Wyatt the Odd  | 11 Jun 2008 11:24 a.m. PST |
Back in the 1980's there was a company called "Heartbreaker Miniatures" that produced 28mm fantasy figures that went very well with Citadel and Marauder ranges. I seem to recall that it appeared about the same time that Marauder was set up by GW – and I thought at the time that it was another GW line or set up by ex-Citadel sculptors. Now, I see that it is carried by Ral Partha. Solegends has a broken link to its page on the company so its no help and TMP's directory just says that it got acquired by Target Games. So, what's the story? Wyatt |
| nycjadie | 11 Jun 2008 11:31 a.m. PST |
Kev Adams sculpted much of that range, I believe. I think there's still a few packs at Compleat Strategist. |
| Rattrap1 | 11 Jun 2008 11:33 a.m. PST |
What I know from my time working with the guys there: Heartbreaker produced a bunch of different miniature lines that were compatible with GW's stuff. They had a lot of "sculptor's lines". Heartbreaker was acquired by/began licensing the Mutant Chronicles line. This morphed into the Warzone game to directly compete with GW. After Target went under, Excelsior tried to keep the products going (but none of the old lines). In the mixed up world of rights, I have no idea who owns any of that stuff now since there have been so many owners and bakruptcies along the way. |
| Farstar | 11 Jun 2008 11:53 a.m. PST |
While I'm not sure how the relationship started, I do know the later Heartbreaker blisters identify them as a brand name of Target Games. They were dragged under the waves by Target's collapse, and nothing of the Heartbreaker line has resurfaced. |
| PapaSync | 11 Jun 2008 11:56 a.m. PST |
Heartbreaker --> Target --> Paradox then only licensed to Excelsior. When Excelsior couldn't keep it going they lost the license to Fanstasy Flight (the makers of the DOOM board game). Fantasy Flight has come out with a clickty/pre-paint 54mm type miniatures game loosly based on Mutant Chronicles. Prince August has since picked up any remaining hard stock from Excelsior and is selling whats left of the Warzone/Chronopia line that Target started and Excelsior tried to keep up. Both Warzone/Chronpia are still fan supported and still well loved by those who play it. |
| Monkeyborg Dirtside | 11 Jun 2008 12:13 p.m. PST |
You can still get some of the Heartbreaker fantasy stuff via Ral Partha UK. |
| Spacelord | 11 Jun 2008 12:16 p.m. PST |
The original Heartbreaker fantasy minis were sculpted by Kev Adams, Phil Lewis, Chaz Elliot and Tim Prow. Each sculptor had their own range. They were cast in lead, although towards the end we did get some pewter castings mixed in- the stuff listed on the Ral Partha Europe site is just the leftover stock from when we (as Gamecraft) were UK distributors. (that's why we don't have the full ranges, and varying stock levels of what we do have). |
| CmdrKiley | 11 Jun 2008 12:39 p.m. PST |
If you have the Ultimate Warzone Rulebook by Excelsior Games, look up the fluff on Big Bob Watts in the Capitol Army List. You might find some interesting references to Heartbreaker and a former Target Employee. |
| Logopolis | 11 Jun 2008 4:17 p.m. PST |
Here's a nice reference site for heartbreaker miniatures link I still like them and pick them up when I find them. |
| Craig Grady | 11 Jun 2008 4:41 p.m. PST |
You can order them in Europe from Ral Partha Europe based in the Liverpool in the UK. THey are on there online store here link Contact details here link |
| maxpower | 11 Jun 2008 4:59 p.m. PST |
Logopolis- Thanks for that link. I have been wanting to look at what they produced for a while now. I used to find scattered packs here and there and I always thought they were pretty cool. |
| Logopolis | 11 Jun 2008 5:28 p.m. PST |
No problem, it's been very helpful for me in the past. I like the range a lot. Been painting them up to use in skirmish games. |
| Bjorn Seleukos | 12 Jun 2008 2:02 a.m. PST |
I liked their Dragon Kin Elves and Chaos Warriors |
| jpattern2 | 12 Jun 2008 10:54 a.m. PST |
Bjorn, I'm a big fan of the Dragon Kin Elves, too. I have 18 o so of each of the 4 poses; wish they'd done more poses, or at least some commanders, champions, standard bearers, and musicians. They don't look much like ayone else's Elves, even other elves by Chaz Elliott, so conversions aren't easy, either.
Pics: link link link link |
| Logopolis | 12 Jun 2008 1:41 p.m. PST |
Dragon Kin elves are nice. I used the one in your last link to convert to a standard bearer, but yea the other command models are pretty hard to find something compatible. |
| blackscribe | 12 Jun 2008 9:11 p.m. PST |
I'm still trying to find out how many poses of spearmen there were in the ratman spear army pack (Tim Prow sculpts). The other packs all had two poses as far as I know. Tim Prow can't remember and I only have one pose. |
| Logopolis | 12 Jun 2008 9:21 p.m. PST |
Here's two poses link but not sure if they are Tim's sculpts |
| dsfrank | 14 Jun 2008 5:44 p.m. PST |
Bob Watts who was one of the senior GW managers in the US, chose to leave GW when Bryan Ansel sold the company – Bob started Heartbreaker with an eye to being a strong competitor to Games Workshop – ultimately Heartbreaker was sold and Bob went on to other projects – Bob used many ex-GW sculptors and leveraged several of the business practices that made GW successful – which is one of the reasons Heartbreaker grew as quickly as it did |
| brave face | 10 Oct 2023 2:34 p.m. PST |
Lost Minis Wiki shows most of the Heartbreaker range. David |
| David Johansen | 12 Oct 2023 7:32 p.m. PST |
Alternative Armies Free Company Crusaders were by Bob Olley and other former GW sculptors as well. I've got a theory about what happened. It seems likely that the sculptors were all freelancers during the classic period and when they gave some full time jobs, they went to Alan and Michael Perry and Jes Godwin, that along with move to plastics drastically reduced the need for a wide variety of sculpts and left a number of sculptors at loose ends. |
