Fantasy warbands for skirmish gaming [Latest: Barbarians, April 12!]

[PatrickWR]

Here's another GenCon acquisition: 2 blister packs of Grenadier Ratscum for $1 each! They sat around in my lead heap for a few years until last fall, when I decided that dammit, I was going to play my next game with some ratmen. So I painted 'em up! I've got to say, these are some of my favorite ratmen miniatures. Tons of character! They're still in production from Mirliton.

[Imp522]

Really nice job on the ratmen, and they're grenadier which is always a plus in my book.

Dave
http://oldschoolminiaturesbulletin.blogspot.com/

[Spooktalker]

Nice to see some of those Stonehaven dwarves painted up and I like the rest of your stuff too.

[Damien]

Stop! Stop regaling me with your stories of 1$ Grenadier blisters! Sob  In all seriousness, these guys are really well painted, I have a few Ratscum but from a different sculptor. I really like how you painted the green, the dark metallics and really like the basing. Please keep on posting your eclectic mix of miniatures.

Cheers,
Damien

[PatrickWR]

Shoot, you ain't seen nothing yet. Twice a year the LGS here in Chicago, Games Plus, hosts a big ol' weekend-long gaming auction where people can bring in unwanted game stuff and the store will auction it off to the crowd. The minis auction lasts for about 10-12 hours. I regularly pick up grab-bags of old Grenadier and Ral Partha stuff for less than $1 per figure! If you're anywhere near Chicago, it's worth the drive. The next auction will be in early October.

[PatrickWR]

Here's a photo from a recent game of Song of Blades & Heroes. My undead warband is advancing from its deployment zone to assail the barbarians' hill fort.



The skeletons are Mantic plastics, the wraith is a Reaper guy, and the pumpkin rider is from Blue Moon. I freakin' LOVE the Song of Blades games because I like to use all sorts of different miniatures from different game lines and companies in my games. This photo perfectly illustrates that.

[majorsmith]

really nice mate!

[Damien]

Those Mantic skeletons are really nice (and well painted)!

[DeafNala]

That is quite a nice assortment of VERY COOL Undead Folk...some GREAT brushwork there! VERY WELL DONE!

I'm of the opinion (for whatever that is worth) that rules that are not set up to sell minis are the BEST sort of rules.

[PatrickWR]

Thanks for the comments! Here's another look at those Mantic skeletons. My big gripe with them is that they don't have enough bare skull heads on each sprue...so many of the heads are fully enclosed in helmets. Where's the fun in that?! I paint undead so I can paint grinning skull faces!

[PatrickWR]

OK, time for some more adventurers. These guys came from the yellow Grenadier D&D Fighting-Men boxed set, which I picked up at a game store auction for a few bucks. The box was in decent shape and the minis were pristine and unpainted inside!





These guys have seem SO MUCH action on the tabletop over the last few years...they are so versatile. There's something to be said for good ol' generic fighting-men. They've been PCs, hirelings, mercenaries and bodyguards for dozens of wargame and RPG sessions.



Their unpainted buddies are resting safely inside the little yellow box. One day I'll paint the rest of 'em!

[Damien]

I love those guys! I am painting two fighting men right now, if you look at your pic of the open box, I am painting the guy on the top right corner (with the axe) and on the bottom row, the third guy from the left (with the sword). I hope to finish them by this weekend so I can post them up.

On another note, stop, stop I am begging you, stop telling me that you are buying rare miniatures/boxed sets for 'just a few bucks'     

Good work painting these guys, I like your painting style,

 Damien

[DeafNala]

GREAT ADDITIONS! I particularly like the Mantic Skeletons; re, they bring to mind Army of Darkness...a positive with moi. Keep up the FINE WORK!

[PatrickWR]

More adventurers! Here we have two very different versions of the classic D&D cleric. The guy on the left is a pudgy, barefoot holy man with a staff and a big book. You can't see it in the pic, but he has a mace slung on his back. I have no clue where this miniature came from...any ideas?

The guy on the right is Kjeld, Battle-Priest of Vanir, my long-running PC from an equally long-running AD&D campaign. We've not played in a couple years, but when we last left Kjeld, he was a 4th-level cleric who was beginning to attract a small flock to his chapel-forge (blacksmith iconography is a big part of his religion). Anyway this was the first and only figure I've painted up to represent Kjeld, and he's spent hours and hours on the tabletop battlefield. I painted him a long time ago, but he'd held up decently.

[stone-cold-lead]

Like the skellies. Nice bold painting and the Mantic sculpts could almost be old school.