I don't seem to spend as much time just surfing the net nowadays, so was delighted to find a little write up here , from a lucky fellow who attended a Lone Wolf Battle Day hosted by Joe Dever himself. I must admit that the Lone Wolf books came along just as I was losing interest in fantasy gaming and in particular Fighting Fantasy style books (what was I thinking of.... beer and wimmen probably), so I'm not well versed in the lore of Magnamund where the books are set, but although the battle shown here features Lone Wolf and also slotta figures, there are plenty of Joe's older collection to be spotted, including units that appear at Thistlewood!
I reckon this game took place in late '86 or '87 (one of the photos in the write up shows some Games Day awards dated 85 and 86). I have copied some of the pictures below which I believe were taken by Joe Dever himself. If I am breaching any copyright or similar, please let me know and I'll remove them.
Here we have initial deployment. The units at the bottom left are Hinchliffe Yonderley Men and featured in a picture illustrating Thistlewood. I reckon the red Minifigs knights on the right were there as well!
Some splendid green hobgoblins and orcs charge some foresters... many of these figures are outside my comfort zone being slotta castings (mounted on card here), but I can see a Citadel FA ranger, and the cavalry are Minifigs... possibly painted up to use as Haradrim.
Minifigs red AX knights, and a Garrison king charging some chaos warriors. the red goblins bottom left are Lone Wolf Giaks.
a close up of two of the Hinchliffe Yonderley men... so nice to see them in colour. The bald chap in the foreground is a Ral Partha necromancer, flanked by Minifigs Monk Spirits.
Some Citadel HYW crossbowmen defending a wall against undead. Perhaps these chaps fought at Thistlewood too?
Some action taking place indoors, using Dungeon Floorplans as recommended in the Thistlewood article. Some converted Dixon ashigaru and Citadel Easterlings tackle some Citadel DA vikings. In the foreground right is another Hinchliffe Yonderley Man.
So, very exciting for me to see some more of Joe's collection in colour. I love the whole set up with the terrain tiles which were very in vogue then, and the simple no nonsense basing of the figures. Take a look at the other pictures in the original article.
Looks great and some memories of the 80s there.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of Joe's b&w pics in WHite Dwarf back in the day.
Good times back then.. apart from being at school.
DeleteSome classic figures on the table !
ReplyDeleteVenerable old Minifigs still stand up well.
DeleteFascinating photos, a terrific find. Really interesting to see the variety of figures used. I like what he has done to the ashigaru Dixon figures. I have always liked their straw capes. I always wondered if they would keep the rain off at all.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking of getting a few of those samurai. Still the best range available.
DeleteThese pictures are a great find! I think I see a couple of Citadel Skeletons in there that I have buried somewhere in my lead mountain. Dang, got to get to work on my undead when I get back home! Thanks for sharing. Where did you find these?
ReplyDeleteNice those early skeletons, although I preferred Minifigs. The link to the original article is at the top.
DeleteThese are great!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I've often noticed about the heavily black-lined painting style that Joe Dever and other early White Dwarf contributors used is that it 'reads' very well on the tabletop - often much better than more sophisticated painting styles. The chaos lord's shield in the thread you link to is a great example of this.
There's something great, too, about the way he unites disparate figures with strong colour schemes - as with the teal and red chaos warriors and that hobgoblin unit, which mixes Aly Morrison and Jez Goodwin hobgoblins with Nick Lund black orcs.
Terrific stuff!
Yes,both those points occurred to me, like the mixing of different foot knight figures with a similar colour scheme. The heavy exposure of the black undercoat works well with a gloss varnish too.
DeleteGreat pics! Very inspiring.
ReplyDeleteThey certainly are... Got me fired up to paint more.
DeleteDo you have GM (The Independent Fantasy Roleplaying Magazine) issue from April 1989, Volume 1 Number 8? In it you will find more pictures of one of Joe Dever's battledays. Some pictures black and white, others colour.
ReplyDeleteNo I haven't seen those, but will look for an issue straight away. Many thanks
DeleteI've located and purchased one, so am looking forward to it arriving. Many thanks for the tip.
DeleteYou're welcome! I hope you enjoy reading the account of the battleday and looking at the accompanying photos.
ReplyDeleteAlso - are you aware of and have you seen footage of Joe's fantasy wargame figures and terrain on Youtube? He's promoting his latest Lone Wolf book and the series as a whole on a children's Saturday morning TV show. Search on Youtube for
Motormouth series 4 episode 14 TVS Production 1991 (edited)
The footage is a bit blurry but you seem to have an excellent set of eyes for picking out miniatures so it may be of use to you.
Hello YC. I have received the magazine and it lived up to expectations. Most recent post here is about it. Many thanks again. If you happen to come across Ben Dever, please mention this blog to him as I'm keen to buy a lot more of his father's collection.
DeleteJeepers... so much info flooding in. I'll have to look up that video. I'm not in the Lone Wolf loop so have obviously missed a lot of information.
ReplyDeleteHello there some belated commenting. Great post with incredible pictures. Got me reminiscing and musing about that period. Like many people I fell out of love with fantasy gaming in the late 80s. Up until then it had been an obsession. Would walk all the way to the gamesshop to buy one or two figures and then walk home. Figures were always painted the same day too. I think losing interest coincided with starting work and having more cash to spend. Which was obviously spent on clothes and going out.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason have never clicked on that link until this morning. Fantastic!
ReplyDelete