Assorted Alien Animals 02

I continue my look at assorted alien animals from my collection of 28mm scale figures. These are all very old figures and, unfortunately, they are long out of production. My figure of Vampifan is included to give you a sense of scale of these animals.

The creature to the left here is a Hercules lizard. These huge lizards (this is just a young one) are among the most dangerous predators in the galaxy. They usually hunt in packs of 1 to 6. A Hercules lizard is muscular and built low to the ground. It creeps up on its prey behind cover and the rushes it unexpectedly - from several different directions, if hunting in a group. Though their instinctive hunting tactics are impressively efficient, they are rather stupid creatures and will attack anything, regardless of how much larger or better armoured it is. A fully mature adult can grow up to 25 feet in length and weigh in the region of 3 to 5 tons!

The pusher is a large, quick carnivore, who has developed a unique and effective way to kill their prey with a minimum of danger to themselves. They hide on a ledge above a cliff or around the corner of a sheer trail. When prey approaches, the pusher simply lashes out with its long, strong arms and pushes the victim over the edge. The pusher is able to move at full speed down vertical surfaces, or even upside down, and quickly scrambles down to the dead or seriously wounded prey and devours it, hopefully before the local scavengers arrive. Pushers are cowardly, and, if their first attack fails, they will usually run away. Pushers are very advanced insectoids. They have a hard shell and many strong, thin legs, which allow them to cling securely to rock. Their arms are thick, and most of their length is usually kept inside the carapace. They are able to project their arms out with great force.
Sadly, I can't remember who produced either of these creatures. I'm sure the pusher was an AD&D monster, but what kind, I don't know.

Next up are a bunch of small critters. I don't have names or stats for any of them. I did use the yellow creatures as Thonnes in my recent Alien Base scenario, despite the fact that they don't look much like the illustration of a Thonne in the scenario book. Hey, I improvised!

These are all stuck to 20mm diameter MDF bases and you can see just how small they are when placed alongside Vampifan. These were produced by Citadel Miniatures and are incredibly old figures.

Finally are a pair of Skal Tigers, although they are more commonly known as snow tigers. They are found on arctic planets or in arctic regions and apart from their much lighter coloured skin, they share much in common with the tigers found on Earth. They are fearsome predators although big game hunters risk life and limb to either capture one or kill them for their skin.

Once again, I can't remember exactly who produced this pair, but I have a sneaking suspicion they were made by Citadel Miniatures. I could have painted them up as normal tigers, but I already have quite a few of them in my collection and the idea of painting them as snow tigers really appealed to me. The idea came to me when I saw a white tiger in captivity at Busch Gardens on a holiday to Florida, USA, in the early 1990's.