"Q" is for...

Quar

28mm and 15mm scale Quar from Zombiesmith site.

It's been quite a few years now since Zombiesmith came out with these guys and I still get a thrill every time I look at them. If you don't know who or what the Quar are, they are the brainchild of Josh Qualtieri brought to life through a collaboration between him, the artist Sequoia Blankenship, the sculptor Aaron Brown. and a very creative writer named Pete Murray. The result of this long journey has been amazing.

The Quar are something quite unique in the hobby in that they represent a self-contained miniatures line representing an alien race that is not set in the far future of their world, but in an industrial war time set amid a technology that is somewhere equivalent to Earth around 1920s to 1940s. They are a people at war with one another and have been for hundreds of years. Though there are distinct factions represented both in the background and the miniatures line, there is never any clear cut bad guy or good guy. That is for the player to decide for themselves. just as in the real world it often comes down to point of view. The Quar's war does not have an evil leader. There are no Hitlers or Stalins, no Pal Pots or Vlad The Impalers. There are Crusaders and Royalists - the old and the new.

One of the things that really stands out about the Quar is that they seem to have evolved organically from a crayon drawing from Josh's childhood to what they are now. Along the way, loyal fans have made up stories of their own, named their own leaders, sung songs, written poetry and crafted their own corners of the world. All the time, Josh and his fellows have taken notes, working with that creative flow. In fact there are some bits of the official world that have been inspired by or drawn from the personal contributions of fans and players. What's more, most of this developed without an official rules set to drive it along.

There are now three rules books out for the Quar, one an original set called "This Quar's War" which is for larger battles and a second called "Songs of our Ancestors" that uses the popular Ganesha game system found in their other "Song of..." tittles. The third is a recent release titled, "Of Spats and Pedrails" which expands the vehicle rules and adds force lists for two new factions for both rules sets.

I think in the end, the Quar fit a niche that few lines out there have completely accomplished. There is a sense of devotion and love of who they are that pervades the entire line. This sort of emotion, poured into the design work is lacking from many of them ore commercial lines out there. The Quar line does not grow fast and it does not grow big, but it does grow right and with a sense of self. Any creator out there can certainly look at the Quar and respect what Josh has accomplished through the overall craftsmanship and devotion he has shown this line.