Runequest - Broo.

Broos, otherwise know as 'Goatkin' or 'Beastmen'.

These are creatures of Chaos, twisted hybrids of men and beasts. They are the Beastmen of legend and engage in the foulest practices, worshiping the 'Unholy Trio' - Ragnaglar, the Mad God, Malia, the Goddess of Disease and Thed, the Goddess of Rape.

Mongoose Broo.

Most often they are human bodied and 'goat' headed, they are tied irrevocably with the Rune of Chaos. They are known to indulge in atrocities and foul practices and carry with them numerous loathsome diseases that they themselves are immune to. It is hard to say anything positive about broos. They have none of the savage nobility of Trolls and their personal habits are despicable. It is unlikely that anyone would have anything but antagonistic dealings with them.

Early Citadel Broo Boxed Set.

They will occasionally hire out for pay and carry various weaponry and armour, usually cuirbolli, spears and swords but will use whatever they can steal or capture from raids. They are seldom seen near settled lands unless it is to raid and pillage, but are as common as nomads in Prax, even more so in the Wastelands. Often feared, folk may even treat with them rather than fight if they think they can.

Citadel Compendium Broo.

On sighting men, broos typically either flee or attack based on their estimate of the opposition, though they may well taunt and posture at a distance to prove their courage to companions. When raiding, the broo rely on stealthy ambush, covered by darkness or undergrowth.

Armorcast / Lance & Laser Broo.

Several miniatures manufacturers have produced Broos or Beastmen over the years with Citadel's Runequest range from the early 80's being the most obvious. A few boxed sets were released, including 'Attack of the Broo', 'Broo' and 'Broo 2'. They also sneaked a couple in the 'Beastmen' set. This excellent range was later added to with several blister packs. In the mid 80's, presumably due to the licence running out, the Citadel Broo morphed into 'C27 Chaos Beastmen' as seen in the Second Citadel Journel of 1985. The Beastmen were slowly adopted as an offshoot chaos army and this has developed over time including an appearance in the 'Flames of Empire' Mordheim supplement. The current Games Workshop Cloven Ones / Beastmen range is quite broad and they even have their own army book!

Later Games Workshop Beastmen.

According to the Warhammer Fantasy world the Beastmen race (also known as the Children of Chaos) are a race of humanoid monsters. A fusion of animal and man that invaded the world when the old ones opened the warp gate at the far north of the world: their bodies are tough strong frames layered in knots of muscle. The tangled fur of Beastmen are matted with dried blood, filth, dirt and dung that nest countless varieties of ticks and fleas: as a result of this, Beastman live in a state of countless agitation and rage always seethes in the heart of every Beastman. Ram-like horns emerge from their goat-like heads (However Ungor Beastmen only have small stubs of horns), their mouths are chasms of sharp rotted teeth for tearing flesh and the feet of all Beastmen are cloven hoofed. The very stench of any Beastman is enough to make even seasoned warriors gag; their brays of bloodlust and the gleam of malice in their dark animalistic eyes can unsettle even the staunchest of troops.
All Beastmen are spiteful and mean-spirited creatures that revel in bloodshed and chaos and loathe order and the very concept of civilisation in all its forms. Beastmen are not creatures of nature for there is nothing natural about their existence. The Herdstones and rituals of the Beastmen corrupt the very essence of nature itself: it is for this reason Beastmen are especially loathed by the Wood Elves of Athel Loren who the Beastmen have been fighting a long gruelling secret war with for centuries.
For the purposes of Warhammer Fantasy Battle they are subdivided into various levels reflecting their appearance, prowess and ability in battle.

• Beastlords are the largest and most brutal they command the beast herds.
• Wargors are second in command to Beastlords.
• Bray Shamans are the spiritual leaders and advisors to the herd leaders. They are also powerful spellcasters.
• Bestigors are the most heavily armed and armoured Beastmen and rate as elite units.
• Centigors have the upper body of a Beastman and the four-legged lower body of an oxen.
• Gors and Ungors make up the majority of the infantry units or "Beastherds." The Ungors, however, due to their more human appearance (in comparison to other Beastmen) and smaller horns, are on the bottom of the herd hierarchy.

A mixed warband of Broos.

Armorcast took on the old Lance & Laser Heroquest range and this too contains some decent Broo minis, some with the usual Goatkin look and a couple with a slightly more bestial countenance. In 2006 Mongoose took over the Runquest line and released several books and supplements and also produced their own small line of Runequest miniatures to support the RPG during their period of MRQI and MRQII. Among the figures on offer were a decent set of traditional 'goat' headed Broo rabble.

Foundry Beastmen.

More recently, Wargames Foundry have started releasing their own Beastmen range with several packs of 'Brutes' and 'Younglings' available. These are definately in the GW mould (excuse the pun) but have some great looking figures to boost any Broo warband!

Figures are a mix of Games Workshop, Mongoose and Citadel.

Runequest - Dragonewts.

Dragonewts claim to be the eldest creatures, descendants of neotenic dragons from before the Dawn of Time. Even elven Green Age tales mention dragonewts. Dragonewts are peculiar creatures who continually reincarnate and metamorphose, ever-striving to achieve dragonhood. They are an enigmatic race, misunderstood and mistrusted.
Individual dragonewts trace descent from whatever dragon or dragons laid the initial clutch of eggs which resulted in their existence. Dragonewts of the same clutch call each other "egg-brother". They organize themselves into variously-sized settlement-nests.
Normal dragonewts are intended to be a race of mystery, alien and irrational to human understanding. Their language (Auld Wyrmish) includes visual, auditory, olfactory, and empathic components. But they are unconscious of their own language and cannot teach it, and because humans are not naturally empathic they can never gain more than a basic understanding of the language. Dragonewts have no written language, and have little need of one, as they are immortal, ever-reincarnating, and learn needed facts directly from other dragonewts.
Regular contact of normal dragonewts with outsiders is usually assigned to one individual in a group, who tries to act according to human expectations. It learns human languages, and learns to write or otherwise communicate ideas to humans. Sometimes it will own or be an interpreter dragonewt who has been surgically altered so that it can stumblingly speak human words. Altered interpreters may have guards, servants, and so on. Such dragonewts not infrequently become outlaws. When an outlaw dragonewt -- one who has ceased to believe in the dragon way -- dies, it is not reincarnated and never reappears. No one knows where its soul goes.
Some places in Glorantha have large colonies of deviant dragonewts, and they differ from the norm given here. But all of those variants have the same heritage.

Dragonewts go through the following stages in their life cycle.
Scout Dragonewt: The scout (or crested) dragonewt is small, short-tailed, and has an arched crest upon the head. A vegetarian, it prefers leaves and fruit. Its betters will train it as a slinger to bring down birds and rabbits, and teach it the art of scouting and skirmishing, and to serve as a slave.
Warrior Dragonewt: The warrior (or beaked) dragonewt is larger than the scout stage, and is carnivorous. The tail now reaches to the ground, and at first the skin is covered both with scales and with small protrusions. They are most often found as hunters or guards of dragonewt nests.
Most warrior dragonewts ride upon creatures called demi-birds. Demi-birds are feathered, beaked, and lay eggs, but their bones are solid and they have vestigial arms, not wings. The demi-bird is fearless and carnivorous, adding to the fierceness of the dragonewt warrior.
Noble Dragonewt: Second-stage armor and natural weapons are, in the third stage, nearly replaced by frills, spines, wattles, pouches, and other decorative and communicative devices. Skin colors become more vivid, and the number and variety of scent glands increase. This stage is omnivorous.
A noble dragonewt will lead and represent; the stage is expert at living peacefully with the outside world. In some regions this stage is known s the 'tailed priest'.
Ruler Dragonewt: These rare dragonewts are almost never found outside their own nests. One is usually found in each small nest, and several in a town cluster. Their community functions, diet, and powers are unknown. The appearance of a ruler dragonewt (sometimes known as a 'full priest') resembles that of a noble, but they have wings.
Presumably, a ruler dragonewt meditates upon the secrets of dragonhood in preparation for the final metamorphosis. Such a dragonewt will, one day, awake to find itself a full dragon. It will then depart from its nest, to go to wherever dragons go.
Dragonet (Inhuman King, Fifth Stage): When a Ruler Dragonewt progresses fully, it will be reborn as a True Dragon and will be taken out of the Dragonewt Cycle. Sometimes, a Ruler will be reborn as a Dragonet, or neo-Dragon. This form is intermediate between Dragonewt and True Dragon.
There is only one Dragonet in a traditional Dragonewt society. While the Dragonet is alive, Dragonewts will be reborn as normal. However, if the Dragonet dies then there will be no rebirth until a new one is created. In this case, a Ruler which has progressed far enough to become a Dragon but has not chosen to will ceremonially kill itself and be reborn as a Dragonet, thus allowing the cycle to be restored. Although there is only one Dragonet in any society, there may be more than one alive throughout Glorantha. The Dragonewts of Dragon Pass have a Dragonet at Dragons Eye, but the Dragonewts of Kralorela have their own Dragonet. The Dragonewts of Ralios do not have a Dragonet, but if one were to be manifested, they could rejoin the Cycle.
Nobody knows the powers or abilities of a Dragonet. It is rumoured that one has all the powers of a True Dragon, able to think others to death and to shape the land with but a thought.

These are from the Citadel Runequest Boxed Set 5. A fairly quick paintjob but was pleased with the way the demi-birds turned out. The pic above shows (on the back row) a Full Priest Dragonewt (Ruler), a Beaked (Warrior) on a demi-bird, a Crested (Scout) riding a demi-bird, (front row) a Beaked (Warrior) with 'Klanth', a Newtling with sling, a Crested (Scout) with a javelin and finally a Tailed Priest (Noble). I have a few more of these yet to be painted.

Citadel Dragonewt Boxed Set.

Armorcast/Lance & Laser also do a small Runequest/Heroquest range that includes a few Dragonewt miniatures such as Fighters, Scouts and demi-bird riders.

Dragonewt Champion from Lance & Laser.

Dragonewt Demi-Bird Rider from Lance & Laser.

I would imagine you could use the various available 'Lizardmen' as Dragonewts, such as the wonderful Otherworld Miniatures Lizardmen Warriors.

Lizardmen from Otherwold Miniatures.

For more info on Dragonewts have a look at:

The Dragon Pantheon.

The History of Dragonewts by Simon Phipp.

Runequest - Scorpion Men.

Been digging out a few Runequest and generic fantasy type miniatures in the last few weeks (in between trying to finish a stack of Vikings and Saxons, see Gjallarhorn and various WW2 folk, see A Project Too Far) so I thought I would post an update on some of the figures I have been looking at.

Scorpion men are a chaos breed native to Glorantha and left over from the Great Darkness. They are often found in desert areas and sometimes small mountain villages. Their rigid society is based on servitude to Queens, who breed for the race. Scorpion men are known to make their living by trading or hiring out their services as mercenaries to employers willing to look past their chaotic nature.

Kudurru 'Boundary' Stone.

In mythology, Scorpion men are featured in several Akkadian language myths, including the Enûma Elish and the Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. They were also known as aqrabuamelu or girtablilu. They were first created by the Tiamat in order to wage war against the younger gods for the betrayal of her mate Apsu. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, they stand guard outside the gates of the sun god Shamash at the mountains of Mashu. These give entrance to Kurnugi, the land of darkness. The scorpion men open the doors for Shamash as he travels out each day, and close the doors after him when he returns to the underworld at night. They also warn travellers of the danger that lies beyond their post. Their heads touch the sky, their "terror is awesome" and their "glance is death". This meeting of Gilgameš, on his way to Ūta-napišti, with the Scorpion-folk guarding the entrance to the tunnel is described in Iškār Gilgāmeš, tablet IX, lines 47-81.

Citadel Runequest Scorpion Men.

These are two of my favourite figures, a couple of nasty looking scorpion men. These are from the old Citadel Runequest range and have an unsettling look to them. I have raised ones legs, as if scuttling along or rearing up to attack, whilst the other is close to the ground. Unfortunately both had broken tails but it was nothing a little green stuff and superglue couldn't sort out. I have shaded them in slightly different colours to individualise them a little and a friend has suggested I remove one of their clubs and replace it with a spear to further enhance their characters. Once I have become brave enough to modify one of them I will finish the paintwork. I have not decided on a base yet but will probably opt for the larger of the two in the picture. I have searched around for more to join these two but they are rare. Other miniatures companies that look to produce versions of scorpion men include slightly more humanoid ones from Fenryll Miniatures, a really striking one from Reaper Miniatures, more monstrous ones from Iron Wind Metals and Rapier Miniatures also do a small range with a nice Scorpion Queen. There also appeared to be a scopion man mini from Ral Partha but I am sure these are lost in the annals of time. ShadowForge also do a nice selection of fantasy 'Egyptian' style scorpion-women warriors in their 'Light Temple' range.

Fenryll.

Reaper Miniatures.

Iron Wind Metals.

Rapier Miniatures Scorpion Queen.

Rapier Miniatures Warrior.

Ral Partha.

ShadowForge.

For some interesting notes on the Gloranthan cult of Bagog and the scorpion-folk have a look at the Lhankor Mhy Research Library.

Scorpion men also feature as powerful myth units for the Egyptians in the game Age of Mythology. Dungeons & Dragons features centauric scorpion-men called Stingers, normally found in desert locales and devoted to gods of the waste, often those reflecting the Pharaonic or Babylonian pantheons. In Warlords Battlecry III, scorpion-people are the primary servants of Melkor, the Lord of Famine. In The Mummy Returns, the Scorpion King is shown as a scorpion-man, perhaps the less said about that the better though...

Runequest - Ducks.

My first encounter with the most unusual fantasy race in Runequest, if not any fantasy game, was with the Duck. These strange chaos tainted creatures that inhabited the world of Glorantha were always guaranteed to split a group of players.

A Duck Guardsman.

Our long standing main GM, Rob, would never put up with such nonsense these days but it is probably thanks to him that my odd obsession with anthropomorphic ducks (and intelligent Baboons) first began.

It was at one of our early RPG sessions at the school games club back in the 80's - Robs brother Andrew (the Zombie Master) was one of the first people I know that was into RPG's and had obviously influenced Rob into getting into the hobby. For this reason, he tended to be the main GM for any of the earliest games we played, and though we all run the occasional game now its something that effectively continues to this day. Anyway, we were a few sessions into one of the first RPG's I had ever played that went by the name Runequest. This is still one of my favourite fantasy settings - Glorantha was a strange world with a unusual but convincing pantheon of Gods and a refreshing set of creatures that inhabited it, such as the man herding Morokanth, the belligerent Scorpion Men and the faintly magical Dragonewts. I still think the Broo are one of the finest monsters in any game. More on them another time.

I remember my first character, who had become a Storm Bull initiate (after I read 'Cults of Prax') joining a party of adventurers. In one of the scenarios we had entered a small town called Apple Lane (the legendary boxed set scenario book) and had become involved in assisting one of the local store keepers, Gringle the pawnbroker. Gringle was having issues with a local group of intelligent Baboons who wished to take back an item of some value they insisted belonged to them. I remember thinking, I like this, that's interesting, intelligent Baboons...

The Apple Lane Map.

It was during negotiations with Gringle that we first met his devoted 'manservant' Quackjohn. At this point Rob explained that Quackjohn was a Duck. He was apparently likeable and chatty. He sung when drunk, was a superb cook, and never questioned his master's ways. He had worked with Gringle since they settled in Apple Lane some 37 years before. I can vaguely remember being really amused by this - a duck? In a fantasy game?? I went with it and Quackjohn proved himself in the ensuing action.

Apple Lane Scenario Booklet.

I don't remember the exact details anymore but suffice to say we had a desperate combat against some very angry Baboons led by a fierce armoured one named Kochaz, tearing their way through the shops roof and windows followed by a suprise attack by a Dragonewt, Xarban, and his motley band of followers. This outlaw band had apparently signed up to assist Kochaz on the promise of some spoils from the shop. Among them were a big centaur, a couple of smaller Dragonewts and another Duck! We ultimately managed to fight off the attackers and reap the benefits. The short campaign eventually faded but I was left with a lasting interest in these odd little characters.

Duck Tower.

Several Duck characters appeared in later games (mainly with another GM) usually as sidekicks to the main adventurer group. There were such legendary folk as Delbourne, a Duck trader who thought of himself as something of a noble and then a favourite of mine, Svendrake, the Humakt worshipping, slightly overly aggressive bodyguard and assistant to Rex Troya, a Human Praxian Runepriest. Ducks and Baboons also made an appearance in our Warhammer campaign. Two notables include Quackbill Featherwing, a Duck adventurer and his faithful friend, Ragill the Baboon, who obtained kinship with the Dwarfs of Aruk Khabar and later a place in the court of King Dumin Ironbeard after helping to save Stonebrow Palace. Others were Blazemane and Darktail.

I have made a few Runequest 'Duck' related purchases over the years and one of my first was the Duck Tower book above. I never had the chance to use it but enjoyed the read. My favourite purchase of all is below - being a fan of Runequest figures I picked up a few of the old Citadel boxed sets of miniatures. One of my favourite figures was always the Duck Adventurer, who went on to represent most of the characters mentioned above. Over time I somehow managed to get hold of more of this figure and now have four! My proudest purchase was the Runequest Hero Duck that was originally a promotional item. I must get around to painting them all...

Svendrake the Duck and his bodyguard.

Ducks still seem to make the occassional appearance in Gloranthan stories. The last Mongoose Publishing version has them refering to themselves as Durulz and they certainly seem to have a less 'Howard the Duck' look to them. Will they ever make another appearance in one of my games? Who knows. It would depend on the players to start with but I like the idea of revisiting an old Runequest haunt to see what happened to old Quackjohn...

"Runequest Ducks look like the most perfect form of sentient life ever created by the gods."