Ideas for cheap giants? (first converted hill giant finished)

[AKULA]

Looks like you might have got the last! They seem to have gone now.

Right now Hannants are probably scratching their heads about a sudden rush 

[jetengine]

He-Man action figures ?

[Hobgoblin]

He-Man action figures ?

They might work - but not a cheap option, I fear!

A batch of 1/32 figures arrived today: Emhar vikings and Pegasus gladiators. I'm pleased with both: the 'hill giants as inbred masked serial killers' plan looks on track; and the Emhar vikings look the part for frost giants. The latter are also in some sort of 'poseable' plastic that seems to take paint and polystyrene cement very well.

[Sunjester]

Just for interest, I dug out a couple of the Russian 1/32 Barbarians and snapped them with a Gripping Beast 28mm mini.

[Hobgoblin]

Just for interest, I dug out a couple of the Russian 1/32 Barbarians and snapped them with a Gripping Beast 28mm mini.

They look good - and they're a great size for giants.

I got the first Emhar 'frost giant' painted up - nice and quick (and he only cost a pound). The Emhar plastic is great; it seems to take paint and polystyrene as well as GW's hard plastic. I've gone for Monster Manual colours - ivory skin and blue hair. I'll give some others blond hair (as per the MM) or red hair (in line with The Frost Giant's Daughter, which I reckon is also the source for the MM's ivory skin). Just another 49 or so to go and we'll be ready for the whole three modules!

I might add some pupils to the eyes, but will see how the next few turn out. They'll also work as draugr in 1/32.

[Hobgoblin]

One other thing I've notice about these 1/32 chaps: their weapons, while scaled appropriately, aren't beyond the realms of feasibility for a strong PC. For example, that axe could have its haft cut down to be a poleaxe for a big fighter, and the sword might work a two-hander for a hefty human.

And that's all to the good, both because it's suggested as a possibility in the Against the Giants modules, and because it's in line with Beowulf and Grettir's Saga, where heroes cheerfully wield giant weapons on occasion.

[Sunjester]

They look good - and they're a great size for giants.

Thanks, at less than £2 each I'm really happy with them.

That Viking makes a really nice Frost Giant.

[Mister Frau Blucher]

This whole thread is inspirational. The solutions you've found to having a huge number of giants in a single encounter have me glancing at those old modules sitting on a shelf. I am definitely going to pick up one of the solutions you've posted, leaning toward the Emhar. Lovely paint job.

If you do ever get Nosnra'a (seemingly a cheap shot at Dave Arneson) feast hall set up for an encounter, we need to see the pictures!

[Gallahad]

I'm pretty sure Gallahad meant "copies of the game" (as in "my copy has a misprint in the rulebook") rather than "counterfeited miniatures" - at least that's how I read it!

Yes, I just meant picking up the game second hand from eBay!

[pancakeonions]

HATE is a fantastic source of really nice looking giants (albeit a few are a bit weird!).  I reckon you can't find it for cheap...  But now I kinda want to run that module just to get use of my HATE Giants! 

[Little Odo]

I really like the way the chain byrnie on the Frost giant looks. The first thing that came into my mind when I saw it, was "Hands off that shiny shirt! That's Mine! It's going to the Great Eye!". Great job on making it look so realistic.

Scale-wise, 1/32nd seems to be perfect for giants when compared to 28mm miniatures. I am really looking forward to seeing some action shots of your run through the G series modules. Will you move onto the D and Q scenarios once your players have run the gauntlet against the giants?

[Tordelback]

Will you move onto the D and Q scenarios once your players have run the gauntlet against the giants?

Start stocking up on plastic spiders now!

I really like the realistic weapons that you get with these giant-proxies.  I have a penchant for Reaper Bone's inhumanly stocky Fire Giants, but their even-gianter weapons do annoy me - I'd much rather see things like the Danish Axe on that splendid Frost Giant. That thing whistling down on you from 20 feet up and you'd know all about it...

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, all! Glad the thread is proving of interest.

If you do ever get Nosnra'a (seemingly a cheap shot at Dave Arneson) feast hall set up for an encounter, we need to see the pictures!

Definitely! I think the Masterbox giant (assembled below) might be a candidate for Nosnra in 28mm - especially if I then drop down to 1/72 for the frost giants.

I'm using a new Hue camera on a stalk for our games; it works really well, so I should be able to take a few screenshots of the set-up.

I really like the way the chain byrnie on the Frost giant looks. The first thing that came into my mind when I saw it, was "Hands off that shiny shirt! That's Mine! It's going to the Great Eye!". Great job on making it look so realistic.

Ha! Thanks - the 1/32 and 1/72 designers seem to be much keener on realistic mail than 28mm, who seem obsessed with visible links.

Will you move onto the D and Q scenarios once your players have run the gauntlet against the giants?

That's the plan. I have been gathering quite a few old Citadel dark elves - and might even drop cold ones into the mix to spice things up.

I really like the realistic weapons that you get with these giant-proxies.  I have a penchant for Reaper Bone's inhumanly stocky Fire Giants, but their even-gianter weapons do annoy me - I'd much rather see things like the Danish Axe on that splendid Frost Giant. That thing whistling down on you from 20 feet up and you'd know all about it...

Yes, indeed! There's a kind of naiveté in the notion that deadly weapons have to be big. The idea of a small, sharp piece of metal being propelled with great strength and speed is much scarier than someone swinging an anvil on a stick. For example, I reckon the Perry medieval poleaxes always look much more murderous than fantasy battleaxes with absurd blades. And, as I noted above, it's nice to have giant weapons that the PCs could conceivably adapt to their own use - as in so many sagas, folktales and myths.

[Hobgoblin]

By the way, the Masterbox giant cost all of £8.99!

[Elk101]

I like that. £8.99 is a bargain.