WELCOME to Forgotten Dungeons, which will serve as a chronicle of my efforts to collect, paint and game with fantasy miniatures of mostly pre-1985 vintage. My meager goal is to amass enough painted models for use in tabletop dungeon crawl and rpg games. Why pre-1985 miniatures? you might reasonably ask. Well, nostalgia certainly cannot be a factor, as I was born in 1980. If this emotion were a motivation then it would rather be to the Citadel Miniatures of the late eighties that I should turn (and did with my previous, now defunct blog). However, the growth of the Oldhammer "movement" within fantasy gaming over the last five years has seen this period extensively mined and, as an unfortunate side-effect, the prices of oop miniatures rise accordingly*. In a way then, expediency has played a hand in this decision.
But it would be wrong to claim that such a mundane impetus was the main influence behind this new venture. I have long been an admirer of two blogs that focus heavily (well, entirely in the latter's case) on 'pre-slotta' fantasy miniatures: Belched From the Depths and Broadswords and Beasts. In the time I have spent following these journals I have developed an affinity for the magical naivety of these often crude, antique lead sculpts. My unfamiliarity with many of them also bestows a certain mystique, as does the knowledge that they come from a remote time when the fantasy gaming hobby was in its relative infancy. They are imbued with an aura. And, from a purely mercantile perspective (yep, back to expediency), they can often be picked up pretty cheaply!
But it would be wrong to claim that such a mundane impetus was the main influence behind this new venture. I have long been an admirer of two blogs that focus heavily (well, entirely in the latter's case) on 'pre-slotta' fantasy miniatures: Belched From the Depths and Broadswords and Beasts. In the time I have spent following these journals I have developed an affinity for the magical naivety of these often crude, antique lead sculpts. My unfamiliarity with many of them also bestows a certain mystique, as does the knowledge that they come from a remote time when the fantasy gaming hobby was in its relative infancy. They are imbued with an aura. And, from a purely mercantile perspective (yep, back to expediency), they can often be picked up pretty cheaply!
My inagural model is a Citadel Miniatures C02 Wizard, which first appeared in 'The First Citadel Compendium', 1983. Stuff of Legends have coded him 'C02 1C-45' and he may be seen here.
Here he is in 'The Second Citadel Compendium' (1984), bottom-right, looking as if somebody had just jammed their thumb up his arse:
Seems he was a variant of this miniature, which RAFM dubbed the 'White Wizard'. An aspect of pre-slotta miniatures that I really appreciate is how 'un-busy' they are. When unpainted this might make them seem rather dull, but once you slap some paint on them their innate qualities quickly become apparent. Can anyone question that 'C02 1C-45' is not a quintessential wizard sculpt, regardless of his antiquity? And actually doesn't that add to his aura?
That's all for the moment folks. Do please take the time to leave a comment if you like what you see (or even if you don't!).
*James Taylor's 2015 article entitled 'Are Pre-slotta Minatures Crap?' and the resulting comments appear to give a good overview of the average 'Oldhammerer's' opinion of the models of this formative period.
That's all for the moment folks. Do please take the time to leave a comment if you like what you see (or even if you don't!).
*James Taylor's 2015 article entitled 'Are Pre-slotta Minatures Crap?' and the resulting comments appear to give a good overview of the average 'Oldhammerer's' opinion of the models of this formative period.
