Category Archives: Fantasy Gaming

Citadel TL13 Talisman Troll (1986)

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Another blast from the past today. The Talisman Troll. Remember when Games Workshop used to make boardgames? No, not “Specialist” (a title that came much later) minatures games that started in a big box, like Battlefleet Gothic or Necromunda or even Dark Future, but actual self-contained Board Games. Talisman was one of these, alongside things like DungeonQuest, Chaos Marauders (which was a card-based game about Orcs & Goblins), Block Mania (set in 2000ad’s world of Dredd), The Fury of Dracula and so forth. There really was quite a variety. GW was quite a prolific producer of both original and licenced boardgames for a bit of time back in the 1980’s before they went fully-Warhammer focused.

Citadel's TL13 Talisman Troll (1986)

Citadel’s TL13 Talisman Troll.

I had a few of the old metal Talisman figures, but I never really liked any of them especially. I think the Space Marine (from Timescape) got rolled into my RT-era models, though even that was an unimpressive sculpt. I’ve probably got a few of the others still floating around somewhere, I recall a man with a top hat in his hand, a woman with a small cauldron, and the Ninja being in my collection. They probably still are. In a container of junky old lead. Somewhere.

Citadel's TL13 Talisman Troll (1986)

TL13 Talisman Troll shows off his trousers.

Anyway, this troll was the one of those old figures that has gotten painted and not lost over the years. I painted him with a flesh tone rather than green as by the time I got around to painting him I had no intent to use him as a Troll or in Talisman. Instead, he was recruited to my small gang of old-school Beastmen. We’re talking old-school Beastmen, before the entire race had been retconned into the Broo-inspired Goatmen and Satyrs that dominate to this day. Not that I dislike modern Beastmen. I actually think they’re ace. I just happen to also like the variety found in the older RoC-era ones as well. So this guy fit in with the mixture of malformed miscontents quite well. Or well enough.

Citadel's TL13 Talisman Troll (1986)

Rear View of the TL13 Talisman Troll.

I gave him old-school warhammery stripey trousers and dirtied him up a little. I could obviously use him as something like a half-orc or even a more D&D-styled orc for roleplaying purposes. Whichever way, he looks very much the demi-human style thug. I’ll probably roll him back into the old-school beastmen unit for KoW that will be very much Warriors of Chaos-aligned, as the more modern Beastmen will be their own thing.

Talisman Troll Character Card & Standup –  Talisman 2nd Edition.

Narrative Vignette – Dwarfs versus Trolls

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Just a bit of fun today!

Inspired by various other blogs, and especially those setups I often see over on Dagger & Brush displaying his intricate terrain – and a recent comment from Alex about wanting to see all of the Trolls on the table once they were done, Marouda and I took the camera out to the War Room yesterday morning and laid out some terrain for photos. Her iPad does a far better job of photos on the table than my little camera, so it got the job for the session. One day I should learn to use my good camera, or perhaps I might need to buy an iPad now. Hmm…

I set up a few photos, forming a loose narrative of a band of Dwarf Adventurers searching out an old Dwarven keep for loot, glory and the location of their missing companion. All images clickable for embiggened versions…

The Dwarves carefully pick their way through the wood, Slayers on point.

The Dwarves stop to check their map, with several on guard against what lurks in the darkness of the wood off the path.

Consternation as the map seems not to match their location?

Finally! The entrance is found!

…but something can see the dwarves as they approach. Who could it be? Oh, you read the post title, didn’t you? So much for surprises, eh?

Trolls! Foul creatures! And is that Bjarte on the ground?

Wild Nyjhul and The Nameless Slayer charge the Trolls without hesitation.

The rest of the Dwarves join the fray! But what’s that movement from the boulders over the wall?

While the Dwarven navigator checks on the welfare of their downed Kinsman, the Dwarfs force the Trolls back by the sheer ferocity of their assault. Now though, the Stone Trolls now join the battle in aid of their foul cousins!

…aaaand that’s it. I had a bit of fun setting up and taking these images. They’re not meant to be anything amazing, with the edges of the terrain camouflaged and blended or anything like that – rather a bit of a play with the toy soldiers and camera with terrain added in a “yeah, grab that as well” way.

I thought it best to leave the result of the melee in the minds of the viewer, since it’s not even pretending to be a Battle Report. It looks like it’d be a damned fun roleplaying session, though!