Ral Partha is a well established company, and they started making lead miniatures in 1976. Based in Cincinatti, OH, the firm started by carving mainly historical figures, but started to market Middle Earth based fantasy wargaming (Wizards, Warlocks and Warriors) and roleplaying figures (Personalities and Things that go bump in the Night) in 1977 during the height of the initial Dungeons & Dragons(tm) craze. In 1979, Ral Partha formed a distribution and manufacturing deal with Games Workshop/Citadel
Miniatures in England for Citadel to cast and distribute RP in Britain and vice versa. The Fantasy Adventurer, Fiend Factory, Fantasy Specials, Fantasy Tribe and Wierd Fantasy lines were originated by Citadel. This relationship lasted until 1984 when Ral Partha started replacing all the Citadel mastered figures in their ranges.
In 1988 Ral Partha became the designer and distributor of the TSR licenced AD&D range, following on from Minifigs, Grenadier, TSR themselves and finally Citadel. The company also produced some other immensely popular licenses such as Battletech(tm), Runequest(tm), Bushido, Ogre, Shadowrun, Vampire and Werewolf.
Originally all RP figures were "true" 25mm, but the revisions of the Fantasy Army (CS/02) ranges released in the late 90s were all 28mm. Over the years Ral Partha has employed most of the big designers in fantasy miniature sculpting, including Julie Guthrie, Sandra Garrity, Bob Olley, Tom Meier, Dennis Mize, and Bob Charrette. In the last 24 years RP has produced several thousand Fantasy, Science Fiction and Historical masters.
In September of 1998 Pal Partha Enterprises was purchased by FASA corporation, for whom they had produced the Battletech and Shadowrun lines. The new owners rationalized the RP lines, causing the loss of some licensed ranges, but production continues. |
