The Tekumel Blogosphere: Miniatures

I thought I'd take a tour of the blogs devoted to Tekumel and Tekumel-related topics. I found more than I expected, so I'll focus on one topic at a time.

First let me say that I have a complicated relationship to miniatures. I love the look of miniatures, especially Tekumel miniatures. I love using them for role playing to visualize the action. I played The Fantasy Trip for several years, and it's tactical map movement for combat was amazing. I'm still looking for an RPG that makes mapped combat so easy.

Let me also say I hate miniatures battles, getting the huge table out and moving hundreds of figures around. I've done it with several different genres. I still hate it. I don't have the mass army strategic mindset, I guess.

I got into figure painting for a bit. I made a gorgeous Warrior-Priest of Vimuhla figure from the original Ral Partha figures. His robes were different colors of red, the flame finial on his helmet looked like real fire, and he had a gold flame on the back of his cape. I think it could have won awards. It took me about 12 hours of work on a single figure. After that, I just painted Shen and naked skirmishers, which were easy, and some sloppy troops, because I knew if I was going to take 12 hours per figure, I'd still be painting my Legion of Red Devastation. Then I discovered my dislike for miniatures battles, and I just stopped.

That being said, I can't ignore miniatures in Tekumel. Some of the most exciting things happening right now in the Tekumel arena involve the miniatures. A new line of figures is being sculpted and produced, and a new set of rules for miniatures combat is being playtested. This is the first new set of sculpts since Robert Smith's 15 mm line in the early 90s. Also, Tekumel started with miniatures. The professor carved miniatures from wood when he was a kid, and from the beginning of Empire of the Petal Throne, miniatures have been there.

So, let's look at who is out there.

The first stop is the blog for a grand project, bringing the newly sculpted Tekumel miniatures to market that I mentioned above. The Tekumel Project is the brainchild of Howard Fielding. The sculptures being made are of really fine quality. There is also a discount club called The Tekumel Club

Next stop on the tour is Chirene's Workbench. This is a Tekumel blog written by Jeff Berry, mostly about miniatures. He's been around Tekumel longer than I have, with his main focus being on miniatures. He ran Tekumel Games for several years. His library/museum of all things Tekumelani in his basement is a wonder to behold. He runs a Tekumel game regularly, and also hosts regular Tekumel battles. He's also a crack figure painter.

Another fellow interested in Tekumel miniatures has The Pewter-Pixel Wars blog. He shows his figures as he paints them, telling about techniques he used and difficulties he had. Nicely organized.

That's all for now. I'll post more as I find them. If you have favorite Tekumel miniatures blogs, let me know.