Growing up in the 1980s, I enjoyed some classic board games that often got repurposed for use in tabletop roleplaying games. Of course, one of the most well-known is HeroQuest. The miniatures and furniture were the perfect scale for Dungeons & Dragons adventures. I bought multiple sets of the main game as well as expansions, and much of it still finds itself on my game table 30+ years later.
Before HeroQuest was another beloved childhood game, Crossbows & Catapults. This dynamic game included working siege engines used to knock down your opponent’s fortifications and soldiers. The two forces were Vikings and barbarians, and the core game included several small, molded plastic warriors for each team. These were on slightly undersized bases, but the model scale was not too small. I cannot tell you how many of my games these appeared in over the years.
Recently I decided to paint my vintage original barbarian miniatures. I also got to thinking about expanding the army and stumbled upon someone who had used a 3D scanner to make STL files of the entire original game. I got the barbarian figure and used 3D software to start kitbashing to put some new weapons in their hands. I then got the idea to copy half of the barbarian and mirror it to create a dual wielding warrior!
I printed several of these variations and painted them. Pretty happy with the results! I hope these old and new figures will make appearances in my games for many more years to come.
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