Troglodytes unpacked… Yay and oh no!

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Celebrating a job well done I recently decided to bid on a set of Tom Meier’s troglodytes produced by Citadel back in the glory days around 1985. I’ve had my eye on Meir’s lizardmen and troglodytes for quite a while now. Their snake-like, curling bodies, strange poses and oddly shaped weapons decorated with arcane symbols give them a very distinct look. A look, I must admit, I’m quite fond of.

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Especially the troglodytes have a certain weird vibe – perhaps because the minis are huge. I mean huge compared to pre-slotta Citadel minis, but even next to the minis you see now a day they look big.

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It was thus with great satisfaction that I succeeded in securing the seven troglodytes including the original box and actually doing so without having to pay some absurd sum.

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Sadly when I unpacked my precious troglodytes I discovered that all of them are starting to show signs of the dreaded lead rot and some are even beginning to crack. The seller had not mentioned this in his auction and perhaps I should have returned them but I’m so glad that I finally have a set of these minis, and managed to purchase them for a decent price, that I’m willing to spend the required time restoring them.

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But clearly I now need to get cracking at the lizards, since they are on their fast way towards disintegration. It thus looks as if my next painting project will be this set.

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Do you have any experience handling lead rot you want to share? I’ll probably need all the advice I can get soon!

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Dark elf magic in the air

Very little has been going on in the paint department lately but next Tuesday we will play a version of the intro scenario from WFB 2ed – the famous “Ziggurath of Doom” scenario. However, instead of dwarfs the scenario will revolve around a band of fierce dark elves entering the ruined temple in order to steal a precious gem and carry it away. The inhabitants of the temple, mean-spirited death cultists and mad greenskins will do whatever in their power to stop them. It is now up to the elves to get their blood ruby and get out of the temple before they are surrounded by opponents. Oh, by the way, the elves will have the help of one ogre and one goblin, but more about that in my next post.

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What I want to show you here is the Citadel dark elf sorcerer I had a chance to finish for the game. I really like the model despite the fact that something is completely wrong with his face. One eye is positioned much lower than the other making him look rather dimwitted from certain angles. Nevertheless the mini is totally badass and I love hos oriental-looking cloak.

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I was in the mood for experimentation and rather adventurously decided to add some magic effect to the sorcerer. I’m not sure how well it turned out though. It was fun to do and every once in a while I think it’s important to do stuff that brings us out of our comfort zones and usual way of doing things.

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I’ll be back soon wit pics from our game.

Cheers

Martin

The Boyz Are Back in Town

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Here you see my latest output – five more greenskins. Technically they’re all orcs as the little fellow you see among the classic Citadel orcs is an orc from Metal Magic. However in my collection he’ll be serving as some sort of elite goblin. Elite because he looks way more well-equipped and fierce than most 80’s-era Citadel goblins.

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I’m no huge Metal Magic fan but they did a lot of fine models, but I’m not sure their orcs are to be counted among them. Somehow their orcs lack personality or that certain quality which makes the miniature vibrant. At least that’s how I fell about their orcs. Nevertheless I have quite a few of these Metal Magic orcs and eventually, once painted, they’ll constitute a nice alternative to my Citadel greenskins.

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Most of the Citadel orcs were produced in that golden year of 1987. The only exception is the one in a brownish red/yellow tunic holding a bow and grabbing for his scimitar. He is one of the Orcs of the Red Eye-range released in ’85 (I think) for the Middle-Earth universe. Not that this makes him different from the other orcs in any way!

IMG_1601The shield you see in the middle, on the slightly blurry picture, was inspired by Eddie on the cover of the first Iron Maiden record. The guy on the shield ended up looking somewhat more like an undead Ziggy Stardust but being a major Bowie-fan this hardly matters.

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Iron Maiden 1980

Iron Maiden 1980

Ziggy Stardust

Ziggy Stardust

Ah, what geeky fun we have with our miniatures.

Cheers

Martin