I have only one wargaming regret - a lesson learned the hard way; never, ever sell your painted miniatures.
Back in the late 1970's my friends and I discovered role-playing games. Inevitably this involved numerous sessions of D&D, until one of my friends introduced us to Chaosium's RuneQuest. This was something of a revelation. The percentile based game mechanics, logical character progression, realistically lethal combat - and the Bronze Age, rune-magic infused world of Glorantha; everything about it just struck me as so much more 'grown up' and believably coherent than D&D's cartoonish medieval fantasy tropes.
Looking back now, I can see that there was very little actual role-play to our games. No 'theatre of the mind' for us. It was mostly about cool miniatures, battling monsters and slaying stuff. No wonder I became a wargamer not a role-player.
And those cool miniatures? In 1982 Citadel Miniatures released the first of their boxed sets of 25mm RuneQuest miniatures to support the Games Workshop UK edition of the rules. Over the course of infrequent pilgrimages to Games Workshop's Birmingham store I managed to collect 9 of the eventual 12 box sets that were released. I must have been far more productive in those days because I painted every miniature and amassed quite a nice collection. They didn't see much action in their intended role as RPG miniatures, but did get repurposed as table-top troops for fantasy wargames.
Time moved on, my wargaming interests changed and the RuneQuest miniatures remained packed away in their original foam-lined boxes. By 2010 I found myself in a financial tight spot and looking for any way to make a bit of extra cash. Out came the RuneQuest boxes and on to eBay they went. At the time I rationalised that they had been tucked away unused for at least a couple of decades and would probably see out the next couple in the same state, so there was no point holding on to them. Better to let someone else have them and get some use and enjoyment out of them. I had a few moments of hesitation at the time, but how I wish now that I'd talked myself out of selling them. Looking back, it was a bit like throwing out a collection of old family photos. They were memories, part of my early gaming experience. I still feel a pang thinking about it. Well, there it is.
Enough of this maudlin nonsense!
I still have a small collection that escaped the 'sell off'. Just one original (empty) box and five miniatures; a griffin, a wyrm, a pixie and two Aldryami runners. I dug them out the other day. The miniatures were a bit chipped in places, probably from when they last saw action on the tabletop, but nothing serious so I decided to spruce them up a bit. I restricted myself to retouching the small areas of damaged paintwork rather than doing a complete makeover as I wanted to keep the miniatures as close to their original state as possible. My only improvement was to replace the old square cardboard and flock bases with some proper round textured bases, which really helped to make the miniatures 'pop'.
I found it interesting to compare my current painting style with that of 40 years ago. It hasn't changed that much, but I used a lot more drybrushing back then. Everything was painted in Humbrol enamels with white spirit or turpentine as a brush cleaner, so with that and all the drybrushing I must have got through cheap synthetic brushes at a fantastic rate. I can't figure out how I managed to paint any kind of detail with manky split-haired paint brushes, but I seem to have managed okay. My eyesight was a good deal sharper back then, even if the brushes weren't.
So, here they are:
 |
| The Wyrm |
 |
| Pixie |
 |
| Griffin |
 |
| A pair of Aldryami runners |
 |
| That pesky pixie again, with a 16mm die for size reference. Tiny 'lil blighter he is. |
In a fit of nostalgia I briefly contemplated rebuilding my original collection but quickly abandoned the idea. The boxes of figures do show up on eBay fairly regularly, but for eye-watering prices. A better plan would be to slowly add something new. There are a few miniatures from my Mythic Battles: Pantheon collection that would be perfect, so I already have enough to get me started. I'd also like to 3D print some miniatures that fit the look and feel of Glorantha as I envision it. This will be my personal take on Glorantha. Your Glorantha may vary.
Oh, and just because digging out the old miniatures gave me a sudden hankering for all things RuneQuest and Glorantha I bought this on impulse:
I have no intention to start role-playing but couldn't resist a purchase for curiosity's sake. It's a boxed set, which was a clincher for me. Proper RPGs always came in a box back in the day. It is a beautifully produced and presented set that I shall treat as inspirational reading. Fantastic!
Hmm, wait, there's a solo adventure in there...
