Paper Wars Review

From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_...>
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2003 14:11:50 -0800


Mark Galeotti at Unspoken Word sent me a pre-release review copy of Paper Wars, a CD full of print-and-cut paper warriors for Glorantha. This first release focuses on Dragon Pass - I'm sure that when the Imperial Lunar Handbook is out, the artists will be gearing up for another volume.

The CD contained 28 files of paper warriors, Mark assures me that the "real" CD will have cutsheets of the files and a table of contents, so you'll know where to find the Doburdan Mages without searching through all the files until you find them. It will also include the instructions for folding them together. I hope it includes an admonition to use heavy paper - my regular printer paper isn't really stiff enough to stand up properly. Besides a color printer and paper, the only other things you need are scissors and glue.

The average paper Warrior stands ~27 mm From Sole to Eye when I printed them out (the default paper size seems to be the American standard 8.5x11, rather than A4). The front of the figure is done in full color, the backs of the foot figures are simple blue-grey shadows. Horsemen and animals are two-sided, but the sides are exactly the same, just flipped 180 degrees so that the "front" of the warrior is pointing the same direction on both sides. While I understand why this was done (easier, cheaper.), I prefer full fronts & backs (or sides) to my figures.

One niggling problem I have with them is that most figures weapons and armor are colored white/grey/black rather than brown/yellow - making it look like the figures are armed with Iron weapons instead of Bronze. This can be fixed
(some easier than others) in a graphics program. You can also change the
colors of the clothes this way, so your entire fyrd need not all be dressed in green.

There are far too many figures to detail each one, or even each type - some sheets have two or three basic figures on them, some have eight or more. My particular favorites are the sheets of animals - cattle, horses, etc. I like to have targets for my raiders! There are several hundred figures here if you just print one of each page, and you have the opportunity to print as many pages as you want, so your collection of warriors can be as large as you like.

Will these supplant *my* collection of lead? No, I like the look and feel of lead too much. However, for those that need quick armies, or don't have the patience to paint, or can't afford to buy lead - or even plastic - figures, Paper Warriors can fill a table quickly and cheaply. The types of heroes represented should give you almost any figure you need for Barbarian Adventures and Orlanth is Dead. If you are a dab hand at Photoshop or other graphics programs, then customizing your armies is much easier than with lead, and there is no risk of slicing into your thumb with a hobby knife!

Roderick

Contents of my CD (the final version may be different):

Sheet 1 - Fyrdmen and Vingans
Sheet 2 - More Fyrdmen
Sheet 3 - Urox, Humakt Warband, Yavor, Orvanshagor
Sheet 4 - Helamakt, Hedkoranth, Starkval, Babs Gor, Gagarthi, Rigsdal,
Priests
Sheet 5 - Vingkot the Champion Warband, Valind, Odayla hunters
Sheet 6 - Trolls and trollkin
Sheet 7 - Heortling Medium Cavalry
Sheet 8 - Hydra, Allosaurus, Velociraptors, Wild Wyvern
Sheet 9 - Chaos! Broos, Dragon Snail, Jack o'Bear (I really like the Rhino
broo!)
Sheet 10 - Mounted Blue Dragoons
Sheet 11 - Dismounted Blue Dragoons, their horses, and a Cacodemon Fiend
Sheet 12 - A Lunar Heartland Regiment (Armed with Pilum, Scimitars, and Long
Spears)
Sheet 13 - Elmal/Yelmalio warriors (foot and mounted) Sheet 14 - Vile Lunars - Minor Class Magicians, Carmanian Wizards, Crater Makers, Bat Priests and Guards, Jakaleel Witch, Seven Mothers Sorceress (The ubiquitous Bald Chick, though not levitating), a Troll Annilla worshipper and a Lune elemental.
(All the previous sheets were drawn by Dario Carillo)

Sheet 15 - Sartarite Villagers by Sarah Evans. Useful non-warriors (or use*less* - in the case of the two Eurmalis) and some more fyrdmen. This sheet includes the ever-useful Healers (both Chalana Arroy and Bevara). Sheet 16 - Ducks and Wind Children by Sarah. Love them or hate them, here are plenty of fyrdducks, Hueymakt Warriors and adventurers. Also six Windchildren.
Sheet 17 - Sarah gives us a miscellany of animals and animal-related adventurers - Alynxs, Deer and Heort's Deer, Ram, Skybull, A Redaldan girl with pony, Urox Berserkers, Destori warriors, Maskados (Mastakos?) warriors, Finovan Raider (with lariat), Yinkini hunter. Sheet 18 - Mounted Orlanthi and Elmali thanes by Sarah. Sheet 19 - Non-Humans: Baboons by Simon Bray (none are mooning, a pity :-) ). Aldryami who look much more like vegetables than other representations have (one looks like a head of lettuce.) by Dario, Centaur, Dark troll, Morokanth, Outlaw Dragonewt, Dwarf, even a Trollkin adventurer; by all three artists
Sheet 20 - Tarshite Cataphracts - really heavy cavalry by Dario Sheet 21 - More Chaos - Scorpion Men, broos, and a huge Scorpion Queen by Dario. And, tucked in almost as an afterthought, A sylph. Sheet 22 - Heroes and Adventurers by all three artists. Some un-named heroes and adventurers for your players, plus named heroes (and villains) like Kallyr, Argrath WhiteBull and Adrega Silverflame. Also, some of the Red Archers from the Battle of Iceland in Orlanth is Dead. Sheet 23 - Ponies, Horses and Mules by Sarah. The ponies and horses are all au natural, while the mules have packs.
Sheet 24 -Thunder Delta Slingers, Doblian Dogeaters and Tholmite Warriors by Simon.
Sheet 25 - Cattle: a bull, cows and calves by Simon. Based on red Highland Cattle. Nice and shaggy for those Dragon Pass winters. Sheet 26 - Tarshite Fyrdmen, Lasadag Lions, Doburdan Mages and a couple extra Tholmites. Simon and Dario.
Sheet 27 - Beryl Phalanx. Another regiment of Lunars by Simon. Sheet 28 - Arrowstone Archers - a lunar cavalry regiment by Dario

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