Stone Age Tribe on Tribe project (New photos on page 2, August 2024)

[FifteensAway]

So, no photos just yet but perhaps soon.  I've been collecting a bunch of 15 mm Stone Age stuff, people, animals, and some tents/huts to run games set in the time of the Megafauna.  Had most of the stuff for a bit but recently, through a 3D printing 'oops', I now have some over large vultures - closer to 25/28 mm than 15 mm.  My 3D guy made it right today with some birds closer to 15 mm, still large but that was at my request for easier painting and table visibility - the smaller ones will be for Africa and the Old West.

My plan is to use the very oversized birds as megafauna (some I may paint and sell, got quite a few) - even if not yet supported by evidence (or is it?).  Since it is a fictional setting loosely based on what we know about the time period - not that much really - it will just be for adding to the fun. 

I continue to hunt for 'civilian' Stone Age 15 mm figures, knappers, berry pickers, unarmed women, old men, children, etc.  Not really needed but I'd add them if I could find them.  And prefer in proper attire rather than fur bikinis - though hot babes in bikinis don't bother me (sorry ladies, just truth!  . Sexuality, not sexism - more power to you.)

So, why tribe on tribe rather than hunts?  Well, I just think that will be more interesting - and I can still include hunting the animals within the game.

Rules will almost certainly be Fistful of Lead, maybe Bigger Battles version - love to hear from others using these rules for Stone Age games, especially tribe versus tribe, and see any animal tables you've developed. 

I believe I now have 36 figures each for my various tribes and I think I may have crossed to a couple of hundred total animals - but that is counting things like Highland Hairy cattle and camels and such, not all megafauna. 

Does seem that Stone Age gaming is a niche within a niche within a niche in the wargaming world but still fun. 

And...

Can use it for a bit of Lost World gaming with my Pulp game stuff in development.  Skipping dinosaurs!  Why?  Millions of intervening years without humans or megafauna.  Movies might be fun - love Ray Harryhausen stop motion work - but too out there for me.  Pre-history okay but flights of fancy, not so much for personal tastes.   Wait, Lost World is sort of silly, isn't it?  Well, fun is too - or can be.  Fun wins. 

[15 mm bird tally - 6 in trees with wings folded + 6 trees 'empty', 11 vultures with wings spread for the ground, 11 vultures with wings spread for perching in trees or on rocks, and 10 vultures with wings folded on the ground.  that's 38 total birds.  not so many of the larger birds, maybe 24 if memory serves - picked up about a month ago]

[FifteensAway]

After posting, just had to go sort out what I have so here is the list:

15 Mammoths - various sources
48 Highland hairy cattle
5 Musk ox
6 Hairy camels
18 Wooly rhinos - various sources
6 Terror Birds
3 Cave bears
27 Wild boar
12 Auroch cattle
3 Giant Eagles
6 Wolves
6 Giant Weasels
9 Sabre tooth cats - various sources
24 Large vultures

So, actually 188 animals - but with some additional items to be ordered from MY Miniatures (with a hope they can be painted to look okay), more musk ox, large sloths, large armadillos, and giant crocs (waterline) [also some more waterline hippos and crocs but for Africa games - and some 'snake women' for who knows what]. The 24 animals for Stone Age would bring total to 212.

People -
12 'riders' I'll likely use as dead 'cavemen'

9 bone carrying apes (2001 Space Odyssey sort of figures) - not sure how they'll be used if at all

Four villages with each village having 21 warrior men and 3 warrior women, a 3 man Firestarter group, and 9 women, children, and old men to be modified to cave men (Bluemoon figures to be converted - maybe just with a paint job but maybe add longer hair and fur), so 36 per village.  Each village also has a set of 6 dogs.

2 men with a dog (sort of an expanded Alpha setup?)

2 groups of 3 men + 2 extra men (convert to dead maybe or something else)

2 3 man Mighty Leader groupings (for when two villages ally together?)

That all adds up to just over 400 pieces to paint which, for me, is a reasonable painting load, a month or two to paint with diligent effort.  Plus the structures, of course.  And jungles in process that might get used.  Snow and ice (glaciers) might dominate and those would need building.

One last thought, probably base the figures in groups of 3 to keep it all more reasonable.  Or, should I keep it all on individual bases for this?

[Pattus Magnus]

Regarding basing, you could go with the 1-2-3 system to cut down the number of things to move, but keep some flexibility.

[FifteensAway]

Pattus Magnus,

Yes, the 3-2-1 basing might be an option.

--

On the animal front, not quite matching, but I can bring in my already painted herd of American Bison (buffalo) for another species.  Already have 120 and another 14 to create as dead though the latter need modification and painting.   Painted for my Old West set up.

[Pattus Magnus]

 The bison should be suitable for Neolithic games, they are a bit different shape than European bison, but in 15mm scale it will be easy to ignore that.

[nervisfr]

For my 15mm indian pony war, i used the Atlantic Buffalo set (small 20 mm matching very well with 15mm world).

Pay a visit to http://www.splinteredlightminis.com/index.html

[carlos marighela]

Fear not. Vultures can be quite large.

[Cacique Caribe]

Fantastic project.  I also have a large collection of unpainted that I need to categorize.

Dan

[FifteensAway]

Sorting out how to build a glacier (see Workbench) and decided to order a few more mammoths for some conversion work and including one encased in the glacier.  So numbers above will be needing some adjusting once all received.

[FifteensAway]

Decided to cancel the MY Miniatures order, a bit arcane ordering process - though he certainly has some unique stuff.  I did find sufficiently similar items through a few other sources that will get me where I want to go: Irregular Miniatures Tusk range, some animals from Splintered Light Miniatures, and some 10 mm items from Magister Militum.  I will use those as 'pygmy' Megafauna if necessary.  Who knows, there might just have been such things?  I have a dim recollection that what is thought to be an ancestral mammal that might be one of our extremely distant ancestors existed in the dinosaur age and it was very tiny.  (Some of MM stuff not 10 mm and not all for Stone Age)

[FifteensAway]

Two of three orders for this project in transit, maybe part of the third order, too.  All, or nearly all, of the animals bases are prepared as of yesterday.  And the 15 mammoths on hand all got their tusks glued in place as well, used two part epoxy to improve long term strength since they are 15 mm.  Will need another tusk session once one of the orders arrives.

Still debating how I will base the humans and their dogs (each tribe gets a pack of 6 dogs).  Probably do 3 to a base but - maybe - based individually.

Seeing the tusks glued in place means that ice encased mammoth is going to present some challenges - but I'm still going to tackle it.

[FifteensAway]

After a bit of an issue with my cell phone that needed a reset, I now have a photo to share as I work on this project.



That is my mammoth herd - but without the items inbound from Irregular Miniatures, another nine animals, six adult and three young.  Six of those will add to the three family herds as seen in the photo and the other three will be one encased in a glacier, one dead and ready for butchering, and one much modified as a mammoth stuck in pit trap (inspired by item seen here on LAF).

The left most animals are from Khurasan and the next I believe were from Acheson (might no longer be available), and the others I'm not sure (if you recognize their source be sure and let us all know).  Of course, in 15 mm. [Upon reflection, I think several of the mammoths are from Acheson - but I'm not certain.]

Some gaps to fill and some additional prep work still to go but one step along the way - they are all washed and all have their separate tusks two-part epoxied in place.

[FifteensAway]

More photos here: https://steeplechasingzebras.blogspot.com

Some undead mammoth with Khurasan caveman, will convert to actual dead skeletons:



Giant ground sloths, nice size:



And some musk ox, a bit small but workable for me:



Not all of the items in the linked post are for this project - but most could be adapted.

Note that Magister Militum included a notice to get orders in by September 26, 2023 before sold or maybe closing down.

[Cacique Caribe]

Who sells the mammoth skeletons, Magister Militum also?

Thanks

Dan

[FifteensAway]

Dan,

The mammoth skeletons are from Magister Militum.  All of the figures - except the caveman - that I posted and linked to yesterday are from Magister Militum and all "10 mm" figures.

Oh, I probably won't order more.  It's not that I wouldn't enjoy having them it's just hard to justify having more though not really about the money.  Only so much time to paint and SO MANY figures still to go.

Greg