Oldhammer's resident paint-splattered maniac, Chico* from Oldhammer on a Budget, is probably as well known as you can be in this community. His, er, distinctive take on miniature wargaming has become internationally known, largely due to the success of his unusual blog and his prolific use of social media.
One thing that you probably didn't know about 'Ol' Dirty Boy' was his rather exciting partnership with the equally deranged Fimm McCool. It seems that they gave got together and created a range of amusing 'Evil Space Dorfs' to plague the dreams of new school sci-fi gamers and tickle the nostalgic whims of those old enough to weep of the demise of a certain 40k race.
There are currently two packs available. Judge Chico and a Cyber-Goat and two troopers; Khan and Fodder. If you haven't seen them before (or even if you have) why not pop over to Oakbound Games - who do an intriguing line of Celtic myth inspired minis of their own - and have a look.
A project well worth keeping an eye on.
John Boyce is another name of repute growing within the community. He, when he isn't plastering the Facebook Page with his thoughts, has got together with the uber-talented Micheal Anderson to produce the range you can see above me.
The ultimate range of Sci-Fi civilians.
Unlike Chico's models, which are good to go but stocked in limited numbers, these are being funded through a Kickstarter. Details of this can be found here. By the looks of things as I type these words, this project is almost funded and is almost undoubtably going to make its way into your lead pile.
Go on! You know you want some!
Chico's commitment to the hobby cannot be denied and I respect anyone who brings their miniature designs to commercial production. Those of us who have dared to criticise or disagree with him have found ourselves promptly blocked on social media so we've been unaware of his efforts until now. At the risk of sounding bitter I'm not a fan of the designs he has offered in this article, although I repeat my respect for anyone that can turn ideas into a (presumably) successful commercial venture.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it's unfair to compare Chico's miniatures to the beautiful Sci-fi Civilians also featured in this article. The difference in quality is staggering. These are figures that I'm excited about despite having no use for, or to be clearer they inspire me to find a use for them. If shipping isn't ridiculous I'll grab a set and eagerly watch for more releases from Boyce and Anderson.
I already have the dwarves... err... dorfs and I think they are actually better sculpts than they appear in the photos. They also scale perfectly with all of my RT dwarves which is important (most modern offerings attempting to fill this void are too large for my taste).
ReplyDeleteI also joined the kickstarter... Hopefully it will be successful and we will see another wave as scifi civilians are under represented...
I might even back this kickstarter, even though I don't currently play sci-fi. Well Space Hulk on occasion. What comes to mind from this post is, what are the various boutique lines hat are targeting Oldhammer, and where can one buy them. Specifically, I'm not clear on what happened with Antiquis Malleum. I'm not really in the loop.
ReplyDeleteI'd forgotten about Antiquis Malleum. It seems to have been quietly lost in October last year... perhaps we missed an announcement on the Oldhammer Facebook group? I'm not scrolling back through all the subsequent posts!
DeleteI haven't heard a thing from Mick Leach for months. I expect its dead in the water, sadly. For now...
Delete"John Boyce is another name of repute growing within the community."
ReplyDeleteMember of the forums since 2012, almost 1300 posts to his name. Very active on TalkBloodBowl/TalkFantasyFootball for years before that. Not exactly his first miniatures manufactured. That being said, it's nice of you to push Jon's venture - he's a great guy! For those unaware, he's got an interesting blog here: http://magpieandoldlead.blogspot.com