Last May I wrote about my love of the golden age of Citadel miniatures (the ‘slotta’ era – late eighties and early nineties), inspired by Ben of Darkly Through Glass’ fantastic collection of scanned Citadel Combat Cards. Although that site is now dormant, Ben is back with a new blog, Fantasy3D, and one of the first things he has done is upload the rest of his combat cards, completing the set (with the Dwarfs and Warriors decks). Seeing all the cards together warms my little lead coveting heart, and having them at my fingertips is an invaluable resource. These cards are a nostalgia trip, painting guide, and collector’s list all rolled into one. Ben’s scans are so immaculate I almost don’t regret losing my well-worn and beat up decks. I recommend downloading them yourself, but here are a few of my favorite dwarves and warriors (click for full size).
When I was younger I had a bit of an obsession with the realm of chaos line, so it’s hardly surprising that I have a soft spot for the chaos dwarves as well. I should have bought these when I was a teenager. These two are from the iconic Chaos Dwarf Renegades boxed set (featuring an equally iconic John Blanche painting), which, if it does come up on ebay, is insanely expensive, so I doubt I’ll be adding them to my collection anytime soon. I can’t really argue, but I blame the high demand on the lame redesign Games Workshop did on their newer Chaos Dwarves (the ones with the silly hats as tall as their bodies).
One of my favorite features of the painting style of this era are the cool, freeform designs that took advantage of Citadel’s trademark plastic shields. It really makes each model stand out, and emphasizes a ‘lived-in’ implied setting where soldiers recycle equipment from fallen foes (kind of like D&D). Although I never had the mini, Flint inspired my friend’s character ‘Ralkan the Mighty’ in the first campaign I DMed.
There are some miniatures you track down just to have in your collection and there are others you want so you can build a D&D character around them. This is one of the latter. Despite being from a boxed set, the Heroic Fighters of the Known World (also John Blanche illustrated) are far easier to come by than the Chaos Dwarves. I was able to pick up Giovanni cheaply last year and I’ve been itching to play the mighty thewed gladiator ever since.
So often when I’m browsing through my collection I find myself wanting to make characters for the miniatures, instead of looking for a miniature that suits a character. If there is any reason to call this period Citadel’s golden age, this is it.
Tags: Blather, D&D, Games Workshop
I don’t have any comments for this (other than “that’s an awesome resource to find” and “John Blanche IS Gamesworkshop”), but I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for a project.
But I can’t find your contact information anywhere, at all. If you like monsters, and the internet, shoot me an email?
Hey, sorry it’s so hard to get a hold of me, I’ve sent you an email. I really need to add a contact page or something 🙂