Sunday, March 13, 2011

Miniatures for an Island Hopping Campaign

On a whim, I’ve been searching around for miniatures that would work well in an island hopping campaign with a Polynesian/Hawaiian feel. Here’s what I’ve found so far...

Bloodaxe Miniatures has a selection of 15mm “Ancient Hawaiian” figures. I suppose these might work opposite 25mm minis as pygmies. Detail is hard to find in 15mm. My favorite of this bunch is the priest with a carving held over his head.

I found a couple of brief reviews. They’re much better looking when painted (more examples here and here).


Eureka Miniatures
has a similar line of Hawaiians, also cast in 15mm. Here’s their version of a priest holding a mask over his head.

Yet another is Mick Yarrow's collection. I couldn't find any decently sized pictures of them though.

Pulp Figures has a number of 28mm Melanesian Island Warriors available.

My favorite find was Crunch Waffles' selection which ranged in size from 19mm to 80mm. I really like their Ogre Mage (below) as well as their "gobbo"...
I wondered how easy it would be to find plastic miniatures that might be sold as souvenirs - apparently some of the older ones are very collectible. I didn't run across anything that jumped out as suitable though (at least not for what I had in mind). I did find some 3" tiki carvings that would work well as statues of temple gods or maybe as monsters themselves.

I'd be curious to hear if anyone knows of similar minis, especially in 25mm... there are definitely a lot of Amazons that could be reworked, as well as probably Native American or even Innuit figures that might do.

10 comments:

scottsz said...

Many thanks for posting those links - perfect timing!

Eli Arndt said...

If you can find them, there is set of corn on the cob holders that look like Tiki idols. You get a bunch in a box. Base coat, dry brush and bang, a whole bunch of idols.

Eli Arndt said...

True Kurasan Miniatures. They have some rarely seen ancient Americans and more on the way.

Telecanter said...

That ogre mage is beautiful. Makes me want to collect.

ze bulette said...

Gotta love those shorts.

richard said...

I'm intrigued that your thinking of a Polynesian campaign, and I confess I have no idea how I would do one. What attracted you to it? The mystery? The landscape? The fact we know so little? The Apotheosis of Captain Cook?

ze bulette said...

@Richard: I think this earlier post might be of interest. The idea first occurred about a year ago when the subject came up of "What kind of game supplement would you like to write?" while talking with Telecanter, and I discovered my answer was just this kind of Polynesian setting with perhaps reworked classes (such as a witch doctor in place of both the cleric and magic user). He mentioned at the time that he'd always wanted to run an island based campaign and it looks like he's gotten his wish lately… Gabor Lux has a great series of island adventures in Fight On! magazine, but they aren't quite what I'd envision for my own game. What I wanted to do was a game where you were islanders, not visitors to them, although eventually you’d go out exploring from your own island home.

With regards to why Polynesia specifically, I’m not 100% sure. I like the idea of volcano and earthquake gods (sorry), and the Caribbean seems so overdone lately. This is all just casual daydreaming for now as I'm still committed to my current Dordogne based game.

richard said...

I think it's a great idea. For myself I'd do a Bugis game, but that's because I know a bit more about them and they're just dripping with adventure hooks (if one can say that about the history of an ethnic group without being completely offensive). Plus during the 18th century they're all over the Indian Ocean causing trouble. Less witch doctors, more muskets and night raids on Singapore.

veriword: angsties. a generic term for White Wolf inspired games of the 90s.

Telecanter said...

I think that's a short lava-lava :) Had a lot of Samoans at my highschool.

Boric Glanduum said...

You could try here: http://wargamesfoundry.com/
I haven't been there recently, but they have a good-sized range of historical figures. Perhaps they'd have something there you could use.

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