Cold blooded swamp dwellers and their allies, enemies of the cavemen of the valley. These creatures are ruled by a king and by a caste of shamen. They live in the water but have no problem campaigning on dry land for extended periods of time. On occasion, to clinch victory they will lure the Great Swamp Lizard or a sea monster to the battlefield in the hopes it will rampage across enemy lines -- for these enormous creatures are fearless, ravenous and nearly indestructible.

Note to HotT players -- we recommend that a Salaman army use the Great Swamp Lizard as a "God." A young Salaman brave would bait the creature and then lead him to the battlefield; instead of representing prayer, the expenditures of the pips can represent the Salamen tribe standing entirely motionless upon his appearance ... so that the enemy attracts his attention instead! The Sea Monster is probably fine as a "Behemoth."

The most formidable army in the Old World is the Mighty Hobgoblin Army of the Emperor of the Hobgoblins. These creatures are massive, much taller and stronger than a man. Like Orcs and Goblins they are pitiless and cruel, but unlike them they are disciplined and brave, follow orders and fight in close formations using sophisticated strategy. They are members of established regiments, the foot marching in step to drums, the mounted responding to signals on horns. Hobgoblins are truly soldiers, not mere warriors.

The army is made up on both foot and mounted troops. The foot are either armed with pikes, longswords, or bows. These have two main infantry tactics. One method is to form a single huge attack column of the soldiers armed with long pikes, supporting its wings with longswords and then bows. The other is to spread the longswords out in small, flexible formations and, positioned behind them, a second tier with archers, who are backed by a rear rank of pikemen mixed in the same formation, to stop any breakthroughs by the enemy. Hobgoblin archers use very light bows (a bow "only" as strong as a human longbow) because they shower-shoot huge volumes of arrows at the enemy, and the pull of the bow is kept relatively light (again, for a Hobgoblin) to prevent exhaustion..

On the extreme wings of the army are the Hellhog Riders, who are mounted on these enormous, carnivorous creatures, large numbers of which are purchased from the Beastmen. The Hellhog itself is the primary weapon, a sort of living battering ram, but the riders will hew any enemy not ridden down or cut to pieces in the massive jaws of the Hellhogs. The Hellhog Riders will attack the enemy mounted and then, once these are driven off, wheel in on the flanks and rear of its infantry force.

Behind the army are huge bolt shooters which shoot at enemy behemoths or close order formations, which have a range of many hundreds of meters. Conversely, in front of the entire army are often suicide squads of enraged monsters driven directly into the enemy ranks by Hobglblins armed with scourges. Sometimes captured civilians are so abused, but more often the Hobgoblins use either wild Hellhogs, or, much more terrifying, captured gigantic carnivorous apes, which can literally tear a phalanx to pieces -- and then devour it.

No enemy other than the Lizardmen can see the blood banners of the Mighty Hobgoblin Army and not feel dread at what is about to happen....

The Savage Forest Witch is a powerful creature, protecting and expanding her domain at the expense of others in the woodland realms. In her thrall are all manners of creatures, but typically when she sends her forces to war, their hard core is made up of the halberd armed Gremlin Guard, smaller than humans but fierce and bound to her from infancy, like Ghulams or Janissaries. These uniformed warriors draw up in close order in the center, whilst on the flanks the Witch's Wolf Broods surge forward, seeking out vulnerabilities. Most terrifying of all are the Winged Apes, strong and fierce enough to fight in the front ranks but preferring to fly into position behind engaged troops, tearing them to pieces from the rear with long fangs and mighty arms.

The Dwarven Kingdoms have formidable heavy infantry forces second to none. The several kingdoms are all organised similarly, with kings ruling over Jarls, who in turn rule over Free-Dwarves. Any of the above could own slaves, sometimes dwarves but more often humans or other foes.

The heart of any Dwarf army are the Huscarls, chosen warriors of the Jarls, who are kept permanently ready is his household and embodied for war. The King’s Huscarls are an elite called the Hird -- they are the only Dwarf warriors other than the Jarls and kings themselves who are permitted to wear full armour covering their faces and legs, in addition to the chainmail hauberk all Dwarves are required to wear to battle. The Free-Dwarves are also required to take to arms when the kingdom is invaded, or can be called to serve outside the kingdom for 40 days a year. Their forces are called the Leidang -- unlike the elite Hird and Huscarls, who use doublehanded axes in battle, they carry whatever weapons they have at their disposal. These are typically spears or one-handed weapons so that the Leidang may protect themselves with their shields, and form a shieldwall to resist enemy penetration. Most Dwarves serve as close combat warriors but those who are hunters or otherwise prefer the use of the bow are strongly encouraged to do so, and this small group of archers may be found mixed in any Dwarven formations, or serving on their own as skirmishers of massed shooters as needed. The archers are the only Dwarf warriors who may go to war without a helmet, which is seen as interfering with shooting.

Smaller Dwarf armies are often entirely composed of elite Huscarls or Hird, only the largest armies needing to raise the Leidang, but the Southern Dwarf kings can rely on their vaunted Leidang of the South, who are the equals of any Huscarl in bravery, although a tumultuous force.

All Dwarf figurines with shields (and almost all of them have them) have a very broad, flat attachment point for the shield to make attachment very simple. The close order troops below (all but the command and archers) are mounted on a 60mm wide base to demonstrate how they will look on the 10mm wide base frontage most commonly used.

NOVEMBER 28 UPDATE: SPECIAL DWARF YULETIDE WAR FORCE ADDED -- ONLY AVAILABLE UNTIL 11:59PM EST DECEMBER 3, 2018!

Horrible goatheaded humanoids lurking silently in the deepest woods, the Beastmen move silently, encircling their foes in the night forest, careful to avoid contact or suspicion, not launching the attack until the enemy is surrounded. Once they attack there is a terrible din, from all sides, from the pitch black night. Most beastmen charge fiercely, armed with side arms and a small shield, but some have throwing weapons they use to shower the enemy with missiles before the ranks close.

The fiercest of the beastmen are the boarserkers, insane mutants kept chained by the warlord until the very moment of attack, when they are loosed and hurl themselves on the foe heedless of pain or injury.

Once the enemy's strong point of resistance is identified, the commander of the tribes will send in the Minotaurs -- bellowing, bloodthirsty titans which need no introduction -- often flanked by tribal chiefs riding in war-wains. These latter are drawn by huge ugly hellhogs, vastly stronger and fiercer than any horse. Beastman chiefs, who rule the tribes by fear and intimidation, usually wear bits of steel armour looted from dead human warriors. The warlord is the only Beastman to wear armour made specially for him, usually made by some evil craftsman to gain the warlord's favour, and ensorcelled to endow its wearer with the protection of the Dark Gods. (If another chief has armour made specially for him, the warlord will see this as a challenge to his overlordship, kill that chief, ritually defecate on the armour, and throw it in the bone heap.)

If cunning and brute force cannot overcome the enemy, the warlord will call upon a beastman witchdoctor to confuse or terrify the enemy, with magic so black it fills even chaos sorcerors with dread.

Note that the personality figurines in the command set fit perfectly well in the War Wains, and the chiefs that come with the War Wain set can then be used to lead the warriors on foot.

Not human, not apes, but somewhere in between, these different species sometimes coalesce to raid rival settlements or defend their territory. At other times they fight each other. The Wildmen of the Savannah are of roughly human size and strength, but are the most intelligent of the tribes, and have have learned to use animal bones as crude weapons. Much bigger and fiercer, but only fighting with tooth, claw and sinew, are THE APES, who are led by the strongest and most brutal of the tribe. At times they are joined by a gigantic forest ape that can toss a horse and rider as if they were playthings.

In a valley cut off from the progress of the world dwell these men, who scratch out a hunter-gatherer living and combat other tribes for scant resources. If not for their organisation, cunning and tool use, they would be outclassed by the great beasts who share the valley with them, but they more than hold their own.

Occasionally bands of orcs or other creatures violate the sanctuary of the valley, but these are not easy pickings -- the youth of the tribes fight as skirmishers, fleet of foot and often hurling missiles to disrupt the enemy, using speed to outflank them. In the centre of the caveman formation are the married adults, doughty spearmen (with the occasional brave woman who will fight in the ranks as well). On the wings of these are impetuous Headhunters, unmarried adult males who cannot take a partner until they have killed an enemy in battle, and the Rhino Riders, adult men who have managed to train the huge beasts to the extent that they can ride them straight at the enemy, to devastating effect. A mighty hero usually serves as the tribe's chieftain, fighting with a huge club, and accompanied by a shaman casting spells of doom on the enemy. The chieftain generally has the choice of women of the tribe, and the most beautiful woman will generally be by his side. Finally, but certainly not least, the hunting dogs of the cavemen will often mass on the flanks, trained to encircle the enemy and lunge at his rear when the time is right. Few who invade the valley survive to tell the tale.

After his dark slumber for aeons, the Liche-Emperor, a mortal ruler of a long forgotten empire, has awoken and is building an irresistable army of the Dead in the north.

Amongst his legions are nimble skeletons; shambling hordes of zombies -- the recently undead still weighed down by rotting flesh; foul ghouls; zombie wolves; and monstrous scorpions. Allied to their black crusade are vampires and evil wizards. And at the pinnacle of this force is the Liche-Emperor himself, casting spells of death. Doing his bidding are Wraiths, evil spirits of terrible power.

Living on the fringes of society, dabbling in the dark arts, these are sorcerers and witches, often in the company of horrifying creatures, typically conspiring with more organized evil forces toward their own nefarious ends.

Hill Trolls are very different creatures from the armoured, disciplined trolls of the Great Enemy range, which were created by that dark power solely for war. These selfish beasts are monsters of the night, also huge but more interested in stealing and eating than making war. That said, they certainly have been known to ally with Orcs or other fell creatures out of self interest, fighting for money, booty or food. They are immensely strong and very tough, so are dreaded opponents.

The Drakon Empire once ruled over all of the lands under the sun, but is now greatly diminished by time and fortune to be just one power of many. Still, the Drakons are unmatched for their martial strength, and their armies are dreaded. Larger and stronger than humans, Drakons are at least as cunning and disciplined. At the same time, they possess the strength of a lizardman or hobgoblin, and forge armour and weapons as hard and finely crafted as those of the Dwarves, making them redoubtable foes.

After a Drakon is born and grows to adulthood (which takes about a dozen years' time) it joins the army and fights as best suits its temperament, aiming to live long enough, about five centuries, to grow the functioning wings that mark the Warrior Priest caste. As Drakons grow throughout their lives, Warrior Priests may be recognized as being larger than the rank-and-file Drakons as well as by their wings. Amongst their duties, Warrior Priests lead forces of Drakons into battle, serving as an officer class. Those very few Warrior Priests who live to a thousand years are huge, and their enormous wings are large enough to carry them on self-powered flight. These are known as Chosen Speakers, for they fly into the pit of the world to seek the counsel of the World Serpent, then return to the surface to give counsel to the Warrior Priests, who in turn spread the word to all the Drakons. After another thousand years, a now-vast Chosen Speaker may make a final journey -- one last flight into the Pit of the World, to replace a dying World Serpent.

Older Drakons have the ability to breathe fire -- Warrior Priests can do so for a meter or so, Chosen Speakers for about five meters. It has been millenia since a World Serpent has emerged from the earth to join the Drakons in war, but legend has it that when it breathes fire, thousands of foes may be engulfed in flame.

Young Drakons join one of four different military forces. Most join the Phalanx, a deep, close order square armed with long spears. This keeps steady ranks and its frontal push is almost irresistible. The most reliable join the Flankers, who protect the exposed sides of the phalanxes, or if a phalanx is stalled by enemy resistance, will envelop the enemy flank. The Flankers fight in looser order than the Phalanx because their huge two handed swords require a great deal of room to swing freely. Some Drakons are too tempestuous and aggressive for their own good, as from an early age they have foresight that they will never live to be Warrior Priests. Knowing that they will likely die at a young age, they wish to make their death as memorable as possible, and so join the Berserkers, a forlorn hope armed with two swords, fighting with no regard for their own safety. Because the Drakon armies have a narrow frontage, the Berserkers will often force-march to a far-off position to attack a distant wing of the enemy army, to slow and distract it so that the Drakon main force may assault the enemy without being flanked. When properly launched, their frenzied attacks tie up huge numbers of enemies. Finally, there are those who are physically stronger than the rest, and these typically join the Linebreakers, and are armed with axes to cut down enemy field fortifications. Field defences are very common for Drakons to face, because they scorn missile fire and choose to decide battles solely in hand to hand combat, at which they excel. As a result enemies will typically attempt to slow down their attack as much as possible. If there are no field defences to hack down, the Linebreakers will take their place as a second line behind the phalanxes or on the wings, to further defend against flanking or to exploit openings in the enemy line.

World Serpents have mysterious powers, and, through great mental exertion, can send small bands of younger Drakons forward and back in time. Through these powers the Drakons have benefitted greatly from knowledge from the future, and these time travelers will sometimes join the armies in the field, using advanced weaponry capable of slaying vast numbers of enemy soldiers. Drakons who volunteer to travel into the future are the most intrepid of their race, the Warp Drakes -- rebels for whom the use of a ranged weapon is no disgrace.

Deep within the forest, the Fungal Legion prepares its assault on the outside world. Led by a powerful Fungoid king, the Fungoid warriors fight fiercely in close combat, supported by poisonous Spore Casters which shoot deadly spores for great distances. Most terrifying of all is the Ooze-hemoth, an enormous moving glob of corrosive mold. This thing has incredible strength and the capability to rise up like a living wave and crash through ranked-up soldiers, and consumes animals by dissolving them within its gelatinous mass.

Suggested HotT classification for troop types: Fungoid king: Hero or Wizard; Fungoid warriors: Warband; Spore Casters: Shooters; Ooze-hemoth: Behemoth.

Ooze-hemoth painted by Mickey's Minis.

In a heroic past, the ultimate evil -- a fallen angel whose black heart covets all -- conjures up nightmares to make war on the noble creations of the Gods.

The evil one's minions include endless columns of vicious Orcs who befoul the earth -- hordes of close combat warriors, supported by pikemen and archers, led by powerful veteran captains and commanded by huge generals wielding cudgels of ironwood, the symbol of Orc domination. Orc commanders will often have picked bands of Great Orcs -- more massive and cruel than the swarms, and these will sometimes serve as the bodyguards in armies commanded by an Orc warlord. All but their great captain are armed with huge scimitars with which they relentlessly hack down all before them. The captain usually wields a great axe and will often challenge the enemy unit commander to personal combat. Wickedly intelligent Pit-wolves course in packs on the flanks of the Orc legions, some ridden by Orcs.

Some men, arrived from the East, have been deluded by the Great Enemy to changes sides and pursue his dark aims. Lied to and enslaved, these Evil Men of the East are shunned by those mannish tribes who remained true to the Children of the Light.

More terrifying still are the Wights, heroes of old buried with armour and weapons in barrows, whose spirits are cruelly manipulated and driven to war by the Great Enemy, for we are told that necromancy is his province.

At the pinnacle of these hordes is the Great Enemy himself, bearing his huge hammer ensorcelled with spells of ruin. His trusted commanders include The Great Flame Demon, terrifying Captain of the Black Tower, standing twice as tall as a man, and that wicked worm The Golden Deceiver, whose armour is thicker than ten shields and whose flame breath can reduce entire units to ash, but whose greatest weapon is a keen, cynical intellect. Scrabbling along in consort with the Golden Deceiver are the Beasts of the Great Enemy, poisonous carapaced montrosities crawling out from the darkest crevices in the underworld.

The Golden Deceiver is a one-piece resin casting. The Great Enemy was sculpted by Tom Meier, is the size of a 28mm figurine and has a spare head and arm so it may be given a flaming sword and the helmet of the First Lieutenant of the Great Enemy, the Lord of Werewolves.

Please note that the Beasts of the Great Enemy are giant scorpions and are cast flat, meaning that their legs and tails can be posed when carefully bent. Please exercise care with the posing as we cannot replace broken pieces. Careful, gradual bending should work fine.

Huge, ferocious and carnivorous, the Lizardman savages inhabit the swamps and shores of the old Eastern Empire, making any transit through those areas perilous. They are much stronger than a human and are even a formidable opponent for a Hobgoblin.

Although they usually limit their attacks to raids for captives (food), at times the Lizardman savage tribes will gather in their thousands under a chieftain or a witchdoctor and march to war, usually to take corpses for a horrifying blood feast or to feed the hatchlings during Hatching Season. When they mass on the battlefield it is a fearsome spectacle, charging at breakneck speed, each tribeslizard fighting as an individual with little regard for its own safety. Their onrush, amidst a clamour of hissing and roaring, has been likened to a tidal wave.

Sculpted by Mike Broadbent, painted by Andy Taylor. The spear armed Lizardman savages are all provided with shields, but only one has been depicted with one so as to fully display the poses.

Sets of models for questing in dungeons or other role playing scenarios -- this line will include both adventurers and adversaries.

The first set of adventurers, pictured in the product code below, are:

TOP ROW: Gazenflamme the Wizard; Eäring the female Half-Elven Mage; Thrilmi the Dwarf fighter; Super Nige the hardbitten hireling and his son, Half Nige; BOTTOM ROW: Mildu Shortstuff, Halfling rogue; Muskelberg the Barbarian; Treviloziti the Gnome Illusionist; Inthewë, Elven fighter; Britnee von Spearmaiden, female barbarian; RIGHT SIDE (of course): Sir Eptishus the Knight

Great warriors and comely lasses, or perhaps even the occasional comely warrior, inspired by the great fantasy fiction of the 20th century. Sculpted by John Winter, painted by Simon Bradley.

It's later than you think.

Crazed cannibal women, their bellies swollen to critical mass by gorging on the flesh of their victims.

Yes, you read that correctly. Approximately 8mm tall.

Odd, vicious things. Usually slimy, so good for Lovecraftian forces.

Creatures from Earth's violent past.