Gremlins

Jermlaine?
Gremlins originate from the realm of aviation mythology, with the earliest references coming from the RAF in the 1920's. They became a part of popular culture during the WWII years through Roald Dahl's book The Gremlins.

Gremlins never appeared in 1^st Edition AD&D, but a number of small nuisance creatures from the Fiend Folio were later grouped under the category of "gremlins" in later editions. Two of these creatures are the Snyad and the Mite. I'd put the Jermlaine in this category as well, though in recent editions they seem to have turned into some sort of little rat-men.

To represent these creatures in proper 1/72 scale, I looked at various 6mm and 10mm miniature lines to find figures suitable for conversion.

For Jermlaine, I went with 6mm ancients from Rapier Miniatures. The two strips to the left are Celt slingers (CEL004), and Libyan infantry (EGY007). For Snyads and Mites, I selected 10mm Orcs (TM1) from Copplestone Castings represented by the strip on the right.


I find it difficult to believe that it's possible to be knocked unconscious by sap wielding Jermlaine, regardless of the number attacking you (the equivalent of being knocked out by being hit with dozens of half-filled hacky sacks), but I went ahead and made one for the sake of appearances. I also made some Jermlaine holding a tripwire. Other conversions I'm planning will be missile weapon troops and some rat riders.


The Snyads (left) and Mite (right) were modified 10mm orcs. The shields had to be removed from all of the figures.


In the case of the Snyads, the weapons were cut off and replaced with loot made from Kneadatite. I also went ahead and added a long hooked nose. I couldn't quite achieve the look of Russ Nicholson's illustrations, but I think the figures look decent.


The Mite was pretty much a stock 10mm orc with the shield removed and the arm re-positioned. They should be a bit shorter than Snyads, so I shaved the base a little to give it the appearance of being shorter. I tried making a sharp jutting chin on this conversion, but it's not readily apparent even on close-up, so I think that I won't bother for future conversions.

Sneaky Little Hobbitses

The general perception of the hobbit (or halfling), is that they are small and rotund. A minority of people see them as merely small, without the rotundity.



The first five halflings in the line-up are from Chariot Miniatures (HBT02). The set contained 8 random halflings armed with swords. The catalog description says that some have helmets, but I did not receive any examples wearing helmets. The last halflings in this group is the single pose from the Tin Soldier Halfling set (DFA3).



The next batch of halflings are also from Chariot. They are from the halflings with farm weapons set (HBT06). Each pose in the set was unique, but from the looks of it, all of the Chariot halflings are based on two basic body types.



The final group of halfings are a mix of 15mm and 10mm miniatures. The first figure is from SLM, and is a Halfling Warder Captain (HALF01). The SLM halflings are small and slender, and go better with 10mm halflings than 15mm halflings IMO. The next four halflings come from Copplestone Castings 10mm Fantasy line. These figures are from the Heroes and Halflings set (TM10). They are fantastic miniatures, modeled after the hobbits of the Company of the Ring. The last three figures are from Irregular. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I bought them, given that it didn't even cross my mind to buy their 15mm halflings. Anyway, the figures are: Halfling archer (TFAN39), Halfling with hand weapons (TFAN38), and Halfling personality (TFAN40).


A comparison of the different halfings. Tin Soldier and Chariot halflings match up well, while Copplestone halflings can be used as halfling children. SLM is better suited for 10mm, and the less said about Irregular, the better.