Old Undead

I have a soft spot for old wargaming miniatures, and although I am not a hardcore collector, I am always on the lookout for acquiring some models that look interesting.

Shown below are some undead that were offered for sale for 12 euro in the local gameshop. I didn't recognize them at first, but when I saw them, I figured they must be old Ral Partha or Grenadier. Anyway, 12 euro seemed like a good deal, so I bought them.

After some research (and resource like dndlead.com and solegends.com and Lost Minis Wiki are very handy for identifying old fantasy miniatures), I finally managed to identify them.

Apparently, they are all skeletons from Grenadier - and I could all find them in the 1987 Grenadier catalogue.

A couple of figures are part of the set 6002 Skeleton Raiders of the Undead: the lord carried on a battleshield (1), the crossbowman (2), standardbearer (5), drummer (8), and the figure carrying a sword and shield (6).

Two other figures (4 and 7) are from set 2019 ("Royal Guardsmen of the Undead Legion"), also featuring undead skeletons. The figure missing an arm (4) should have a standard there. I will probably repair him using a plastic arm from the Citadel Skeleton Army set, and perhaps provide him with a shield as well. Actually, it makes sense his missing arm is carrying a banner, since he had his sword in his left hand. Normally, one would expect a weapon in the right hand, and a shield in the left.

The two remaining figures (3 and 9) are part of set 130 ("Dart thrower and undead crew"), and apparantly are two crewmembers of a ballista, which is also missing.

All figures are very fragile, so might need some care to (re)paint them, provide the missing arm, and perhaps fill in the warmachine.

The 1991 catalogue only lists the 6002 set - the other figures are not listed. By then, it seems Grenadier has upgraded some of its fantasy figures, and some of the skeletons listed in the 1991 catalogue have a more sturdy look compared to the skeletons above.

Since they were offered for sale as a group, they clearly must have belonged to someone who had bought at least 3 different sets of figures, all skeletons. Since a war machine was part of the mix, this might well have been with the purpose of building an army, rather than having a few figures for roleplaying.

Finds like this always make me nostalgic about the old days! :-)