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Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: Hobgoblin on September 27, 2020, 10:19:35 AM

Title: 15mm Glorantha: baboon and troll conversions + jack o’bear
Post by: Hobgoblin on September 27, 2020, 10:19:35 AM
While going through my 15mm boxes for my Traveller project (https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=127139.0), it occurred to me that I should abandon 15mm for fantasy altogether. I originally ran my kids' D&D games in 15mm, but ease and availability have led us to 28mm, a change that's been cemented by playing with them and friends over Zoom during lockdown. And I did start doing Hordes of the Things armies with 15mm miniatures on 28mm bases for mass effect, but that was just taking too long. I've been able to knock up HotT elements much quicker using 1/72.

So that led to a nice division of scales: 28mm for dungeon-crawling RPGs, skirmish games and individually based mass-battle games; 1/72 for HotT and similar 'element' wargames; and 15mm for sci-fi. So I'd paint up some of my 15mm fantasy stuff as aliens and primitives for sci-fi games and get rid of the rest.

But then I glanced at the gleaming new RuneQuest rulebook and thought "Oh, wait ...".

I've got lots of 28mm broo and the like, along with some Uz and dragonewt conversions that I've yet to paint. And I plan to get those done in due course. But they'll most likely be used for skirmish games rather than role-playing, even if we use the RuneQuest rules for the former. I'm unlikely to get masses of Lunars, Praxians and Sartarites painted up anytime soon at that scale.

It's a bit different with 15mm, though. As I'd been putting together chaos horde elements for the 15mm-on-bigger-bases HotT project, I've got plenty of plausible broo. And I've already got a brace of manticores, some dinosaurs, plenty of ghouls and skeletons, some semi-plausible Tusk Riders and some giant beetles. A perusal of 15mm sites shows that riding bison can be had (Battle Valor), and zebras can be 'converted by paint' (to steal a phrase from Jagannath) at this scale. Dwarfs and elves can also just be painted appropriately as Mostali and Aldryamai

That leaves trolls, which are tricky at any scale for Glorantha. But then there's green stuff (results below). These are Zorak Zorani and should possibly have lead weapons, but I've gone for bronze to liven them up.

I've got a few suitable adventurers lying around in the form of Copplestone barbarians and the odd historical figure. I'm not going to buy any more miniatures for this project until I've got several sets of foes done. But Xyston looks like it will answer most of my needs fairly cheaply. I want to go for foot and mounted versions of characters, something that would be prohibitively slow in 28mm but should be easy enough in 15s. The Big Rubble here we come ...

Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha (first up, dark trolls)
Post by: Hobgoblin on September 27, 2020, 05:41:23 PM
And here's the first Tusk Rider. Poor photos in the dying light, but I wanted to record his completion. He's a bit goofy for a Tusk Rider, perhaps, but 15mm does tend towards comically squat figures, and he's a guy with tusks on a big boar, so that'll do.

I'm determined to avoid 'perfect as the enemy of good' in this project, so 'near enough' is the rule!

It occurs to me that the one Gloranthan beastie I've no idea about sourcing is the humble baboon. I can't find any evidence of any 15mm ones out there - does anyone know of any? I have some ideas for the walktapus and the scorpion-men, so to be stumped by mere baboons seems an outrage!
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha (dark trolls and Tusk Rider)
Post by: LouieN on September 28, 2020, 01:43:51 AM
Those are excellent. 
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha (dark trolls and Tusk Rider)
Post by: peleset on September 28, 2020, 06:18:27 AM
Good stuff!

I've always had a soft spot for Glorantha since I played it in High School.
Such that, the thought had crossed my mind that Eureka Miniatures 18mm Trolls could also work as Dark Trolls with a similar conversion.
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha (dark trolls and Tusk Rider)
Post by: Hobgoblin on September 28, 2020, 07:14:43 AM
Thanks, both!

I've always had a soft spot for Glorantha since I played it in High School.
Such that, the thought had crossed my mind that Eureka Miniatures 18mm Trolls could also work as Dark Trolls with a similar conversion.

That's a good call - and I'll need to make great trolls too, for which those might work well. The Blood Dawn orcs I've been using are about right for dark trolls relative to Xyston historicals, once one accounts for the slouch. So the Eureka trolls, which I presume are a bit bigger, might be a good fit for great trolls.

I've long been intrigued by the Eureka 10mm 'ogre beasts', which look like they'd make perfect 15mm broo. But I gather that they're a little small for that - although broo have been demoted in size relative to humans between RQ2 and RQ: Roleplaying in Glorantha!
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha (dark trolls and Tusk Rider)
Post by: trev on September 28, 2020, 04:04:12 PM
Those are great.  Always nice to see some RQ stuff.
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha (dark trolls and Tusk Rider)
Post by: Hobgoblin on September 16, 2021, 08:59:41 AM
Thanks, trev!

This project has - potentially - sprung to life again as I've transported the party in our long-running daily D&D campaign to Glorantha and converted their stats (the gnashing of teeth as 54 hit points becomes 14 ...). So they're in Pavis at the moment, on a quest for something that might just be found in the Rubble ...

Thanks to swiftnick, I have some excellent 15mm Battle Valor beastmen to paint up as broo. They've tipped me over into continuing in 15mm rather than 1/72 (which I use, along with 28mm, for other parts of the campaign); there aren't many broo-types in 1/72. Also, my 1/72 orcs will work OK as extra dark trolls and great trolls.

I also have some more Uz conversions to finish off, plus dragonewts. Aldryami and Mostali will take care of themselves, and I might dabble in greenstuff to create some of the more outlandish broo gangs (e.g. the Slop and the Slime). Walktapi and dragonsnails will be easy enough to convert (mindflayer head on troll body or something like that, etc.), and I'm fine for centaurs. Baboons are an ongoing challenge.

For trollkin, I'll either just use goblins, or possible these (https://tinsoldieruk.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7191) and these (https://tinsoldieruk.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7200) from Tin Soldier (I have some of the halberdiers, which I'll check for scale against my dark trolls; 15mm is quite forgiving anyway, so the fact that these guys are so low to the ground and wretched-looking probably rules them in.)

But what I'm thinking about now are humans: Lunar hoplites and peltasts, Orlanthi, zebra riders and other Pavisites, etc. So, if any of you Glorantha-philes were in the same boat, what 15mm figures would you use for these? And what manufacturer? In an ideal world, I'd be looking for some cheap army deal that covers a lot of bases (dumpy cavalry that will work as zebra riders, auxiliaries that might be barbarians, regulars that would do as Lunars and so on).

Many thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha - suggestions sought!
Post by: Albus Malum on September 18, 2021, 01:29:26 AM
Not Baboons, but Khurasan miniatures has some 15mm scale apes, and even some wizard of oz type apes with wings.

also Trollbins can be had from demonworld miniatures.

Also quickly looking at Glorantha, it appears to have duckmen,
Duckmen can be had from Magister Militum as 15mm fantasy, so if your looking for the duckmen, thats your ticket,
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha - suggestions sought!
Post by: Blackwolf on September 18, 2021, 02:35:34 AM
Excellent thread!
Looking forward to what you use for Orlanthi et cetera; in my younger Gloranthan day’s I always modeled the Orlanthi types on the dark ages, the Citadel influence,nowadays more in keeping with Greg Stafford’s ideas ,I would  use Celts. In the Heroquest book Sartar they are described as olive skinned ,dark hair with dark to fair eyes . However as it says in all the books ‘it’s your Runequest’.
If you need any resources,let me know I have pretty much got everything Gloranthan,even Dorastor :)
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha - suggestions sought!
Post by: Hobgoblin on September 18, 2021, 11:37:17 AM
Thanks, guys!

Not Baboons, but Khurasan miniatures has some 15mm scale apes, and even some wizard of oz type apes with wings.

also Trollbins can be had from demonworld miniatures.

Also quickly looking at Glorantha, it appears to have duckmen,
Duckmen can be had from Magister Militum as 15mm fantasy, so if your looking for the duckmen, thats your ticket,


Good calls on those - thanks! The "trollbins" might be a bit big for trollkin, but they might work out OK - it's a bit hard to tell how big they are. I'll subject them to some scrutiny - they might even work as Aldryami runners if they're small enough and with an appropriately leafy paintjob.

Blackwolf - yes, I'm thinking about Celts/Gauls for the Orlanthi. For the Lunars, I'm increasingly thinking that I'll use lots of different types of ancient soldier and distinguish them mainly by red garments and the moon rune everywhere.

Here are some very quickly painted broo - sloppy and dirty paintjobs, but getting them done quickly adds some momentum!
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha - suggestions sought!
Post by: Chief Lackey Rich on September 18, 2021, 12:38:43 PM
Don't overlook theoretically 28mm scale stuff just because you'd thinking 15mm.  There are loads of "giant insect" and swarm figs out there for 28mm that will work for bigger 15mm bugs, and what kind of troll settlement doesn't have some bugs around?  I'm particularly fond of the smaller "arachling" and "beetling" sets from Mortal Arrow, but some of the big creepy-crawlies and perhaps a few of the fungal things/bases might be helpful as well.

https://www.mortalarrow.com/bazaar/mortal-arrow-miniatures/

In actual 15mm, Splintered Light has griffins, unicorns (easily clipped into zebras, of course, although just using smaller horse sculpts might be easier), several oozes for any gorp you might need (although those are easy to self-sculpt), loads of broo (mostly goatish, but they have other species of anthromorphs), some minotaurs and centaurs for Beast Valley, and I'm sure I'm missing some other Gloranthan possibilities.  A few samples:

http://www.splinteredlightminis.com/griffins.html

http://www.splinteredlightminis.com/duen3.html

http://www.splinteredlightminis.com/beastmen.html

I'd also have suggested Old Glory for inexpensive historical figs and perhaps some of their Blue moon horror figs (eg Telmori werewolves) but their site seems to be in overhaul mode.
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: suggestions sought - and broos!
Post by: trev on September 19, 2021, 09:35:19 AM
Very nice additions.

Have you you seen the latest Glorantha Sourcebook?  Some pretty good artwork for ideas.  They looks to have used various real world sources for inspiration.  Assyrian, Indian, Bronze or early iron age Europe and Middle East etc.

https://www.chaosium.com/the-glorantha-sourcebook-hardcover/ (https://www.chaosium.com/the-glorantha-sourcebook-hardcover/)
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: suggestions sought - and broos!
Post by: Hobgoblin on September 19, 2021, 02:16:03 PM
Thanks! Yes, I've got the PDF of the sourcebook and also some of the HeroQuest stuff (Sartar, etc.). Must have a good look through those.

Here's a great troll to expand the nascent Uz warband. This is just an unconverted Tin Soldier ogre. I'm happy to use figures that are close enough in many cases - so a big snouty fanged thing with a big club works for me as a great troll.
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: suggestions sought, broos and great troll!
Post by: Hobgoblin on September 22, 2021, 03:34:20 PM
Another question: who makes 15mm barbarian types with horned helmets? I'm thinking about Storm Bull berserkers here, of course!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: who makes 15mm "barbarians" with horned helmets?
Post by: Thew2 on September 22, 2021, 06:58:37 PM
Alternative Armies do this chap:

https://www.alternative-armies.com/collections/tabletop-miniatures-15mm-fantasy-range/products/mda81-human-barbarians


Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: who makes 15mm "barbarians" with horned helmets?
Post by: Hobgoblin on September 22, 2021, 09:53:14 PM
Alternative Armies do this chap:

https://www.alternative-armies.com/collections/tabletop-miniatures-15mm-fantasy-range/products/mda81-human-barbarians

Thanks! That's a great call - and a good size for a beefy berserker, according to the description. I'll have a good scour of the 15mm AA ranges and see what else turns up (I have a few of the Dracci, which might make reasonable dragonewts).
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: who makes 15mm "barbarians" with horned helmets?
Post by: Hobgoblin on September 23, 2021, 09:27:38 AM
An awful thought is brewing in my head: how feasible would it be to do the Cradle adventure with miniatures in 15mm?

On a more modest scale, I reckon I could get Apple Lane ready pretty quickly, miniature-wise - and I'd have the opportunity to run it twice next month with two different groups, over several evenings in both cases. But the big question would be whether to do it in 15mm or 28mm. Baboons are much easier to come by in the bigger scale, and I have Whiteye and, potentially, Xarban read to go (https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=124051.msg1565093#msg1565093). But it would be much quicker to paint everything up in 15mm - and to build the pawnshop, etc. And I already have 15mm trollkin underway.

Hmm ... perhaps I should have a shot at making a rudimentary 15mm baboon and then press-moulding it ...
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: decisions, decisions ...
Post by: Hobgoblin on September 23, 2021, 12:15:50 PM
And another thing: I was looking at some illustrations of Gloranthan trolls, and I wondered if the old Minifig gnolls might works as great trolls in 15/18mm (and dark trolls in 25mm ...). They've got the build and the snout - even the mohawks that some Gloranthan trolls sport - so all they'd need would be a darker paintjob than D&D gnolls.

I have a few - in which case my recent great troll might be revised back to be an extra-large dark troll or even a Mistress Race troll (presumably in very magical bronze armour, as one would expect lead). Here's how the gnoll looks for scale (my converted dark trolls are bit stumpy and slouched). Too big? Or feasible?

Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: decisions, decisions - and a potential source of great trolls
Post by: Etranger on September 24, 2021, 07:43:22 AM
I've got some of those Gnolls & I hadn't really thought of them for 15mm Great Trolls but  sizewise they'd work IMHO.
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: decisions, decisions - and a potential source of great trolls
Post by: Hobgoblin on September 24, 2021, 09:58:40 PM
I've got some of those Gnolls & I hadn't really thought of them for 15mm Great Trolls but  sizewise they'd work IMHO.

I think you're right - I checked the Gloranthan Bestiary, and great trolls go up to three metres tall and 420 kg in weight, so those gnolls ought to do the trick. I might add some tusks. I was going to paint them in gnollish grey-green, but I've got too few of them to get much use out of them in 28mm. So they've got more potential as great trolls.
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: decisions, decisions - and a potential source of great trolls
Post by: Blackwolf on September 24, 2021, 11:10:55 PM
Those gnolls are great,loved them as a young fellow,not too bad as great trolls either.
The Cradles adventure you mention,is that the one in Pavis or the River of Cradles book?
The Pavis one(escorting the baby giant) as you know is bloody difficult;  for the adventurers,and the GM. I simplified a bit of it,not using hit locations et cetera…
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: decisions, decisions - and a potential source of great trolls
Post by: Hobgoblin on September 25, 2021, 09:25:15 AM
Those gnolls are great,loved them as a young fellow,not too bad as great trolls either.

Yes, I've decided to paint them up as Uz - not least because while they're at the upper end of great-trolldom in 15mm, they're probably bang in the middle of it for 1/72 - and possibly even viable as dark trolls in 28mm (in comparison, say, to Citadel broo). So, given that I've only got a handful of the gnolls, that's the way to get most use out of them.

I was see-sawing for a while on whether to pursue this project in 15mm or 1/72, but it was the widespread availability of broo in 15mm (Battle Valor, Magister Militum, Irregular, etc.) that tipped me towards that scale. Barring a few minotaurs from various scales, it's hard to get anything broo-like in 1/72 - and you don't want all your broo to be cattle-based, as you need actual minotaurs too.

But I'm also aware that that situation could change very quickly - Dark Alliance could put out a box of beastmen or goatmen or something, which might solve the broo problem at a stroke. So I'm kind of hedging my bets on scale a little; the more I have that can cut across scales, the better! My converted 15mm dark trolls might well end up as 1/72 value trollkin at some stage.

The Cradles adventure you mention,is that the one in Pavis or the River of Cradles book?
The Pavis one(escorting the baby giant) as you know is bloody difficult;  for the adventurers,and the GM. I simplified a bit of it,not using hit locations et cetera…

It's the Pavis one. I suspect I'll run it largely impressionistically. I did a huge naval battle earlier in the campaign - when the PCs were in Tekumel, and we were still using D&D rules - involving a Hlyss hive-ship. It's much easier to run that sort of thing in basic D&D, of course, but I picked up a few tricks to create the sense of a big battle going on. That was just done with miniatures and a drawn-out deck-plan of the ship, but I'm thinking about building the Cradle for this one - and maybe the Watchdog too (easily done in this sort of way (https://hobgoblinry.blogspot.com/2021/06/foil-and-fimo-demons.html)).

Before we get there, though, the PCs will have a lot of Rubble-exploring and other adventuring to do. With their stats carried over from D&D, they're largely "eggshells armed with hammers" at the moment, as the magic they do have is of the hugely offensive D&D sort, but they lack battle magic altogether, and most have no magic at all apart from their gear (+3 sword as permanent Bladesharp 3, etc.). And even the ones with enchanted plate armour are still vulnerable to crits and impales. I'm going to give them the opportunity to acquire some battle magic, though. Their fireballs and lightning bolts won't work on the Cradle - though they might find creative ways to get off the Cradle and deploy them.

Dropping hit locations a la Stormbringer might be a good call - thanks for the tip! They have a device from Tekumel that allows them to resurrect casualties immediately - but it's fast running out of charges. I expect they'll need all that they have left on the Cradle!
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: decisions, decisions - and a potential source of great trolls
Post by: Hobgoblin on September 30, 2021, 10:46:55 AM
Here are some WIP troll conversions: a cave troll and a couple of great trolls. They still need tusks!

The one on the right is a Grenadier minotaur that I started to convert to a RuneQuest troll as a teenager. A couple of years ago, I saw it and shook my head at the ruined miniature. But I think I'll just finish the job now; he looks like he'll look the part.
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: decisions, decisions - and troll conversions in progress.
Post by: Hobgoblin on October 01, 2021, 11:22:38 PM
Baboons are underway now - after some excellent suggestions here (https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=133429.0). Six more, and Gringle's Pawnshop becomes viable.

(https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=133429.0;attach=157579;image)

And the cave troll's dental work is coming on. One thing I need is a suitable ogress or troll-wife body to turn into Slud from the Rainbow Mounds. Does anyone know of such a personage in 15mm?
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: baboon and troll conversions in progress.
Post by: Blackwolf on October 02, 2021, 03:05:45 AM
That cave troll is a bit good!
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: baboon and troll conversions in progress.
Post by: peleset on October 02, 2021, 11:27:30 AM
Bloody oath it is!
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: baboon and troll conversions in progress.
Post by: manic _miner on October 02, 2021, 11:51:35 AM
 Great work on these conversions.Love the green stuff work.Very tidy.
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: baboon and troll conversions in progress.
Post by: Duff on October 02, 2021, 01:41:28 PM
Brilliant stuff/
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: baboon and troll conversions in progress.
Post by: Hobgoblin on October 04, 2021, 08:02:56 PM
Thanks, chaps!

Here's a blurry shot of some trollkin from tonight's game:
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: baboon and troll conversions in progress + trollkin.
Post by: Hobgoblin on October 04, 2021, 08:10:55 PM
And the troll gang so far:
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: baboon and troll conversions in progress + trollkin.
Post by: manic _miner on October 04, 2021, 10:20:22 PM
 I have some of those Tin Soldier Orcs and Goblins some place.Evan got the ogre and may still have a Giant too.
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: baboon and troll conversions in progress + trollkin.
Post by: Hobgoblin on October 04, 2021, 10:37:57 PM
They're great little figures - clearly influenced by Ral Partha, but that's a good thing! And their low-slung style makes them good as trollkin - because they look like they're skulking and wretched. Also, the guy with the helmet is dressed looks a lot like the pictures of the trollkin watch in Pavis.

Bows rather than slings are a bit of a problem - but tonight, I just used the archers as slingers and nobody cared (or noticed, perhaps!). I think 15mm's good for that, because there's somehow less of a "what you see is what you get" impulse than in 28mm.

I'll give some of the others facial conversions to make them proper enlo, but 15mm scale is much more 'forgiving'. Tonight, I used some of my 1/72 orcs as dark trolls, and they worked just fine.

(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ukRI9LAebnE/X-4m4fkOcDI/AAAAAAAAB3E/pf2yA2xi32wHy9FybWEA5cCO-BfGgNJJwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Penny%2Borcs.JPG)

The Dark Alliance orcs are exactly the right size for dark trolls in 15mm; again, I'll probably convert some spares to have proper Uz snouts, focusing on those with bashing weapons.
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: baboon and troll conversions in progress + trollkin.
Post by: Hobgoblin on October 06, 2021, 10:44:53 PM
Work in progress on a jack o’bear:
Title: Re: 15mm Glorantha: baboon and troll conversions + jack o’bear
Post by: Severian on October 07, 2021, 11:28:43 AM
Lots of good things here - grand work on the conversions.