3 members of that ancient race who walk beside men in unseen, other realms... Occasionally they pass through doors between worlds, dabbling briefly in the affairs of mortals before returning to the plain of air.
The classic Trampier illustration from the original Monster Manual.
The first is a Ral Partha miniature I think from the 90s....
I painted him as close as I can get to the picture of Othere, the Djinn of Distinction from the Lost Worlds Combat Book Series.
A Grenadier Djinn from their official D&D line from the very late 70s/ early 80s.
Another Ral Partha Djinn...I had the idea that I could use these fellows in a number of different settings: D&D, Pulp, (Little Cairo), and they might even fit into my ancient Egyptians vs Hittite.
We'll see where they first show up on the Big Board!
Grr! A pack of Bugbears make ready to guard their treasure against marauding adventurers...
As much as I like some of the D&D models that have come out over the last decade or so, I prefer, for the most part, to stick to the models I collected in my youth. Now that I'm old, I have the funds to build that collection I could only wistfully dream of owning when I was a boy. Besides, it is my considered opinion that like so many other things; Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Marvel and DC comics, etc... D&D has come to be unbearably stupid under its latter day proprieters. Stupid, polluted, prostituted and abused. My wife said she had a conversation with someone at her work in which the subject of D&D came up and she said "Oh, my husband does that stuff! He was playing D&D when he was a little kid in the 80s, when the game was brand new!" "Wow! Those must have been the days!" her co-worker mused. Yeah. They really were. Things were wide open and free. The books seemed very adult, esoteric and weird, and were charged with a little of that delightfully grown-up sleazyness that characterized the old pulps. Nothing was on your phone. Everything was in a book or in your head. The emphasis was on imagination and fun. When I go to a game store and glance through the newest additions of the rules, it all seems rather empty to me. Debased, sanitized and dull. I really wonder who they make it for now. Hasbro probably doesn't even know. They probably don't know or care. Corporate thinking kills creativity and discourages fun. But enough grumbling about things I can't change. On the rare occasions that I do still play D&D, I use me olde books from the 70s and 80s. And I frequently take them down and browse through them for enjoyment. TSR made their books so well back then that despite 40+ years of hard handling I still have all my old hardback books from that era, all completely intact. They have never fallen apart. And the game was better then too. Why do anything else? As old as I am, and with all the time that's past, a whisp of that old magic still clings to a lot of these classic bugbears.
Classic Dave Sutherland illustration from the original Monster Manual.
Andrew Chernak sculpted these menacing looking lads for the original AD&D miniatures line that Grenadier produced in the late 70s and early 80s. He did a terriffic job in capturing the characteristics of the Bugbears in the MM's illustrations...
Whang! Tough customers, them Bugbears... Tough. Cruel. Cunning. Ruthless.
Egads! The thieves have been discovered! Now they must fight for their lives!
Yet another party of bold adventurers arrives to test thier wits and wills against the horrifying denizens of the Caves of Chaos! One might have thought that they would have learned something from the grisly fates of the three parties that went before them but alas, nay. "Let's find the biggest, most powerful monsters we can and attack 'em! If we kill 'em, we'll get a ton of treasure and experience points!" The caves of Chaos will likely hold their bones.
A fighter/magic user goes for his sword at the sword of unseen feet stealthily approaching...
This figure was obviously selected as the inspiration for the 'Fighter Mage with magic sword" character from Nova games old Lost Worlds fighting fantasy game books. a series of which I am a fan. The details of the man's face and equipment match the character on the cover of the book exactly, and I painted him to match for Lost Worlds games.
A wizard converses with the skull of an old friend, (Perhaps his father's court jester or Shaman?) on which path might now be the best to take.
This figure was an early Tom Meier sculpt, I beleive, from the look of him I'd guess Tom completed him around the time he was working on the Condottieri series, as he has a wee something of a renaissance look about him. Dr. Faust, I presume? He was marketed as "Necromancer".
Back, ye undead! Back in yer tombs where ye belong! A cleric hurls his holy power at the dark denizens of the caverns...
A swashbuckling, albeit rather puzzled looking? female elf thief or fighter/thief, perhaps wondering how she got here. I think this figure was actually part of the very antique Royal Armies of the Hyborian Age line, and from the rather nautical looking boots and sword gather this mini may have been intended to represent Valeria. In common with a lot of figures from that line, she has a bit of an awkward look to her...the Ral Partha sculptors were still very young and had not yet hit their stride but I still like her.
This party must be relying more on brains than brawn to get through the caverns as they have brought few fighters but plenty of thieves and spellcaasters. This female halfling thief is not actually a Ral Partha product but a Grenadier one. She was sculted by Julie Guthrie, who worked for both companies, though, and fits in nicely.
"Valeria" and Fred the Dwarf. Grr! saith Fred. Goblins? Let me at 'em!
The spellcasters convene to come up with a plan. "This way!" "No, that way!" "Hmm...What say ye, Yorick?"
A swarm of savage Goblin warriors emerge from the nighted dungeon depths to assault a band of brave adventurers!
Rapacious and cruel, the evil little runts rush forward, hoping to bring the adventurers down in one furious charge!
The very first wargaming/role playing miniatures I ever owned were bought for me by my Chum Jay for my birthday when I was in the fourth grade. He got me the Grenadier goblins blister from the their AD&D figure line sculpted by Andrew Chernak. The fellow on the left with the sword is the last remaining survivor of that pack, I beleive. The others I have slowly collected down through the years, and at last they have become painted denizens of my Dwarven Forge dungeon.
An example of the yellow carded Chernak blisters which Jay and I used to eye greedily at the little hobby shop we frequented.
Dave Trampier's wonderful drawing from the original Monster MAnual.
The horde attacks! The pack had 5 different scupts: A halberdier, a swordsman, and mace, warhammer and flail armed figures.
The great, clumsy flail looks like a fore runner of the Warhammer Goblin Fanatic!
Goblins rush the Dwarf Thief and the Fighter/Magic User!
A fierce skirmish in the darkened halls!
Seems like that thing would be awkward to use---especially in a close quarters dungeon type environment. I like these guys, though.
Some simple conversions to some of the warhammer armed Goblins give a little more variety to the poses.
One of Gary Gygax's weirder and most memorable creations, The Xorn churns his way through the earth, searching for the precious metals which make up his diet. These sculpts are Andrew Chernak's and date to the late 70s/early 80s, from Grenadier's original AD&D line. Fine looking pieces they are, too!
A group of adventurers encounter a pair of Xorn keen to help themselves to the a feast of hard-won gold and silver!
A spellcaster blasts one of the Xorns with sizzling sorcery! Will it be enough to stop this child of stone?
Nay! The proud Xorn exults in victory, his bellows of triumph re-echo through the vast galleries of stone which are his home!
Another band of bold adventurers set off from The Keep on the Borderlands or Hommlet or Salt Marsh in search of the Caves of Chaos or the Temple or the Lizard Man Mound or wherever. Again, they are all old Ral Partha sculpts and at least mostly Tom Meier...
A very Nordic looking fighter and a female thief make up the first two members of our intrepid band...
Stalwart Norseman, Axe in hand, ready for Giant Spiders or Trolls or God knows what to emerge from the trees...
A female footpad flits noiselessly from shadow to shadow along the forest path...
A female fighter and a cleric stand ready to lay into the monsters of the forest with hard strokes of sword and flail...
Doubtless a devotee of some fierce cult stressing blood and fire, the Cleric calls up the powers of his vengeful God to support his companions and smite their foes...
A cold shield maiden of the far north, journeying far from the frigid wastes of her distant homeland...
Lastly, a barbarian son of the far, forest clad mountains and an enchanter of the broken hills...
Tried so hard not to screw up the eyes but couldn't quite pull it off in the end. He still looks ok on the table top...
Resolutely standing watch over tenantless ridges and mountain tops he calls home, frequently blasting them with fiery spells and always on the watch for the killer rabbit who haunts those lonely peaks, an Enchanter has joined the party to act as their magic user...
There are some who call him...Tim??
Deep in the trackless wilderness, our heroes cross paths with the evil cleric known only as the Zombie Master, who calls up his shambling, lifeless minions to destroy them! Will they survive??
