Daughters of Ares

During the 80's, Roger Corman was looking to cash in on the success of Conan the Barbarian, and figured that producing some films with a dash of Argentine sensibilities would be the way to go.

Barbarian Queen

Amazons

What resulted has been described by critics as being an unusual mix of feminist movie and exploitation flick. Corman has also claimed that these movies were the inspiration for the Xena Warrior Princess TV show in later years.

The characterization of these Corman produtions is probably analogous to how one might view the latest set of 1/72 Amazons produced by Linear A.

There are 12 poses made in dark brown plastic.

The figures are largely portrayed in heroic nudity, and are very reminiscent of the Alliance Amazons, except with less clothing. The majority of figures look characteristically Greek, while the sitting figure has a vaguely Egyptian appearance.

Linear A in brown, Alliance in gray

I don't have much more to say about them, but I'm sure there are going to be as many people who belittle these figures as there are those who will have a use for them.

A comparison of Linear A Amazon, Dark Alliance Amazon, and a Ral Partha Amazon.

Oiorpata

Amazons were titled Androktones (Killers of Men) by Herodotus, who said that this name was a direct translation of Oiorpata, the name they were known by in the Scythian language.

There are various claims surrounding the origins of the Amazons, but the majority of those believing Amazons to be historical fact agree that they came from somewhere in Central Asia. Evidence is provided from excavations of kurgans containing remains putatively identified as women warriors.

Others note that Amazons are always encountered outside of the confines of the civilized Greek world, and see them more as allegorical representatives of barbaric lands where law and rationality were completely inverted from the norm.

In ancient Greek imagery, Amazons have frequently been depicted as wearing Scythian dress, with headgear representative of the enemy du jour.

Amazon wearing Scythian cap.

Amazon with sagaris wearing Phrygian cap.

Amazon wearing Persian(?) cap.

At other times, they are depicted as wearing Greek-style armor and helmets.

Hippolyte (mounted) in Greek-style armor, while her
companion wears Scythian garb with a Greek helmet.

Heracles taking down an Amazon wearing Greek-style armor.

Modern imagery is varied, but ranges from typical fantasy cheesecake armor, to what is more or less Greek-style armor.

Anyway, the first set of plastic 1/72 scale Amazons were produced last year by Dark Alliance. They followed up this year with the release of Modern Amazons.

The initial set of Amazons, are dressed in a mix of fantasy and quasi-historical armor.

Archers from Set 1

Sword and spears from Set 1

Spear and sword from Set 2

There was a lot of flash on the figures, and I found the waxy plastic used for the production of these figures to be particularly difficult to work with when trying to clean them up.

The latest set of Amazons have a modern aesthetic that includes a mix of medieval plate armor, cleavage, and bare midriffs.

They are figurative rather than actual Amazons, and fall more accurately into the classification of "fantasy female warriors".

Swords from Set 1

Dual wield, polearms, and archer from Set 1

The archer seems to be different from what is shown on the back of the box. The figures I received had short, unfeathered shafts in their quivers.

I'd be interested to know if others buying this set actually get fully cast arrows for their figures.

These figures had even more flash than the previous sets, but the plastic has a firmer consistency, making clean-up somewhat easier.

I thought it was particularly funny that for more than half of the figures, no matter how heavily armored they were from the front, that their backsides were always exposed.

Looks like an album cover for 2 Live Crew...

The set of Mounted Modern Amazons may be of particular interest to many because of the mounts included in the set.

There was very little flash with this set, and the plastic has a harder consistency that makes clean-up very easy.

Finally, I present a couple of Ral Partha Amazons (Personalities and Things that go Bump in the Night 01-085) portrayed in heroic nudity, and a [Amazon] High Priestess from the Wizards and Clerics box set (The Adventurers 98-001).

A comparison of some of the taller Dark Alliance Amazons, and a Ral Partha Amazon.

Starguard!

I have known about the venerable line of Starguard! miniatures for a long time, but I was always hesitant about ordering them because it was not clear to me how big they actually were. Most of the information with respect to size referred to the Dreenoi and Amazons, which were taller than 1 inch, making me think the figures were more in line with typical 25mm (to the eye) sci-fi miniatures. However, I was assured by John McEwan at Reviresco that the Starguard! miniatures were definitely 1/72 scale, so I went ahead and ordered some of the figures that I was interested in.

The first figures are from the Imperial Terran Marines Assault Squad (S-135). They wear a round space helmet with combat armor that is based on that of Imperial Stormtroopers from Star Wars. Some of the other figures in this line actually wear the Stormtrooper helmet as well.







The next figures are the Terrasan Necromorphs Maggot Squad (S-145). These represent undead soldiers of the Terrasa Regents. They wear gas masks and jump packs. Their bloated and rugose heads look rather disturbing. I'm not sure whether to keep them as is, or to file the heads down a bit so they look more human. The last figure is an officer who reminds me a bit of Cobra Commander (there is also another officer in this line who looks like Dr. Doom).








The next group are Eli Raiders (S-115). I really like the design of their helmets. However, the spikes on the officer's helmet will have to go. All of the figures wear jump packs.








Last is an Amazon MG Squad (S-142a). The Amazons are tall in their high heels, but even without them, they would probably scale out to 6 feet tall (which is not inappropriate for Amazons). They are very much in proportion to 1/72 scale figures, so I have no problem with them.




Finally, a comparison of Amazon, Eli, Terran Marine, and Necromorhph.


I would have preferred that the figures come with separate jump packs, and the officers did not wear capes, but overall the figures work for 1/72 science fiction. They are definitely old school in sculpting style and design aesthetics. The lines that I ordered were not as dated to me, but some of the other figures definitely have the look of sci-fi from the 1930's on up to the 1970's. Some of the weapons the figures are armed with clearly fall into the category of "raygun" style weapons, and I may replace them with more conventional looking weapons.

I'm not sure how I want to paint these figures up. Some nice artwork by Niklas Jansson can be found at Android Arts with the official color schemes. Most of the schemes might be okay for shipboard combat, but probably not too useful dirtside.

More Amazons

I'm finally able to make a little time for writing a new entry. The topic again, is Amazons. First up are the Armies of Arcana Amazons, available from Lone Gunman Games. The figures were sculpted by Sandra Garrity and are quite nice. The poses are static, but by bending the limbs a number of different poses can be achieved. The miniatures are true 15mm figures and are too small for 1/72, but I do have plans for them which will be revealed in a future entry.



The next group are Black Raven Foundry Amazon Archers (FO44). The description on the Old Glory 15s website is "24 Archers Including One Set Of Command" but the set I received was all archers (and only 21 of them at that). There are only three poses, but perhaps there were supposed to be three command figures to increase the number of poses. The sculpting is decent, but the figures are much chunkier, and slightly taller than the slender Armies of Arcana figures. The kneeling archer can pass for 1/72 quite easily. The standing poses require some modification, but other than their height, would work well for 1/72 as well.



Finally, a group shot of Armies of Arcana, Black Raven Foundry, and Irregular Amazons. The first Amazon figure is a replacement for the miscast Standard Bearer I mentioned in the previous entry, courtesy of Jacob Kovel at Silver Eagle Wargame Supplies. I have to say that customer service in the miniature wargame business is top-notch. I have yet to encounter a manufacturer or distributor who refused to replace a damaged or miscast figure... Maybe I'll complain about the missing Amazon Command figures...