When I started painting figures it was Games Workshop that got me hooked. They had a fantastic range of miniatures which were painted to perfection and showcased in White Dwarf magazine by the Eavy Metal staff artists. The figures were fun and you got some really unusual models sometimes.
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| Dwarf with an inferiority complex |
For you younger painters it might seem perfectly normal that they only make miniatures for use in their own mass combat games now but it wasn't always that way. Back in the 80s Games Workshop used to make some of the best figures for roleplaying around. Generally figures came in blister packs with three random models from each range. So if you bought a pack from the range 'Fighters' you would be able to look through the blisters and pick the set with the three figures you wanted.
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| Games Workshop Mordheim Elf Mage |
Now of course those days are past and everything is geared towards the Warhammer mass combat games. With the notable exception of the Mordheim skirmish game. There are some very good figures made for that game like the Elf Mage on the left.
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| Great Value from Reaper Miniatures |
Which brings me to the rant part of this post. That single figure costs £8.20 +£3.00p&p. Thats £11.20 for a single figure! To put that into perspective you can get the Reaper Miniatures figure on the right for under a fiver including postage. And this is not an isolated issue, Games Workshop figures, despite now being mostly plastic have rocketed in price. I'm rather glad I use figures for Roleplaying and not for Wargaming or i'd be perpetually broke.
As I doubt i'll be buying many Games Workshop figures in the future (mainly because they are geared towards battles rather than adventures) I thought i'd post some photos of a miniature I painted for my local games store many years ago. I hope you enjoy them.
M8 you are so right. And let's not forget that White Dwarf magazine along with its sister publication Dragon magazine used to cater to all rp games and not just Warhammer. Gone are those days now as the almighty $ seems to hold sway. That is one spell that will be hard to break....how many natural 20's can you roll in a row?
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