Lone Wolf or Strider - Citadel Strider from BME1

This is a fairly common miniature on eBay, but a nice one: it's the Aragorn - or, as the tag on the miniature says, Strider - from the Fellowship of the Ring set made by Citadel in 1986.

Image courtesy of Solegends

The sculptor seems to be unknown but it looks to me as something made by Aly or Trish Morrison. Does anybody have better information?

Strider represents an archetype - just like the Evil Warrior and the Necromancer, the Ranger appears in countless stories. Strider is possibly the first of its kind, the one who established the stereotype separating it from the Hunter: the Ranger is something more, a true hero of good with supernatural powers linked to his harmony with nature and the world. D&D classified the Ranger as a class, and so many other RPGs. In Dragonlance Tanis Half-elven was a ranger and in the Forgotten Realms Drizzt Do'Urden was. But one of the most famous, and personally my favourite, is Lone Wolf.

Lone Wolf is in many ways similar to Strider: he belongs to a small, secretive and selected group of individuals, the Kai Lords and the Rangers of the North. He is special and unique even among them: he is either the last survivor of a purge or the last heir to a line of Kings. He has a mission: defeat the Dark Lord or the Dark Lords. He has supernatural powers derived part from training and part from his predestination to be a hero, but he is not a spellcaster. He has a magic sword that flames with golden light and burns evil creatures. 

The two are in fact so similar that this miniature can represent both of them, and it will in my games. About this miniature, I really like the dynamic pose: the character is advancing, possibly running, and he holds his sword forward: his back is covered in a flowing cloak and it looks like he has just unsheathed his weapon and he is holding it like a talisman, both as protection and challenge against his enemies. The sword is clearly the focus of the whole miniature and the source of power of the character - call it Andúril or Sommerswerd, that is an archetype, too, and a very good one.

The Gamekeeper - Citadel Ranger C07 (1985)

 

In late 1985 Citadel issued one of the nicest series ever, the C07 Rangers. What was special about this range was that all the figures had been sculpted - by none other than the Perry twins - on the base of Tony Ackland's Ranger careers illustrations from the upcoming Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, published the following year.

If you have played WFRP and, as a teenager, spent whole afternoons pondering your PC's future career path while looking at Tony Ackland's drawings, you may well understand why this post is tagged #iconic.

 

This is the description of the Gamekeeper career from the rulebook:

Most Old World landowners employ Game­keepers to look after their estates, woodlands or hunting parks. Gamekeepers look on trespassers with deep and sometimes fatal suspicion. The arch­enemy of the Gamekeeper is the Poacher, who seeks to make a living by trapping or shooting animals or birds. Every Game­keeper likes to boast of his victories over these elusive and devious opponents. Poachers and Gamekeepers can be thought of as opposite sides of the same coin, and players with Gamekeeper characters of a Neutral, Evil or Chaotic Alignment may choose to be Poachers instead. Gamekeepers or Poachers may take this career a second time, taking the 'op­posite' career, following the normal pro­cedures for changing careers.

This was the true spirit of the Old World setting that, unfortunately, has largely been lost over the years to grimdark tones. Nowadays the archenemy of Gamekeepers are probably Chaos Beastmen (or Gors, as the fluff goes) and these professional are seldom seen without a trusty gunblade and a number of skulls attached to their belt. But enough of grumbling, as this post is not tagged as #grognard.

No grim trophies or fancy firearms for our Gamekeeper, but rather a bow, a quiver slung over the shoulder, a pouch, a dagger and a sword hung at the belt. He wears shoes and gaiters, breeches, a cape with lobed edges over a long tunic, and a hat with folded edges. Looking at him we know he cares about practicality and comfort, but at the same time he or his master are able to afford good quality clothes. He's fully equipped for adventure and he seems to be moving a branch aside to spy on something or someone.

In case you didn't notice, I used a different approach at painting this time. Since I had used practically all my dull greens for the different layers of clothing, my only option was to highlight with the original colour of each layer mixed with white. The final effect is less realistic but more like a painting, I find. I am not totally displeased with this approach and I might use it again in the future, especially for monochromatic colour schemes. Of course in this case the figure is not only green, but has been balanced with a range of warm browns.
 
Looking back at it, if I had to paint it again I would break the dark greens with some lighter ones to create more contrast. But this time I'll just be happy with this!