New on Kickstarter: Hellenistic Judeans Models in 28mm

By Richard Steer

I’ve recently been thinking a lot about the impact of 3D printing on the historical wargaming hobby. My primary concern has been the threat that printing poses to the local shops and manufacturers who rely on selling products for their livelihoods, and what this means for the future of the hobby as we know it.

Into the middle of one of these periods of reflection, a new kickstarter landed that has reminded me of the huge potential that 3D printing has for growing the hobby: Potbelly Miniatures’ campaign launching a range of 28mm Hellenistic Judeans.

Potbelly Miniatures is a 3D printing shop based in Wellington, New Zealand, that specializes in printing wargaming miniatures. With this kickstarter they are expanding their offering into producing their own range of figures. In this endeavor, they are working with Triguard Miniatures, another NZ-based company that is an established figure manufacturer producing American War of Independence, Seven Years War, and medieval ranges in 40mm.

Potbelly and Triguard have the ambition to fill specific gaps in the 28mm miniature market, by targeting militaries that are not well covered by existing manufacturers. Their first step along this path has been to create a core range of Judean infantry and cavalry for the period from the Maccabean Revolt in 167 BC to the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.

The initial range has four types of infantry and three types of cavalry, with at least three variants of each type. The cavalry has been sculpted by Reconquer Designs, and the infantry is by Aicrum Designs. Importantly, the range is only being offered as printed figures, and not as STLs.

The lower-level pledges are structured as packs of unit types, with the higher pledge levels being armies designed around the Jewish lists for DBMM.

There are 11 stretch goals to develop further troop types, including armored thureophoroi and zealots, with these figures to be designed if the goals are reached.

I’m excited about this campaign. Rather than playing it safe with a campaign that offers popular subjects, Potbelly and Triguard have taken a risk and jumped into a niche. They are coming to market a wide enough range of figures to build playable armies, seeking support to develop the range further. This is growing the hobby by unlocking one of those army lists at the back of the rulebook that you might have glanced at, but not seriously considered because there was no practical way to build it.

This is a great use of 3D printing as a technology and Kickstarter as a platform. I suspect the absence of existing 28mm Judean figures is because the market for them is so small that it has been too commercially risky to develop a range using traditional sculpting and casting techniques. Potbelly and Triguard obviously believe that 3D printing changes this equation, and Kickstarter allows them to test that market to see whether there is sufficient demand to further develop the range.

I’ve supported the Kickstarter, in part because I’ve been looking for a new army for Art De La Guerre. But more than that, I am hoping that its success will encourage Potbelly and Triguard to continue further down this path, and develop additional ranges to help get more of these uncommon armies onto the gaming table.