In 1991 I bought the boxed wargame from Grenadier Models called “Fantasy Warriors.” To be honest, I bought it solely because it was filled to the brim with miniatures: 102 miniatures forming 2 complete armies, Dwarf and Orc, for $29 USD. Each army in the box came with 3 poses/troop-types (a missile weapon troop, a spear-armed troop, and a hand-weapon troop), 17 miniatures of each pose, 51 models per army.  At the time I was already playing wargames using the “Battlesystem” mass combat rules for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. I wasn’t in the mood to learn a new set of rules, I just wanted to replace Battlesystem’s cardboard chits with proper miniatures. I had a bunch of other Grenadier miniatures at that time, and these helped quickly bulk out my games. However, the vast majority of the models languished, unpainted, for years (by “years” I mean “decades.”)

To get my daughter into my painting hobby, I painted these up for her so that she and I could play Kings of War (a game system that isn’t too hard to learn for a young person). I asked her to pick a color scheme, and I set to work. I really loved painting these. Quick and fun. And while Grenadier Models may have gone out of business 20 years ago, these miniatures are still being affordably produced by EM4 Miniatures. For less than $20 USD you could create a large Orc or Dwarf force. I bought some additional models from EM4 to round the units out to an even 20 models each, which is an easier number for Kings of War (or Warhammer Fantasy).

To give you a sense of their scale, they come molded on 25mm bases. They fit in very well with all the other Grenadier models of the late 80s and early 1990s produced by Grenadier for their Fantasy Warriors miniatures line. At the time, they were packaged as 25mm scale miniatures. I’d say they might be a hair larger. The detail is nowhere as crisp as metal from the same time period, but as a way to get a horde of units filled, they’re perfect. Many other metal miniatures (with superior detail) in the old Grenadier “Fantasy Warriors” dwarves line are still being produced by em4 Miniatures, Mirliton, and Forlorn Hope Games, and these plastic models fit in well with the rest of the line. If you were inclined to create an entire “oldhammer” 1980s-90s fantasy army, I challenge you to try to find an unpainted and complete army on eBay for less than $500 USD, and that would be a stretch. With these models you could have a pristine oldhammer-era force for a pittance.