So yeah I fell behind on my Reaper updates, it's been a busy few months, but hey it's Friday night, the kids and wife are in bed... and I'm too old to remember what I'm supposed to do when that happens.
As I kick off I have to note one thing, the prices. Holy @#$%. I mean really, we're almost at $10 for metal human. Wow. It will certainly cut into my 'buy then cause they're neat and never paint or even look at them' purchases.
thank goodness for their Bones line huh?
As always check www.reapermini.com for more info.
First off we have not-Mal Reynolds, a reference that would have been been totally relevant 10 years ago.
He can also double as Not-Peter Quill. A reference that will totally be relevant for at least another month or so.
I remember back in the day wizards could not ever, ever, ever wear armor.
times have changed.
This half-orc sorcerer makes up for lost time by wearing not one, not two, but THREE sets of shoulder pads.
Fight the oppression!
However this Hobgoblin shaman is more traditional, unarmored and posed in the middle of casting a spell.
Or hailing a cab.
The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
OK over the years Reaper has had a bit of a reputation for only doing chain mail bikinis and other Fredricks of Mordor type outfits but lately they've been on a kick of doing women in practical outfits. And hey, there's even a woman who is not built like a supermodel so kudos.
There's even a vampire lady in full plate, the cutest plate mail you ever saw, but still full plate mail.
My all tengu beastman army is getting closer to completion. It currently stands at one model, but I'm sure it will grow.
Lesser Stitch Golems, for the DM who's tired of only using Greater Stitch Golems.
Y'know though they have all sorts of possibilities. these I could almost buy.
Reaper is continuing their line of iconic monsters from fantasy and myth. IIRC this is called a hook horror.
And here we have a fearsome wight! Or maybe a vampire elder! Or even a Lich! truly one of the most flexible models Reaper has ever made!
And here we have a great model that can serve as the gateway to an evil temple, or an evil wizard's lair, or an evil tomb, or maybe an evil inn or evil blacksmith shop.
You can even use it for GW games to represent the home of a poor humble farmer who cannot afford the required number of skulls.
Reaper is continuing its Nativity series, but I have to wonder, they released Wise Man #1 in 2012, Wise Man #2 in 2014, do they really see people waiting till 2016 to do a proper 3 kings display?
Of course with my painting speed that might be a good guess...
They also added a donkey to the mix, which I remind you can also serve in any number of fantasy, historical or even post-apocalyptic games.
And with a bit of green stuff it can also serve as a unicorn or pegasus!
I ain't gonna lie, this is a sweet looking wizard, but at $10.50...
So there we go. They also have a proverbial French crap-ton of Bones guys coming to retail in February, check back in a few days and I'll at least do an overview of them.
Thanks for brining us the Reaper news. Yeah, higher prices aren't going to increase my already small reaper buying plans. Bones, of course, are the thing.
These threads are seriously the best on dakka, I laugh out loud every time. Would love to own so many of these Reaper models, but just have no way to justify it. Can't wait for more updates.
Reaper is continuing its Nativity series, but I have to wonder, they released Wise Man #1 in 2012, Wise Man #2 in 2014, do they really see people waiting till 2016 to do a proper 3 kings display?
I painted up Reaper's Nativity minis for my not-my-step-daughter this year. As they only had the #1 Wise Man (I bought the set back in June, well before Wise Man #2 was on the market), I had to go with substitutions:
This guy looks like he'd make a great pack leader for the Argus from Warmachine. Someday, I'd love to just get a bunch of various companies' wolves and dogs and make a canine army.
kestral wrote: Thanks for brining us the Reaper news. Yeah, higher prices aren't going to increase my already small reaper buying plans. Bones, of course, are the thing.
I'm starting to wonder if they plan on increasing Bones prices again this time. If they get any higher, they'll reach the prices Reaper metals used to be at when they decided to release Bones as the cheaper alternative.
Thanks for the praise everyone, as promised here's a quick look at the proverbial French crap-ton of Bones that are coming from the last kickstarter. There's something like 10 pages worth so if you want to see the entire list head over to Reaper's site.
First off, and of particular interest to GW players they're releasing their IMEF marines in Bonium.
They're some nice sci-fi armored guys that could work in all sorts of roles.
There's also some nice scary aliens coming
As well as more comical ones. I can't believe both Reaper and Mantic are putting out 50 style UFOs at the same time. Makes me want to start a Mars Attacks Necron army.
Now how hard would it be to do a complete SoB army using just this figure? Bolters, marine shoulderpads and backpacks... So tempting...
And on the terrain side we finally have a low cost cargo crate.
And this classic Sci-Fi icon.
IIRC correctly it's the suicide booth from Futurama.
Then we've got another set of classic monsters, yes at last someone is doing the Tanar'ri from 2nd edition AD&D!
Along with them we have a gigantic Minotaur demon, one of the best figures in the line.
To oppose them Reaper is putting out some more angels,
Including a set of 2 weepy one. Weepy angels, wow, where do they get their ideas?
I'm also looking forward to this guy, one of several giant-sized Egyptian avatars.
This happy fellow is called the Whispering Tyrant which is just so, so refreshing after years of boisterous bellowing tyrants.
Here we have several members of the Reaper Rock Climbing Club showing off their collection of ludicricously oversized weapons.
Sir Hardcastle is definitely on my list to come home. I have no idea why, I just love the idea of a paladin putting on his castle as a suit.
And a barbarian holding erect his long hard... axe.
IIRC this is one of their oldest models, I always liked the teethy fire he's whipping up, so much more interesting than the usual pointing or waving wizards.
Y'know what I said about the practically dressed women last time. Well it's true. But there's still room in my collection for the smexy, smexy ladies too. Gotta love the elf pole dancing with her own staff.
Speaking of...
We have not-Ghost, who makes a great partner for...
Not-Shadow!
that being said there are some practical looking women in there too.
Here we have an iconic video game villain, Doctor Eggman!
And another classic monster from the original Field Folio, I believe they're called Flail Snails.
And one of the iconic beasts from the classic anime Uratsukidohi.
Which I um, have never seen. But my uh, friend told me about it.
Another deep cut from the old monster manuals, I believe this one is called a Thought Consumer.
And another wereshark! My wereshark army grows!
I'm a total sucker for guys on thrones, just chilling out. It's so much more regal than waving a sword over your head and screaming. If nothing else this could be a pretty easy 'Emperor on the Golden Throne" statue.
I don't know how many people need a female dwarf riding on a bear, but if you do, Reaper has you covered.
Or um, whatever this guy is. Just look at that hat. Look at it. Look again. You see it too. It reminds you of something. But you just can't put your finger on it.
Well not in public anyway.
And there we go folks, I still have to cover some upcoming metal releases so check back later.
Genoside07 wrote: Any idea how much the shipping container will cost??
I've not seen any pricing but since dragons are $20, and giants $10, I'd put it somewhere in that range. It's hollow and has no bottom so the amount of plastic is not that great.
I still wish that Minotaur Lord had been a separate add on like the large dragons and such.
He was probably at the top of my list of most desired figures during the campaign. I just couldn't bring myself to shell out for the expansion when little else from that set had much use or interest for me.
I'm sure they'll show up on ebay before they hit retail. Hopefully people won't be gouging too much for one.
Really wish this guy would have made it in during Bones 2.0:
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Wehrkind wrote: Funny that Reaper's metals have gotten so expensive with tin prices being flat or even falling in the past few years. I wonder what that's all about.
Thanks again for the great thread KK!
The regular human price is about $5.99. That is up about nothing from 4 years ago ($5.99). They price based off material, mold life, sculptor fees and any related licenses (though largely, they eat the license fees). The biggest factor is material and mold life. The new Garrity wizard is a pretty big hunk of metal, with a lot of undercuts. That ends up wearing out the molds faster and of course uses more material.
Their pricing used to be a bit more flat - but they have since improved their ability to track such things...so now, the wizard goes for $10.49, while other regular people (Tyrea, Koriah...) are still at the $5.99 price point.
Really, Reaper's prices still seem pretty darn good to me. Compare a human Reaper minis at $6-10 to what I'd pay from GW, PP, Freebooter or a lot of the smaller "boutique" places and they still seem like a bargain!
And I'm not a big fan of the Bones material either - but they're there if you want to go for maximum value per dollar.
Trying to remember when - maybe last summer - but they didn't used to track the mold life so closely. However, with newer sculpts often being rather...pointy...they end up tearing up the molds pretty fast.
Sometimes their pricing throws people for a loop though. If you look at something like this guy:
He costs $8.79 - and is pretty small, being a dwarf (under an inch tall).
Then you have something like this:
About 1 1/4" tall and 1 1/2" long. Wing tip to wing tip ends up being about 1 1/2". $6.99 for the price tag.
At first glance, it doesn't make much sense. However, if you pick them up - the dwarf is notably heavier than the dragon. The dragon is also in a few parts - so you don't have the undercuts like you have around the dwarf's beard and axe.
IIRC, they felt the need to watch the mold life more closely due to the cost of mold blanks going up a bit. You will also notice that there has been a bit of a price increase on big things. Same reasoning behind it, though the issue there of course is that when it comes to replacing the mold for a big miniature, the mold costs more than the mold for little miniatures.
Granted, even with all that said - I don't fault companies for raising prices. I know my own bills go up year after year (both for consumables like groceries and what not - as well as taxes, utilities and the rest of the bills). I get a bit annoyed when they go up a lot...like one company in particular tends to like to do... (especially when you look at said companies bills and they are not going up...).
Interesting that the mold blanks are getting more pricey. Is that a materials question? I know my materials have been flat for a long time, but then I do resin casting, not metal.
Schmapdi wrote: Really, Reaper's prices still seem pretty darn good to me. Compare a human Reaper minis at $6-10 to what I'd pay from GW, PP, Freebooter or a lot of the smaller "boutique" places and they still seem like a bargain!
And I'm not a big fan of the Bones material either - but they're there if you want to go for maximum value per dollar.
I had the impression most of the human minis were now closer to $10. It certainly seems like all the interesting ones are.
Maybe I just remember the good prices... I remember buying metal Reaper minis for $4 and a huge Avatar of Sokar in metal for $10. I loved Bones when it was about $2 for a human-sized mini, and now it's more like $3.50 on average. After the whole separation process from GW, I am very sensitive to price movements.
It is a commodity thing (more or less tied to Rubber).
It has come down the last few years (still above where it was). I know mold blanks cost me about twice now what they did 5 years ago though. Silcone mold blanks haven't gone up in price as much...but then again, they cost twice as much to begin with.
Schmapdi wrote: Really, Reaper's prices still seem pretty darn good to me. Compare a human Reaper minis at $6-10 to what I'd pay from GW, PP, Freebooter or a lot of the smaller "boutique" places and they still seem like a bargain!
And I'm not a big fan of the Bones material either - but they're there if you want to go for maximum value per dollar.
I had the impression most of the human minis were now closer to $10. It certainly seems like all the interesting ones are.
Maybe I just remember the good prices... I remember buying metal Reaper minis for $4 and a huge Avatar of Sokar in metal for $10. I loved Bones when it was about $2 for a human-sized mini, and now it's more like $3.50 on average. After the whole separation process from GW, I am very sensitive to price movements.
My wife has that problem too. She always picks the most expensive thing on the shelf...even when we get groceries.
I can fully understand the price issue though, but I also fully understand why prices can't stay the same (or generally get cheaper) for things like these. Most the human sized Bones are still in the $2.50 range though.
Reaper has always been a company I've appreciated, but never supported as a customer. I consider myself a hobbyist but not a collector. Not only can I not afford to collect minis just for the sake of colecting them, but I've seen the horrors of collections out of control and some of you people terrify me with the sheer quantity you possess
And people wonder why I don't shop brick and mortar stores.
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Stormwall wrote: So looking into a yearly Reaper thread is new for me but, it gave a lot of chuckles. Thanks K.
Also, the second IMEF Marine looks awesome. What are Reaper minis made out of? Restic?
Regular miniatures are pewter. Bones is PVC. As most people will probably tell you though, "clean up" on Bones (as little as there is) is much easier than some other companies PVC plastics.
Bones are basically like any pre-painted plastic models you would get, but not painted. Kinda rubbery, so they never break. If you have kids, or friends with butter-fingers, they are a godsend.
highlord tamburlaine wrote: I still wish that Minotaur Lord had been a separate add on like the large dragons and such.
He was probably at the top of my list of most desired figures during the campaign. I just couldn't bring myself to shell out for the expansion when little else from that set had much use or interest for me.
I'm sure they'll show up on ebay before they hit retail. Hopefully people won't be gouging too much for one.
Exactly the same thoughts here. I really wanted it, but not $50 worth. Especially since there's a good chance the sculpt will be a mess of bendy horns and glaive. Those thin fine details and Bones aren't a match made in heaven.
great thread. I felt I had to weigh in on this one about the Bones material as this was in question here.
It must be said that the example with the bendy bones dragon skull is not a good one, That specific part is especially rubbery, probably because of getting it out of the mould would be impossible otherwise. They are cast in steel moulds, much like GW sprue plastic.
Most bones are not even close to being rubbery like that, they are still somewhat bendy, but the bigger models / thicker parts are usually quite solid. Bigger figures is where Bones is at it's best. They are great for the price,
The thin parts, though...urgh. Painting human sized skeletons are a bit like painting half-boiled spaghetti. They move a bit around when being drybrushed to put it that way. Then again, they are pretty indestructible and I have yet to experience any paint flaking off because of bendiness..
Some details are bit softer than on the same figures in metal. Several minis from the original bones Kickstarter lineup have been discontinued because of bad details (such as the infamously missing noses on certain minis).
Mould lines are not very visible...until you paint them. Mould lines need to be sliced off much like restic and are not easy to get rid of. They cannot be scraped off like metal or GW plastic. But you don't get mould-slippage problems with Bones.
Bent bits are easy to straighten by holding the part in near-boiling water for some seconds, Usually the part straightens itself out. Or use your fingers. Hold the part how you want it, then dip in freezing water to set. The same method can be used on restic and some resins.
It is just a shame that Reaper doesn't have any european distribution, when ordering a single or a few miniatures from the US the postage is just too much.
great thread. I felt I had to weigh in on this one about the Bones material as this was in question here.
It must be said that the example with the bendy bones dragon skull is not a good one, That specific part is especially rubbery, probably because of getting it out of the mould would be impossible otherwise. They are cast in steel moulds, much like GW sprue plastic.
Most bones are not even close to being rubbery like that, they are still somewhat bendy, but the bigger models / thicker parts are usually quite solid. Bigger figures is where Bones is at it's best. They are great for the price,
The thin parts, though...urgh. Painting human sized skeletons are a bit like painting half-boiled spaghetti. They move a bit around when being drybrushed to put it that way. Then again, they are pretty indestructible and I have yet to experience any paint flaking off because of bendiness..
Some details are bit softer than on the same figures in metal. Several minis from the original bones Kickstarter lineup have been discontinued because of bad details (such as the infamously missing noses on certain minis).
Mould lines are not very visible...until you paint them. Mould lines need to be sliced off much like restic and are not easy to get rid of. They cannot be scraped off like metal or GW plastic. But you don't get mould-slippage problems with Bones.
Bent bits are easy to straighten by holding the part in near-boiling water for some seconds, Usually the part straightens itself out. Or use your fingers. Hold the part how you want it, then dip in freezing water to set. The same method can be used on restic and some resins.
I was actually hailing the "sponginess" of some Bones as a benefit- I should also have mentioned that some parts are very firm. The Wehrkind Spongy Factor(WSF) I've found I like about it. I don't have to worry about dropping a model and something breaking. But no, not every model has the WSF as the Kaladax head does.
The flexy aspect is often very nice. There was a video before with one of Reaper's painters painting up an orc then abusing the hell out of it, resulting in pretty much zero damage to model or paint. Apparently the paint and model flex in similar enough ways that chipping isn't as much of an issue. I am definitely excited to slam some paint on my pile of Bones figs with my daughter as soon as she is old enough to not just eat them.
My painted Bones stuff has survived the mauling my kids have given them.
Heck, I forgot to seal a few of them and they didn't look worse the wear.
The flex really helps the figures with spindly pieces. I have a few Dark Elves that would have been a multitude of bent and broken pieces had I given my kids the metal versions.
I'm not a big fan of kickstarter so never get into backing stuff, but i do love the bigger bones models, the frost giant being particular favourite, for just £7.
The second kickstarter reaper did included a huge dragon with some heroes around it and treasure or other scenery. Has anyone any idea when that may be turning up for the rest of us?
I'd love the really big dragons, but not really taken with a zombie dragon at all, I have ebonwrath, which is a nice model, but really want something bigger.
NoggintheNog wrote: I'm not a big fan of kickstarter so never get into backing stuff, but i do love the bigger bones models, the frost giant being particular favourite, for just £7.
The second kickstarter reaper did included a huge dragon with some heroes around it and treasure or other scenery. Has anyone any idea when that may be turning up for the rest of us?
I'd love the really big dragons, but not really taken with a zombie dragon at all, I have ebonwrath, which is a nice model, but really want something bigger.
They'll probably be up for sale in late Febuary or March.
Wehrkind wrote: Fox Force Five was the name of the tv show Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction (played by Uma Thurman) was supposed to be in, but only the pilot got made.
Automatically Appended Next Post: ... and wow, that was over 20 years ago. I am so surprised I nearly needed to change my Depends.
There you go - still not Force Five - which was more like 30+ years ago here in the USA, based off of cartoons that are now close to 40 years old!
I swear Force Five was at the tail end of the 70s though, not the early 80s.
I know I was watching syndicated reruns of the stuff back around 81/82 and knowing it was old then.
I also remember thinking Tranzor Z was a rehash of those other shows when I was little. How little I knew!
Maybe my Alzheimer's is kicking in.
And yes, a tabletop super robot game of some sort is something I've pined for since I first saw Mazinga rocket punch Doublas M-2 straight through the chest. Tabletop Kikaiju are something the world is seriously lacking.
NoggintheNog wrote: I'm not a big fan of kickstarter so never get into backing stuff, but i do love the bigger bones models, the frost giant being particular favourite, for just £7.
The second kickstarter reaper did included a huge dragon with some heroes around it and treasure or other scenery. Has anyone any idea when that may be turning up for the rest of us?
I'd love the really big dragons, but not really taken with a zombie dragon at all, I have ebonwrath, which is a nice model, but really want something bigger.
It's still in their preview section listed as a Feb release.
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Wehrkind wrote: Fox Force Five was the name of the tv show Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction (played by Uma Thurman) was supposed to be in, but only the pilot got made.
Automatically Appended Next Post: ... and wow, that was over 20 years ago. I am so surprised I nearly needed to change my Depends.
jorny wrote: It is just a shame that Reaper doesn't have any european distribution, when ordering a single or a few miniatures from the US the postage is just too much.
If you're after Reaper in the EU try http://miniature-heroes.co.uk/ (if they don't have it in stock they do pretty regular orders from the US and can get it for you)
Only those that bothered with the MM2 At least MM2 was better than that abysmal Fiend Folio. Reaper calls it a Goroloth, BTW. It's back in 5e too. Along with the flumph of all things
Here is a classic AD&D monster from MM-- apparently a new release, the Peryton
Those have difficulty putting Godzilla in a choke hold though...
I do use some of the Reaper monsters (Bones and Metal) to battle it out with some of 1/144 mecha from Bandai though.
One of the nice things about monsters is that ogre with a tree limb club quickly becomes a giant with a tree trunk club as you scale down. Just have to watch out for things that break scale.
I know I've been ninja'd more than once but oh well, let's look at the NEW RELEASES!
First up i have to plug the mech suit
I mean just look at that nasty mother-father. Looks effective and reasonably practical too. And at $20 for metal not bad at all.
IMEF Bulldog I for those looking for it. And that little I raises my hopes for more.
And hey GW, if you're listening, next time you're looking at making a super marine suit you might want to look at this for inspiration.
Rather than say... this...
Then we have an ogre
Fair and competent enough, actually pretty darn good. But at $20 for metal I'm not sure it's that much better than this fellow for $2.50
That being said Bobby Jackson apparently has a few on the way so if this is something you like there will be more in a consistent style and scale.
Going back to PC type minis we have this Legendary Elven Fisherman with his enchanted hook of catching +3 (which can also represent a hook +1 or hook +2 with some green stuffing). Whether you're on the hunt for Old Crafty, Old Ironjaw or just a run of the mill Aboleth, Reaper has you covered.
Then we have one of the classic beasts from the Monster Manual 1 (circa 1979), yes at long last there's a Berbalang mini!
(OK that's a bit of a fib, the Berbalang is actually from the Fiend Folio)
NSFW SPOILER
Spoiler:
Sorry I had to put spoilers on Tyrea Bronzelocks lest anyone get in trouble for looking at her massive, firm, protruding...
...axe.
And finally, as you can clearly see the details and pose on Kurt Wolfson will make him equally at home in a Space Wolf, Chaos Warrior, Dark Eldar or Tomb King army.
Truly one of the most stunning miniatures I have ever seen! Not since the Emperor's new armor back in the day has there been such a long-awaited figure.
There's still some previews for me to go through then I should be caught up, in the meantime enjoy!
I'm looking forward to seeing you paint a bones mini kidkyoto. If you make them look good I might not be able to resist buying a heap. They have townsfolk!
Not bad, but I think I prefer Forge World's version.
Really? I think this wee-wees all over FW's version from a great height. (Not least because it looks like it could actually fly, or even just move around with ease, rather than than drag it's disfigured, crippled bulk around)
Not sure which I love more; Reaper minis, or this thread. I haven't picked up any of the Bones releases (not really a fan of the type of plastic they went with) but I do pick up their metal sculpts from time to time. They make great PC minis for the fantasy RPGs I'm in.
weetyskemian44 wrote: I'm looking forward to seeing you paint a bones mini kidkyoto. If you make them look good I might not be able to resist buying a heap. They have townsfolk!
Um... if you're looking for good painting (or indeed any painting until the twins are old enough to be shipped off to military school) I'm probably not your guy.
The flexy aspect is often very nice. There was a video before with one of Reaper's painters painting up an orc then abusing the hell out of it, resulting in pretty much zero damage to model or paint. Apparently the paint and model flex in similar enough ways that chipping isn't as much of an issue. I am definitely excited to slam some paint on my pile of Bones figs with my daughter as soon as she is old enough to not just eat them.
The incomparable Victoria Lamb. Her quick 'i'ma gonna abuse the hell outta this orc' figure was so well done... and then the horrors she made it undergo....
And finally, as you can clearly see the details and pose on Kurt Wolfson will make him equally at home in a Space Wolf, Chaos Warrior, Dark Eldar or Tomb King army.
Truly one of the most stunning miniatures I have ever seen! Not since the Emperor's new armor back in the day has there been such a long-awaited figure.
For those curious - this is actually the metal version of the Bones "barbarian holding erect his long hard... axe" from the front page.
adamsouza wrote: Part of me wants to use one of these as a Greater Demon of Nurgle, or maybe a Nurgle Demon Prince
Adam... I am disappoint.
Everyone knows that's obviously supposed to be a Herald of Nurgle.
I mean, come on, man. One can only get away with so much when using "Counts As." Let's not push it too far. All right?
Don't make me call you WAAC!
adamsouza wrote: Part of me wants to use one of these as a Greater Demon of Nurgle, or maybe a Nurgle Demon Prince
Adam... I am disappoint.
Everyone knows that's obviously supposed to be a Herald of Nurgle.
I mean, come on, man. One can only get away with so much when using "Counts As." Let's not push it too far. All right?
Don't make me call you WAAC!
At first glance, it doesn't make much sense. However, if you pick them up - the dwarf is notably heavier than the dragon. The dragon is also in a few parts - so you don't have the undercuts like you have around the dwarf's beard and axe.
IIRC, they felt the need to watch the mold life more closely due to the cost of mold blanks going up a bit. You will also notice that there has been a bit of a price increase on big things. Same reasoning behind it, though the issue there of course is that when it comes to replacing the mold for a big miniature, the mold costs more than the mold for little miniatures.
Granted, even with all that said - I don't fault companies for raising prices. I know my own bills go up year after year (both for consumables like groceries and what not - as well as taxes, utilities and the rest of the bills). I get a bit annoyed when they go up a lot...like one company in particular tends to like to do... (especially when you look at said companies bills and they are not going up...).
Sean thanks for the information, as an outsider I'm used to only looking at size and/or licence for a mini, never really thought of the issues involved in molding them.
I wonder, will Reaper's Bones end up killing their metal? I'm a born again metal fan, at least for smaller figures but I wince at some of the prices.
Can Reaper really sell that many $10 wizrds and $20 ogres while also selling them for $3, $5?
Also since the last Bones wave put many metal figures in plastic it might create an expectation that if you wait a year or two (which is not that long in the mini painting world) you'll get the same figure in Bonium.
but a GMs that need figures for pathfinder/D&D etc (and players needing a character that's 'just right) won't and that's where Reaper's biggest market is
If the stuff is in Bones that's what will sell (especially for those 20 goblins/skeletons etc), but if not they'll get the metal instead
and those who think the metals are too expensive would still have thought them too expensive before Bones, they'd just have picked up buckets of 'commons' D&D prepaints instead
Orlando, that's a great point. I think RPG gamers are pretty price insensitive if the miniature is what they want. How often do you buy a PC mini? A few times a year, tops!
it's a big market though, and I know I'd rather pay $20 for the exact model I picture than $6 for something close enough.
Kid_Kyoto wrote: I wonder, will Reaper's Bones end up killing their metal? I'm a born again metal fan, at least for smaller figures but I wince at some of the prices.
Can Reaper really sell that many $10 wizrds and $20 ogres while also selling them for $3, $5?
Also since the last Bones wave put many metal figures in plastic it might create an expectation that if you wait a year or two (which is not that long in the mini painting world) you'll get the same figure in Bonium.
As I understand it, the two major waves of Bones haven't reduced their metal sales at all (metal is actually up year over year - as well as the two KS and retail sales of Bones added into the mix). Even if the metal were down a bit - it wouldn't kill the metal as part of the business. Because of the way metals are structured versus plastics - you need to sell far fewer of them for a sculpt to be worthy of creating in metal versus plastic. Something like the armadillo figure from a few months back is a very niche figure. You might sell a few hundred a year tops. Most people won't need hordes of them. On the other hand, a few hundred metal figures at $3 a pop or so wholesale nets $900. Toss $450 to your sculptor, $150 for your packaging and materials, $75 for the molds and maybe another $75 for labor related costs (casting, packaging...). That ends up being a $150 profit before taxes for a post apocalyptic armadillo miniature on the year. The next year, that becomes $600 (sculptor is paid off).
Those niche figures are an important aspect of Reapers business. Even if you don't buy the armadillo - it sticks in your head. If someone comes along asking where they can get an odd ball miniature, Reaper is one of the first companies that comes up. Insidious ploy...
In any case, the calculus for getting a plastic miniature to be worth while is a good bit different. For low demand items, PCs and the like - it would be years before the molds actually start to make a profit. Granted, they don't need to be replaced (within the realm of low turnover miniatures...), but capital is tied up in those molds that prevent or slow down expansion. The first year, you might have $450 to the sculptor, $100 for packaging and materials, $10,000 for the mold and $25 for labor. Sell them at $450. So, you pay off the sculptor the first year - and loose $10125. For the next 30 years you are paying off the molds. After 30 years time, your profit would go up to $325 per year on the figure. You could be generous and assume that 4 times as many people will buy the figures at the lower price point...just because who doesn't want an armadillo figure... That still puts the first 7-8 years of sales in paying off the mold.
(Calculations are rough and ugly - they will not withstand an audit, but are more or less based on actual costs)
The Bones material is more useful for mobs, large monsters and the like. Mobs, because very few people buy just one kobold. Normally, you are looking to pick up 2 or 3 dozen at a time. As a result, as opposed to selling 300 a year, they sell 11,000. The mold is paid off the first year and starts making a profit the next year. Similar issues exist for the very large figures - though for different reasons. They still may not sell a large number of something like their dragon figures, but at the lower price point versus metal - they might sell that 4 times as many figure. Because the cost to manufacture the large figure doesn't strictly correlate to the size in plastic - the relative cost to metal means that they don't need to sell 11,000 of them...they may only need to sell 2,000 to break even (other related factors like reduced shipping costs to retail and wholesale customers start to add up quickly when comparing a pallet of metal dragons versus a couple of UPS boxes of Bones dragons...).
but a GMs that need figures for pathfinder/D&D etc (and players needing a character that's 'just right) won't and that's where Reaper's biggest market is
If the stuff is in Bones that's what will sell (especially for those 20 goblins/skeletons etc), but if not they'll get the metal instead
and those who think the metals are too expensive would still have thought them too expensive before Bones, they'd just have picked up buckets of 'commons' D&D prepaints instead
And this too. Though I would probably reverse it to some extent. Most mini collectors will buy the metal figures. Most GMs will end up being more price conscious and look for the Bones figures. If they can't get a shadow dragon in Bones (which I think a shadow dragon made it to Bones...but I am having a bit of a hard time thinking of a good example), they will likely use a Green Dragon and just tell everyone at the table it is a shadow dragon. Provided it is roughly the right size and shape - it is good enough in many cases. I know I have fought off more than a few hordes of dried beans over the years...
The mini collectors, buying fewer miniatures and generally using them for display will still appreciate the crisper details and large variety of the metal line. A diorama might need 4 or 5 orcs and two or three hero figures (whereas a single encounter might need 3 times that for the gaming side of things). They both end up spending the same amount of money, just a different balance of quality versus quantity.
As I understand it, the two major waves of Bones haven't reduced their metal sales at all (metal is actually up year over year - as well as the two KS and retail sales of Bones added into the mix). Even if the metal were down a bit - it wouldn't kill the metal as part of the business. Because of the way metals are structured versus plastics - you need to sell far fewer of them for a sculpt to be worthy of creating in metal versus plastic. Something like the armadillo figure from a few months back is a very niche figure. You might sell a few hundred a year tops. Most people won't need hordes of them. On the other hand, a few hundred metal figures at $3 a pop or so wholesale nets $900. Toss $450 to your sculptor, $150 for your packaging and materials, $75 for the molds and maybe another $75 for labor related costs (casting, packaging...). That ends up being a $150 profit before taxes for a post apocalyptic armadillo miniature on the year. The next year, that becomes $600 (sculptor is paid off).
Those niche figures are an important aspect of Reapers business. Even if you don't buy the armadillo - it sticks in your head. If someone comes along asking where they can get an odd ball miniature, Reaper is one of the first companies that comes up. Insidious ploy...
In any case, the calculus for getting a plastic miniature to be worth while is a good bit different. For low demand items, PCs and the like - it would be years before the molds actually start to make a profit. Granted, they don't need to be replaced (within the realm of low turnover miniatures...), but capital is tied up in those molds that prevent or slow down expansion. The first year, you might have $450 to the sculptor, $100 for packaging and materials, $10,000 for the mold and $25 for labor. Sell them at $450. So, you pay off the sculptor the first year - and loose $10125. For the next 30 years you are paying off the molds. After 30 years time, your profit would go up to $325 per year on the figure. You could be generous and assume that 4 times as many people will buy the figures at the lower price point...just because who doesn't want an armadillo figure... That still puts the first 7-8 years of sales in paying off the mold.
(Calculations are rough and ugly - they will not withstand an audit, but are more or less based on actual costs)
The Bones material is more useful for mobs, large monsters and the like. Mobs, because very few people buy just one kobold. Normally, you are looking to pick up 2 or 3 dozen at a time. As a result, as opposed to selling 300 a year, they sell 11,000. The mold is paid off the first year and starts making a profit the next year. Similar issues exist for the very large figures - though for different reasons. They still may not sell a large number of something like their dragon figures, but at the lower price point versus metal - they might sell that 4 times as many figure. Because the cost to manufacture the large figure doesn't strictly correlate to the size in plastic - the relative cost to metal means that they don't need to sell 11,000 of them...they may only need to sell 2,000 to break even (other related factors like reduced shipping costs to retail and wholesale customers start to add up quickly when comparing a pallet of metal dragons versus a couple of UPS boxes of Bones dragons...).
Thanks again, I get the basic economics of plastic vs metal.
So doing Orcs and Dragons (hoards and biggies) makes total sense.
What I don't get is why they're doing so many niche characters and monsters in bones.
Sure they'll sell plenty of generic crossbow guy
and shipping crate
but Caryatid Columns? I mean talk about a deep cut from the Fiend Folio...
But hey there's the one with millions of Kickstarter dollars and I'm happy to make $20 from selling on ebay so they must know something...
heartserenade wrote: And Caryatids usually come in multiples to support something else:
Spoiler:
It does make sense to do them in Bones.
I've pictured them in Bones with two shipping containers (above and below), and it took me several minutes to re-compose myself. A highly entertaining, if slightly disturbing project that would be!
but Caryatid Columns? I mean talk about a deep cut from the Fiend Folio...
But hey there's the one with millions of Kickstarter dollars and I'm happy to make $20 from selling on ebay so they must know something...
Bit of all of the above. When they are monsters - they generally come in more than one at a time. When they are statues, they generally come in more than one at a time. Not necessarily goblin or orc levels - but more than a few. I already have a couple of ideas which will involve a few dozen of the static ones though. Also, remember that those end up being a fun miniature to use even if your not intending to use them as golems (especially if you have used the golems before). As a DM, you reveal a room which is lined on both sides with statues...sets up the paranoia in the players...
I believe that Bones I involved conversion of their highest selling metals in the 'human sized' range, although the larger stuff was a big more eclectic
so they had solid sales data that they were minis that a lot of people wanted (or some people that wanted a lot of)
but Caryatid Columns? I mean talk about a deep cut from the Fiend Folio...
But hey there's the one with millions of Kickstarter dollars and I'm happy to make $20 from selling on ebay so they must know something...
Bit of all of the above. When they are monsters - they generally come in more than one at a time. When they are statues, they generally come in more than one at a time. Not necessarily goblin or orc levels - but more than a few. I already have a couple of ideas which will involve a few dozen of the static ones though. Also, remember that those end up being a fun miniature to use even if your not intending to use them as golems (especially if you have used the golems before). As a DM, you reveal a room which is lined on both sides with statues...sets up the paranoia in the players...
Yeah, I mean, what is the two pack going to sell for? $6? $8? You can buy a row of six of them for under $50, paint them in an evening, and now you've got cool scenery, a great red herring, options for cool scenarios, and even, in a pinch, six perfectly servicable female warriors.
Ha! I wouldn't give you $2.50 for it. It makes Trish Carden's dragons look good.
Unfortunate choice of pictures for the catalog that...granted, it is a bit on the goofy side with the feet - though that picture makes it look much worse:
Spoiler:
The general head design and what not is in order to fit in with these guys:
Kid_Kyoto wrote: I stand corrected, I never should have bad mouthed the columns...
Heck now I want some.
Me too, actually...
But... I still wonder if demand for column golems is greater than say, demand for rank and file goblins?
Probably a lot less. They do have 3 different sculpts of D&D goblins and 9 different sculpts of Pathfinder goblins though.
Yeah, while I havne't painted them up, I liked the gobbos in the first kickstarter. They're very much RPG/skirmish goblins.
If you sold packs of, say, four different sculpts of archers, four sculpts of spears, and maybe a pack of command, I know I'd be buying them for goblin hordes.
That's what surpises me. I know that RPGS is a way bigger market than mass combat, but small, cheap, simple models like gobbos seem like a good way tot test those waters.
Kid_Kyoto wrote: I stand corrected, I never should have bad mouthed the columns...
Heck now I want some.
Me too, actually...
But... I still wonder if demand for column golems is greater than say, demand for rank and file goblins?
Probably a lot less. They do have 3 different sculpts of D&D goblins and 9 different sculpts of Pathfinder goblins though.
Yeah, while I havne't painted them up, I liked the gobbos in the first kickstarter. They're very much RPG/skirmish goblins.
If you sold packs of, say, four different sculpts of archers, four sculpts of spears, and maybe a pack of command, I know I'd be buying them for goblin hordes.
That's what surpises me. I know that RPGS is a way bigger market than mass combat, but small, cheap, simple models like gobbos seem like a good way tot test those waters.
I agree entirely, and there tends to be a little split within Reaper regarding it (some of it being one hand, other hand internal conflict too...).
The Pughs are wargamers. That is what they like, that is why Reaper has had various wargames pretty much from the get go. They really want to do plastic wargame figures. However, they are also accountants and have decades of sales data that tells them that their current customer base are RPG players. Various other Reaper Peeps fall into one camp or the other. It is a bit of an investment to go ahead and bet on a wargame product for them, but it is something that they have considered doing a rollout for grunts from their Warlord game. Personally, I think it would do quite well - though, I can understand the apprehension that might have. As they build sales data from the Bones releases though - I think we will see some more grunt packs with larger numbers of sculpts sooner rather than later.
If you look at their top 50 list for Bones - it does look to have a lot of overlap with what a wargamer might purchase:
Granted, there are still a lot of RPG figures in there too...a year or so of additional sales data with the expanded offerings from this years KS will be telling though.
What I don't get is why they're doing so many niche characters and monsters in bones.
Sure they'll sell plenty of generic crossbow guy and shipping crate
but Caryatid Columns? I mean talk about a deep cut from the Fiend Folio...
But hey there's the one with millions of Kickstarter dollars and I'm happy to make $20 from selling on ebay so they must know something...
I don't know what Caryatid Columns are (or care, since I'm not a D&D player) but those look like cheap scenic statues for scenery to me, and if they're cheap enough I'd potentially buy a couple of packs to knock up quickly and glue to buildings.
Consider those two models shown to be a before and after. It's kind of related to a stone golem. They pretend to be columns supporting whatever and at some trigger they come to life and hack you up.
Were those in expansion 2 from the kickstarter? I may not have any of them coming in.
I agree entirely, and there tends to be a little split within Reaper regarding it (some of it being one hand, other hand internal conflict too...).
The Pughs are wargamers. That is what they like, that is why Reaper has had various wargames pretty much from the get go. They really want to do plastic wargame figures. However, they are also accountants and have decades of sales data that tells them that their current customer base are RPG players. Various other Reaper Peeps fall into one camp or the other. It is a bit of an investment to go ahead and bet on a wargame product for them, but it is something that they have considered doing a rollout for grunts from their Warlord game. Personally, I think it would do quite well - though, I can understand the apprehension that might have. As they build sales data from the Bones releases though - I think we will see some more grunt packs with larger numbers of sculpts sooner rather than later.
If you look at their top 50 list for Bones - it does look to have a lot of overlap with what a wargamer might purchase:
Granted, there are still a lot of RPG figures in there too...a year or so of additional sales data with the expanded offerings from this years KS will be telling though.
Very informative link and well, it seems I was wrong. I would have figured the top 50 would include tons of generic skeletons, zombies, orcs etc but other than the goblins and few monsters it's all characters.
I guess quality interesting ones win out over bulk.
Plus as others mentioned there's still a lot of pre painted D&D figures out there.
Reaper offers quite a few "unusual" sculpts, so the 'columns don't really stand out as being unusual for me. Sure, generic crossbowmen will sell more figures -- except that other companies sell generic crossbowmen, too.
Thanks for that Well I had dumped a bunch of funds to get the dragons don't share multiple times to keep the ruins for terrain and sell off the heroes and dragons... but then I scrapped that idea, just got one, and picked up 2x expansion 3's. The saucers will be stolen by my Martians.
I agree entirely, and there tends to be a little split within Reaper regarding it (some of it being one hand, other hand internal conflict too...).
The Pughs are wargamers. That is what they like, that is why Reaper has had various wargames pretty much from the get go. They really want to do plastic wargame figures. However, they are also accountants and have decades of sales data that tells them that their current customer base are RPG players. Various other Reaper Peeps fall into one camp or the other. It is a bit of an investment to go ahead and bet on a wargame product for them, but it is something that they have considered doing a rollout for grunts from their Warlord game. Personally, I think it would do quite well - though, I can understand the apprehension that might have. As they build sales data from the Bones releases though - I think we will see some more grunt packs with larger numbers of sculpts sooner rather than later.
If you look at their top 50 list for Bones - it does look to have a lot of overlap with what a wargamer might purchase:
Granted, there are still a lot of RPG figures in there too...a year or so of additional sales data with the expanded offerings from this years KS will be telling though.
Very informative link and well, it seems I was wrong. I would have figured the top 50 would include tons of generic skeletons, zombies, orcs etc but other than the goblins and few monsters it's all characters.
I guess quality interesting ones win out over bulk.
Plus as others mentioned there's still a lot of pre painted D&D figures out there.
I think part of it is if you wanted a horde of zombies or orcs or skeletons there are other places to go than reaper.
Anyway as promised some last previews from their site.
First off Reaper is expanding their line of Gargantuan Creatures for 6mm games such as Robotech Tactics, Epic and Battletech.
You'll be able to field these towering monsters in the game of your choice where they will crush low buildings and give even the largest mecha pause.
They can also serve as normal critters for 28mm games.
Or really teeny, tiny ones for LARPs.
Reaper is also jumping in with a flying Arch Lich who is totally not Nagash and I don't know why anyone even thinks he is.
Reaper's tradition of releasing minis you never knew you wanted continues with a small line of Victorian civilians/adventurers/serial killers/victims suitable for all sorts of roles.
Per some of our discussions earlier it's interesting that Reaper apparently thinks they've got a market for metal dragons even with a dozen or so on Bones.
And that is a nice dragon.
As I mentioned earlier Bobby Jackson has some new ogres on the way. They're good. Dunno if they're $20 of good. But they are good.
OK, look, I know.
It's a green stuff blanket.
A flying green stuff blanket.
But that thing is still coming home with me to join my collection of Reaper brand floating green stuff blankets.
Y'know I've looked at her and thought and so far all I've got is 'this miniature will get a lot of fans' and really that's barely worth the trouble of typing out. Anyone got anything better?
Sean Connery from Highlander?
Fantasy Qui-Gon Jinn from Star Wars?
Dunno but that's really an amazing job on his face.
the dress ain't too bad either.
Gotta love a man so secure in his sexuality he thinks nothing of wearing an ankle length gown into battle.
And finally...
It might just be the paint job but darn I want to take that nutter home.
Is it weird that I'm most excited about the animals? Hopefully they do more variations of the farm ones.
I'm making a medieval farm right now and I need all the animals I can get my hands on. So far, nothing is appealing to my tastes in terms of sculpt. Most miniature farm animals out there for historicals look a bit too goofy and unrealistic for my taste. The Pegasus animals look good, but i don't know if the fit the 28mm scale. These however, look damn fine.
Reaper is also jumping in with a flying Arch Lich who is totally not Nagash and I don't know why anyone even thinks he is.
That is exactly what GW would like you to think...
Reaper has actually had that sculpt for awhile now. When they were building their Warlord armies, Kevin Submitted his...Julie submitted hers:
They went with Julie's because it fit better on the base size they had chosen for the game. Kevin's definitely is more badass...but Reaper didn't want to have to invent 32mm bases just to get it on the table. So, Nagash is the not-Moandain.
Actually if I was mad, and a scientist, I would create a shrinking ray that turned things into tiny 28mm plastic replicas of themselves and then I would take over the world! Mooohahaha.
I always like reaper stuff I have plenty at home for RPG's and have used many for conversions. Not a fan of the PVC cast, but thier metal is top notch.
Joking aside, that's some bloody fine livestock. They actually look like what they're supposed to represent, which as HeartSerenade says is rare enough in 28mm animals that aren't horses. (and even then some horses can look a bit... mutatey)
And I'd like it if they produced a few sheep too. <---
That's another Nagash that's better than Nagash. Ogres are pretty good too.
Given that I'm in the middle of a round of commissions, sculpting Victorianised (is that a word?) heroes and villains, I think I know a bunch of guys who might be interested in a few civilians.
And is that another Julie Guthrie dragon? Reaper can make it in PVC or white metal or platinum or the ear wax from rare Himalayan Takins if they want, as long as it means Julie Guthrie is sculpting new dragons...
It distresses me that that's the first thing that comes to your mind when faced with the noble sheep. I know someone who would fix you with a disapproving stare.
Yep, but New Zealand is the Wales of the Southern Hemisphere and the sheep thing is as true there as it is in the principality (that's Wales for those not up on the classification of the UK's constituent parts).
Vermis wrote: It distresses me that that's the first thing that comes to your mind when faced with the noble sheep. I know someone who would fix you with a disapproving stare.
Spoiler:
That the Welsh herd sheep? How is that distressing?
Your avatar, from Wallace and Gromit?
Anyway, you can see that Reaper does indeed make a sheep mini. Now if only they would make a vicuña mini. Finest wool in the world, vicuña wool.
Vermis wrote: Joking aside, that's some bloody fine livestock. They actually look like what they're supposed to represent, which as HeartSerenade says is rare enough in 28mm animals that aren't horses. (and even then some horses can look a bit... mutatey)
Of course the ockers are only upset with New Zealand because we are able to boast about the number of sheep we have to the acre, rather than the other way around
Vermis wrote: It distresses me that that's the first thing that comes to your mind when faced with the noble sheep. I know someone who would fix you with a disapproving stare.
Spoiler:
At least there has been no mention of Velcro gloves...
Vermis wrote: Red Harvest: It was directed more at Padre, and the tired old (even mildly xenophobic) jokes about what goes on with sheep in Wales and New Zealand.
Ah, I missed that. I was thinking about something I heard years ago, that the Welsh has such fine longbowmen because they would practice while they were out with their flocks in the higher altitude pastures. Can't say that I've heard anything about New Zealanders and sheep.
I thought so. It has been years since I saw "A Close Shave" Brilliant stuff, but then so were the earlier works.
And back on topic... The one thing I note about the Reaper minis I have -- mostly Pathfinder Iconics-- is that the sculpting quality can be quite variable. Although this recent batch of releases appear to be pretty good.
Red Harvest wrote: I thought so. It has been years since I saw "A Close Shave" Brilliant stuff, but then so were the earlier works.
And back on topic... The one thing I note about the Reaper minis I have -- mostly Pathfinder Iconics-- is that the sculpting quality can be quite variable. Although this recent batch of releases appear to be pretty good.
One of the reasons for the variable sculpting goes to one of the things I really like about Reaper - they are willing to give new artists a shot.
Every now and again, I like to look at the progress the sculptor has made over the years. Search by the sculptors name, sort by SKU (up or down, depending on if you want to go forward or backward through time). You can watch most of them improve (even old hands like Julie Guthrie).
He spends much more time on the other end of things...
Although some people have called me crazy for thinking as much, if you take a look at Werner and take a look at the faces he sculpts - I see a lot of his face in a lot of the miniatures he does. One of those things where if you practice using the most readily available model (yourself) it can to be hard to get away from it.
Sinful Hero wrote: Bones are basically like any pre-painted plastic models you would get, but not painted. Kinda rubbery, so they never break. If you have kids, or friends with butter-fingers, they are a godsend.
Spoiler:
My view was always that Bones has a perfect place in the market for limited use miniatures, primarily for people running table top RPGs or dungeon crawlers. If you need 10 gnolls for an encounter and want some models, but have no conceivable further use for gnolls, Bones puts them at a price point that suddenly makes it reasonable to buy models for such a limited purpose.
Anyway as promised some last previews from their site.
First off Reaper is expanding their line of Gargantuan Creatures for 6mm games such as Robotech Tactics, Epic and Battletech.
I feel weird saying this, but that is a lovely cow. As a man with lots of cow models, that particular cow has both nice detail and some great cow personality. Not too much personality to make it seem less than cow-like, but just enough personality to really sell being the family milk cow. If I needed a cow with a name, like Bessie, or Moolinda, that would be the cow I would use. That's not a cow you stick in a fenced pen for background farm ambiance. That is the Bart the Bamboo Harvester Bear of cows.
Edit: I am buying that cow. I am naming her Moolinda. I am designing an entire day of Wild West gaming around lovely Moolinda. She'll have to go in the case with the people miniatures. She would make all of my other cows jealous.
Edit Edit: Now my dead cow miniatures from the Johnny Borg Roadkill set will have so much more emotional impact. Alas, poor Moolinda, I knew her Wyat: a bovine of infinite cud, of most excellent udders...
Cavalcade has some excellent animals as well, alas - no sheep, or regular cows - but oxen, and llamas and emus...not enough emu representation in gaming.
I bought them when they were owned by a friend up in Seattle - but the prices at Forlorn are pretty good too.
Cavalcade has some excellent animals as well, alas - no sheep, or regular cows - but oxen, and llamas and emus...not enough emu representation in gaming.
I bought them when they were owned by a friend up in Seattle - but the prices at Forlorn are pretty good too.
That there is an okay cow Sean, but it sure isn't a Moolinda.
I've got the outline of my Moolinda game all worked out, by the way. Now I just need that cow!
Cavalcade has some excellent animals as well, alas - no sheep, or regular cows - but oxen, and llamas and emus...not enough emu representation in gaming.
I bought them when they were owned by a friend up in Seattle - but the prices at Forlorn are pretty good too.
That there is an okay cow Sean, but it sure isn't a Moolinda.
I've got the outline of my Moolinda game all worked out, by the way. Now I just need that cow!
I am strangely intrigued. If I lived in Louisiana I'd be all up for that Moolinda game.
I may pick up the cow to serve as Cowzilla in a Robotech Tactics game.
Vermis wrote: Though you stray from the path of pure ovinity, Weeble, have you ever seen this?
No, I haven't seen that, but it looks very fun.
I happen to have lots of cows because I got some cows for a farm, then I got some more cows for a cattle ranch, then I needed even more cows to properly do stampedes and such. Sometimes you can't do your scenario properly unless you've got 40 cow miniatures.
I've also got some decent rules for handling herds that have worked out pretty well so far.
@ KK - If you are in Louisiana, you are welcome to come join the fun. I think that the game will have to be sometime in late March. Moolinda, of course, will need to be released first.
Spoiler:
First I thought that maybe some bandits had been smuggling gold in Moolinda's gut, but I've done lots of bandits lately. There also needs to be a small child, sick or injured or some such. I thought maybe he was sick and needed Moolinda's milk or something. I also wanted some Walburns (like super hillbillies) to be involved.
It all fell into place with a little bit of a supernatural back story. You see, a thousand years ago or something, off in the 'Far East' or what-have-you, the spirit of some horrible demon or evil god was trapped within the mortal flesh of a sacred cow. The cow, of course, was made helpfully ageless in the process, and curiously resistant to disease, etc. and so forth. Otherwise it's a normal cow, only with the accumulated wisdom of several hundred cow lifetimes.
So at some point or another our sacred cow makes it to the Territories of the Republic (that's essentially the US). Various secret societies and whatnot have kept careful watch on the cow over the years, of course, lest the cow be killed and the evil subsequently released. Currently, the Spiral Cult (basically good guys), represented in Devil's Perch (the local town) by Mr. Aloisius Reems, in the guise of a faro dealer, has been keeping tabs on the sacred cow, amongst his long list of evils and supernatural time bombs to keep an eye on.
Now, the cow has for a long time been in relatively 'safe' keeping as the "stock wife" of Hezekiah, 'Hez', Walburn, who calls her by the name of Hephzibab. Hephzibab has enough experience and good sense to know that she doesn't relish being "wed" to a Walburn, so the trouble begins to start when Hephzibab takes it upon herself one day to up and wonder off. Hephzibab ultimately wanders to Devil's Perch where the good natured bovine is witness to a particularly bad wagon accident. Little Billy Williams is trapped beneath an overturned wagon, gasp! Hephzibab, in her ageless wisdom, takes it upon herself to lift the wagon and drag little Billy to safety.
Of course, Hephzibab, named Moolinda by Billy, garners instant fame and recognition. The story spreads across the territory like wildfire, and even makes it into the columns of papers in the big cities back East. The story gets so big that the Governor of Loughton Territory, Montgomery Cole, is pressured into awarding Moolinda with a medal of valor or some such ridiculous award. The corpulent Governor assigns this menial task to one of his aides (we'll call him Quincy Poole), and the ceremony is scheduled to take place at the upcoming County Fair.
Now, as it happens, all of this publicity has brought Moolinda to the attention of the evil cultists who have worshiped our demon or evil god imprisoned within the worldly flesh of Moolinda, and have searched for her with the aim of one day slaying the good natured beast and freeing their dark master. Naturally, these folks show up to the County Fair.
Also quite naturally, Hez Walburn and plenty of his kin also show up to the County Fair, on purely normal business (they don't read the papers), but Hez instantly recognizes his "stock wife" up on the platform getting her medal of valor!
Mr. Poole can't let it be known that the cow the Governor just gave a ridiculous medal to is in some marriage to a filthy Walburn in contravention of all laws human and natural. At the same time, Mr. Reems can't allow this precious cow to be slain by cultists, lest a great evil be set loose on the world again! Enter the player characters, good friends of Mr. Reems and happy to get paid by Mr. Poole to keep them Walburns away from Moolinda.
So we have a chase scenario, of course. I think there's also a scenario in a hotel with Moolinda wondering up stairs and refusing to walk back down. Ultimately, the PCs have to resolve the situation by faking Moolinda's death, likely taking place in a stockyard by the train station. That way Hez can go get hisself another "stock wife", and the cultists can figure they were after the wrong cow and continue their quest elsewhere in the world.
I still have to work out the particulars of the specific scenarios, and engineer some fun, humorous rules, but that's the gist.
Vermis wrote: Though you stray from the path of pure ovinity, Weeble, have you ever seen this?
No, I haven't seen that, but it looks very fun.
I happen to have lots of cows because I got some cows for a farm, then I got some more cows for a cattle ranch, then I needed even more cows to properly do stampedes and such. Sometimes you can't do your scenario properly unless you've got 40 cow miniatures.
I've also got some decent rules for handling herds that have worked out pretty well so far.
@ KK - If you are in Louisiana, you are welcome to come join the fun. I think that the game will have to be sometime in late March. Moolinda, of course, will need to be released first.
Spoiler:
First I thought that maybe some bandits had been smuggling gold in Moolinda's gut, but I've done lots of bandits lately. There also needs to be a small child, sick or injured or some such. I thought maybe he was sick and needed Moolinda's milk or something. I also wanted some Walburns (like super hillbillies) to be involved.
It all fell into place with a little bit of a supernatural back story. You see, a thousand years ago or something, off in the 'Far East' or what-have-you, the spirit of some horrible demon or evil god was trapped within the mortal flesh of a sacred cow. The cow, of course, was made helpfully ageless in the process, and curiously resistant to disease, etc. and so forth. Otherwise it's a normal cow, only with the accumulated wisdom of several hundred cow lifetimes.
So at some point or another our sacred cow makes it to the Territories of the Republic (that's essentially the US). Various secret societies and whatnot have kept careful watch on the cow over the years, of course, lest the cow be killed and the evil subsequently released. Currently, the Spiral Cult (basically good guys), represented in Devil's Perch (the local town) by Mr. Aloisius Reems, in the guise of a faro dealer, has been keeping tabs on the sacred cow, amongst his long list of evils and supernatural time bombs to keep an eye on.
Now, the cow has for a long time been in relatively 'safe' keeping as the "stock wife" of Hezekiah, 'Hez', Walburn, who calls her by the name of Hephzibab. Hephzibab has enough experience and good sense to know that she doesn't relish being "wed" to a Walburn, so the trouble begins to start when Hephzibab takes it upon herself one day to up and wonder off. Hephzibab ultimately wanders to Devil's Perch where the good natured bovine is witness to a particularly bad wagon accident. Little Billy Williams is trapped beneath an overturned wagon, gasp! Hephzibab, in her ageless wisdom, takes it upon herself to lift the wagon and drag little Billy to safety.
Of course, Hephzibab, named Moolinda by Billy, garners instant fame and recognition. The story spreads across the territory like wildfire, and even makes it into the columns of papers in the big cities back East. The story gets so big that the Governor of Loughton Territory, Montgomery Cole, is pressured into awarding Moolinda with a medal of valor or some such ridiculous award. The corpulent Governor assigns this menial task to one of his aides (we'll call him Quincy Poole), and the ceremony is scheduled to take place at the upcoming County Fair.
Now, as it happens, all of this publicity has brought Moolinda to the attention of the evil cultists who have worshiped our demon or evil god imprisoned within the worldly flesh of Moolinda, and have searched for her with the aim of one day slaying the good natured beast and freeing their dark master. Naturally, these folks show up to the County Fair.
Also quite naturally, Hez Walburn and plenty of his kin also show up to the County Fair, on purely normal business (they don't read the papers), but Hez instantly recognizes his "stock wife" up on the platform getting her medal of valor!
Mr. Poole can't let it be known that the cow the Governor just gave a ridiculous medal to is in some marriage to a filthy Walburn in contravention of all laws human and natural. At the same time, Mr. Reems can't allow this precious cow to be slain by cultists, lest a great evil be set loose on the world again! Enter the player characters, good friends of Mr. Reems and happy to get paid by Mr. Poole to keep them Walburns away from Moolinda.
So we have a chase scenario, of course. I think there's also a scenario in a hotel with Moolinda wondering up stairs and refusing to walk back down. Ultimately, the PCs have to resolve the situation by faking Moolinda's death, likely taking place in a stockyard by the train station. That way Hez can go get hisself another "stock wife", and the cultists can figure they were after the wrong cow and continue their quest elsewhere in the world.
I still have to work out the particulars of the specific scenarios, and engineer some fun, humorous rules, but that's the gist.
Posts like these are why I come to Dakka. You will not find a finer post on any other wargaming foum. I have mashed the Exalt button until it is a flaming, smoking, digital crater.
@ KK - If you are in Louisiana, you are welcome to come join the fun. I think that the game will have to be sometime in late March. Moolinda, of course, will need to be released first.
Spoiler:
First I thought that maybe some bandits had been smuggling gold in Moolinda's gut, but I've done lots of bandits lately. There also needs to be a small child, sick or injured or some such. I thought maybe he was sick and needed Moolinda's milk or something. I also wanted some Walburns (like super hillbillies) to be involved.
It all fell into place with a little bit of a supernatural back story. You see, a thousand years ago or something, off in the 'Far East' or what-have-you, the spirit of some horrible demon or evil god was trapped within the mortal flesh of a sacred cow. The cow, of course, was made helpfully ageless in the process, and curiously resistant to disease, etc. and so forth. Otherwise it's a normal cow, only with the accumulated wisdom of several hundred cow lifetimes.
So at some point or another our sacred cow makes it to the Territories of the Republic (that's essentially the US). Various secret societies and whatnot have kept careful watch on the cow over the years, of course, lest the cow be killed and the evil subsequently released. Currently, the Spiral Cult (basically good guys), represented in Devil's Perch (the local town) by Mr. Aloisius Reems, in the guise of a faro dealer, has been keeping tabs on the sacred cow, amongst his long list of evils and supernatural time bombs to keep an eye on.
Now, the cow has for a long time been in relatively 'safe' keeping as the "stock wife" of Hezekiah, 'Hez', Walburn, who calls her by the name of Hephzibab. Hephzibab has enough experience and good sense to know that she doesn't relish being "wed" to a Walburn, so the trouble begins to start when Hephzibab takes it upon herself one day to up and wonder off. Hephzibab ultimately wanders to Devil's Perch where the good natured bovine is witness to a particularly bad wagon accident. Little Billy Williams is trapped beneath an overturned wagon, gasp! Hephzibab, in her ageless wisdom, takes it upon herself to lift the wagon and drag little Billy to safety.
Of course, Hephzibab, named Moolinda by Billy, garners instant fame and recognition. The story spreads across the territory like wildfire, and even makes it into the columns of papers in the big cities back East. The story gets so big that the Governor of Loughton Territory, Montgomery Cole, is pressured into awarding Moolinda with a medal of valor or some such ridiculous award. The corpulent Governor assigns this menial task to one of his aides (we'll call him Quincy Poole), and the ceremony is scheduled to take place at the upcoming County Fair.
Now, as it happens, all of this publicity has brought Moolinda to the attention of the evil cultists who have worshiped our demon or evil god imprisoned within the worldly flesh of Moolinda, and have searched for her with the aim of one day slaying the good natured beast and freeing their dark master. Naturally, these folks show up to the County Fair.
Also quite naturally, Hez Walburn and plenty of his kin also show up to the County Fair, on purely normal business (they don't read the papers), but Hez instantly recognizes his "stock wife" up on the platform getting her medal of valor!
Mr. Poole can't let it be known that the cow the Governor just gave a ridiculous medal to is in some marriage to a filthy Walburn in contravention of all laws human and natural. At the same time, Mr. Reems can't allow this precious cow to be slain by cultists, lest a great evil be set loose on the world again! Enter the player characters, good friends of Mr. Reems and happy to get paid by Mr. Poole to keep them Walburns away from Moolinda.
So we have a chase scenario, of course. I think there's also a scenario in a hotel with Moolinda wondering up stairs and refusing to walk back down. Ultimately, the PCs have to resolve the situation by faking Moolinda's death, likely taking place in a stockyard by the train station. That way Hez can go get hisself another "stock wife", and the cultists can figure they were after the wrong cow and continue their quest elsewhere in the world.
I still have to work out the particulars of the specific scenarios, and engineer some fun, humorous rules, but that's the gist.
I like it. But you should pick up this guy too in case your PCs mess up.
Course once you do you'll basically be rooting for them to mess up.
Cavalcade has some excellent animals as well, alas - no sheep, or regular cows - but oxen, and llamas and emus...not enough emu representation in gaming.
I bought them when they were owned by a friend up in Seattle - but the prices at Forlorn are pretty good too.
Oooh they have a nice carabao/water buffalo. My grandfather had one once and I loved that old thing. Shame he had to die because reasons.
Would be interesting to use it if I ever tried playing Bolt Action. i was interested more in the Pacific theater so a carabao here and there would be appropriate. Shame I can't find decent Japanese WW2 miniatures, though.
REAPER PLEASE MAKE YOUR LIVESTOCK INTO BONES PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. And add sheep while you're at it.
Cavalcade has some excellent animals as well, alas - no sheep, or regular cows - but oxen, and llamas and emus...not enough emu representation in gaming.
I bought them when they were owned by a friend up in Seattle - but the prices at Forlorn are pretty good too.
The one in the middle,
It could in fact pass as a vicuña Image spoiled because Big
Spoiler:
And the other is probably a guanaco-- one of the spittingest creatures you will ever encounter But enough about the camelids of South America...
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I keep reading IMEF as "International Monetary Fund" which just makes me want those troops even more.
I have a scenario for you!
Spoiler:
World Bank Forecloses On World Farm
News in Brief • World • finance • business • ISSUE 40•41 • Oct 13, 2004
WASHINGTON, DC—Following years of threats, the World Bank foreclosed on the World Farm, a 64,000-square-mile plot of arable land in Dodoma, Tanzania that provides wheat, cattle, and goats to much of the Eastern Hemisphere. "This farm has been in my family since Zanzibar was a British protectorate," World Farmer Mwana "Clem" Mazooka said Monday, angrily waving a pitchfork. "I'll be damned if I let some world-city creditors get their grubby hands on it." In spite of Mazooka's protests, World Bank representatives said the World Farm Auction will take place on Oct. 24
Kid_Kyoto wrote: I know I've been ninja'd more than once but oh well, let's look at the NEW RELEASES!
First up i have to plug the mech suit
I mean just look at that nasty mother-father. Looks effective and reasonably practical too. And at $20 for metal not bad at all.
IMEF Bulldog I for those looking for it. And that little I raises my hopes for more.
I got the IMEF Bulldog I today. I paid full $19.99 retail for it. It's not that big. It's about the size of light warjack or a GW40KSM Terminator. Most of the other IMEF guys looks almost as tall as the guy in the armor. So it's cool but it's not very big and $20 for it seems a little bit steep thought not crazy. I'm feeling more $17.99 about it.
I'll try to find my IMEF bones and stack the bulldog up beside them tomorrow. Unless I forget. Or maybe this weekend I'll get a tube of Loktite and put together a Deadzone Stage one plague and a Warpath Enforcer commander and a cygnar Light Warjack to stand it next to. And Maybe an Infinity Squalo (old version) and the Authorized Bounty Hunter? Whatever I can scroung up. I might even be able to find an AT-43 RedBloc Kolossus.
I'd appreciate that for sure. Seems like a nice 'heavy' to attach to an IMEF squad. Whether for a game or just looks.
Looking at it again, not sure how the man fits inside, it's too big to just be an armored suit (unless it's really smaller than it looks even), but it's too small for a proper cockpit.
Yep, but New Zealand is the Wales of the Southern Hemisphere and the sheep thing is as true there as it is in the principality (that's Wales for those not up on the classification of the UK's constituent parts).
Scotland as well, at least according to Bill Connolly....
Wherever the British Empire has set foot...?
The Auld Grump - the days of old. The days of Empire! When men were men, and the sheep were scared....
Not quite sure where there are such devoted universal Monster fans that they NEED chibi versions of Frank and his bride, and are willing to pay $8 for each and then paint them... but if there are they must be very happy now.
IMEF Bulldog pics as taken with cheap camera on dusty piano bench.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Sorry, the Old Squalo TAG doesn't want to hold togeher tonight and is suffering from Abaddon Syndrome. Also I tried to find my Incusion APES suit guy but he is hiding n the depths of my...stuff.
Also here is a Mantic Deadzone Corporate Strider next to a Bulldog.
Thanks for the pics palaeomerus. I was about to say his price is pretty steep for a figure of his size, but then I pay $25 for KD figures smaller than that...so I don't have much room to complain about price.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I keep reading IMEF as "International Monetary Fund" which just makes me want those troops even more.
I have a scenario for you!
Spoiler:
World Bank Forecloses On World Farm
News in Brief • World • finance • business • ISSUE 40•41 • Oct 13, 2004
WASHINGTON, DC—Following years of threats, the World Bank foreclosed on the World Farm, a 64,000-square-mile plot of arable land in Dodoma, Tanzania that provides wheat, cattle, and goats to much of the Eastern Hemisphere. "This farm has been in my family since Zanzibar was a British protectorate," World Farmer Mwana "Clem" Mazooka said Monday, angrily waving a pitchfork. "I'll be damned if I let some world-city creditors get their grubby hands on it." In spite of Mazooka's protests, World Bank representatives said the World Farm Auction will take place on Oct. 24
Sometimes it feels like Paul Vernoeven's satire didn't go far enough. This is perfect, thanks.
I have both. Khanjira is totally worth 50 bucks but I'm glad to have gotten him for 25. Dragons don't share for 75... I dunno. I'm happy with it for 35 but at that price I probably won't be picking up another. It's.... probably worth that. The quality is there, and the ruins are pretty sweet.
"Khanjira: the Monster Who is Totally Not a Tarrasque Because They're Copyrighted" ($50)
I thought from Day One that it was a Tarrasque, but they seem to be selling it more as a Godzilla type monster (which is a pretty fine distinction, now that I think about it).
Well, my cow has been listed as a March release, but it still hasn't been released yet!
I have my game scheduled on the 28th. I need that cow!
And if anyone is interested, I finished the introductory fluff for the Moolinda game. I had to bleep out some dirty words...
Spoiler:
I’m Sorry Mrs. Moolinda
Scenario 1
Rare Beef
The turnout at the County Fair was unprecedented, and owed little to the fine weather. The beef was jumping, as they say, and prices were as high as anyone in Devil’s Perch could remember. The stockyards were packed to the rails and folks about town were in high spirits. Pistol shots rang out almost on the minute, and only occasionally in anger, as punchers from one end of the Rio Huevos to the other poured into the saloons on a mission to relieve themselves of hard-earned wages, untouched for long months spent in the saddle.
If this were not enough, the story of Moolinda the Miracle Cow had caught like wildfire on the open prairie. The tale of Moolinda’s heroic exploits had been passed by saddle and stage across the Territory, had spread by rail and wire across the Republic, and had shipped itself across the seas in less than a month’s time. In every big city Moolinda was the latest rage. They sang about her in the coffee houses, she was praised and ridiculed in the newspapers, she was dramatized in the theater. Any tabloid short of material milked the story for every drop of copy, filling their columns with curdling speculations. They reprinted reports from ancient times of scholars and philosophers describing the fantastical bovines of myth. The least scrupulous papers went so far as to print any tale of man-beasts and blasphemous couplings they could skim from the classics.
A debate over the authenticity of the story then broke out amongst believers and skeptics in the scholarly societies and scientific journals. During this campaign, journalists making a profession of science battled with those making a profession of wit, churning through gallons of ink and some little blood once they wheeled from zoology and morality to the most utterly offensive personal remarks.
The debate drove the citizens of Loughton Territory mad, and they petitioned the Governor to authenticate the story. None could say where Montgomery Cole stood on the Moolinda question, but public pressure was absolute. The Governor therefore decreed that the beneficent bovine would be awarded a medal of valor in a special ceremony to take place at the forthcoming County Fair.
Curiosity seekers and newspapermen poured into Devil’s Perch, rubbing shoulders with drunken cow punchers and effervescent locals alike. Not a spare room, hay loft, wagon bed, or store counter was unoccupied. Even the whores were three to a bed, and the houses were overflowing into the streets. Scores of people and some 200 dogs turned out for Moolinda’s award ceremony. The little stage, special built for that purpose, was surrounded by fawning and jeering onlookers, all pressing shoulder to shoulder for a closer look at the miracle cow.
Mr. Poole, appointed by the Governor to present the award, waited on the platform in the noonday sun, sweating through his newly pressed suit. A gasp arose from the crowd as little Billy Williams led Moolinda onto the stage. Whether or not the tales of her heroism were true, none could deny the animal’s stately bearing and placid magnificence…
“You stock-thieving sonofa! That’s my cousin’s stock wife!” The crowd stood in dumbfound silence at the sudden ejaculation while a wiry, weather-beaten Walburn shoved his way to the platform. He mounted the stage with a quick leap and had snatched little Billy Williams by the shirt collar before anyone could raise the least word of protest. “You stole my cousin’s cow you little home-wrecking stock thief!”
Mr. Poole was as shocked as anyone by this sudden and incomprehensible interruption, but he recovered quickly and moved to intervene, conscious of the number of pencils even then being freshly licked by tabloid journalists scenting in on a new angle to the story. “Now sir,” Mr. Poole began, “take your hands off of that boy. I am a duly appointed representative of the Governor and I…”
“Don’t you manhandle a Walburn you god pimp!” interrupted the irate Walburn, “I’m the one been wronged! This here boy stole from my kin!” The Walburn commenced to shake little Billy Williams like a terrier shaking a rat. “You tell how you stolt this cow, boy, or I’ll stove yer head in!” “Now sir!” protested Mr. Poole, “I must insist that you unhand that child this instant! This here is Moolinda the Miracle Cow, from the papers you see, and you are obviously mistaken about the animal’s provenance.”
The Walburn turned his harsh, animalistic gaze on Mr. Poole. His jaw hung loose for a moment or two whilst he worked Mr. Poole’s words over in his mind, one hand still locked on Billy’s shirt collar with an iron grip. “I aint never heard ‘no Moolinda afore. This here cow is Hephzibab, my cousin’s wife and lawful property. She been stolt near ‘month ago by this lil’ vermit.” The Walburn called over to a fellow in the crowd that might have been his double if you weren’t counting teeth. “Zeb, run oft and tell Hezekiah I done found his wife!”
The blasphemous horror of these words struck Mr. Poole like a physical blow. Whatever else happened, this would not look good for the Governor, and he was damn sure to take the blame for it. Before Mr. Poole could formulate a response, his swiftly churning thoughts were interrupted by the sound of shattering glass and a wave of oppressive heat.
Everything seemed to happen in an instant. Flames leapt across the stage. A panicked scream arose from the crowd. A gentleman in a broadcloth suit leapt onto the stage with a wicked-looking knife incongruously gripped in one hand. The Walburn shouted a curse and ran from the stage still clutching little Billy Williams. And Moolinda, beautiful, serene Moolinda, bothered by neither the screams of horror nor the leaping flames, trotted off in pursuit of Billy. Had Mr. Poole harbored any doubts about Moolinda’s authenticity, the debate was now settled as far as he was concerned. That cow deserved her medal.
“Quick! Somebody! Help! Stop that cow!” Mr. Poole raced from the platform, waving his arms and imploring to no one in particular for aid. “In the name of the Governor, protect that cow!”
Without missing a beat, Mr. Reems, the faro dealer at the Velvet Glove, explodes through the doors of the saloon. Mr. Reems hurriedly scans the crowd for a familiar face and, settling on yours, gestures frantically towards Moolinda. “Quick! Help! If you wish this world to see another dawn, protect that cow!”
weeble1000 wrote: Well, my cow has been listed as a March release, but it still hasn't been released yet!
I have my game scheduled on the 28th. I need that cow!
And if anyone is interested, I finished the introductory fluff for the Moolinda game. I had to bleep out some dirty words...
Spoiler:
I’m Sorry Mrs. Moolinda
Scenario 1
Rare Beef
The turnout at the County Fair was unprecedented, and owed little to the fine weather. The beef was jumping, as they say, and prices were as high as anyone in Devil’s Perch could remember. The stockyards were packed to the rails and folks about town were in high spirits. Pistol shots rang out almost on the minute, and only occasionally in anger, as punchers from one end of the Rio Huevos to the other poured into the saloons on a mission to relieve themselves of hard-earned wages, untouched for long months spent in the saddle.
If this were not enough, the story of Moolinda the Miracle Cow had caught like wildfire on the open prairie. The tale of Moolinda’s heroic exploits had been passed by saddle and stage across the Territory, had spread by rail and wire across the Republic, and had shipped itself across the seas in less than a month’s time. In every big city Moolinda was the latest rage. They sang about her in the coffee houses, she was praised and ridiculed in the newspapers, she was dramatized in the theater. Any tabloid short of material milked the story for every drop of copy, filling their columns with curdling speculations. They reprinted reports from ancient times of scholars and philosophers describing the fantastical bovines of myth. The least scrupulous papers went so far as to print any tale of man-beasts and blasphemous couplings they could skim from the classics.
A debate over the authenticity of the story then broke out amongst believers and skeptics in the scholarly societies and scientific journals. During this campaign, journalists making a profession of science battled with those making a profession of wit, churning through gallons of ink and some little blood once they wheeled from zoology and morality to the most utterly offensive personal remarks.
The debate drove the citizens of Loughton Territory mad, and they petitioned the Governor to authenticate the story. None could say where Montgomery Cole stood on the Moolinda question, but public pressure was absolute. The Governor therefore decreed that the beneficent bovine would be awarded a medal of valor in a special ceremony to take place at the forthcoming County Fair.
Curiosity seekers and newspapermen poured into Devil’s Perch, rubbing shoulders with drunken cow punchers and effervescent locals alike. Not a spare room, hay loft, wagon bed, or store counter was unoccupied. Even the whores were three to a bed, and the houses were overflowing into the streets. Scores of people and some 200 dogs turned out for Moolinda’s award ceremony. The little stage, special built for that purpose, was surrounded by fawning and jeering onlookers, all pressing shoulder to shoulder for a closer look at the miracle cow.
Mr. Poole, appointed by the Governor to present the award, waited on the platform in the noonday sun, sweating through his newly pressed suit. A gasp arose from the crowd as little Billy Williams led Moolinda onto the stage. Whether or not the tales of her heroism were true, none could deny the animal’s stately bearing and placid magnificence…
“You stock-thieving sonofa! That’s my cousin’s stock wife!” The crowd stood in dumbfound silence at the sudden ejaculation while a wiry, weather-beaten Walburn shoved his way to the platform. He mounted the stage with a quick leap and had snatched little Billy Williams by the shirt collar before anyone could raise the least word of protest. “You stole my cousin’s cow you little home-wrecking stock thief!”
Mr. Poole was as shocked as anyone by this sudden and incomprehensible interruption, but he recovered quickly and moved to intervene, conscious of the number of pencils even then being freshly licked by tabloid journalists scenting in on a new angle to the story. “Now sir,” Mr. Poole began, “take your hands off of that boy. I am a duly appointed representative of the Governor and I…”
“Don’t you manhandle a Walburn you god pimp!” interrupted the irate Walburn, “I’m the one been wronged! This here boy stole from my kin!” The Walburn commenced to shake little Billy Williams like a terrier shaking a rat. “You tell how you stolt this cow, boy, or I’ll stove yer head in!”
“Now sir!” protested Mr. Poole, “I must insist that you unhand that child this instant! This here is Moolinda the Miracle Cow, from the papers you see, and you are obviously mistaken about the animal’s provenance.”
The Walburn turned his harsh, animalistic gaze on Mr. Poole. His jaw hung loose for a moment or two whilst he worked Mr. Poole’s words over in his mind, one hand still locked on Billy’s shirt collar with an iron grip. “I aint never heard ‘no Moolinda afore. This here cow is Hephzibab, my cousin’s wife and lawful property. She been stolt near ‘month ago by this lil’ vermit.” The Walburn called over to a fellow in the crowd that might have been his double if you weren’t counting teeth. “Zeb, run oft and tell Hezekiah I done found his wife!”
The blasphemous horror of these words struck Mr. Poole like a physical blow. Whatever else happened, this would not look good for the Governor, and he was damn sure to take the blame for it. Before Mr. Poole could formulate a response, his swiftly churning thoughts were interrupted by the sound of shattering glass and a wave of oppressive heat.
Everything seemed to happen in an instant. Flames leapt across the stage. A panicked scream arose from the crowd. A gentleman in a broadcloth suit leapt onto the stage with a wicked-looking knife incongruously gripped in one hand. The Walburn shouted a curse and ran from the stage still clutching little Billy Williams. And Moolinda, beautiful, serene Moolinda, bothered by neither the screams of horror nor the leaping flames, trotted off in pursuit of Billy. Had Mr. Poole harbored any doubts about Moolinda’s authenticity, the debate was now settled as far as he was concerned. That cow deserved her medal.
“Quick! Somebody! Help! Stop that cow!” Mr. Poole raced from the platform, waving his arms and imploring to no one in particular for aid. “In the name of the Governor, protect that cow!”
Without missing a beat, Mr. Reems, the faro dealer at the Velvet Glove, explodes through the doors of the saloon. Mr. Reems hurriedly scans the crowd for a familiar face and, settling on yours, gestures frantically towards Moolinda. “Quick! Help! If you wish this world to see another dawn, protect that cow!”
That's awesome. Love the Ike Clanton Tombstone dialogue. I picture Mr. Reems as wild west incognito Doc Brown/Christopher Lloyd. Would play x1000.
GrimDork wrote: I have both. Khanjira is totally worth 50 bucks but I'm glad to have gotten him for 25. Dragons don't share for 75... I dunno. I'm happy with it for 35 but at that price I probably won't be picking up another. It's.... probably worth that. The quality is there, and the ruins are pretty sweet.
Sure. Lemme dig around, I think I've got some somewhere. Khanjira is resting in pieces at the moment and the dragon is in process of being painted but I think I took several when the stuff came in.
GrimDork wrote: I have both. Khanjira is totally worth 50 bucks but I'm glad to have gotten him for 25. Dragons don't share for 75... I dunno. I'm happy with it for 35 but at that price I probably won't be picking up another. It's.... probably worth that. The quality is there, and the ruins are pretty sweet.
Would you mind doing some scale pics?
He had some pics of them in his P&M blog a couple weeks ago when they arrived.
So pretty standard Knight Forscale pose on this one That's a standard sized keyboard behind the set.
Here's a loosely assembled Khanjira by Forscale, that same keyboard, and the Mars Attacks big stompy robot. I think the robot is supposed to be 170mm high which is very close to 7 inches.
Did you have anything in particular you wanted to see them sized up with? I know those two photos are pretty limited.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Ninja'd by Theo! Yeah, they were in the blog too but I don't expect people to dig through nearly 100 pages of random hobby goodness to find one little post about bones arriving
The uhh... cargo containers at almost nine dollars?
Ouch.
Definitely not cheap enough to want to buy more, unless I can find them at a strong discount somewhere. I'm not trying to say they *should* be cheaper necessarily... but I won't buy more at that pricepoint. The minotaur lord is pretty affordable. Mashaaf or w/e at 30 is probably worth it. Could be cheaper, but probably not a bad deal, it's a really cool model.
Reaper's tradition of releasing minis you never knew you wanted continues with a small line of Victorian civilians/adventurers/serial killers/victims suitable for all sorts of roles.
Reaper's tradition of releasing minis you never knew you wanted continues with a small line of Victorian civilians/adventurers/serial killers/victims suitable for all sorts of roles.
Huh, they were in the preview gallery now I can't find them either. They might be in the queue for release soon...
MLaw wrote: I'm sad at the cargo container price point.. is that for 2?
They had a few at Adepticon last week, and it's one per blister pack.
I don't know about anyone else, but I impulse bought the four shipping containers they had, along with some dumpsters and ammo boxes. They're hard plastic, and I don't think it'd be much work to cut the door on one side if you to open them up.
Now it is listed as a May release. Perhaps my incredulous inquiry prompted the revision...
I ordered a bunch a tiny cobras from reaper because I needed a bunch of, you know, tiny cobras. Well, it depends on how you use them I suppose. I mean, they're tiny, but properly scaled for 28mm...unless they are supposed to be king cobras...in which case they are small king cobras...unless you are playing 15mm, in which case they would be normal sized king cobras...
In any case, in my order comments I lamented the cow not being available despite the fact that it was already deeply into March. So maybe they decided to revise the release date.
C'est la vie. I have 8 hours of gaming all based around that beautiful cow and I'll have to use some humdrum bovine now...so sad...so sad...
That Minotaur Lord is quite amazing and a real bargain. I've not wanted to add any monstrous characters to my KoW bad-guy army, but he's making me think seriously about adding one.
GrimDork wrote: The uhh... cargo containers at almost nine dollars?
Ouch.
Definitely not cheap enough to want to buy more, unless I can find them at a strong discount somewhere. I'm not trying to say they *should* be cheaper necessarily... but I won't buy more at that pricepoint.
Not "almost $9". The cargo containers are only 8.29 and when you figure in the 20% off that you can usually find reaper stuff for at other outlets it's going to be around $7 each. That's actually a pretty great deal when you think that your other non-paper options for similarly sized containers are
-Rustforge plastic for $10-12 each
-Anisty resin $10 each, but you've also got to add shipping from the UK.
-O scale cans (when in stock) for around $12 each.
-2nd hand AT43 for whatever you can find them for, usually $15 or more..
Lasercutcard containers can be got for as little as $4.50 each, but in a "hard" material Reaper is the best deal going. for a 2x2x5 can.
Eilif wrote: That Minotaur Lord is quite amazing and a real bargain. I've not wanted to add any monstrous characters to my KoW bad-guy army, but he's making me think seriously about adding one.
The Minotaur Lord is an awesome figure, and he's practically just as tall as the new Bloodthirster.
The Minotaur is seriously sweet. For the price, you could buy the Minotaur Lord and a large Dragon from Reaper, for the wings, and still come out to less than half the price of the price of the new Blood Thirster
For those of you who care about such things, you can find all three scenarios for my Moolinda game on my Google Drive.
Sadly, it will be played with a hum-drum cow...But many thanks to Reaper for inspiring a game day that will hopefully be as fun to play as it was to write.
Eilif wrote: That Minotaur Lord is quite amazing and a real bargain. I've not wanted to add any monstrous characters to my KoW bad-guy army, but he's making me think seriously about adding one.
The Minotaur Lord is an awesome figure, and he's practically just as tall as the new Bloodthirster.
How much of the bendy plastic stuff would you need to replace? Looks like the staff/glaive for starters. What about the frontal horns? I'm tempted, but it'd be great to hear more about it from people who have it in hand. I just wish it was available in HIPS.. /drool
I have the lord. It is pretty solid and once bones is set (ie cold) it retains shape well.
The long handle deforms well in hot water and remains straight when slightly over corrected.
The horns are ok, though i would ensure they are offloaded if you put him in a case. Im keeping his torso in 2 parts for storage (the join is done really well for this) and the weapon arm free too.
OMG! I love everything about Warhamster, but most of all I love that his armor is apparently made of (NON COPYRIGHTABLE) shoulder pads!
I need like 100 of him.
Oh yeah and some sort of cyber angel demoness thing
Normally I'd say something about using her in a sisters army, but seriously is there even such a thing anymore?
It's kind of like suggesting someone add a model to their squat guild.
Oh and yeah, bases if you need some, several sizes and shapes.
And the Bones II releases are trickling out. The photos are really not good, they need to give them an ink wash or something before taking photos.
I misread the Horned Hunter's name the first time and had to go back and look.
I mean would they really name a model the Horney Hunter?
This guy is out for $13. Just in time to compete with GW's $100 Blood Thirster.
(I know he needs wings)
Speaking of...
Yours for $10
And then there's this bit of nightmare fuel.
I wish I had a scale pic, he'd make one great unclean uh... thing.
OK this one made me smile...
I mean was there ever an easier model to sculpt?
I stand corrected.
The Numanera models are coming too. Numanera you may recall is an RPG set a million billion kazillion years in the future on a nightmarish devastated earth.
Nightmare fuel, pure nightmare fuel.
This can serve as a chocobo mount from that old Atari 5200 game Joust.
The fishman army just became a lot more affordable.
Some dragons in the release too
Some useful modern terrain
Not sure what this is
Some sort of phone booth or something?
Ah well I'm sure someone will find a use for it.
Finally we have some sort of thing, from the desert.
Already got me my minotaur lord. Nice model. His base is pretty neat- it's got the Minotaur's maze etched into it.
Going to pick up some dumpsters and street vagrants to hide inside them. Of course some of the zombicide figures would probably make good homeless guys...
fwiw, The cargo container and other Bones were available at Miniature Market -- the terrain's already sold out! Cargo was $6.22. Free shipping at $100. Buy lots of cargo.
They're some kind of hard plastic. Dunno if they're exactly HIPS or whatever you get your GW models on.. but hard, somewhere between GW stuff and model tank kits. So not soft bones. I really liked painting my shipping container. Not sure if I'll get more at 6-8 bucks a piece or not. May see some work their way into other orders to complete shipping and what not.
GrimDork wrote:They're some kind of hard plastic. Dunno if they're exactly HIPS or whatever you get your GW models on.. but hard, somewhere between GW stuff and model tank kits. So not soft bones. I really liked painting my shipping container. Not sure if I'll get more at 6-8 bucks a piece or not. May see some work their way into other orders to complete shipping and what not.
I got two of them today, they're a hard plastic like sheet styrene. They also have tops and bottoms, from the pictures I thought they were missing the bottoms. The top is removeable so you can put stuff inside or model it torn open.
Revarien wrote:Damnit Kid_Kyoto... you post something... I look at it... and I spend $78-ish... -_-.
At least tell me where I can pick up some of those display cabinets, lol.
On the kickstarter thread someone posted a link to some interviews with Ed Pugh the founder and owner of reaper.
This is worth a watch as he explains how he got started.
What's cool and enlightening is that he didn't come in due to a pssion for fantasy or models or any of that. No sketchbooks of cool monsters or high school D&D campaign to motivate him.
He wanted to own his own business and manufacturing is what he knew.
So he started making model fighter planes for the 50th anniversary of WWII.
Then he saw this Magic game taking off and made life markers for it.
And from that fantasy models, just as the lead scare was forcing everyone to move to tin.
And the rest is history.
I really his his observation that he makes hula-hoops, and knows that any day now the hula-hoop fad may end so he has to be ready to jump to the next fad.
That's the knid of cool head that builds a company and keeps it in business.
Sinful Hero wrote: What exactly would a person use meerkats for besides a diorama?
They'd make spiffy objective markers. All sorts of fun, thematic missions you can have saving the meerkat village. (Or destroying it, if you're a monster!)
Also fun - get the meerkats and then greenstuff little hats, suit jackets and briefcases for them. Then they look like little businessmen. Or just wait, by this time next year Reaper will probably just release Meerkat businessmen on their own (which is why they are so beloved).
The meerkats are funny. I'll wait until they release and just buy them. Judging by that picture, this kickstarter is going to be "Bones III: Furries, Freaks, and Ferrets!"
Wonder if there will be meerkat burrow terrain think of those possibilities. I'd make a diorama of a primarch (probably ultramarines) trying to reach down to grab the meerkats in the hole while the others sneak around to kick him in his butt .
Alex C wrote: a companion to the Boar my Orc general is riding
Hipster Timon - meerkat before it was cool.
Pffft! Meerkat was always cool!
The Auld Grump - I have no need for any meerkat min... stop looking at me like that! Stop looking at me like that! Okay, I'll take a dozen, please.....
The meerkats will be amazingly useful for historicals players who want to reenact the many battles of the Whiskers-Lazuli War, as well as the Whiskers-Commando Wars.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: The meerkats will be amazingly useful for historicals players who want to reenact the many battles of the Whiskers-Lazuli War, as well as the Whiskers-Commando Wars.
Ah Rocket Dog, you never really got to show your stuff
Auldgrump: Yeah, but... before it was cool to be a meerkat. All these Manor and Compare the Meerkat.com guys are just jumping on the bandwagon. Meerkats like, totally sold out years ago, man. Artisanal platypi are the bleeding-edge zeitgeist these days.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: The meerkats will be amazingly useful for historicals players who want to reenact the many battles of the Whiskers-Lazuli War, as well as the Whiskers-Commando Wars.
Pity most of them are stuck in sentry poses and not gonna-chew-your-throat-with-my-disconcertingly-large-canines-in-a-sub-Saharan-retelling-of-Watership-Down poses.
I just hope Reaper realizes that Meekrats are another hulu-hoop type fad and are ready to jump off the Meekrat train before it drives, lemming like, off a cliff.
I'd hate to see them stuck with millions of unsalable meekrat blisters in a few years when Pandas are all the rage.
Meercats seem like an ideal little item to separate out and put on the bases of larger miniatures.
Kid_Kyoto,
I do hope they don't get stuck with extra Merecats, because Reaper melts down their extra figs. Imagine the sadness of millions of merecats being fed to the furnaces....
Miguelsan wrote: Meekrat cannon anyone? We already have the hamster gun so it's only natural.
M.
THIS is how nuclear escalation begins. One man trains a gerbil to bark, so his "friend" teaches his to bite on command, next thing you know little suzy is packing a automatic hamster launcher to school in her lunch sack, meerkats are herded and stock piled together in retaliation. Next thing we will see will be intercontinental ballistic Muskrats (ICBM). Oh the inhumanity think of the children people, think of the children
(Runs off to the garage to start armor plating his pet capybara as any good survivalist keeps them as pets /food/ tactical support)
think of those possibilities. I'd make a diorama of a primarch (probably ultramarines) trying to reach down to grab the meerkats in the hole while the others sneak around to kick him in his butt 
