Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: Ozreth on May 10, 2025, 05:43:04 PM
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Looking for lines that are either from the late 80s-1990s or which use the same aesthetics and are 28mm or so (on the smaller side the better).
I believe Otherworld and Ral Partha would fit the bill, no? Any others?
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Mirliton may fit the bill
https://www.mirliton.it/fantasy-25-28mm (https://www.mirliton.it/fantasy-25-28mm)
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Reaper Dark Heaven are worth a look - https://www.reapermini.com/miniatures/dhl
They also carry Pathfinder, although not exactly 80s and 90s - https://www.reapermini.com/miniatures/pathfinder
Mirliton is a lot of the old Grenadier stuff, so good call
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Foundry have their Warmonger line https://www.warmongerminiatures.com/
And they still have plenty of ex Citadel stuff in their main catalogues - which I remember from back in the day
https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/early-medieval-barons-wars-the-13th-century
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Alternative Armies have been re-releasing the old Asgard and Fantasy Warlord ranges. Pretty much everything else in their catalogue would fit what you are looking for too:
https://www.alternative-armies.com/
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There might be some stuff here:
https://crooked-dice.co.uk/collections/fantasy
You can also search just for the Otherworld Miniatures that we have added to the range:
https://crooked-dice.co.uk/search?q=Otherworld+Miniatures&options%5Bprefix%5D=last
We will be adding loads more adventurers, town and tavernfolk very soon.
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If you are looking for humanoid figures that are closer to the 1e AD&D Monster Manual sizes listed, compared to a 25mm tall Human, I would suggest Red Box Alliance figures. They are officially, 1/72 scale: 6 feet = 72 inches. Check out Plastic Soldier Review's write-up's on them (https://plasticsoldierreview.com/ShowFeature.aspx?id=149), to get an idea of the actual figure heights, photos, and review comments on their different sets.
The Red Box Alliance figures have more detail in them, than I want to paint (I am an army painter, and too much detail just goes unpainted...). Their Orcs can be used as Goblins. I have painted many sets of diverse Red Box Alliance figures. With a good primer coat, they take paint quite well; once sealed with a matte clear coat, they hold their paint quite well, for years to come.
If you want some giants, I suggest Tim-Mee Toys' Cave Men figures (https://timmeeusa.com/products/timmee-prehistoric-earth?_pos=1&_sid=a162a5d18&_ss=r): 54mm tall, matching the 1e MM description accurately. For Frost Giants, I highly recommend 60mm Viking figures, especially Cherilea (https://www.hobbybunker.com/products/cherilea-vikings-and-saxons-reissues-lot-1-35-pcs-retired-one-available). Here are some painted examples: Hill Giant 1 (https://photos.app.goo.gl/paoAcNonkt97hc7SA), and Hill Giant 2 (https://photos.app.goo.gl/uY6umxTTmQaFPTc68), on the right of the Grenadier lead Hill Giant figure, on the left; Frost Giants from Cherilea figures 1 (https://photos.app.goo.gl/DBxp6VnrX4hBcmaF7) & 2 (https://photos.app.goo.gl/KfBhymtz9y3pFXWNA).
em-4 makes old school Dwarves and Orcs (https://em4miniatures.com/en-us/collections/fantasy-warriors-game), as well. I converted weapons on their Dwarven Spearmen, replacing their spears with Halberds (https://photos.app.goo.gl/s2oxZXL3nh7nAv5JA) and with Dwarf-sized Pikes (https://photos.app.goo.gl/uWGyHoYRteEv2xQm6).
I keep searching for 1e MM compatible figures, but outside of the ones I've mentioned, it becomes increasingly difficult to find figures of the correct sizes. Cheers!
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The Red Box range is much bigger than I recall. Has the author of PSC never seen GW's LoTR figures? Which are very clearly the inspiration (!) for much of the Red Box range.
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Forlorn Hope Games (https://forlornhopegames.co.uk/) have a number of the old citadel and other ranges including lots of Nick Lund stuff which I love.
I have brought several times from them in the last year or two and they were quick and reliable.
Grah
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Forlorn Hope Games (https://forlornhopegames.co.uk/) have a number of the old citadel and other ranges including lots of Nick Lund stuff which I love.
I have brought several times from them in the last year or two and they were quick and reliable.
Grah
Seconded! Lots of late-80s/ealry-90s goodness from Lund and Copplestone there, and the EM4 plastic orcs and dwarves were designed by Mark Copplestone to go with Nick Lund's metals (now produced by Forlorn Hope and Mirliton).
The Forlorn Hope figures are very reasonably priced, and the range is great for RPGs, as there's plenty of variety in weapons and role (giant champions, leaders, archers, hand-to-hand specialists of various sorts). Also, the Lund goblins in the Forlorn Hope range are pretty good, and the Great Goblins are as big or bigger than the average Lund orc, making them handy hobgoblins for D&D. There are Forlorn Hope hobgoblins too, although they're very big - some are by Lund, others by Bob Naismith. They make decent ogre magi for D&D!
Tin Soldier UK does some very nice and cheap 80s-style orcs too:
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGzjvlycYgD-W3puEErupwZZNjnuqQY2RNCB0G6TviL3jtmbA_oIHF2qrMtFIEFL6AG0_qiY-foMets2aihgI_dkJoPoS47xVLNGSxwY2vOMUGBw3WjnggIUTkZWAnWsc2N5Up06k0xolD/s1632/TS+orc+2.JPG)
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Sold by Ral Partha Europe, but not Ral Partha models, the "The Dark Eye / DSA / Das Schwarze Auge" range I feel is really underrated. Lots of monsters, humans, humanoids that fit in with other ranges.
(Their orcs and goblins are hairy, keep that in mind!)
https://www.ralparthaeurope.co.uk/shop/dsa-the-dark-eye-28mm-fantasy-c-30/
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Also, remember the Asgard ranges now restored by Alternative Armies (https://www.alternative-armies.com/collections/jes-goodwin-orcs). Yes, they're technically early-80s figures, but the Jes Goodwin figures (orcs, dwarfs and barbarians) entirely match the miniatures he did for Citadel in the later 80s and are every bit as good.
Here are the orcs (goblins in D&D terms), which are also sold by Viking Forge in the US. They fit seamlessly with the Citadel/Goodwin hobgoblins, Uruk-hai and ogres:
(http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/images/0/09/Asgard-or-z1.jpg)
(http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/images/6/66/Asgard-or-z2.jpg)
(http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/images/c/c3/Asgard-or-z3.jpg)