Final Fantasy Post for 2016 - Rat Folk

I'm finishing 2016 with one final fantasy project - Rat Folk (pictured above sneaking through the back streets of a town late at night).

Originally members of the Draconic Races (like the Lizard Folk pictured below), they became the primary food source for other Draconic races when times got tough. Not surprisingly, the Rat Folk soon got sick of this and moved to new lodgings, on the edges of human communities and in their cities and towns, scavenging and surviving as best they could.

As such, I figure I can use them either in a Draconic army, or perhaps as some kind of "neutrals" or even mercenaries, possibly even fighting against their Draconic cousins.

Pictured above, Rat Folk Archers cover the advancing horde.

Pictured above, a Rat Folk Warband prepares to fight.

Back to historical figures, and some battles, in the New Year!

Frost Giant Army On The Move

My Frost Giant and his War Troll thugs have joined up with my Orcs, on their way to the lands of the humans to deal their own brand of chaos and destruction.

The Trolls look especially scary next to the (human-sized) Orcs. The Orcs (and humans) barely come up to waist-height against the Trolls, who my rules will be treating pretty much the same as War Elephants. (The Trolls are less likely to panic than the elephants, which should make them very difficult to stop).

Up close with one of the "big nasties". Remembering that you are the same size as the guys standing behind him, would you really want to go one-on-one against this guy?

Things Looking a Little Bit Nastier in the Northern Provinces......

......following the sighting of a Frost Giant (center) and some War Trolls. Presumably my orcs and goblins aren't too far behind them.

Will my Vikings and Rus be able to fight them off?

I'm still working on the War Trolls (eight in all) so I won't post close-ups yet. But this (above) is my Frost Giant. I'm seriously thinking about doing a series of battles from Norse mythology with these guys - Odin and his (Viking) followers etc fighting off the giants (and their minions).

Lizard-folk Ready For Action

I'm not sure if I'm happier that the figures are ready or that the terrain pieces look really great for a "jungle-type" background. Anyway.....

In the fantasy genre, Lizard-folk are commonly regarded as one of the draconic races, of which the mighty dragons themselves are the most prominent. So these folk will be part of a larger "Draconic Races" army for larger battles, although they might also feature independently in smaller actions. They tend to stick to small raids on human communities (in search of food) before disappearing again into their watery or jungle hideouts, so they would mainly be useful for ambush or hit-and-run style battle scenarios.

(Above) My Lizard-folk chieftain and his bodyguard emerge from the jungle to survey the troops. Yes, that's a friendly crocodile watching proceedings in anticipation of lunch being served just as soon as the fighting starts!

(Above) The tribes Archers emerge from the jungle scouting ahead of the main force; again those hungry crocodiles are lurking about.

(Above) The tribe's main warband is ready for action.

(Above) The tribe's young "whelps", armed with blow darts, help with scouting duties until they are old enough to join the main warband.

Unexpected addition......

Three of my Amazons got a bit of a surprise while they were walking through the woods this afternoon - attacked by a group of Lizard Men!

I hadn't planned to build an army of those, but when they appeared, I figured "why not?"

The "forest vegetation" is actually bits and pieces from the aquarium section at Walmart. Mixed in with my trees and river sections, I think I can get some nice woodland/jungle shots now.

Maybe a larger battle between the two groups to follow......

Dwarf Warband (Non-historical)

Given that I now have goblin and orc forces, I thought it might be appropriate to gather the old (metal) Dwarf figures I used to use for Dungeons and Dragons and see what sort of a force I could make from them.

Not enough for a stand-alone army, but a useful little band of allies for any human force looking to take on the "nasties".

Orcs (from fantasy literature - not historical figures)

Intended for Halloween as part of an army of "nasties", but they may get a run before then.

Pictured above, Orc Chieftain/king and bodyguard mounted on wargs (more vicious than normal wolves) and an Orc warband on foot. Not a lot of special troops in this lot - They were kind of the "mass heavy foot" mercenaries, while goblins and smaller creatures handled the light infantry chores and hill giants and trolls provided the extra "shock" troops in fantasy "giant race" armies.

Or they could join an army of barbarian humans, I guess, with my various Celtic and Germanic tribes providing human fighters.

Lots of possibilities, and I'm sure they will find themselves in all sorts of scenarios.