I particularly liked the crusaders - more than a few of whom snuck into my El Cid collection (despite the armour being slightly too late for the 11th century).

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You can see how big the ranges are getting here - the page is full and there’s no mention of the Vikings, Saxons or Celts!

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Gripping Beast appreciation post #6

Here’s a Wargames Illustrated advert from April 1998 with the Byzantines and Crusaders, again with evocative paint jobs by Colin Patten.

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Our final shot here is part of the Valencia layout from the WAB supplement (featuring walls by Ian Weekley and a cast of hundreds) none of which would have come to pass without this GB range!
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I believe that Duncan Patten’s sculpt of El Cid was the first, though many more were to follow as the WAB fever caught hold. Even GB themselves eventually commissioned a second version, intended as a Saga warlord.

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Gripping Beast appreciation post #5

More El Cid? Why not! Still one of my favourite ranges ever. There have always been various ranges of medieval Muslim soldiers available but GB really went for it with the Moors.

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Having dived into medieval Spain, I started writing some Warhammer Ancient Battles material that eventually turned into the El Cid supplement in 2003. Here’s one of the pages, heavily illustrated with GB models.

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Since seeing the 1961 El Cid movie as a kid, this period had intrigued me, and here was the chance to game it with some gorgeous new minis! I particularly liked the Moors and collected an awful lot of them.

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Gripping Beast appreciation post #4

While I was planning to do these posts in chronological order, I realised that I’d skipped the El Cid release in Nov 1997, as shown here in the advert from Wargames Illustrated.
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This advert is from Wargames Illustrated Nov 1998 with photos by Duncan Macfarlane. The chap in the foreground is one of the ‘Wolftail Warriors’ from my collection in a classic Colin Patten pose, the backswing with sword!
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Merlin, Arthur, Mordred, Nimue & Morgan were all brought to life along with hordes of Saxons, Romano-Britons, Blackshields & war dogs. While Foundry already had a small ‘Arthurian’ range, the GB range felt like the definitive article.
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Gripping Beast appreciation post #3

For many of us, this was THE release of 1998. Sculpted by Colin Patten, Gripping Beast’s Arthurian range drew directly upon Bernard Cornwell’s ‘Warlord Chronicles’ trilogy.
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Gripping Beast Seeks Buyer as 30-Year Old Miniatures Business Prepares to Close. No date has been decided to close as yet, but production is already being kept to a minimum.
#miniatures #grippingBeast https://l.d20.ninja/NDVqLW

This mounted noble was one of my favourites from the range and has fought many battles in Scots, Welsh and British forces over the decades. Not everyone was a fan of the horses but frankly I was just delighted to have the figures!

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Previously, ranges of Dark Age Celts had been extremely limited. The variety and character in this range was extraordinary by the standards of the time. These models included several designs inspired directly by Angus McBride’s work.
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Gripping Beast appreciation post #2

I was pretty impressed with the Saxons and Vikings, but the next release blew me away. It was probably 1997 when the Scots-Irish appeared in Wargames Illustrated and I immediately ordered the lot!

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Sad news from Gripping Beast today. #grippingbeast #historicalminiatures
www.grippingbeast.co.uk/An_Important...

#HobbyStreakDay1 - Back at it with some #GrippingBeast Dark Age Warriors built. Not sure what for yet, but it'll be fun working it out.
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As well as the metal miniatures, resin boats and buildings - impeccably sculpted by Colin - were soon added to my new favourite company’s ranges.

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What was abundantly clear was that GB’s mission was to focus on ‘the Dark Ages in miniature’. There weren’t going to be any generic Saxons based solely on one picture in a WRG book; period focus and flavour was the plan!
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