NB2 Dragon painted in stunning blue by Studio Maxi Costales

There is a talented fellow in Spain who paints miniatures professionally and loves Oldhammer and classic miniatures.  He is Maxi and he runs Studio Maxi Costales which you can find on Facebook and on Instagram.  Well worth a scroll; lots of excellent work there. He kindly agreed to show the painting of his casting of the limited run of 200 numbered boxes only NB2 Dragon by Nick Bibby.  This article is the result.  As at 16th March 2023 the run is 52% sold and shipped.

While we shall release NB2 Dragon in an unlimited resin format late on in 2023 this article is on the collectors edition metal kit which requires skill and effort to assemble.  Each of the limited boxes comes with the NB3 and NB4 Dragon Rider, his Saddle and Lance which Maxi has also painted up.

If you missed the long article on the history of this venerable monster and Mark Stevenson's collection of seven of them and his 40 year involvement with Asgard you can read it on our BLOG now.

The build of the monster is underway!  Each part mounted on brass rod for easy holding for painting and putting together.

Now it has been built it is on the painting desk.  That is a desk which has seen so much 1980's awesome come across it! The blue tone is begun.

Here it is!  The Dragon from all angles resplendent in striking blue and orange tones so different to our own vision of the Dragon or indeed those by Mark Stevenson.

The Rider and Saddle have been restored to the world (NB3 and NB4) and will remain metal.  They are free in each of the numbered boxes of NB2.  What a great take on the Dragon Rider by Maxi.

If you are keen we have collected all of Nick Bibby's work for Asgard into one page alongside the Asgard Fantasy Range pages.  Check out the D6 Dragon Lizard Juggernaut which is actually the largest single piece of metal by dimension and weight we cast.

We hope you have enjoyed this article.

GBS

5107 Londinium Coach 28mm vehicle plus options remastered release

“Be Carried in Style and Finery good sirs!  Stage by Stage our Coach will get you there.”

Returning in remastered new molds with many parts now in resin our 2008 original release 5107 Londinium Coach in 28mm scale for Flintloque or Slaughterloo or Historical Gaming in the age of Horse and Musket. Absent for more than a decade in our ranges. At 260mm long with four horses pulling it is a majestic model kit indeed.  Sculpted by Mark Ricketts we have it as a boxed set of all parts, crew and four horses with two extra horses free (six in total) or the Coach alone or the other primary parts of the set as singles.  See it in our Battlefield Bits range, our 28mm Terrain Range as well as several of the World of Valon pages such as the Army of Greate Britorcn.  Here are all the codes which are now on the site.

5107 The Londinium Coach Boxed Set (Vehicle, Crew plus four horses and Two Extra Horses Free)

5107A Albion Orc Coach Driver

5107B Albion Orc Footman

5107C Coach Horse

5107D Pair of Coach Rear Wheels

5107E Pair of Coach Front Wheels

5107F Coach Kit (If you wish to use your own Animals and Crew)

The assembled coach (minus any horses) is 140mm long and 50mm wide, 55mm tall; add four horses and it is 260mm long.  The coach is made up of twenty one 28mm scale parts in metal and resin not including the Driver and Footman or Horses. For experienced modellers. 

We have a free download for The Londinium Coach.  A sixteen page booklet containing tales of Valon plus rules for Flintloque and Slaughterloo as well as two Flintloque scenarios and paint schemes for your Coach.  There is also a build guide for putting the vehicle together. CLICK HERE to add to your collection.  See our FREE RESOURCES page for everything to download gratis.

This is our only release this month for the World of Valon and we hope you like it!

GBS

NB2 Dragon a tale by Mark Stevenson collector of Asgard plus 80's pictures!

It is our great pleasure to present an article written by Mark Stevenson who runs the Asgard Miniatures group on Facebook and who has been invaluable in Alternative Armies efforts to restore these classic 1980's ranges of miniatures and models.  This is his story of his love for Asgard, his collection and his encounters over forty years with the mighty NB2 Dragon sculpted by Nick Bibby.

 

 

I first started frequenting the Asgard miniatures shop in the late 70’s, buying the odd miniature from the DA and FM ranges to supplement my games of D&D. Then I clearly remember walking into the shop and seeing this MASSIVE dragon ! Must have been 1982 and they were displaying a built NB2. At the time it would have cost a good few pounds – well beyond my reach back then!

 

This was followed by a gap of some 30-odd years where life came between me and minis and D&D, until in about 2016 I found a box containing some figures and a bunch of old White Dwarf magazines.

 

Nostalgia prompted me to research what happened to Asgard. Finding they were out of business I used eBay to add to my collection, eventually deciding to try to find every miniature they made (and paint them!)… I’ve only a handful out of about 650 to find now. 

 

Of course the big ticket items – the Dragon and the Giant – were not exactly popping up…. until one day I saw some bits on eBay which I recognised…and at an affordable price! Thus I found my first NB2, albeit in an extremely sorry state – bent, bashed and with bits broken off. 

 

 

With the aid of photos from Richard Scott I was able to repair and rebuild it into the Red Dragon above. Nick Bibby kindly signed a plinth for this one too. 

 

A couple of years on and Richard decided he did not need two Asgard dragons (the fool … why on Earth not!?) and sold me a second, which became the Green Dragon. 

In the meantime I had started up the Asgard Facebook Group, using a photo I had found on the internet. 

This was a diorama made by Michael Immig – check his work out in WD 100 – called Donnerechse (Thunder Lizard). Imagine my amazement when this later also appeared for sale ! Dragon number 3 !

Of course, 3 dragons were not enough – so along came number 4 – boxed with the rider, saddle and original paints. 

Number 5 followed. Neither numbers 4 or 5 were built, and I sent number 5 to Alternative Armies to use for remoulding purposes. 

 

On the other side of the effort to restore the model they kindly sent me the first pre-production casting of NB2 of theirs which I painted up as a golden dragon. 

 

 

Having seen what a great job they did with the Dragon I just had to buy another one of the 200 numbered limited edition run in metal and thus… Along comes number 6. And blow me down ! just found another on eBay – so number 7…. Seven Asgard Dragons ! – There will be 5 painted (4 by me plus Michael’s). I will keep the boxed original and Alternative Armies Ltd edition as they are, as display pieces in my collection. I even asked Gavin Syme and Sam Croes to sign the new one on the box.

 

This print of the original box cover (which is on the limited boxes of the new run too) is on my wall and is signed by all involved.  Have a gander at those signatures.

So there you go a total of seven of this Dragon and as many as any sane man might want.  Well perhaps!

 

---

 

We thank Mark for this story of a life time of collecting and the joy of owning mighty fire lizards.  In the second half of this article we present some pictures of different takes on NB2 Dragon as well as historical photos from 1982 as well for you to enjoy.  Some from Mark's collection and some from the internet and Lost Mini Wiki too.  

Published by Penguin this book introduced many young men into the hobby in 1982.

A French magazine which had NB2 Dragon grace its cover in 1982

An NB2 Dragon under assembly on Mark Stevenson's work desk.  See FM23 Slug behind it?

NB2 Dragon painted by Richard Scott note the rider in place

NB2 Dragon painted by Ketil Trout and mounted on a rocky plinth base

You can find him and follow him on Instagram.

 

NB3 and NB4 Dragon Rider and Dragon Saddle painted by Paul Sanderson

Thank you for your time.

GBS

Plague Games moves to Alternative Armies

Operating on Ebay for many years two of the ladies at Alternative Armies created Plague Games to sell items the company itself does not make. Other miniatures and models and games which have come our way from remainder stock, closed stores, trades, shows and so on. Plague is now set up on its own page of the main site meaning it falls under our shipping and free model arrangements. 

 

 

So what can you find on the new pages? Grenadier Models, Excalibur Miniatures, Thunderbolt Mountain, Harlequin Miniatures, Shadowrun, FASA, Dark Sun, Ral Partha and many more. What you see is what we have photographed exactly. First come first served. 

 

 Just added six different Colossal Lords boxes by Grenadier circa 1990 for instance. 

 

 

You can pick up something rather special as most of these items are long, long out of production. All prices are fair as always. Have a gander.

 

Thanks for Reading, 

 

GBS

Overhauling the 28mm Ion Age range pt4 Retained Knights

In our fourth Ion Age 28mm update on the progress of the overhauling more than 220 miniatures (1991-2022) we are all about Retained Knights. While last time we saw some of Bob Olley's sculpting (IB16 Retained Support for instance) this time sixteen more miniatures featuring the sculpting of Gary Morley (Gaz).

Sadly we are increasing prices (ten percent) as well as making all 28mm poses singles for the first time. Platoons, Packs, Singles. Each of the pack codes (IB) has a baked in small saving over single figures. This time the following pack codes with their singles after it (all in the above image). 

IB21 Retained Varlet Support (IA079 to IA082) 

IB22 Retained Rapid Strike (IA083 to IA086) 

IB15 Retained Jupons (IA056 to IA058) 

IB23 Retained Veterans (IA087 to IA090) 

Here are some example pictures of pack and singles from this update which include my own personal favourite Retained Knight miniature IA089 Retained Veteran with Plasma Rifle. 

We have just about reached the half way point now with some six hundred new pictures gracing the website. There are Retained Nobles to come as well as Planetary Militia and other characters such as the Noblesse. Before we move onto the Shia Khan Empire. This overhaul will take many more weeks to complete and will be followed by further restored original codes too. Current (2019) prices on the website will be honoured until that code is updated and new pictures put in. There will also be brand new poses added from April 2023. 

Until 1st May 2023 you automatically get AS016 War Bot in your package when it ships out. Worth 10.00GBP this any scale resin model is 40mm tall and works great in 28mm sci-fi. Alternative Armies keeps the fun in wargaming. 

 Thank you. 

 GBS

NB2 Dragon by Nick Bibby 1982 released in metal limited 200 box run

“At last a Dragon of true scale to oppose the hero's of your world." (Military Modelling Dec 1982) 

 

 

The time has come!  General Release!

 

There are two hundred boxes each containing a remastered metal dragon sculpted by Nick Bibby for Asgard in 1982. At half a kilo in weight this nine piece metal model is legendary and rightly so. It has taken us several months to get NB2 Dragon back into the world and for collectors this metal set which not only ships worldwide for free (standard shipping) but also includes the remastered NB3 and NB4 Dragon Rider with Lance and Saddle (worth 7.00GBP) for free in the numbered box too. Price is 125.00GBP. 

 

 

A centre piece of the classic 1980's Asgard fantasy range back once more in the world. A legendary massive metal model which has not been seen in many a year. About 40% of the run is sold already on last week's select pre-order and those orders are shipping as of Monday of next week as are all others containing this majestic monster of a different age. 

 

 

NB2 Dragon has been fully restored and also its pinning points deepened, its wing membranes thickened and its scales sharpened. It is for experienced modellers. 

 

As you can see if you pit a Jez Goodwin 28mm Barbarian or a Tabletop Games 15mm Fantasy character against this monster they are tiny! Even compared to the D6 Dragon Lizard Juggernaut the Dragon dwarfs it. We will NOT issue this code in metal again. We will produce it in resin later this year though in unlimited amounts. This run of two hundred is to please those who missed it first time around forty years ago or always wanted one in its original form of high quality metal. 

 

 

Now also on the website for separate purchase is NB3 The Dragon Rider and NB4 Dragon Saddle in one code where you can get both with the lance or parts on their own. While the saddle is made to fit only NB2 Dragon the rider will fit almost any mere mount such as a horse. 

 

Another monster we have restored is the classic P11 Old English Dragon from the late 1980's which is in our Monsters and Creatures range which contains many strange beasts. A fine foe for Knights and Adventurers for sure. 

 

Thank for your time and support as always and this is our only high fantasy release in March 2023.

 

GBS