This will be a quicklook at Dark Alliance’s 1/72 Trolls that I just purchased off of eBay. These are soft plastic sets that come in different varieties. This one is “Set 1” – other sets have different weapons and poses (some with drums, some with catapults).
Note: I have no affiliation with Dark Alliance and have not received anything (money or miniatures) from them. This is just an honest take.
So let’s take a look:
Simple box art, but it does the trick. It tells you what set it is (again, Set 1), it tells you that it contains trolls, that their scale is 1/72 and that they’re made in Ukraine. You get 2 of every pose seen.
The miniatures are plastic injection molded out of a soft plastic. The details aren’t too soft, and from first inspection should hold paint well.
What about the scale? They are definitely not 1/56, but most are around 60mm tall, taller with the spikes. They are very inexpensive (I bought this set on eBay for 21 CAD – that’s our funny coloured northern moose-money), and in that sense, they stand out against vastly more expensive GW products.
I’ve purchased a metal GW troll that I will put together now that I’m discovering the use of my left hand again, and in a future post will show the size comparison with that miniature and hopefully have an example up and painted.
Overall, my first impressions are that these miniatures lack the refinement of more well-known manufacturers. The trolls, do however, have lots of character, and the modellers have chosen to highlight bits of armour, straps, etc ,that will pick up paint nicely and have these blend in on the table top with more expensive offerings. Additionally, the soft plastic makes cleaning up the flash much easier than expected, though there is quite a bit of it. Their scale is suitable for 28mm, and they will tower nicely over 20mm figures if that is your kettle of fish. For the price, these are excellent additions for any fantasy or Middle Earth force for your RPG or wargaming tabletop. I recommend shopping around on eBay as you can find some very different prices.
More to follow on these later.
Post-Script
My gaming group has been enjoying playing Adventures in Middle Earth (latest play report here). I’m hoping to use Dragon Rampant to cover some mass combat and throw the characters into a typical Middle Earth situation of defeating overwhelming odds in the coming months. Over the next while I will hopefully showcase some of the miniatures that I’m getting table-ready. In that, this blog should help force me to get things done! If anyone has suggestions on inexpensive miniatures or tips for modeling Middle Earth terrain I’d love to hear from you!