Fireforge Steppe Warriors

These are always a pleasure to assemble and paint, like all Fireforge products.  I know some say the poses are a bit 'extreme', and that the weapons in some cases are Warhammer-like and overlarge, but I love them.  They have real character, and every frame comes with masses of spare parts - which is a real bonus to someone like me who is always look for bits and pieces for customisation. 

For those who don't know the kit, you get 24 pairings of torso / leg mouldings, in four styles.  This gives you 16 basic options before posing, but unlike many kits which allow you to build this-many archers or that-many spearmen, with this kit you get enough weapon options to make all archers, all spearmen, or all with hand weapons.  And 8 shields to every 4 miniatures!

The heads add even more variety, especially when (as with this commission) I had 12 archers to produce and wanted them each to look a little different.  You get enough 'cap and hood' heads (the two outer figures in the picture above) to do every miniature; but also enough gloriously bald heads too.  And the bald heads can have separate hats / helmets added (again, enough for every miniature to be thus equipped).  And then you can add topknots / ponytails too.

Of course, you've always got the option to go a bit crackers with the colours too, in these pre-uniform days.  Unlike the painted examples on the box, I didn't go too bright or luxurious with the colours - with a lot of grey and muted greens in there.  But the Chinese were very advanced when it came to dyes and cloth, and these chaps would have had centuries of contact with China (not to mention some of those '100% discount at sword point' moments), so the odd mint green and deep red is in there too.

The hand weapon selection is great, though one of the sword arms is a bit long (to my eye), and lends the wielder a bit of a chimp-like proportion.  That's a minor niggle though, as you get axe and mace options too.  I've seen the round shields (and indeed the helmets) done with part-metal bosses / domes, but the ones I've seen in museums appear to be all-leather.  Again, these are options!

The large rectangular woven shields are easily my favourite part of the kit, and seem to go naturally with the spears.  Note the variety of facial hair too - huge moustaches are moulded on to some heads, and it's easy to add a beard or 'tache with just a flick of the brush tip, if you find you've made two miniatures look a bit similar otherwise.

The bases are circular MDF ones I got from eBay in a variety of sizes (I use them for my WW2 miniatures).  They're easy to pick up (and so avoid the temptation to pick them up by the paintwork!), and the laser-cutting gives them a ready made black edge - which I paint onto all my miniatures anyway.  Unlike the tapered Games Workshop bases, these have vertical sides, giving a slightly larger scenic area, and making it less likely that something (like a honking great rectangular shield, for instance...) will overlap and project off the edge of the base.

... and here they all are, banded together.  Rubbish photo, but gives you some idea of how varied the unit looks.

These two archers have taken up residence in the doorway of a part-ruined Romanesque building.  I have a collection of these which I made from foamboard and cereal packet - dead cheap, dead quick!  They've seen service in Middle Earth too.

These intrepid guys have clambered to the top of the building, taking advantage of the fact that (for once...) I actually thought about gaming when making a model building, so all the doorways permit a 25mm base, and so do most of the ledges / remaining bits of floor.  A future posting will show how I make these buildings, and maybe show some in-action shots of them being used.