Alternative poses for slaves

Note these are the original slaves minis which did not have separated arms and weapons.

Strike a pose!

Looking at the large bunch of spear slaves in front of me I realise there’s only two poses! “Oh no“, I thought, “not another pointing unit“.

Some units work with the same pose on all miniatures. For example nobody would ever question why all the High Elves in the Fellowship of the Ring movie all have the same pose when they received the on-coming charge of Saurons Orcs in the beginning of the movie. BUT had it been the other way around and all the wild and savage Orcs would have stood in a tidy rank all holding their swords in the same manner…. well that would have been all wrong wouldn’t it?

But ofcourse I know that the more poses a unit have the more moulds and the more work and the more money it will cost to make the miniatures, so the only option left is converting.

Hands above your head!

	The original. The first slave is the easiest to do changes to. None of the two are particular conversion-friendly, but this is more than the next one simply because his arms and body are free from anything else.
Not all Slaves hold their spear in the same way	The first conversion is the easiest one. But it is also the most dangerous one becuase if it goes wrong it is not easy to get right again.Basically it is simply twisting the spear head so the round bit goes up.
A relatively simple conversion but it makes the whole slave action go from being trying to hit someone moving to finish off somebody on the ground	The second conversion requires a bit more work. You need a pair of nippers and then carefully cut the crystal underneath the slave’s left foot away. Be careful not to clip the toes of in the proccess and try to keep the pin on the right foot since it makes it easier to glue the mini on the base.Do save the crsytal, it can be used on conversions on the other type of slave-mini (see below)
Repositioning the upper body gives the slave a more static pose	The third conversion. Now we are getting somewhere. The third conversion requires a saw and I recommend having pinning equipment as well (drill and wire).Saw the mini in two around the waist. The pin it back together in a different pose. It is not all the visible on the photo but it does make a big difference.
Slave using the spear as an axe	The fourth conversion is my favorite, because the slave spears seems so heavy that they would realistically be used as axes/clubs once in a while.It is probably also the most dificult conversion. What you do is you cut off the spear head justunderneath the cloth wrapped around the spear where the slaves left hand is. This will give a nice end to the axe as the cloth will do for a handle. Then you snip of the end bit of the spear up at the right hand. Now comes the tricky bit: Drill a hole in the right hand from where the end bit was and don’t mess it up! If you do the hand is lost and the spear is reduce to … well a stick!. This hole should be big enough to put the spear head in. I used a 2mm drill. Then it’s just a matter of gluing the spear head into the hole.
Where to cut

Stab ’em all

	The original. The second slave mini is hard to do much change to because the arms and weapons are part of the body itself.
Holding the spear in a different angel	The first conversion mirrors the first conversion of the other mini. It is a simple twist the spear head conversion. Again be carefull otherwise you might break of the spear head and that is not easy to fix.
Attacking a bigger enemy	The second conversion uses the crystal bits cut off one of the other slaves. This realatively simple conversion makes the slave look like he is attacking a larger than himself enemy.Be carefull not to break of the pin of the right foot since it will make it harder to glue the mini to the base.
Attack!	The third conversion gives the mini a bit of an unnatural pose if you think too much about it. But if you don’t it gives the squad a more aggresive look.Cut free the slaves right have and carefully bend it above his head. After removing bits of spear from the hand it will look like an aggresive “charge!” pose. Or maybe he is throwing something.
A more static pose	The fourth conversion is risky to do because it is a matter of bending the left leg so the feet point in different directions instead of in the same direction.It gives the mini a much more static look. Basically this slave isn’t moving forward he is standing and defending instead.