dressed up as Napoleon!

(Anyone familiar with vintage comics might catch the slumberland reference.) -frotherGuest

Good call Mr Ed, some nice character pieces there. I certainly agree that the Sandmen would go well with a fantasy/modern type skirmish thang, á la Copplestone. I particularly like the Rampagers from this lot.

The Cutter is excellent, as is Papa Sabbato - The Dark Pope, and for many of these pieces the slightly increased size wouldn't be too prohibitive for mixing them in with 28mm, as charaters. Pricey though at around 3 - 3 1/2 quid a figure, even if they are a tad larger - although the Evil Puppets are only a quid each, but I assuming they will be a good deal smaller (as puppets).

Go well with the Westwind Gothic range for sure.

02/08/03

Crocodile Games have released 3 packs of Basti Camp Followers (sweet!) plus a bunch of other stuff. They are also taking Pre-Orders on the hardcover War Gods of Aegyptus 2nd Ed. (If you pre-order you get your name inside!) -frotherGuest

That tortured mummy is too damn cute! - fatgoblin

03/08/03

This new wolfen from Rackham and majestic as ever... - Colonel Marbles

Indeed majestic Col. However, it looks more like a Devourer to me.

Yep its the new devourer "big leaderey bloke" cant remember his name but he's supposed to be dead hard - waxfive

Totally cool! And he looks dead hard too. - UncHex

Just a shame that the back banner looks so flat... still i will work on them from the inside... yeah cos they will realy listen to me :lol: - waxfive

03/08/03

I was checking out the Wizkids website to see if I can see any pictures of the indy clix. Came across this new game to be released by Wizkids called creepy freaks. I really like the look of them (for once)!

#giggles# The jar head looks cool... - White Knight

I liked the eyesore. This is a good concept for a game - should be interesting. - frotherBaz

That cool skeleton boy with the radio is great too!

This range might be the one to break my resolve not to buy pre-painted miniatures. Hopefully the miniatures will be thick enough that they are not too flexible to re-paint.

04/08/03

A few new Shadowforge pics up on the site, lots of tribals (and in the future,shaman and berserkers) , a cute toon, a nice wild west girl, and a pic of the new human fantasy football team to replace the old one.

He is definitely getting better and better, these are really nice. The shield on the tribals is disappointing though, I hope they are not cast in one peice and can be replaced.

Good Stuff!

The Valkyries come with separate shields, so I don't think you need to worry.

Oh, and #froth#...

Mm, looks like some good stuff coming out of there, some really tasty figs amongst that latest release. And the 'upcoming' set of tribals looks like the nicest (and most consistent) one yet! Guess I might be in touch about those sometime soon Artemis...

Not that keen on the wild west character, its not that exciting, but its OK. - Doc

Agreed, the previous Wild West figures had more character, but like you said it's okay, and there aren't that many good female WW figures out there.

Their 'Ranchers daughter' fig is great though!

I thought the face (esp the hair) looks sensational. Maybe the posing and the dress lets it down a little I guess. With the addition of horses to his range maybe we will be seeing more wild west? That can't be a bad thing!

04/08/03

Well, I think it's new from Freebooter, but I've become more cautious about making such statements...

I like him. A bit Rackhamesque too. More pics here.

Well its new to me ! But I don't have my finger quite as on the pulse as I used to #frowns#

Anyway thats a great figure

Great paintjob too. Just look at that magnifying glass lying on the open book.

I never had my finger on the pulse so its new to me too!

Great concept, well executed. Love the little cloud guy. The wizard may be a little plain but thats a good thing I think. The best part of the miniatures I think is the hands! very nice, with credit to both sculptor and painter I think.

Seems your fantasy/sci fi line is not complete unless you have someone with a open book or holding a scroll to let all those expert painters go crazy on This guy certainly painted it up admirably, esp the magnifying glass effect.

Great mini that one, eh? Novel and well sculpted (as always it seems, from Werner!) I like it alot. - UncHex

05/08/03

From Discounthobby.com, a limited edition Moses figure, sculpted by Sandra Garrity. Odd concept, releasing biblical figures. Wonder if I will eventually find this in those Christian bookstores? - Mancha

I find it rather interesting that Moses is part of their "gods" line - it seems...... not quite right. - gloria_invictus

I doubt that either Cleopatra or Joan of Arc really fit the profile for "Gods" either. Perhaps it is an abbreviation? "Beloved of the Gods" perhaps? - Marquis

05/08/03

YEAH! Vendel elephants!

And just after I saw that trailer for that thai movie with all the elephants too (but these are indian ones...)

Elephantastic batman!

I like them, but I always want elephants to be bigger...

06/08/03

New from Assassin, an, erm, assassin. Both of these figs are pretty nifty, although the target might be a trifle plain. - Mancha

Nice concept.

Amusing. I don't usually think "bikini wax" when I hear the assassins mentioned. -frotherGuest

You can always paint yours without the waxing. -frotherGuest

Eu! No don't do that!

This fig represents that classic paradox, how does a fantasy assassin get close to their target? By dressing in a manner guaranteed to attract the maximum attention surely?! This is the best example yet though I have to say! Mayhap its that classic technique of misdirection, the "Distraction by Substitution".

"Hey that birds wearing a funny outfit."
"SH*T you can almost see her minge!"
"Hm looks like shes... shaved it?? Crikey?"
"Oh look shes stuck those two huge knives in the boss! Looks like we need a new job..."

Herr Nieheus has been watch too much anime methinks... Nothing wrong with that though.

he he - yeah but you forgot about the boots. I mean to say - what sort of mind would dream those up ?

Its like something out of Soho... er... I am told that is.... -frotherBaz

She's probably hoping anybody she confronts will drop their weapons at the same time they drop their jaws . Great character in these though, thumbs up from me!

I was reading an article about the popularity of cameltoe only yesterday morning...now it's made it into miniatures!

I have to say the figures look very good to me. Plenty of character, which is what I like to see in a figure. Generally speaking I like realism in my wargames figures but I am always willing to forgo it for collectors' pieces. I think this pair would grace any collection especially if they were painted as well as those in the pics. - Ian Newbold

05/08/03

Followed a link on TMP to this gallery of pictures taken at historicon. If those things with the very unhappy face are the death elves, they are quite poor...

Not keen on the Bo Selecta look either... - Perihelion

I don't know. I'm not too keen on them, but maybe it's an acquired taste. I could consider replacing the heads with those from the GW plastic sets, but I don't like those either.

Euuu!! Euuuuw!!!

My comments on the Death Elves will be reserved for the showcase update (that and it'll take me three days before i stop laughing).

Christ, they're awful. What a shame. - UnclEvl

They all look like Michael Jackson. #laughs

05/08/03

These are cheesy, but I'm clearly going to buy them. Gotta love West Wind!

They're a right laugh, I really like em. Go well with the pumpkin heads for a halloween type skirmish game (perhaps squeeze in a few killer clowns as well?).

Those are great!

Oh, and those witches are fab too. (I already have got some great Eureka killer clowns, now I just have to get some way to get those pumkin heads and witches) West wind is really tugging my wallet these days.

If you want pumpkinheads, you should really check out RAFM too, they make some EXCELLENT pumpkinheads and scarecrows. And the Ral Partha Crucible Witches of Selena range has some great Halloween themed stuff too. I think Fenryll and Rackham have a pumpkinhead/scarecrow as well.

Just ignore Black Tree's. The Superfigs one might be worth a look.

Hey, I painted those witches! They are very nice sculpts. I just wish I had been given more than two day's to complete the job. - Aaron

Nice classic witches there, they'd go nicely with the RafM ones. Clearly need to convert a trio of them into Marge Simpson and her sisters from that one Halloween episode. - frotherGuest

05/08/03

This is the second model for the magazine. Pics turned out a bit shit, sorry. -UncHex

Looks great. Excellent pose! Very dynamic! You're the man, Rosemary!

Yep I like that a lot !!

What mag is that ? Harbinger??

Yeah. It's excellent. I'm going to cut it up though!

The new Harbinger mini might not be so fab when i've had my greasy fingers round it. uncle hex has given me the go-ahead to break it as much as i like. -peteb

Looks like good material for golden age superhero stuff, with or without the wings! Speaking of the wings, I hope they turn out lighter than they look or ballance is going to be a problem...

05/08/03

Much better than that last monstrosity from 100 Kingdoms. Flyer is good.

I guess these are better but I still can't get into this line. The mins seem...off for some reason. Will pass on these. - Ghost

i think its the head. there is something wrong with the head.

The flying thing looks pretty damn cool. Not sure about the big thing though (allosaurus?) it's limbs and head seem slightly disproportionate to me...

Whats it doing though? Carrying a log?

Does it have a job working for the logging company, or is it in league with the ewoks?

Its on a perch laughing. Are you guys blind?

Bleah. Those look like they came from a Flintstones episode. - frotherGuest

12/08/03

New Reaper; all SG minis. Nothing there I'm likely to get.

All a tad on the old cliched/boring side really. Disappointing.

Oh dear. Very 1970's.

Seeing them like that also reminds me how much I hate those reaper bases.

Same old Garrity stuff, after getting used to being treated to Klockes stuff I must say these are extremly dissapointing - definitely nothing for me in that run of greens.

With most of the Reaper's recent stuff drawing a lot of attention, these are certainly a step back. Guess you can't have sunshine everyday. - Ghost

Yawn - Sturmpioneer

Well the halfling figure is unusual, if incredibly static in pose.

The rest I have to concur... if you are going to wack out a load of minis all the same you might as well start doing regiments neh?

But what an expert (technical) sculptor. Look at all that fine crisp details. The poses are static and the design isn't to great (those giant wizard staff has got to stop), but they are very well made.

Exactly... its such a waste to knock out the same minis with slight variations over and over!

It's funny really, everybody is knocking SG's stuff when she is the sculptor that made Reaper the company they are today. At one point she was the only sculptor who made any of their miniatures and almost the entire DHL range until recently was her work.

I think there is a place for SGs miniatures (he says owning well over 100 of them ) and they paint up really well. - DemonEtrigan

I'm not saying she didn't do some great minis and I love her horses, it's only that lately they all start to look a bit the same. Maybe the concept artist is to be blamed, but fact remains that most of these figures are fairly dull.

I would agree that Sandra helped make Reaper what it is today - she has a great history all over in the miniatures field - that doesn't mean that she couldn't stretch herself a bit at this point. I also think her technical skills are every bit as good as Klockes, I just don't care for her end product anymore.

On a side note: according to Reaper only the gnome and Biff where designed by their concept artist (Talin) - the others were designed by Garrity herself.

I don't like reaper dwarves either..........

12/08/03

New Reaper Warlord. Quite nice! - Area23

Nicely painted.

The minis has "issues". but if you don't look to closely at the hips it's ok.

S'nice, but what is it?

I don't see a problem with the hips. I've seen several women who had small waists, and then some disproportionately large hip bones. I think they're called "child bearing hips". Maybe someone was sculpting their idea of the perfect female? - Nudspinespittle

'Tis a banshee

Ah yeah?

She looks more like she's shouting than wailing, and far as my knowledge of mythology goes I thought they were always seen washing bloody clothes tha floating about half naked (maybe she left hers at the launderete?). Still, I'm just being a pedant and like I said, nice enough fig all told.

Its ok I suppose, but not really my thing.

I think the pose could be much more dramatic. The arms raised comes to mind. While the paintjob is excellent, the bit of fog she's perched on is incredible, I think that a stronger contrast on the drapery would have been better. Any strong primary color would have been better than the lavender. It's not going on my list of things to buy, but I do like it.

13/08/03

Parroom Station has released some new character mins.

For anyone who does not know, Parroom Station is a Victorian SciFi setting. -Ghost

Rats! Those look okay, but I was really hoping for more Caphalids. -frotherGuest

13/08/03

TMP reports two new Usagi mins are coming out from Dark Ages. - Ghost

I think they are excellent!

They look great, but they're getting too big for their bases. Is there a Gen mini? At their scale, he would only have one foot on the base... - Jakar Nilson

yes. And only one foot on the base too!

Pretty cool, but pretty huge too... still what do they need to be compatible with?

13/08/03

Spotted these on Drew Williams' site. Looks like modern dress. Great for some RE type fun. The first one on the second row looks like Michael Jackson in the Thriller MTV...

I told you these would be better than the first batch, Doc.

They couldn't have been worse! Nice though...

Slightly 'rough', but good fun all the same.

Will there be another version of the Michael Jackson figure of after the music starts? What pose would he have?

The fellow in the upper left hand corner looks a bit like another Zombie...

Sure does. Now I can make that diorama I've been wanting to do. The one where all the people who paid to see "House of a Thousand Corpses" mob the stage at one of his shows and burn him on a pyre of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "The Hills Have Eyes" videotapes... He's going to the Hell of Ed Wood when he dies, no doubt about it.- frotherGuest

13/08/03

GW has a preview picture up of another Kislev figure. I wonder how far they're going to take the whole Kislevite thing.

It looks super from the waist up. Not so sure about the boots though...

The Kislevites are supposed to be given an army list in WD and / or the WFB Annual. From what I have heard they will not get as many options as the "full" armies. It's a good looking army, but it might get boring trying to do 1500 points of the same three or four troop types. - frotherGuest

I think he would make a great "Pirate of the Black Sea". Not that I want to give the impression that I have gone priate frothing mad since watching that Disney blockbuster, or anything.

What brain dead nitwit thought the paint scheme on the horses up? It's ludicrous. The figures are pretty though, too bad GW's prices are stupid.

Apparently the real Polish winged lancers were known to paint the lower half of their lighter coloured horses red to hide the dirt on parade. Since it seems that 90% of GW staff are history nuts I'm guessing that's where it came from. - frotherGuest

Very nice! If my whole budget for the next few years wasn't already committed to a diet of Orcs, Goblins and Macedonians....... - Grom

Image barred from public consultation by GW copyright lawyers.

14/08/03

New greys from Griffin. A lot more poses than I would have first thought. And nice price too, at 6 for 6 pounds. Shame that you have to buy two of each though. But better than paying 6 pounds for 3 miniatures I'm sure!

A lot of them look like a little appliance of the pliers would be enough to render them sufficiently varied too.

(.....you do your best an' whadda they do?.....take pliers to 'em...*sigh*...)

Hehe

I wouldn't blame the sculptor for the packaging, plus I'm more sympathetic than most to the need for forcing 'doubles' on people (theres a strong 'singlist' faction in the frother committee I can assure you).

I kind of admired the way each pack seemed to have at least two pairs that could be very easily bent up to make distinct(ish) figs... that wasn't deliberate then?

Pliers... naw, I'll go straight to the saw. #evil

14/08/03

Any thoughts on Griffin's forthcoming Huns? - Aecurtis

They're ugly. Especially the horses.

Well, the Huns were known for being ugly, and their horses/ponies too.

Well, remember though that the existing histories were written by those coming under attack from the huns. I expect to other huns they might have been quite dashing.

Certainly they had no trouble breeding horses either, so they too must have been at least capable of attracting mates.

The Huns are moderate, middle of the line stuff, but i wouldn't have said ugly. Or does nobody else go for the big moustache look? (Sit down son, call me daddy bear...)

...oh and the ugly horse is supposed to be a shaggy mountain pony. Interestingly the Huns used to puncture the jugular vein of their pony and drink the highly oxygenated blood, to sustain them when food was unavailable. They also cured meat by putting it under their saddle while riding to save building a fire in impossible conditions.

So if you were a Hun your mount was your larder! As for mating they mainly stole children or raped women (the Huns that is...not the horses...) so I dont think it matters if they were butt-ugly............just thought I'd pass on what I learned ....still...not my best work, ah well.

Mongolian ponies *aren't* pretty:

http://www.shaolin-society.co.uk/Equestrian/mongolian.php

These are at least close relatives of what Hunnish ponies would have looked like. They were crossbred with Ferghanian "celestial" horses to provide heavier mounts for the nobles:

http://www.silk-road.com/artl/wuti.shtml

To me, the Griffin ponies' heads look a bit large for Hunnic ponies. But I do like the rough-looking coats and general size in relation to the rider.

15/08/03

If you order the Alexander the great from North Star you get Darius free. I dunno, the head looks awfully big...

for the shock of your life, look at it from the front!

We start with Darius from Pop Idol and end with Freddy Mercury. Bloody hell. I'm off to molest tatu...

Quite like Freddie, that Darius is terrible tho'. -Mr Ed

It would be very easy to put a microphone in that right hand. -glloria_invictus

Better use it with Em4's rockband;

http://www.em4miniatures.com/acatalog/ROCKERS.html

You all know Brian May is a wargamer? Maybe he's friends with the sculptor.

And yet again nick fails to mention that "freddie" was sculpted by Danny Pacey, who also did most of the project -x stuff too. See dan i love you. - waxfive

19/08/03

TMP has news of some nice new medieval style 'torture' figs from Dark Ages...

http://theminiaturespage.com/news/?id=430619

Thats some funny shit!

Bit rough-hewn, but good value.

Not bad. Excalibur Miniaturen has a similar range of torture victims, except they're naked ladies. Not sure which I prefer.

Black Tree Miniatures also has some 'punishment' miniatures... the victims are all male though from memory

Time for an x-rated 'S&M' showcase?

19/08/03

Something weird called a longhorn by Drew Williams... nice shoes.

The Longhorn is a "Deadtech" figure from Demonblade's Shockforce game. I thought Dark Tortoise was kaput. No? -frotherGuest

Apparently Dark Tortoise is getting set to expand the range. Pretty good news, always liked the War Engine rules. -frotherGuest

19/08/03

Vendel have sone decent new Ancient Chariots on offer.

Disappointing on three levels- one is the bad paintjobs, two is the horses which appear to go back to the old-style Gripping Beast horses.

Three is no celts. Still I've got enough chariots. Haven't I?

The paint jobs on the chariots and warriors looks quite good. Its the ones on the horses that are poor.

btw why would vendel sell celt chariots when they don't have a celt range? errr good reason to start a celt range I think! Can always squeeze in another quality producer of celt miniatures

Well its kinda odd really, I mean where do GB end and Vendel begin? Those are clearly old GB horses, I have several of them from the old Celt range. Obviously Gripping Beast have a new Celt range already, including chariots, and the new range has much better horses than these. So I was only joking about that really.

But I thought Vendel were going to be doing fantasy figs? Wheres the halfling peasant militia eh?

21/08/03

These look great fun from Dark Ages!

Cool! I'll definitely be having the king with harem.

Don't care much for the bodyguards though, they wouldn't go well with the Artizan & GB Moors.

Yeah, that king looks great!

21/08/03

A new model from Hellion. Unfortunately the $65 US price tag makes the model impractical as a stand in for GW's Defiler (at least until another price hike or two). I think that Hellion may lose some sales over this. On the upside with this model and their earlier offering of the Dictator CAV one can now do some huge friggin demos.

They also have a nifty new 28mm generic cockpit. It might be useful in some scratchbuilding efforts.

It seems very odd that international shipping is also free...still, as you said, a perfect Defiler alternative. Even if it does cost more than GW! (But probably not Foundry)

The tag's a little steep for a gaming piece, but there are a lot more bits involved than the Dictator had. It's still a bargain compared to the Armorcast battlemechs, which is probably more toward their target audience than 40K players. Also pretty reasonable compared to the cost of large resin "garage" kits in general.

I'm holding out for the 1/60 Rhino myself. -frotherGuest

I really like the dictator, but that is so bland. It's just exactly, predictably what 9/10 people would draw if asked to imagine a scorpion shaped tank - no care, no vision. If I'm getting a model that big (and pricey) I want something with a little style.

phew, rant over. Takes all sorts I guess. - Perihelion

I must be one in ten, my first thought was "where are the claws if its a scorpion, then?" Besides, it's a straight copy of the original CAV figure, blame Reaper, not Hellion. -frotherGuest

Nah, you can still blame Hellion, they didn't have to do it like that. I was quite pleased that something supposedly looking like a scorpion shaped tank turned out looking like a scorpion shaped tank...as opposed to i-Kore's dire scout walker thingy.

21/08/03

Dear me, looks like the weapons have doubled in size from those old ones which were already big ... Does nothing for me I'm afraid.

These Celtos elves do nothing for me. there is nothing particularly elvish about the armour (rather clumsy and primitive if you ask me) and of course the weapons are ridiculous, even the bows.

I'm sure someone will like them but, whatever race/culture they're supposed to be from, I don't like them. Odd poses, stupid weapons, generally badly thought out. On the plus side, at least the women aren't topless.

Thats some of the biggest choppers iv'e seen in a long time completely over the top. Still I might buy some so I can chop the weapon arms off for some Chaos army conversions or you could use them as replacement weapons for the Netherlord - Highwayman

Those weapons are ridiculous! Why would you have a bow in the left hand pointing forward and the right hand with a sword ready to strike down? - Sturmpioneer

Yeah, I'm not much taken with the Elves. Might have been more interesting if the females HAD been topless.

OTOH, the Orcs/Goblins are really quite nice. -frotherGuest

Damn, I hate these minatures. Its to bad too, becuase I love the concept artists work. Do the sculptors not look at the artwork at all?

Ew?! Nothing interesting here. These mins seem to be lacking detail. I also loved there concept art. When I saw the art released I thought to myself that the mins will look cool. Too bad not enough attention was paid to the details. - Ghost

Well, its a style thing, and it isn't an oversight. Kev White has a very distinctive smooth style, and that's the celtos look, like it or not. actually, the concept art is a bit incongruous with the look of the range, not the other way around. Christhope Madura has done alot of work for Rackham, and i'm sure the similarity between his art and the controntation style is apparant.

In reality this 'concept art' is more or less the illustrations for the celtos publications. i don't know what elements kev picks up from the art, but i'm sure he's not going to change his sculpting style to match...and, personally, i wouldn't want him too.

I really like his style and have bought into the celtos range, but i do recognize that at his worst and most hurried his minis can be over the top and a little bland. At his best his figs have the perfect balance of detail for painting, and a real aesthetic of form that i find very appealing.

I think this batch of elves has both good and bad, the best being the striking spearman and the worst being the swordsmen leader (that's a two-handed sword by the way, though its still OTT i agree). - Nudemonster

26/08/03

Oh..isn't that cute! Baby dinos. They remind me of something out of the flintstones. Handler does not look so good - Ghost

Handler good, dino's......... they look like freekin pokemon. Thos are just pathetic, I-KORE should be embaressed. - Demone

They could be a very good lizard horde.

I like 'em, but not in Void context.

i'm a fan of ikore, but i agree these are disappointing. somewhat paradoxicly though the handler is some of the better work to come from steve saleh lately. - Unclothedbeast

They are simply poor in my opinion. I am afraid that they look a bit like wad of stretched putty with legs to me.

26/08/03

More Rackham. Love the little Dirz monster (as always). Don't care for the griffin fig at all though.

That little monster looks like an alien 'chet buster' (or whatever they are called). The knight looks like nice but have seen better from Confrontation. - Ghost

What is it with those shoulder pads eh? This must be another one of those "Kamakazi" warriors who run screaming at the opposition and demoralise them by slicing their own heads off?

Bloody odd way to run a war if you ask me.- Marquis

The Griffon figure sucks with crap helmet and static pose they are capable of so much better than this, the Little Dirz Monster looks a vicious bastard i'm sold on that one perfect for my chaos army. - Highwayman

That little dirz nasty makes up for the big ugly griffin: he looks more like the crap adiken/fenryll normally produce. - Nudemonster

26/08/03

These look pretty good, from a range I've not heard of before..

I thought I put those in the links section on the last update. They're from Lance & Laser, a company that made a couple apparitions in the showcases...

Looks ok. Not great but not bad either. Like the Reaper Yeti min better myself but would not mind having a go at painting this one up as a Sasquatch. - Ghost

I don't really care for the L&L stuff in general. IIRC most of their lines are kind of vintage and very similar to old Ral Partha.

27/08/03

Some greens of an upcoming range by "Petethemighty", with working title "Sacred Blade". These figs are in a larger than usual scale (about 40mm). You can learn more about this range here:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/browse.php?do=browseimg&submitter=petethemighty

Wow, this guy's got talent. Is it wrong to fancy the first one? #nervous

27/08/03

There are some pictures of greens for an upcoming US miniature range by Battlestandard. All historical minis (Normans) so far.

Yeh looking good.

Nice to see the size comparison on the website too - more mini-makers should do this - compatability is a massive factor for a lot of buyers.

The head looks abit on the big side but what a price!

75 cents each, wow, that's superb value...might it be time to journey back to the undergrad days and get some Normans?

27/08/03

Checkout Reapers newest Greens. Some interesting stuff, especially the angel-like min in flight. - Ghost

You mean behind the rabbit?

The angel bird looks cool, heel of a big sword though. Not a trend I'd like to see them follow.

Love the swashbuckler- oozes arrogant schmarm.

Good builders crack on the medusa too - she's obviously off for another hard days chiselling at the site.

I like this round of greens a lot more than the last set.

Like the angel figure from what I can tell, but would like to see a larger image of it. Been looking for a decent angel for a long time - don't even mind the huuuuge sword in this case .

someone needs to tell medusa that she needs to hitch up her skirt! ....O.K. theres a point where exposure gets a little ridiculus and it is just more dignified to leave the clothes off entirly. Snakes are a little large as well - makes the mini too top heavy IMO.

I really like the look of the angel, but now I have to beat it when I get round to doing some of them myself...larger pic would be nice.

That were-rat...it's friggin enormous! I thought those were-rats were little fellers with big teeth and spingly arms.

Absolutely love the wight, apart from the sword is a bit bland compared to the excellent rest of the figure. - Andy (Heresy Miniatures)

The angel reminds me of an art nouveau bronze I've seen. I'm not real sure about the position of the wings, but I really like their size relative to the figure. They look like they might even be able to carry her, unlike most angelic stuff on the market. I agree with UnclEvl that the sword is stupid-big, but I will be replacing it with a spear if I get this piece anyway. I wish that they had put up a shot of her back. Excepting the crummy earth elemental the rest are decent, but nothing interesting to me.

That wight is bloody marvellous, and I'm sure we can all convert the sword to suit...can i advance order? The angel looks as good, but without a look at the detail i don't know for sure... (meanwhile, wererat = good, bunny = good, swordsman = good, medusa's body is good but the snakes are silly etc. etc.) In short, nice. Anyone shown this page to Sandra Garrity? #evil

The "Wererat" looks more like the current rendition of Gnolls (ala Chainmail). (As opposed to the old Citadel "Jolly Goblin" look). The Angel is indeed VERY NICE. And switching sword to spear is probably the best option available to do the figure justice. Too bad Reaper doesn't actually make figures for Wargamers, then we might see other similar figures but in other poses. I'd like a unit of Windchildren....

Woof, the angel is great. That pose makes her very unique, as every other angel I've ever seen has the wings over the head. I agree that her weapon is too large though, but what really concerns me is the length of her raised arm, which seems too long. It seems to me that this often happens with arms raised over the head. Despite this criticism, this one really impresses me. I wonder if she's human-sized (which would make her a tall miniature indeed), or is supposed to be fairy-like in proportions? Anyone know what a "Jalinrix" is in the first place?

I think Medussa is also really cool. How can one not love that Elvis/Billy Idol sneer on her face? -

Anyone else wonder why, with the exception of the wight, the sculptor isn't identified? - Mancha

The angel is stunning very good pose and even though the sword is a big chopper it would make a great fallen angel model for my Chaos army .

The Wererat is more like a giant werewolf but is a nice pice, the bone is a nice touch as well. the detail on the Wight is very good, check out the excellent skull face, only the sword lets it down but you can always replace it. I love that giant bunny, I'm getting one I might just be able to get away with a giant killer Chaos bunny what do think .

Whats up with the Earth elemental? It looks more like a turd elemental to me, not even in the same class as the other greens! The snakes are a little to big on the Medusa model making her a bit top heavy in more ways than one, nice arse though . Looks like Reaper will be getting some of my hard earned pennies in the future - Highwayman.

As a kid I used to have nightmares after seeing the white killer bunny in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"...

That was then, now I think it's hilarious.

WOW! really nice stuff there. And yes that angel is beautiful, but the chopper is not. Love the rabbit too.

I don't think that's a GIANT bunny. I believe it is instead Sprig Sorethumb's bunny, seen halfway down this page:

http://www.reapermini.com/fantasy/greens_old.php?current_date=2003-03-18

This would make him familiar-size. - Mancha

The angel is scaled to 28mm, the figure itself is 3" or so tall! She's pretty big.

Yeah, the sword is a tad long, but hey, the Japanese calvary sword (no-Dachi) is huge too. The crazy psycho in "the Seven Samurai" weilds one, it's monsterous. They were made for using from horseback, though some crazy nutter berserker samurai types liked to weild them on foot. There were often 6 feet+ long! -frotherGuest

Oh bollocks I want a giant bunny #grumpy.

Are you sure its only familar size it looks quite big to me next to the dragon model on the Reaper greens page - Highwayman

Thats a familiar dragon too.... I seem to remember that there was a huge rabbit in the fairy meat range, among other things. Very nice miniatures but bloody hard to find.

It's familiar size, that's a dragon hatchling next to the bunny.

I know Jarlinrix's size cuz I hang out on the forums, and they mentioned how tall the figure is. She's some sort of fallen angle. Personally, I'd almost swap the sword for a polearm. -frotherGuest

Wouldn't a wererat be roughly somewhere between human size and, um, a rat? Lovely rat ogre/rat demon though.

Lovely bunch of models all round. What exactly are the rituals involved in summoning a turd elemental?- Perihelion

Plenty of curry is involved. ;-)

27/08/03

I must say this range from Black Tree is a step up from their usual fare. Pretty well sculpted I think, a massive range and good prices. More of this sort of thing is required - check 'em out.

Not too bad. How do they compare with Old Glory figs? I keep meaning to purchase some cavalry for my Roman horde, but I'l be damned if I am going to pay Foundry prices for them!

Ahem, like I did when I bought the buggers originally, curse my foolish and inexperienced hide!

Not as good as the Gripping Beast or Foundry Romans though IMO. - Grom

I'm not in love with most of them, but the Eastern Auxiliary (Hamite) Archers are just lovely. I do hope they don't look to big next to *my* horde of Foundry and GB legionaries...

27/08/03

Dwarf Cavalry from West Wind. First time I've seen a pic of them.

Oops! They look a tad arse. Like a bad conversion job of a normal infantry dwarf plonked on a pony. And I mean 'Pony'.

Upon first glance the 'pony' looked like a rocking horse. Upon further scrutiny, they still look like rocking horses, but with barding. It's a shame too, I was looking forward to an investment of some DW stunties into my dwarven horde. I couldn't help but notice too that all the 'ponies' look identical, isn't Westwind miniatures supposed to be pretty good about variations in pose?

I think the dwarves look pretty good though. I wonder how easy it would be to use boars as mounts instead of the 'ponies'. . . . - Zelph

I like it, cute. -peteb

Ral Partha used to have a nice selection of Dwarfs mounted on Giant Rams!

27/08/03

I think some of the top minis are new. Not very interesting though (and horribly painted). Pretty balsy of K&C to claim of the "human fighter heavy armor":

"One of the most rockin' minis released this year anywhere! The fighter comes with accurate and precision sculpted full plate mail, and a large shield. Absolutely dynamite figure!"

I wonder who they're comparing him to??? - Mancha

Maybe to the official D&D prepainted figures?

BTW at this price they certainly come prepainted, don't they? that would also explain the (not so horrible but...) paintjob on the pics - Sylvain

Dear lord they are truly awful.

State of the art if you live in 1982, mind...

Good grief. -Marquis

You do realise that the Kenzer range is supposed to be a parody of most RPG miniatures (as are the prices; $5 for 1 wolf!?!) -Jakar Nilson

What started as a not-particularly-funny joke seems to have developed into a cash cow for KenzerCo. I'd love to know who buys all this crud. -frotherGuest

Still, some of the monsters are sculpted by people as Jason Wiebe, Steve Buddle and Bob Olley, and some other Reaper folks. I think the pictures are just bad, but some mini's might be very good.

Like some Alternative Armies.

I love the ape carrier personally.

The mins do have a very early 80's look to them. Might possibly be intentional as was stated above. Do agree with Area that some of the monsters are ok. - Ghost

I've seen a lot of them in person, it's not just the photos. They've probably deliberately tried for a retro-80's look, but that doesn't make them any more attractive. Even Wiebe can't do much with lousy concept art...Chainmail Werebear, anyone?

I will agree, some of the monsters are okay, though. -frotherGuest

27/08/03

New Keltos Dwarves! -Colonel M

WOW take one kel-toss human, shrink his legs a bit, and give him a beard. Not my kind of dwarf im afraid - waxfive

Yeh the early Celtos dwarfs were ace, but these are indeed kinda suck-y, like a lot of their figs over the last year or so.

Actually, I think they're a nice change from the ole' Rolli-polli, beer-swigging stereotype. Not perfect, mind you, but not as disappointing as the Sidhe. -frotherGuest

Not a fan of these. I also like a lot of the earlier Celtos Dwarf stuff. - Ghost

Complete toss.

As dwarf berserkers they'd be nice, IMHO, at least the one on the left.

Something else than just another mohawked Trollslayer rip-off!

Another fan of the one on the left, it's an interesting pose and nice haircut/beardcut. The other two are a bit rubbish. - Perihelion

Come come gentlemen, aren't you always looking for a little variety in your rank and file? Yet as soon as someone dares to try for a less generic look to their figs you flame away like it's a bank holiday BBQ.

I hate to sound all "PC", but this racial stereotyping of our Dwarven brethrin' could land us all in hot water with the City Watch y'know

21/08/03

It's a return to sources for talented sculptor SteveB (Spyglass miniatures) with this excellent green of Sherlock Holmes.

Very nice fig

Yeah I like this as well - the base is a bit unusual?

...and hopefully a Dr. Watson is in the works also.

I need to know when and from where this mini will be available! As a huge Sherlockian this is a must have. It's an improvement on the one from the Vampire Wars line certainly. - Aaron

Blimus! I turn my back for one minute and somebody digs up me Sherlock.

Glad it's liked. The base doesn't seem too odd. Solid base with cobblestones. What's to be weird?

And Aaron, it should be available in the next couple of months through my Spyglass Miniatures company (via http://www.coolminiornot.com/shop/) - SteveB

Gods. What does every sculptor have with Basil Rathbone? When is someone going to do a version of Holmes based on Jeremy Brett, without the deer cap and hunting coat which he hardly wore in the books?!?

Hear! Hear! To Hell with the bloody deerstalker (actually a William Gillette invention as with that stupid drooping pipe) Let's have a Holmes in frockcoat and topper! And no bleedin' Nigel Bruce inspired Watsons either!

P.S. How about about a Lestrade? -frotherGuest

Actually Mr Buddle has already had this discussion with some people on the 1listsculpt group. Basically (if I read correctly) it all comes down to the look being most associated with Holmes and well its a commerical mini after all...

BTW, he mentioned that if it sells well, he might make watson and some of their buddies from the book. So everyone buy lots! (And do me a favour and ask for Mycroft Holmes too... I love fat minis).

24/08/03

News from Copplestone Minis... New mongolians for Back of Beyond and some Turks for high adventure (not yet pictured).

What worries me is the bit where he says "randomly selected"...

Should be all right, a random selection from 10 variants is better than crusader or artizan which is 2 (or 3) of each of 4 variants.

There shouldn't be any random selection, there should just be good customer service. It's a bad trend.

Well you have to remember that alot of these manufacturers are very small. I'm sure it must have been a daunting task going out and setting up shop with just your name (even if it is as well known as Copplestone). As such them small manufacturers cut a few corners and pull a few tricks to save a bit of money and still price competitively. So I'm prepared to cut them a bit more slack.

Fair enough FG, but i'm not. If a company makes a model I like, I want to be able to buy that model, whatever size the purveyor. I'll compromise if they want to sell it as part of a pack - a fair sized pack, not a Foundry orc pack - but I will not accept a lottery where I might not get the figure.

(That isn't directed to you FG, i'm just stating my general consumer position on the issue. You never know who browses here )

27/08/03

The Perry's workbench has been updated with shots of upcoming ACI and Japanese minis. - Mancha

Nice ones!

Yeh, you can't go wrong with the Perrys.

Fantastic pices it makes me want to go out and buy a whole army of them, but my Chaos army comes first. Definitely one to collect in the near future, they have got to be some of the best model designers around.

Perhaps EE should take note and get them to sort out their ranges.

By the way hows the Dragon showcase going? - Highwayman

Definitely some nice stuff! This would look just fine if they were dropped in to a fantasy game. - Ghost

27/08/03

Assassin Miniatures has a new (warrior) princess out.

Well, maybe it's not their best model, but at least you saw it here first.

The proportions look more off than usual for an Assassin piece.

Afraid i'm not keen on the clothes, which is lucky as i've just brought one of everything I like from them!

Or lack thereof? Can't say I'm too fond of the model myself. - Zelph

28/08/03

Heres the newest stuff from Rackham. Some good stuff...............

love the Devourer Chief and Ysis. Rather like the griffin set as well, which is unusual for me.

Yep some very nice stuff. Looking forward to the Devourer lord (or whatever he is). Looks like a real bad ass. Also like the Ogre with goblin on his backs. Think it has great character and full of laughs . Dwarf battlewagon looks interesting. would like to get a better look at the Dirz lass. She looks like she has some potenial. - Ghost

That Ogre would look at home in IK War Machine. The Dwarf wagons might, too. Pity the game doesn't have design-your-own rules. -frotherGuest

Dwarves could easily be played using the khador rules and army list, tough troopers, not heavily magic-oriented, armours and super-heavy robots, you don't need more!

Speaking of Rackham's new minis, the ogre looks cool, but the goblin on his back is really ugly, which makes me wonder how much the paintjob is involved in the ogre's coolness...

The rest of the news don't look that much interresting: The devourer looks less sado-masochist-oriented than the rest of the line, I like its sword and trophy rack, but the mini isn't really impressive (same for the dwarf chariot - though, I dislike Rackham's dwarves in general).

A good point though: While not being really impressive, the pretorian guards don't suffer of the overly-dynamic poses so much favoured by Rackham, I hope they'll continue in this way! -LFant

28/08/03

Two new Parroom Station hybrids (4 armed monsters straight out a John Carter of Mars novel). - Ghost

These are great! As a long time John Carter fan these look spot on for how Green Martians should look. They do a pretty good John Carter too (Virginia Gentleman gone native).

Thanks for pointing these out Ghost. I lay my sword at thy feet! - bloodfinger

They've filled a void that has been missing from the miniature market......John Carter of Mars figures.

In the iconic words of Homer Simpson.........Woo Hoo!! - Sihook

Yeh I like this range - at least they are doing something different.

Those have been out since GenCon, IIRC.

One day, I'm going to get some, to compete against all my OTHER martians and my group's colonial armies. Payback for the first Sol 3-4 war...

28/08/03

As a true exclusive for FU!UK, we bring you the first pictures of Bob Olley's new dwarf range, kindly donated by a frother who preferred to remain anonymous.

I think they are quite cool myself.

Dwaves always did strike me as rather shifty types, hoarding wealth and grubbing around in the dark like that. Bit like the Merchant bankers of middle earth really. I think these figs look suitably mean and determined.

Hey, those dwarven bezerkers look like Chatti tribesmen! Now, if we can find any Roman orcs, one can do the Kazhadberg massacre! ;P

Some definate winners in there! - Zelph

They look kinda '80s-ish to me. Are you sure they're new? -frotherGuest

Thanks for your comments and Yep they are new I made them myself. They are the first of many new ranges I'm making for my own co. 'Olleys Armies'. I'm working on a website at the moment and it should be on-line soon. - Bob Olley

29/08/03

Hi just posted today, Boomhowler and his mercenary trolls for Warmachine. Enjoy!! - Sihook

Odd looking bunch but i like 'em

Yeah, I like'm too, although some of them vaguely remind me of roosters...

Burley. I like em too, but I was hoping for more quills. Nothing a little putty can't cure.

They also remind me somewhat of GW Kroots (sp?), but bulkier.

Get a closer look at that Tartan, wow, now thats what i call painting!

Oh, these are very nice!

Yeah, liking these alot. Know what you mean about the Kroot angle WK, I'm seeing it. Could fit well together.

Especially like the Leader fig, though maybe the axe is a touch OTT - as is the pistol but I kinda like that. Me fave has to be the fellah with the goggles firing his blunderbus though - way cool, very 2000AD.

The only thing that pisses me off (and there had to be something) is the repetition of figures in the box set. Man, I bloody hate it when companies do this. They must know the majority of us frothing 'collectors' don't want multiples of the same figs (I can't be alone in this) and yet they constantly do it. Makes it feel like a rip off, and that the sculptors just couldn't be arsed to churn out a couple more figs. -UnclEvl

I think some conversions are necessary to make them more trollish. Especially giving each and every one of them distinct facial and physical looks.

Make good Martians, tough. -Jakar Nilson

But surely you could just use your legendary 'bending' skills on a few of them to add variance Uncl?

Ooo. These are very nice! Putting them on my "to buy list". Really like there rendition of trollkins. I agree with uncle, I hate it when companies same mins in a box. Maybe they will make them available in blister packs (keeping fingers crossed). - Ghost

These guys are awsome. I have no idea what I would do with them, but I might just have to buy them anyway! -Marquis

Very nice. And Krootish (but i liked them too).

31/08/03

New parcel of eureka just came in at Chronofus and as usual nice scans.:

http://www.chronofus.net/wargames/

Some very well designed centuars and satyrs which would certainly beautify any woodland force, but unfortunately all the centuars have the same horse pose. Also some more interesting (if odd) addition to the Pax Limpopo and that penguin is a winner!

Not convinced by some of these figures - the sculpting is just not detailed enough for me personally - I mean that Penguin just looks like a blob of metal. Each to his own I guess....

I rather like the sculpting, simple, yes, but effective.

The centaurs look pretty good to me, and so do those Amazone chariot figures.

I bet that penguin could paint up real nice too and the concept alone should help overcome any lack of detail. Besides, it's a penguin, how much more detailed can it get?

I like the centaurs (was it the Celtos thread where someone defended them for being simple and smooth? Well, these are simple and smooth...and good). As for the penguin, I can't really see it's head on the photo; the key question is: what scale is it compared to the Copplestone penguins, or will it have to be used seperately (The real question might be, what drugs am i taking).

Strangely, I was wondering about the scale on the penguin myself. Great minds think alike, eh? -frotherGuest

Believe me, you don't wanna be thinking like Rob...

I like the centaurs. They seem to have nice proportion. I am very interested in the scale as well. I think I'm going to drop that Penguin right into my Chaos army - Ghost

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