Friday, 16 June 2017

Ral Partha Trolls, by Bob Olley

Well, I finally got around to taking photos for my second Bob Olley installment: Ral Partha Trolls, circa the early 1990s. 

Trolls come in all shapes and sizes.  Every edition of D&D seemed to have a new concept art of the creature, and modelling companies added their own ideas to the already large mix. 

The Ral Partha Fantasy Armies sculpts by Bob Olley in the early 1990s were done in a similar style to his Ogre line.  These models however, while being the same height, are thinner in the face and arms.  A gangly look permeates the whole line.  These trolls do not claw or bite; they hack you to death with sword, axe and scythe (or hit you with a rock).  Then they eat you.

The Fantasy Armies line consists of 12 sculpts, 9 of which are shown below.  The Shaman, Standard Bearer and Leader are in my lead pile.  I saw no real reason yet to finish them ahead of other projects.  All of these can be purchased from Ral Partha Europe at very reasonable prices.

The Family
The nice thing about these sculpts is that they fit very nicely into Bobs Ogre line.  They can easily pass for a different kind of Ogre, similar to how there are different kinds of human beings.  Since my goal was to build a large army fit for Warhammer or Kings of War I decided to paint this line in the same color scheme as my Ogres: Reaper Master Series Olive Skin Tone Triad.   This gives me a large model selection with almost no duplicate models.  This not normally possible with older metal model ranges.



I followed the same tartan pattern as my Ogres: Ritterlich Blue, Brilliant Blue and Cyan Blue, with Swamp Green, Military Green and Camo Green lines.


Most fur was done in Walnut Brown, drybrushed with Blacked Brown and then Intense Brown (another Reaper triad).




Ral Partha Troll Rock Throwers, with additional ammunition
Stones were done with the Reaper Master series Stone Triad (what a surprise).
Ral Partha Rock Thrower 1

Ral Partha Troll Rock Thrower 2

Ral Partha Troll Rock Thrower 3

Ral Partha Troll Heavy with Axe
 Weapon hafts and shields were done in Woodstain Brown, dry-brushed with Shield Brown and then Driftwood Brown.

Ral Partha Troll with sword
 Bases were done with Basic Dirt, dry-brushed with Brown Sand and Yellowed Bone.

Ral Partha Troll Drummer

Ral Partha Heavy Troll with Greatsword
 Metallic pieces were done in Blackened Steed, washed black and then glazed with Tarnished Steel.

Ral Partha Troll with Sword
 Hair was painted Stormcover Grey, then washed with a highly diluted black.  Then dry-brushed with Ritterlich Blue.  I use dark blues when highlighting black since it is a rich color and looks better than grey.
Ral Partha Troll with Scythe
Overall I am very pleased with this line.  The models fit perfectly with Bobs other sculpts (both from Ral Partha and Reaper).   Hopefully they will eat some new friends soon.


Saturday, 27 May 2017

Ral Partha Ogres, Bob Olley sculpts

Bob Olley is probably my favorite sculptor of all time.  His work for Ral Partha, Citadel and Reaper Miniatures capture, in my opinion, the essence of early Fantasy Roleplaying games and tabletop games.  So, without further ado, I present the Ral Partha Bob Olley Ogre collection.

The original Ral Partha collection contained 13 distinct sculpts.  All are featured below.  Each has a different character all their own.  Being cast almost 30 years ago they are smaller than the huge models which pass for Ogres today from various companies.  Despite their smaller size these guys remain my all time favorite Ogre models from any range.  These figures are true 25mm scale, not 28mm scale.

The Bob Olley Ogre Family
 The whole tribe (well almost), on parade (if Ogres can parade).  I have a couple more kicking around that I have to finish (several actually, from both Ral Partha and Reaper).  These were painted with Reaper Master Series paints, specifically with earth tones with matching tartan fabric (blue and greens) and shaded with my own homemade washes (no GW products here).  This small model count could easily work with Osprey Publishing's Dragon Rampant.  I will have to do a review of this fine system in the near future.  One could also build a much larger Warhammer-style army with these sculpts, since the sculpting variation is sufficient to provide interesting units if painted properly.

Reaper Miniatures Ogre
Bob Olley sculpted the larger Ogre Chief while working for Reaper Miniatures.  His size is somewhat larger than the others, since Reaper does not really manufacture true 25mm scale figures.  However the sculpting contains the same character as his earlier work, so he fits right in (some Ogres are larger than others, just like humans in real life).  This group would count as Bellicose Foot in Dragon Rampant.


Ral Partha Ogre Standard Bearer
 The Tribal Standard Bearer.  I didn't know what to do so his banner is just a larger tartan version of the overall clan.

Ral Partha Ogre Herald
 The Herald is from a separate clan offshoot.  Hence is tartan pattern is reversed. 
Ral Partha Ogre Spearman
 Its all fun and games until someone loses an eye.


Ral Partha Ogre Commander
 The next three are of more heavily armored ogres, the elite of the clan.  In Dragon Rampant they would count as Heavy Foot with the Offensive trait.
Ral Partha Ogre Heavy with Axe

Ral Partha Ogre with Poleaxe and Ogre Champion



The next four are more lightly armored.  In Dragon Rampant they would count as Bellicose Foot.
Ral Partha Ogre Spearman 1 and Guardman with Spear

Ral Partha Ogre with Cleaver

Ral Partha Ogre with Greatsword

Ral Partha Spearman 1


Ral Partha Ogre Crossbowman and Assault Longbowman
 The missile troops form the last part of the clan. The tartan pattern is more pronounced on these guys than others.  This unit would count as a Heavy Missile unit in Dragon Rampant.
Ral Partha Ogre Crossbowman

Ral Partha Ogre Assault Longbowman



I have several more non Bob Olley Ral Partha Ogre sculpts which will be showcased in the future.

Monday, 17 April 2017

Warhammer Fantasy Army - Bretonnia

It has been awhile since I have posted anything.  To be honest the hobby itself has really burned me up.  Painting figures just for the sake of it and putting them into storage seems like a pointless exercise.  I plan to spend no coin on miniatures in 2017.  That will be a first in almost 17 years. 

The splendid forces of Bretonnia!
Down to business.  There are many figures which sit on display in my home which have never appeared on this blog.  I therefore present my Bretonnians, for Warhammer Fantasy.  The army consists of:

2 Heroes mounted on Pegasus.
1 Army Standard Bearer
3 Heroes, mounted on Warhorses
2 Heroes on foot
1 Green Knight
1 Damsel, mounted
2 Damsel, on foot
1 Damsel, mounted on Unicorn
20 Grail Knights
58 Knights of the Realm
8 Questing Knights
10 Mounted Yoemen
8 Pegasus Knights
1 Grail Relique
18 Battle Pilgrims
2 Trebuchet
63 Men At Arms
20 Peasants (from the Old 3rd edition Warhammer, could be used as filler for peasant units)
68 Bowmen (stakes included but not in photos)
10 Scout Bowmen (old Warhammer Robin Hood edition models)



Hero on a Pegasus

Hero on a Pegasus

Heroes

old Citadel Peasants

Grail Relique

Men At Arms

Scouts

Bowmen

Mounted Yoemen

Knights of the Realm

Grail Knights

Knights Errant and Knights of the Realm

Questing Knights

Knights of the Realm

Pegasus Knights

Pegasus Knights

Knights Errant
These chaps have not seen battle in years.  Perhaps some day a worthy opponent will attempt to batter down my drawbridge?

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