Cheap or readily available Tekumel proxies? (Pe Choi raw materials)

[Hobgoblin]

awesome ideas and I also play D&D with 1/72 miniatures. Our battle maps and rooms can be much bigger now as the figures are smaller

Yes, I really like 1/72 for role-playing - especially for open-air encounters. Before lockdown, I was pretty much intent on switching all our RPG stuff over the 1/72, on the basis that big 28mm monsters still work at that scale (they're just bigger!) and it's so much quicker, easier and cheaper to get a horde of 'extras' painted up. And, as you say, there's just much more space on the table.

They don't work quite so well for a video-streamed game, though!

More size comparisons with 1/72 miniatures as reference would be awesome! 

I'll keep them coming! A lot of the smaller, older Ral Partha monsters work very well with 1/72 - the Julie Guthrie gnolls, for example. For Tekumel, I think the JG lizardmen might make excellent Shen - and possibly her dragon-men too, if the wings are cast separately.

The 1/72nd plastics are attractive - and some manufacturers do Amazons so your Aridani might be take care of as well.

Yes - the Dark Alliance ones. They're pretty much perfect - especially the "modern Amazons". For the other troops, the absence of suitable two-handed swordsmen might be the biggest deal.

re. Centalons, what size bases are those?

I think they must be 20mm, though I'm just guessing. So I reckon the Centalons might make a pretty good base for any of the four-legged, two-armed species in 1/72 (Swamp Folk, Pachi Lei, Ssu, etc.). There would need to be a fair bit of head carving, of course!

[Hobgoblin]

Nothing fancy here, but a quick Huru'u ("The Howler"). I notice that in Man of Gold, the undead seem to use weapons of bronze rather than Chlen-hide. That suits me - it means that the paintjobs needn't be Tekumel-specific.

[swiftnick]

Superb!

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks (it virtually painted itself)!

Here's another quick undead type: a Mrur - or perhaps a Jajgi. He's an old Citadel chaos warrior.

The undead are good for this project because I don't have to keep them secret from the kids for full impact on their debut. Alas, my daughter has glimpsed the Thunru'u and is spreading rumours of a "fat chicken man"!

[Hobgoblin]

Just stumbled across these resin figures on the Mantic site (Dreadball: "Wu-ling Wanderers"). They're multipart, and I think they might well form the basis for some pretty decent Ssu (just a question of adding a two-armed torso and head and slopping up the surfaces to look like tattered integument):

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

Those are pretty cool! I am interested on how you work out the skin dilemma. I have yet to come up with a satisfactory solution.

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

Only look how small the bases are?! 

Are they tiny bases or very large figures?   

[Hobgoblin]

I think the bases are pretty small. A lot of Mantic figures have a small circular base that's designed to fit the hole in their 25mm and 20mm bases. I have a couple of Dreadball aliens (one of which is four-legged and two-armed, but with a squiddy head), and they were on very small circular bases that would easily fit on a UK 1p or 2p coin.

For the skin, I was thinking about rolling out long strips of green stuff and then winding them round the limbs before adding tatter-marks and holes once they were in place.

From what I can see, those creatures come with separate heads and arms, so it might be easy enough to substitute heads and simply leave off one pair of arms.

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

Yeah, and the skin covering will hide any imperfections.

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

A customer sent me some painted pics of the Tekumel Project Hlutrgu. More pics here:

https://thetekumelproject.blogspot.com/2020/07/painted-tekumel-figures-by-kestral.html

[Hobgoblin]

Those are ace! If the Tekumel section of our campaign holds the players' interest (or if I simply refuse to let them find their way back to the 'normal' world!), I'll definitely be looking to acquire some.

I was casting around for 'instant' Shen and alighted on these fellows from Lancer Games (on reflection, I think the big Rafm reptiliads are too snakey and the small ones too small). I've ordered a few and will beak them up with greenstuff (so not quite instant). I might change some of the weapons, too, and add tail-maces. I note that the Tekumel Sourcebook says that most Shen warriors are unarmoured (although most illustrations show them all tooled up).

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

re. armoured Shen - I think there is a difference in those serving in a legion and the "typical" Shen. Almost all the illustrations are of army dudes, except in the Shenyu army book.

The illustration I really don't like is the one with them decked out in kilts like Romanized Shen. Shen have no need for "human" clothes. Not IMO at least. The best illustration IMO is the one from the Battle of Ry account from Wargamer's Digest, circa 1976 +/-. The Tekumel Project Shen officer is based on that illustration, as is the basic armour worn by the Troopers.

Did you see my reply to the new plastics over on the Frostgrave thread? You mentioned using the one demon style (with the proper leg pattern) as a basis for a Gnoll. Why not a Shen, assuming it is large enough?

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

There are one or two Crocodile Games characters that could be converted as well. From that demon-race...not the Anubi...the Set thingies, can't recall the name. Check out their characters.

[punkrabbitt]

There are one or two Crocodile Games characters that could be converted as well. From that demon-race...not the Anubi...the Set thingies, can't recall the name. Check out their characters.

That would be the Typhon: https://www.crocodilegames.com/store/itemList.cfm?catID=30&sort=prodID

[Hobgoblin]

re. armoured Shen - I think there is a difference in those serving in a legion and the "typical" Shen. Almost all the illustrations are of army dudes, except in the Shenyu army book.

Yes, the Sourcebook says that most Shen warriors don't wear armour, but a few that fight as heavy infantry do. Most of the legions described seem to be heavy infantry.

The illustration I really don't like is the one with them decked out in kilts like Romanized Shen. Shen have no need for "human" clothes. Not IMO at least.

That's the one on the back of the Sourcebook, right? With the pair of Shen in high-crested helmets. I quite like that one (it might have been among the first Tekumel illustrations I saw, though I can't remember when), but I take your point about the human gear. They're not Pe Choi, after all!

It's interesting how much the illustrations vary - starting with the EPT one in which the Shen have big ears and fairly human bodies!

The best illustration IMO is the one from the Battle of Ry account from Wargamer's Digest, circa 1976 +/-. The Tekumel Project Shen officer is based on that illustration, as is the basic armour worn by the Troopers.

I tracked that one down; yes, it's nice. Again, it's interesting to see the variation. Your Shen are at the more avian end of the spectrum, in line with that illustration. It's probably the most striking take; the Tekumel Project Shen look terrific!

Did you see my reply to the new plastics over on the Frostgrave thread? You mentioned using the one demon style (with the proper leg pattern) as a basis for a Gnoll. Why not a Shen, assuming it is large enough?

Yes, I did - great suggestion, and it looks like it would work well. It occurs to me, too, that my beaking up of some GW lizardmen as Gloranthan dragonewts isn't terribly far off either. I suspect black scales and red eyes would go a long way towards Shendom (Shenyu?)!



Those Crocodile Games fellows would be good for a nice 'free' take on the Shen - like that illustration with the ears! Again, an appropriate paint scheme would do marvels.