I discovered Front Rank Figurines recently and have been impressed by some of the 25mm figures in their gallery. While looking through their range, I came across this picture of an English "officer standing in cloak and barbute", from its War of the Roses range:

http://www.frontrank.com/images/wotr/in ... _102lg.jpg
(Click here for the source)

And here is the strikingly similar "Arnor Captain" produced by Games Workshop:
http://uk.games-workshop.com/storefront ... &orignav=9

I'll admit there are some differences, but when I came across the historical miniature I recognised a similarity straight away. On closer inspection, you can see that the sword is in the same position on both models, and the headress (which I originally thought was weird for Arnorians) is the exact same. I think we know where GW got the idea for the Arnorians, considering there was no New Line imagery to work with in that area...

Perhaps more interestingly, GW sells theirs for £4, while FRF sells for £0.98! From what I can see, the historical miniature could be more detailed than the GW one (although then again, the pic is larger...). While I'm not going to be buying either of them, I just thought this was rather interesting.


Lastly, has anyone ever bought minis from this company before? How does their scale compare to LotR minis?

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The Tengwar Beacon

Yeah, I know that site. Haven't bought from it yet, though I'm interested in the Napoleonic Spanish "Cazadores". I also want info about scale.

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"Mustard the Rohirrim! We've got to ketchup with those Uruk-fries before they capture the Hornburger!"

I think its extremely unlikely that the idea came from that miniature. They look like a pretty reasonable mixture of historical arms and I bet the similarity is a coincidence. The Arnorian figure has non-gothic armor-you can tell by the lack of embellished plackart or ribbed plates on the breastplate or knees. Also the WoR fig is in full plate while the Arnorian has just a breastplate and greaves. The similar helmet is based on a very common barbute, which were often Italian made and shipped throughout Europe. The feather in the helmet which makes them look similar is common in Eastern Europe/Ottomon costume, and I bet thats where the idea came to GW.

I heartily detest the Arnorians as rendered by GW - they just do no fit into the Middle-earth I imagined or that was shown in the films. They are far too prissy - the Northern Kingdom was a grim place for a long time, less wealthy than the South and I cannot see them having the resources for these pretty boys. I could see them remaining closer to the Numenorean mail for much longer before the kingdom fragmented and then there would have been a breakdown into more ad hoc arming of forces, i.e., they fought with whatever they could get.

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Published ebooks:
Instrument of the Empire
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Phantom Ships, Ghost Flotilla
More to come!

I agree with Dorth's analysis of the North-Kingdom. They should really have maintained more of their Numenorean look before getting heavy platemail (which I doubt even Gondor had to any great degree while Arnor was united).


Now, maybe they based it on these minis and maybe they didn't, but remember that GW is an English company, and the Shire, which was part of Arnor at the time, was supposed to be based on England. Therefore, Ottoman/Eastern European styles wouldn't really fit in with northwestern Middle-earth.

Regardless of where the idea came from, you have to admit that there is a strong similarity between the two, and more to the point, the historical one is a quarter of the price. So I wanted to point out that would make a suitable substitute if anyone was interested (not that I'm too fond of either model personally...).

Hence, I would like to ask how the Front Rank's 25mm minis compare to LotR minis. (Are they of the same height and scale?)

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The Tengwar Beacon

Yankee Doodle went to town
A-riding on a pony
Stuck a feather in his hat
And called it macaroni

Both look stupid...Nuff said !

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There are fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world

Not bought anything from Front Rank, but their use of 25mm scale should correspond to GW's - it is after all, the same scale. if the minis are slightly taller/shorter than GW's then that could be easily accounted for in the natural difference in heights of various individuals.

They are made of resin too in case you hadn't noticed.

And yes, I dislike the Arnor warriors as well. But why are they called Arnorians? They represent the last vestiges of the northern kingdoms and so the realm should be called Arthedain shouldn't it? And where are the men of Cardolan or Rhurdaur? Meh.

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Dagster

I'm actually more interested in the company's 18th century miniatures anyway.

I knew they weren't metal but I thought they were some type of plastic. What's the difference between plastic and resin? Is it that you can't spray resin when undercoating, or is it something else?

And I agree with Dagorlad about the split in Arnor. But then, detailing the actual breakup of the North Kingdom(s) is probably more than GW want to go into for their target market. (Especially the "grey area" it would produce in the game, with "Good" fighting "Good" and Evil fighting both )

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The Tengwar Beacon

I'm not seeing any real similarity. The feather is the only similarity in my view. The armour is completely different. The sword pose is not unique, even the original Borimir model has the same pose yet I saw noone saying it was copied from this miniature.

As for the price difference, I think £4.00 is a little too much, £2 or £3 would be more reasonable, but I wouldn't pay more that 98p for the otherone - indeed I wouldn't want it if you gave it to me for nothing.

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eBob.

They are the same

I always thought that the Warriors of Armor looked more like the Andalusian or Spanish Troops during the Reconquista of Spain.

They have a bit more plate than would have been used in the Reconquista, but their helmet, and the cloth "Turban" around it (I cannot recall the actual name for the wrap) are very clearly from that period. Several North Africa Moors also used it.

I also had the impression that the figures are rather much older than the contemporary stuff that is out. Dating more to the middle of the Third Age from Before the Ruin of Arnor by the witch king (When Fornost was still the seat of power of the last remaining kindgom of Arnor - I forget its name)...

Of course... That is just what I think, based upon the info I have found in the books and on the Encyclopedia of Arda Web-Site. Others will likely see a different picture depending upon what ME looks like in their minds.

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There exists nothing that can be changed without changing the equation to begin with