Pre-Painted D&D Miniatures

You can't fool Iron Seer by switching the bases around.

Some time ago (2003, to be exact), Wizards of the Coast started introducing their pre-painted miniatures lines for what was then the third edition of the Dungeons and Dragons game.  At the time, I was unhappy with WotC after their triumphant success with the D&D property.  You see, they had also just introduced the "3.5" edition.  I was seriously into some D&D, but my books that I already had worked just fine, you see.  I was in my early twenties, and finally got a taste of capitalism right in my hobby.

Around then I really decided to double down on miniatures games.  However, I had a real distaste for these prepaints.  They just were generally ... poor compared to my own work, or that of my homies.  In certain places where I lurked online, the sentiment was echoed - prepaints were an alien menace to be eradicated, with NO conversation.

I was so entrenched in the conventions of wargaming at the time, it was hard for me to see any 'use' for these miniatures, but now I see it as the hubris of youth.  You see, without any money or a real space to store lots of miniatures, as a young man I strived to obtain precisely what I thought I 'needed' to play 40k at any one time.

Jarl Horn will be taking those Huggies...
and any cash you've got in the register.

Today, it's very different.  Of late, I've found myself more and more attracted to prepaints.  This is partially due to the fact that the re-launch of the line in 2014 had a vastly improved quality of production over the older generation...but that really started with Pathfinder Miniatures launch in 2012.   When those miniatures came out, our club was gifted a complete set with multiples as we started down an adventure path.  Honestly, that changed my mind entirely about what pre-paints could be, and even how they could be used.

I've started to be more open minded in my old age.  I devote a 'yooj' portion of my gaming budget to prepainted miniatures as far as X-Wing goes, but the plastic RP prepaints were more of a diversionary thing, a sort of 'supplement' to my normal miniature addiction.  However, as they began to stack up and I took up collecting Star Wars miniatures in general I began to see a much greater value for the humble prepaint.

I'm not so straitjacketed in my gaming these days.  Storage has always been an issue, and right now I'm about to pull everything out and rearrange terrain storage and plan what set of tables I'm actually going to keep and develop.  To tell the truth, my backlog is so great that if I hadn't changed my mind about prepaints I'd not have nearly the amount of cool dungeon monsters to menace adventurers with.

At some point I realized it didn't matter what quality they were, as long as there were recognizable, colorized(ish) and I didn't have to worry about them beyond making the purchase and remembering they were there.  Since both Star Wars and D&D have a rather distinct style, with lots of specific types of soldiers and monsters, it helps to have models that actually display the particular threat you wish to project on your players.

Warning:  Trees may come into
focus quickly.

Let's talk about D&D Attack Wing.  First of all, it was cool.  Second of all, it's also easy to see how people were put off by it.  If the price point was 25-50% less than what it was (depending on the product) it would have been a much better sell...but that would have undercut Tyranny of Dragons prepaints, which were the exact same miniatures but on a different base.  So the Attack Wing models were sold as the premiums, mostly because you knew exactly what you were getting with each purchase. With the collectible aspect of the prepainted miniatures line, it wouldn't do to have miniatures (especially the larger ones, specifically dragons) that were the exact same floating around that were that easy to obtain.  The rarity would have been upset and so would collectors.

There just weren't that many Attack Wing collectors.

It's been discontinued since, but I'm still collecting it because we're still having fun with it.  If nothing else, it came with a lot of tokens and models that are going to be pulling exceptional duty around here.  I'm not as put off about 'mixing' models from one game or another anymore, and we've also got the D&D Miniatures Handbook to play with.

I didn't get to play Dungeon Command, but hopefully I'll remember to grab up a few of the sets before they get outrageously expensive.  I'm kinda in the process of doing that with Attack Wing, so we'll see how that turns out.  I should have grabbed those up when they were cheap.

As far as Chainmail goes, we've already been playing a D&D(ish) skirmish game.  The biggest issue is the grid, honestly.  Anyways, the Miniatures Handbook kinda solves all that for us.

I think if I had one thing I wanted, it would be a better points system that wasn't reliant on cards.  Yeah I know it's "impossible" to create a "balanced" system and that's why the Miniatures Handbook only gives us "guidelines"...but I think we'll be able to use whatever we like.  Attack wing is another story, but still - we've got plenty of dials and facing cards.  We could always create our own, and that's the best part.  After all, we've got a war to start in the Silver Marches...

Remember:  Reveal your Maneuver Dial with the exact amount of panache that is appropriate to your opponent's misfortune.

Top 8 Reasons the Soothsayer is Best

Inspirobot will never manipulate your future. 

As I'm finishing up the first batch of Frostgrave models and terrain, I realize I want to talk about all the wizards in turn before I start cranking out the pics and we start the campaigning proper.  This warband will be more stylized, which is what I'm going for with most of them for this game.  I'm going to need to order some new basing materials for the terrain, as I've pretty well worked out how I'm going to base all the warbands but the terrain will take more than what I have on hand.

One of the best parts of gaming these days is being able to select which models you want to use from all the available sources.  The official Frostgrave models are great, but you can use whatever you want. That mentality needs to be more prevalent in our gaming, I feel.  How much more diversity would that add to the aesthetics of these things?  Keep diversity among your diversions, I say.

 I found some really cool models to use with a neat theme, and hopefully they'll look like they belong together when I finish in a few weeks.  I know I have found recently that although I don't mind which models are used, I am DONE with unpainted models in games.  I have also forbid myself to photograph unpainted models for this blog, with the exception being that the model is actually finished.  I may then present all pictures alongside each other as "in-progress" and "finished"...but other than that I can't bring myself to do it.  Must paint faster.

The aligned schools for Soothsayer are Thaumaturge, Chronomancer and Illusionist.  It is opposed to the Witch school.  The Soothsayer can be an irritating enemy to encounter, largely because their magic can confound even the most battle-hardened Elementalist.

Top 8 Reasons the Soothsayer is Best!

1. Awareness
• This is an easy one for your Apprentice to cast early in the game.  If you have it, take it - it amounts to a 5% increase in your chance to win the initiative each round.  Not much, but solid and an easy cast.
2. Combat Awareness
• This is a staple for the warband that wants to engage in combat.  Not too hard to cast, and beneficial to every soldier who'll be on the front line, as +2 Fight is pretty hefty.
3. Forget Spell
• Use to strip your opponents of their spells, obviously - but target their best spells.  This spell is actually pretty easy to cast, but remember it only applies to the spellcaster that is targeted.
4. Mind Control
• This spell puts a model under your control, as if it were in your warband, until the target can shake the effects.  Even if it lasts only a round or two, it can be a game changer.  A staple.
5. Reveal Invisible
• A secondary spell with a very real use, especially vs. irritating Illusionists or those spellcasters with the spell leveled up.
6. Reveal Secret
• An extra treasure, really close to your board edge.  Showing up already knowing where the good stuff is...well that seems like the way to go about it.
7. Will Power
• Another secondary spell with situational benefit, it's very useful for helping shrug off effects that are continuous (such as Mind Control) or if you know your opponent will attempt spells that require Will rolls, such as Forget Spell.
8. Wizard Eye
• Countless fun can be had with this gem.  Setting it up can be tricky, but invisibly smacking your opponent with targeted spells (like Forget Spell or Mind Control) while completely safe is the payoff.  Try it with a few different spells and you'll get the idea.

Awareness, Forget Spell and Mind Control.  Those are immediately the three I want to start with, as they have lower casting numbers and are functionally attack spells.  Supplement that with some lower cost spells from the allied schools  such as Heal or Monstrous Form and you're in business as a Fortune Teller.

For this warband I'm going to make sure I've got some lower cost models to represent the mendicants of the oracle's temple.  Thugs and Javelineers fit the bill, but you still need some beefcake.  To that end we'll add a Man-At-Arms and a Templar.  A Marksman will round out the warband, and I'll immediately set up an advice booth downtown in Frostgrave.

Space Gaming Mats

 In the last few years, we've gotten really spoiled for choice as far as setting up the battlefields we fight over.  It might surprise some of you newcomers, but up until just recently we've never had the top quality mats we have now.  My group has made due with flocked plywood, white and green sheets, and a green carpet (it's still here somewhere) before being able to really set up a nice looking game easily.  Easily being the keyword.

Today, I want to talk about space mats.

A crazy idea if you played any space games long ago, but now we have cheap, durable and nice looking mats available from a variety of retailers.  For the Cloak of the Sith, I chose Gale Force 9 to provide the backdrop of the battle.  They have a selection of great stuff I'm sure I'm going to get more of, and I selected two mats of different sizes that seemed to depict the same type of 'space'.  The 3x3 "Space Mat" and the 6'x3' Gas Giant.  You can check them out at GF9's online store.

3'x3' fits great on a medium size dining table.

Recently I've been  looking around for new mats for a lot of different games and warzone types, and I'm impressed at the staggering array of mats from all kinds of different companies.  I've got a few already, but they are kind of old and you can't even get some of them anymore.  We'll talk about those at a later date.  The most important takeaway is that I need more 3'x3' mats, because the big ones have been kind of out of style except for larger battle games.  Not the trend at all these days, and you can only find 6'x4' if you look specifically for them.

"Then the Emperor has already won..."

Recently I was able to get a big game with lots of ships on the board, and we had to break out the 6'x3' Gas Giant for the first time.  Spectacular.  I look forward to seeing all sorts of spaceships get vaporized on this thing.

On my 6'x5' table setup, there's actually a lot of room left for accoutrements.

My only real complaint with these mats is it's harder to photograph them.  Light sources can really cast a glare on it, and although that's no real issue you will have to jockey a little for a good shot off the cuff.  However, they are durable and resistant to liquids...and that's important when you flip out and spray your beer all over your enemy's face.

Recently, I was asked about a certain moon-like space station.  Gale Force 9, luckily, makes some nice products to fit that bill.  I'm surprised there's not a 6'x3' version of that map, but like I said...full size tables are going out of style.  Good for us it looks like two of those moon station maps will fit together pretty smoothly...