Undead figures shopping (Where do you expect? In a Mausoleum of course!)
================
[PRELUDE:] Cut from Tony Edward's report, serves as an introduction till
I can come up with something better ...
Everybody has skeletons. The best part, however, is size differences
for a bag of bones actually appears quite nice. If you do wish to mix
25mm, 28mm, and 30mm skeletons, either go overboard (incredibly chaotic
and varied skeletons swarm) or not at all. The rank and file troops
can be filled with just about anything, I'd recommend using the
Dark Heaven line from Reaper miniatures for your characters and rotten
flag pole bearers. Most notable - the Dark Heaven Grim Reaper figure.
A mounted liche/necromancer never looked better, er, worse. As far
as anything else, the differing zombies blend together well, but not
quite as good as the skeletons. Heartbreaker and Harlequin have some
excellent ranges here. But, by far, look first at Reaper.
NOTE: You should know what the standard size, Warning, better use IE for this link
Game-workshop Citedal, is ...
then shop for something cheaper, more variety, and sometime better miniatures !
==================================================================
The base, the part that make figure stand up-right on the battle field, should be
20x20mm(RnF), 25x40(cavalry/horse base), 40x40(monster), and bigger.
The scale is refering to the hight, width ... of the figure
The WFB RnF standard, Game-Workshops Citadal, figure is about 28mm or 1/63 scale.
And for undead ... 25-30mm are in the ball part.
>Ok, there are so many different scales ... > > 15mm 25mm 28mm 30mm ... > 1/48 1/72 1/200 1/300 > >to play WFB what are the best ? 28-30mm ? > >how about these 1/# stuff ?
The figures made by Citadel for use in WHFB are approximately 28mm scale, so any other 28mm figures would fit scale-wise but would not be tournament legal (but you don't have to just play in tournaments now, do you?).
The other scales you mention, the 1/# stuff, are real easy to explain. The numbers are just a ratio expressing the scale of the figure, ie. 1/48 means 1mm on the figure = 48mm in full size. IIRC 28mm figures are round about 1/60 scale.
1/63 to be exact ...
---- also the "base" issue ... 20x20, 25x40, 40x40, and bigger
This rule was in the first Jervis "PQ D6 LM" faq..
the question was 'what bases should these monsters go on since some are
packaged with 40mm bases and others with 25x50 or 25mm bases
The answer was that it really didnt matter as far as GW was concerned..
They did say that they felt sorry for you if you felt that you _must_ stick minotaurs on 25mm bases to get more attacks in on your opponent
for fairness sake, i wouldnt recommend rebasing your mini's unless you get
approval of ALL of your opponents.. base size is one of the most easily
abusable game mechanics, because of the number of items and spells that
affect 'everything in base to base contact'
Note: Ok, start out with your core RnF around 1,000 pt, and buy some 20x20 sloted base
from anywhere but GW. HeartBreaker's 20x20mm pack, #0001, is a lot of 20 and sell for about
$2.5o and GW sell their 20x20mm base for one dollar a piece ... must be made out of gold !
=========================================================================
Now to look at the actual mini's picture on line:
Ral Partha Enterprises home page
Reaper home page
Note: Try to get picture catalog from the manufactures, some of them are very nice.
=====================================================
===================================================
Note: pistal, rifle case are good too and price is very reasonable.
I'm just letting everyone know that I think the best figure cases you can get are the ones for rifles. These babies are 3' long and 12 wide and hold well over 100 miniatures. and no figure is too big for it. I keep tanks, attack bikes, dreadnaughts...etc in mine. Sure you'll get a funny look carrying this arround but its better and a whole lot cheaper than the cases most gaming companys sell. You can buy these at a gun shop, Sporting goods store, and wal-mart. The prices range from $15-$25, Take a look at one and see how useful it is.
I'd still say tackle boxes are the way to go...cheap, and if you get the right ones, great. I use a few (all the same type) that have a big upper compartment, perfect for tanks and such, and three smaller trays in the bottom part, each with NUMEROUS compartments and user-configurable as far as compartment layout. The three trays then slide into the main box part and a front door latches over them. I forgot the model number though...sorry. Plano something-something. But the cool thing is that everything stands upright.
I considered both of these options before settling on my Rubbermaid
tacklebox. It carries 6 smaller (pistol case sized) cases inside
along with a removable tray that's handy for bits or brushes. No
funny looks like with the rifle case, plus it's not so unwieldy
without being much smaller overall (I can carry my entire 3000 pt Dark
Angels army in it, including two Rhinos/variants).
The best thing, IMO, about this case is the ability to swap out
portions of my army, without digging around through each figure. I've
organized my army into ~500 point blocks, each of which takes up one
mini-case, and I've pasted a label on the exposed edge of their case
with a brief description and the exact points value range (which
depends sometimes on WG or other stuff that you don't see on the
models, like grenades)
And at $25 for the case, and $4 for each mini-case it's a pretty sweet
deal. Plus there's the added bonus that once in a while somebody's
gone and mistakenly put additional mini-cases into the main box, so
you get four of 'em for free. *wink, wink*
=====================================================
I put the magnet on the figures so that I can make steel movement trays, and line the carrying case with steel to (very thin 30ga. galvanized. Can be cut with tin snips, or even scissors. However don't use you S.O.'s good sewing scissors! :). The steel is much cheaper than the magnet, and you need less of it to cover everything.
You can also use small steel pans to carry figs around on. I know someone who glued a small pan into a box to carry his figs. worked really well. You can also make a nice thin, metal movement tray and the figs will stick to it as well.
Also, We cut our hills so that they hold a rank or 2 of figures between "steps". It also makes it easier to play WYSIWYG for determining line of sight. That way there's no discussions of "this is a level 2 hill, can I see over a house? What about that wood? Maybe over that hedge?"
Agreed. It does make the terrain look a little stilted, but in general much easier to deal with. Some of the early terrain we made was more natural, and boy is it a pain to deal with!
Also, movement trays are not always a good idea. For small cavalry units, its better to do without than trying to keep them all on the tray. It is certainly a colossal pain for fast cav, who are constantly changing formation...
Also, a good piece of felt and magnet on the bottom of figures means they'll slide very well without sticking. Plastic and metal bases tend to stick to the felt. I think this is one of the reasons that I've never felt that movement has been an issue. However I've seen some players who do take forever to move their units. This is probably why. I can generally slide a 24+ unit of skeletons/zombies without a movement tray without much problem.
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 08:42:59 +0000
You can get sheet magnet (already pre-glued and everything) as "business-card" backing from
the larger office supply stores (I get it from Office Depot in the US). It's relatively
in-expensive and is much easier to slide because when you cut it it has smooth edges instead
of the sharp edges that metal will tend to have.
=====================================================
>So I was wondering if any one knows about some other lines that have something
even somewhat similiar to plague monks (rats in robes, cloaks....anything)?
A:
Pendraken do 10mm fantasy, including ratmen, humans, the lot. A bag of 10 figures for £1.
The command set includes napoleon rat, with his bicorn hat. There're sneaky ones wiv daggers,
globadiers, spear, sword, all sorts except war machines. The ratmen are roughly compatible
with 15mm figures. Which is the way I use them. RalPartha do some really cracking 15mm,
there's also reaper, chariot, tabletop miniatures and numerous others.
All these depend on how flexible you and your friends are, but there are weird troops
available - Chariot make bat-winged goblins with tridents, RalPartha make Tengu ( Japanese
flying long-nosed goblins ) with their two samurai swords.....
Mount these by gluing them on washers - Two with a big one above a slightly smaller one is
good, or 5p pieces. This gets the base up off the table a little, and makes em easier to
pick up without holding the heads.
Convert the FB inch based system to centimetres. Buy 15mm scenery to match your cute little
figures. I use felt for forests, you could also use different colour for buildings etc.
An army costs round about a tenth the price.
Colour code the bases on figures, or stick some blu-tack on to represent the gizmos if you
feel you must have a representative figure. Or use cardboard for the ones you cannot match.
Pendraken say they will consider adding anything suggested to their range, or do it to
order if they feel it will not sell. The ratman 'flying boat' costs a wopping great £15, so
maybe you shouldn't be asking for doomwheels and screaming bells...
Andy O'Neill
=====================================================
From: Tuman Elnikov
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 20:25:55 +0000
From: "Andy O'Neill"
None of the Harlequin are suitable for monks. The ones they make have a
different style to the GW figures. If you're broke, and your friends are also, then
here's a suggestion to consider.
OK, laugh, but a 1 metre square piece of felt costs about £4, and makes an awful lot of
buildings which would cost £8 to £12 each in resin.
Ok, let's do Reaper first ...home page http://www.reapermini.com/
Reaper Miniatures (note: there are Undead line and Dark heaven line)
http://www.discountgames.com/manufacturer/RPR.ref.html
Alternative Armies's Flintloque: Undead ... dressed in heavy coats, figure maybe small
http://www.discountgames.com/manufacturer/ALA.ref.html
Harlequin Miniatures:Great undead Sized just right, and lots of zombies !!!
http://www.discountgames.com/manufacturer/HAR.ref.html
Heartbreaker Hobbies: Not a lot of Undead ... but suppose to be hot.
http://www.discountgames.com/manufacturer/HBH.ref.html
RAFM Company Inc. Liche me to dead ! Lots of them ... and more, not sure about the size
http://www.discountgames.com/manufacturer/RAF.ref.html
Ral Partha Enterprises Spear and Halberd (6) for less than 6.00
http://www.discountgames.com/manufacturer/RPE.ref.html
Reaper Miniatures (Undead line and Dark Heaven line x-bow,halberd)
http://www.discountgames.com/manufacturer/RPR.ref.html
BARTER TOWN: (expansive used stuff sometimes, better check price ...
http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~darkwolf/fbfs.html
http://www.bidaway.com/html/listings.shtml ... not much here
http://www.cool-games.com/Html_web_store/ base, shield, dice
http://www.dragontrove.com/listing.html
http://www.erinet.com/bp/oldglor.html
GW Undead Boxes
http://gator.net/~valmont/mgp/wfb.html
http://www.geohex.com/ shield (good price?)
http://www.quebecweb.com/enigma/
================================
How much $ I spend so far ...
Books:
$70 W.D. 2 year (got Undead Army book free)
$30 5th edition Battle magic
$20 Used 4th edition rulebook and battle bestiary
$12 Wood Elf
$15 Dwarf
>Please comfirm new order ...
>> > battle magic core set-$26.99
>> > WFB Army Book:
>> > Empire- $16.19 Orcs and Goblins-$16.19 High Elves-$16.19
>> > Skaven-$16.19 Dark Elves-$16.19 Bretonnian-$16.19 Lizzardmen-$16.19
>> > subtotal-$124.13
>> > shipping-$8 - instead of $16, half price for over $100 order (3 days delivery)
>> > total-$148.32
$200 Will spend for Undead figures, paint, carrying box, magnet, and metal sheet for base !!!
Some cool undead figures (pictures)
http://www.ralpartha.com/ or
http://204.91.84.77/cgi-bin/RalPartha
[characters]
01-093 Anti-Paladin 5.95 (1 rider + steed,1 on foot) mounted and on foot
01-325 Druid 5.50 (3) maybe just me, but these are nacro !
*01-328 Anti-Paladin on foot 5.50 (3) very nice L/H. armored foot hero/champion
three figures: Huge sw with (skull) shield, 2h, Heavy armor (skull chest plate)
01-603 Necromancer (skull on hand) 2.15
*01-604 Chaos Deathmaster 2.50 Wraith on Foot, armored, scythe, NICE
02-355 Wizard, with runesword 2.15 2H sword ... ?
02-304 Chaotic Warrior, with great sword 2.15 NICEEEEEEE
01-405 Czarchon, Witch King of Chaos 6.95(Ft. & Mtd.) crown, cloak
02-418 Greater Cat Lord 4.75 - looks like a mummy king with a big SW !
[mounted]
01-406 Gore, Evil Superhero axe shield 5.95 (Ft. & Mtd.)
01-408 Dark Thomas, The Black Prince lance shield 6.95 (Ft. & Mtd.) HOT HOT HOT!
[RnF]
*23-606 The Grateful Undead 5.75 (shopping for skeleton musicians ? check these out !!!)
02-411 Wraiths 5.50 (3) 1 scythe, 1 hand w., one armored (doesn't look like wraith)
*02-181 Skeletons w/ Sword and Shield 7.95 (6) no armor
*02-184 Armored Skeletons w/ Halbards 7.95 (6) ?
02-938 Skeleton Warriors 6.50 (4) H/ LorH armored,bow/LA,2H/HA,h/lh
*02-952 Skeletal Beastmen 6.50 (4) 2 2H-sw 1 2H-axe 1 bow (want some variation ? Nice stuff
02-180 Skeleton Foot Command (5) 7.95 ... so so, 1 musician, 2 std,1 bowman, 1 leader
RF 130-135 15mm 6.50 (12) too small
[horsemen]
*02-185 Light Skeleton Cavalry with Lance and Bow 9.50 (2) ?
*02-186 Armored Skeleton Cavalry with Heavy Lance 10.95 (2) ?
02-187 Mounted Skeleton Command 10.95(2) ?
*11-852 Lord Soth's Skeleton Cavalry 8.50 (3) so nice that I could cry !!!
2 spear, one 1h all L armored, no shield
[war machine]
one coming out this nov. ... chariot ... special stuff, kindda expensive
[Monster]
02-940 Skeletal Giant 6.95 BAD big bone head!!!!
11-533 Bone Golem 2.95(1) ............ADnD ?
02-513 Skeletal Hunter and Pack Hounds 6.75(4)
10-307 Legion Of Doom - Lords Of The Dean 25.95(8)
35-070 Egyptian Pharaoh and Light Chariot 10.50(10) only one, not ten
35-761 Syrian Light Chariot (2 horses, light chariot & 2 crew)10.50 Nice
35-061 Generals (2) and Standards 6.50(6)
Chipco make all WHFB bases ...
GW 8901A BASES: 20MM SQUARE $3.99 $2.79
GW 8901B BASES: 25MM SQUARE $3.99 $2.79
Dark Elf box
2 RBT 12 Swordsmen 12 crossbows 8 Witch Elves 1 Dark Pegasus
8 Black Guard of naggaroth 1 Sorceror w/familiar
1 General on cold one 4 cold one knights 1 cold one standard
2 Command Squad w/only 1 musician 5 Harpies
Game workshop now have bases pack:
20x20 G408901G 3.99 for 20! (parallel to edge slot)
40x40 G408901D 5 for $3.99
--------------------------
From: andorax@idibbs.com
Leviathan makes some other pretty cool resin models that are quite
usable:
1) Catapult - Like the others mentioned, no crew, but this catapult is
about 5" long and about 3" wide. Would make a really good Large Rock
Lobber or a terrifying Screaming Skull (yes, most of it is made of rope
and BIG bones).
2) Razorback Chariot - The Boars pulling this chariot are HUGE! Puts
GWs to shame. The chariot is also huge, about 7.5" long, but it makes
for a wonderful Orc Boar Chariot, and the steeds can be replaced for a
pricy, but workable Chaos Chariot. Just substitute two Chaos Steeds, or
two appropriate Daemon Steeds (A friend of mine has already done a
conversion with this chariot and two Juggernauts. Nasty). The Chariot
is also very bone-like. The local games store owner has been planning
on doing a Chariot of Nagash with this thing, if he can only find big,
dead looking steeds.
=====================================================================
the Grenadier Fantasy Warriors skeletons are
probably THE best alternative for skeletons I've seen. They're exactly
the right size, very clean, with excellent variety of poses and
weapons. If you can find them, they're usually dirt cheap (around $6
for a pack of 5) and frequently on sale, which makes them even cheaper.
I wound up paying about half as much for my metal skellies as I would
have for GW plastics. Also, Grenadier made some *excellent* support
models--check out their skull catapult, for example. Now THERE's an
intimidating looking weapon, unlike the itty bitty little thing GW puts
out.
If only Fantasy Warriors hadn't been the victim of bad timing and worse
marketing. It was an EXCELLENT game system, all in all. Oh, well.
=======================================================================
RAFM also makes nice skeletons, and some cool undead sets (they've got one called
"Shambling Horde" or somesuch thing that comes with a pile of skeletons). Also look at
Reaper Miniatures for some undead leader-types.
well, that's it ... bones ...
=======================================================================
This is a mail order sale only
We are selling all instock GAMESWORKSHOP and Whitewolf at 40% OFF RETAIL
if we do not have it in stock we will gurrantee a 35% OFF retail price (
NORMAL evryday mail order price from us )
Most product lines at 35% Off Retail everyday
Please phone all orders in
--
The Travelling Mage
2407 SW 13th St
Gainesville Fl 32608
Tel 352-381-9090
FAx 352-381-9444
mail order hours TElephone orders Mon closed
Tue-Thur 12pm -8pm
Fri - Sat 11am-8pm
Sun 1 pm - 8pm
EMAIL 24hrs a day 7 days a week
---------------------------------
Ok, that's it for now. Good grave digging !
Last update: Oct. 28, 1997