Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Rummaging through online miniature retailers I ran into a UK group called wargames foundry. And it seems that they have some old citadel models from the early 80s. Now I dont really know anything about citadels/GWs history (what's the distinction?) but thought some of you may be curious or could shed some light on it. I think these may be pre warhammer as that started up in the mid 80s I think... Anyone here who has ever played or even owned some of these?

They are historic style miniatures, mainly mediaeval with a couple of Japanese samurai.
Link: http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/our-ranges/ex-citadel" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/our-ranges/ex-citadel

Sample shots:

I do think that Wargames Foundry said that these miniatures were made by citadel around 1983, back when they used to do loads of random different miniature ranges.

Those are some very ugly miniatures BTW.

Bryan Ansell set up Citadel which was then incorporated into GW.

Bryan Ansell then took over GW when Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson decided to do other things.

When Tom Kirby led a management buyout in the early 90s Bryan left and set up WF and took with him much that was GW but not specifically Warhammer.

This is quite well known in the uk if you are older than 30.

It often makes me laugh to see people buying old Warhammer Siege engines as OOP on eBay when they are still in manufacture at WF.

They have some awesome ranges 2000AD being my favourite.

Wargames Foundry is a long standing miniatures company with alot of devotees. They make Historical, Fantasy, Sci-Fi and other miniatures lines. The size of the figures tends toward heroic, with reasonably chunky dimensions.The general style of Foundry looks very comparable to 90s era GW. Foundry tends to be a bit more expensive than many other historical companies, but far more affordable than GW.

The owner of Wargames Foundry (usually just called "Foundry") used to be one of the top guys at GW. When he left the company to form Foundry, a number of Citadel miniatures lines went with him, mostly historical stuff. IIRC, some of those are still available, though they aren't advertised as being ex-citadel models. Since then, many different sculptors have worked for Foundry (I think Copplestone was one) though the lines do tend to have a pretty consistent style.

As for experience with Foundry, I don't have alot. In the past I've owned a few of the "Blanfords Warriors" series of models. They were Citadel models that Foundry recently re-released. Nice figs, but since they were the Citadel originals, they were worth too much for me to hold on to them long.

The first row are a boxed set of knights that Citadel put out in the 1980s. I had that set.

The second row are part of the Samurai range that included armoured samurai, ronin and some oni and a few female figures. I have most of those.

Not sure about the third row. They look like WotR era figures. I have one similar mounted figure and a foot figure, probably Citadel. Looking again, I have the last one with the red and white wreath on his helmet and a similar foot figure.

They used to make genuine 25mm.

Top row and bottom row were certainly sold as bretonian, not sure if that's how they started as I bought some of them in 89?

Cheers guys/gals, as a 20 year old in NZ, I dont really have any idea of UK miniature making history. Was just surprised to see ex-Citadel while I was looking around. I had never really thought of GW doing anything else than their current lines plus the recently retired ones, but of course they would of had to start from somewhere.
And yes, you were right about the lines Kilkrazy. I had just grabbed a few sample shots from their various lines to put in here.

 notprop wrote:
Top row and bottom row were certainly sold as bretonian, not sure if that's how they started as I bought some of them in 89?

I gave up Fantasy in about 1986. I don't remember if GW had invented Bretonnians at that time. I bought the figures for use as RPG playing pieces.

Brets were in the 3rd edition Warhammer Armies book, not sure about before them (ravening hordes).

I only got them as the were cool looking Knights, expensive too at £2.50 for 2!

 notprop wrote:

It often makes me laugh to see people buying old Warhammer Siege engines as OOP on eBay when they are still in manufacture at WF.
They have some awesome ranges 2000AD being my favourite.

There's quite a lot of info about it on the Foundry Site. Or used to be recently, before the move, anyway.

Which siege engines? The Artillery pieces? The Penthouse?
http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/our-ranges/ex-citadel/cannons

I couldn't see any others listed as ex-citadel. And yes, their Dredd range is a good'un.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Some interesting links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Ansell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wargames_Foundry

realmofchaos80s.blogspot.com
(some very interesting and informative interviews on the right-hand sidebar)

The Cannon is a Medieval Bombard, still available from Wargames Foundry.

I myself quit like these minis.

 master of ordinance wrote:

I myself quite like these minis.

I do as well. As sculpting "standards" have veered towards ultra-realism and super-detailing, it's nice that there are still miniatures that are designed to be paint up quickly and look great on the tabletop. Companies like Foundry and Copplestone are still producing minis that as old-timer's say "Paint up a treat". They aren't going to have the filigree of a 40k or WM sculpt or the fine detailing of Infinity, but they take a paint-up really well and don't bog down the painter in unnecessary detail. This is especially a good thing for painting up larger units for Company level games and larger.

 master of ordinance wrote:
The Cannon is a Medieval Bombard, still available from Wargames Foundry.

I myself quit like these minis.

Yep, I know. I was wondering which engines that notprop has seen going for large amounts as ex-citadel.

Here's an example, Your's with some random skinny dwarves for only £39!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OOP-Citadel-Warhammer-Empire-C22-Imperial-Dwarf-Bombard-Cannon-Crew-/321447410940?pt=UK_Toys_Wargames_RL&hash=item4ad7c23cfc

(to be fair they might be the right dwarves but 1984 is before even my time!)

 Eilif wrote:

 master of ordinance wrote:

I myself quite like these minis.

I do as well. As sculpting "standards" have veered towards ultra-realism and super-detailing, it's nice that there are still miniatures that are designed to be paint up quickly and look great on the tabletop. Companies like Foundry and Copplestone are still producing minis that as old-timer's say "Paint up a treat". They aren't going to have the filigree of a 40k or WM sculpt or the fine detailing of Infinity, but they take a paint-up really well and don't bog down the painter in unnecessary detail. This is especially a good thing for painting up larger units for Company level games and larger.

Aye. I wish that GW still thought in this vein as the current Minis are so detailed that painting them up takes an age. Im fine with ultra level detailing for small scale games (Infinity, Warmachine, Darkage, etc) but for the ammassed games that GW produce it just makes the whole process tedious and boring, especially when you have 200-300 basic infantry to paint.