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Prehistoric & Fantasy Miniatures

I'm attracted to odd figure series sometimes, and this section deals with the prehistoric and fantastic parts of my figure collection. Click on a button to go to that section, then click on the thumbnails to see a larger version of the photos.

 Bronze Age/Early Iron Age

 Fantasy

 Stone Age

Bronze Age/Early Iron Age

I recently laid hands on a batch of the Wargames Foundry 28mm Bronze Age Europeans range, painted a few, and then took some pictures in front of a scratchbuilt barrow (burial mound). I've started work on a small megalith circle (inspired by Stonehenge, but somewhat smaller) and some other suitable terrain features like a menhir or two and some huts (no photos of those yet). I already have some sheep (can't run a sheep-stealing scenario without sheep) and I plan on getting a few deer, a couple of wild boar, and an aurochs for hunts. These figures are well-detailed and a pleasure to paint (and well-researched enough for me to identify some of the prototypes, see my notes below). Like many ancient figures, they could also do double duty as fantasy barbarians. I'm working up some simple one-on-one skirmish rules for use with these. I apologize for the focus on some of these pics (I'm not the world's best photographer).

These three pictures show some basic Mk I warriors. The guy on the left in #1 and the right in #3 are the same figure with different shields and paint jobs. They're wearing a wrap-around garment (similar to one found in a West Jutland burial) held up by a pair of leather straps over the shoulders. The cap looks like fur but was actually thousands of knotted wool threads over a layer of fabric, and was found at the same site. The pikeman (right in #2, different angle in #3) is wearing the same garment, a bronze helmet, and a small shield slung over one shoulder. The dead skirmisher in number two is one of several dead and wounded figures that Wargemes Foundry makes, that add a touch of realism to the tabletop, and is pretty simply-equipped.


The Foundry catalog calls this young lady a priestess. She's based on metal figurines found in Denmark and dating from the 8th century BC, and could as easily be an acrobat or a dancer. A similar skirt (consisting of hundreds of strings joined only at the top and bottom) was found in the Egtved Girl burial, dating from 1370 BC (based on the rings in the hollowed-out oak log used as a coffin). The belt and large round bronze disc "belt buckle" are also from the Egtved site.


The axeman in #5 has a beaded necklace, a two-handed axe, and a bronze helmet, (which, according to the Foundry painting suggestions could as easily be leather with a stiffening strip sewn down the center). Number 6 shows a swordsman with an 8th century shield of a type found in Wales and probably intended more for display than for combat. The helmet and cuirass on number 7 (along with the sword and the axe he's holding out of sight in his right hand) indicate he's a chief or respected war-leader and I've used some richer colors on his clothing for this reason.


This youngster could be a shepherd or a stripling serving as a skirmisher. He's probably not based on any archeological finds but the gear he's equipped with (a wrap-around kilt, a sling and a pouch of stones for ammunition) is not likely to be preserved. He's pretty much generic through several thousand years of history from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages, and could also serve as a fantasy figure representing those pesky hill people one encounters from time to time.


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Fantasy

Several years ago, I acquired about 5 boxes of the Citadel Warhammer Skeleton Army plastic figures. Painting bone realistically is a challenge I haven't yet completely mastered, so most of them remain unpainted. The background is the same barrow used with the bronze age folks above (what better place to encounter skeletons than guarding a tomb?), and the bronze age warriors from above are drafted as fantasy adventurers seeking the treasure within.


The figure below is some kind of elfin warrior I picked up at a miniatures swap meet. I think it's by Ral Partha, but I'm not sure. It didn't match anything I already had, and I didn't want to try to find more figs to go with it, so I decided to paint it as a bronze statue and will eventually mount it on a more detailed base for use as a decoration in an abandoned temple in the middle of the forest (for the moment it sits atop a temporary painting base).

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Stone Age

I like the looks of the Steve barber 25mm Prehistoric Settlement figures, but I haven't bought any yet. These look like they would be perfect for use with the Tribes game by SJ Games (which wasn't designed as a miniatures game, but could easily be adapted), but I plan on using the same batch of homegrown skirmish rules referred to above with some additions for hunting mammoths and saber-toothed cats.