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BLOOD AND SOULS FOR MY LORD ARIOCH : ELRIC OF MELNIBONE WAYNE'S
WORLD
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THE VORTEX WAYNE'S MINIATURES LINKS PAGE Some assorted links to other web pages that you may find useful or interesting. I will add links from time to time. Please let me know if any of the links don't work and send me a link to any pages worth adding to the list.
Any serious leadite needs to know where to look for old out of production miniatures and how to identify those old mystery miniatures. The links below are the best that I've found on the web. The Miniatures Page Bill Armtrouts's on-line resource about all aspects of miniatures and miniatures gaming from scale, modeling, casting and painting to game system reviews and terrain and modeling. Extensive links so that anything not on his pages can probably be readily found - a virtual "yellow pages" on miniatures. Also regularly updated industry news and subscriber services. If you love miniatures then make TMP your home page. The Stuff of Legends Massive archive of lists and pictures of Fantasy and Science Fiction miniatures. Otherworlds Source for very early D&D miniatures from the old Citadel and Minifigs lines for collectors and gamers. Great picture archive. A must if only to reminisce. Digital Dragon Miniatures collectors site focussing on figures from the 70's & 80's. Undertaking a massive project to scan a vast index of miniatures. Lots of old miniatures for sale but bring your cheque book. The Virtual Alchemist Re-seller of old collectable miniatures and games with pictures. Stan Johanson Miniatures Dealer in 2nd hand miniatures. 15mm Miniatures Review I don't own any 15mm miniatures but this looks like a comprehensive review for those interested. Your Are a Leadite if.... Humorous article for lead addicts. Figmentia The leadite dementia.
Being in Sydney there are few decent miniatures shops around (not counting outposts of the evil empire), the best of them been the Tin Soldier (now at 46 York Street also a Penrith store). Sure there are other retailers which can be great sources for old out of production mini's however in general the selection offered is rooted. This leaves the poor old leadite with little choice but to resort to mail order which is best done through the net. Fortunately on-line prices can be reasonably competitive. The links below are to some of the many on-line retailers, other than with manufacturers direct, that stock miniatures - fantasy miniatures in particular. There are also links to the main miniature shops in Sydney that I know about. Military Simulations Melbourne based mail order retailers in Australia of miniatures, role-playing games, wargames, computer games, terrain & scenery and lots of other stuff. Have regular "Crazy Specials" where great bargains can be had. Will give discounts to regulars or members of gaming clubs etc. The fantasy miniatures selection has diminished substantially of late for non-GW aficionados. Wargames Warehouse Brisbane based outfit that are a good source for Icon (ex Harlequin) and Alternative Armies amongst others. I've had some strange dealings with Stuart. Pre-occupied with his own gaming perhaps to the detriment of customer service? Still 6 months to get a paid for order filled with numerous unanswered e-mails is too much for me. Fuck him - orders from ANYWHERE in the world usually take no more than 6 weeks and that's with surface mail.. Ravens Nest Sydney based (Toongabbie) mail order and shop front miniature retailer in Australia. Never been to their shop but they stock some lines hard to find elsewhere. Megohm Miniatures & Games I've just found this shop in the wild south-west of Sydney. They seem to stock a fair range including Mithril. Olympian Games Australian source for magnetic bases and materials along with Renaissance paints, inks and gels. Dean is a good guy to deal with and he absorbed the extra cost on some custom bases for me that Renaissance had changed the charge on. The Tin Soldier The web-site of the famous Sydney store is now up and running. Where are the specials Gary? Elite Miniatures Get ready with the mute button as corny music permeates this site. Elite is an Australian manufacturer of 25mm historical miniatures at what appear to be good prices. They also stock other ranges for mail order. Mick's Metal Models Australian based mail-order retailer of 15mm and some 25mm historical miniatures. Noble Knight Games Canadian online new and second hand miniatures and gaming materials. Run by Aaron who is a helpful and friendly chap - and efficient to boot. Good value out of production buying. Great Bear Enterprises Some discounted fantasy army packs plus source of some "Alternative Armies" miniatures. Has a secret cache of old Grenadier collectables for leadites. Efficient and helpful. (USA) Discount Hobbies.com On-line retailer specialising in miniatures and claiming to have over 4,500 lines in stock. The range of manufacturers is huge and as well as the leading names many smaller designers and manufacturers are represented. This is also a great site simply for the over 3,000 scans of mini's viewable on line or alternatively in their "Miniature Collectors Catalogue" which is free with any order over US$30. Miniatures can be viewed by Company, Sculptor or by Category which is a real treat. All miniatures are 10% discounted but the real attraction is the reasonable international freight. Most retailers sting you for up to 30% - these guys are half the price. Excellent. (USA) Fantization New online retailer with some good pics of painted mini's. Crazy Egors On-line games and miniatures store specialising in hunting down out of print or production merchandise. Recommended by others but the site just confuses me. It does have a great Ral Partha photo archive of over 1,400 miniatures. Cyberdungeon On-line games and miniatures store with lots of scanned miniatures for on-line viewing. Mostly new stuff. Global Games Europe Stock Nemo (ex Grenadier) miniatures amongst others. Postage looks like a killer unfortunately or else my Grenadier dwarf army would be dramatically expanded. Damn! Imperial Hobbies Canadian store with what appear to be a good miniatures selection. May be useful for OOP miniatures. Sentry Box Canadian store with big miniatures selection. Good for OOP mini's. Gordon is a good guy to deal with. Prices are fair but with postage it usually ends up a little more expensive. Model Design & Craft Amongst other stuff sells the full Grendel line of resin monsters, scenery and buildings. Also source of Denizen and Mammoth miniatures.
There is a vast and ever changing sea of manufacturers out there and the complexity and detail of the miniatures are just getting better and better. Unfortunately a trend is developing to move from 25mm to 30mm scale in the fantasy genre. This was led by the Evil Empire however the Evil Empire Mark II has gone corporate and following the same trend and thus dragging many of the smaller players along as well. I could live with 28mm miniatures amongst my 25mm mini's but 30mm is a joke (except for monsters). The new Reaper dwarfs for instance stand 30mm tall! This is a list of some manufacturers that I have found, mostly focussing on fantasy but with some historicals as well. My all time favourite is Ral Partha (especially the "11" Series official AD&D line) however both Reaper and RAFM get a guernsey. This is not counting of course the classic Grenadier and Cidatel lines that all early D&D players grew up with. Good news on the Grenadier front, along with old caches of Grenadier mini's popping up from time to time, Nemo Miniatures, Lance & Laser, and Emperors Choice miniatures are re-casting some old classics. Here's the list - happy hunting! Alternative Armies These guys produce the Flintloque rules for the "Smoke and Powder" era - Napoleonics but with fantasy races. They also have straight high fantasy miniatures. Amazon Miniatures 25mm multi-part historical and fantasy miniatures. Check out the Centaurs. Assassin Miniatures New home based German outfit. Spunky miniature chicks. Not sure of scale however. Black Raven Foundary 15mm & 25mm historicals. Castaway Arts Cairns based 25mm historical manufacturer. Chariot Miniatures 10mm, 15mm and 25mm historical and fantasy miniatures plus accessories. Chessex Manufactures of miniatures boxes, vinyl battle mats and dice. Cidatel Classic manufacturer from the heyday of D&D and fantasy miniatures gaming which now produces Games Workshop miniatures. Though there is no link here I added it as some of the old Cidatel miniatures can still be found as 2nd hand trades or as collectors items. Denizen Miniatures Manufactures of 1/43 scale cars, 25mm SF and fantasy miniatures and 90mm collectors fantasy miniatures. Dragon Rune Miniatures Small Spanish outfit with GW style orcs. Elite Miniatures Get ready with the mute button as corny music permeates this site. Elite is an Australian manufacturer of 25mm historical miniatures at what appear to be good prices. They also stock other ranges for mail order. eM-4-Miniatures Are releasing plastic bulk packs of old Grenadier fantasy army mini's. Emperor's Choice Old July Guthrie miniatures back in production plus others. Essex Miniatures U.K. 15mm and 25mm historical and fantasy miniatures manufacturer. Eureka Miniatures Australian 15mm and 25mm historical miniatures manufacturer. Have a special club whereby if enough votes are polled then they will commission the sculpting of a special figure. Go figure! Evil Gong Miniatures From the 'gong of course. Manufacturers of 10mm, 15mm and 25mm fantasy miniatures. Also has fantasy DBM rules with army lists for Tolkien, Conan and Lin Carter. Cheers. Fortress Figures Manufacturer of 25-35mm scale plastic resin, wargame miniatures, terrain, and accessory models. Now are offering a line of pewter figurines as well. Foundary Fantasy Historical and fantasy 25mm miniatures. Reputed to be of great quality however very $$$$$. Foundary Historical Historical 25mm miniatures, see above. Games Workshop Who can forget the overpriced miniatures of the Evil Empire. They have some great miniatures for those with deep pockets or those that don't mind paying metal prices for plastic. The Games Workshop Australia site is here. Aaaaaaaah. Check out the new LOTR miniatures - these look like they may be good and less than 30mm scale. Grenadier Classic manufacturer from the heyday of D&D and fantasy miniatures gaming which is now defunct. Though there is no link here I added it as some of the old Grenadier miniatures can still be found and some are been re-cast by other companies such as Nemo, Emperor's Choice and Lance & Laser. Grim Reaper Unusual miniatures which range from dodgy to great. Check this range out to fill some holes in your dungeon collection. Sourcing these was a problem till Discount Hobbies.com came to the rescue. Gripping Beast Miniatures 25mm-28mm scale Dark Ages miniatures. Icon Miniatures New owners of Harlequin fantasy miniatures. Also have Lord of the Rings as well as Dr. Who, WW2 and Zulu lines. Prices are quoted based on country of order - I use Icon Miniatures Australia site. Also have downloadable Fantasy Armies rules along with a LOTR variant. Web prices are better than retail and shipping is dirt cheap. Have had some fantastic army specials making their miniatures really good value. Jeff Valent Studios Boutique fantasy miniatures manufacturer. Does contract sculpting and manufacturing of miniatures as well modelling and terrain. Kallistra Manufacturers of 28mm fantasy and SF miniatures. Download their "Hoards and Heroes" rules. Lance & Laser Models Manufacturers of 25 mm Fantasy and SF miniatures. Available through Discount Hobbies. Some of the L&L miniatures are in fact old Julie Guthrie miniatures cast by Grenadier. Minifigs My fondest memories of the first D&D humanoid monsters are the minifig orc, gnolls and hobgoblins. Remember the orc that looked like a humanoid pig eactly as depicted in the 1st Edn MM. Well if we are lucky we may see some of these classics back in production. Mithril Subsidiary of Prince August that produce Middle-Earth miniatures. Nemo Miniatures Surly Italian company that has the mould for the old Grenadier "Fantasy Warriors", sculpted mostly by Nick Lund, line of miniatures. Despite repeated attempt to buy some of their miniatures thay do not respond. Must need to speak Italian - mama mia! Old Glory Vast range of historic miniatures (and some groovy fantasy miniatures as well) to build 25mm armies with and much cheaper per figure. Finally I've found the company's web site - guess what, the URL is oldgloryminiatures.com! Here is a retail store link with an alternate catalogue. Rackham Creators of the French "Confrontation" miniatures warefare ruleset. No web-site yet that I've seen but if it exists it will in French. Bloody frogs!! RAFM Good source for different and unuasual 25mm figures. Some of their miniatures are simply superb, others are dogs. They will cast out of production mini's if requested. Ral Partha Owned by the now defunct FASA and no longer doing official AD&D miniatures. Recently focussing on the FASA "Crucible" game miniatures but now likely to switch to Kidsbiz stuff. Has an excellent range of 25mm miniatures and a great 28mm range for their Battlestorm rules (Done mostly by Bob Olley) which are reasonably compatible with older smaller miniatures. On-line ordering of out of production miniatures was available and the mail-order catalogue for the same was vast including miniature pieces such as wings etc- unfortunately all were sold as singles (no army or bulk packs here) and they were $$$$. Now that FASA has gone out of business there fate is the great miniatures mystery. Ravens Forge Manufacturer of 25mm fantasy miniatures along with an Egyptian range. Site also has information on Mouldmaking & Casting miniatures. Reaper Heroic 25mm scale miniatures which means 28mm scale or in the case of more recent releases 30mm scale. Many excellent figures (thanks to sculpters Sanda Garrity and Bob Olley in particular) and some I'm sure I've seen elsewhere though this phenomenon is becoming more widespread - copyrights must be expiring! The undead range is massive making some Reaper mini's a must for all Necromancers or Necrophiliacs out there. Unfortunately they seem to be dropping there older "25mm" lines and focussing on the larger 30mm scale figures. The old Dwarves were compatible with my Ral Partha mini's but the new ones, despite great detail, stand almost 30mm tall! Renaissance Ink Producers of paints and flocking gels. The Australian distributor is Olympian Games. Shadow Forge Miniatures Australian manufacturer of exaggerated 25mm fantasy, fantasy historical, SF and babe miniatures. Thunderbolt Mountain Miniatures Specialist manufacturer of 25mm fantasy and historical miniatures and dioramas by Tom Meier. Vendel Miniatures Beware the music, but I like the look of those dark age Dwarfs. Veni Vidi Vici Producers of water slide transfers (decals) for 25mm and 15mm miniatures.
Miniature Resources and Inspiration Here I have collected some links to painting and modelling guides as well as commercial painters for inspiration. Brushworks Commercial painters - mostly GW. Change of Command Commercial painters - historical. Dr Faust's Painting Clinic Very comprehensive miniature painting advise. Hot Lead Miniature painting advise and inspiration. Mat's Mini's Mat Clark's painting guide and galleries. Military Miniatures Magazine Developing site with tips on modelling, mounting, modifying and painting military miniatures plus other information. Miniatures Collecting & Painting Centre Another one. Miniature-Painting.net On-line miniature painting guide with other miniature resources. On-Line Miniature Painting & Modelling Guide Another one. Painting FAQ Artificers Workshop #1 on miniature paints and painting. Paint FAQ Compiled questions asked in the newsgroup rec.games.miniatures. Paintrix Miniatures More useful painting tips. Table Top Tactics Wargaming site with articles on miniatures painting and flags.
Every army needs standard bearers so here are all the links I could find for free on-line flags and banners to dress up yor miniatures army. CFM's Free Flags Cannon Fodder Miniatures free flags. Mostly AWI stuff. Dragon Paint's Cave Some fantasy flags for download. Mike's Powerpoint Banner Project GW fantasy flags and banners. Napflags Alan Pendlebury's Napoleonic flags for download. Warflag Ian Croxall's Miniatures flags & banners for download and printing to attach to miniatures.
Sculpting & Casting Miniatures For those whose mortgage or wife are getting them down don't fret, you can have a massive miniatures army too - inhale the lead fumes and charge!!!! Casting Miniatures On-line article on how to cast miniatures. Mould Making & Casting On-line resource from Raven's Forge. Mould Making by Hirst Arts Bruce Hirst's guide to silicon mould making. Prince August Hobbies Owners of Mithril miniatures and manufactures of miniatures moulds for home casting of miniatures. Check out the reviews on the Miniatures Page.
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