The Happy Hlutrgú is back...

...to wish everybody a...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! :-)

Lord Freshsháyu hiTurukén

Sculpted by Allan Marsh

Lord Freshsháyu hiTurukén, is the human Kérdu (or general) of the Shén mercenary "Legion of the City of Chrí" in Tsolyáni service. A little eccentric, his armour is fashioned to make him resemble a Shén. As such, even though  Tsolyánu's national colour is blue, I assume his armour would be mostly black - or at least the  "Shén" bits anyway. His legion uses a sort of red-orange for trim so I guess he would have that also, and probably a touch of blue and, of course, some gold or silver to show his status.  

I've ordered 50 of this figure which should be on their way right now:

Heroes of the Age

HA 11 Lord Freshsháyu hiTurukén,  Kérdu of the Legion of the City of Chrí  $6.00

Mu'ugalavyáni Dispositions on the Tsolyáni Border

Map fragment from "Swords & Glory" 

This map shows the area governed by the "Second Palace" of Mu'ugalavyá and also the approximate dispositions of troops on the Tsolyáni Border. Each hex is 100 tsán across (or approx. 133 km.)

Key to the Map:


1) Legion III of the Second Palace: "Wreak Death" (6) - Heavy Infantry
2) Legion XIV of the Second Palace: "The Slayers of Chket" (53) - Pé Chói*
3) Legion II of the First Palace: "Never Die" (2) - Heavy Infantry
4) 500 men of Legion VIII of the Second Palace: "Invisible Rain" (32) - Crossbowmen*
5) Legion I of the Second Palace: "Destroy in Glory" (4) - Heavy Infantry*
6) Legion VI of the Second Palace: "Exalted Flame" (23) - Medium Infantry*
7) Balance of Legion VIII of the Second Palace: "Invisible Rain" (32) - Crossbowmen*
8) Legion VII of the Second Palace: "Sword-swinger" (24) - Medium Infantry*
9) Legion IV of the Second Palace: "Rise to Strike" (7) - Heavy Infantry
10) Legion XI of the First Palace: "Pride of Xáx" (48) - Shén
11) Legion XII of the First Palace: "Mandibles of Iron" (52) - Pé Chói
12) Legion XI of the Second Palace: "Blood-Dart" (40) - Archers*
13) Legion II of the Second Palace: "Mighty Power" (5) - Heavy Infantry
14) Legion I of the Legions of the Sea: "Tide of Death" (45) - Marines
15) Legion XII of the Second Palace: "Fist of Vimúhla" (44) - Artillery
16) Legion X of the First Palace: "Tower-breaker" (43) - Artillery*
17) Legion V of the Second Palace: "The Hand of Might" (8) - Heavy Infantry*
18) Legion VI of the First Palace: "Battlecry" (21) - Medium Infantry

* = Illustrated in Mu'ugalavyáni Army Book

(21), etc = the listing number as it appears in the Army Book.

Misc New Figures

Painted by Roy Duffy.

Priest of Sarku w. Zombie Child, Warrior-Priest of Karakan, Sokatis City Guard, Warrior-Priestess of Avanthe (in the Arena) and Arena Official.

hayalún tlakáyila – the Excellent Ruby Eye

a doodle...

“Eyes” are techno-magical devices – small non-metallic spheres resembling actual eyes, hence the name – that produce various effects when a tiny button on the surface is pressed. They have a finite number of charges, but can be re-charged. Most produce a beam of some sort when activated. In the case of the Excellent Ruby Eye, a beam of ruby light is produced which envelopes the target. The effect is to place the target in a form of stasis, “fixing” them at that point in time. For this reason these eyes are sometimes used to halt the spread of a poison until a cure can be obtained. In other instances the device has been used to entrap a person for years, sometimes decades or centuries, until they are released.

Cats and Dogs...

...for Tékumel!


From the Tékumel.com website:

The Tiúni (cat): Not a common pet in the south (it can’t cope with the local equivalent of the mouse), but found in cooler northern regions, where vermin don’t pack quite the same armament.

The Tlékku (dog): Several breeds exist. Hunting dogs are like big setters.

With Mega Miniatures closing down I have taken the opportunity to pick up some moulds that I think will "fit" in with our ranges. The first batch of moulds arrived the other day and will be in production by the Fall. These first moulds are animals: two poses of cats (sitting and reclining on it's back), a Dingo, two birds: a Flamingo and a Pelican. I chose the Dingo because I wanted a sort of generic dog rather than choose a single identifiable breed. So by the above description, not one of the "hunting breeds", but IMO a good example of "man's best friend" regardless. The flamingos and pelicans are just meant to be generic scenery items to dress up the table with.

Code breaking!

I've been bedeviled by codes of late. Figure manufacturing involves a lot of bits - the various parts of the figures and then the moulds themselves, it all adds up to a lot of things to account for. You can't use words to describe what you need. Saying I want 10 x the Medium Tsolyani Standard Plume or 30 x the spikey sword  just doesn't cut it. (Which mould was that spikey sword on? And which spikey sword do you mean, anyway?!)

So I have been giving all the figures and parts codes and names. When I started I didn't think far enough ahead, so the Hlaka - our first release with RAFM doing the casting - start at number 1, and I progressed from there. Later I tried to apply some logical order to the numbering: Tsolyani military - 1000s, Yan Kor - 2000s, and similar. But then there arose the problem that we typically sell our figures in "Sets", and how did the sets fit into the coding scheme?

As we stand poised to bring all are older figures back "on line" this problem is becoming more acute. I've finally worked out how to do it. As RAFM doesn't need to worry about the sets - I make up the packs myself - I can keep the figure codes separate from the set codes. So now I have a series of codes describing what part of the catalogue the set is from:

PP = Palace of the Priesthoods;
PR = Palace of the Realm;
PF = Palace of Foreign Persons;
AE = Armies and Enemies of the Petal Throne (ie. Palace of Ever-Glorious War) This code will be followed by "-TS" or "-YK", etc to show which nation the unit belongs to;
HA = Heroes of the Age;
IR = Inimical Races;
UW = Underworld;
FF = Flora and Fauna.

I was working on the list for the Yan Koryani Gureks yesterday. Initially I just ordered it by what we had, but later realized that I should allow for future additions. I decided to follow the order they are given in the Yan Koryani army book. The codes now account for each Gurek and all the various troops types, including artillery and sappers. There are over 200 codes! :-0!

Here is an example:

AE-YK	62	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá I - Kérdu
AE-YK	63	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá I - Warband (HI Spears)
AE-YK	64	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá I - Horde (HI Spears)
AE-YK	65	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá I - Warband (MI Spears)
AE-YK	66	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá I - Horde (MI Spears)
AE-YK	67	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá I - Warband (Crossbows)
AE-YK	68	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá I - Horde (Crossbows)
AE-YK	69	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá I - Horde (Onager Crews)
AE-YK	70	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá II - Kérdu
AE-YK	71	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá II - Warband (MI Pikes)
AE-YK	72	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá II - Horde (MI Pikes)
AE-YK	73	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá II - Warband (Crossbows)
AE-YK	74	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá II - Horde (Crossbows)
AE-YK	75	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá II - Warband (LI Slings)
AE-YK	76	The Gurék of Tléku Miriyá II - Horde (LI Slings)
AE-YK	77	The Gurék of the Turquoise Eye - Kérdu
AE-YK	78	The Gurék of the Turquoise Eye - Warband (HI Spears)
AE-YK	79	The Gurék of the Turquoise Eye - Horde (HI Spears)
AE-YK	80	The Gurék of the Turquoise Eye - Warband (MI Spears)
AE-YK	81	The Gurék of the Turquoise Eye - Horde (MI Spears)
AE-YK	82	The Gurék of the Turquoise Eye - Warband (Bows)
AE-YK	83	The Gurék of the Turquoise Eye - Horde (Bows)
AE-YK	84	The Gurék of the Turquoise Eye - Horde (Sappers)

These are some of our existing figures. They are not available yet, but we are getting closer to re-releasing them. The moulds are now "in country" and I hope to start getting figures cast in the Fall. Some figures such as the Kerdu and the sappers or artillery crews still need to be sculpted. That is 22 codes for only three units!