Tanatus Miniatures

Tanatus Miniatures produce a small range of Dark Age figures. Although labelled as Saxons and Picts, they are fairly generic and could be used for a wider range of Dark Age warriors.

The figures are not as squat-looking as some other manufacturers, being much more anatomically correct.. There is a pleasing amount of fine detail which my photography skills are not good enough to bring out! There was a fair bit of moulding flash on my samples, but nothing that was hard to remove. Spears are separate but supplied in the pack with the figures. I thought they were a bit on the chunky side though. Maybe a move to wire spears would be the way to go?

The Tanatus range is available from North Star Military Figures.

Here are a couple of comparison photos:

The first shows, from left to right, Tanatus, Artizan, Crusader, Foundry.

This next shows left to right, Tanatus, Gripping Beast plastic, Redoubt, Renegade,

Who makes Dark Ages figures?

I thought it might be useful to make a list of manufacturers of 28mm Dark Age figures. I have included figure ranges that roughly cover from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Norman Conquest. Some may be described as 25mm but are included pending further investigation!

The following is everyone I can find. It seems that not all of them are online, and I may have missed some. If anyone knows of any that I've missed, please let me know via the 'comments'. Cheers!


Artizan Designs
Battlestandard
Black Tree Designs
Conquest Games
C P Models
Crusader Miniatures
Dixon Miniatures
Ebob Miniatures
Essex Miniatures
Eureka
Foundry Miniatures
Gripping Beast
HaT Industrie
Heroes Of The Dark Age
Irregular Miniatures
Miniature Design Studio - now available from Caliver Books
Mirliton S G
Musketeer Miniatures
Newline Designs
Old Glory 25s
Outpost Wargame Services
Parkfield Miniatures
Redoubt Enterprises
Renegade Miniatures
Scheltrum Miniatures
Shieldwall Miniatures - no website?
Tanatus Miniatures - distributed by North Star
Tin Soldier UK
Wargames Factory
Warrior Miniatures
West Wind Productions

Painted Foundry Saxons

A few photos of some painted examples of Saxon warriors from Foundry, followed by a couple of comparison shots of other manufacturers figures.

The five figures on the left are by Foundry and the four on the right are Crusader Miniatures

Next we have the Foundry figures compared with three Renegade Miniatures

Here are three Redoubt figures on the right

And finally for today, three plastic Gripping Beast figures on the right

Painted Renegade Miniatures

Here are a couple of photos of some Renegade figures painted up. These are some of  their Saxon Fyrdmen.

And a couple of comparison shots. First up is three Renegade fellers on the left alongside three Crusader Miniatures figures on the right.

Here we have Renegade and Gripping Beast plastics.

And Renegade compared with Redoubt.

Artizan Designs

Artizan Designs produce a fairly small Dark Ages range which covers Arthurian, Carolingian, Moor and Viking warriors.

They are nicely sculpted with some good poses and crisp detail. The figures are on the small side when it comes to 'heft' but can be mixed with most other ranges quite happily unless you are very picky!

Figures come with shield but spears are not included.

This photo shows an Artizan figure on the left with a Crusader Miniatures figure on the right.

Here we have Artizan on the left with Foundry on the right.

Next up is Artizan compared with a Gripping Beast plastic figure.

And Artizan on the left with Redoubt on the right.

Here is Artizan compared with Renegade on the right.

Perry Miniatures

Perry produce what are for many wargamers the 'gold standard' of figures. They have a large Napoleonic range in both plastic and metal.

Their figures are beautifully sculpted with good detail and animation. The only downside for me is that my painting skills are not good enough to do them justice!

Here is a Perry miniature on the left with a Victrix figure on the right.

And Perry on the left compared with a Warlord Games figure on the right.

Foundry Miniatures

Foundry are a major supplier of wargames figures and produce a huge range. They have several Dark Ages lines including not only the usual Saxons and Vikings but also Arthurian Romano-British, Early Saxons, Franks and Normans. So plenty to choose from!

They are nice figures that are well-cast in a massive variety of poses. Detail is good and they paint up well. The packs come with shields, bows etc included but spears have to be bought separately. Foundry are well worth a look and have a good website with plenty of pretty pictures!

Here is a Foundry figure on the left compared to a Crusader Miniatures figure on the right.

And Foundry compared to a plastic Gripping Beast figure on the right.

Here is Foundry on the left and a Redoubt figure on the right.

This is Foundry on left and Renegade on the right.

Foundry on right and Artizan on the left.

Renegade Miniatures

Renegade Miniatures produce a small but tasty range of Anglo-Saxons including a few cavalry.

The figures are fairly bulky but a lot of them have a style that is evocative of the famous Lewis Chessmen which gives excellent period flavour. The sculpting is nice and clean with good detail. Shield and weapons are separate but included in the pack, although I would have preferred spears rather than swords and axes!

Here is a Renegade figure on the left and a Crusader figure on the right.

This is Renegade compared to Foundry on the left.

Renegade on the left and a plastic Gripping Beast figure on the right.

Renegade on the left and Redoubt on the right.

Renegade on the right and Artizan on the left.

Victrix

Victrix produce fifteen sets of hard-plastic Napoleonic figures at the moment. Apart from a set of British foot Artillery, they are all Infantry covering the French, British and Austrian armies. Each box contains 50 to 60 multi-part figures with extra heads/arms/weapons etc, which allows a vast range of different figures to be made.

They can be a bit fiddly to put together, especially the arms of firing figures! But they are excellent for small scale skirmish wargames such as Sharp Practice, as the potential to make each figure an individual is huge. The figures are well proportioned and are compatible with several other popular ranges of Napoleonic figures.

In this photo the Victrix figure is on the left compared with a Warlord Games figure on the right. Both have the bottom of the base aligned with the zero-line of the grid but they sit at slightly different angles because of the different sizes and shapes of the bases.

Here is a Perry figure on the left compared with a Victrix on the right.

Crusader Miniatures

Crusader produce a large range of Dark Ages figures including Byzantine, Spanish, Scots, Irish, Anglo-Saxons, Normans and of course, Vikings! They also do some very nice personality figures.

The figures are well sculpted, need very little cleaning up, and even I found them easy to paint! They are a touch larger than average, but will still mix well with other ranges. If you have a Dark Age army, Crusader figures should be involved!

This photo shows Crusader on the right and Artizan on the left

Here is Crusader on the left compared with Gripping Beast on the right.

Crusader on the right compared with Redoubt on the left.

Here we have Foundry on the left and Crusader on the right.

This is Renegade on the left and Crusader on the right.

And a couple of pictures of some Crusader Anglo-Saxons painted up.