Jo Jo the Idiot Circus Boy | 29 Jul 2016 8:22 a.m. PST |
Long story short is that I am going to be running some gladiator games in the near future, and might even eventually play a campaign given enough interest at the local club. Ms. Martin dabbles in gaming and has expressed an interest in my painting up a handful of female gladiators for her to play with. The problem is that she's not fond of what she calls "cheesecake miniatures", and most of the female gladiator miniatures I have run across in my (admittedly limited) search have certainly fallen into that category with bare breasts, etc. The offerings by Shadowforge Miniatures being pretty typical. (sorry no links, this is not the NSFW forum! ;-) ) So does anyone know of any tasteful female gladiator models out there? Or should I just sculpt a green stuff bikini top on a couple of NSFW miniatures? |
Winston Smith | 29 Jul 2016 8:34 a.m. PST |
Good luck with that. It wasn't a very "tasteful" occupation to begin with. The whole idea behind having female gladiators was >cough cough< titillation. Your green stuff idea is probably best. I did use some Ral Partha female fighters in non-topless poses, though. They were not armed with traditional gladiator weapons. Look for tastefully dressed female fantasy fighters in the bulk and scale of whatever gladiators you have. Depending on what make gladiators you are using, you may have leftover weapons to do conversions. How hard is it to make a net? |
NOLA Chris | 29 Jul 2016 8:56 a.m. PST |
West Wind Gladiator Wars (from Old Glory) have a pack of female gladiators no pic on web page, but google images shows:
web page OG: link hope it helps! :) |
Jo Jo the Idiot Circus Boy | 29 Jul 2016 9:15 a.m. PST |
Thanks, NOLA Chris. I had seen the entry on the Old Glory site, but did not find the photo. Those are not terrible and are a step up from the usual in terms of nudity. I also came across these from Black Hat Miniatures, formerly the very appropriately named Gladiator Miniatures:
These sculpts are a bit rough, but they'd probably paint up decently. Any other ideas, gang? |
Atomic Floozy | 29 Jul 2016 9:38 a.m. PST |
Reaper has a few female gladiators and pit fighters. They also have a lot of figures clad in bikini that could be used as is or easily converted. I don't have a problem with bare breasted gladiatrices, since historically many fought that way to show the audience they were women. On some sculpts you might be able to paint a "strophium", which was a band of cloth, a sort of early bra worn when exercising. As an aside the only female boxer mini I could find was topless, but I was able to paint a sports bra that looked good and made the figure more plausible. |
Jo Jo the Idiot Circus Boy | 29 Jul 2016 10:23 a.m. PST |
I don't have a problem with bare breasted gladiatrices, since historically many fought that way to show the audience they were women. Just out of curiosity what do you base that on? The most commonly known period image of female gladiators seems to show the girls in the bra-like garment you mentioned in your post.
Again, I'm not arguing. I'm just curious. I don't personally have an issue with the topless figures either. I have several in my collection of Wargames Foundry gladiator miniatures. (my favorite being the Dimachaerus with the two long knives) But they are not as "wife-friendly" as they might be! |
mossdocking | 29 Jul 2016 10:27 a.m. PST |
Just mentioned them on my blog – whence colour photo above appears link |
Atomic Floozy | 29 Jul 2016 11:01 a.m. PST |
The description of the relief states that the women are wearing a loin cloth. The only other known ancient statue of a female gladiator depicts her also as wearing only a loin cloth. Most mosaics that depict women wearing the strophium are of women participating in gymnastics. There are numerous accounts about the banning of women as gladiators & few accounts about actual contests. Fighting bare breasted may have been an assumption since early gladiatorial rules stated that combatants wear to fight bare chested. It's NSFW, but here is a photo of the only other known statue of a female gladiator:
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Jo Jo the Idiot Circus Boy | 29 Jul 2016 11:24 a.m. PST |
Fair enough. I saw that statue as well. There seems to be some debate over what/who it actually depicts. But in the end, it's not set in stone (no pun intended) either way. |
Moonraker Miniatures | 29 Jul 2016 12:03 p.m. PST |
link 7th item down the page. Doug |
Atomic Floozy | 29 Jul 2016 4:20 p.m. PST |
A lot of what we think we know about the ancient world is largely assumption. I've been reading a lot recently about the debate over how hoplites fought. And in trying to group together sources for the case of female gladiators fighting without helmets & bare chested, I'm finding a lot of debate there as well. But to bring this back to the question by the OP, there are options for miniatures with appropriate clothing. |
Hafen von Schlockenberg | 29 Jul 2016 9:32 p.m. PST |
I read a comment from, I think,Mary Beard,a year or two ago to the effect that Romans considered the naked female breasts obscene,and always kept them covered, even during sex (talk about prudes!). I don't know how this would have affected the question of female gladiators;it would certainly have added to the "shock value",at least. |
Spanner | 31 Jul 2016 8:50 a.m. PST |
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FatherOfAllLogic | 01 Aug 2016 7:00 a.m. PST |
I think that the Romans were public prudes and find the concept of female gladiators doubtful. Females in the arena were probably escaped slaves or criminals and 'fought' as punishment. |
Hafen von Schlockenberg | 01 Aug 2016 9:52 a.m. PST |
Gattamalata--I could be wrong,of course. Or maybe Beard. . . No,it's more likely me. |
Tarantella | 01 Aug 2016 10:27 a.m. PST |
For $18 USD a pop I'd go for the cheap and rude figures and learn to micro crochet some suitable garments. YouTube link
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Jo Jo the Idiot Circus Boy | 02 Aug 2016 10:47 a.m. PST |
Thanks for the tips on figures and discussion, gang. I sat down with Mrs. Martin over the weekend and we picked out several to order. So soon enough she'll have her own stable of gladiatrices. Now we just have to settle on a rules set. But that's another subject entirely…. |