Zink Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 Simple question that I haven't been able to answer myself. I'm closing in on finishing up my goblins (if they can ever be truely finished) and looking at my GW High Elf army. I already have all the troops I want and most are painted but all they have for artillery is bolt throwers. Same for my dark elves but it's going to be a long time before I work on them more. Compared to my other armies, especially the dwarves and Empire they seem a little under equipped. So I've been looking for a suitable catapult. I'm considering trying to scratchbuild one but not sure what to do. Any ideas? I have enough of the plastic spearmen that I can convert them for crew. Actually any ideas for reasonably cheap siege equipment in 28mm? I could use some generic ones for if I ever get around to doing siege battles. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Palmer Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 (edited) I don’t know of any premade sources, but I did a little brainstorming on scratchbuilding one, and came up with a kind of out-there solution. Looking at a High Elf Bolt Thrower, to me it seems to be made of thin curved pieces. So I thought, what has thin curved pieces, and what came to mind are these cheap dollar store dinaosaur puzzle skeletons. So I wonder if you could use some of the parts from these to be components for a catapult, supplementing with some balsa wood. Edited February 14, 2018 by Chris Palmer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgetman! Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 Fenris Games have a pretty nice Trebuchet... It was the 'supergun of the age'... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zink Posted February 14, 2018 Author Share Posted February 14, 2018 @Chris Palmer, right now they have one of those and one of the older version like this. So I like the idea of the curved pieces. Ideally more of a rounded design instead of a blocky one. Not so sure how hard it would be to make. @Gadgetman!, I looked up that trebuchet and it's pretty nice. I already have this one which I was thinking of just converting crew of various races for. It's a massive chunk of metal and I've never bothered gluing it together. It's on the list 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuldGrump Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 (edited) Mantic has an elf... ballista, that has a bow that pretty obviously can't actually move. Then you notice that the elf loader is holding a canister, and that the 'ballista' has a muzzle brake.... The Auld Grump - I think a *EDIT* looks like the petraria arcatinus may not have even existed - despite being widely described at the time.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petraria_Arcatinus Edited February 14, 2018 by TheAuldGrump 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zink Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 Auld Grump, you're telling me the man mangler isn't historically accurate? This is someone else's and nicer looking but I just finished painting mine. Didn't realise that it was supposed to have shields at the top and that I don't have the closest 2 of those crew. I took some photos a few days ago but haven't loaded them on the computer yet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Porsenna Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 The Man-mangler was a classic! I wish I still had mine... Damon. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGP Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 8 hours ago, Zink said: Actually any ideas for reasonably cheap siege equipment in 28mm? I could use some generic ones for if I ever get around to doing siege battles. (I think for purposes of wall assaults and Escalades the Warhammer main rulebook had a generic cannon and stone throwers for use by any army... ...but, that said...) A Wood Elf Stone Thrower ...is a very large Treeman who is equipped with a supply of boulders. Give him an Archer on his shoulder for a spotter, some spearmen to Guard his base, and a captive dwarf who is forced to carve the boulders down smooth. Unlike most Treemen, his main combat attribute is his throwing arm. Not sure what to do for the Dark Elves. Warcraft might provide inspiration: This is the ballista from Warcraft II. The bolt was like a length of telephone pole and it exploded on impact. Perhaps something with even spikier wheels, angry looking shields, unnessarily sinister curved structures, and other dark elvish styling. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitterwolf Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 (edited) I figure many companies make Elf Armies and have some Siege Equipment / War machines. Here is Grenadier ( look on Ebay) also availble through Mirlinton. Dark Elves with Field Crossbow. Gamezone Miniatures Grendel has some generic resin war machines Edited February 15, 2018 by Glitterwolf 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitterwolf Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 You can also take a look at Historical Mini ranges, since Catapults and Bolt Throwers really existed. For example Warlord - Hail Caesar Range has a lot of Ballistas, Scorpios and Onagers. I figure most medieval ranges has some too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgetman! Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 I don't think a Ballista is quite up to snuff. The Ballista is pretty much an Armor-piercing anti-personnel weapon. It's nice for taking out shield formations, soldiers in siege towers and at a longer distance than a bow or crossbow. Probably nice against 'heavier' opponents and their mounts, also. Now, for chaos you use a catapult to throw heads or rocks. Or jars of flaming oil. Pretty decent againt massed enemies and the occasional property damage. But for utter mayhem, you go for the Trebuchet. Instead of returning the head of enemy soldiers, you return the entire soldier... usually screaming until he goes splat! Or you lob a rotting horse carcass into a fortified city. Nothing says 'you lose' quite as much as dysenteri... A boulder through someone's roof is also a good way to ruin their day. Load it up with a barrel of oil or something that fragments easily, and you can decimate a formation or two. The big issue with Trebuchets is that they're unvieldy, so they were often built in-situ, not hauled around by the army, so deployment is slow. Also, if the builders gets it wrong, it can 'backfire', to the amusement of the defenders... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Porsenna Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 Old Glory Miniatures makes a fairly extensive range of generic historical siege equipment under Accessories on their webpage. Damon; 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Jack Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 So, am I the only one who read the thread title and automatically assumed it was asking about catapults designed to throw elves? 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etherial Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 20 minutes ago, Mad Jack said: So, am I the only one who read the thread title and automatically assumed it was asking about catapults designed to throw elves? Noap. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zink Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 3 hours ago, Mad Jack said: So, am I the only one who read the thread title and automatically assumed it was asking about catapults designed to throw elves? Wasn't my intention but along that line I also have the old Goblobber catapult with tied up goblins for ammo. 8 hours ago, Gadgetman! said: I don't think a Ballista is quite up to snuff. The Ballista is pretty much an Armor-piercing anti-personnel weapon. It's nice for taking out shield formations, soldiers in siege towers and at a longer distance than a bow or crossbow. Probably nice against 'heavier' opponents and their mounts, also. Now, for chaos you use a catapult to throw heads or rocks. Or jars of flaming oil. Pretty decent againt massed enemies and the occasional property damage. But for utter mayhem, you go for the Trebuchet. Instead of returning the head of enemy soldiers, you return the entire soldier... usually screaming until he goes splat! Or you lob a rotting horse carcass into a fortified city. Nothing says 'you lose' quite as much as dysenteri... A boulder through someone's roof is also a good way to ruin their day. Load it up with a barrel of oil or something that fragments easily, and you can decimate a formation or two. The big issue with Trebuchets is that they're unvieldy, so they were often built in-situ, not hauled around by the army, so deployment is slow. Also, if the builders gets it wrong, it can 'backfire', to the amusement of the defenders... This is kind of what I was thinking. Ballistae are good for antipersonnel attacks and field battles. Catapults and smaller cannons good for either in the field or sieges and the big stuff for sieges. I'd like to have at least a couple options for each of my armies. My romans, Empire and dwarves have a lot of artillery. Goblins have 2 ballistae and a catapult. High and dark elves just have the repeating ballista and my russians have nothing. For the russians I plan on finding some medieval catapults but I was curious if there was anything more "elfy" out there for heavier choices. Some day I want to work on a bunch of generic siege equipment that any of them could use too. Rams, siege towers, mantlets and whatever else. @TGP, I was thinking of stuff like that for inspiration too. Even if there isn't a model for it something from a video game or somewhere else might give me an idea if I do go the scratch build route. @Lars Porsenna, never thought about Old Glory. I have a few things from them and they're usually pretty reasonably priced. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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