Highland Minotaur

I came across  Bears Head Miniatures (https://www.bearsheadminis.com/) last night whilst looking at twitter, and saw the most amazing Highland Minotaur figure.

image from Bears Head Miniatures url... not my own

The tweet with the minotaur

To say I was caught my the 'oooh, shiny!' syndrome is an understatement.

This figure needs to be brought to life in either a wargame campaign, or a role playing game. 

Not that I need an excuse to buy this miniature, but I want an excuse to buy it.

So, my twisted brain envisages an 18th Century setting, with the Minotaur being a kind of 'Rob Roy' / Myth for the locals. Maybe it could even be a 'werebull'?

I really need a 'punny' (Pun + Funny) name for this character, but my brain isn't working at the moment.

But, I am coming up with some back story.

The area of "Loch Cai" (Cai, it appears, is a Scottish word for Cow) has a legend of a Man-beast that protects the fold* of highland cattle.

* apparently a herd is called a fold when it comes to Highland cattle.

It is rumoured that this beast lives atop a foggy hill called "Tulach Cai" that is dotted with standing stones and cairns.

Inspiration can be drawn for the setting from the following images (all images are URLs and not my own):

So, to the game itself.

As I mentioned, it would be an 18th Century setting. Part of it will involve the Highland Clearances (Highland Clearances) and the Jacobite Rebellion. This will give me the best option for figures.

Flags of War are releasing some Jacobite Rebellion figures (seen here: 28mm 1745 jacobite rebellion miniatures ), which are just brilliant judging by the photos, so I would be keen to get some of those when they are released.

If they go on to also produce English I will be very happy, especially if they make mounted and dismounted dragoons.

And yes, I do know that Rob Roy was a bit earlier than the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, but I can get ideas for the game from his history/myth.

• Rules and Scenarios

I think the rules "Open Combat" would be perfect for this game, as I can play using a small collection of figures in a small area, which will help keep the cost down.

 There is a black powder supplement in the making for  Open Combat, which will be perfect for the time line, but until it is released, I will just have to use the rules as they are.

For scenarios I can play raids and ambush actions, and I might have to watch "Outlander" (I can feel some of you shuddering as you read that) to steal ideas for the game.

• Need a name for the Minotaur

Ok, so I need to come up with a punny, yet cool, name for the main character of my idea, which is of course the Highland minotaur.

Any suggestions are most welcome.

• Notes

This link was helpful with geographical names: gaelic commonly seen hill names

I will just leave this here...

This arrived today! Not bad considering it wasn't due for release until the 22nd.

Australian Red Centre faction for ' Right Bloody Mess'

I have finished my first test paint for one of the 'A Right Bloody Mess' factions.

This one is from the Australian Red Centre faction, one of the few factions from within the book I am using, as opposed to ones I have created myself.

The ARC is kind of a resistance movement against the Westralia (Western Australia ceded from the Federation and took the Northern Territory).

Whilst I don't have any figures to represent Westralia, the ARC are enemies of Victoria, and they even sent troops to the NSW Riverina area, which is where I will be using them.

I used one of Eureka Miniatures 15mm WW1 British in the Sinai range, using the logic that the outback of Australia these blokes would come from would suit the uniform.

The paint was still wet when I took the photos, and I used my dodgy phone camera, thus why the image is a bit blury, but you should be able to get the idea.

I still need to varnish and base the figure.


 I really like these figures, so I am keen to finish them, and as there were some cavalry figures in the same range, I might even add to my ARC forces.