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.

FM27v2 Half Troll Chieftain by Nick Bibby restored

Our last classic Asgard restored code for 2024 is one which has been asked for since we began this process five years ago. A miniature which featured in many books and had fantastic paint jobs by artists of its era. With a face only a mother could love we present the Half Orc Chieftain sculpted by Nick Bibby. Painted by Studio Maxi Costales.

FM27v2 Half Troll Chieftain:  This code contains a single metal one piece creature in armour and armed with an Axe.  it stands 35mm to the top of the head.

Added to the dedicated page of Nick Bibby Asgard Miniatures where all of his work is collected alongside two dozen others such as Trolls, monsters and more.  

See also Nick Bibby’s superb Dragon Lizards as well for some really unique foes on the table.

We will continue to restore more Asgard in 2025 with the remaining FM codes and then a beginning on the remaining Collector Sets as we have already completed the 28mm Science Fiction as well as Space Marines and the (warning graphic content) adult themed Torture Chamber Range too. A huge undertaking in which it has been very heartening to continue to receive messages of good will and enjoyment from those who wanted to add to their 80’s collection or who were too young first time around.

FM66 Large Troll by Nick Bibby restored Asgard FM Range

Trolls are great foes and monsters for the gaming table and this excellent example from the 1980’s has now joined the others on the Alternative Armies website. Sculpted by Nick Bibby for Asgard Miniatures and part of the sixth round of restoration releases for the FM Range this metal miniature works in any scale. Well suited to 28mm use but also 15mm scale as a giant troll and 6mm scale as a suitably titanic one. 

 

FM66 Large Troll stands 45mm tall in total height and is armed with a long handled stone hammer. 

 

 

As you can see it is a fine menace for this month’s free DH18 Mountain Dwarf Hero miniature and could perhaps face off against many Dwarfs at the time time. Even a Troll deserves a girlfriend and this fellow is no exception...an interesting tabletop pairing with FM72 Female Troll also sculpted by Nick Bibby. 

 

Thanks for Reading!

Asgard FM Fantasy Range 1980's returns sixth round: Monsters

Fantasy Month at Alternative Armies sees a free Mountain Dwarf Hero in every shipped order until 1st September as well as the entire sixth round of returned to the world Asgard FM miniatures. Sculpted by legends such as Nick Bibby, Jez Goodwin, Tony Ackland, Stan Pochron, Steve Tricket among others.

You can see the whole range nearing ninety five returned and we have a page just for Nick Bibby's work at Asgard HERE by request as well as the fantastic Dragon (now in resin) by Nick Bibby HERE.

Monsters come in many forms and this time the restored codes were all sculpted by Nick Bibby.

Our Dwarfish Hosts collection contains over 70 poses ranging from the mighty DH15 Dwarf Runic Golem to Dwarf Warriors, Shield Wall, Beserkers, Blunderbusses, Command, Adventurers, Bombard and Crew plus Gnomes and Fnorr the Big Un a demi giant. Until 1st of September 2023 the Dwarfish Hosts has 20% off every code in its collection. This discount is not on screen but it is applied automatically at checkout where it will appear on screen reducing your total.  This discount applies on top of any shown reduction.  

Until 1st of September 2023 the Asgard FM Fantasy Range has 20% off every code in its collection.  This discount is not on screen but it is applied automatically at checkout where it will appear on screen reducing your total.  This discount applies on top of any shown reduction.  

Thank you for your time and attention.

GBS (Gavin Syme - Manager)

Asgard FM Fantasy Range 1980's returns pt2 fifth round Monsters!

Earlier this month the first of two parts of the fifth round of restored classic 1980's miniatures by Asgard were put onto the website (details HERE) and now its time for the second part; Monsters! Sculpted by such legends as Jez Goodwin, Nick Bibby, Steve Trickett and Tony Ackland among others. These seven restored codes are all in metal and are from the FM Range. You can see the whole range nearing eighty returned HERE and we have a new page just for Nick Bibby's work at Asgard HERE by request. His work features heavily in this news. 

 

 

This time it is the turn of the monsters and creatures. From a mighty Griffon and Manticore to a Norse Giant and Trolls but not forget the chaotic Psionic Flayer. 

 

We hope you have enjoyed the fifth round. That is all for this month but next month we will have a rather special large miniature carefully returned and then in March after weeks of careful restoring work..oh my...such a huge shadow in the skies... 

 

 

Space Marines and Adventurers. The classic 1980's range of 28mm Asgard science fiction began for us with the space marines. These superb miniatures are restored and great for near future and moon settings. Elven codes and a saver set with one of everything. 

 

 

We will continue our restoring of classic ranges and models by Tabletop Miniatures and Asgard Miniatures and we hope you have been enjoying it. As an aside remolding is underway on the 15mm Laserburn Range on the 100 series Law Officers.  As singles and value packs with saving just as LB5 Imperial Troopers above.

 

Thanks for Reading, 

 

 GBS

New HOTR 15mm resin Orc Horde, Archers, Boar Riders, Command and Trolls

Our last releases into the HOT 15mm Fantasy range this year are presented in resin.  A total of nineteen poses of Orcs and Trolls great for any game system.  Go HERE for the range and read on for more information.

Every sprue (one piece) contains between two and four 15mm scale miniatures which can be easily removed with a sharp blade (with care of course!) and as with the rest of the HOT range there is a 'sampler option' which in this case is one sprue, then a pack which is four sprues with a small saving and for mass battle a saver bundle which can be sixteen sprues with a greater discount.  It varies by code with more Orc Horde and fewer Trolls etc.  There are many more pictures on the website of each code and these are shown on a 40mm element base taken from our Bases Range.

HOTR01 Orc Horde

HOTR02 Orc Archers

HOTR03 Orc Command

HOTR04 Orc Boar Riders

HOTR05 Trolls

These miniatures join the over one hundred and thirty packs in the HOT 15mm Fantasy Range and remember we also have an array of HOTT 2nd Edition Armies which come with free element bases as well as the classic Tabletop Games 15mm Fantasy Range which scales well.

Oddly enough a creature which goes with these Orcs is the 549 Giant Slug which featured re-mastered earlier this year from us.  As allies or enemies of slime and eating the slugs go with brutal Orc mentalities.  You can also see our Small Hovel from the HOB 15mm Buildings Range.

Orcs need somewhere to live and you can find these in the above HOB Buildings range where we have five different structures for them including 'Eric' our name for the Orc Idol.

In 2022 we will be continuing the expansion of the Savage Lizardmen in the HOT range by adding cavalry as well as a flyer and personalities to bring that army to completion.  More about that after the new year but we hope you enjoy these new resin miniatures which end 2021 for our 15mm fantasy ranges.

Thanks for Reading,

GBS

Troll Week at Alternative Armies with a free Troll in every order

We love Trolls in all their forms at Alternative Armies.  From the mighty Trolka and the smaller Trolkin who feature in the World of Valon as an army in Flintloque and Slaughterloo to the high fantasy classic style Troll and the massive Giant Troll too.  This week we are having a Troll Week with every Troll miniature we have all in one place on a special offer of ten percent off everything and a FREE Trolka Line Trooper (worth 5GBP) included in any order which has a Troll of any type in it.  Go HERE or read on for more.  Ends Midnight GMT Sunday 19th August 2018.

The Troll Races

Giant and Loyal Allies of the Ferach Empire

The frigid, mountainous land of Skandavia is one of the northernmost nations of Valon. It is a very wild and undeveloped land known for its majestic coniferous forests and rocky landscape. Its many mountains appear to be very rounded from years of harsh weather and the grinding glaciers that once crept across the land. These mountain ranges form a natural barrier to many would-be conquerors such as the hideous Undead of the Witchlands and the snarling Werewolves of the Dieberian Tundra. It is here that you will find the Trolka, largest of the sentient races of Valon the giant relatives of the Trolls of the Darke Age. A Trolka is the nearest thing to the War Trolls that used to roam Valon. They survived the annulment of Wylde Magicke and stand some fifteen to twenty feet in height. In the struggle that exists between the forces of Albion and the Elven Empire of Armorica, the Skandavians have come down largely on the side of the Ferach and have put all of their efforts into furthering Mordred’s campaigns in Catalucia and the Witchlands. It is from the capital city Trellheim of Skandavia that officials direct the mighty industry of the nation in production for the front.

Although Trolka come mainly from Skandavia it is in the island nation of Copendaz that the majority of their more numerous but far smaller cousins the Trolkin. Most Trolkin are the height of Elves while Trolka tower over even the largest of Ogres. While the icy seas prevent incursion of Skandavia and Copendaz easily from the waters and the mountains prevent the Undead from sending large armies of conquest there are greater dangers in the Artorc Circle in the backward realm of Frozlande where monsters still roam. The massive walls of the Skandavian Imperial Palace tower above the bustling streets of the capital Trellheim and the eminently skilled workers labour in the shipyards constructing the hulls of his Imperial Majesty Mordred’s powerful warships, in an effort to reverse the terrible setback of the sea battle known as Trafalgore. These raw materials have proven vital to the war efforts of Armorica and her allies. Consequently, the Grand Alliance has recently tried to raid many towns, with massive Trolka Warriors fighting on both sides, in an effort to stop the flow of materials being shipped from Skandavia. Lord Bjornborg head of the Ferach alliance with the Trolka directs the movement of Trolka military forces from the Imperial palace until they are assigned to the various Corps in Mordred’s Armee. He has even taken to the field in order to hunt down the traitorous General Gustavus leader of the Trolka Companies that have pledged their loyalty to King Gorge and Albion.

The majority of Trolka fight with the Ferach and are the mightiest race known on Valon, they are massive soldiers with huge strength, able to uproot trees and lift items several tons in weight. While whole divisions of Trolka are rare even in the largest battles, due to the small number of these soldiers available, regiments of Trolka can be found anchoring the battle lines of the Elves in many theatres of the Wars. The ‘Rebel’ Trolka are in the service of the Grand Alliance.

Trolka and Trolkin are a great army to collect and play in Flintloque (see 5025 Death in the Snow) and in Slaughterloo (see 5030 Slaughterloo) with unique traits and the biggest regular soldiers it is possible to field.  There are Line, Jager, Artillery and Cavalry Trolka and there are Line, Jager, Artillery, Civilians and Personalities for Trolkin.  Each of them comes with a cartouche style base and is typically a single piece miniature.  Go HERE to browse.  Trolka stand 50mm tall and have a 30mm square base.  

In celebration if you place an order during this week which contains any Troll code (any number of orders, any number of Trolls) you will get each time automatically added a Trolka Line Trooper with Skandavian Kannonderbuss (either code 56553 or 56554 and we will vary them if you place more than one order).  A resin miniature with base worth 5.00GBP.   You need do nothing other than place the order, we will add the freebie!

If you are keen on learning about the Troll Nations of Valon during the Mordredian Wars then you can in a free Army Booklet download which contains background, unit statistics, game statistics and more. From our website hosting by clicking HERE.  Enjoy!

“Oi! Dat's my seat. Gerr off it! You fink you tough eh! Gonna give me a smack is you? Well dat's fine but I tells you what first. You can ave dis seat if you beats my mate Durzum at arm wrestling. Where is ee? He is outside. Barred from dis pub he is after da last time. E' got a bit drunk an den well e sat on da roof. Climbed up you say? Err kinda. Sat on it at any rate. Any'ow if you wants dis seat you got to beat him. He's outside now. On u goes. Tell im dat I sent ya. Hold on...you best take da seat wif you...you mights need da extra height” - The last conversation between two Orcs at the notorious Three Legged Harpy pub.

Alternative Armies has 28mm scale high fantasy Trolls in that superb classic style.  Above you can see OH31 Durzum the Dwarf Killer our Giant Troll who is 100mm tall and comes with a free Orc Warrior.  We have two other packs as well.  VNT9 Trolls which contains two white metal 28mm scale Trolls at a superb price and VNT41 Stone Maw the Troll who is our latest addition.  These are included in the week long offer (if you would rather have a VNT9 Troll for free than a Trolka then just let us know with your order number to sales@alternative-armies.com).

We have two other Flintloque related treats for you this week during the offer period and what is more both of them are totally free!  We have the thirteenth article from Andy Jefcoate which sees Lamia Wintermore take up the pursuit of his band of survivors in the Witchlands.  We also have a Flintloque scenario called 'By Bloody Fist and Broken Tusk' written by Gavin Syme (GBS) which sees Tuscani Elves face off against Captain Sharke.  If you want to see the new Tuscani Elves and download a free uniformation article just now then see our blog article HERE.  Both of these articles will be published across this week. 

We hope you enjoy Troll Week!

GBS

Article 12 A Call of the Wild by Andy Jefcoate

Hungry like the Wolf! Andy Jefcoate lopes into the snows in his twelfth article for his games of Flintloque in the Witchlands and has a great micro scenario to share as well. If you want to catch up with the previous articles you can do so by clicking HERE for Andy's tag on the blog. With pictures of his own painted collection. Read on and enjoy. GBS

A Call of the Wild!

Previously I mentioned that I needed some heavy cavalry for my Ferach force. You have now seen these great Ogres and I now want to tell you about some of my games and the figures that I've used that I've not mentioned so far. For this article I'd like to concentrate on 56000 The Wolf Pack. With all the excellent figures in the Flintloque and Slaughterloo ranges they could easily be overlooked, but this would be a shame as I've found them to be a very useful addition to my collection.

What do you get?

For only £8.00 you get 4 metal wolf figures in 2 different poses, one is running and one is stalking but they are both clearly on the hunt!  As with all Alternative Armies figures they are nicely cast with little preparation required before painting and I've put them on cavalry bases due to their size. I used a very simple colour scheme of grey fur with a lighter underbelly before adding a black ink wash and then the details of red eyes, black nose and off-colour teeth. They were very quick to do so they were on the table in an afternoon!

What use are mere wolves I hear you cry! 

Wolves are listed in the Mortal Racial Statistics Tables for the Witchlands Theater in the 5026 Death in the Snow Game Book and cost 18 points each. This is excellent value as they have a Double March movement rate of 44cm (faster than a heavy horse), they have a Steady Rating of 2 (the same as a Dogman), and they have a Melee Modifier of +5 (the same as the basic modifier of a Trolka!) making them lethal in close combat as you would expect. 

The downside is that they only have 1 wound each so they won't stick around long if they lose a fight or get shot. This means that you need to be cautious and that they work better as a pack rather than individuals, which fits with their real life counterparts and is a nice touch in play.  Use enmasse!

How have I used them in my games

As the Dark Czar has an iron control of the Witchlands my thoughts were that this includes all of the creatures both Undead and Mortal within his domain. As the Zombies began their pursuit of the fleeing Ferach forces, the denizens of the surrounding countryside also joined the attack. I have therefore added the wolf pack to my Witchlands sections.

They have been great in support of my Zombiski Cossacks where they've been thrown into combat with them to insure outnumbering of their foes and to attempt to swing the combat in the favour of the Undead.

They've also been good to use to loop around the flanks to harass light troops or cannon crews. This makes the enemy bunch together as most troopers can potentially be in trouble in close combat against their +5 Melee Modifier, especially if two or more wolves attack together to cause outnumbering. 

Their downside is their vulnerability to shooting so I try to use terrain as much as possible to mask their approach. Zombies on foot or mounted can also make a good shield while the forces close as they can soak up a bit of damage and keep staggering on!

Special Scenario: Escaping the Fangs

A small Ferach force has loaded their supplies onto a pack mule and are trying to reach the safety of their own lines. As they don't know how far they will need to travel they want to keep the mule alive to carry what they need to survive in the wilderness.

The game is fought on a 3' x 3' table. Although there is a covering of snow this is not enough to affect movement. Scenery consists of 2 small hills and 6 trees that are positioned randomly across the playing area. As the forces I've used for this game are so small I haven't set a turn limit as it can usually be played to a conclusion in under an hour. 

The Ferach force has to cross the table from one side to the other keeping the pack mule alive and the wolves simply want to catch the mule and eat it. If the mule exits the opposite table edge then the Ferach force wins, if the wolves catch it and kill it then the wolves win. 

After any scenery is set up the Ferach force decide which edge to start on and set up. The wolves then set up at the middle of any other table edge and can be split up across all three if desired.

I only have the four wolves from one pack which total 72 points. A pack leader figure should be nominated but the wolves don't suffer any ill affects for being any distance away from this figure. As the wolves are rightly wary of firearms they can only charge the mule if there isn't an enemy figure with a gun closer to them than the mule, as the firelock is the greater threat. 

The Ferach force is then allowed a maximum of 72 points to match this. As the force is so small the normal unit leader rules aren't required and the figure with the highest experience rating is the leader for this scenario. The pack mule is free and for game purposes is treated as a Donkey/Pony from the Mortal Mounts Statistics Table but it's movement is halved due to the amount of supplies it is carrying.

For the pack mule I've used the excellent figure from pack 56537 the Dogmen Engineers set. This can be purchased separately too which is a nice touch. 

I've found this to be an interesting scenario to play and needs different tactics to a regular Flintloque game. The trick with the Ferach force is to keep any troops between the wolves and the mule so it works better using the points on several troopers rather than one or two more powerful individuals. Be careful when moving two figures at a time that the mule doesn't get exposed to attack but also the wolves can be deadly in combat with rank and file troopers so keep those Flintloques loaded and take them out from a distance!

With the wolves you can surround the enemy to try to get a chance of attacking the mule while using cover as best as you can, but sometimes it is easier to try to take out the weaker Ferach figures to force your way in. It's all about being patient and watching for the best time to strike while trying very hard to not get shot!  

What's next 

I hope that you've enjoyed reading about my wolf pack and that I've inspired you to get some. My favourite aspect of Flintloque is the scenarios you can create from the excellent and diverse range of figures available. In future articles I'll let you know about some of the other figures I've used in my games.  You can see my massive Trolka, my elite Elf Carabiniers and Lady Rosafiend above.

Thank you for reading.

Andy