Miniature Meanderings - High Command Miniatures

I have a real love of old miniatures. I'm not entirely sure why but I think it's somewhere between the enjoyment of looking back on a (perhaps perceived) simpler time and giving long forgotten miniatures a new lease of life. Throw in the availability of miniature agnostic skirmish games such as the Rampant series and the 'Weirdo' heartbreakers and the stage is set for these miniatures to once again, or as is often the case with second hand miniatures, for the first time, take to the table top.

One Christmas not all that long ago I was perusing the Facebook group 'The Emporium of Rogue Dreams: Old School Gaming'. On the group, a chap named Andy Cook posted a brilliantly painted miniature that could only be described as a space crocodile with a lasgun. Andy had painted it superbly, I particularly loved the colour scheme, weathered armour, and the miniature itself was awesome. 

In the comments section there was a discussion about the origin of the miniature and Andy said he thought it was a Saurian from Folio Works. I immediately embarked on a miniature meander.

A visit to the Miniatures Workshop took me to the Folio Works section. Folio Works, so Miniatures Workshop tells us, was founded in 1990 by Ian Bailey and Gary Chalk (of Lone Wolf illustration fame). They published a set of fantasy wargaming rules called Fantasy Warlord along with two ranges of supporting miniatures which were subsequently taken on by the excellent Alternative Armies and are still available here. 

They also produced a line of miniatures to support a sci-fi rule set called High Command. Whilst it appears this rule set never saw the light of day, the miniatures did and ownership of these castings moved from Folio Works first to Mayhem Miniatures and then to Kennington Miniatures who eventually became SHQ Miniatures. My meander, therefore, took me to the SHQ Miniatures website where I found the High Command range for sale, albeit without any pictures of the miniatures. 

Seeing that the Saurian Militia were available I ordered the complete set which comprised troopers (one of which, it turned out, was Andy's miniature), some power armoured troops and a command pack. There were also some intriguingly named 'Space Ratten' so I ordered those too. Each of the miniatures was customisable with a separate weapons sprue. Once I'd cleaned them up a bit, I took Andy Cooks' fantastic paint job as my muse and set to painting my first Saurian Militia! The first results of which are below (two troopers and two officers with power swords). 

Next up will be the power suits and then the Space Ratten. I'll then be looking to pick up some more of the High Command range, there is also a Human Earth Guard contingent, and get some battles under way by using the Xeons Rampant rules. 

In recent developments, by the way, SHQ has shut down since I started writing this post (it's been sat in 'work in progress' for a while...) and the High Command range has, once again, moved on and is now with Grubby Tanks. Grubby is currently updating his site but he has details on there about ordering the SHQ/Kennington range by emailing him. 

Happy meanderings all! 

Regiments of Renown - Despoiling Hobgoblins of the Darklands

"Driven from the Old World at the end of the Goblin Wars many of the Goblins, Orcs, Hobgoblins and other allied creatures fled into the Dark Lands. The Dark Lands were then, as now, truly dark: ceaseless volcanic activity, steaming tar pits and terrible, natural pollution shielded the land from the sun. Little could grow in such a place, and very few creatures could tolerate the barren landscape, the gloom and the choking air. Throg, however, quite liked it."

So began the tale of Throg, the Hobgoblin warlord who assembled the Despoilers, a Hobgoblin mercenary regiment who marched onto the battlefield as part of the 1985 Citadel release of Regiments of Renown. 

After picking up three complete boxed sets of Regiments of Renown, the first of which you can see here, I caught the bug and scoured eBay in the hope of finding similar bargains. Whilst I wasn't able to find any more complete sets, at least not within my price range, I was able to find individual or grouped lots that allowed me to put together a complete unit. The first of which were the Despoiling Hobgoblins of the Darklands.

Using the excellent Stuff of Legends site as my guide I picked up 8 Troopers, a musician, a standard bearer, a champion (the excellently named Grunmunter the Beast), and Throg himself. Part of the first wave of slotta based Regiments of Renown, and last of the monopose troopers, the Despoilers were sculpted by Jes Goodwin. They aren't the cleanest of sculpts but they are certainly very characterful miniatures. As with Ruglud's Armoured Orcs I based them on raised round bases and I went for a bold red shield colour coupled with some Orc Blood Bowl transfers for the shield designs. I'm pleased with the results and will be deploying them onto the battlefield in the not too distant future! 

Standard Bearer and Throg

Musician and Grunmunter the Beast

The Despoiling Hobgoblins of the Darklands

The Army of the Lizardman Empire - Core Units

Next up for my Fighting Fantasy campaign is the invading army of the Lizardman Empire! As mentioned previously, each army would consist of six core units that would always be available to each player as the campaign progressed. These could then be supplemented by allied and auxiliary units depending on the territories controlled by the army. Thankfully, for inspiration for the Lizardmen forces I had far more source material to which I could refer than I did for the Vymornan army. 

My first port of call was one of the first Fighting Fantasy books I can remember reading - 'Island of the Lizard King'. Set on Fire Island off the western coast of Allansia, the hero is charged with rescuing human captives from the island's Lizardmen slavers. At which point we should pause in a moment of silence to remember my first adventuring companion, Mungo, the sailor who helps the hero reach Fire Island only to be rewarded by being eaten by a giant crab *dips head in silent contemplation*.

Alan Langford illustrated the book and there are some outstanding illustrations. There was also, of course, the absolutely iconic front cover featuring a Lizard king wielding a vicious scimitar and holding the chain leash of a panther. I actually managed to procure a superb miniature of this from the, I believe, now defunt Atlantis Miniatures. I've yet to paint him but I'll share the results when I do. 

The next piece of source material was 'Battleblade Warrior'. This was one of the few game books written by Marc Gascoigne, who also compiled 'Titan", and again illustrated by Alan Langford. And is very appropriate for my purposes as the setting is the siege of Vymorna itself. In Battleblade Warrior the reader assumes the role of a prince of Vymorna who is visited by a vision of the god Telak advising them that they must leave Vymorna in order to find a magic weapon that will lift the siege of the city and defeat the Lizardmen. Along with Alan Langford's great illustrations this was also a brilliant source for the wider background for my campaign, more of which I'll cover in a later post. 

Finally, my original inspiration for this project, 'Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World', and 'Out of the Pit'. In addition to all the great art work I had to reference, I also had some pretty clear descriptions of what I should be looking for in my Lizardmen. Out of the Pit stating that "they are like fat humans with a lizard's head and a long tail. A ridge of spikes runs up their backs, and two horns project from the top of their heads. 

With a pretty clear idea of the type of miniatures I wanted I set to scouring the badlands of the internet for suitable manufacturers. Pretty quickly I landed on Reaper Miniatures who produce a range of Lizardmen that would cover most units for the army. They have spear, sword, and bow armed Lizardmen as well as a range of Lizardman brutes wielding crude stone headed clubs. There was also even a suitable miniature to represent a Lizard King.

For the first four units of the Lizardmen army I opted to match up the Vymornan army and go firstly with two units of Lizardman warriors that would be Light Foot and then two units of Lizardmen archers that would be Light Missiles. Reaper provided me with all of these miniatures as well as command miniatures in the form of a leader, drummer, and standard bearer. They were less armoured than most of the illustrations but I thought this would be appropriate enough for the rank and file of the army. 

Next up I chose a unit of Mutant Lizardmen who would be classed as Bellicose Foot. In the Dragon Rampant rules Bellicose Foot are impetuous foot troops who are fierce in attack but vulnerable when defending. Out of the Pit describes Mutant Lizardmen as having irregular deformities and forming the battle line of the Lizardmen armies. The miniatures I decided on weren't deformed but they certainly looked like they could hold a battle line together. As they were sizeable miniatures I went with a 'Reduced Model Unit' of 6 rather than the normal 12. 

For the final unit for the core Lizardman Army I chose a unit of Royal Guard who would be classed as Elite Foot. His bodyguard were some excellent 3d printed models I found on Etsy. I have enough miniatures to paint without entering the vortex of 3d printing. God knows where I would end up! With my two armies now complete next step would be compiling the various units of allies, auxiliaries and mercenaries that would, territory dependent, be available to each army. 

The Army of Vymorna - Core Units

“The people know Vymorna must fall, but they fight on, hoping in their hearts that they will buy time for the other cities to prepare their own defences against the sieges to come”. 

For my campaign between the city of Vymorna and the armies of the Lizardman Empire I had decided that each army would consist of a series of core units which could then be complimented by units of allies and auxiliaries. There would be six core units for each army and these would always be available to each player as the campaign progressed whilst the availability of allies and auxiliaries would be dependent on the territory controlled and the coffers in the war chest. 

I began first by assembling the core Vymornan units but for these I had little visual material to which I could refer.  In fact, the only illustration I could find of any Vymornan was that of Queen Perriel on the city ramparts in the Titan source book. To me, Queen Perriel looked almost like a Greek/Amazonian warrior whilst the two soldiers on the wall next to her were long haired, cloaked, bearded and wearing Northern European style helmets and armour. 

I mused over where I could go with this. Initially I considered the excellent Byzantine range from Crusader Miniatures where there were plenty of cloaked, chain mailed, spearmen and would be a nod towards the Greek look of Perriel. Eventually, however, I opted for the Oathmark human boxed sets available from Northstar here. Firstly, they had the "Northern European but not quite Viking" look that I was looking for, secondly, they are excellent value for money, and thirdly, they had boxed sets for infantry and cavalry so I use them for the entire army. 

For the first of the core units I decided on two units of Spearmen. In my mind these spearmen were Vymornan regulars, well drilled and solid in defence. In the Dragon Rampant rules these would be Light Foot. Light Foot are relatively cheap, better in defence than they are in attack, and have the special 'Wall of Spears' ability that improves their armour by one point whilst they remain stationary. Behind this armoured wall, these troops would bear the brunt of the Lizardman onslaught. I kitted them out in an imagined Vymornan livery of blue and white. 

The second set of core Vymornan troops were two units of Archers. These were to be a levy of farmers and fishermen from the Vymornan hinterland rather than regular troops and so I painted them in a mixture of clothing but gave them a Vymornan regular leader. In the Dragon Rampant rules these would Light Missiles. Well rounded units that, if placed in defensive positions could be difficult to dislodge and cause considerable damage. 

For the final two units I decided on two units of cavalry. One was to be a force of Vymornan Guards, decked out in the livery of their city and well armed and armoured, these would be Elite Riders. Elite Riders are one of the most powerful units in Dragon Rampant and come with Wild Charge (must take a check at the beginning of each turn to prevent them charging any enemy in range) and Counter Charge meaning that they get the chance to charge any unit that charges them in order to use their superior attack value in the combat rather than their less impressive defence value. This unit would also include the Vymornan King Alexandros III who, at the start of the campaign is leading his army in the field. According to Titan, at the time of the siege of Vymorna, Alexandros has fallen in battle and leadership of the army, and the defence of the city, has fallen to Queen Perriel. To reflect this I added a rule for this unit; When, or if, the Vymornan Guard are routed in any battle then Alexandros is deemed to have been killed and, in the next battle, leadership of the army passes to his wife, Queen Perriel, who will join one of the Vymornan Spearman regiments. More on this in a future post! 

The second unit was a group of lighty armoured cavalry armed with bows. These would be Light Riders who are more mobile than their elite comrades and have the Skirmish ability, which allows them to either move half distance and shoot or shoot and move half distance, as well as Evade which allows them to attempt to retreat half distance when charged. I envisaged these as horsemen recruited from the villages dotting the Axehead plains north of the city, and so, as with the archers, I painted them in a mixture of clothing but with Vymornan liveried shields. 

Six units done and the core Vymornan army is ready to begin the campaign! I finished the whole process by downloading some excellent unit cards from the resource section of the Dragon Rampant Facebook group. I printed them and the took the opportunity to deploy my LAMINATOR! And spent the rest of the day resisting the temptation go around laminating everything:

Regiments of Renown - Ruglud's Armoured Orcs

"The Crooked Eye Orcs had travelled many miles westward to the Old World, suffering the sniping of mountain Goblins, incessant rain, and the endless whining of Bambrag, their incontinent shaman..." 

So began the tale of Ruglud's Armoured Orcs who, once they had got their act together and fitted themselves out with armour plates looted from a Dwarfhold, marched onto the battlefield as part of the 1987 Citadel release of Regiments of Renown.

I never actually owned any of the Regiments of Renown when I was collecting Warhammer fantasy battle in the 90s. I knew of them though, and I saw the release of their successors, the Dogs of War range, in White Dwarf but there was something I always loved about the late 80s versions. They harked back to the period I revered that is now generally referred to as 'Oldhammer'.

A few years ago, whilst browsing eBay, I found a chap who was selling three... THREE... complete, unpainted, boxed sets of Regiments of Renown, amazingly also including shield stickers. For sale were Ruglud's Armoured Orcs, Harboth's Orc Archers, and the iconic Skarloc's Wood Elf Archers. I snapped them all up straight away. 

I set to painting Ruglud's Orcs and they were an absolute joy. Superbly sculpted as they were by the Goblinmaster himself Kev Adams. Perhaps somewhat controversially amongst the Grognard community I opted for round bases, primarily because I tend to play more skirmish style games than traditional rank and flank but I also felt these bases acted as plinths to show off these great minis. Plus, I can always use a movement tray to replicate the effect of square bases. They also came with a set of plastic crossbows that you can attach to the back of each model. There isn't an obvious place for these to fit though so I haven't added them but may do so at a later date.

Any way, I painted them, I think they are a fantastic miniatures, and I can't wait to get around to the other two units!

Fighting Fantasy on the table top

The original 1986 cover of Titan

When I was growing up my oldest brother was a huge Fighting Fantasy fan. Throughout the initial publication run from 1982-1995 he collected all of them, as well as the wider background books and role playing expansions. Many years ago he moved to the US and they were left to languish in boxes at our parent's house. That is until recently when I rescued them. And I am so glad I did because they are as wonderful as I remember and, for me, they hark back to a simpler pre-internet age where imagination was king. 

I remember I particularly used to enjoy reading Titan, the first of the background books. Up until the publication of Titan, the wider world of the Fighting Fantasy novels was only referenced in the various game books and associated maps. There was wan't anywhere that brought this all together until Titan and thumbing through the book enabled my imagination to roam across the great continent of Allansia, the location of the majority of the Fighting Fantasy books, as well as the settled and more peaceful continent of the Old World, and the chaos wasted continent of Khul. 

Fast forward to 2020 and I was reading the excellent gaming blog Somewhere the Tea's Getting Cold during the height of the COVID lockdowns. On the blog there was a brilliant series of entries relating to a campaign that re-fought the Trolltooth Wars on the tabletop. The Trolltooth Wars was the first novel set in the Fighting Fantasy world and centred around the conflict between the long established Kingdom of Craggen Rock of Balthus Dire and the rising power and ambition of Zharradan Marr’s undead empire. The ensuing war promised to see the victor’s army overrun both the Vale of Willows and the noble city of Salamonis. Only the combination of intervention by Chadda Darkmane and the destructive nature of Dire and Marr ensured that the war would end with both protagonists banished from the earthly plane and a peace of sorts restored to northern Allansia. The creation of this conflict across the wargaming table really sparked my interest in bringing the world of Fighting Fantasy to the table top and I began to think of doing something similar.

My first task was to think of a setting and I once again reached for my copy of Titan. There was a particular illustration which I always used to love and that was of Queen Perriel on the ramparts of the besieged city of Vymorna. Vymorna, so Titan tells us, is an ancient city in Allansia on the banks of the river Vymorn. Once a prosperous trading port, over the years it has increasingly become isolated and, at the time of writing Titan, is besieged by the inexorable forces of the Lizardman Empire spreading northwards from the Swamplands of Silur Char. I decided that this would be the basis of my campaign and I would wind the clock back to the point at which the Lizardmen armies crossed the river Vymorn and see if the defenders could prevent the fall of the city.

As this was going to be my first table top fantasy campaign I needed to find some suitable rules. This was quickly solved by picking up a copy of the generic fantasy, and miniature agnostic, Dragon Rampant rules by Daniel Mersey. These are published by Osprey as part of their Wargames series and are available here in physical or digital copies. Dragon Rampant, whose author also cites Fighting Fantasy as an inspiration, allows the gamer to design units from a list of troop types and then further customise them by adding characteristics and abilities. The gaming mechanics themselves are both simple and elegant and require minimal rulebook consultation in game which is definitely a plus for me!

With both the setting and the mechanics identified I went about designing the campaign, defining the units that would be involved and then, the really time consuming element, collecting and painting the miniatures. And there is more to come on that! 

Returning to Blood Bowl!

In the mid 1990s, I began to collect Games Workshop miniatures. My collection consisted primarily of Dwarfs from Warhammer Fantasy Battle, half of whom weren't painted, but I rarely gamed with them. I think, as a young chap, I could never really get myself organised enough to arrange games, collect scenery and put a painted army together in order to make it happen. Table top gaming, therefore, remained more in my imagination than in reality. This all changed with the release of Third Edition Blood Bowl in 1994. 

Third Edition Blood Bowl

My first team were the Orcs which were included as part of the boxed set. My friend took the Human team, which were to become the Hochland Hawks. For my team I scoured the map of the Old World in order to find a home and I landed on Iron Rock, the Orc fortress in the northern Badlands. And from there were born the Iron Rock Greenskins. I chose, for reasons best known to a 13 year old me, an un-Orcish colour scheme of blue and red. 

From that point on I played many games of Blood Bowl. I think the small number of miniatures required and the fact that all the required terrain was included in the box meant that the previous, albeit largely self imposed, obstacles were removed.

I played many games through my early to late teens against the aforementioned Hochland Hawks, as well as the High Elf, Dark Elf, Chaos Dwarf and Undead teams of my friends on the adjoining streets to my parent's house. And I also expanded my collection to include the Norse Blood Axe Beserkers and the Halfling Merryfield Morrismen.

Then when I went away to university, and subsequently into the Royal Navy, I stopped playing. Games Workshop also withdrew Blood Bowl from production and ceased to support the game. At some point in the late 2000s I decided that I was unlikely to play Blood Bowl again and I sold my teams and the game on eBay. I don't really regret it, they were not being used by me and my policy has always been that I would rather someone else get some enjoyment out of something than have them gathering dust in my cupboard. 

Fast forward to 2016 and Games Workshop released the Blood Bowl 2016 edition. I bought the game and was immediately hooked again! And once again I took the Orc team from the box, painted them up as the Iron Rock Greenskins from 20 years previously and I was ready to go. 

The Iron Rock Greenskins 2.0

In 2019, having left the Royal Navy, I set up a small league at my friendly local gaming store, Fanboy 3 in Manchester. In the first season I gathered five other keen players and we played out a fantastic league with each team playing one another twice and then the top four entering the playoffs. The Greenskins were a joy to field, Orcs being a very well balanced team, albeit much more skewed to the bashy rather than the flashy. After ten regular season games they were undefeated and then went onto win the final 3-1 against a very good human side. They are now redrafted but safely boxed away awaiting a future league. And this team will not begetting sold on eBay!