These bods were sold as Trills. I'm not sure what a Trill is, but I like the figures from 1977. In fact I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion the very early Ral Partha ranges are some of my favourites. Tom Meier obviously had a penchant for classical armour, as many of his sculpts wear it, these guys being no exception.
There were 2 different figures in a bag. One with a naginata, one with a falcata. Amazingly I still had the naginata from the ones I bought in 1980, and I made another up using broken bits and pieces from the bits box. Again they sport the Vile Rune on their bronze aspis.
I ended up with one of these chaps in an ebay lot - always wondered what he was! Nice work as always.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the Vile Rune here had any links with the Vile Rune Tribe of Orcs who feature on the Orc's Drift scenario pack?
Hi Thantsants. I borrowed The Vile Rune name from Thistlewood in WD45, one of Joe Dever's scenarios. I was getting into Cthulhu stuff by the time the Orcs Drift appeared I think (about 1985?). The Rune itself is from Runequest I think, but tickled my interest in Horned Gods and their symbols.
DeleteQuite a cross pollination of sources going on there!
DeleteNever seen these before, odd, but I like their mixture of brutish bodies and refined armour. BTW Vile Rune Orcs also appear in the 1977 AD&D Monster Manual.
DeleteAhh Zhu, keeper of the annals of Orcdom. That's interesting about the MM. I still have mine, but I admit I haven't looked at it for a while, and gone are the days I used to know it off by heart. I really hoped to quiz Joe Dever one day about his early games, but sadly that won't be possible now (and hopefully not for a good few years).
DeleteThese are great. I've always admired Tom Meier's work. In fact I have three Fantasy Tribe Trolls (FTT1-3) winging their way to me from the Netherlands as I write. Whilst I think about it, do you have any tips for stripping old lead painted with enamels? Ta!
ReplyDeleteOooh goody, I like the FT trolls. I think everbody has different methods for stripping down figures. I tend to soak them in Dettol for 3 or 4 days, remove (gagging on the disgusting smell) and scrub with cheap washing up liquid (NO WATER). I then rinse in warm water. Invariably there is some residue left, so I then put them to soak in a jar of oven cleaner for a couple of days. Sometimes the oven cleaner is fine on it's own, especially with smooth castings like Minifigs. Hope that helps!!
DeleteI've seen our pjs on the FT Trolls in a previous post. Great stuff! Thanks for the advice re. stripping. I usually use paint/varnish stripper, but wasn't sure if this would be too harsh for older lead.
DeleteI don't think it's too harsh on the lead, just completely grim to use (I have used Nitromors in the past, but it's deadly stuff).
DeleteI usually move onto the Nitromors once the cooking brandy's all gone.
DeleteWhilst on the subject of Meier would you be interested in putting in a combined order from Thunderbolt Mountain at some point? I really want some of those Wood Elves!
DeleteI may be up for that, I quite fancy a 20 figure pack of their armoured goblins, plus a command pack. Let me know when you want to order and I'll send you the codes.
DeleteI do like the classical armour vibe.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a strange mix as Zhu notes. The RP crouching orcs have grecian armour on too.
DeleteI remember the first time I saw Tom Meier's work back i the day...couldn't believe the detail he put into his work. Often wondered if the Trill was a miss-type that stuck.
ReplyDelete