Happy Halloween!

For Halloween, I decided to cover some of the typical creatures we associate with this celebration - witches, skeletons, werewolves, mummies, and vampires.

Witches

The first group of miniatures are 15mm witches from Chariot (MM01). There is one standing pose and two sitting poses with traditional pointy hats and long robes. The set comes with a shallow cauldron with separate legs. These miniatures are true 15mm figures, so will most likely be used as donors for future witchy projects.



Skeletons

Representing skeletons, we have the Skeleton Recruiting Party from GFI (25980006). This set consists of a number of miniatures from the old Minifigs Valley of the Four Winds line. Shown below is the Dead Cart (VFW42) and the Coffin, Plain with Skeleton (VFWM4).


The rest of the recruiting party consists of a Skeleton with Lantern (VFW120), a Skeleton Carrying Wine barrel (VFW118), and a Skeleton Carrying Basket of Skulls (VFW119).



These are true 25mm figures, and full of character to boot. Except for their enormous heads, they are quite compatible with 1/72 figures. Next to the three GFI skeletons is an old Citadel Skeleton Warrior (FF52-1). He is a bit bulky, but also compatible with 1/72 with the exception of his huge head. Some unfortunate 15mm skeletons will have to donate their heads to make these guys suitable for my Army of the Dead. At the end is a plastic Caesar skeleton for comparison.

It is my hope that one day, GFI will re-release all of the classic Minifigs skeletons, particularly the Great Bell and Tower that they use as a teaser for their pre-order thumbnail.

Werewolves


There are a number of different werewolf types, which could be characterized along a continuum of increasingly wolf-like features. There is the old horror movie wolfman à la Lon Chaney Jr.; the man-wolves of The Howling; the werewolf in An American Werewolf in London; and finally, the man-transformed-to-actual-wolf of mythology.

The first werewolf figure shown above is from Citadel (FF19). It has characteristics of both wolfman and man-wolf. It actually reminds me a bit of the big burly bear-wolves from the old Werewolf TV show. The next werewolf is from Ral Partha (ES61). It too has hybrid features, but it has the lean look that I associate with werewolves. After, is a 20mm werewolf from Elhiem (P28), followed by three 15mm Wolfen: the Wolfen Berserker (W006), Wolfen Shaman (W010), and Wolfen Spearman (W002). Though Wolfen are not proper werewolves, the Elhiem werewolf is clearly undersized, being no taller than the 15mm Wolfen.

For me, werewolves should be tall, like Miss Lupescu of the Graveyard Book, or the Lycans of Underworld. Other than the Ral Partha werewolf, I'm not sure there are any other miniatures that meet my criteria.

Mummies


Most of the mummies shown above are of the old school Hammer Films style mummy. The first mummy is from the Grenadier Monsters boxed set (5002), followed by one by Ral Partha (ES20). These mummies are large and bulky. Totally unsuitable for 1/72 despite the preponderance of tall mummies in this scale. Next is version 1 of the Citadel Mummy (FF60). I believe that version 2 is identical to the Ral Partha version. I find this Citadel version superior to the Ral Partha version, though like most 25mm figures, the head is too big for 1/72. Next is the Elhiem Mummy (P28) which is slightly short, but fine. The last bunch are from Chariot (SHE06), which are tiny at 15mm.

Vampires


Vampires round out this entry, with The Count and Countess from Elhiem (P27), and a line up of Elhiem Vamps (P33). I'm not sure why The Count is so short, since he is obviously based off of the Bela Lugosi version of Dracula rather than Tom Cruise's Lestat. After all, Lugosi was supposed to have been 6' 1".

A comparison of 1/72 vampires and mummies in plastic and metal.

Owlbear

The Owlbear is a classic old school monster that has suffered the indignity of often being included in lists of stupid D&D monsters. And as much as I'm sure we all appreciated David C. Sutherland's succubus in the Monster Manual, his illustration of the Owlbear definitely didn't help its case.

My favorite Owlbear minatures are the Dungeon Dwellers Owlbears (Heritage 1224) which came in four different poses. The two hulking Owlbears below are the GFI release of two of those sculpts (MIF25921804). I like these miniatures in particular because they actually have owl-like heads, and do not have feathered arms. Hopefully the other two poses will be released some day.



The smaller Owlbear at the end is from the Armies of Arcana line now being produced by Lone Gunman Games. It is a nicely sculpted miniature, but just does not seem very intimidating. It has feathered arms, and the beak is more eagle-like than owl-like. In fact, if you were to give it a wolf's head and tail, it would look like one of the more rightfully ridiculed D&D monsters – the Senmurv. In any event, I think it is the only Owlbear that is produced in 15mm.

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...