Ral Partha Enterprises

Formed in 1975, Ral Partha Enterprises, Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, is now known as Ral Partha Legacy Ltd. and produces miniature figures in 25 mm, 30 mm, 15 mm, and 54 mm scale. The company's products are made by spin-casting metal alloys which depict soldiers, adventurers and creatures that have been inspired by history and fiction. Their miniatures are sold at gaming conventions, in hobby shops, and by internet and mail order for use in role playing games, wargaming, dioramas, competitive painting, and collecting.

The company began as a basement enterprise undertaken by a group of wargamers around the talents of Tom Meier, a 16-year-old sculptor. The company grew with the increasing popularity of board and role-playing games. By 1982 Ral Partha products were sold worldwide.^[1] Ral Partha is best known for its historical figures, Fantasy Collector's series, and miniatures produced for TSR, Inc.'s Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and FASA's BattleTech games. Tom Meier became a freelance sculptor in 1988, and retains copyrights to much of his work for Ral Partha. Until 2020 he worked on commission and operated Thunderbolt Mountain Miniatures, a boutique company for pet projects involving dioramas, 54 mm figurines, and a new series of elves and goblins. During its 40-year history Ral Partha has employed more than two dozen sculptors, of whom some of the most prolific were Dennis Mize, Julie Guthrie, Sandra Garrity, Robert N. Charrette, and Dave Summers.

The owners of the original Ral Partha Enterprises, Inc. sold the company to FASA in 1998, and was one of the assets acquired by WizKids in 2000. The following year Ral Partha's production assets were recast as Iron Wind Metals, LLC of Cincinnati. In 2015 and the 40th anniversary of the founding of Ral Partha, reacquired the long unused trademarks and relaunched Ral Partha as a division of the company focused on producing new and archived miniature lines under the banner of the Chaos Wars gaming world. In July 2020, Iron Wind Metals retired the "Ral Partha - A Division of Iron Wind Metals" brand and licensed the Ral Partha era fantasy and historical miniatures to "Ral Partha Legacy Ltd." which owns the Chaos Wars games. Ral Partha Legacy also acquired the license to Tom Meier's Thunderbolt Mountain Miniature lines which unites more than four decades of the artist's work. The new company has announced additions to the existing lines by original designers like Tom Meier and Robert N. Charrette, as well as new artists. Iron Wind Metals continues to produce lines for the futuristic FASA era games including Battletech and Shadowrun.