Citadel Miniatures used to make Dungeons and Dragons adventurer miniatures in packs of three where the model changed as the adventurer level increased

This was pretty cool - the packs of three covered a range of character classes and each had a low, mid and high level version. Let us explore them!

So back in the early days of Games Workshop they did a lot of work with TSR, the then owners of Dungeons and Dragons. Indeed the clinching of the European distribution rights for D&D back in 1975 by the nascent Games Workshop was a huge boost to the new company. Three years later, at the end of 1978 the momentum continued as Citadel Miniatures was founded as a joint venture between Games Workshop and Bryan Ansell. (There is a key relationship, both business and gaming culture, between D&D and Warhammer which I’ll explore much more in the book.)

This new miniatures venture would go on to produce a wide range of original and licenced miniatures. For this article we’re focused on 1985, where White Dwarf magazine issue 63 announced a range for Dungeons & Dragons:

“...there was one important and excellent piece of news. Citadel will be manufacturing the official D&D and AD&D miniatures. They will be released in July and the first modules are superb. Striges at last - aagh!" (White Dwarf #63, p.5)

This was a wide range, documented here. But I wanted to pull out a few examples as they are a lot of fun and the designs have such character (well, characters!). Let’s take a look at a few:

Paladin

These goodly warriors were sculpted by Bob Naismith who would go on to sculpt the first Space Marine, LE2. (Bob has a Patreon btw!) Our paladin hero here goes from chainmail and no helmet to helmeted to plate mail. Nice.

(Image, ADD6 - Paladin. Source, Stuff of Legends)

One of the things with these sculpts was that they have really great details. So with this dude, check out the evolution of the crossguard of his sword as it gets flashier:

(Image, detail from image above)

Evil Fighter

Also sculpted by Bob Naismith. As the evil fighter moves up a level his horns get bigger and his armour gets flashier. There’s also something of the whiff of chaos about him? However he is lacking skulls to fully be that. (And if you need skulls, and who doesn’t, GW got you covered!)

(Image, ADD15 - Evil Fighter. Source, Stuff of Legends)

Magic User

This was sculpted by Aly Morrison. As the magic user goes up in levels, his hat gets cooler and he’s got more kit. I also love how his magic gesture action goes from just with the hand, to with a wand to having a staff.

(Image, ADD1 - Magic User. Source, Stuff of Legends)

Also, got to mention his facial hair and how that gets, well, more.

(Image, detail from image above)

Female Magic User

This was also sculpted by Aly Morrison. Like the other magic user, she goes from hand to wand to staff. Also she has more kit as she progresses. I really like the detail of her knife and clasps on her cloak, as she progresses they get more impressive.

(Image, ADD11 - Female Magic User. Source, Stuff of Legends)

Oh and here are the stirges that Ian mentioned!

“This set of four figures represent Stirges, pesky blood-sucking vermin somewhere between a bat and a mosquito.”

These monsters still exist in D&D.

Classic stuff, all of it.

Thanks for reading!

Note! There is more about this project here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.