We have a quality set of Runequest specific PC character figures available for the first time since the Citadel box sets of the 1980’s years. Currently available on Kickstarter for £30.00 from Mad Knight Castings are a great set of 9 figures modelled on the pregens characters from Runequest Glorantha and there animal sidekicks.

I have set of the Runequest these figures provided for review, and will do my best to do give them the positive description they rightly deserve.

All the  pregens are available as a complete set comprising of  Yanioth, Sorala, Nathem with shadow cat, Vasana, Vishi Dunn with baboon sidekick, Vostor and Harmast, and the representations are directly based upon the artwork that can be found in the Runequest Glorantha rulebook.

The figures are great sculpts, cast in metal and in most cases reflect the delicate nature of the characters as depicted in the original artwork. Vostor is a more robust figure that reflects how the character has been drawn.

Sculpts are clear and the figures come well defined with either no or very little flash and no visible mold lines. The level of detail is excellent and I definitely feel that time has been taken to create miniatures that are interesting and challenging to paint.

The gender split with 3 female characters out of 7 is good, and the mix of priestess, sage and  warrior giving the figures good scope of usage. The 4 males figures with Lunar and Orlanthi warriors hunter and shaman cover a good range of uses but are themes that have been well worked before.

One of the infesting things for a guys who usually buys plastic figures mainly is the size difference between the figures, it is obvious the design team put thought and time in sizing these figures to reflect the stats in RQG books.

Vostor is a wide, solid and  chunky figure ( strangely reminding me of the first citadel paladin figure I bought in 1983.) Yanioth this tall and elegant, but a surprisingly weighty miniature. Vasana, Solara and Vishi Dunn are slighter, smaller more delicate figurers as befits their characters. Nathem is tall sculpt and Harmast is a slight but mid sized figure.

Vishis baboon and Nathems shadow cat are welcome additions to the set

I find the set of 9 very reminiscent of the Citadel figures boxes of the 1980’s. As well as being direct representations of the pregens they also are a nice cross section of character figures that can be found in Glorantha and I think can have a much wider usage.

If I was to have one criticism it would be that the face details isn’t as consistently of the same standard i’d expect from the plastic miniatures I usally buy, but I think the expectation that it would be in is unrealistic.  The standard and feel is very similar to or a slight improvement from the Mad knight Babeester Gor warriors I picked up in a kick starter last year.  

I’ve had a lot of fun trying to get these guys painted but seeing as they are works in progress. I will leave it with the excellent Mad Knight pics at the moment.

Also as part of this Kick starter are Humakti Ducks. Agimori Hunters and Pikemen, and the Lunar Standfast Regiment both mounted and on foot.

Also available of those backing the kick starter are many of mad knights previous releases including Lunar Assasins, Many varieties of Lunar Troops, Babeester Gor warriors,  Trollkin, Trolls, Troll Caravans and much much more.

The kick starter ends on the 22nd of April and can be found here. I would heartily recommend getting on board.

These reviews are looking at the relevance of different manufacturers of ancient historic and fantasy plastic 28mm miniatures in how they can be used for role-playing miniatures in a Glorantha game.

Our requirements are slightly different than those of historic tabletop wargamers, and what makes a great set for a war-gamer will not always be a great set for a role-player.

Will be looking at the following attributes to judge how relevant are the figures to use for role-playing in Glorantha.

• Relevance – How relevant are the figures to use role-playing and for Glorantha in particular, or how easy is it to make the models relevant, with simple modifications.
• Range – How wide a range of figures do they have which could be relevant to Glorantha
• Pose – How engaging and interesting are the poses the figures which can be constructed
• Model Variations – How great a variety of models can be created from the boxes or sprues
• Ease – How easy is it to build the miniatures
• Quality – The general quality of the model in terms of design and execution
• Price – How good is the per model price
• Overall – How all the above combine to give us great ranges of well-priced quality figures which can easily be used in role-playing games set in Glorantha.

So starting with the most important providers and working down.

Continue reading Using Plastic 28mm Figures In Runequest – Manufacturer Reviews. →

It’s a pleasure to review this figures which I can only describe as delightfully Gloranthan. The team who conceptualised, designed and created these miniatures have the same love and knowledge of Gloranthan than everyone else in the forum and it is clear to see.

I have never really done the kick-starter thing, so now regret only dipping my toe into the water with this wonderful kick-starter from Mad Knight miniatures, and only ordering the trollkin.

Continue reading Trollkin Miniatures by Mad Knight Castings, A Review →

Having been back into figures or miniatures for RQ for the last few months, I have come to a few conclusions about what actually works in terms of putting a decent range of miniatures together for my game.

I started off jumping into historic miniatures and was attracted to plastic because of the price. However always held an opinion that a nice metal figure was a better option, and a more desired choice. I can still remember loving the weight of my first citadel miniature in 1983 and convincing myself this was more than toy soldier.

However head has started to overrule heart and I have come to conclusion where possible  plastic figures are far superior in terms of what they offer than metal ones, and it is would be advisable to use them whenever possible.

Continue reading Using 28mm miniatures for Runequest Plastic or Metal? →

A few months ago I was sent a couple of boxes of  Gripping Beast dark age warriors for review. I painted one box rather quickly as my reintroduction into miniature painting and I won’t scare you with an more pictures of the results. Initial thoughts can be found here.

However the 2nd box I decided I was going to use for conversion as I thought  one the main benefits of the figures was there simplicity and thus the adaptability.

However figure conversion and painting takes a while especially when you have a skill set like mine. So after a few months relearning how to paint , glue and photograph a miniature I think I have something to share.

Continue reading Converting Gripping Beasts 28mm Dark Age Warriors for Runequest →

In my last post I reviewed some Dark Age warrior figures by Gripping beast, amongst other things it created the feedback  of why? do people still use models at the table top?

Slightly odd questions, but I think fair ones. So if we are talking about using figures in Glorantha what is it that we will use them for;

1. The main usage is to visualise the positioning and movement of characters and NPC’s in combat. It makes communication at the gaming table clearer and less prone to misunderstanding.
2. To help create in players minds a defining visual look of characters and NPC’s
3. Also it helps us visualise and define our world of Glorantha.
4. Because it’s fun and some grown men (and women) still like playing with little plastic soldiers.

What do I want from Glorantha miniatures?

What I want from my figures is best defined below;

Continue reading Why use Miniatures in Glorantha? →

This post is hopefully  the first in a series posts about using currently available 28mm ancient miniatures for Gloranthan Games( Runequest, Heroquest, 13th Age, etc ).

I’ve been wanting to look at using plastic historical figures from the ancient period in Glorantha, for a number of reasons;

• Ancient era figures reflect Gloranthan humans to a much higher degree of accuracy than most fantasy ranges available
• Costs are brilliant at about 50p a miniature, that’s much better value than anything available for fantasy figures at the moment in plastic or metal.
• Plastics are much more ‘mod-able’ than metal figures, so conversion jobs should be relatively easy.
• There are a fair selection of ancient figures in 28mm plastics available at the moment, and most have parts that can be swapped between sets without too many difficulties. this should allow for conversions and bespoke figures.

However here are a potential few drawbacks which I have to acknowledge;

• Some ancient cultures are just too distinctive and don’t have Gloranthan equivalents ( eg Romans)
• As we are not war gamers we don’t need units of 40 of 1 type of figure, so variation and flexibility within a box is essential.
• The realistic nature of gender balance in sets of historical miniatures doesn’t reflect the more revisionist/modern gender balance found in most fantasy systems and Glorantha ( ie it is no good for female charterer models ).

But I believe careful product selection can mean we deal with the first two , but the third can only be worked round, but that doesn’t mean the historical route a bad option for male figures.

The guys over at Gripping Beast miniatures were good enough to provide a box of their Dark Age Warriors for review purposes. Continue reading Using Ancient Miniatures In Glorantha – Review GBP Dark Age Warriors →