Fantasy gaming at 20mm/1:72 - Pics?

[Mr. White]

Currently, I'm working on a 20mm Post Apoc project, but as Oathmark/Dragon Rampage is on my horizon, I'm wondering it this scale might be best for that as well. Any good source of 1:72 fantasy minis besides Dark Alliance? I have no issue with DA, but just curious what options there are. What about terrain? buildings and such?

Is anyone gaming 30+ models per side fantasy at this scale? Got any pictures to help me...picture it?

[Hobgoblin]

I've switched to 1/72 for Hordes of the Things. Here are some elements (using 25/28mm base sizes):

These are Dark Alliance and Caesar:



These are Caesar knights:



I reckon it's a very good scale for Dragon Rampant. I base individual miniatures on pennies and have movement trays that help for bigger skirmish games (like DR).

Caesar is the other big fantasy manufacturer of note. Caesar lizardmen, ratmen and (especially) orcs are excellent, and they're much easier to paint, convert and clean up than Dark Alliance.

I did use these Caesar lizardmen in 28mm, but I've now rebased them all as a HotT 1/72 army:



There is, of course, a huge range of historical stuff out there, so you can do any pseudo-historical forces very easily.

Also, a lot of old Ral Partha stuff (still 'in print' from Ral Partha Legacy) works fine with 1/72 - the 1979 dwarves, for example, which are much better than any of the plastic 1/72 dwarves, and there are lots of good monsters too. Some old Grenadier monsters work really well too - and some are still in production at Mirliton.

For ogre-sized beasties, the Nolzur's/Wizkids D&D miniatures are pretty good, as they have similarly realistic proportions to 1/72 stuff. This shows a Nolzur's pigman with a Zvezda 1/72 hoplite:



And here he is against a werebear:

[Mr. White]

This is great!
I've always loved 28mm for the detail of the models, but 20mm is so much easier to get painted up and on the table. I wonder if I'll miss the charm of 28mm sculpts in favor of the economic efficiency of cost and time at 20mm.

Any good ideas for dragons and giants and such?

[Diablo Jon]

CP models does a small range of metal 20mm fantasy miniatures that might be of some use alongside the plastics.

https://cpmodels.co.uk/product-category/20mm-ranges/20mm-tqd-castings/fantasy-tqd-castings/   

[Hobgoblin]

Any good ideas for dragons and giants and such?

1/32 scale gives you cheap and easy giants (the 'frost giant' below is with a 28mm figure, but he'd be better in 1/72; he's a 1/32 Viking):



This guy is a converted 1/32 Gaul:



Again, the Nolzur's range will sort you out with giants, and lots of 28mm figures work well as ogres and the like. I'm using various Grenadier and Chronicle orcs and hobgoblins ogres. Also, lots of Reaper Bones giants, ogres and dragons will work just fine. Ral Partha too - remember that Tom Meier's classic fantasy figures were small even for 25mm, as he made them 25mm to the crown rather than the head. So dragons designed for them will be just right for 1/72.

[RSDean]

I don’t have battles in 1/72 tagged as such on my blog, but what I have is somewhere in here:

http://sharpbrush.blogspot.com/search/label/1%2F72%20scale%20plastic

Hobgoblin, that’s a beautiful giant.  HaT 1/32 Gauls?

For dragons, I particularly like the Reaper Bones “Young Fire Dragon” (https://www.reapermini.com/miniatures/bones%20dragon/oldest/77026) for 1/72 scale work.  He’s considerably bigger than a horseman, and that strikes me as big enough.  There’s been a lot of dragon inflation in recent years...  Other Reaper Bones can fit into a 1/72 project as well; you would just need to look around and see what you like the look of. 

[blacksmith]

@Hobgoblin, are the 25mm miniatures from Ral Partha Legacy you mentioned the same as these ones from Ral Parth Europe? http://www.ralparthaeurope.co.uk/shop/ral-partha-fantasy-c-37/
And if so, could you please please upload a comparative picture of a plastic Zvezda Greek next to any Ral Partha human? I'd really appreciate it. TIA!

I'm asking you this because I'm looking for adventurers for 1/72 and the ones from Caesar are OOP.

[Hobgoblin]

blacksmith - I just snapped this with what was to hand (the Zvezda Greeks are on the larger size, though, compared with all of these except the Dark Aliance elf).

From left to right:

25mm Denizen dwarf
1/72 Strelets bashi-bazouk
25mm Ral Partha cleric
1/72 Dark Alliance elf
1/72 Miniart knight

That RP cleric is available from RPE; he's marked specifically as being very small, as are some others, including a set of three thieves. A lot of the RP stuff on RPE is a bit later and so a bit bigger, but you can often pick up second-hand RP historicals and fantasy figures on eBay that fit pretty well (and are as cheap or cheaper than you'd get from RPE).

Hope that helps! I'll post some more when I get a chance later on. In general, the RP figures will have bigger heads and hands, but if headgear is involved it's fine, and I think the variance is no greater than you'd get between 28mm manufacturers.

I also think it's OK to have a slight "hierarchical scale" whereby PCs and important NPCs are slightly more striking!

Another decent option for 20mm or 1/72 adventurers is Elhiem. The figures are a great match for 1/72, and some of them - the evil trinity in particular - are very nice.

[Hobgoblin]

I don’t have battles in 1/72 tagged as such on my blog, but what I have is somewhere in here:

http://sharpbrush.blogspot.com/search/label/1%2F72%20scale%20plastic

Great collection!

Hobgoblin, that’s a beautiful giant.  HaT 1/32 Gauls?

Thanks! Yes, indeed, with a smattering of green stuff. You can see his genesis on this thread, along with some unconverted Gaul-giants and another conversion WIP.

For dragons, I particularly like the Reaper Bones “Young Fire Dragon” (https://www.reapermini.com/miniatures/bones%20dragon/oldest/77026) for 1/72 scale work.  He’s considerably bigger than a horseman, and that strikes me as big enough.  There’s been a lot of dragon inflation in recent years...  Other Reaper Bones can fit into a 1/72 project as well; you would just need to look around and see what you like the look of.

Yes, that dragon's absolutely perfect. There are also some reasonable young dragons from Nolzur's/Wizzkids.

[blacksmith]

blacksmith - I just snapped this with what was to hand (the Zvezda Greeks are on the larger size, though, compared with all of these except the Dark Aliance elf).

From left to right:

25mm Denizen dwarf
1/72 Strelets bashi-bazouk
25mm Ral Partha cleric
1/72 Dark Alliance elf
1/72 Miniart knight

That RP cleric is available from RPE; he's marked specifically as being very small, as are some others, including a set of three thieves. A lot of the RP stuff on RPE is a bit later and so a bit bigger, but you can often pick up second-hand RP historicals and fantasy figures on eBay that fit pretty well (and are as cheap or cheaper than you'd get from RPE).

Hope that helps! I'll post some more when I get a chance later on. In general, the RP figures will have bigger heads and hands, but if headgear is involved it's fine, and I think the variance is no greater than you'd get between 28mm manufacturers.

I also think it's OK to have a slight "hierarchical scale" whereby PCs and important NPCs are slightly more striking!

Another decent option for 20mm or 1/72 adventurers is Elhiem. The figures are a great match for 1/72, and some of them - the evil trinity in particular - are very nice.

I can't believe that Ral Partha cleric is exactly the same size as others 1/72. I think I'm ordering a few adventurers to Ral Partha. Thank you very much! It's been really helpful.
PS. I knew Elhiem's but P&P costs me more than all their 20mm heroes!

[Diablo Jon]

blacksmith - I just snapped this with what was to hand (the Zvezda Greeks are on the larger size, though, compared with all of these except the Dark Aliance elf).

From left to right:

25mm Denizen dwarf
1/72 Strelets bashi-bazouk
25mm Ral Partha cleric
1/72 Dark Alliance elf
1/72 Miniart knight

That RP cleric is available from RPE; he's marked specifically as being very small, as are some others, including a set of three thieves. A lot of the RP stuff on RPE is a bit later and so a bit bigger, but you can often pick up second-hand RP historicals and fantasy figures on eBay that fit pretty well (and are as cheap or cheaper than you'd get from RPE).

Hope that helps! I'll post some more when I get a chance later on. In general, the RP figures will have bigger heads and hands, but if headgear is involved it's fine, and I think the variance is no greater than you'd get between 28mm manufacturers.

I also think it's OK to have a slight "hierarchical scale" whereby PCs and important NPCs are slightly more striking!

Another decent option for 20mm or 1/72 adventurers is Elhiem. The figures are a great match for 1/72, and some of them - the evil trinity in particular - are very nice.

I picked up that Ral Partha cleric (well a variation mine has a plan staff not a snake headed one) on eBay described as a 25mm miniature so I was expecting something the same size as a pre-slotta citadel i.e. small by todays standard but he was tiny even by early 80s standards, having said that for a miniature sculpted in 1979 he was brilliantly sculpted (I'm guessing by Tom Meier) so I painted him up anyway.

[Hobgoblin]

Yes, I gather Tom Meier sculpted 25mm to the top of the head in the late 70s whereas most 25mm sculptors used 25mm to the eye.

Glad to be of help, blacksmith - but do be careful that you don't get some of the bigger ones. Those with a defined edge to their bases are quite a bit bigger.

These thieves are definitely small:

http://www.ralparthaeurope.co.uk/shop/ral-partha-fantasy-c-37/heroes-and-horrors-c-37_38/01114-thieves-4-p-3238.html


I'd really recommend cross-referencing eBay listings with the Ral Partha back catalogue on Lost Minis. This is the really small range:

http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Personalities_and_Things_that_go_Bump_in_the_Night

[Hobgoblin]

And while we're on old miniatures, these old Chronicle orcs work well as large orcs/orogs or hobgoblins in 1/72. They're very easy to find cheaply on eBay:



Within the sabot, they're based on pennies as with the stuff in the previous photo.

[blacksmith]

Those Chronicle Orcs ooze personality, love them. Thank you very much again for the links above, very useful.
Cheers!

[M.P.]

I game almost exclusively in 1/72 scale, here're bunch ofn photos with a selection of minis in 10mm and 28mm scalesboth.

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=118795.0