"Old Vikings" Topic

My first army in 25mm was Vikings.This would be around 1980. I had no special interest in Vikings but was wowed by a range of figures which were available in the old Games Centre in London's West end. I sold them in the end when teenage gaming gave way to other things. I have never seen them since. I thought they were Citadel, but they do not match pictures of those posted on TMP recently. They might have been Ral Partha…
Basically they were beautiful, detailed sculpts – at least for that time. Each bag contained a few (4?) figures with the same body but a whole selection of different heads, each of which seemed to be bursting with character. There were a lot of heads and you got whatever the bag contained. The bodies were a bit static – I remember 2 Huscarls, one swinging an axe underarm, the other standing still with spear and shield. There were bondi running, archers, javelin men and some fantastic chiefs, one with a waist length beard. I may be affected by nostalgia, but I don't think I've ever really seen anything to beat them in terms of personality

I think they were part of a dark age range with Saxons and Normans etc. Anyone out there remember these?

I would bet you dollars to donuts that they were the old Citadel Dark Ages minis. True 25mm with either 3 or 4 minis per bag with a paper printed header.

But I don't remember Citadel giving a choice of heads. Citadel did provide a variety of different heads, but they were cast on the figure, not separately; Hob seems to be describing bodies waiting to receive the head of your choice, with a variety of separate heads….

QT Miniatures?

They do sound like the Citadel Dark Ages vikings, though they did not have separate heads (though a variety of them).

I've got a couple around and could take a few pictures later.

Did RAFM ever do Vikings back then? They offer separate heads.

They weren't Partha. Those were nice (I have an army of them). But they didn't have separate heads.

Thanks,

John

Thanks for the responses.

Sorry – gave the wrong impression. I didn't mean 'separate' heads – I meant there was a random selection of fixed heads on the same body. I'd love to see a few pics if anyone has them, just to see if nostalgia is clouding my judgement.

So they are Citadel? Then how is it that what other people have posted as 'Citadel' figures are quite different? Was there a later line? The pics I've seen of what are often referred to as Citadel are a bit Cartoony. The ones I had were realistically proportioned…

Maybe Minifigs? link

Thanks Sonofthor – but no not Minifigs, although I had a few of these in the army as well as they were the same size.

No where did the poster say there were "seperate" heads --just "a whole selection of heads" ???
There is no doubt that these were the original Citidal figures -- they can be none other. I had hoards of them as I was visiting my friends Glenn and Jack at the Ral Partha plant (they were the stockist) when they first arrived From the UK -- being owed a sizable sum for painted figures I can clearly recall my joy as I dug through the packaging gathering my loot.
Regards
Russ Dunaway

Yes, original Citadel for sure then. Their entire medieval and dark ages lines were the best ever. And they were true 25s.

link

That's probably a selection of them. I don't remember the horned helmets, but horns are easy to remove….

I still have a couple dozen of those Citadel Dark Ages minis and they stand up well to anything currently in production.

Just Visiting – Thanks for the pics, but again these aren't the Citadel figures I remember.

Old Glory, yes you must be right – there must have been an earlier line from Citadel.

Wonder if I can get any anywhere? And why wouldn't they have continued making such good figures…?

Could they be these?

link

Simon

I have exactly ONE Citadel Norman in my old true 25s army

Other than his miniature feet, he's one of my favorite figures. I would have created my medieval armies out of these early Citadel miniatures, except that they only came into the local shop sporadically. Rocky Russo, on the other hand, made large armies out of them, of which I was envious. His medieval Citadel peasant army is even larger than mine; and Citadel medieval peasants are arguably the best ever sculpted; I have over 20 of them, not nearly enough; they are still some of my favorite figs. link I do have some late medieval Citadel in an already painted army that I bought; they are a mixture of barded cavalry, pikemen, halberdiers, longbowmen and crossbowmen; I call them my "Burgundians". Not only are the miniatures superb, the painting is better than what I generally turn out. link This is all rather nostalgic to me. Thanks BRB for the Wiki links!…

They were Citadel, and still some of the best figures I've ever seen. I worked there and maybe sold you them! If I remember rightly there were Vikings (including a nice Rus with rectangular shield), Arabs & Turks and Byzantines in the Dark Ages range, and there was also a medieval range and some very nice 1st. century Romans. You occasionally see the Dark Ages stuff on Ebay at outrageous prices. The shop also had Ral Partha historicals, which were more slender but also nice. There were Mongols, Sung Chinese, Spanish and Byzantines in that range, all early 13th century, and I think those are still available. I wish the Citadel Dark Ages ones were.

I also bought some of the vikings, arabs and some Carolingians from the shop (assuming it is the one on Oxford Street, that's now Game?). Later there was a closing down sale and I bought a ton of minis (including a lot of clunky Dixon vikings, and some Ral Partha vikings) at 10p each, great days…

Just visiting, thanks for the link to medievals. I bought a bag of about 20 figures at a bring and buy six or seven years ago. Didn't know what they were, although I suspected Ral Partha. Beautiful little figures, and they paint up nicely. Lo and behold you provided some pictures of them !

Gentlemen;

These figures were, in fact, the very first Citadel Dark Ages (DA for marketing) range. The word is (can't confirm or deny) that they were the work of the then young Perry Brothers. As far as I know, they were one of the first ranges to offer the same basic figure cast with assorted heads and assorted shields. Glenn Kidd sent me skads of them back in the day, which I foolishly sold or traded away. They were quite lovely little figures and mixed very well with the Partha historical figures (which also included Vikings, Saxons and Normans) and reasonably well with Garrison, Hinchcliffe and Frontier.

I still have many of these figures that I have acquired over the last few years in dribs and drabs. They were originally marketed in the US as Partha Imports and were the result of a cooperative venture between Ral Partha in the US and Citadel in the UK for both to gain international market penetration.

There is a complete listing of the range on Stuff of Legends here:

link

And a pdf reprint of the original 1985 Partha catalog with some line drawings on page 6 here:

PDF link

If you're trying to fill out an old school true 25mm army, or a small force for skirmishing, these figures are still great when you can find them without paying a premium. They do still show up periodically on eBay, and I had some luck a few years ago buying up lots on BarterTown and through the Classifieds here on TMP. With Partha Historicals (still available from Iron Wind Metals) and Frontier Vikings (which show up a bit more often and may be available again if rumors are true) you can mix the Citadel figures in the same units, giving you a lot of variety in a warband.

Bill
Sir William the Aged

If the heads are separate from the body I'll bet they are RAFM. As I recall the Citadel figures while variable in a pack, do not have separate heads.

These are still available (as are Citadel) I think throuigh RAFM. I have a number of unpainted ancirne tand dark age RAFM I would part with if anyone is keen.

I've got a load of the Carolingian unarmoured cavalry. All good figures but only one horse which rather let them down. Another excellent range that was only sold in army packs was "Viking Miniatures" from Scotland. They did Vikings, 1066 Saxons, Normans (but horses let them down a bit) and just before thety disappeared forever Rus. Both ranges are as good as anything produced now…but true 25's.

I remember fondly the old Citadel/Ral Partha Imports ranges. The idea of one body with a variety of heads cast on was quite different at the time. They did at least a range of Orcs this way as well.

I believe this may have been pre-Games Workshop.

I had boatloads of the goblins and Dwarves done this way…

Yes bobm1959- Viking Miniatures – they pioneered the idea of unit packs. As far as I remember you could only get them in packs of 30 infantry. Bought a pack of their Bondi. Then ordered their Huscarls. My money (£10.50!)was taken but I never got the figures. They must have gone bust in the interim…

Viking Miniatures were great, and not too expensive for the time if I remember rightly.

Definitely Viking Minaitures – have some of them myself too.

A few years have gone by and I'd be very keen to acquire the Citadel DA Vikings and other Dark Age figures from this range. Particularly interested in codes below if anyone has them:

DA43 Viking Chieftains
DA44 Mounted Viking Chieftain
DA45 Viking Berserker with Axe
DA46 Viking Berserker with Sword and knife
DA47 Viking Heavy Infantry with Axes
DA48 Viking Heavy Spearman
DA49 Viking Axemen
DA50 Viking Spearman
DA51 Viking Javelinmen
DA52 Viking Archers
DA53 Viking Slingers
DA54 Viking Swordsmen Standing
DA55 Viking Swordsmen Charging
DA56 Viking Standard Bearers
DA57 Viking Cavalryman

I realise this is a very old thread, but I collect the old Citadel Dark Ages viking range and have a painted army of 200 odd. I'm not interested in selling, but I have quite a few unpainted Vikings from this range that are surplus and I would potentially swap for others from the same range I have fewer of.
Anyone else in the same position drop me a message and we could do some deals.

Stephen