Dioramadrama: John Blanche's Undead Assault, Mid 80s.

Good morning (or indeed afternoon, or even evening, depending on where you are) and welcome back to my blog.

Only a quick post today as I've got loads to do, including trying to get my wolf riders finished,  as what with all this scanning I'm not getting much painting done! I just started to write a couple of more 'scholarly' posts about our period but they may be some time to complete, if at all, really. During my research, I stumbled across a couple of sites that had some excellent images and resources on them.

This one I just had to share.

I've never been to Warhammer World; I always wanted to go there when I returned to GWplc hobby in 2004. The gaming, the shopping and of course, the hall of miniatures...  I binned 'official' GW late July last year and these days it would just be the miniatures that would draw me in; if I happened to be in Nottingham and had nothing to do, I'd visit!

I don't know if this is still on display there; its the undead diorama as seen on page 180-181 of the 3rd edition rulebook by John Blanche. Mid 80s.

Mind-blowing, isn't it?

I'll let the images speak for themselves.

Big thanks to Mabden for the images.

Orlygg.

Fantasy Miniatures: Golden Demon 1988 Extravaganza!

I have a fairly whimsical approach to uploading. I have a huge pile of retro Warhammer stuff that I feel readers of this blog would be interested in. There's so much of it in fact, that I feel it will take me years to get all the literature scanned and published online. I have had a few requests for this and that (White Dwarf 92 will be with you shortly) but generally I just put up what takes my fancy and consider useful to others.

Fantasy Miniatures was the first hardback book that GW published that set out to document the miniature painting hobby. It concerned itself with the Golden Demon Painting Awards of 1988 (the second held by GW) as well as the generous helping of staff work unseen, generally, in the pages of WD.

It is a thick slice of retro heaven!

I am sure that many of you may already own this book and the others (two further volumes were produced; one in 1989 and another in 1990) but I am aware that many people may not have seen these classic books. I've not seen them available on-line before so I'm sharing them with you all as the pages of the book are stuffed with inspiration.

Here's a little overview so you know what you're getting...

P2-4: A brief introduction that outlines the development of Citadel miniatures and the rise of fantasy miniature painting in general. I enjoyed reading this; particularly because the writing treats you as an adult rather than bombasting you with nonsense as is the whim of modern GW - no 'really coolz' or 'awesome miniaturez' here thankfully.

P5-7: A selection of staff shots, including a 'rogue's gallery' of the studio painters circa 1988. The haircuts are something else I can tell you! Some really nice miniatures here too!

P8-9: A gallery of Paul Benson's work. A true retro painter's hero!

P10-11: The legendary Frazer Gray's work is profiled.

P12-12: Michael Immig's fantastic dioramas are discussed (as seen in WD100).

P14-37 Selected Miniatures from the 1988 Golden Demon Awards.

P38-39 A short, simple painting guide- doesn't treat you like an idiot though!

And there we have it. Eventually, I'll get around to uploading the other two books but for the meantime there is plenty here to enjoy. These books serve me as perfect 'lavatory reading' and I have been flicking through them for years. Every time I do, I spot something different or I'm encouraged to track down a particular model on eBay.

What strikes me when looking through these books about miniature painting is, though technically, products and application have moved on considerably since the late 80s, the creativity seems to have been lost. There are truly some astonishingly crazy things going on in the pages and some of the ideas are bizarre to say the least... Additionally, there is not an abundance of spikes, skulls or general grim dark nonsense.

If I were asked to choose a favourite?

It would probably be Mark Harrison's Monster Tree on page 35 (and the back cover) as I love the way its eating its own apples.

Fantasy-Miniatures-1988

Orlygg.

THE FIMIR: Armylist, background and WFRP adventure

Today its all about the Fimir. 

I was inspired to write about them after listing my Top 10 most wanted miniatures and my delvings into ancient issues into White Dwarf. I have gathered together quite a pile of articles that I feel readers of this blog will find interesting.

The article I have uploaded today comes from WD 102. It contains full background for the race, a 3rd edition army list (with full colour shields and banner page) and an adventure for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay that introduces the race to PCs. Useful stuff indeed for the retro minded.

If you don't know much about the Fimir and their history have a look at this extract from their wikipedia entry;

The Fimir were created at the behest of Games Workshop's then-owner, Bryan Ansell who wanted a race "to be as distinctive of Warhammer as the Broo are of Runequest" ^[2]. However, the Fimir did not prove popular, and disappeared with the 4th edition of WFB, although this did give them time to make a guest-starring appearance in Milton Bradley'sHeroQuest. Very few (official) sources on Fimir exist and include the WFRP Bestiary, an article in White Dwarf No. 102, the third edition of WFB (Bestiary and Warhammer Armies) and some references in supplements.

There are two Fimir miniatures at the "correct scale" i.e. a size between 1.8m and 2.1m (in-game scale): Fimir (actually Fimm Warriors) from HeroQuest and some limited edition Fimm Warrior miniatures sold separately. One can also find Fimir by Nick Bibby the size of ogres, although these obviously do not integrate well with the "correctly" scaled models. Original concept sketches of the miniatures made by Jes Goodwin represented human-sized creatures and the published characteristics of the Fimir reflected this fact. However, when Nick Bibby started to sculpt the Fimir miniatures, he made them ogre-sized, leading to them being disproportionately weak for the size of their figurine in WFB. It was officially decided that this was the fault of the authors. Ultimately, WFRP was published with Fimir, but the race disappeared from the next edition of WFB.

Another theory as to the disappearance of the Fimir is due to the change in focus of GW's marketing. As 3rd edition drew to a close the focus became less on the older gamer and more towards the mid-to-late teens demographic, and as such it may have been thought that a race which reproduced via rape was not appropriate for the new target markets.

The last official appearance of the Fimir was in the WFRP sourcebook Marienburg: Sold Down the River, published in 1999. Since WFRP 2nd edition, the background has been brought into line with WFB and races such as Zoats, Gnomes and Fimir have been quietly dropped. Games Workshop described such races as being in "interminable hiatus"^[3]. In response, several fan-written creations have been published, including a "Fimir special" issue 25 of the WFRP fanzine Warpstone.

There appears to be another reference to the Fimir in UK White Dwarf 310. Where in the article on the Gnoblar Horde, a new army list, there is a background piece on boglars, a sub-species of gnoblar that live in marshes. It says that "A large tribe in the Marshes of Madness have been rumored to be in alliance with strange, cyclopean creatures." While not being specific, this is almost certainly a reference to the fimir.

The Fimir were mentioned in the time of Legends novel 'Empire', where creatures matching their description were encountered living in the marshes.

Fimir are referenced by name in the "Marshland" entry of the terrain rules section of the 8th Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles rulebook.

The July 2011 "Storm of Magic" supplement has, at last, reintroduced Fimir into the Warhammer tabletop game, in the form of a Dirach wizard called a Balefiend, which can be used as a bound monster by any Warhammer army. The character is now a full-fledged monstrous infantry (i.e. ogre-sized) model, rather than regular infantry.

In December 2011, Warhammer Forge revealed three new models to be released in Q1 of 2012 as part of the supplement titled Monstrous Arcana.

Here is the article on my Scribd account.

Fimir-Armylist-Background-and-WHFRP-Adv

Additionally, a big thanks to Mr Ballista who noticed that there was a page missing from the Magician's Son short story by Barrington J Bailey. I check my original magazine and lo and behold, there was indeed a page missing. Luckily, I own a second copy and used that to add the missing page. I have deleted the old version of the story from my Scribd account and included the new one below.

Magician's-Son-Complete

Until tomorrow,

Orlygg.

Battle Reports: Old School White Dwarf Ones

David Leonard, a French fanatic of Warhammer 3rd, emailed me a while ago about the possibility of scanning the battle reports, the old third edition ones that were published in the late 80s/early 90s. I thought they may be of passing interest to others so I included them as my blog for today!

So here they are;

1) 24 Hours at Carik Mound (WD107) appears to be the very first battle report published in WD (please correct me if I am wrong) but doesn't appear to have been GW's idea in the first place. Reading the article, the battle was fought literally over twenty-four hours for charity (as part of ITV's Telethon '88 - no I don't remember it either!) and was written by Robin Dews ( who would later serve as a long standing editor of WD itself!) Its very basic, but puts 'modern' battle reports to shame. Russ Nicholson (follow him here) provides some nice illustrations indeed.

24-Hours-at-Carik-Mound

2) The Best Laid Plans (WD 117) is a look at a closely fought game from Games Day '89 concerning a battle between Skaven and High Elves. Again, this looks written by an outsider but does contain some interesting examples of 3rd edition army lists with a few more pretty pictures (that look specifically drawn for the article).

The-Best-Laid-Plans

3) The Clash of Evil (WD 123) is a battle (in house this time) between a Chaos Army and an Orc and Goblin Horse. Again, quality army lists are provided as are some equally nice illustrations by Gary (Lone Wolf) Chalk.

The-Clash-of-Evil

Enjoy!

Orlygg.

Warhammer Novels: 'No Gold in the Grey Mountains' and 'The Magician's Son' Short Stories!

A few days ago I posted on the publication history (for Warhammer anyway) of Games Workshop books 1989-1991. I was surprised by the response of the post and heard from a number of other bloggers who were had very fond memories of these books and others who had missed them entirely.

I was reminded of the existence of two short stories by a mysterious blogger only known as G.S.Shaw. A quick delve into my White Dwarf magazine archive quickly located the issues (WD117 and WD136) and I was pleasantly surprised!

The first story was 'No Gold in the Grey Mountains' by Jack Yeovil a.k.a Kim Newman. Newman is now a well known and respected author and critic of all things fantasy and horror. He even pops up on those '100 greatest/worst/most memorable' TV shows that are on occasionally. Check out his wikipedia entry here if you're interested in finding out more about his work.

As some of you of you will know, 'No Gold in the Grey Mountains' was one of the stories first published in Wolf Riders and has been republished by the Black Library since. It was also used as a 'taster' story presented in White Dwarf issue 117 just before Ignorant Armies was published. I present that here in its original form.

The second story was published much later as is by the late Barrington J. Bayley. This tale, called the Magician's Son, was also intended to be a taster for a new (and unpublished) anthology. Sadly, this book and its short stories never saw the light of day; though there are a few clues here and there about what this anthology may have included. Kim Newman has mentioned both 'Warhawk' and 'Ibby the Fish Factor' were both written during this period (though were rejected, apparently) as were the remaining three short stories from Troll Slayer; The Mark of Slaanesh, Blood and Darkness and the Mutant Master if I remember correctly.

If any other bloggers out there have any further information about short stories and novels of this period I (and I am sure many others, considering the popularity of the Warhammer Novels post) would love to know more.

Anyway, I am presenting the short stories on my Scribd account. Here are the links. So why not do yourself a favour, if you've never read these stories before (or even if you have) download to your tablet, print out on paper or whatever  and experience the Warhammer world as it used to be...

Enjoy your reading, Orlygg!

No-Gold-in-the-Grey-Mountains

The-Magicians-Son

Do You Have a Miniatures Wish List?

Inspiration is a singular thing.

It is sudden, spontaneous, unexpected and, sometimes, downright impulsive. It is also a two way street. Thantsants has recently posted over on his blog detail of his 3rd Edition Orc and Goblin army. A very good read it was as well and I am sad to say that I am more than a little envious of his collection, especially the war machines.

What really caught my interest, however, was not what Thantsants had, but what he didn't have;

Namely, 'wants of a leadish nature'!

Before you deny it (and I know you will if your anything like me), we all have these little wish lists in our head. Late night scourings of eBay do little to relieve the niggling desire to own those castings, only expenditure (or the sure knowledge of spousal disapproval) holds the hand in check. By this I don't mean everyday purchases; the rank and file of 3rd Edition, character models or publications. I mean the 'bobby-dazzlers', the 'dog's-bollocks' and the 'badger's-nadgers'- the BIG acquirements that we all dream we will find for 99p one day, and pat ourselves smugly on the back once the transaction is complete and we're ripping off the bubble wrap!

So what are my wants? What would my killer acquisitions be? I suppose a countdown of my 10 most wanted would be a suitable method of expressing my own dark, deranged lustings for lead!

10: Prince Ulther's Dwarves/Imperial Dwarves Regiments of Renown

First off are these two lovely box sets. I own all the other second edition run of these regiments but do not own these beauties. I bid and I bid and I bid but I cannot seem to win. Why do I want these beauties? Not only are the two sets practically an army but they are wonderfully sculpted and are very evocative of the era. 

9: The Zoat with the Staff

I adore this model. Lovely positioning of the body for an early sculpt. I think that it was a limited edition and have never seen it for sale on eBay or anywhere else for that matter, but I've seen plenty painted up on blogs so they must be out there somewhere!

8: Fimir Models

These turn up regularly, with MASSIVE prices despite that fact that in the game, they're a bit crap! I heard somewhere that Nick Bibby sculpted them as large monsters when really they should have been 28mm, hence the discrepancy with the rules. Still, people love them and I've heard they have turned up again in Storm of Magic. For the completist in me really.



7: Ambull

Terror in the Darkness was the first roleplay adventure that I ever read. The mighty ambull has stayed with me ever since. One of the few models that crossed between 40k and Warhammer. Not really useful for gaming but a must in any serious collection.


6: Skeleton Army (still on sprues)

Now were getting down to the sets and miniatures I really, really, really want. This is a must for any undead fan because it is a whole army in a box; troops, horsemen and a chariot. I'd want it on the sprues mind- tell a lie, I'd want two copies; one to build and one to keep mint!


5: Great Imperial Dragon

Some time ago I made a startling confession; that I'd never painted an orc. Well to rub salt into that particular wound, I've never painted a dragon either! What's this I hear you cry, a fantasy gamer who hasn't painted an orc or a dragon- is there something wrong with you!? Well, I've painted an orc now but dragons have been left out in the cold. Of all the citadel dragons this one is my favourite. It even came with a little (hopeless) knight to fight it! Wonderfully 80s too!


4: Orc War Wyvern

We can all dream. I dream of having this model painted and ready to lead my Orc and Goblin 3rd Edition army. No many of these about (at least not that I've seen) and I'd probably want it boxed too. I love the way the model is designed; coiling with its talons slashing forwards. Don't like the colour scheme in this image though! I'd paint it red!

3: Palanquin of Nurgle

This is the only model on the list that I once owned but I foolishly sold it. I am sure you have similar stories of bad decisions made on eBay. I'd like this kit with all the riders; the one shown in the image above, the Nurgle sorcerer and the 40k rider too. One of my favourite ever models from citadel and I'd love to paint mine up as well as the example given here!

2: Marauder Giant

I'm no fan of the Marauder miniatures. To me they typify the chunky hands/clunky weapon style of 4th/5th etc edition Warhammer. Still, the fighters, dwarves and some of the orcs are fantastic sculpts. Towering over them (if you pardon the pun!) looms the Marauder giant. A wonderful, wonderful model! Too me, its pure Warhammer; from the beer keg, the tattered clothes and the Jesus sandals. So many elements of this sculpt appeared in the current plastic GW giant (though it lacks the character) shows its still an influential model today. And, its metal! Imagine how that beast would feel in the hand once painted and based!

1: Chaos Dwarf Juggernaut

Ah! The Holy Grail of citadel miniature collecting. We have all heard the rumours; it sells for thousands, blah, blah, blah. I've seen one for sale on eBay. It had a a reserve price of God knows what but it never reached that. I think bidding stopped at £200. Considering that there was only one on, you'd have thought our fellow lead fanatics would have been whipped up into a frenzy. Hopefully, one day I'll get my hands on this kit and do it justice with original citadel paints; despite the fact to no background or rules were ever released for it.

Well, here is my wishlist of lead wants. Do you own any of these beauties? Or do you too lust after these lead lumps?

Or perhaps you have your own wishlist of citadel miniatures?

If so, I'd love to hear from you! After all, as I said at the the beginning of this post, inspiration is a two way street.

Orlygg

A BIG THANK YOU!

Just a short post to say thank you to every one who has read my blog, contributed to it or emailed me with their questions, comments and memories of 3rd edition - please, please keep them coming!

Yesterday was really successful with nearly 200 page views and 6 new followers!

Its really inspiring to be part of a little '3rd edition/retro warhammer' community.

Thanks again!