Giant Army

They Might Be Giants



This is my mighty giant army. As I write this, they are still undefeated on the field of battle. Of course, they have only fought four battles. I wanted to make a giant army for a couple of reasons. First, nobody in the local area has one, or at least I have never seen it if they do. Second, with the large figures, it allowed me to paint them up real nice, as opposed to my quick jobs on 15mms. I wanted to field a giant army that had all unique figures, and when I saw the Grim Reaper giants, I knew that it would be possible. My giant models are a mix of many manufacturers: Reaper, Grim Reaper, Grenadier, Ral Partha, Lance and Laser, and Harlequin. The giants are very formidable, and pretty easy to play. The main strategy is to close as fast as possible with the enemy, using any cover you can on the way. The entire army moves 8”, so it is fairly maneuverable. Basically, once you get into contact the enemy is in big trouble, because giants spend most of their points on their melee skill and will roll through most units. Their bane is first strike and magic. Either of these, if used properly, can cause serious problems to the giant commander.




Young Giants:

I like to field these in a unit of about 4-6 with a marshall or priest leading. These models are pretty much interchangeable with the adult giants, if I need a larger unit of one type or the other.






Adult Giants:

I field these in units of 3-4, sometimes with a priest or marshall leader and sometimes not. These can also be used as young giants if needed.





Elder Giants:

Thus far I have fielded these in units of 3, normally without a leader. With their high skill and really high number of sweep attacks, they mow through opposing units. The two three-headed giant models are just for effect, they use the same elder giant stats. These guys can also sub as marshals in the young and adult units if needed.





Giant Command:

The Marshall is a Reaper mini. I have 2 more of Reaper’s Fire Giants to compliment him if I ever get around to painting them. The priests are from Grim Reaper, and although a little small, I think work very well as giant shamans.




Giant Ice Trolls:

These guys are Ghost Miniatures Ice Trolls. I just love these figures, so when I decided to make a giant army, I had to make up stats for them and paint them up. They are essentially, young giants without a missile attack, but with regeneration. Fielded in units of 4-8.





Minotaurs:

Minotaurs seem to fit fairly well with the giant theme and they offer nice alternative to the expensive corps troops. They also give me a shield of ramming monsters to use against the enemies first strike units. These figures are from the Battlemasters set. I have a unit of 12 minotaurs awaiting paint that are from Black Tree Designs.



Lions:

The lions provide a quicker unit for the giants that can be crucial for maneuver purposes. They essentially won a game for me against Thane, by tying up a unit and allowing a larger giant unit to engage a different target. They also have 3 attacks that can really chew up an enemy, who will forced to choose between attacking the lions or attacking the larger giants. They are just little charms that you can find in Michaels or Hobby lobby. Simply saw or clip off the hook and they are just about perfect with 15 mms. I should give credit to Brett who was the first of know of to use the charms.



Kobolds:

I know, as if the giants weren’t scary enough I had to go and add some Kobolds to the mix. Many an opponent has felt his heart grow icy cold as he saw me place these bad boys on the table. Often I am called a cheater and a cheesy opponent for even considering fielding the mighty Kobolds. Perhaps in the future, I shall make an entire Kobold army, but for now these 100 will have to suffice. They are 10mm pendraken lizardmen painted red to look like kobolds, and I personnaly think they work perfect as Kobolds next to other 15 mms. These guys are going to pull double duty in my Viking army as well.



Ettins:

Well, the Ettins certainly fit the giant theme. However, this is an army that doesn’t really need more huge offensive arsenals, so they may get limited fielding.






Titan:

This is a Grim Reaper model as well and is the best Titan model available on the market. The titan fits in well with the giants, but I’m not sure he’ll get a lot of use as the flyers compliment the army better.




Giant Beholder:

Are you noticing a theme with the giant creatures yet? My plan for this model was to be a spellcaster for the giants with some eldritch missile attacks. However, after hearing everyone(Almost everyone, anyway) complain about my unbeatable army, I have yet to field it. Maybe if I nix the spellcasting they’ll see the light. Well, it gave me an excuse to paint it anyway.

3 comments:

David The Archmage said...

Hi Rob! Any chance of getting a picture of your kobolds? I was thinking of using the lizardmen as kobolds myself, but there just aren't that many good pictures of them out there. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

quite interesting post. I would love to follow you on twitter.

Anteus said...

Hey Rob, what system are you using there? Just big D&D battles?