The Best Warhammer Miniatures Ever!

Is Forgeworld the best Fantasy Battle "large" miniature maker on the planet ?!

These guys make some truly inspiring miniatures, if you have the cash... don't hesitate !

I've long been an admirer of Forgeworld miniatures and I try to let everyone know on the Battle Reporter blog when they release a new model. I thought it might be worth showcasing some of their awesome Fantasy Battle miniatures to the uninitiated (ie. the people who have only seen GW models so far).

Let's face it, Games Workshop create some great miniatures and some very iconic ones that really bring out the spirit of Warhammer, think Archaom the Everchosen for example. Not only that but GW definitely make the finest plastic miniatures that I have ever encountered when it comes to detail, customization options and value for money. However, when it comes to the big beasts, the army centerpieces and the massive shock and awe miniatures, nobody beats Forgeworld and here's why...

And just to give you an idea of the kind of scale we're talking about here, below is their giant miniature. The Fire Dragon at the top of the post is a whopping 8 inches (20cm) high and 13 inches (33cm) long (33 centimeters !!!). They are all of a similarly large size. In fact Forgeworld don't "do" small miniatures, the smallest you'll get is probably an Ogre Rhinox Rider. Rest assured though, they are all 28mm scale.

These guys all come at a price but frankly, if you can spare the gold crowns, they're worth it, especially if you really want your army to stand out on the battlefield and stand apart from your friend's weedling forces :)

I think the Mammoth below is especially neat. It's effectively a HUGE Chaos War Shrine although another blogger/modeler named Tushan had something else it mind for the miniature (or should I call it a "massivature").

Tushan converted the model into an Ogre Kingdoms War Mammoth (or Mamut called "Stompfoot") bearing King Rustbeard (Greasus Goldtooth no less). He's given the beast a rider / controller (if that's possible) holding a necessarily very long halberd, there are some Gnoblar hangers-on and even a couple of leadbelchers thrown in for good measure ! Tushan has done an awesome job of it too. You can read about the model and it's very impressive Warhammer profile (unofficial)  in the :-

Bellower Warhammer (Ogre) Fanzine here (early 2010 edition) [Note: this link is a 33meg pdf]

Edit (28th Nov): new 8th edition profile courtesy of Randroid:-

Rustbeard & Stompfoot's profile updated for 8th edition rules [< 1meg pdf]

Forgeworld's Chaos War Mammoth

Tushan's Mammut War Beast Conversion below (click for Tushan's website)

See all of Forgeworld's Warhammer Fantasy Battle Monsters

Images except for converted Ogre Mammut are © Forgeworld. All rights reserved. Used without permission. Converted Mammut is © Bernd Barnstorf. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

Monstrous Mounts and then some !

Games Workshop certainly did a decent job encouraging the use of Monster Mounts in the 8th edition Fantasy Battle rules. In case you missed it... Monster Mounts (those which are large targets) now provide an army general with an Inspiring Presence range of 18 inches (i.e. his sphere of influence for leadership tests).

Now, check out these custom made monster mounts (I found them quite inspiring so thought I'd share with you),  an Airfix converted Triceratops kit model and a Kislevite War Mammoth Steam Tank !!

I think they're imaginative and very cool. Just make sure your opponent is happy to let you use yours once you've constructed it and made up a suitably hard profile profile for it (i.e. toughness 8 to 10)

So, without further ado...

The first miniature is from the Santa Cruz Warhammer blog (here for more pics) and was posted many moons ago (back in Nov 2007 - so apologies to anyone who's seen the miniature before).

And here are some of the steps that were involved....(I know it's more 40K than Fantasy but just swap the cannon for an older fashioned version and it's suddenly an awesome Fantasy Battle conversion).

The Mammoth Steam Tank below is from a more obscure blog called "Game Classy" (http://docred7.blogspot.com). Sadly, the blog hasn't actually been updated since March 2010 so I guess it's probably out of production but (note: there are some other Kislev miniature pics there that some people might find interesting).

I love the scratch built howdah which looks like it could house a few miniatures and also the snow effect looks pretty cool. The best bit though must be the very thematic Kislevite dome (and mammoth's "helmet")which is frankly very odd looking but perfect for the army in question.

My only reservation, I think I would replace the "rope" reins with a cheap jewelery chain attached to the ears (just like in the Lord of the Rings film).