Favorite Minotaur miniatures?

[eilif]

You're most welcome! They'll go on individual 50s just fine. Once you've got the weapons added, you might want to slightly 'stagger' the basing so that they rank up (but depending on what you add, it might not matter).

Good to have that confirmed.   Staggering is kind of my go-to. The core of my army is Battlemasters figures (Chaos Knights, Warriors, Beastmen and Archers) and except for the knights (going with a 4-horse unit instead of 5), they're all based alternating front/back or left/right in order to rank up on standard GW/KOW bases.

Going to make my order now.

Yes, they're great for that. I'm using some fat Grendel lizards with orc riders as frostfang cavalry. I'm planning to replace some or all of the metal part of the riders with GW plastics (painted as ogres - my Varangur army uses Nick Lund orcs as huscarls and reavers, with matching ogre allies).

Cool concept using Orcs and Ogres for Varangur. In some ways it restores some of the danger and ferocity of the Orc Archetype that is a bit lost when their viewed more as the hordes-to-be-killed by heroes.  No bad thing either to have an army that can play different lists.

Thanks for the Scotia Grendel Link.  Are those part of their Leviathan acquisition? I thought I was aware of most bargain figure lines, but I was really only familiar with their Sci-Fi Stuff.  No rush or immediate need at this point, but if you at some point want to do a scale/comparison with those riders I'd be interested to see how they size up.

Somehow, I need to have these in my army, possibly with  modified riders. I can't believe it's a pack of two at that price!
https://www.shop.scotiagrendel.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=221_222_44&products_id=2785

[Hobgoblin]

Cool concept using Orcs and Ogres for Varangur. In some ways it restores some of the danger and ferocity of the Orc Archetype that is a bit lost when their viewed more as the hordes-to-be-killed by heroes.  No bad thing either to have an army that can play different lists.

Yes - and as our human and goblin forces are in 1/72, it makes the huscarls suitably hefty! The smaller, older Chronicle orcs that we use as Reavers, etc., are the same height as 1/72 humans, though broader, so they work very well. And the later Lunds fill a 25mm base sufficiently to justify their Crushing Strength (2)!

I've also got some Grenadier Lund hobgoblins partway painted as the Fallen. I started painting them as I thought their decent occupancy of a 40mm base and massive glaives made them a good proxy, but then when I saw the illustration of the Fallen in Uncharted Empires, I realised that they were probably as close as any current miniature line - and I'd even got the skin colour "right" (a greenish grey) by pure accident!

Thanks for the Scotia Grendel Link.  Are those part of their Leviathan acquisition? I thought I was aware of most bargain figure lines, but I was really only familiar with their Sci-Fi Stuff.  No rush or immediate need at this point, but if you at some point want to do a scale/comparison with those riders I'd be interested to see how they size up.

No problem at all - see below. The bases are 50mm, and the GW orc bodies need to be cut flat at the waist.

They were Kev Adams designs from Grendel, I think - or at least the first of this sort was (I still have the head of one  of the beasts from the 80s). But I think they were part of the Leviathan thing too (that was after/before my time!).

Somehow, I need to have these in my army, possibly with  modified riders. I can't believe it's a pack of two at that price!
https://www.shop.scotiagrendel.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=221_222_44&products_id=2785

Ha - yes, those look great!

[eilif]

Very interesting mixing of scales. Makes sense though when you list out the units you're using them for.


Thanks for the pics.  Those are nicely bigger than expected.  I was thinking they'd have old-school smaller size, but if that's representative of the range, I'll definitely give it a closer look.

[tikitang]

Well, this thread has pushed me to buy a minotaur I've had my eye on now for a while:



This is from the old Harlequin Miniatures range (late 90s era).

Found this for £15 at https://www.spiritgames.co.uk -- the last one they had in stock. Considering the price the same model is going for on eBay, I think I got myself a bargain.

This is probably my favourite minotaur other than those Warmonger ones I mentioned earlier.

Well, this arrived today and I can safely say it now IS my favourite minotaur miniature. It's absolutely humongous: 75mm tall from hoof to the top of the head, and what a heft! Needs quite a lot of work doing to it; the weapon doesn't fit too well between its two hands, so is going to need to green stuff to fill the gap. I also plan to mount it on a 60mm base, after cutting the integral one from off its hoofs. In the picture he's standing next to Harlequin's Aragorn from their 28mm Lord of the Rings range (now sold by Scotia Grendel), just to show the ridiculous size of him!

[tikitang]

I think the last minotaur miniatures I saw with feet were from Citadel in the 80s. I'd like to see more!

I found some more!

https://www.midlamminiatures.co.uk/minotaurs.html

There's only one bull-hoofed one there. The rest are all human-footed.

[eilif]

Tritex Minotaurs and such arrived today.  They are much better sculpted and the plastic of higher quality (nice and hard but haven't' tested for type yet) than the price would suggest.   Each figure is actually made of several pieces, so arm repositioning might be possible with further modifications.  Should definitely be able to get a Horde (6) of "The Fallen" (Regular Minotaurs) and of the "FrostFang Cavalry" (Bulls) for my KoW Varangur army.  Might even find a sue for the dragon and extra-large minotaur lord as well.

Will upload a pic of the bull in a minute.  Note that I've popped the right arm off from it's single attachment point on their wrist cuffs and the arm detail underneath is perfect.  Quite impressed with them and the others.

[Spooktalker]

There are so many great minotaurs sculpted over the years the job of choosing is a hard one.

For many years this one was my favorite. Taurg la Hache by Allan Carrasco for Ilyad. I was fortunate to have snagged one just as Ilyad folded, but haven't put paint to it. Today I don't think I could pick just one, though.

I'm glad to see the ones by Bibby, Olley and Guthrie mentioned. And the Paul Muller Otherworld ones. That's one I've actually painted! And definitely a favorite. And some Reaper ones have been mentioned, but I want to call out this one by Garrity as it fits really nicely alongside the Otherworld one and is probably my favorite Reaper one. https://www.reapermini.com/search/minotaur/latest/02263 . These days I have a preference for human legs and feet.

And last favorite I want to call out is this Tom Meier one https://www.ironwindmetals.com/index.php/categories/cat-ral-partha/cat-fantasy-rpgs/product/fantasy-rpg-01-037. Small even for 25mm but great for 1/72 scale, 15mm or pre-1980 25mm. Or good for a 25mm broo.

[tikitang]

I want to call out this one by Garrity as it fits really nicely alongside the Otherworld one and is probably my favorite Reaper one. https://www.reapermini.com/search/minotaur/latest/02263 . These days I have a preference for human legs and feet.

That is a nice one, and another human-footed one I'd completely forgotten about.

[beefcake]

That Ilyad one is defintely nice.

[eilif]

Finally got my Journey" Wrath of Demons mostly-minotaur figures from Tritex reviewed.  Lots of pics, rambling commentary and scale shots and measurements for each miniature.
https://www.chicagoskirmishwargames.com/blog/2022/10/journey-wrath-of-demons-cheap-beastly-chaos/

EDIT The plastic is interesting. I was able to cleanly scrape away mold lines easily but it DOES NOT glue with Solvent based glue.  Some kind of hard PVC?  Note that I had earlier stated that the figures were probably hard plastic because I glued the base to a slotta with MEK and it sticks.  The bases appear to be Styrene.  I just found out the figures themselves are NOT.


Enjoy!
Just a sample...

[NotifyGrout]

Among old school models, my favorite is this one, a Julie Guthrie classic. The original also came with a variant head if you wanted to make a giant boar-headed beastman instead:


For a modern model, my favorite is actually The Mighty Taur from Wrath of Kings. He's actually a rather gentle giant when he isn't fighting, and he's treated as more than dumb muscle in the game's lore.

[sir_shvantselot]

Would be interested to know what people think of the GW plastic bullgors? Better than the paintjob suggests, no?

[Terry Deathstrike]

Would be interested to know what people think of the GW plastic bullgors? Better than the paintjob suggests, no?

I prefer their iteration in Total Warhammer:



Smaller heads look better and they don't suffer from poses meant to allow them to rank up.

[Cubs]

Would be interested to know what people think of the GW plastic bullgors? Better than the paintjob suggests, no?

The paintjob doesn't help, but seriously ... no. I think they're just insanely bad. They look worse than cheap plastic wrestler toys in a pound shop that someone has cut the heads off and stuck really bad cow heads on. Just a shocking bit of computer sculpting there. Look at their chest rugs - I've seen Playmobil push-on detailing look better and more natural.

[FramFramson]

Shame they went so bad. I quite adore some of the older GW beastmen-minotaurs. The old Bray Shaman is a wonderful sculpt:



EDIT: Two more of my favourites, the two weapon variations on the older Beastlord sculpt.