Foundry release Citadel Mercenaries and Blandford Warriors

Foundry have found the moulds for these old Citadel figures and they have gone on sale today at Oldhammer and are now on general sale (images of the original Citadel figures from Stuff of Legends):

They would make great Empire figures!

Latest editions to my John Blanche collection

Today I am a very happy man indeed. I have acquired some of the pit slaves and hive workers from John's gang that is illustrated in Blanchitsu in White Dwarf April 2013. Just stunning...

The Bryan Ansell collection: more Dark Elves

This time Citadel rather than Marauder. All 3rd edition unless I'm mistaken. The blue skin theme continues, and the more I see of it the more I like it. Although the very pale looks good too...

Thought for the day

1 week to go...

The Bryan Ansell collection: Marauder Miniatures and Citadel Miniatures Dark Elves

Now, I'm in two minds when it comes to Dark Elves in general, and I don't really know why. I can't quite make up my mind as to whether I think they are just a bit meh, or if actually I think they're fantastic. Take these positives:

- I dont have an issue with the concept of there being a "dark" form of an elf (I imagine some people may take issue with this), in fact it's quite fun.
- I tend to associate them with the Melniboneans of Moorcock, which is a positive association for me, even though I know that in the 1980s Citadel Melniboneans eventually became absorbed into the High Elves range rather than Dark Elves.
- They tend to be painted in blue or palid colour schemes, which I like the look of.
- In general I like the sculpts (right from the first Perry preslotta ones), with few exceptions, and many of them demonstrate a good combination of being aloof and cruel.

So there you have it. No idea what my problem is but I tend to overlook these guys. Oddly enough I have the same attitude to their scifi brethren, the Dark Eldar. Ho hum.

Anyway, on to today's post which focusses on the Marauder Miniatures Dark Elves. Now these are nicely painted, although I'm afraid I dont know who painted them (if you do please leave a comment). Enjoy.

The Bryan Ansell collection: Marauder Miniatures Empire Fighters and Flagellants

I love these figures! So much character and they look great lined up in units on the battlefield. Bryan Ansell has a good deal of the original painted figures from the following ranges in his collection:

- MM60 Fighters
- MM61 Fighter Command
- MM65 Heroes of the Empire - Reiksgard
- MM65 Empire Flagellants

Here are a selection of the actual painted figures released between 1988 and 1991 and appeared in the White Dwarf ads of the time. Oddly, I've noticed that some of them do not seem to have the same shields that they had in White Dwarf, although they are definitely the same figures...

Paint schemes for mounted Realm of Chaos warriors

I'm currently painting up a mounted unit of Citadel Miniatures Khornate Chaos warriors for Oldhammer Weekend and I turned to the old Realm of Chaos cavalry in Bryan Ansell's collection for some inspiration on painting the horses. If you're also looking for a little inspiration then take a look at the images below - many of these can be seen in the pages of the two Realms of Chaos books and in the pages of White Dwarf issue 104 (and probably several others from around that time).

The Bryan Ansell collection: Gothic Horror

It occurred to me that I have a large number of pictures of figures in Bryan Ansell's collection that I haven't presented in this blog because, well to be honest there isn't a great deal to write about them from a background fluff point of view. Nevertheless if I was reading this blog I know I would want to see them, if only for the chance to gawp at old lead. So I'm starting a series of "The Bryan Ansell collection" posts which showcases these figures. These posts will be quite short and won't contain much rambling text, just a brief introduction and a few photographs. It will also mean that during those periods where I don't have time to write much I can still post some pictures. I hope you enjoy them.

Today's post showcases some figures from the Gothic Horror range. These were designed for the Call of Cthulhu license and released over a couple of years between 1985 and 1987. A number of flyers were released to illustrate the figures but for some reason there was never a colour advert produced for them (to my knowledge). To date I have located a small number of painted figures from this range in Bryan's collection, and here they are in glorious technicolour:

Further information on the figures in this range can be found at The Stuff of Legends.

Citadel box set scenarios: useful Oldhammer inspiration

Back in the early 1980s Citadel Miniatures produced a number of box sets of figures, several of which came with insert sheets detailing specific scenarios and/or character stats designed for use with the associated boxed figures. This post presents, to my knowledge, all of the inserts together with a review and a discussion of their use in Oldhammer. If you do have any inserts which I have not covered I would love to hear from you.

There are quite a few inserts and it might take a little time to read them all in detail. If you are an Oldhammer devotee and are short for time I would recommend you read the Chaos Marauders insert first, which is a great example of the ethos of what it meant to play Warhammer at that time.

The Oldhammer ethos permeates many of the inserts, which I've tried to highlight in my introduction to each, and I've also picked out some of my favourite features of the various scenarios and character profiles provided. I've been deliberately vague about the details of the various scenarios, in case those reading wish to play them for themselves. The inserts can be seen in detail on a Scribd link I have provided at the end of this post.

(Note that "Toughness"  in early Warhammer was designated by letter, and not number, in case you get confused).

The  inserts are from the following sets (the contents of each box can be see on the excellent Stuff of Legends):

Bryan's cabinets of chaos 5

Today's glance into Bryan Ansell's cabinets of chaos reveals some of Dale Hurst's chaos conversions. Issue 135 of White Dwarf featured an article by Dale on converting and painting some classic (well, contemporary at the time!) chaos figures for a Tzeentch warband. Dale's warband is heavily focussed on beastmen/minotaur/spawn with a solitary chaos champion and his familiar. To date I have managed to locate the beastmen and minotaur/spawn in Bryan's collection but the champion and familiar are yet to be found (sadly they are possibly among the "disappeared" as is often the case with Bryan's figures).

Personally I think Dale's article is a great inspiration for those (such as myself) who are relatively new to converting and painting, and is also a useful model to follow for the forthcoming Realm of Chaos Warband Mega Game in August's Oldhammer Weekend. In summary, simple but creative modelling and colour schemes, and a small number of models. I'll leave it to Dale to set the scene:

Before Mighty Fortress came...Exin Castillos!

Many of you who first got into fantasy wargaming in the mid-1980's will remember with fondness Mighty Fortress, the first modular set of fortifications designed by Games Workshop. But did you know that in the early 1980's Citadel were advocating the use of Exin Castillos with their figures, a modular castle produced in Spain, and in every sense a "toy"? This image below is from a flyer that Citadel produced circa 1984 where it was offering Exin Castillos for £19.95 - pretty pricey back then, particularly when you consider that Mighty Fortress was retailing for £19.99 in 1988.

Mighty Fortress has gone the way of the dodo, but a quick Google search suggests that Exin Castillos is alive and well, and now available in a variety of shapes and sizes.