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One of the most cherished items in my collection is a playtest copy from the development of the 3rd Edition of Talisman which contains a number of cards that never made it through to the final game.
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Out of the piles of adventure cards I found out that there were a few cards that had not been used, and sorting through the character cards there were a number of cards that did not make the cut. A couple of them were later printed in White Dwarf magazine with one being released online as part of the Lost Files feature.
It was clear that they had gone through a number of changes as the game evolved. The Black Orc had been an Orc Warlord, the Assassin started out as a Ninja, the Wizard was a lowly Magician and the poor old Chaos Dwarf didn’t even know what he was supposed to be doing!
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It transpired that five of the character cards in the set had never been released by Games Workshop for 3rd Edition. There were three old friends from 2nd Edition, though two were sporting new names, and two previously unseen characters.
Interesting to note (to me at least) is that five of the eight characters released in White Dwarf magazines – Thief, Necromancer, Wardancer, Dragon Rider and Vampire DO NOT feature in this set. But they do bring the “official” character list to a hefty 41 cards!
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| Click for larger image |
I had previously mocked these cards up with miniatures that were available from the GW Online Store in 2003, but have since realised that it would be more fitting to have miniatures that were in the Citadel range around 1994.
The plastic Wood Elf Archer was a great miniature to use as he is from the same range of Warhammer boxed sets as the Black Orc, Chaos Beastman, Chaos Dwarf, Chaos Warrior and Skaven. Who knows? It is always possible that the figure was earmarked for the character from the start, but we’ll probably never know!
The Amethyst Wizard is from the same set as the alternate metal wizards featured in the Alternate Figures feature. I thought he was quite apt for use as a Seer/Philosopher character with his connection to time and his spell book.
The Witch and Witch Hunter are a bit later, but there is very little choice in the Citadel range from that time. There was a Witch Hunter in Warhammer Quest, but he is carrying a pistol which does not fit in with the Talisman world.
The miniature used for the Wraith is in fact a Wight, but there are very few figures in the Undead range from the time that have armour and carry a sword to match the card’s abilities. The bonus is that this particular figure was painted up by Stuart Thomas, which links him nicely to the Forgotten Paint Schemes feature.
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| Scout – Citadel 1998 Annual – Wood Elves – Plastic Wood Elf 102728 – The Stuff of Legends | |||
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| Seer – Citadel Miniatures Catalogue 1993 – Empire – Battle Wizards – Amethyst Wizard 73791/9 – The Stuff of Legends | |||
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| Witch – 2005 Specialist Games Catalogue – Mordheim – Hired Swords – Mordheim Witch 9947110700601 – The Stuff of Legends | |||
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| Witch Hunter – 2005 Specialist Games Catalogue – Mordheim – Witch Hunters Warband – Witch Hunter Captain 1 9947110201501 – The Stuff of Legends | |||
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| Wraith – Citadel Miniatures Catalogue 1993 – Undead – Wights – Wight 3 74517/2 – The Stuff of Legends | |||
Unpainted miniatures displayed by kind permission of the CCM Wiki