Tuesday 7 June 2016

McDeath: The Lost Scenario Figures?



This blog post has been a long time coming. I have been thinking about writing it on and off for several years and I guess today just happens to be today! It has been inspired by my quest to acquire all of the McDeath figures (something I have yet to achieve, as I am still missing the giant model and Sandra Prangle) and my passion for recreating this wonderful Richard Halliwell scenario. 

Those readers out there not over familiar with the McDeath set may not have ever lain eyes on the artwork for the card counters that came with the box set. Old hands will be well aware of the classic era of cardboard cut out models. Many '80s games came with them and McDeath was no different. They provided an opportunity for cash strapped gamers to use the scenarios without the correct forces in lead.

 Now, there were loads of card counters in the book and I have scanned a small sample here to illustrate my point. 

Take a look. 


Now the first thing that will strike you if you are familiar with my McDeath project is how similar many of the colour schemes are to my painted models. This is not coincidence as I always sought inspiration for my figures from the original artwork. If I liked the way the art looked - I copied the colour selection and if I didn't, I chose the scheme that best suited me. 

What struck me working with the source material was that a great deal of the models looked identical to the artwork, almost as if they had been drawn from life. Just look at Mogro Neckbreak in the artwork above and my finished example below. It is very clearly the same model with a few positional differences. 


Spot, Lady McDeath's fearsome hound, doesn't look enormously similar to the figure I use but I know for a fact that the different pre-slotta models were sent out to purchasers back in the 1980s, and the artwork on the card counter looks very similar to the models in the range. So no surprises here. 

Take a look below and compare with the top image and make up your own mind. 


Juggo seems to have followed Alice into the rabbit hole and mistaken the 'Drink Me' bottle for hard liquor as he has had a serious case of 'The Shrinks' when you compare him to his original card illustration. Yes, that is him top right. The original image is clearly a human figure (and more on him later on in this post) while the 'official' model is of course a dwarf. 

This got me thinking 'why the change?' A fluff mix up? The disappearance of the original figure? I guess we will never know. What we can be sure of is that some of the illustrations are bang on, while others are a million miles off the mark. Are there other models out there that may have one day been intended for the McDeath scenario? It certainly got me thinking. 


Fergus, that muscle bound thug of the McEwman clan, looks identical to his cardboard equivalent, his is just drawn from a different angle than my photograph below. Obviously, it is the same figure. But if Fergus survived the design process unscathed why not Juggo? And to make matters even more confusing there is another trollslayer figure out there in Citadel collecting with Juggo on the tab!! Can the real Juggo please stand up? 


Julia doesn't appear on the cut out scan I shared above but the figure selected for release matches her closely. You can see that it is clearly her in the artwork if you go and look. Dokko, positioned bottom right on the cardboard counter image, again looks strikingly like the model released to represent him. Problems arise again when we take a look at Donaldbane. Compare my painted figure with him on the card counter, I have circled him in red. 




It's clear as day that the two designs are utterly different, though similarly armed. Again, that question raises its head. If Julia and Dokko are bang on the money, then why not Donaldbane?


Though McWrecker is posed differently in the artwork and lacks his magic bowl it is very clearly the same figure, or indeed a variant of the model released. The differences are not so stark as they have been with Donaldbane and Juggo. Glancing at Brooben it's plain to see that they are near identical, almost as if drawn from life. 


Mergrey matches very closely too. Take a look.


As do the iconic Lord and Lady McDeath, beyond a few minor differences.


Things go awry once again with the halfling, Raybees, who looked completely different to his card counter version even though Banquo matches pretty strongly. Take a look, I have circled the card version of Raybees in blue. Why the difference? It is certainly intriguing if you are a collector and a fan of minutae like me. But surely there couldn't be any 'lost' figures out there I hear you ask? This is surely just the rambling of a man who has sniffed one to many jars of Dettol in his life. To be honest, I would heartily agree with you if it wasn't for one thing...


I have found an exact match for the original Juggo illustration, minus an eyepatch - the woodcutter from the villagers/rangers/townsfolk set! Compare the two - I am quite correct am I not? They even share that most essential of '80s fashion items (see Arnie's Commando film for further reference) - the chainmail vest!


This discovery leads on to another question. If there is a clear match to the original Juggo picture why not the two other examples? 



Have a closer look at the original artwork for Raybees (in blue) and Donaldbane in red. As I am not an exhaustive expert on every Citadel range, particularly the pre-slotta stuff, it could well be that these models are 'out there' just as the original Juggo is. Anyone recognise these designs in any actual released models? If so please do drop me a line as I would love to have my suspicions confirmed, or crushed utterly!!

But even with the irregularities of Raybees and Donaldbane left on the table, this story isn't quite complete as there is another character mentioned in McDeath (albeit very, very briefly- you really will miss him if you blink) who has a card counter to represent him. 

Boney Prince Charlie. 


You can see him on the far right circled in red. I have heard in several McDeath collecting circles that there is a zombie model out there that resembles this illustration very closely. I have searched the ranges in hoping of spotting this model but have failed utterly. 

Do you recognise him?

So esteemed members of the Oldhammer Community. Can any of you help unravel my conundrums?

Are there really 'lost' scenario figures out there for McDeath?

Orlygg 

26 comments:

  1. The halfling in blue looks like benny bottomdown to me a C11 halfling, a common miniature I might have him somewhere

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    1. A great spot there Jason. A very prompt too. It is so obviously the same figure when you compare the two models. Two left to find then. Original Donaldbane and Boney Prince Charlie.

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  2. I think Benni had a benny hat like the character from the midlands TVs show crossroads, I always he was a pop culture reference to that character

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    1. Another great observation. Though it could also be a reference to one of Benny Hill's later characters, perhaps?

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    2. I always took it aa a reference to the character in crossroads. The timing was right and too much of a coincidence.

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  3. Great post.
    I wonder if Donaldblade is the C01 Fighter from Compendium 3 'Sir Brian of Linby' ?
    He has the eye patch, sword, and armour.
    http://www.solegends.com/citcat1985comp3/citcomp3017-02.htm

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    1. Great spot. But it is hard to see the detail in that image. I wonder if I can find a clearer on out there? Thank you for the tip Mr. Lee.

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    2. I found an old e-bay auction for him with a clearer photograph:
      http://www.ebay.fr/itm/Citadelle-Empire-001-FIGHTER-Sir-Bryan-METAL-Annees-1980-Armee-WARHAMMER-/311528523006

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  4. The big McDeath mystery for me has always been the Keyler Maltmen. They were offered as part of the £100 McDeath mega deal, but there was no photo on the ad sheet! There's the artwork on the cardboard counters but this isn't massively helpful, a load of renaissance looking blokes with big Harry Hill-style collars carrying wooden clubs. Any flush Oldhammerers manage to pick up the original models back in the day and give us a bit more info?

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    1. I have always assumed, and it is only an assumption, that they shipped out some of the medieval villains that the Perry's sculpted way back in the early days of Citadel. Some of them are still available from Foundry and are the models I intend to use.

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  5. I have a set of figures called "MacDeath's crazed Caledonians" only one of whom is featured in your blog so I guess you have some more to find...

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    1. http://realmofchaos80s.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/mcdeath-battle-of-winwood-harbour-part-1.html You are quite correct there are four clansmen models for McDeath. I have them all painted in my collection as you can see if you follow the link. Lovely models.

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    2. Ah yes! They're the fellows...mine aren't painted as nicely as that...

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  6. Random reader chiming in. Might Boney Prince Charlie's card counter be based on Zombie Staggering Forward from the Fantasy Tribes Zombies: http://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/Zombies_-_FTZ_Fantasy_Tribe_(solid_base)

    Otherwise, this blogger claims to have a zombie matching the counter: http://kingsminis.blogspot.se/2015/01/tragic-progress.html

    Maybe she could help you.

    By the way, did you ever paint up those Britain's oak trees? I'm curious as to what vintage plastic trees look like when painted for Warhammer, since I just bought some (not Britain's though) and am considering how to make them fit in with the rest of the terrain.

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    1. Hello Minion X - I am glad that you mentioned that zombie as I have had my eye on him as a possible. As for the oak trees, no I haven't worked on them yet. There are piled up on the 'to do one day' shelf but with all the woes of moving still ahead of me, the last thing I want to do is build more scenery.

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    2. The one thing that stands out the most on the card counter are the shoes (at least it looks to me like he's wearing shoes), since none of the Fantasy Tribe zombies seem to have any footwear. The sole possible exception being one zombie depicted with boots in the illustrated ad in the first Citadel Compendium, though I can't find any pictures of the actual miniature.

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    3. Yes the boots are a bit of a problem, aren't they? Though discarding the miniature (which seems to fit the character) needs careful thought. After all, Een McWrecker is shown WITHOUT his bowl so why not have a character shown WITH something not on the original model?

      Tenuous I know! (:

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  7. It's properly best not to paint the trees as the foliage is quite rubbery and if left in contact with other plastic it has a tendency to melt it,ask any Britain's plastic collecters

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    1. Thank you for the heads up - though it seems that the mythical 'Duke' who created that exquisite scenery for the WFB3 rulebook paint his. I suspect a test run of painting the foliage will be in order.

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  9. Orc's Drift has the same issues - some of the character drawings are correct - Bertolac for example, but Ferndale is way off.

    As for the Donaldbane figure, the pose is identical to the C01 Fighter in the 2nd compendium (middle image second from the right) http://www.solegends.com/citcat1984comp2/citcomp2019-01.htm

    Although he doesn't have the bucket-top boots - perhaps he was going to be the basis for a new casting but it never got rescuplted or the green broke up or somthing. Like how Skarlos, Half-Elf Hero from the Bryan Ansell Adventurers box set became resculpted for the C01 Fighter range / Mayor Leofwine in Orc's Drift

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  10. I think the most likely explanation is that they just decided they could do better when sculpting the models - the card counters don't have the most detailed artwork after all!

    I remember painting a lot of tartan when this campaign set came out! Don't have any of it anymore unfortunately - in a moment of madness at University I gave all my Warhammer figures away!

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  11. The boney miniature reminds me of the Tanglebones miniature: http://www.mainlymedieval.com/ozpainters/viewtopic.php?t=1962

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  12. The boney miniature reminds me of the Tanglebones miniature: http://www.mainlymedieval.com/ozpainters/viewtopic.php?t=1962

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  13. Donaldbane: http://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/File:Collectors_Series_1108.jpg ?

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  14. I have the complete MacDeath Megadeal box of figures. Bought it back when it was available(I had to wait while they pulled all the figures together. May sell it, although I wish I had the boxed adventure to go with it. The hundred plus figures are unpainted.

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