Marauder Landsknecht Halfling

I like to think he is patting his stomach either in appreciation of something he has just eaten, or something he will soon tuck into!

Last Friday, I posted my thoughts about how hobbywise I'd become stuck in a rut. One of my solutions (apart from focusing on blogging once again, I hope you are appreciating my efforts!) was to plunge my hand into my foot deep stash of old minis and paint the first thing my fingers clasp hold of. I was hoping for a beastman or chaos warrior but instead I ended up with this tiny figure. It being a Marauder fig, initially I considered dropping him back in and repeating the process but I stuck to my guns and painted him up. 

I am jolly well glad that I did too. As he was great fun to work on and took practically no time at all to complete. He comes from the Halfling Militia set circa that wonderful year, 1989. There were a small number of models in the set and I am sure Marauder did a second group of halfling figures a little later on, but I am no expert in their ranges. 

Obviously, he has shades of the landsknecht about him so I went for a myriad of colours on his outfit. Looking back, I feel that my shading was a little too heavy handed on the folds of the clothing and look too black. But he is the first model I have painted in this scale for many months. 

I hope you like him.

Sammy Shortsausage feared a long wait for the nearest loo!

Finally, images of the unreleased MARAUDER Bloodthirster!

Unless you have been living under a rock, you'll know all about the mysterious eBay seller named fsfminiatures and his spectacular collection. Over the last couple of months this individual has been slowly selling off a veritable wonderland of old lead, including a large number of extremely rare (ney, near mystical) vintage figures.

Nuln Spearman?  

Check 

Combat Card Dwarf Wizard?

Check

Though not really the remit of this blog, which is focussed on the collecting, painting and gaming of original released 1980s Citadel, I thought this worthy of record. We knew that Marauder produced a series of metal greater daemons and even have the serial numbers: MM95/1 Greater Daemon of Khorne and MM95/2 Greater Daemon of Tzeentch. 

The Greater Daemon of Tzeentch produced by Marauder was a lesser well known model that turns up occasionally (I assume it saw a period of general release) and I have a couple of examples in my collection. Sodemons carries a painted example by ex-'Eavy Metal luminary, Steve Mussared.

But the Khorne daemon had remained a total mystery, at least to me. Sodemons carries no photograph of the model to this day and the eBay listing posted this week, may well be the first sight anyone has had of the model in the collecting world. And like the original released Citadel model, the daemon comes in multiple pieces. 

In my opinion, the Marauder Greater daemons are just not as good as the Citadel originals, which (I assume) is why they never made it to wider release. Still, it is fascinating to finally get a glimpse of one of the more allusive models in the old school Warhammer pantheon. With bidding at £39.00 as the time of writing (with over 5 days still to go) it will be interesting to see how much this extremely rare model will fetch. With the Nuln Spearman and the Dwarf Wizard fetching 4 digit amounts it makes me wonder if the previously unknown model will reach the same dizzy heights!

Before I disappear back into the myriad whirls and eddies of the warp, I will also share this little delight, which proves that not all exciting, unreleased models need to be massive, multiple part affairs. Fsfminiatures has also just listed this lovely hamburger eating dwarf. 

Here is the full site address for fsfminiatures if you are interested in watching this sale develop or fancy a flutter on one of the lots. And just so you know, I do NOT know the identity of the seller nor am I in contact with him or her in anyway. The purpose of this post is merely to comment on the appearance of a previously unknown model's appearance and to direct interested enthusiasts or collectors towards the eBay listings.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/fsfminiatures2016?_trksid=p2056016.l2559

Orlygg

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Miniatures Dark Elf Army

It has been a fair few months since we last dipped into Acceptable in the '80s, my history of Warhammer Third Edition through its releases, supplements and associated publications. We are drawing close to the end now. With only seven issues remaining until the first Fourth Edition rules are published! Still, Warhammer sees a bit of a late surge of activity, after a long period of not really being discussed in the magazine. You will have to remember that this period was the mighty age of the Big Box Game, and Space Marine, Dark Future, Heroquest etc were all on the shelves and were often expanded on in the magazine. 

White Dwarf had by now lost it's community feel. 'Eavy Metal articles tail off for a while, largely due to the fact that Bryan took all of the models with him when he sold the company. New models, and indeed games, would follow along shortly, as the company was in dire need of cash. Still, there are one or two gems still to discuss and today's visit is no exception. 

For it is the turn of the Marauder Miniatures Dark Elf Army. 

Karasashalla's Reavers

I must admit to really admiring this army. Looking down at the yellow circle to read the price of this collection on release is enough to make a leadhead weep these days, with eighty four metal models for eighty pounds! The sculpts are nicely varied too, which is something I value deeply about Oldschool Warhammer forces but that is just a quirk peculiar to me I guess, give me fiddly to rank up models any day of the week over generic poses.

There are some fantastic models here, most notably the command figures. Both the mounted leaders are well designed, even if they are sitting on the same cold one sculpt, but it is the Deathcap Hero that has to be one of the finest Marauder Miniatures of all time. It is a tried and tested pose I know, but the combination of the armour, helm and gigantic sword really do tick all the fantasy boxes for me. I know that this range isn't as graceful as the earlier Bob Naismith one, produced for Citadel, but the chunky militant look really chimes a bell, don't you think?

The two crossbow 'regiments', if a unit of ten could be considered such, are probably the weakest design wise in the army. Still, they are solid enough models, even if some of the paint jobs here are a little to be desired. As we know from Tim Prow, Andy Craig and Darren Matthews - these models were often painted at speed during lunchbreaks as a favour to the Morrisons. 

The rest of the infantry models are suitably twisted and look nice and varied which grouped together. Worth mentioning here is the standard bearer model (which appears twice in the advert), as I am pretty certain that I have seen that standard at the Wargames Foundry in Bryan's collection, though it seems to have become detached from the original figure. 

The Whelp Masters are great figures. And the warhounds are unusual in that they are rather historical in nature. These models would serve just about any force that can deploy warhounds, as with a change of colour you can have chaos, undead - whatever. They are certainly worth looking out for, if dangerous canines are your thing. 

To round things off, we have the Dark Elf cavalry that we discussed way back when. They appeared originally in White Dwarf 125 if you are interested in such things. Sixty-five pounds would have seen you fielding twenty mounted Dark Elves. Not bad at all. 

All in all, a solid release from Marauder. Who at this time were the only regular source of new releases for Warhammer Fantasy Battle. It makes me wonder if these deals were actually 'worth it' back in the early '80s. I mean, £80 is a fair bit of money today, twenty-five years later, and if you whack the amount into an online 'value' converter it states that the sum is equivalent to just over £160. 

That seems reasonable to me, if you think you'd be getting eighty odd models for your money. What do you think?

Orlygg

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Undead

Right then, back on track with the ACTUAL chronology of Warhammer Third Edition releases after our little foray into the world of Wayne England's classic old school dwarf miniatures. Now, wasn't that a sentence? Actually, while we are on the subject of Wayne's dwarfs, I can share with you this - Wayne has told me that he is working on a new dwarf army even as we speak and hopes to have something to show soon. 

So look out for that if you are a fan of his work. 

Onwards then... Today we discuss the Marauder Undead Contingent released in WD 136 in 1991. Looking at them now, its hard to see through the rather basic paintjob isn't it? But then again, the old addage goes - 'don't judge a book by its cover' and I suppose its relevant to model soliders too! Sure, the paint job presented in the photograph leaves quite a bit to be desired, based on past Citadel glories, and whiffs faintly of the yet to come 'Red Period', but its not that bad! I mean, the banners are quite good and there was even a photocopy version of each on the associated WD article (see below). 

Personally, I don't like the monopose regiments of archers and Grim Reapers, though I know a number of well known wargamers (the famous Harry from Warseer for example) who really enjoy building and fielding units in this way. I remember enjoying one of his games from the sidelines once, and he took me over to a unit and was very passionate about the way the same model created the 'look' he was after. I expect that there will be a fairly equal number of gamers out there from both camps.

The skeletons are much more up my street here and I wish there was a closer shot of them. I like the way the banner and shields tie the unit together in such a cohesive way. 

White Dwarf also carried a little painting article alongside the models. Look at that! Words! There are probably more words on that single page than in entire modern White Dwarfs. 

Now if you were a follower of Marauder releases, you would have no doubt recognised most of the figures in the contingent. Look closer and you can see that the leader of the force, a Necromancer, is a new sculpt. The page below shows you in glorious monochrome what the rest of the options for leader were - a liche and a vampire respectively. Oh, and a couple of wights. 

I doubt that I'd ever consider collecting this range. I just have too many old school Citadel skeletons to ever need any more, apart from a few more archers perhaps. But I am sure these unique models have their fans. 

Are you one of them?

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Mounted Chaos Knights and Dark Elf Shadow Scouts

Welcome back to Realm of Chaos 80s! If you are anything like me, you are probably thoroughly sated by the excess of the Christmas period and ready to settled down once again into something that resembles a routine. I am quite lucky as I still have well over a week off before the return to school and I always use this time to get a good bit of painting done, usually finishing off some of those projects that never quite made it through the rest of the year. 

Before I dust off the paint brushes and get started, let's discuss the next installment of Acceptable in the '80s: my history of the Warhammer Third Edition. By now we have reached December 1990 and things are really beginning to change at Games Workshop. Bryan Ansell, for so long the visionary behind the Warhammer Mythos, had been spending more and more time overseas expanding the company in the USA. The sale of the company was only months away. The first signs of the future of Warhammer and 40K can be seen... The beginning of the phasing out of RPGs, streamlining the rulesets and a major shift towards a much younger market. 

The Golden Age of Games Workshop was drawing to a close. 

Still, Citadel and Marauder still had plenty of gems to share with us as we shall see. 

Marauder Mounted Chaos Warriors

Now the first thing you notice about these models is how closely they resemble the 'on-foot' versions we talked about in September. If you are not sure what I mean by this then pop over to this article on the Marauder Chaos Warriors. They are obviously conversions based on the original models, with changes to the weapons (most notably the lance) and legs. I have always found it curious that Marauder didn't put out any more chaos warrior models, especially when you consider how popular the figures are, but there you go.

These models are now highly sought after with the collectors and the horse can often sell for £10 each! Personally, I much prefer the Citadel warriors myself but I can appreciate why these models still prove very popular with people today.

Its the painting that interests me the most though, especially those shields. The tree bough example (bottom left) we have spoken about before on this blog and is one of my favourite freehand shields. Like all great designs for shields and banners, its really quite simple but the orange background creates a great sense of brooding atmosphere. The second freehand design (bottom right) has always reminded me of a Tzeentchian chilli pepper but continues the theme of using a bright background with darker foreground detail.

A very effective combination.

The other two models sport the new plastic Marauder shields and these, though they paint up very well, spell the beginning of what we would come to expect, shields and banners with all the detail provided. The age of the freehand design being actively encouraged by 'Eavy Metal and Games Workshop generally was passing with the shift to a younger market.

Dark Elf Shadow Scouts 

Now I must admit to not really having taken notice of this little set of models before writing this article. Looking at the models now, I find that I really, really like them. They share some elements with Bob Naismith's original sculpts but that have a strong nautical flavour that makes them seem all the more piratical.

Again, the paint jobs on these models really bring out the feeling that these menacing chaps are reavers of the sea. Brought up on saltwater and slaughter. They are a worthy contribution to any Dark Elf force in my opinion. 

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Miniatures Chaos Thug Regiment

The ad as it originally appeared in WD 130

Hello all. This post is the first I have shared since I started messing around with the look of the blog. Its remained pretty much the same for nearly three years now and I felt like fiddling around with the background and banner a little. Its early days, and I may well scrap it altogether and do something entirely different. The great old school Games Workshop coverage will continue though, don't you worry, and the many thousands of your who visit the site each day will still get to enjoy the same old stuff. 

Why mess with a successful formula?

Issue 130 of White Dwarf didn't just contain the marvellous Chivalry rules or the launch of Mighty Empires (more on that soon) it also contained the now regular release from Marauder Miniatures. This time it was the turn of the Marauder Chaos Thug regiment, and judging by how many of these I have seen for sale online over the years, they must have really sold well. That, or everyone is trying desperately to get rid of them!

But are the models any good? We have seen through past editions of this series that for every classic Marauder Miniature that we examine there are one or two real duds. In my opinion, the Chaos Thugs that we are looking at today reside somewhere in the middle of those two categories. 

They are neither hit nor miss. 

If truth be told I always hated the Marauder interpretation of the range, much preferring the look and variation of the Citadel range. Its hard to compare a mere six models with the breadth of the fevered imaginings of the Citadel design team in the latter half of the 1980s but in hindsight its clear that the Morrisons haven't attempted to. Instead, they have taken a different approach, redesigning the thug regiment as a missile unit armed with fearsome bows and ever more fearsome hairstyles. 

A much better copy sac of the range.

The standard bearer model is probably the best of the bunch and that hand painted banner is lovely. The champion and leaser models suffer a bit with 'silly pose syndrome' and the musician looks like he has got lost from filming of Robin Hood Men in Tights. I don't think the colour scheme does the miniatures justice either. Too busy. Only have two variants for the trooper models also doesn't help and I cannot imagine painting a twenty man unit of those would be much fun.

Still, they provide chaos players with an opportunity to field some missile troops in the armies, and if you have ever field a Khorne force you will know how useful such things are!

All in all. Not classics, but far from crap either!

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Beastmen

Issue 129 of White Dwarf came and went following the now familiar pattern of abundant Rogue Trader and Big Box game stuff, including the seminal Space Marine Armour Variants by Rick Priestley. Warhammer Fantasy Battle is relegated to a few painted figures in the 'Eavy Metal section and the now ubiquitous Marauder Miniatures release.

That month, it was chaos beastmen. 

Now I have many, many Citadel beastmen in my collection, including thirty-odd painted up examples, all of which are different, Back in the early '90s, it was much the same, though most of my models were but sad daubings with paint and brush - a bit like today according to some! Still, I really enjoyed the range for its malevolence and diversity. Even the old Ral Partha beastmen were worthy of ranking up alongside the Citadel ones I had, in fact, many of them were even more zany and bizarre as the mid to late '80s ranges. 

The trouble with the Marauder range was that they just were not as good. They just became the generic muscular goated head men that they would remain, largely, until this day. I expect that producing models to a more coherent design philosophy was much much easier than just letting your sculptors run amok with their wild imaginations, and to be far, some of the examples produced between 1985-7 are really rather naff, but there are more than enough diamonds amongst them to make the risk worthwhile. 

Perhaps Marauder lacked the resources or time and these models were all they had time to produce. At the time I was sorely disappointed by this release, and my feelings haven't changed to this day. There are many great models in the Marauder range (Ogres? Chimera?) but these beastmen are not part of that elite group. 

Even today, with all the sculpting technology that companies have at their beck-and-call, most of the ranges I have seen still hark back to this generic model. The goat man. I think this is largely due to the influence of modern plastic Warhammer figures, after all the other companies just ape the biggest fish, but I for one would really like to see a more frightening, mutated, varied range arrive one day!

Hopefully, sculpted by Kev Adams at the Foundry! (;

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Black Orcs, Dark Elf Assassins, Chimera and War Wyvern

It seems to be a case of long time no see here are Realm of Chaos 80s! Well that would be down to the fact that I have gone and injured myself. Nothing serious, but enough to prevent me from sitting at a desk for more that five minutes without serious discomfort! Hence a lack of postings on this blog, or anywhere else either for that matter. Now before you go imagining acts of daring-do, it was merely a crick of the back after picking up my two year old daughter, but it was a thorough pain!

On top of that, it appears that my email account has been totally spammed while my eye was away and now I need to have a major deleting session of junk. If you are waiting on a response for me, please do email again incase I have missed you while I have been away!

Anyway, back to business... Our little journey through Warhammer Third Edition is coming to its conclusion. We are well into 1990 now and the game as we knew it only had about eighteen months of 'officialdom' left! Things have certainly changed enormously during its lifetime - with the release of more and more plastic kits, a shift in style in regards to sculpting and the incredible success of Rogue Trader/Warhammer 40,000.

But believe it or not, there are still a few items to document and one such release is what I bring forth for your reading pleasure today.

MM27 Giant Black Orcs

Now these were a popular release back in the day, as I can recall seeing them in nearly everyone else's collection but my own. That fact that some of them (C and D particularly) are nearly always on eBay is perhaps testimony to how many were bought over the years. The first thing you will probably notice if you are comparing these models with the earlier Citadel ones from the 1980s is just how large they are. The are very, very big goblinoid models indeed, even by today's standards. I must admit to having owned model C quite recently, and I think I have lost him somewhere, and for quite a while I was put off painting him up due to the model's enormous size. Since researching this article, I have discovered that I was quite wrong in my original view that these models are just another example of the 'oversized' nature of Warhammer in the 1990s. In fact, these models are supposed to represent that very largest, meanest 'Black Orcs' to be found in the Old World or anywhere else!

Obviously, you are going to be hard pressed to get a varied unit out of just four models, though I have met enthusiasts who just love ranks of identical models all painted up and looking in the same direction. Each to their own and all. My feeling is that these miniatures would make fantastic character models for champions and leaders of your Orc warbands. I particularly like the first two models (A and B) in that regard.

Do they stand up against Kev Adam's best work? They have a certain brutish cunning that gives them a clear sense of character yes, and they are varied enough to avoid the 'indenti-kit' look of more modern orcs and goblins. I would still seek out Kev's work as a preference (but that is just my personal taste) but I would be happy inlcuding these big lads in any goblin horde I was amassing.

M73/5 Dark Elf Assassins

These are not my favourite releases from Marauder I must admit. I just cannot get on with the concept behind the models. To me, they really do look like members of a really poor heavy metal band circa 1987. There are shades of Spinal Tap in there too! Perhaps this was deliberate but they really are not as good as Bob Naismith's Dark Elves and Witch Elves that he produced in 1987. This is a real shame, as there is much to commend the Marauder Dark Elf ranges we have already seen, especially the cavalry. I won't be in any hurry to acquire these I can tell you.

MB08 Orc War Wyvern

Looking back, I have absolutely no memory of these model anywhere. Not even in the pages of White Dwarf or on eBay. If I think 'War Wyvern' I instantly think of the Citadel Miniatures boxed version and nothing else. The fact that a painted version of that model appears in the WFB3 rulebook only further solidifies the image of that model in my mind.

That is probably the problem with this model for many. It lives in the shadow of its grander, more well known and perhaps more iconic big brother. Its not a bad model at all and the additional of a choice about the rider, between Champion and Shaman, is also a boon. In fact, the riders are quite useful if you are after character models or even a little variation on other mounted units.

But the model does lead me to one question! Why don't orcs ever ride horses?

MM44/2 Chimera

Now this is a good solid model. Considering that it is supposed to represent a mythical/chaotic beast of terrifying power, it goes some distance at actually suggesting that the creature in question is seriously substantial. For starters, the model really is a great size and seems to dwarf the square monster base upon which it resides. The choice of heads is also worthy of note for the range on offer, with the eagle and rat heads being my favourites. To me, this version of the beast is the definitive one put out by GW over the years. A lovely model and one I really do recommend you pick up if you are into collecting or fielding monsters.



Acceptable in the '80s: White Dwarf 127, Marauder Undead and Flagellants

Unfortunately, my scanner is broken and so I am left with the only remaining option when detailing this series, photographing articles of interest with my phone. Not an ideal way to gather up historical evidence, but its all I have to use at the moment. If you happen to have better quality images of these pages, or can scan them, I would be very grateful and its fairly easy to replace photographs once a blog has been posted. 

Onwards and upwards then. Issue 127 is one of the all time classics, especially if you are into the Eldar. For it was within the pages of this issue that their background saw its first major relaunch. There are literally pages, and pages of art, fluff and such but this is a series of  blog posts that focuses on Warhammer Third Edition, not Rogue Trader, so commenting on these extracts will need to wait for another day. 

As we have come to expect, there is a little here that would interest hardcore Warhammer fans. As we know, Warhammer was in decline at this point, largely due to the runaway success of Rogue Trader, and the explosion of Big Box Games, including the massive selling Heroquest. There was plenty of fantasy around, it just wasn't Warhammer Fantasy

Marauder's monthly release for issue 127 were primarily undead. Let'a have a look at the minis in a bit more detail shall we?

I remember being disappointed by these back in 1990, and despite my changing views on Marauder as a range, I am still disappointed with them now. These skeletons just aren't as good at the older Citadel ones. The skulls look like comedic Halloween masks and the poses are very dull. I get the feeling looking at them now that they were most likely knocked out quite quickly, especially when you compare them to the lovingly put together Imperial Dwarf range by Marauder. 

There are some great ideas on a few of the models though, such as skeletons A, B and C in MM50/5, who have a strange appeal. I think its the cross between pantomime villain and mongol warrior! But overall these are not models that I will ever be adding to the collection. Perhaps I am being unfair, and please do let me know if you think I am, as it may just be the paint jobs that make these models look the way they do, but I very much doubt it. 

The Flagellants are are a different kettle of fish. Though a little obscured by the quality of the my photography, these are quite characterful models. The all look interesting and have yet to acquire the impossibly muscled look of the later plastic versions. Interestingly, flagellants were first mentioned (as far as I know away) back in 1987's Warhammer Armies book, but this is the first time we see some models produced distinctly to represent them. In my opinion, the style of sculpting is very different with these models, and reflect what was going to come with the Warhammer miniature line rather than fitting in with what had gone before. 

What are your views of these models? Is it yeah or nay for the skellies? Are you a fan of the flagellants? Please share. 

Orlygg

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Chaos Warriors, Champion on Griffon, Cockatrice and Reiksgard

The next release to document in this history of Warhammer Third edition are presented here for your viewing pleasure. A bit of a mash up this time, with the release schedule moving away from army deals and towards smaller (relatively) miniatures. The MM91 Chaos Warriors are probably the most well known today, and represent the mere handful of chaos warriors that Marauder put out (there were later some mounted versions) and can be found very easily on eBay. They follow on and use many of the motifs we have seen in earlier Citadel chaos warriors over the lifespan of this blog series. Horns, twisted helm-faces, scale-mail, chainmail and so on. 

Looking at the models left to right, the first is rather squat and has obviously rolled 'John Wayne's legs' on the chaos attributes table, or otherwise was sculpted with sitting on a horse in mind. The second model looks rather triumphant, wielding a rather unlikely mace high above his head and all he needs are a collection of severed heads on his base to give him that special psychopath look. The final model is by far my favourite, and plays less on the generic themes of a chaos warrior. This model whiffs positively of the 1980s classic film, 'Labyrinth, and looking at him now I kind of wish there was a David Bowie inspired 'Goblin-King' model (attired with a suitably eye-brow raising high-trousers/codpiece set up) to lurk rather mystically in the background. Probably to twirl his steel balls!

A great, great sculpt. I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but similar to many of the other 'mini-me' miniatures that you get with Marauder, this model has his own doppleganger in the guise of the crewman of the Chaos Dwarf Swivel gun. Perhaps it was his little brother?

Its not mine, no...

The Reiksgard are not as interesting, and I can honestly say I have never noticed them on eBay - not that I was looking, but considering what I know about the amount of models GW were selling at this point there must be many thousands of them out there. Perhaps its the painting. Perhaps it the photography, but I struggle to like them here. Perhaps I should track one done and paint it to see if my judgments are fair?

The MM43 Chaos Champion on War Griffon suffers from a bit of 'static leg syndrome' with the way its claw juts out like the riding beast is a trained gundog and is dutifully indicting its master's quarry. The rest of the body looks okay, but perhaps this month's photography suffered from gremlins and the models came out looking a little worse for wear. I will reserve judgement on this model until I see a better example of it. I am sure you dutiful readers will have your own opinions on him. 

The cockatrice looks like a decent model but suffers from a rather garish paintjob. I cannot recall if Citadel did a cockatrice of their own to compare it with but I expect that I shall be chasing down this model when my Warhammer Bestiary painting challenge reaches the point of monsters.  

Some nice line drawings accompany the models, and we have another glance at the rather bland Marauder minotaurs. I thought I would include it here for completeness sake. 

Orlygg

Acceptable in the '80s: Dark Elf Cavalry and Cold One Riders

We have reached issue 125 of White Dwarf now in our history of Warhammer Third Edition and the big releases this month are the excellent Marauder Dark Elf Cavalry and Cold One Riders. I have seen a number of very well painted versions of these models over the last couple of years and I have always fancied having a go at them myself. Sadly, I have yet to win any auctions for any of these beautiful models!

Let's a have a look at them then shall we?

The first thing that may well strike you when studying these models are the distinct differences between them and the Bob Naismith range from three years before. These models are chunkier and more military in their look. I don't know about you, but there seems to be a late Roman feel in the design, especially with the cavalry figures on the top of the page. 

It appears to my eyes that there is a single creature model ( an armoured horse and cold one) and a range of interchangable bodies and weapons. Lots and lots of options then, and perhaps more importantly, a range of attachable weapons, showing once again a sign of things to come. 

The second page from this advert shows off those addition weapons in line drawn extra detail. 

Spears, hand weapons and crossbows certainly give you plenty of options when it comes to putting these models together and reminds me very much of the more recent GW box sets from which you can build different types of units. The small print at the top of the ad conforms this, telling us that units of 'Doomsteeds, Dark Riders, Helldrakes and Doomdrakes' can be created from these models. 

The painted colour schemes are also worth a mention, with the orange, red and black look being quite striking. I have always painted my dark Elves in golds and purples and these two units have shown me that other schemes work just as well. 

Well, before I disappear int the ether of the Realms of Chaos of the 1980s once more, I shall leave you with this advert for the original GW Warhammer Novels. Expect a series of posts about this books coming in the weeks ahead as I hope to re-read them and review them for your old school enjoyment!

Orlygg

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Giant and Giant Slayers

Ahhh! The Marauder Giant! For a long, long time this was THE Warhammer giant and was a popular choice for Golden Demon painters well into the 1990s. I can recall being obsessed with the model back in the day but I don't think I ever saw the miniature itself until I bought one last year. At the time, I was ever so pleased to have picked one up so cheaply and set about immediately cleaning it up and prepping the model for painting. As another who has handled one of these will know, it weighs a ton but is so beautifully designed that it fits together so smoothly and needs the minimum of gap filling with putty. 

I never got the model finished though, and recently dismantled it for stripping once more. My reason? I am not sure, but I feel out of love with the model despite its many good qualities. I have searched my mind for the reasons why and I think its just a case of over exposure. The giant was so successful for so long that they are absolutely everywhere - just try a eBay search for Warhammer giant and you're sure to hit a least 10 in the first few minutes. 

My feelings aside, its a beautiful sculpt and a great piece of engineering and any Oldhammerer really needs one in their collection. Though not as large as the earlier Citadel Giant, its still a big beast and its sheer size is a spectacular sight just glued together as bare metal. Have a look at the diagram to see all the different pieces in the image below if you are not familiar with its dimensions. 

The Marauder Giant Slayers are also fun, though they are not a patch on the Renaissance styled dwarfs we have discussed previously. They have a fair bit of variation and the odd amusing feature, such as the peg leg on one of the character models, but I prefer the Citadel ones released as part of the dwarf range. They seem too cuddly to me and don't really represent the frenzied deathwish viewpoint that the background suggests. I own them all and have long considered painting them up as they a amusing little chaps, perhaps as part of a scenario using the giant also. Time will tell where that project will go! 

Mention must be made of these line drawings for Dark Elf cavalry. They are part of GW's increasing move away from single cast models into the era of the multi-part kit, though in truth this had been on the rise for some time. We will have a more detailed look at these models in a later post as some beautifully painted examples were published later. 

Until then I shall leave you with a question - are you a friend or foe of the Marauder Giant? Is it a model that excites you? Have you a painted example in your collection? Or are you like me, a bit over exposed? 

Basically, do you love or loathe the model?

Do share! 

Orlygg

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Orc and Goblin Army

Hello all... We arrive among the pages of White Dwarf 124 today and have a look at a very well known release of the Marauder Orc and Goblin army, otherwise known as Uzgrim's Marauders. For me, this was 'the Warhammer army' of the time and I can recall this spread of photographs being pored over by myself and my schoolyard friends avidly. Even now, its a great looking army made up from the rather good goblinoid range that the Morrisons put out in the late '80s. Though of course, they are no Kevin Adams sculpts! 

Many of the models we have seen before, such as the goblin chariot, but many are fresh to this release. One thing that strikes me looking through these miniatures are all the little handpainted banners added to most of the units. Considering that the 'Eavy Metal team painted these as a favour to the Morrisons, they have done a really good job here to say the least. 

One thing that I have spotted here is a return of the strange bulbous mace head weapon seen on earlier goblins in the Citadel range on one of the fanatics - a nice touch! As with all the goblinoids from Marauder there is a distinct Mongol feel to their armour and weapons. This 'look' really helps differentiate the two ranges. 

As with the Dark Elf force before, the army was accompanied with a little bit of background and more interestingly, a series of illustrations to help create the banners shown in many of the photographs. I can recall asking my mum to copy these at work (as at that time they only photocopier I ever saw was in the hospital my mother helped run) and coloured them in very badly with my Citadel Colour paints. 

My efforts at painting banners and flags wouldn't improve really for a further twenty-five years!

All in all... This is a great army. I wish it was still available today!

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Ogres and Orc Battle Chariot

Welcome back to my series that charts the history of  Warhammer Third Edition through its releases. Today we will be taking a look at a single page of Marauder miniatures, namely the Orc Battle Chariot and the excellent ogres.

Starting with the Orc Battle Chariot, I must say I have always been quite impressed by this model. It's chunky and brutal but not ridiculous in its dimensions. The wolves are small and spiteful and the construction of the chariot seems plausible enough. What is worth pointing out are the choices of crew available in the set - a driver, an archer, a champion and a warlord. This allows the collector or old school gamer a choice about how to portray the chariot. 

The ogres are probably far more famous and easily match up against the iconic Jes Goodwin examples. Where Jes's work is rich in variation, the Marauder set is more uniform, most likely because they are actually in... Well... Err... Uniforms! These models are well sculpted and more realistic then the Citadel set. Special mention should be made over the renaissance clothing, which is really interesting and original. This look makes across the dwarf and human range and would make a fine army all on it's own.

A fine collection of models in all. The ogre with the cannon is probably the best ogre sculpted!

Orlygg

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Releases from White Dwarf 120 and 121

With the weather being so hot at the time of writing, I have found it hard to do little but laze about on my holidays and cook tasty meals for my family. Oldhammer related work has ground to a halt. Things seem a little cooler today, so I am back at the desk, though my goal at the moment is review the next releases of Marauder miniatures rather than wield the paint brush. Right then, where are we in this journey through Warhammer Third Edition? These releases featured in White Dwarf 120 and 121 and saw the introduction to something that got many of us fantasy nuts drooling - Marauder regiment and army deals. 

Issue 120 saw the arrival of some more Dark Elves into the range, or more precisely, Witch Elves. I find these models rather chunky and frankly, rather manly. The Bob Naismith Dark Elves are much better in my opinion, and far more lithe. I traded some away a few days ago to Stuart and am now lamenting their loss. Still, their absence from the collection just gives an excuse to buy some more in the future. The paintjobs are little better and have a distinct whiff of the 'Red Period' of painting that followed the 'Classic' Bryan Ansell years. 

Things improve further down the page with a second visit to the incredible Marauder dwarfs. I have written about these before and I have stated that they are probably the greatest dwarfs ever cast. My opinion hasn't changed since my last visit to the models and the standard bearer is a thing of beauty, both for the actual sculpting and its exquisite paint job. In fact, the entire command range are practically perfect and shame the entire modern dwarf line all the way to the headmistress' office. 

Finally, we have the Orc stone thrower. Considering they are not by Kev Adams, these greenskins are really rather good, though shades of the Man Mangler remain. I would be happy to own this model and paint it up for my Goblinoid army, as I expect would many of you. 

It being the very late 1980s at this point, colour photographs in magazines were still expensive and black and white was still used extensively- its funny what you forget, isn't it? Sadly, we have no photographs of the remaining Witch Elves, nor the goblin regiment but what we do have is an intriguing reminder of the Marauder Blade painting competition. Its often forgotten these days and I wonder what happened to all those blades?

And so we are on to White Dwarf 121 and the first army deal from Marauder. I loved these as a youngest for two reasons. One, the painted models. Two, the background context that the army was put in. Many of the models on show here were previously shown only as line drawing and its fantastic to see many of them, even though some of obscured in the second rank. Two models here catch my eye as being worth a mention, namely the Deathcap Hero (in a classic pose for a single cast model) and the brilliant standard bearer. 

And here is the rest of the force. Gorgeous when arrayed together. The perfect mix of riotous colour and conformity which, perhaps rather surprisingly, works as a whole. Of note here are the excellent Marauder shields, which are a mixture of freehand designs and painted cast patterns. The price is enough to make you weep all these years later, £50 for 78 Dark Elves, 4 Warhounds and a FREE Darklord and Deathdealer on Cold Ones. I for one, recall pouring over this article and vainly attempting to construct a plan that would see me having £50 to spend on them. I failed, as I expect did many of you! Still, it just goes to show, GW did once do deals.  

A simple army list has been included at the end of the article along with an intriguing ad for Abandon Art. These days Fantasy and Science Fiction tropes have become rather mainstream, especially in the world of computer games and have in many cases become rather generic. One bald 'Space Marine' looks much like another in games like Mass Effect, Gear of War and so on. Fantasy has had a similar fate, though there have been exceptions, like the startling original world of Morrowind in the Elder Scrolls series. Adverts like this remind us that back in the later '80s Fantasy was much less mainstream as it is now and subsequently was treated a little more seriously. A quick glance at some of the artists involved is impressive and I would certainly love to walk through the gallery to this day! 

The final image shows off the Warhounds in further detail. I haven't got much to say about them really apart from pointing out that the dogs do look a little 'cute'. When compared with the Troll Slayers you can catch another whiff of the 'Red Period' with the dominance of that shade, and its cousins, in the paint schemes. I rather like the Troll Slayers, don't you?

What is interesting is that the Painting Competition I mentioned earlier seems to have been renamed in the past month. Its now the 1990 marauder Blade Painting Competition. It sounds MUCH more impressive doesn't it. I wonder who won it and what the winning entry was? 

Anyone know out there?

Orlygg

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Miniatures' Chaos Dwarfs and Dwarf Regiment

White Dwarf 117 contains little that would interest the hardcore Warhammer Fantasy battler. Rogue Trader and the big box games dominate the proceedings entirely. Then two pages of brightly coloured miniatures draw the eye and reveal two ranges of miniatures that would become some of the most collectible from any period before or since. 

The Marauder chaos dwarfs and the dwarf regiment!

Now what makes the chaos dwarfs even more remarkable is the fact that they are little tributes to the earlier chaos warrior range from about 1985, the one with the Slambo miniature in. Can you spot the model that apes his design in the photograph above? These models are great fun and fit in very closely with the scale and themes of previous Citadel stunties. Beware if you want to set about collecting these as I have seen one or two of them reach quite high prices for chaos dwarfs, though they are all pretty readily available on online auction sites. It is also worthy of noting the colour schemes given here as I feel the tones chosen are top notch and there is a great deal of inspiration here for any enthusiast attempting to paint up any heavily armed chaos warriors, thugs or dwarfs. 

I have yet to begin collecting Marauder in any great amount but a set of these lovely models will be at the top of my list when I begin doing so. 

Oh, how I remember this regiment! I can recall loving these for the moment I flicked through the pages of this WD and planned how I could possibly afford them on £5 a month pocket money. I can recall searching under the beds and behind the sofa to amass enough to get my hands on these. The pitiful collection of copper pennies I unearthed wouldn't even have paid the postage and to this day I still haven't managed to get hold of any of these. Probably because everyone else is after them too!

I am happy to go out on a limb and say that this collection is probably the best range of dwarfs ever produced, with the command models worthy of particular praise. So full of character and little detail, these models seem to breathe life to the paint that is adhered upon them. They are just excellent, excellent, excellent! The two ranges at the bottom of the page, in the glory days of ordering whatever you could, allowed you to create whole regiments of greatswords, halbardiers and musketeers. A very well thought out range this. Which just goes to show why they are still so popular twenty-five years later. 

I am envious of anyone of you fellow enthusiasts who owns a collection of these! Do these wonderful models have any more fans out there? If so, please share you thoughts on them in the usual way! 

Orlygg

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Orcs and Dwarfs

White Dwarf 116 had little Warhammer Fantasy content. As I have said in previous posts, the game was finished with and a new success was looming on the horizon, Warhammer 40,000. For the next couple of years, articles that expanded on the skirmish system published in Rogue Trader in 1987 were expanded and developed to turn the game into a fully fledged battle system. Additionally, we are now in the era of the BIG BOX GAME, and so a great many pages of White Dwarf were spent detailing these releases, most notably the first edition of Space Marine. 

Still, there are gems hidden here and there. Such as the subject of today's post, the Marauder Orcs. I have shared by opinions on the Goblinoids before, and you will be aware that only Kev Adams can truly bring these creatures to life in miniature form. But I must admit, the Morrisons did a really good job with theirs!

The sculpts ooze the cruel malice of the orc race very well but still retain the comic touches of earlier releases. I am particularly fond of the different interpretation of the armour. The Morrisons give us a rather Mongol themed look that is distinctly different from the Citadel range. On the downside, these models are large. This was the beginning of the increase in size of models that the later '80s saw and the the design change from realistic clothing and weaponry to oversized 'comic book' equipment that still presides to this day. Still, this is still a characterful range with plenty going for it. Does it have any fans out there?

Also released in WD116 were some Marauder dwarfs. Sadly, there are no painted examples here and the range is shown purely through old fashioned line drawings. I don't really know a great deal about the MM10 dwarfs, as my knowledge is primarily of the renaissance style dwarfs that came a few months later. Any readers out there care to review these? If you have a large number of these models it would be interesting to hear you opinions on them or even see some photographs.

Cheers, 

Orlygg.

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Dwarf War Machines, Marauder Wood Elves and Bretonnian Knights

Last time we spoke about the history of Warhammer Fantasy Battle Third Edition we took a little sidestep to have a look at the way Heroquest was launched. Over the coming months, there were several articles published for the game and more complex scenarios were provided for Advanced Heroquest. The astonishing success of the game helped encourage the company's future owners to concentrate on the younger market.

'Our Warhammer' still had a number of years to exist though, before 3rd edition made way for the radical change that was 4th, though it is worth remembering that The Lost and the Damned remained as a major supplement still in development. As I have said before, true Warhammer III articles were very much in decline though the later part of '89 and into the 1990s. Even the miniature releases slowed. However, Marauder Miniatures began to produce more and more Warhammer Third Edition army sets and started publishing them as army deals. I am sure that many readers of this blog who purchased White Dwarf during this period will remember the full colour adverts for these.

By issue 115, Marauder had been going strong for quite some time (around two years) and subsequently had a lot of models to release. I know, from Andy Craig, that the models that Marauder produced were painted by the 'Eavy Metal team as a favour to Aly and Trish Morrison. However, not all the models that Marauder produced were photographed in these adverts. The stalwart of 1980s advertising, the line drawn image, was used to illustrate some ranges, while photographs were used for others.

The releases from 115 concerned Dwarf War Machines and Wood Elves. So without any more waffle, let's have a look at them.  

At the time I loved the Marauder dwarf range. In later years, I began to loathe the models as they represented, to me anyway, the awful 'big hands oversized weapons' era of Citadel Miniatures. A lot of the blame was put on the step of Marauder, but after years of study and discussions with interested and involved parties I have come to really appreciate this range once more. The late-Medieval look was a great choice for the tone of the models and moved away from the Viking style stunties we had seen in the past. The faces were packed with character, vital for a dwarf in my opinion, and some of the better models tell their own little tales in 28mm. This page reveals to the world some of the siege engines that the dwarfs could field, namely the Organ, Siege and Swivel Guns, listed here with nostalgic prices when compared to today's collectors market. 

These models are well worth owning of you are a fan of Citadel or Marauder or indeed both. Especially if you have the spearmen as well. One day I have promised myself I'd work on a dwarf army of considerable size, and these models will be some of the first I will be chasing. 

The Wood Elves did not get so lucky. They were lumbered with this month's line drawn adverts. I actually own a few of the Marauder wood elves but I cannot recognise mine among these, so perhaps there were other releases. Not much can really be drawn from the images as its hard to appraise miniatures through drawings alone. I pick up a faint 'native American' vibe going on here, don't you? Something about some of the hairstyles and clothing reminds me of the really bad westerns that used to play on Sunday afternoons during the late '80s. 

The final miniature release relating to Warhammer Third Edition in WD 115 are these wonderful Bretonnian knights, designed to make use of the new Citadel plastic horse. These models are really much larger than many miniatures Citadel released during 1988 and are in some cases twice the size of the old 'Baron's War' range that served as the Sons of Breton for so many years. I think this size increase may have more to do with the limits of plastic casting technology at the time rather than any conscious effort to make things larger, but that is just my opinion. 

Having a glance over the models, you can see that the Perry's have produced another solid set of models here. What else would you expect? They have always produced solid sets of models. This are far more 'historical' looking that what would come later in 4th edition and I have always wondered if the historical market was in mind when these were originally produced. I have a number of these models kicking about and they are lovely to paint. I expect that a great number of these models still see service in historical armies to this day, explaining why some of them reach very high prices on eBay. 

What are your thoughts on the models discussed today?

Orlygg