Category Archives: 10mm Middle-earth

BoFA Elven Cavalry, now on sale

click on the image to be taken to the auction

The BoFA elven cavalry are now listed for sale over at eBay.  You can view the listing here.

Battle of Five Armies, elven cavalry

Blister box of GW's elven cavarly for the BoFA game system

Games Workshop upset a lot of people when they pulled the expansion packs of metal models from their Battle of Five Armies range.  Here we are, five years out from their initial release, and in various corners of the net one can still read expressions of discontent about this decision.  Among the metal models are Smaug, a giant, dwarven crossbowmen, spiders of Mirkwood, bats, trolls, and the ever evasive elven cavalry.

Yesterday, during my nostalgia tour of game stores in the SF Bay Area, I was shocked to discover on a rack a mint copy of the elven cavalry.  On the off chance there are still people looking for these models, I’ve decided to make them available on eBay beginning sometime early next week.  All proceeds from the sale will go towards a humble venture into the miniatures industry, but I’ll save that tale for another day.

(My apologies for the poor photo and image quality.  I’m currently traveling as part of an international move back to the United States, and don’t have my regular camera with me.)

Warmuster, issue 2

The newest issue of Warmuster magazine is available, and can be downloaded free of charge from their Web site.  This issue focuses on sieges, and includes a ton of new rules, scenarios, and some great hobby articles.  Click on the image above for more information.

Reaper’s New Dragonette = 10mm Fell Beast

Dragonette (front)

Dragonette (back)

Modifying Reaper’s forthcoming dragonette model to serve as a fell beast for 10mm Middle-earth gaming would be simple.  Smooth out the scales with some green stuff, cut off the head and sculpt a longer one (or leave as-is), and add a rider.  I’m getting nine.

Reaper Saprolings for Ents (also see here), and now this.  I wonder if they’ll ever make something I can use for trolls.

Copplestone City Spearmen, more than half done

Copplestone City Spearmen (WIP)

Here’s my latest update on my progress with the Copplestone City Spearmen.  I own four boxes of these, which comes to 12 stands (24 strips) total.  The shields on three front-row strips aren’t done, but I’ll save that for tomorrow.  I’m saving the bases and flags for last.

In the back row you can see some of the archers, 1.5 stands done.  I have four boxes of these, so my total Gondor force is comprised of 24 stands or 48 strips.

Once these are done, I’ll get back to Rohan.

Copplestone City Guard, update

For those of you following this site for my 10mm Middle-earth project, I want to assure you that despite my interest in other things the project is not dead.  Case in point, my Copplestone City Guard.  I have one stand finished, and six more will follow very shortly.  The only thing left to do on these six stands is the shield insignia.  I’m doing these by hand, so the process is slow and tedious.  But I prefer this method to transfers, and will press ahead.  Once these are done, I’ll be halfway done with the City Guard spearmen.  The others, fortunately, are half finished and shouldn’t take too long.  I’m looking forward to having these out of my queue, as I’m eager to finish the Rohan Royal Guard cavalry.

Kallistra 10mm Viking Huscarls

Copplestone Horse Tribe infantry (left) and Kallistra Huscarls

Kallistra Huscarls (lefft), Magister Militum greater orc, MM ashigaru, and more Kallistra Huscarls

Kallistra Huscarls (left) and Copplestone City Spearmen

Kallistra Huscarls (left) and GW Warmaster Swordmasters of Hoeth

Kallistra Huscarls (left), Eureka Anvil dwarf, Eureka Warspite elf, more Kallistra Huscarls

Old Glory Persian commmand (left) and Kallistra Huscarls

Magister Militum 10mm Greater Orcs w/ Armor

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Magister Militum Mongol, orc, ashigaru

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Magister Militum greater orc warriors with armour, all four variations

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MM greater orc (macro)

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Copplestone half-orcs, MM greater orc, Copplestone orcs

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Copplestone half-orcs, MM greater orc, Copplestone orcs (macro)

Flavor text soon…

Magister Militum Mongol Heavy Cav, et al

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Magister Militum Mongol, orc, ashigaru

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Magister Militum Mongol heavy cavalry with lance and bow (command model, center)

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MM Mongol heavy cavalry with lance and bow I (macro)

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MM Mongol heavy cavalry with lance and bow II (macro)

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MM Mongol heavy cavalry with lance and bow, command (macro)

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MM Mongol heavy cavalry, Copplestone Horse Tribe cavalry (second from right)

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MM Mongol heavy cavalry, Copplestone Horse Tribe cavalry (macro)

With respects to the size of the Mongol cavalry, Richard of Magister Militum wrote the following in a thread on TMP:

The Mongols and Samurai are the only Medieval figures on the smaller pony horse.

We used a pony for all of the ancient ranges, horse breeding did not really develop the large modern horses we see today until the 10th/11th century AD. There was a deal of variation in anicent horses and the Romans did breed some larger breeds but not in great numbers. Even cataphracts were mounted on stocky ponies, there are references in fact to their horses being particularly small and strong with riders legs almost reaching the ground.

For the medievals onwards we use 4 horses, the pony for stepp type armies, the Samurai who had major problems with horse breeding in sufficient numbers and used ponies and some of the earlier border/fringe horse units in Europe (Bretons etc.) Also Cossacks for the Napoleonics are on ponies. At the moment all of our Crimean cavalry are also on ponies to represent the fact that the British and Russians used local horses for remounts after the first month or so of the war. I am considering doing them on larger horses to represent the early war but the Napoleonics are getting priority right now. Also our early Normans are on the ponies, this could be debated but there is evidence that up to the Norman conquest their cavalry was still quite light, if you want Normans on destriers then the medieval early knights fit perfectly. We then have a standard or light horse which is used for anything that is not a knight. It is also used for light cavalry in the Napoleonic ranges. Finally there are two versions of a heavy horse, one is for knights and heavy cavalry. The other is a thoroughbred which we use for guard or elite cavalry units.

This may seem a bit complicated but we try to be as accurate as we can and this seemed to be the best way to achieve a historical look.

Magister Militum Ashigaru, et al (100mm macro)

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Magister Militum ashigaru

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Copplestone Horse Tribe infantry, MM ashigaru, Copplestone City Guard

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Old Glory Persian command, MM ashigaru, GFI/AIM Persian command

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Eureka elf archer, MM ashigaru, Eureka halfling militia

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Eureka Anvil dwarf, MM ashigaru, Eureka Warspite elf

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GW Swordmasters of Hoeth, MM ashigaru, MM orc

Flavor text soon…

Magister Militum Ashigaru, et al

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Magister Militum ashigaru with spears & command

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Copplestone City Guard, MM ashigaru, GW Swordmasters of Hoeth

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Copplestone Horse Tribe infantry, MM ashigaru, Old Glory Persian command

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Eureka elf archer, halfling militia, MM ashigaru, AIM/GFI Persian command

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Copplestone half-orcs, MM ashigaru, Copplestone orcs

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Eureka Anvil dwarf, MM ashigaru, Eureka Warspite elf

Flavor text soon…

Magister Militum Order, Preview

Magister Militum 10mm orc, Mongol, and ashigaru

I received my Magister Militum order this morning.  I won’t have a chance to set up my light table until the weekend, but want to share a quick preview of some models from my order.  In addition to a number of comparison photos against my grid backdrop, I will write a review of the product and my experience ordering from Magister Militum.

Recent Order, an experiment

Bjorti TrollsBane (sculpted by Tre Manor)

Bjorti TrollsBane (sculpted by Tre Manor)

Hostrom HammerSmite (sculpted by Tre Manor)

Hostrom HammerSmite (sculpted by Tre Manor)

Crowbiter (sculpted by Tre Manor)

Crowbiter (sculpted by Tre Manor)

Goblin Berserkers (sculpted by Tre Manor)

Goblin Berserkers (sculpted by Tre Manor)

Viking Husecarls (Kallistra)

Viking Husecarls (Kallistra)

50mm castle wall section (Kallistra)

50mm castle wall section (Kallistra)

Mongol light cavalry (Kallistra)

Mongol light cavalry (Kallistra)

Mongol heavy cavalry with lance and bow (Magister Militum)

Mongol heavy cavalry with lance and bow (Magister Militum)

Ashigaru on foot with spear (Magister Militum)

Ashigaru on foot with spear (Magister Militum)

Greater orc warrior with armour (Magister Militum)

Greater orc warrior with armour (Magister Militum)

I recently placed orders with three separate companies, Kallistra, Magister Militum, and Red Box Games.

Rather than order direct, I decided to buy the RBG stuff from Full Metal Planet, one of the two online vendors for miniatures-related product in Japan (the other is Malefic, another great store).  There aren’t many game stores in Japan, so this is the closest I can come to supporting an LGS.  I’ll post pictures against the grid when they arrive, for those of you who are curious.

This is my first time ordering from Kallistra and Magister Militum.  I’ve been interested in some of their products for several years, but have never made the commitment to buy anything, because the pictures don’t tell me enough about what to expect.  Size is the main issue here, but also detail, casting quality, and customer service.

I ordered this seemingly random selection of models (see photos above) because I’m still looking for good proxy models to flesh out my ever growing 10mm Middle-earth project.  I don’t really need anymore orcs, as Copplestone Castings has provided me with ideal models for the race, but I’m always looking for ways to add further character to what I have.  I’m also looking for models to use as Dunlendings, Variags of Khand, Wainriders, and Easterlings, thus the Vikings, Mongols and ashigaru, the latter of which will require some modifications with putty. Questions remain, however, about how these will work with the standards of my project, largely set by Copplestone, Eureka, and GW 10mm metal models.  When they arrive I’ll put them against the wall and take a load of comparison pictures to share here.  We’ll all know soon enough.

Descent Road to Legend Miniatures, Dar Hilzernod

Dar Hilzernod

Dar Hilzernod

I wonder how big this is.  Would it work well for 10mm?  Could I find a way to incorporate it into my 10mm Middle-earth project, for example?

I may have to order one to find out.

Siege Equipment for 10 and 15mm

Donnington giant trebuchet, weighing in at 99mm

Donnington giant trebuchet, weighing in at 99mm

Someone over in the Specialist Games forums mentioned that the Donnington siege equipment works well for both 10 and 15mm.  This piqued my interest, as I’ve been looking for good siege works for my 10mm Middle-earth collection.  Old Glory makes some great stuff, too (also see here).