FM27v2 Half Troll Chieftain painted by The Work of Shaitan

Alternative Armies has been working steadily to restored the mighty and well remembered early 1980’s figures of the legendary British company Asgard Miniatures.  While we still have a ways to go we have returned nearly two hundred poses by Nick Bibby, Jes Goodwin, Tony Ackland, Stan Pochron as well as John Blanche and Mark Weston among others.  These are split across several ranges on the website but today we are in the Fantasy Monsters (FM) Range with a treat!

One of the most eagerly anticipated restorations (aside from the NB2 Nick Bibby Dragon) was FM27v2 Half Troll Chieftain and while Studio Maxi tackled it beautifully on our website there was another take which garnered quite a bit of attention.  We are proud to present to you the paint work of Ned Gladdis otherwise known as TheWorkOfShaitan on Instagram. Our thanks to him for this.

The brushwork on this miniature is so fine it almost looks alive with armour which would ‘ping’ if you struck it with an arrow!

Ned is in progress of completing ranks of Broo for Runequest and his FM27v2 has taken its place as its Beastlord.  Superb!

Thanks for your Time.

Ogres from the Oldhammer Collection of OliHot27

We are delighted to be able to show you some painted miniatures from the extensive ‘oldhammer’ collection of OliHot27 over on Instagram. He is a keen collector of the restored Asgard Fantasy Monsters Range but this time it is his VNT Alternative Armies and Fantasy Warlord castings of Ogres that are the subject.  

The Alternative Armies VNT (Various Nasty Things) codes are VNT18 Orrid Ogres II and VNT19 Ogre Cavalry sculpted by Phil Lewis in 1991 while the Fantasy Warlord are 16100 Ogres from 1990.  All are metal except for the riding rhino which is now presented in resin. 

The painting style of OliHot27 suits these classic miniatures really well and his Instagram is well worth a dig through for a look.  We were most happy to be given permission by him to use his pictures on our website too.

Thanks for your Time.

Kev Moon’s beautiful Erin miniatures for Of Gods and Mortals

With kind permission this article features the very talented brush work of Kev Moon. Known as Verbal Gerbil on X and KevMoonster on Instagram if you wish to follow his wargaming adventures. He plays Osprey’s rules set Of Gods and Monsters and uses our Erin miniatures for part of his warbands. 

 

 

Here are his photos of the collection of Erin Celtic Mythology 28mm miniatures each with a caption telling you what they are including a wee conversion. 

 

 

 

The Human Warriors of the Milesian are led by such Heroes.

 

Milesian Druid Amergin the runination of Fomors

 

Incech Half Hand with an added Pucci as his servant

 

Fomorian Warriors risen from the deep to do Culach's will.

 

The risen Half Dead Zombies at the calling of Heroes

 

Kev's Sidhe Warriors including a shield conversion (one in from the left)

 

CM11 Milesian Chariot!

 

Here is his whole collection.  Fomorians, Milesians, Sidhe as well as Gods and Monsters.  This image features miniatures and terrain not made by Alternative Armies.

 

Lovely stuff I am sure you will agree. We are continuing the expansion of the Erin range which has grown by more than twenty poses in the last year. 

 

 

Lastly his spiders which were a free in all orders gift a couple of years ago also feature in his games. You can see these creepies as EH06 in our Monsters and Creatures Range. 

 

Thanks for Reading, 

 

GBS

Big Painted Stock update April 2023 during Mega Event

The painting ladies at Alternative Armies are delighted to announce a BIG update to the painted and ready to use out of the box stock on the website.  The updated stock is mainly in the World of Valon (Flintloque, Slaughterloo), the 28mm High Fantasy and the 28mm Science Fiction pages.  We cast, paint, base and ship out many thousands of miniatures every year and while most of these are already committed to customers and trade accounts stock also makes it to the painted pages.

Here you can see classic 1980's Asgard sci-fi robot, Thulgs, Warbirds and more such as Mandiplex which are just now on the site to purchase painted for the first time.  The Warbirds and Thulgs are big metal models.  If you want to get that range unpainted, unassembled then visit the website.

Terrain for your battlefield painted and ready to use.  It is 28mm scale and great for Horse and Musket period or indeed Flintloque.

Limited Editions, characters and indeed full units of soldiers with free flags on their standard bearer poles.  Flintloque and Slaughterloo including Todoroni, Dwarves, Undead and two entire divisional army packs as well.

Stock levels are shown on screen and are typically one for packs and units and two or three for single painted miniatures.  What you see is what you are purchasing and we ship very securely packaged worldwide.

Thank you for your time.

GBS

Asgard 1980's Human Male and Female Scouts 15mm restored

It is my pleasure to announce the return of eight classic 15mm sci-fi miniatures by Asgard in the early 1980's and to have them painted in new pictures by the talented Adam who goes by @wolfliche on Instagram.  Homed in the combined Laserburn and Asgard 15mm science fiction range it is a code of male scouts and a code of female scouts.

Unlike almost all of our own miniatures at Alterative Armies and indeed Laserburn and most of Asgard these miniatures are in 'strips' with their bases conjoined to be cast in metal in one piece and then snipped apart by the gamer.  Thus we are offering them as 'one strip of four' and if you select five strips you will get a nice saving on page.

MSN50 Human Male Scouts (4)

MSN51 Human Female Scouts (4)

Characterful miniatures great for any system and they fit right in with HOF 15mm Science Fiction range and also The Ion Age 15mm range too.  Scouts, Adventurers, Travellers, Militia or even Civilians.  It is your choice on the tabletop.

Some pictures of the miniatures on the terrain of the painter.  You can see a GA4 Furback monster in one of the pictures too.

One of the first codes we restored for 15mm Asgard was DR7 Imperial Crab War Droid a very unique robot which is on special offer (60mm tall and 10 metal pieces).

Thanks for Reading,

GBS

NB2 Dragon painted in stunning blue by Studio Maxi Costales

There is a talented fellow in Spain who paints miniatures professionally and loves Oldhammer and classic miniatures.  He is Maxi and he runs Studio Maxi Costales which you can find on Facebook and on Instagram.  Well worth a scroll; lots of excellent work there. He kindly agreed to show the painting of his casting of the limited run of 200 numbered boxes only NB2 Dragon by Nick Bibby.  This article is the result.  As at 16th March 2023 the run is 52% sold and shipped.

While we shall release NB2 Dragon in an unlimited resin format late on in 2023 this article is on the collectors edition metal kit which requires skill and effort to assemble.  Each of the limited boxes comes with the NB3 and NB4 Dragon Rider, his Saddle and Lance which Maxi has also painted up.

If you missed the long article on the history of this venerable monster and Mark Stevenson's collection of seven of them and his 40 year involvement with Asgard you can read it on our BLOG now.

The build of the monster is underway!  Each part mounted on brass rod for easy holding for painting and putting together.

Now it has been built it is on the painting desk.  That is a desk which has seen so much 1980's awesome come across it! The blue tone is begun.

Here it is!  The Dragon from all angles resplendent in striking blue and orange tones so different to our own vision of the Dragon or indeed those by Mark Stevenson.

The Rider and Saddle have been restored to the world (NB3 and NB4) and will remain metal.  They are free in each of the numbered boxes of NB2.  What a great take on the Dragon Rider by Maxi.

If you are keen we have collected all of Nick Bibby's work for Asgard into one page alongside the Asgard Fantasy Range pages.  Check out the D6 Dragon Lizard Juggernaut which is actually the largest single piece of metal by dimension and weight we cast.

We hope you have enjoyed this article.

GBS

NB2 Dragon by Nick Bibby 1982 released in metal limited 200 box run

“At last a Dragon of true scale to oppose the hero's of your world." (Military Modelling Dec 1982) 

 

 

The time has come!  General Release!

 

There are two hundred boxes each containing a remastered metal dragon sculpted by Nick Bibby for Asgard in 1982. At half a kilo in weight this nine piece metal model is legendary and rightly so. It has taken us several months to get NB2 Dragon back into the world and for collectors this metal set which not only ships worldwide for free (standard shipping) but also includes the remastered NB3 and NB4 Dragon Rider with Lance and Saddle (worth 7.00GBP) for free in the numbered box too. Price is 125.00GBP. 

 

 

A centre piece of the classic 1980's Asgard fantasy range back once more in the world. A legendary massive metal model which has not been seen in many a year. About 40% of the run is sold already on last week's select pre-order and those orders are shipping as of Monday of next week as are all others containing this majestic monster of a different age. 

 

 

NB2 Dragon has been fully restored and also its pinning points deepened, its wing membranes thickened and its scales sharpened. It is for experienced modellers. 

 

As you can see if you pit a Jez Goodwin 28mm Barbarian or a Tabletop Games 15mm Fantasy character against this monster they are tiny! Even compared to the D6 Dragon Lizard Juggernaut the Dragon dwarfs it. We will NOT issue this code in metal again. We will produce it in resin later this year though in unlimited amounts. This run of two hundred is to please those who missed it first time around forty years ago or always wanted one in its original form of high quality metal. 

 

 

Now also on the website for separate purchase is NB3 The Dragon Rider and NB4 Dragon Saddle in one code where you can get both with the lance or parts on their own. While the saddle is made to fit only NB2 Dragon the rider will fit almost any mere mount such as a horse. 

 

Another monster we have restored is the classic P11 Old English Dragon from the late 1980's which is in our Monsters and Creatures range which contains many strange beasts. A fine foe for Knights and Adventurers for sure. 

 

Thank for your time and support as always and this is our only high fantasy release in March 2023.

 

GBS

Fomorian Spellweaver painted by Bonefyre from Erin 28mm Celtic Myth range

A great find over on Instagram was a lovely painted Fomorian by a popular poster called Bonefyre. Follow him on that platform if you are keen to see more of his hobby. With the first of many new Erin 2023 miniatures out this very week (CM28 Pukki Warriors five poses) it seemed fitting for a wee hobby article featuring another sea devil. You can see the whole range HERE. 

 

 

This is CM6-01 Fomorian Spellweaver a high ranking member of any warband who manipulates the favours of the darker gods to give boons to his fellows from lowest Pukki to the Warriors all the way to Storm Warriors and Heroes. Bonefyre has done a great job on this with an evocative paint scheme and the addition of mushrooms (not the ones in our Battlefield Bits Range but similar) to the base really brings it all together. 

 

 

While the third edition of Erin the game is way off in the future (we are working on game engine refinements next month) you can still get the current second edition as a reduced price download and its massive! A great read. We are really happy that resmastering the over 90 poses with new molds and new pictures has allowed collectors and wargamers to complete projects and to begin new ones. 

 

 

Every miniature in the range is a single and there are also Warbands which collect models and give a discount. In the CMB2 Fomorian Warband you get a fine mix of a mighty Hero, a Champion, some Warriors and some Pukki. 

 

Thanks for Reading, 

 

GBS

HOT1 Dwarf King 15mm painted by I Maenas Hael

Back in April last year Alternative Armies released brand new Dwarf Handgunners and also remolded and unveiled new painted pictures of the Dwarfs in our HOT 15mm Fantasy Range. See these in full on our BLOG. 

 

(Click to enlarge)

 

We had many requests for these and to release the artillery in the range as single codes which we also did. It was great to see a wargamer on Instagram showing off his lovely work on the Dwarf King from HOT1 Dwarf Command. Permission given I present to you the work of Kieran otherwise titled i_maenas_hael you can check him out on the link. 

 

Lots of work on some thing so small. In the command pack is the King as well as a Banner Bearer, Spear Carrier and Guards. Nicely done! 

 

 

As stated check out the HOT 15mm Fantasy Range for our Dwarfs or the BLOG article for that news and pictures. 

 

 

 

We are currently working on the next packs for the Savage Lizardmen to complete their army. This will include command and special unit. We are also working on an expansion to the favoured Ogres too. If you have any input on creatures, monsters, types or such you would like to see in the range then by all means email sales@alternative-armies.com and let us know. The Cockatrice above was the result of such a poll on our Facebook Group. 

 

Thanks for your time. 

 

 GBS

Kevin Dallimore paints Fionn Mac Cumhail of the Erin Range

It was my pleasure to see and then ask Kevin Dallimore if we at Alternative Armies could share a picture he posted up on Instagram. He kindly agreed and you can find and follow him on Instagram HERE. The ancient Fionn Mac Cumhail with his hounds Bran and Sceolang taken from our 28mm Erin Celtic Mythology range. 

 

(Click to enlarge)

 

Simply superb brushwork in his style and rather different to our own take on the miniatures. 

 

There are currently 91 miniatures in the Erin range including Fionn and his hounds (CM15 poses 1, 2 and 3) and this will expand in 2023 to well over one hundred from February onward. If you would like to see all the miniatures, the warbands and the ultimate one of everything with a built in 5% saving then check out the website. 

 

 

Who does not love Fomorians? Devils from the sea who love to raid the land for wine, women and gold. Pucci..we need more of them... 

 

Thanks for Reading, 

 

 GBS

Painted Ready To Ship Stock updated January 2023

Alternative Armies sells many thousands of painted miniatures every year to wargamers in the form of singles, skirmishing bands, units and entire armies. If we have it then it is almost certain we will offer it painted if asked. Our stock of ready to ship painted which you can see on Pro-Painted Fantasy, Pro-Painted Valon, Pro-Painted Science Fiction and lastly Pro-Painted 15mm Scale page. As well as this stock we paint for customers to order. 

 

 

Our stock is now updated for January and there are over one hundred new additions. Have a browse. 

 

If you are keen on getting a quote for painting to contact us on sales@alternative-armies.com with a list of proposed codes. Our prices are very reasonable and include the miniature, painting, the base, scenic basing effect and varnish (if you wish it) plus secure freight. It is first come first booked. We will let you know about current delivery dates that when you express interest. 

 

 

 

If you would like a painted HOTT 24AP Army or a Flintloque section or a Fantasy Skirmish Band, a Lance of Retained Knights for Patrol Angis or a whole Slaughterloo Division among many things then let us know.   

 

Thank for you for your attention. 

 

GBS