Thursday, December 11, 2014

Newly Discovered Warbots Art by John Dennett.

It's no secret that the Warbots conceived and sculpted by John Dennett and produced by Grenadier Miniatures are some of my favorite miniatures ever. John also created some great color cover art for the boxed sets as well as the fun information sheets that came with them.

But what even I didn't know is that he had also created pen and ink artwork of the Warbots. This art was to be used in the Mayfair Games game to be called Warbots, which was based on John's creations. 

Thanks to John Dennett for sharing these and allowing me to post them on the blog and to Jeff R. Leason for giving some more info on the great sounding game that should have been.
An unproduced Warbots design from the Grenadier Bulletin. Perhaps a new Battle Trooper?
Scan by Ray Miller.

The original announcement the started my Warbots obsession. Is that an OGRE GEV without engines?
Scan by Ray Miller.
Cover art for the Runner Pod Attack Team.
Information sheet that came with the Runner-Pod Attack Team. Scans courtesy of Ray Miller.
Cover art for the Armored Destro Squad.
Squad markings and color schemes for various units within the Warbots world.
Advertisement for Warbots Role Playing Game by Mayfair Games from Dragon Magazine, April 1985. Scan courtesy of Philip Reed.
Following is the artwork that John recently scanned and shared with us. I'm hoping to color some of them at some point and to make images showing each mecha in various squad markings.
Battle Trooper Type IV

Activoid Shifter MK IIA code name Cobra.

Activoid Shifter MK I code name Viper.

Activoid Shifter MK II code name Sidewinder.

Runner Pod Type "B" code name Saracin.


Runner Pod Type "A" code name Vigilante.
Destro Walker Pulverisor.

Destro Walker Devastator.
Destro Walker Eliminator.

Sonic-pulse Saucer. From John Dennett:
"They were to be drones that accompanied the "Runner-Pods" & the "Activoid-Shifters" into the battle zones taking aim at mine fields and faster enemy land and air threats. I never got to the point of sculpting them but you can see two of them in action on the "Runner-Pod Attack Team" box art." 
Dread-naut Land-Leveler. These were meant to be three times the size of the Destroid Squad Walkers but were never produced.

Check out my earlier posts for painted versions of the Destro Walkers minis. All of these minis are now available from Mirliton here.
And check out the amazing stuff that John Dennett is creating at Moondevil Studio.

2 comments:

  1. I have two additional Battle Trooper miniatures that are marked "Grenadier 1985" on the bottom. The bodies are identical but the weapons are different. They are also cast as a single piece (i.e. no assembly required). I can't find any reference for them anywhere. Any ideas?

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    Replies
    1. Hi there,
      I just saw this reply a year too late. Do you have images somewhere online of these minis? I'd love to see them.

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