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Thursday 13 June 2019

The Trolltooth Wars: Rhinomen

Greetings readers and apologies once more for another bout of radio silence - insert usual excuses here... Well with just over a month and a half to go till BOYL 2019 things have been rather busy here with the usual hurried preparations that should have been done ages ago - so I figured some procrastination in the form of writing this blog post was in order!



As usual I have filled my BOYL schedule with as many games as I could cram in to the weekend but the one I am looking forward to the most (and having the most fun preparing for) is the grand finale of Warlord Paul's and my Trolltooth Wars campaign. 

For the uninitiated, the Trolltooth Wars is a Fighting Fantasy novel in which the evil armies of two warring sorcerers, Zharradan Marr and Balthus Dire, go to war after a botched raid on a caravan carrying a coveted magic herb called Cunnelwort. Warlord Paul did a sterling job of mapping out the campaign all the way back in 2013 and we have been steadily working our way through the scenarios each year at BOYL since 2015 - see reports of those games here - Cunnelwort Caravan, Marr's Revenge and Raid on Coven.

Paul had his work cut out last year getting some of the more outlandish chaotics that formed Balthus Dire's raiding party on to the table and did an admirable job - especially with the two headed, scythe wielding, armoured giants...


... as you can see when compared with Russ Nicholson's superb illustration!


Now not to take anything away from Paul's mammoth task of painting up 37 tribes of Hill Goblins for the Battle of the Pass (albeit at a reduced ratio of 1:10 of the troop numbers mentioned in the book!), but I seem to have the tricky task of replicating some very idiosyncratic Alansian creatures on the battlefield this time...

The Fighting Fantasy world is a rich and varied one - much more rich and varied than the Warhammer World in many ways and for that I love it. However, creating a phalanx of Rhinomen in 28mm form has certainly tested that love!


There are various companies out there who produce Rhinomen miniatures but none of them fit the bill for Alansian Rhinomen. They are either too big, too hairy, too barbarian, not armoured, not armed with pikes - basically nothing like the illustrations I have poured over since an early age.


Nope - my OCD demanded Rhinomen who were slightly bulkier than your average human, clothed and armoured to a certain extent and looked like they were trained legionaries serving under the command of a Half Ogre who's boss is a Demonic Sorcerer who lives in a mirror!

That way of course lay madness and I resigned myself to finding a suitable base miniature and converting them to form my 20 strong Rhinomen phalanx. I settled on the Gargantua Orcs from Ral Partha because of their bulky physique and the large spears a number of them were armed with. Their armour had a slight similarity to that depicted in the illustrations too - pics courtesy of Ral Partha.




Luckily Hasslefree sell rhino heads - who'd have thought it!


Next job - cut off the faces of 20 lovely Ral Partha Orcs (heartbreaking and nerve-wracking!) and attach rhino heads...


... and hope that I wasn't making a big and fairly costly mistake!



Not looking too bad...



Getting the hang of this now...


And hey presto!


A little green stuff to hide joins and gaps and in come cases to model open mouths to give the unit a little more variation and character...



... and by jove...


I think I've only gone and done it!


A mighty phalanx of pike (well - long spear) wielding Rhinomen!


Now to paint the buggers...


I have several other units painted and based ready for this project - namely Black Elves and my mixed regiment of Goblins, Craggeracks, Kobolds, Dwarves and Gorians - and will be adding them to the blog when I get a minute to photograph them with a scenic background. I've also been having a lot of fun with Darramouss' (an Undead Half Elf and one of Marr's Commaders) horde of mutant creatures so watch this space for Clawbeasts, Blood Orcs, Devourers and Manic Beasts!

29 comments:

  1. Friggin awesome work Steve, can't wait to see the painted unit on the table top at BOYL

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    1. Cheers bud - really happy (and relieved!) at how well they are turning out. We'll be kicking off the game some time on the Friday afternoon - see you there!

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    2. Will do, Geoff and I have a Skaven (his not mine) Vs Indesd game Friday afternoon on one of the 6x6 tables, we'll have to take some time out to check out each others games and do some blog photos of each others handy work #savetheblog

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    3. Sounds like a plan - hopefully it's more #revivetheblog or #pullyourfingeroutandwritemoreblogposts in my case! ;)

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  2. Phenomenal work! Wish I could be at BOYL to see them in action!

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    1. Thanks Bill - most kind of you! I'll be sure to get loads of pictures of them (hopefully) mincing hundreds of Hill Goblins and maybe even get a battle report written before BOYL 2020... ;)

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  3. That's a brilliant looking unit and no doubt completely unique. Well done mate.

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    1. Aye - I guess they will be unique - hadn't thought of them like that! Cheers!

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  4. Those are absolutely ace!!

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    1. Thanks Riot - glad they're turning out to be worth the time and effort!

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  5. Wow, the results were well worth the effort! Nice work man, hopefully I can pop over for a bit Friday and see the game.

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    1. Thanks bud - yeah, be good to see you. You won't be able to miss us - just look out for the flying pirate ship on a 12" high flight stand! (something else I need to build and paint yet...)

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    1. Thanks Blacksmith - hope they all turn out that good!

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  7. Wow, unreal Steve! The conversions turned out really well. I like the open mouthed version, a nice touch.

    You mentioned that the FF world is a far richer place, fauna wise, could you elaborate on that please?

    Looking forward to meeting up again and getting a chance to see your mahoosive Shrine of Rigg that I unfortunately missed out on seeing last year.

    Not long to go now! :)

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    1. Cheers Mr P. - I thought they were looking a bit samey after I'd done the fifth one with the rhino head as is. Just took a bit of filing down on the lower jaw and green-stuffing an open mouth.

      I don't know if there is a greater range of creatures that inhabit Allansia than Warhammer World but they certainly feel a lot more exotic and at times whackier - as you will see with the Clawbeasts... Out of the Pit lists some 250 monsters from the Fighting Fantasy World - the various hybrids between Trolls, Orcs, Goblins and Giants account for quite a few alone - including Garks, Doragars, Blackhearts, Svinn and the list goes on! I think what really makes it seem richer though is the way that it is a real melting pot where you might rub shoulders with an Orc drinking in a tavern, get abused by Troll city guards in the port of Blacksand, get double-crossed by a devious Dwarf or rescue a Half-Orc from a beating from a bunch of Human bullies. Zharradan Marr's Legions, which I'm recreating for this game, are a case in point - Humans, Zombies, Rhinomen, Black Elves, Lizardmen and even a mixed regiment of Dwarves, Goblins, Crageracks (Hobgoblin/Troll hybrids), Kobolds (a failed magical experiment to make a stronger version of Craggeracks) and Gorians (a more successful magical experiment from uncertain origins) all fighting side by side under the command of a Demonic Sorcerer who lives in a mirror with a Half-Ogre for a General! Almost anything goes in Allansia unlike the comparatively more monoculture Old World.

      You won't miss the shrine! Look forward to catching up with you!

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  8. What a fabulous unit and if they all look like the test piece it is going to be amazing!

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  9. Magnificent! I love your Rhinomen. Never was much into Fighting Fantasy, but I do love their illustrations and crazy world building!

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    1. Thanks - that's exactly what got me hooked - plus they were a lot cheaper than computer games back in the day!

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    1. Looking good there El Thantsanto, that's a fair chunk of change right there for those conversions.. sell a kidney?

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    2. Hehe - Cheers Chico. Couldn't get much for mine cos they're knackered but it was just enough ;)

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  11. Wow, those are some impressive conversions! A hell of a work, but the results really paid off. Seriously, amazing job :O

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    1. Many thanks Suber - glad they worked out so well!

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  12. Once again you have really done something special here! Very, very well done indeed! They certainly are spot on.

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    1. Cheers Martin - very kind of you to say! Nearest I could have got to the old illustrations through conversions I reckon!

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  13. Nifty work there, well done. I remember getting. Citadel of Chaos to take on holiday age about 13 and mapping it out. It would be cool to make some of those cartwheeling dudes that throw knives.

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    1. Thanks! Ah Citadel of Chaos was a good one and those Wheelies were certainly unique! No need to make them - apparently Atlantis Miniatures has already done that and are releasing them and a bunch of other Fighting Fantasy minis at Fighting Fantasy Fest 3! https://www.scifind.com/fighting-fantasy-fest-2019-preview/

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