Tuesday 19 May 2015

Oldhammer models

Is that model Oldhammer ? And this one?

Every now and then the question comes back and while some will argue that the true proper "Oldhammer models" are those issued during what they see as Games workshop's true 'Golden Era' (begining and end dates will most likely vary with every single person), some others will tell you the only true Oldhammer way is to get ANY model on the table, whatever the maker, the release date, material or anything.

Rest assured, I will not try to give any definition here but I'd be more interested to see what kind of models get made AROUND the Oldhammer community or state of mind. I'll just list some projects run by enthusiats who feel like filling the voids left by discontinued references and who want to make things happen.
I'd really like to emphasise that for most of (if not all) people involved here, this is not their main job but a side project to which they dedicate quite some time, energy and money. Given the quality of the work and the price applied, you can really see the dedication here !

Darkling Games :

Darkling Games is the line of miniatures run by Oldschool Goddess Delaney King. Her range includes some fantasy evil dwarves sculpted in that delicious retro taste that fits juts right in with the chaos dwarves of the early kind.


Delaney has some very exciting projects for the future including Arse cannons, sphincter beasts (my personnal bias inclines me to listing those first) but also many tasty projects you can follow on her dedicated blog HERE.

Space riders / Diego Serrate :

Diego Serrate has graced us with a Kickstarter getting its roots in the early days of rogue trader but with his own excellent touch and amazing skills. His modern approach and added ideas really fill voids in our oldschool collections AND brings new horizons for fun.

Evil Space orcs

Bounty hunters
Go and visit his Kickstarter (still running) to see all the references available (you will probbaly end up emptying your bank account but after all, money is safer in the hands of talented artists that in tose of bankers) !

Via Ludibunda :


Via Ludibunda is the range owned by Treps (of Oldhammer origins) and it offers very original models amongst which a wonderful set of goblin pirates (sculpted by no other than the Goblinmaster Kev Adams himself), harryhausen skeletons, Oldschool ogres and much more !

Kev Adams pirates

Oakbound :

Oakbound is the range managed by Geoff Sims. It has steadily been augmented over time to create a whole range of celtic inspired fantasy creatures amongst which those who love one-eyed bog dwellers should be very fond of but it doesn't stop here as the models cover a whole range of bizarre creatures to fit in the unique set of rules created for the occasion.


The most deviant (and more sci-fi inclined) of you will even have the chance to get their hands on evil dorfs and some strange Judge trying to make his authoritaaaa respected.



Colony 87 :

Initiated by the most excellent Axiom with the participation of fantasy illustrator Will Beck and figure designer Michael Anderson, Colony 87 is a Kickstaret that funded in no time to provide a set of original and characterful civilian models for sci-fi games.


The massive success of the first waves can only let us dream of many more to come !

Bood Wargames :

Bood Wargames is a very recent range built to offer a good alternative to the old medieval dwarves released by Citadel in the 80's. Sculpted by the most excellent John Pickford, these offer the possbility of endless combinations :


A crowdfunding project is about to see th elight of day and if you ever felt like a genuine fantasy dwarf enthusiast, keep an eye open on this one !




White Knight miniatures :


If you still like dwarves but prefer the renaissance kind to the medieval one, there's white knight for you ! And if you jus tfancy renaissanc einqpired fantasy in general there's just everything you need amongst those models :


The variety of models available and their quality will have you dreaming for quite a while so get yourself a good beverage and browse the wonders HERE.

Clam Miniatures :

With the help of John Pickford and other sculptors, CLAM has come up with a range of fabulous evil fantasy dwarves (the Evil Dvergar) and plenty of other goodness of the sort :


The range is splendidly evocative of the old days favoured in our community and will offer an excellent alternative in terms of poses and prices to what you'd get on the bay of E. Have a look at  Clam's site.

Crooked Claw miniatures :


Crooked claw miniatures offer you a range of spectacular goblins sculpted by no other than the Goblin master himself. Pictures speak for themselves :




These are just the sites and projects that pop up to my head right now but if you know or run any similar projects, by all mean share them in the comments and we'll gladly update to share it around !

Remember one thing really : before spending money on Ebay BIN prices, why don't you consider supporting those who make things happen and who take OUR desires into account ? Throwing money at them and taking the time to give constructive criticism is the best way to keep them doing all of this...

There have never been better times to be oldschool than now !

27 comments:

  1. Very nice "oldhammer " explanation, and yes, very great models around! If all of them were put together under a single name, we will have a big oldhammer company indeed ;)

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  2. Great post JB. I've quite a selection of the models mentioned above, what with my love of cyclopean bog monsters and evil dwarves, and I can thoroughly recommend them to anyone looking for some old school flavour in new ranges.

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  3. an interesting piece, who knew so many bloggers had such talents, I'd vaguely heard of White Knight Miniatures, but I didn't know they were producing Empire inspired mini's, I'll have to look them up.....

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  4. So much wonderful Dwarf stuff coming out, but I will have to restrain myself from buying more models that I don't have time to paint!

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  5. Great listing of current and forthcoming alternate minis! I am beside myself with excitement over those beautiful Dwarf Cavalry models! I want them NOW!

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  6. There are certainly some new companies there since I last updated the list. I just love thaose dwarves from Bood Wargames, along with Clams, White Knights and Delaney's fantasy dwarves do very well, add Chico and Geoff's space dwarves, hell even Bob Olleys scruntsI think they have to be the most popular new-oldhammer race. Goblins next but why no elves?

    The only omission I think you have made is lancer miniatures http://lancerminiatures.com/ who produce very resonable old school orcs and Warfactory cultists from Scalene. Infact I'll update the links wioth all the new ones soon. So cool to have you write something for this old blog JB.

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  7. JB - This post is utterly invaluable. So many great options, finally captured in one place.
    I totally agree with your basic premise - Oldhammer is more of an aesthetic than anything else, and that aesthetic can be captured by modern sculptors as well as it was by the gnomes of Citadel back in the 1980's. So I love your parting shot about supporting "those who make things happen and who take OUR desires into account".
    Anyway, I think this post is so good, I've just posted a link to it on my website. I hope your post gets a lot of attention!

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  8. Some great recommendations there - I must get round to finishing off painting Delaney's excellent Dwerg and I have some Crooked Claw wolf riders also awaiting a lick of paint.

    I'd also add 4A Miniatures to the mix - there's an ecelctic mix of stuff there but I'm a particular fan of the Kev Adams Goblins. There are some great little imps and demons from Paul Muller and Paul Sanderson's Goblins are pretty nice too.

    Don't forget the old school charms of Ral Partha, Viking Forge (Asgard) and Mirliton (Grenadier) - loads of lovely old stuff still available there.

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  9. Well, as many people have mentionned, there are some ommisions in this post and I mean to make things right with a second post ! ^^
    @Erny : The aim really is to draw attention upon those who spend time/energy/money for the greater good so an updated listing of all of them will be the next best thing.
    Having this place as a repository also seems nice to me after all.

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  10. OK if I find time in my lunch break I'll update the side bar.

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  11. A nice curational post of Retrocitadel there JB. To spread the net a little wider than those active in our community, but still focussing on the smaller producers, Alex Huntley Warploque Miniatures do a ine range of gribley halflings, worthy of John Blanches versions of the little gluttons, and some fantastic Paul Bonner-esque trolls. Steve Salehs Lucid Eye have some nice, near punk, Lustrian Amazons.

    Among the larger producers, Richard Scotts Otherworld Miniautresfirmly in the Retrocitadel mould, as is much of Kev Whites Hasslefree, the female Kaleb Daark and his Amazona Gothique model (is that released yet?), 80s Citadel heritage.

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    1. Zhu - your shout-outs for Otherworld and Hasslefree are right on the mark. Those manufacturers really capture the "personality first" style of sculpting that (in my view at least) is essential to the "oldhammer feel".

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  12. Tim Cook's painting in those Otherworld skellies is so typical of the man. Love his painting. Crooked Claw and Space Riders are also superb.

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  13. Tim Cook's painting in those Otherworld skellies is so typical of the man. Love his painting. Crooked Claw and Space Riders are also superb.

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  14. Wow - Im all over those Bood Dwarves... I used to search continously on ebay for old dwarves but they seem to go for nothing less than a bag of gold! I just hope I catch the crowd funder for them!

    Anyone know of suitable Oldschool Medieval Skellies, zombies and ghouls? I'm not taken by the Mantic stuff. :(

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  15. Thanks for the mention. Great post too. :)

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  16. Check out Tim Prow's Diehard Miniatures that recently ran a kickstarter. Really nice stuff. :)

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  17. Check out Tim Prow's Diehard Miniatures that recently ran a kickstarter. Really nice stuff. :)

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  22. This was useful! I've linked your work in my article about the topic: Oldhammer miniatures
    Unfortunately, many of the images you've linked are not avalable any more.

    ReplyDelete