Háida Pakálan Pirates - Update

Sure enough, these guys arrived today. Yay! I always like getting new unpainted lead. The only thing better is getting [well-] painted lead, as the unpainted stuff often stays that way for a looonng time. ;-)

I have torn off the wrapping and done a quick comparison to a Legionnaire of Serqu archer. I have to say I am impressed - these guys match up really well. They are slightly more muscular but not so much as to cause "issues".

The verdict:

These guys are keepers. Cavalcade Wargames' Wako Pirates have found a home as proxy Háida Pakálan Pirates! :-)

Check them out here!

The Pirate Princes of Háida Pakála

Cavalcade Wargames Wako Pirates
- used with permission.

With the order of battle for Tsolyánu alone totaling some 90 legions, it is readily apparent that making miniature figures to cover all the possible Tékumel subjects is an impossible task. One must accept the use of proxies at some point or other, to represent the more obscure troop types.

Cavalcade Wargames recently released their Wako Pirates line.

Personally, I think they might make good proxies for the ruffians found in the service of the lords of Háida Pakála - or possibly Tsoléi. I've ordered the "collection" to see how they look up close.

They won't be perfect, of course, as the Source Book puts the males in "loose, knee-length trousers" and doesn't mention them using bows - seemingly preferring slings. I'm willing to accept these differences, however, as the Source Book has a number of contradictions in it's pages. And - in the end - it is My Tékumel I am gaming in, after all - YMMV.*

I am considering taking greenstuff (or more likely, brownstuff) to the sword blades so they are not so katana-like. Ditto for the yari. I think the bows look fine, but will probably scrounge up some slingers from somewhere.

I haven't seen them in the flesh, of course, but I am hoping they will show up this week. The only thing that is bothering me - just a little - is that there are several guys with only one eye; and it is always the left eye they are missing! Why is that? Punishment for thievery, perhaps?

Anyway, I'm looking forward to these figures. I recommend you guys check them out also. And it seems they are running a sale until July 15th. I'll be sure to post a report when I have the figures, in case anyone is wondering about sizes.

* Your Mileage May Vary

Where does the time go...

So - another month gone by. Where did the time go? Was anything accomplished? Why no updates?

Fair Questions!

Things have been happening, though at seemingly glacial speed:

1) The Hlutrgu are finished and have been shipped to the caster. Unfortunately, these will not be molded until later in the month - not with this weekend being a major US holiday and next weekend being Historicon (unless I am mistaken.) First masters have to be molded and samples sent for inspection - then the production molds will be made. I am hoping for a September release date - based on my experience on how things get delayed in the miniatures business.

2) John is 99% done the blanks - he assures me - so I hope to soon get an email saying they are ready to be mailed to me and then on to the caster. I have been thinking up stuff for him to work on in the time between finishing and getting the castings back. Hopefully things will progress quickly on to some figures once the blanks are cast up and delivered.

3) Art work is progressing slowly. I have an artist doing concept sketches for armour on future releases so as to avoid the cock-ups that have plagued the Dharu and Vanu figures! Unfortunately, he has work commitments that mean he will be leaving after his current slate of work is done.

4) A Band of Joyous Heroes and Kerdu - progress is slow and playtesting ongoing. Those interested in helping should email me.

5) The Ahoggya "kit" is finished being sculpted. Pictures coming tomorrow - with luck.

6) Another sculptor is starting shortly. I'm just working out the details on what he is to do. I am preparing a big "push" to get the Tsolyani battalia filled out a bit.

7) Resin beasties in the form of Chlen and Serudla are being sculpted, as well as smaller Tekumel creatures such as the Biridlu.

Meanwhile, other people have been doing more productive stuff. Like painting their legions!

Check out Greg's excellent work on the Legion of Ever-Present Glory

I wish my figures forces were as complete!

A Typical Day in Jakálla!

Here in Kingston, Ontario, the temperatures are in the high 30's - 38 or so if you count the Humidex. In Jakálla, the "City Half as Old as the World", located on Tsolyánu's southern coast, that would be an average day with temperatures getting as high as 51 degrees C on the hottest summer days.

And Professor Barker doesn't even mention the Humidex! :-0!

The Hlutrgú - Update

Hlutrgú

I have had word from Rod Campbell of Highlander Studios today that he expects to have the Hlutrgú sculpts finished for the first week of June, at which point they can be sent off for master and production molds to be made. With luck there will be no hiccups in this process and I will be able to put in an order for castings before the end of June.

As mentioned before, this will be our first release through our "Tekumel Club". It's a bit of an experiment really, as I have never handled the miniatures production and sales before. A couple of things are apparent, however:

1) We cannot afford to stock inventory;
2) As such we will be ordering only moderately-sized orders from the manufacturer, so there may be delays in orders if someone orders and we don't have anything in stock.

This may mean that the best way to go is through pre-orders only. That is we only cast up what people order. At this point, I haven't got a good idea how many people are actually interested so I think production runs are going to have to be of limited size.

I still don't have a final costing yet. I posted a list of preliminary prices a while back, but it still depends upon how many figures will fit on the molds. (And whether the molding or metal costs have changed in the last several months.)

I'll post more when I am able to fix these items down a little better.

Best regards,

Howard Fielding
The Tekumel Project

Those Blanks I was talking about....

Some finished females

Another view

Work-in-progress males

Here are two of the finished female blanks mentioned previously, and two in-progress male blanks. The full list of stuff I'm hoping to fit into our master mold is:

1) Princess Vrisa;
Male blanks:
2) Male Advancing;
3) Male Attacking;
4) Male Running;
5) Male Firing Bow;
6) Male Standing at Ease;
7) Male Sitting Cross-legged;
8) Male Kneeling on one knee;
Female blanks:
9) Female Advancing;
10) Female Attacking;
11) Female Running;
12) Female Firing Bow;
13) Female Standing at Ease;
14) Female Sitting Cross-legged;
15) Female Kneeling on both knees;
16) Female Kneeling on one knee.

It has occurred to me that the Princess's sword might limit space, but we shall just have to deal with that issue when it crops up.

Princess Vrísa Vishétru of Saá Allaqi

Princess Vrísa Vishétru of Saá Allaqi

The first "Reward" figure for our Tékumel Club program has been completed, sculpted by John Winter of TinMan Miniatures. The first of many, I hope, which will be very expensive for non-club members but very cheap for those that join. Membership - as they say - has it's privileges! ;-)

This figure will not be available for a while yet, as master and production molds have yet to be made and we are waiting on some other figures to fill the master mold with...

Speaking of which, those additional figures are a series of male and female blanks that John is also working on. Several are completed and I've slowed things down a bit (sorry) by adding even more pose variants to the mix. This was done both to fill out the Master Mold and add standing and sitting poses suitable for civilians. The intent is to have groups of civilians made for each of the distinctive regions in their regional form of dress.

One thing I always like to have in my games - if available - is "entourage", which as used by my old Architecture Profs meant to add people, cars and trees and the like to your architectural drawings. I want to be able to do a game set in a market filled with vendors and customers and passersby. :-)