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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

My Vikings are bigger than your Vikings

On my last post about Black Tree Design Vikings, there were some comments and questions about their relative size and scale, specifically the fur clad Vikings.

The photo below is a sampling of my various BTD Vikings.  Even without drawing a reference line, the bald guy with the axe is noticeably (but not excessively) taller than the rest of the warriors.  The archers were, I think, the slightest of all the BTD Vikings.


Vikings are perhaps the most ubiquitous ancient/medieval range of miniatures.  They offer a lot of reward for collectors who like variation in their painting routine.  Plus, they can often do double duty in fantasy gaming.  That may explain why there are so many Viking manufacturers out there. 

Here is a size comparison of the BTD Vikings with some other popular manufacturers.  From left to right: Gripping Beast plastic hirdman, Gripping Beast metal (?), BTD and Crusader hirdman,  Again, the barbarian Viking comes out the tallest.  



On the last big Black Tree sale, I also purchased a few packs of Dark Age/Viking villagers. Below, a group of Viking elders (DA1011).  It offers a nice social cross section, from a poor thrall to a well off village elder. The wealthy beardless gent on the right would make a more than passable Njal from the great Icelandic Saga.


The pack (DA1070) shown below is the only one to offer a female figure, and it was out of stock for quite awhile.  Apparently, a mold was lost, but it is now available.  


Finally, mixed pics from a couple of other packs that I have multiple copies.  Useful for populating your village with artisans and workers.




5 comments:

  1. A very nice collection of villagers and "extras" you've got there. The size difference between the figures isn't too great, and people aren't all the same size so it adds some character :-)

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  2. Love the villagers, more of the common folk I say. Plus they are great as extras in our games.

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  3. I like the children and the woman for the villagers. You have a good collection from different manufactures and they look like they mix quite well. Nice paint job as always.

    Cheers
    Kevin

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  4. Wow... thanks so much for this. So the BTD figures are quite large then. For some reason I had always thought they were on the "smallish side. Looks like the metal Gripping Beast and the Crusader ranges are about a perfect match for each other though. Excellent!

    So my next question.... what figures match up with the Old Glory line?? I need 12 Saxon Archers for my Old Glory Saxon army and I simply hate to buy a bag of 30 for just 12...

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  5. I like the designs, but how tall are they. I need 4 Viking chiefs for a new board game I'm developing. And what do they cost?

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