NEW - Eureka Miniatures 28mm 'pre contact' Maori figures pics

[Happy Wanderer]

Gents,

I'd thought I'd pop up a few pics of the new Eureka miniatures 'pre-contact' (c.1800) Maori figures with some comparison shots with Empress Miniatures Maoris.

These Maoris are 28mm sculpted by Alan Marsh. They are a little larger but have about the same heft as the Empress figures i.e. they look like a similar style of anatomically correct sculpts. I think the Eureka ones are a little more so (taking nothing away from the lovely Empress minis) and they are a smidge larger as you can see.

The two figure ranges mix quite well  even though the Empress are a touch smaller, but I suspect, once painted and based that they will blend together quite well.

Thee figures will be useful for players looking to engage in pre contact tribal warfare. The Maori were a constant warring culture so from these sculpts two varied and sizeable hosts could be formed without excessive 'repeat' figures....a 60 figure tribe would have only 3-4 of the same figure in the them. By my count there are 18, yes 18, different figures and they are all in motion and look very nice.

Within the range some body shapes vary but all are reflective of the possible variations one would expect which I think was the sculptor's intent...regardless, they all work together very nicely.

These figures are lovely. They will be useful for not only pre contact conflict but as you can see, when mixed with the Empress figures, they can do duty as tribes of the Musket Wars era (1806-1845-ish) where Maori warfare literally exploded with near constant fighting up and down the Islands. They can also be used as enemies of the Crown in the Flagstaff War of 1845-47 so you get nice double duty out of these.

All in all, these are an excellent addition and pretty much take top place as they best Maoris on the market for this earlier period. They will be perfect figures for the new tribal warfare game by Mana press (called Tribal).

Speaking to the owner of Eureka Miniatures, he said if enough people are interested we could get 8-10 additional figures armed with muskets and that would truly make for a superb range with excellent use for gaming and a nice homogenous single sculpt effect that would work very well.

Happy Wanderer

PS If anyone is interested in adding musket armed Maori warriors troops by the same sculptor to complement this range thereby being usable for the Musket and Flagstaff Wars then maybe a show of hands would be good. I'm up for 100. If we get to 600 or more then it can probably happen.

..hope we get there...

[Lowtardog]

Great review Rolf, I am painting these guys up as we speak, although I have a lot of Maori already musket armed maori necer go amiss.

One thing I did with the Empress Maori was some simple head and weapon swaps, the heads swap over very nicely (not sure on bewteen ranges however) what I also did was use plastic dane axes to swap out some weapons for axe head long handled weapons and they work a treat

Page 4 on this thread shows some of the swaps http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=66759.0 

[Matakakea]

Why is that toa holding his Taiaha vertically by the bladed end? I do wish sculptors would review some of the clips available showing how the weapons are used before starting! At least none of these are trying to use them as throwing spears, or disrespecting the spirit of the taiaha by resting the tongue on the ground. (Rant mode over).

[werekake]

hmmm... which warrior are you referring to Matakakea? I don't see any of them touching the 'head' of a taiaha. When I looked at the figures they all seemed 'correct' to me, and my extended whanau in NZ thought they were all correct when I sent them copies (they wanted to know who the 'maori' sculptor was, I didn't have the heart to tell them he's from South Shields in NE England).

I actually provided Alan advice on the maori figures, and I referred him to several videos done by Te Karere, Waka Huia and Maori TV which covers the usage of rakau maori. This included some fantastic interviews with the likes of Pita Sharples and Pou Temara, who discussed the use of maori weapons in war and peace.

eg, Waka Huia video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKlqol_Hn6s

I think Alan did a fantastic job of sculpting these maori - he did it respectfully and I think he absolutely captured the mana/spirit and tradition of te maori. The strut and provocation coming from some of the figures are marvellous! Maybe a bit too much of the pukana (tongue-poking) for my liking, but I guess that's to be expected for maori figures. 

As for the variation in sizes, I asked Alan to make some figures with different body sizes and/or ages. I just think that a force with different body-types is great - particularly with maori who can have fullahs as big as a brick $h1thouse. Again, Alan did a great job of this - we have some muscly dudes, some skinny, some stocky guys who look like they belong in a rugby forward pack... and then there's the guys with the puku/tummy (like myself, they've eaten a bit too much of the KFC perhaps).

[Slayer]

they look fantastic

[Lowtardog]

hmmm... which warrior are you referring to Matakakea? I don't see any of them touching the 'head' of a taiaha. When I looked at the figures they all seemed 'correct' to me, and my extended whanau in NZ thought they were all correct when I sent them copies (they wanted to know who the 'maori' sculptor was, I didn't have the heart to tell them he's from South Shields in NE England).

I actually provided Alan advice on the maori figures, and I referred him to several videos done by Te Karere, Waka Huia and Maori TV which covers the usage of rakau maori. This included some fantastic interviews with the likes of Pita Sharples and Pou Temara, who discussed the use of maori weapons in war and peace.

eg, Waka Huia video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKlqol_Hn6s

I think Alan did a fantastic job of sculpting these maori - he did it respectfully and I think he absolutely captured the mana/spirit and tradition of te maori. The strut and provocation coming from some of the figures are marvellous! Maybe a bit too much of the pukana (tongue-poking) for my liking, but I guess that's to be expected for maori figures. 

As for the variation in sizes, I asked Alan to make some figures with different body sizes and/or ages. I just think that a force with different body-types is great - particularly with maori who can have fullahs as big as a brick $h1thouse. Again, Alan did a great job of this - we have some muscly dudes, some skinny, some stocky guys who look like they belong in a rugby forward pack... and then there's the guys with the puku/tummy (like myself, they've eaten a bit too much of the KFC perhaps).

I like them, the heft and physique of the figures is great without them looking like they spend 3 hours a day in the gym. I had no idea Alan lives in south shileds I always assumed he was an Aussie! Thats just over the water from me!

[carlos marighela]

They are superb figures and whilst I know sod all about Maori weaponry I understood that they were well researched, like all the Eureka ranges. They aren't exactly 'new' though. The figures have been around for about a year if memory serves, in fact they've been mentioned but not reviewed on LAF before.

[Matakakea]

Insert Quote

hmmm... which warrior are you referring to Matakakea?

Bottom picture, top row, 2nd right. He's not touching the head, but grasping the blade, the part he should be striking the foe with, and the head is pointing skywards. The grip should be on the rounded part of the shaft, between the head and the blade. Fighting technique for the Taiaha is quarterstaff crossed with a bit of two-handed sword (just to make it easier for our European campadres to visualise). If you want a vertical pose then put the blade end upwards, hands grasping the shaft behind the dog hair decoration, and the head alongside the toa's ear so that the spirit can talk to him.

If you want you can just dismiss this as my one pedantic criticism of an otherwise interesting looking range (I'll ignore the fishing net on one of the other figures. I can always cut that off) 

[carlos marighela]

The guy with a fishing net is meant to be a maori god IIRC. Tūmatauenga?

[Lowtardog]

I just cut the net off mine as he is a lovely miniature

[werekake]

Matakakea - ah, now I see where the problem is.

Completely agree re:usage of taiaha (I'd also add the 'head' i.e everything above the feather/fur collar, is considered tapu so not to be touched).

So when you say blade, you're meaning the 'body' of the taiaha. In combat I think you'd be right. However, I'm seeing that guy in a 'pose' - either as a challenge prior to closing, or even as part of a demonstration of defiance. As a stance, it's not something you'd really use in hand-to-hand, but I've seen it used in Wero and powhiri ceremonies.

Carlos: I guess it could be Tumatauenga, as he is god of war and of 'the catch' or 'hunting'. Spose this would tie in with the whole idea of mataika (first fish) - cutting the heart out of the first slain enemy and offering it to Tu.

Nic from Eureka wanted something from the maori-mythos in the range. That figure is supposed to be Maui, carrying the net with which he captured the Sun and made the days longer. Be a bugger to cut away, I reckon.

Lowtardog: Yep Alan Marsh is from South Shields. Awesome talent, I reckon - he did the Catherine the Great figure for Bad Squiddo Games. His only down-side is that he supports Sunderland... Here he is unicycling outside the Arbeia roman fort and museum (he'll hate me for this):

[The Gray Ghost]

when will these be in the store?

[Happy Wanderer]

They are available now if you contact Eureka. I guess when the webmaster puts them up they should be online.

I knocked a few up. Still messin' with the flesh but I think this color palette will work nicely...I'm skipping the tattoos...because the figures are nearly 'all flesh' they can be a bugger to get right. They look better in hand than up close in the pic...I suspect the more of them you have the better they'll look en masse.

[werekake]

Amazing job, again, Happy Wanderer. Your painting, especially on skin-tones, is fantastic (still loving those masai-warriors).

I reckon that skin-colour you have would be light enought to work with moko/tattoo. Mostly done on face, to denote genealogy and status. Some tribes had these linear vertical tattoos done on their hips and buttocks. Our feeble attempts at painting moko have had best results with very simple 'rays' across the forehead and cheeks, and a chin moko.

Lon's paintjob on Maui


At the end of the day, it's really hard to see from tabletop distance, so I'm not sure it's worth the effort. It is kinda nice to have a moko on the leaders in your force, though...  

Gray Ghost - I think Nic is trying to get it on his newsletter etc this week. I presume this means it'll be on the website?

[Happy Wanderer]

Amazing job, again, Happy Wanderer. Your painting, especially on skin-tones, is fantastic (still loving those masai-warriors).

...thank you kind sir!

 

...those Masai are a sight to behold in all their refinery!

I reckon that skin-colour you have would be light enough to work with moko/tattoo.

I considered it but think I'll see how they look without...I can always go back and add to suit...probably want to get them all done and see how they look first...

 Mostly done on face, to denote genealogy and status. Some tribes had these linear vertical tattoos done on their hips and buttocks. Our feeble attempts at painting moko have had best results with very simple 'rays' across the forehead and cheeks, and a chin moko.

Lon's paintjob on Maui


Strapping lad that one! I'm going to try and 'pop' some of the colors if I can to jazz up the figure a bit as it can be a bit dark and 'same color' if you know what I mean.

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