The Headtaker - MM25 Marauder Orc (1989)

Got this on eBay, who knows when. It was definitely in a bundle. I am not an Orc lover, to be honest, but this figure looked cool. So when Phil Gregory aka oldmanpaints launched his Old Orc competition for Orctober, this is what I found in my lead pile. Literally, the only Orc there was.

I learned only later that this is a Marauder MM25 Orc, sculpted in 1989 by Aly Morrison and sold in a blister of four. I love the heavy armour that defines Black Orcs, heavy scale hauberk that contrast with the later Middlehammer silly plates with spikes and horns. The shield was missing and I decided to play with a couple of Elf heads taken from the GW Zombies sprue, and so the Headtaker was born.

I had lots of fun painting this, mostly because looking at other painters motivated me to improve and experiment. Besides conversion, which is not so common for me, I tried Blood for the Blood God colour with some interesting results. 

 

The final result is a very brutal-looking Orc, displaying the heads of two Elfs, probably captured scouts, while he wields his bloodied axe and offers a bloodied grin. Glorious.

Marauder MM41 Ogre (1990)

The Marauder Ogres, sculpted by Aly Morrison in 1989/1990, are my second favourite Ogres after those made by Jes Goodwin. The interesting thing about them is that they are all dressed in fancy Landksnecht attire, and look like they have been equipped by a generous Imperial patron.

I've painted this one in deep blue and red, the colours of House Bramanti, the princely dynasty ruling over the city of Dralas in the Border Princedoms. It will be used as an Ogre bodyguard to Prince Aldo or his sister, Donna Caterina.

"Out o' the way, ye scum! Here comes the Madonna!"

The Bramanti are not an old dynasty, but they are a successful one. They have thrived by keeping a low profile and managing to unite the many factions of Dralas without threatening any. At the same time, they made sure to defend themselves and keep enemies at bay in many ways. The Bramanti are schemers, and highly respected by merchants for being moderates.

"Go where you know, and take care of the problem for me"

 "Yarp!"

Rombustus Sellsword - Citadel F2 Fighter (1985)

 
This figure of a fighter is marked with the year 1985 but the first picture of it I found is in the Citadel Journal of 1987 where it is included in the F2 Fighters range as Rombustus Sellword. The range is "designed by Aly Morrison, Trish Morrison, Alan & Michael Perry". Which one is the author of this specific sculpt is difficult to say - to me it looks more Morrisonian than Perryish, but I couldn't say which sibling fathered (or mothered) Rombustus.

Our hero boldly strides forward, in a powerful but relaxed way, looking slightly to his left. He carries his shield (currently on the do list) in the left hand, completely lowered, and his bastard sword is levered on his right shoulder, to carry its weight more easily. Rombustus wears high boots and clothes with fashionable slashes on the knees and the whole left arm; his head is adorned with a plumed hat. Plate armour protects his body, waits and right arm up to the hand and is partially covered by an overcoat.

Clearly fond of his image, Rombustus deserved a bright paint-job. I went for a yellow and red scheme on the dress, complemented by green on the overcoat. The rest was left in natural colours, with dark brown leather and metal armour.

I'm overall happy with the result, although painting the slashes on the cloth was really difficult and it didn't turn out as bright and clear as I hoped. I'm currently using this miniature to represent the Protagonist in our latest WFRP game, but it will soon be replaced and Rombustus will make a great mercenary official, guard captain or élite bodyguard.

Dostovius Hillmage, Citadel Wizard C02 (1985)

Citadel launched the C02 series, dedicated to Wizards, in 1983, and regularly expanded it. This piece is marked with the year 1985 but the first leaflet I found, in which this figure appears, is dated 1987 and here the wizard goes by the exotic name of Dostovius Hillmage. It's a very simple sculpt but I like it - it's essential. This wizard has a large beard, and long robe, a staff and a pointed finger as if casting a spell. You don't really need much else, do you?

A belt pouch for reagents, perhaps, yes. I wasn't able to find out the sculptor and I would guess one of the Morrisons.

I painted in a simple way as well. Didn't even attempt to do the eyes, even though they were very large. The robes are a dark blue, the hair brown wood, the belt brown leather. The twin-headed aquila belt buckle was painted a dark bronze. The skin pale, as befits one dedicated to the study of arcane arts.

Citadel Slann and their successors

 

When you reach the venerable age of 38 and you're still into miniatures, most people will tend to consider you a child who never grew up, but that's not entirely true. Children are children, all right, they are in love with the hobby, but something inside of you is different, and that's the part that proves that you are not child, but in fact an old man. A grumbly old man.

All of us, even those who have the bravery to admit that AoS is actually cool, have succumbed at least once (or more) to the urge to grumble. Italians have a nice word for it: brontolone. Bronto- come from the Greek and means "thunder" (as in brontosaurus, yes) and fittingly calls to mind the image of a distant storm on the horizon, lightning flashing, thunder quietly rolling - all of the evening. There might be even some raindrops on your car, just to make it dirty, but no big actual storm. Just this constant and useless rolling thunder. The French have another word: grognard. That's the word I'm gonna use to tag all posts whose content could be summarized into "back in my time, things were different". Young people rant, we do not: we grumble. Face it, it's in our nature.

This was a very long preamble to introduce the subject of Slann miniatures. We all know who the Slann are (or were, back in my time before the retcon). But where do their concept come from, originally?

I believe the first sketch ever of the Slann might be this piece by John Blanche, titled "Troglodytes", which I found on Ratspike. In spite of the name, these are clearly Slann: the shape of the head, the armour, even the pyramid in the background.

A more mature sketch is the following, also by Blanche. Here the Slann have already developed their name and are drawn in more confident strokes.

After this, GW's staff set themselves to work. Tony Ackland drew Slann for the 2nd Edition of WFB (1983), and also in the later articles Kremlo the Slann (1983) and the Magnificent Sven (1984):

Moreover at the same time, in 1983-1984 - difficult to tell if illustrators influenced sculptors, or it was the other way around - the Perry twins sculpted the first, glorious C32 figures.

These were quite succesful and, in 1986, Citadel issued a new series of Slann, sculpted by Trish Morrison. And these were beautiful, too: it was difficult to spot the difference with the Perry pieces.

Then, for no apparent reason, something terrible happened. The 1987 new Slann relase, designed together by Trish and Aly Morrison, came out, and they looked nothing like the originals:

The new Slann looked more like clumsy toads trying to stand on two feet (with little success). Heads became wide and flat, eyes bulged out and torsos almost disappeared. This was the end of classic Slann: the whole "amphibian master-race from Space" concept was forgotten and, in 1997 they were retconned in favour of the Old Ones and the Lizardmen.

What was left to us, with the name Slann, was this. A bloated, big-headed toad:

And that's the end, as far as GW is concerned. But a lot of people still loved the Slann and independent manufacturers tried to support them with new figures. For some reason, though, most of them were more frogmen than actual Slann as we knew them.

I believe Mirliton's Kermitians were the first. I have a lot of respect for Mirliton, and that's why I will not comment on these figures.

Then it was probably Ral Partha who issued their Bullfrogs. They had way more character than Mirliton's Kermitians, but still looked like anthropomorphic frogs.

Reaper Frogmen are suspiciously similar to the previous, with a bit detail, but with the same inherent flaws.

Otherworld Boglings are less frogs, and more TMNT from the movie (the ugly ones).

Mantic's Frogmen are just more of the same. Good figures, mind me, but nowhere close to the original Slann. These are frogmen, period.

Katsina were the first to give up the "frog on two legs" idea and get closer to the original, with exotic weapons and feathered helms. These are nice, but still only a first step towards the original Perry. To put it clearly: put them on a table next to each other, and you will spot the difference from three metres distance.

And just when everything seemed lost, lo! Tim Prow comes out with the Eru-Kin. And let me say: these are the nicest Slann-like miniatures made after 1986.

Diehard brings out all the old colour (light armour of plates + leather strips, round shields, feathered helms, weird weapons and a meso-American feel) and adds some more in the same tune: this is how you do good Oldhammer in the 2010s. Sure, you say, there is significant difference in the heads:

On one side, a big, tall, bloated head. On the other a more lizard-like, long and flat one. Sure, copyright is still a thing and GW isn't kind to those challenging them. You can't call them Slann. You can't do them exactly the same as John Blanche first drew them. Still, these to me look more "right" than the 1987 Citadel toad-people.

In a perfect world, we would have a second set of heads to replace the lizard-like ones, but in the meantime I must say I am very happy about these. Will probably try to fix them with some greenstuff: I'll let you know how it goes. But even without any fix, this is a huge step in bringing Oldhammer back. Well done, Tim Prow!