Looking for noble/heroic minotaurs or goat-men (besides Croc Games)

[Rhoderic]

I've long been drawn to the notion of minotaurs as noble (or at least civilised) beings in contrast to their usual portrayal in miniatures wargaming as gory monsters. The classic RPG concept of the "minotaur cleric" made an impression on me the first time I saw it, as did some Magic the Gathering cards with a similar general theme when I was young. By extension, I also like the Khemru (noble-looking goat-headed beastmen) from Wargods of Aegyptus:




Do any other minotaur or beastmen figures of this sort exist? Civilised minotaurs are a fairly common trope in fantasy RPGs and the like, but it seems to me that miniatures wargaming minotaurs are almost always evil and usually feral.

[Gabbi]

I believe to remember some ancient-Rome looking Minotaur in the D&D line by Ral Partha... maybe Dragonlance..?

[The Gray Ghost]

Imaginative Miniatures has some

[Spooktalker]

You may like the Grenadier Guthrie Minotaurs now offered by Mirliton:
http://www.mirliton.it/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=minotaur&osCsid=an4rq7ab8dc7vlt47nq0afioe5&x=0&y=0


Perhaps worth checking over Reaper's offerings.

http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/minotaur
http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/beastman
http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/beastmen

[Rhoderic]

I've been neglecting this thread because of a somewhat hectic schedule in the past week, but I'd just like to thank you all for your suggestions. There are some useful figures in there, especially a select few of the Grenadier/Mirliton ones which are sculpted in a style I like, and at least "neutral"-looking if not outright noble or heroic.

I would still love to find some figures that are more along the lines of clerics or robed temple guards (minus the ancient Egyptian connotations of the Khemru), but I should try to appreciate the choices I've already got. The Khemru plus a few of the suggested minotaurs could make a nice, decently variegated skirmish warband. I'd imagine them as some sort of guardians of a temple or other sacred site.

[v_lazy_dragon]

Although somewhat off geographically, I remember seeing a very civilised asian water buffalo minotaur at one point  - possibly from Black Hat Miniatures?

[Rhoderic]

Although somewhat off geographically, I remember seeing a very civilised asian water buffalo minotaur at one point  - possibly from Black Hat Miniatures?

Oh yeah, I totally forgot about the Chinese-styled Black Hat ones.





The second one I could possibly use as a cleric, with some converting to make it less culturally distinct (and possibly a head swap with a Grenadier/Mirliton minotaur).

That also reminds me that Forlorn Hope makes two samurai minotaurs, although they don't suit my purposes.

[Rhoderic]

Heh, only now did I think of Googling "minotaur cleric miniature". It came up with this, from a range I've never heard of before (Paizo Pathfinder Chronicles):



It's definitely got the right look. I only wish I could tell how big it is. I'll have to define it and the Grenadier/Mirliton minotaurs as different "races" seeing as the anatomy doesn't match and they're probably not the same size, but that's not too big a deal. Whatever benevolent god created these minotaurs and beastmen to be its agents in the mortal realms made different races of them for different purposes. Problem solved

There are some other interesting one-off fantasy figures in that range as well. I'll definitely be wanting the REH-esque intelligent gorilla and the African-style shaman/witch, among others.

[Timbor]

Forlorn Hope does some samurai minotaur to go with their other oriental fantasy stuff:



http://www.forlornhopegames.com/index.php/category/20-samurai-minotaurs

They also do some fantasy minotaurs, which may or may not be civilized, depending on your interpretation:

[white knight]

I'm probably kicking in an open door here, but I assume you've considered just getting some GW beastmen heads and putting them on suitable bodies?

[Rhoderic]

I'm probably kicking in an open door here, but I assume you've considered just getting some GW beastmen heads and putting them on suitable bodies?

I've had some ideas along those lines, although if I'm going for beastmen with human bodies (ie. no hooves) it isn't much less trouble to just remove/replace some of the distinctly Egyptian features off of the Khemru. I've mainly been thinking about the head swap approach in regard to minotaurs, but suitably imposing robed bodies will probably be tricky to source (I'd want them at least somewhat taller than 28mm humans, and reasonably bulky). Minotaur/bull heads won't be quite as easy to source as beastman heads, either.

At any rate, between the Pathfinder minotaur, a select few Grenadier/Mirliton minotaurs and the Wargods Khemru, I should just about have a sufficient skirmish warband of heroic beast-headed warrior-priests if I decide to take the plunge. I may even use some of the other Grenadier/Mirliton minotaurs as neutral mercenaries. I also really like the (non-samurai) Bob Olley minotaurs from Forlorn Hope as neutrals, although they'd have to be defined as a third race, which might be pushing it.

[Bogdanwaz]

Zombie Smith has some interesting beastmen type of figures in their fantasy line:

http://www.zombiesmith.com/collections/fantasy

[The Red Graf]

Shadowsea Minotaur from AntiMatter, probably not what you are looking for but cool.



RuneCast Miniatures Beastkin Satyr Ancient



Blacksmith Miniatures