Alliance Amazons pics!

We've seen the zombies, but we've been waiting for something more from Alliance regarding their upcoming Amazons set. Via the 1/72 wall at VK, we finally get a closer look! Here's the back of the infantry box showing the poses inside:

Very Hellenistic! Mostly spears and bows, crested helms, lots of Greek trappings, as we knew. It's hard to tell for sure, but the figures seem, um, lightly dressed, which I guess isn't surprising. I'd have preferred something more family-friendly, but with some judicious painting I could certainly make them work. Despite the Greek look these should be easily adaptable for generic fantasy.

Also available is this preview from the cavalry set:

The dress is more to my liking, but what's really striking are the mounts. Unicorns! Lions! No saddle on the unicorn, so maybe these could be standalone monsters as well as mounts. Maybe Redbox will even sell them separately, like they did with the wargs from their orc cavalry.

I gather that the release date is a long ways away, but these will be very welcome sets when they finally arrive.

PS: I feel a little disappointed that I've left this site and the hobby in such neglect. This is normally a busy time anyway, plus I've got a big freelance project that I'm working on, so painting and so on haven't gotten much attention. I'll be able to paint more in a few weeks, so stay tuned!

By the way, the Reaper Bones II sale has been going very well. I still have a few figures left to sell. I naturally haven't had time to update my sales page with what's available, but please feel free to inquire! All the info you need is on the sales page. Thanks!

Warquest, a new source for 1/72 fantasy?

Pic source: Shut Up & Sit Down

File this under rank speculation. Via Shut Up & Sit Down*, we find out about Warquest, a new fantasy war board game with a Kickstarter being planned for April. Information is scarce, but here's the blurb at BoardgameGeek:

WarQuest is a game of grand strategy, conquest, and heroic quests in the fantasy world of Myrathia. Immerse yourself in this chaotic and mystical world! Take on the role of a warlord who seeks to reunite the fractured land under your banner. Recruit wood elves, dwarves, goblins, orcs and beast-men to fill the ranks of your armies and engage in epic battles. Travel across the tormented lands in an effort to drive back chaos by completing desperate quests. Conquer and control strategic cities and regions, and if successful, declare yourself ruler of all Myrathia!

So why should I care about another fantasy board game? Because the designers and publishers are largely key folks out of Eagle Games. Eagle Games publishes a lot of Avalon Hill-type tactical board games with minis 1/72 scale, including CFM favorite Age of Mythology. I don't actually know that this game will also be in 1/72, but it appears to be a big tactical war game from guys who have favored that scale for these sorts of games in the past.

More speculation: It's not officially being published by Eagle Games, but Eagle sells components of their games on their web store for dirt cheap: here are the Age of Mythology pieces for sale, for example. Imagine buying minis for one of the factions mentioned above for just a few bucks.

Of course all this speculation is just that, and for all I know they'll make another 28mm game like everyone else. We probably won't know until April at the earliest when the Kickstarter begins. But if the designers play to type, Warquest could be excellent news for the cheap fantasy miniaturist.

*A fantastic site, by the way. Smart, funny, thoughtful news and reviews of board games and other tabletop games.

Edit for 3/11/15: Warquest has a Twitter page, and they have a couple of pics of their minis from what appear to be playtesters: here and here. Hard to tell how big they are, though.

Edit for 4/15/15: The Kickstarter for WarQuest went live about a week ago. It was abruptly cancelled a few days ago; sounds like they were hoping for faster funding than what they got. They say they'll relaunch in a few weeks after reconsidering their marketing and Kickstarter strategies. Worth noting, as CFM reader Xander points out below, is the scale: "25mm from foot to eye." Sounds a little big for 1/72, somewhere in the ballpark of GW LotR figures, but I bet a lot of the figures could still be adapted. We'll have to wait until they get their act together to know for sure.

Edit for 5/11/15: Warquest Kickstarter take 2 went live last week. It funded in just two days, so I guess they fixed whatever the problem was with the first Kickstarter. It's a bit rich for me, but I'd be interested to hear if anyone else is backing it!