Looking for new nightmare fuel for your game? Look no further than the newly revealed sculpts from the upcoming Pathfinder Battles set, Crown of Fangs on the Paizo blog! http://bit.ly/2l2Xt9T
Frost Giant Harshnag from #stormkingsthunder was too big for my picture space! Man, this mini just about killed me. This is by far the largest, most detailed mini I’ve worked on, and it shows. He was about a week of work (~14 hours) and was my first attempt at really shading skin the way it deserves to be shaded. Very proud of how he turned out, although I would love to have worked on his leather armor more. Adding that to my list of things to learn. Shoutout to @doctorfaustspaintingclinic and @realmsmithtv for their incredibly useful tutorials. Progress picture at the end - I will try to include these as much as I can going forward :) ⠀ ⠀ #nolzursmarvelousminiatures set from #wizkids⠀ .⠀ Painted with @citadel_paints @vallejocolors and @reaperminiatures paints.⠀ .⠀⠀ .⠀⠀ .⠀⠀ #dnd #dungeonsanddragons #minipainting #miniaturepainting #tabletopgames #tabletopgaming #painting #acrylicpainting #hobbies #nerdy #dungeonsanddragons5e #quarantine #5e #dungeonsanddragonsart #paintingminiatures #paintingminis #wizardsofthecoast #reaperpaints #gumbarone #vallejo #citadelpaints #paintedminiatures #paintedminis #frostgiant https://www.instagram.com/p/CEKHlcmndMx/?igshid=1bket6c1vs6xa
I’d love to review some miniatures, but Critical Role C2E126 doesn’t have any. Instead, feast your eyes on this amazing rendition of the defense of Alfield by NPC_Creations on Twitter. So incredibly cinematic and accurate. Who knew a demon hyena attack could be so pretty?
I was anticipating a possible warehouse battle map setting. I was not anticipating the cold-blooded murder of a beloved Critical Role character. Beloved to me anyway. Only took three session for me to get rather attached to Bertrand Bell. Tis sad, but I’m sure some good storytelling will come out of this tragedy.
Yes, for the good of Jrusar. I will enter the fray with you, it’s time for Crit Role Miniature Rollout Campaign 3 Episode 3!
The Episode Mini List
Chest and Trove 5E Condition Rings
Dwarven Forge City Builder System Stone
Dwarven Forge City Builder System Tudor
Dwarven Forge Tudor Wall & Post Add-On Pack Wooden Balcony
Dwarven Forge LED Lighted Walls Add-On Pack
Dwarven Forge Wicked City Accessory Add-On Pack Stone Gargoyle Corner Post
Pathfinder Battles Rusty Dragon Inn Dressing: Crate
Mantic Games Terrain Crate Dungeon Depths frame/mirror
Mantic Games Terrain Crate round table
Dungeon Lair Desk & Chair Accessory Set
Dungeon Lair Treasure Chest
Dungeon Lair Chairs
Tiny Furniture Noble’s Bedroom
Tiny Furniture Bedroom set v.2 wardrobe
Bertrand Bell HeroForge Mini
Custom Campaign 3 Party Minis
Monster Menagerie #006 Larethar Gulgrin
Waterdeep Dragon Heist #15 Darkling
Pathfinder Battles Lost Coast #01 Goblin Snake
The Player Characters
Got a much better look at the party this broadcast. And they are beautiful! Truly inspired sculpts with incredibly rich and intricate paint work. The party minis are so nice in fact, Dorian’s ridiculous outfit actually looks pretty cool. These models are very true to their character portraits. So true in fact, they surely have to be original 3D sculpts. FCG is such a unique character design and the models have too many specific geometry details to have been made in a character creator engine. Still no word on the manufacturer’s identity.
I did want to mention Fearne’s wild shape very briefly. That’s no average snake. That there’s a goblin snake! The Pathfinder Battles Lost Coast #01 Goblin Snake. Another delightful PF monster. Complete with that distinct Pathfinder goblin football head shape. Delightful creature, fun seeing this figure pop up.
Favorite Mini
Bertrand Bell of the Bertrand’s Bells Adventuring Co. Bertrand Bell Hero Forge Mini
Guess I won’t get another opportunity to award Favorite Mini to Bertrand Bell, so I better do it now. Love myself a good Hero Forge. An excellent HF build with excellent paint. He’s got those signature Iron Tusk Painting eyes, I’m willing to bet that’s who did the painting. What a shame we’re unlikely to see this miniature again. Pour one out for a true adventurer (but miss the floor and accidentally hit a friendly party member’s shoes).
Least Favorite Mini
Shadowy Pale Dwarf Monster Menagerie #006 Larethar Gulgrin Mini image sourced from minisgallery.com
Shouldn’t this mini be a duergar? If this villain ends up being significant enough, they might end up with a customized model. This is my least favorite mini based entirely on the murderous deeds perpetrated by the character it represents. The mini itself is quite decent. And we’ve actually seen it quite recently, as the miniature base for Dagen in C2E115:
Final Thoughts
I’m now very invested in the party finding this new villain NPC. That is, unless the party gets found first! An enemy with the the feature Favored Terrain: Alleyways is indeed dangerous in an urban gaming setting. Session 4 begins the quest for coin and vengeance, I wish the Campaign 3 adventurers much luck.
An immensely exciting episode indeed. So many clutch spellcasting moments. Too good, too good. Also, loads of good miniature action. Let’s check it out!
Do ya like tabletops? Do ya like gaming? Do ya wanna put some gaming mats on those tabletops? Of course you do! Well then go to matsbymars.com and use my code DNDEED0621 for 10% off your entire MBM order.
Intuit charges? I hope you brought enough for the whole class! -it’s time for Crit Role Miniature Rollout Campaign 2 Epsiode 138!
The List
Mats by Mars custom “Cognouza” mat
Chest and Trove 5E Condition Rings
Dwarven Forge Caverns
Dwarven Forge Caverns Chasm Pack
Dwarven Forge Wicked Cavern Pack
Dwarven Forge Caverns Stalagmite Pack
Dwarven Forge Dungeons of Doom
Dwarven Forge Dungeons of Doom Ledges
Dwarven Forge Ladders
Dwarven Forge Epic Stairs
WarLock Tiles: Summoning Circle
Dwarven Forge Castle Cube Spacers
Steamforged Mighty Nein Miniatures
Resin Printed Veth Model (not publicly available)
Eldritch Foundry Essek Painted by Iron Tusk Painting
D&D: Nolzur’s Marvelous Miniatures: Giant Ape
Waterdeep Dragon Heist #021b Wererat
Darklands Rising #45 Fleshwarp, Irnakurse
The Terrain
Two top quality maps in this session. It was cool seeing a Threshold Crest chamber again, but in a more distressed and ruined state. Both maps were made to look uniquely alien by the inclusion of a custom Mats by Mars “Cognouza” mat design peaking out from below both map layouts. Very handsome, very striking!
The Monsters
Cree Waterdeep Dragon Heist #021b Wererat Mini photos sourced from minisgallery.com
Cree has inexplicitly changed miniatures (and fur color). Previously represented withTomb of Annihilation #021b Tabaxi Hunter (pictured on the right). The Wererat is not an especially good model, but it’s acceptable. Despite being modelled to look like a rat, this mini makes a fairly solid tabaxi.
Also Cree Darklands Rising #45 Fleshwarp, Irnakurse Mini photo sourced from paizo.com
Serious 80s horror practical effects aesthetic. Wow. Quite. A. Model. And get a load of that great paint. Very gnarly, amazing table presence. Quite the design, of course it’s a Pathfinder mini. Well done Paizo and Wizkids. Disgustingly splendid monster.
Closing Thoughts and Predictions
I am pumped for this next CR ep. That last scene was positively riveting! See ya next sesh!
Two episodes in a row with no combat. No miniatures to document or review.
-But check out the flames on the soon to be released Ember Roc! This epically sized raptor has translucent fire on their feathers, that’s amazing. I had not noticed this fantastic-feather-feature until I watched the Wizkids streaming show Model Behavior. Hostess Jessa Blackthorne was good enough to point this awesome detail out. And lemme tell ya, I’m quite impressed. With the flame effects, but also the mini in general. Looks to be a well executed elementally-infused model design. Quite the righteous roc.
Mini images sourced from wizkids.com
With 5 new Wizkids Critical Role box sets and 2 premium figures releasing shortly, hopefully we’ll be treated to a sighting of some of these new models in an upcoming episode.
Anonymous submitted: Hello! I have a question/request/suggestion. Are you planning on reviewing the wizkids critical role miniatures? I’ve just been made aware that the have a bunch of new packs I didn’t know about. I know you have reviewed their aeorian monsters and PC minis before but I was wondering if you intend to do the others, and if you don’t, suggest that it might be a nice thing to talk about on weeks with no combat in the episode. Either way, I hope you’re doing well, have a nice day :)
Excellent suggestion! Thank you for the submission. Episode 8 is in fact one of those weeks with no combat in the episode. I agree, this certainly seems like good content for mini-less weeks. The line of Critical Role Wizkids miniatures is alreadypretty expansive and there is a lot to cover. For now, I’ll just share my general thoughts.
Images sourced from the Crit Role Shop website
Personally, I only own the three Factions of Wildemount character miniature sets. When it came time to submit a preorder, I held off on purchasing any of the Monster of Wildemount, choosing to prioritize unique NPC/PC models over creatures. I have an expansive collection and I feel confident that if I run any Wildemount monsters, I could find a relatively accurate proxy miniature. With the possible exception of the Aesorian Absorber (lol, that eyeball cat aesthetic is puh-rettyspecific). But even at that, I would probably just use a displacer beast mini and make a point of clearly describing the creature to my players.
I am always on the lookout for unique, interesting, and diverse prepainted character miniatures. And the Factions of Wildemount series has that in spades! I appreciate the variety of classes, skin tones, and body types represented.
The bases are clear plastic, the new Wizkids standard. Which is a base aesthetic I’m partial to. The sculpt detail is generally good, with a tad bit of resolution lost in some of the hands and fiddly bits. I’m pretty pleased with the miniature manufacturing quality overall. The sets I received even have crisp looking eyeballs, which is a good indicator of prepaint quality.
Regarding the package manufacturing, something I found interesting is that the Dungeons & Dragons logo appears to be a sticker that was presumably added post-printing. I’m curious what the production story is here.
Particularly excited for the new episode as things ended with quite the dramatic bit of cliffhangery. I’m crossing my fingers for a battle map right outta the gate, but I can see this forthcoming encounter/challenge being run entirely narratively.
Wowie, that deluxe edish of Tal'dorei Reborn has some fine accessories. Plenty of maps with which to place miniatures upon. However, there are no miniatures to be found this episode, so I’ll be answering some questions instead.
Anonymous submitted: Hi! I have a thing I’ve always wondered, do you work with minis, or are they just a hobby?
Firstly, thanks for your questions. Appreciate your interest. I am not a member of the miniature manufacturing industry. Minis are a big hobby of mine and this post series is a way for me to exercise my enthusiasm and an enjoyable way to contribute to the CR fandom.
How in the world can you recognize such small pieces that are usually turned away and in shadow? Do you look at it on an 100 inch screen playing the stream at full hd?
A 100 inch dedicated mini view screen sounds great, I should look into that. Even at full HD, some miniatures are too far away or too obscured to get a proper look at. And in those instances, I have to record them as unknown. Other times, when there’s a clear shot of a model that I do not recognize (or cannot find through research), I take to FB or Reddit to ask for assistance from the community.
Most of the time, I have a pretty solid sense of which miniatures are which. This is due in large part to the typesof miniatures used on Critical Role. The majority of them are prepainted minis from three product lines: the discontinued Hasbro Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures Game (DDM), active Wizkids D&D Icons of the Realms, and active Wizkids Pathfinders Battles.
I have spent years collecting and gaming with these prepaints, so these sculpts are pretty well imbedded in my memory and I recognize most of them at a glance. I do not always recall the miniature’s exactly title. But I recognize the miniature visually and then confirm the name using miniature sites such as MinisGallery.com
That curiosity aside, when do you think they’ll tell us who made this campaign minis?
Any day now. I imagine they have a bunch of glamour shots of the assembled campaign player character minis. I would guess they have been waiting for the introduction of all the PCs before the grand photo and source reveal. That being said, it’s taking a little longer than I expected. So perhaps there are bigger campaign mini related plans in the works? Or they simply don’t realize there’s a fair bit of public interest?
And do you think they will get a custom nightmare king? Sometimes I think the don’t have reason to fight him again and other times I think he will be the first arc’s boss.
I think we will definitely see the Nightmare King again and he will definitely get a custom mini. Given his knowledge of Fearne and his involvement in various plots, I think he’s too embedded in the fabric of the campaign to not reappear. The only way I see the Nightmare King not getting a custom miniature, is if the party makes finding him their main priority and they kill him before Matt can commission a mini.
And lastly, would you maybe consider opening the askbox for anonymous questions to make my life easier?
One day, we mightget the “Critical Role Date Night Battle Map” I so wish for. Love is a battlefield and it deserves to be on the a grid, if for nothing else but the gag. Joking aside, it might actually be a legit useful tabletop reference to track the location of characters if some sorta shenanigans are afoot.
Lacking a date-map to discuss, let us delve again into the Critical Role prepainted line. Last post was about one premium figure, let’s talk about the other one, Dieter the beloved and feared dragon turtle.
Mini images sourced from wizkids.com
A miniature with a whole lot of table presence. Ooooo the DM satisfaction of plopping down a big ol’ monster model. Satisfying for sure. Deploying Dieter to the battle mat is sure to be a thrill when this big ol’ shelly boy releases in January 2022. I also like how the pose sorta makes it look like he’s trying to tell you a secret, holding a hand up to whisper in your ear. Except the whispered secret is A BREATH WEAPON!
Surely, we can’t go another session without seeing a map and minis. Surely, we will see one right at the top of the ep. Here’s hopin’.
