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So they have two poses of crab and they need to turn one into a joke miniature. Facepalm.
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
It's the Archon way. They have to ruin otherwise good figures with "lol random". Here's a great troll you might want multiples of... j/k it's holding a fething cow! The giant is lugging an impractical boulder and isn't in a battle stance. At least the jerkoff goblin was optional. The goblins in DL3 would be great if the one drawing his sword just had it out and the other two weren't posed like jakasses.
I feel like one of their lead designers is one of those morons who yowls for gak like mousing Simpsons or a pack of were-armadillos in every Reaper Bones kickstarter.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/07/21 23:02:13
Orlanth wrote: So they have two poses of crab and they need to turn one into a joke miniature. Facepalm.
Yeah. I was really excited about the giant crabs but those crabs are not really appealing to me. Disappointing.
Our D&L 3 finally arrived. First impressions are good. The minis look nice… but also look to be on the small side. I will have a better idea once I cut them from the sprue and put some together but so far they look like they are about the size of Perry 28mm figures.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/07/22 12:09:52
Tip, if you are concerned about mini size, don't be. So long as they are 28mm officially size variance can be accommodated for.
Citadel is an exception, as are companies that mimic Citadel because of the chunkiness of the equipment. For most others including Mantic, most historicals, Frostgrave and archon will all fit in together. Some Reaper minis will.
For the rest. Blend them in, even some Citadel minis. The more manufacturers you add the less scale matters are thankfully most manufacturers choose a height and build for their minis and stick with it. reaper being the notable exception.
By the time you have mixed in all your minis you have a collection that looks like people, short tall, fat thin etc etc. You might need to replace a sword or two to 'standardise' but let the minis be their own size.
Two manufacturers at different interpretations of 28mm can be glaringly out of place, but when you have half a dozen or more, it all fits into place.
So Archon characters are small; so was Napoleon.
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
- Next D&L project - may be "spell chamber" themed but not town/Woodhaven - D&D based no Sci-Fi - separate project (see Rampart thread)
- Need to better align sculpting team to keep scales and textures consistent - 4 sculptors on team
- Remaining Woodhaven UK parcels shipped by next Tuesday if you have paid the VAT by today. Still having problems with couriers who don't understand paperwork/procedures even at this stage and are applying charges when they shouldn't be - they looked to swap from FedEx but couldn't find a better option.
- About 100 non-UK parcels remain.
- All shipping goes through Germany and strike action there has slowed shipping, data isn't being updated and your parcel might appear to be stuck in Germany but may actually be in transit.
- D&L retail releases not expected until the end of the year at earliest - expected to be more expensive than KS prices - D&L 4 late pledge with rapid delivery cheaper option with earlier delivery.
- Double doors - not something they've considered yet but maybe for D&L 5
- No current plans for Egyptian/Aztec themes or more Kazumi
- Roof shoulder trim needs to be cut to fit properly - it was a design oversight (see picture)
- Curved walls with conical/curved roofs planned.
- City of Absalom sprue supplied in brown plastic - 6 sprues per box
- Townsfolk retail release in September - Contents is as received by backers but without the Crossbowmen sprue (2 figures) as it wouldn't fit in the retail packing.
Next maybe AMA Monday 8th August
Pictures to follow
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/07/22 14:04:12
What does “spell chamber” themed mean? Summoning room? Wizard‘s study? Various takes on that niche?
I still feel like Archon only delivered part of the Woodhaven designs shown in the marketing concept art. Woodhaven feels unfinished. Same with Kazumi Temple. Good ideas only partly executed. This is starting to feel like a trend.
I got my D&L3 big box in the mail and was frankly overwhelmed - had to go back and check that I just had a small pledge... like 2/3 of the box were all the stretch goals and freebies. Can't believe it was only like a hundred bucks.
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judgedoug wrote: I got my D&L3 big box in the mail and was frankly overwhelmed - had to go back and check that I just had a small pledge... like 2/3 of the box were all the stretch goals and freebies. Can't believe it was only like a hundred bucks.
Yeah, value for money is good. So much plastic! And while I am not a fan of every piece I like the majority. The only thing really nagging me is the feeling of incompleteness, as if there are so many good ideas started but not finished. And that a lot of the pieces seem more diorama focused than gameplay focused. As if they are being designed by artists and produced by engineers who will not actually play games with the pieces they have crafted.
But that said, there is a lot of great stuff for a relatively low price in the Woodhaven KS.
I bought the Abomination Vaults terrain for playing that adventure path with my group. Big surprise: not a single encounter in that adventure can be setup with the Archon terrain. It‘s too big and there‘re no diagonal walls. The D&L system is unflexible and I won‘t invest another dollar.
My delivery came yesterday, 17.6 KG, delivery was smooth, there was not much of a gap between shipping notification and product arrival, though I am not one of those who was a VAT on delivery customer. I will be receiving an invoice from FedEx soon, and I expect this to be ugly from past experience.
I can expect any number of suspect fees and disbursements, which may or maty not be legal. With D&L2 I researched import laws and successfully fought of a plethora of illegal fees, totalling approximately £120 between my two deliveries, though it got ugly at times and it took nine months to get FedEx to back down.
If the gouge is not excessive I will likely just pay.
Unboxing was not a problem, everything was well packed, though there was no manifest inside, I had to check my Gamefound account to see if everything was ok.
I opened one of almost every box to sate my initial curiosity then started work on a set of stretchgoals.
My thoughts so far.
In general the stretchgoals come with a well documented instruction guide and assembly is increasingly like a Citadel product. In most cases if you deboxed the sprues and ripped the front page of the instruction guide and told me these were Citadel miniatures I would find it difficult to disbelieve you. Yes the sprues say Archon Studio, and the formating is slightly different, I would know, but it would be close. Large monsters are increasingly cast in a GW way, banded curving pieces that don't make any sense to join together but assemble to make a miniature with a delicate dynamic pose. Nothing organic is flat, the 3d jigsaw effect is fully realised and like Citadel products this results in some impressive models. One feature of Citadel that Archon would have been better off not copying is the inclusion of small fragile extremities on large models. The bigger and spindlier it is the most it becomes a snap hazard. GW at least learned by casting a minimum size for protruding details. Archon go all the way, many of the infantry figures (In have only assembled two so far) are exceptionally fragile and I suspect some will be snapped and abandoned. Some larger miniatures are even worse with large portions of large miniatures being connected by thin joins. Pinning may become necessary.
All in all quality is excellent but composition could be improved and many items are overdetailed, as usual for Archon there is a lot of junk and some outscaled items but it is mostly practical and usable and clearly value for money.
While I reboxed most of what I opened I did work with one full set of three stretchgoal boxes at once, and that had a problem in that I often had to do a sprue hunt to find what I wanted to build, not everything was obvious and some items were not listed one the instructions. Please be cautious with assembly, care must be taken to remove the correct piece even with simpler builds.
Now for individual observations. I will go through the entire instruction box page by page and make notes.
Page 3
Bring It On 1 - Don't use a knife on this, use clippers. The chain link between the bell and frame is as thin or thinner than the sprue nubs. I used clipped followed by a soft file on this. Overall a nice piece with simple crisp detail exaggerated for easy painting, though there is a hard shadow for the bell underside so you need to set it low.
Very useful for gaming, getting to or stopping someone getting to the bell is a valid scenario focus during a raid. For 200IQ play you can set the bell tolling with two or three shots from a powerful enough bow, just enough maybe to attract attention. If you have multiple sets you may wish to convert one frame into a winch station, or gibbet, but it is too close to its post for a gallows
From Distant Lands 1 - Use a soft file to remove flash, a hard file will damage detail too easily. With multiple sets consider this item as alternate payload for From Distant Lands 3.
Bring It On 3 - Rather cheaty assembly frankly, which is a shame because it had enough pieces to do a naval cannon properly. Even so I will be keeping mine. These will serve well as carronade. I will mount two on the deck of Sophie's Revenge. https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/799743.page This model reminds me of the dwarf cannon from Skull Pass.
The Ultimate Evil 2 - No longer having to bother with trying to convert the useless safe mimic from Druid Is Right. Now he have a decent safe. Tip: For multiple sets you could fill in the keyhole and add a stovepipe and it is a large stove for an affluent guilder's home.
Brute Force Is Needed - Took me a while to realise the 'base' on the other sprue was part of the vault door. I don't mind that it doesn't open. I do mind that the surround isn't generic enough, but I suppose it is different to fit with either the dungeon and castle walls sets.
Page 4
The Odd Training 2 - The wooden stands are not aligned with the ground, If you end up assembling it on its 'tips' you are not building it wrong. Fixable by flat filing.
Living Iron - You can't glue the chest shut, and the lid interior looks ugly. As you need to glue it ajar it might pay to paint it first.
Egg - A tad big. More like ornate column topper.
Page 5
The Fountain - Needed a clear plastic water plume. If anyone knows how to make one, or which colour to paint the waters let me know.
Page 7
And Justice for You - Amend the assembly instructions. After gluing in B11 add B13 to B1 and glue them to the base. Otherwise B13 might not fit. Do not allow to fully dry before completing assembly.
Bring It On 4 - Total waste of a bolt thrower concept. Why the fixed orientation and elevation. I also dislike the exaggerated bowstave curve. Salvageable if you remove everything below I1 and remount.
Page 8
Bring Out your Dead 2 - Decent mobile stall. If you replace E5 with a piece of plasticard you can mount your own wares, or cargo on it for variety. Curious that this is free on the sprue while the lacklustre market stall model was one per backer.
Page 9
Bring out your Dead 1 - The actual corpse cart. The yoke is very low even with full elevation, How is it drawn? Large dog, or do the undertakers apply the yoke to themselves.
Magic Portal is Open! - Archon have made many portal stretchgoals, this is one of only two that I like.
Page 11
Fire Elemental - What is this? A shambling mound, a rope golem?
Page 12
Flesh golem - A surprise hit. I disliked this model until I made it. Now I only dislike the design. The club is too thinly attached. Looks awesome as an undead horror tough, but I would not call it a golem.
Page 13
Giant toad - Archon like to add a heavy coat of whimsy to a lot of their miniatures, usually ruining them. Had the victim in the frogs mouth been part of the model this would be true here. But it is not. And the inclusion of this part used sparingly for one of multiple models makes the piece stand out and draws the screaming victim variant into a positive part of the model. I will leave off the tongue though, it was not executed properly.
Page 25
Iron Golem - I wish it were not so dynamic. I feel Iron Golems should move like frankenstein's monster, slow and inevitable. It will be hard to repose. I have three stretchgoal sets. I built one as intended. I think I can make a classic pose by saccing both of the others.
Page 31
Sewer Mermaid - I like the concept of this for the sewers. excellent piece full of character, decently posed and simple to put together. She does have an obvious seam along her back and tail, this will need to be green stuffed.
Page 37
Sea elemental - I don't like tool using elementals, but this model is cool. Cold enough for an ice elemental perhaps?
Page 38
Temon the Tevil - I ignored this until I saw it on the sprue, then assembled him. I left the cloak off mine. An excellent daemon prince model. Pity the sword sticks out so much.
That is it for now.
I did assemble many small parts like beds and crates but have nothing I need say about them. By and large most furnishings were good, better than previous stretchgoal boxes In fact many of my favourite pieces such as the furniture and bed are good because there is nothing to describe, its a wardrobe, its a bed, its well made and looks wardrobey or beddy.
Todays addition.
Ghost dragon - If you want to not feth this up you MUST stop after assembling all the rock pieces and paint the base fully, then proceed with the dragon. The deep green of the ghost dragon itself is opaque enough you can use plastic glue without clouding being visible.
.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/07/25 15:38:50
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
ced1106 wrote: Great review. Post it in the GameFound comments. Thin spindly bits are not good, and major assembly should be a warning to new assemblers!
I agree, great information that should be made available to backers.
Bossk_Hogg wrote: It's the Archon way. They have to ruin otherwise good figures with "lol random". Here's a great troll you might want multiples of... j/k it's holding a fething cow! The giant is lugging an impractical boulder and isn't in a battle stance. At least the jerkoff goblin was optional. The goblins in DL3 would be great if the one drawing his sword just had it out and the other two weren't posed like jakasses.
I feel like one of their lead designers is one of those morons who yowls for gak like mousing Simpsons or a pack of were-armadillos in every Reaper Bones kickstarter.
QFT. And every potentially useful tree has to have an embedded skeleton, and a seated woman has the must have accessory of a screaming skeleton in her cushion.
Some brainfarts were fixable, the oft mentioned vending machine mimic, the bed mimic can be converted into a worn out bed easily enough, the pentagram and demon face mirror is fine as a one off, for the other mirrors you can file off the detail and wall mount it the other way.
Most were just junk.
I am ok with the troll and giant, both are usable but have no repeat value due to specificity in posing..
The giant will join my O&G army, its a good scale for for a GW giant. I never had one in all the time I collected WHFB as it didnt really fit in my opinion. Giants are not green, they are big humies. So why have one in my horde? Now I have one anyway, and the boulder makes for good ammo.
As for the troll, its now a hill giant. I have plenty of good hill giants from Reaper of similar scale, the three they officially did in Bones 5 and the three headed giant which I convert into a one headed giant. Shoulder width is actually the same and leather pauldrons make conversion easy. That makes four. Having a hill giant carrying a stolen cow is not unreasonable, there was one on the GW giant kit, and is an option with the D&D frameworks kit, and its a feature of artwork for lower giants. I just did an image search on Google for 'Hill Giants' and did not have to scroll down far to find multiple images of giants carry livestock.
I can forgive Archon for the cow, where they lose out in any repeat sales. Yes these were one per backer items, but presumably Archon want to sell these sprues as stand alone kits. With a bit of thought and a could of options for arm poses and head swaps and the is room to sell multiple kits to customers.
At least Archon listened and made the phoenix armour optional. Perhaps we should have spoken out more about the other things we saw and got Archon to listen for their own good. The phoenix is ready to be a decent retail kit because they had options to make the mini sensible or weird.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Grumpy Gnome wrote: What does “spell chamber” themed mean? Summoning room? Wizard‘s study? Various takes on that niche?
I still feel like Archon only delivered part of the Woodhaven designs shown in the marketing concept art. Woodhaven feels unfinished. Same with Kazumi Temple. Good ideas only partly executed. This is starting to feel like a trend.
Grumpy Gnome, to be frank here if you are using D&L for buildings rather than more sewers/dungeons you are asking for trouble. It can never be more than part finished. You can get away with 10'x10' grid for dungeons, though some complain there are no curves or diagonals. However housing by 10'x10' grid is harder to justify, it just looks wrong.
As was explained during the campaign, D&L is a very substandard product for fantasy housing, I highly recommend you use Zvezda, TTW, 3d print or laser cut, with D&L parts to customise. It is not cost effective, or particularly attractive and the versatility you do get is not really worth it. Woodhaven as intended really just doesn't work., it is still useful though, individual Woodhaven pieces glued onto a laser cut building will add featuring and texture to a bland product.
I didn't regret buying one of each of the Woodhaven boxes, minus the roof set, its a nice mix of tiles for dungeons, the streets set in particular greatly extends the amount of dungeon floor tiles I have, and adds another texture and small elevation changes in the dungeon flooring which I am very happy with. I am less happy that they added extra ?moss clumps? texture to the castle set, as the preproduction samples fit in with the dungeons very nicely.
There is one circumstance where I would use Woodhaven as intended, partly, and that is for back street 'dungeons'. Use Woodhaven pieces as regular 'dungeon' D&L, single storey only, no roofs, no interiors, and use it for when players chase someone into tight back alleys, or got there intentionally to evade pursuit. Sort of things adventurers do in cities. A small amount of Woodhaven can be used to portray narrow unmapped streets.
While the dungeon walls are hovels, they might as well be dungeon walls to the party. Residents wont let adventurers in, for fear of reprisal from one group or other, or just being robbed themselves.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/07/25 14:50:58
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
judgedoug wrote: I got my D&L3 big box in the mail and was frankly overwhelmed - had to go back and check that I just had a small pledge... like 2/3 of the box were all the stretch goals and freebies. Can't believe it was only like a hundred bucks.
I know, I piled up the free stuff and the paid stuff and marvelled...
judgedoug wrote: I got my D&L3 big box in the mail and was frankly overwhelmed - had to go back and check that I just had a small pledge... like 2/3 of the box were all the stretch goals and freebies. Can't believe it was only like a hundred bucks.
I know, I piled up the free stuff and the paid stuff and marvelled...
Plastic is very cheap. The economic model Archon is using does work. Your hundred dollars makes this a win even with massive stretchgoals. This only becomes a problem when you account for shipping cost increases.
I have added, and will continue to add to my model part review on this page.
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
Orlanth, I recall us discussing this previously. Mrs. GG and I intend to use the D&L pieces as “terrain bits box fodder” for more permanent structures than the original Woodhaven concept. This is in part due to Archon seeming to not quite finish the good ideas they started with. They should also bash up nicely to create ruins.
Mrs. GG and I are pretty happy with the first impressions of our D&L 3 pledge which finally arrived.
> Grumpy Gnome, to be frank here if you are using D&L for buildings rather than more sewers/dungeons you are asking for trouble.
Well, for gaming terrain, I think it's fine. I'm playing Lasting Tales, and it calls for buildings of certain sizes, such as 4x6. I can make such buildings with modular game tiles better than fixed-sized houses.
(Of course, I back the campaigns for the stretch goals and the game tiles.)
> I highly recommend you use Zvezda, TTW, 3d print or laser cut, with D&L parts to customise.
Not that I'm not looking for better-looking houses! I have some resin OOP Epyx houses. Roofs are too darn heavy, so I just use open buildings.
Tabletop Workshop is 28mm, but it's $30 per house plus shipping. I just added myself to the Warlord mailing list on the offchance they'll have a sale. If you know where I can get 'em cheap, lemme know. I do know that, unlike shiny miniatures, once you have six buildings, a game mat (I use the OOP Terra Tiles), and some terrain (Mantic Terrain Crates), you don't need any more, unless you make a gaming table for another genre (eg. sf).
https://us.warlordgames.com/collections/tabletop-workshop
I hear good things about Battlesystems and Clever Paper cardstock terrain. Obviously not the same as wood (or plastic), and even Clever Paper is in the $20 range for a building. I did pick up the way OOP Terraclips when they were on sale, and it's not bad, but not as sturdy as plastic or wood. Should look closer at Etsy.
I still want a fume-free 3D printer under $200.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/07/27 07:29:08
You should be able to find these kits in the US. I did import my more modern kits from Germany, and several older kits from France. There are numerous variants of them, most older but the Hanse Kogge and the Medieval Stone Castle got a rerelease. You wont be able to get new stock from Russia and most of us wont want to anyway, but existing/old stock turns up frequently.
1. The one you would probably benefit most from is the Royal Castle, as it has extended walls, and extra pieces not in the more basic set. It can be very expensive but not always, I had some shop soiled copies from a small local store outside Paris which had evidently been sitting on a shelf for a long time. Because its 1:72 and rather big it gets overlooked by wargamers. Don't make that mistake, the single component that is 1:72 are the doors, everything else, and I do mean everything , from the crenelation to parapet height to window height is 28mm.
There is one downside to this series of kits, the walls are very short, you need height extension from either the Royal Castle set, or by having multiple sets and salvaging extra walls and towers to give height to others.
The positives outweigh this, the castle set is modular on a square grid, you can build towers with different orientations of wall connector. You are linked to 90 degree turns but that is ok for a castle set. There is little interior decor and you will need to line internal walls, but internal floors are details and it is easy enough to decorate the keep or make it multi level interior. Towers are too narrow for effective interiors, you can however easily make internal templates from excess parts which you can have separate to the castle and bring out to represent interiors for action.
You will need 28mm doors, but that is easy to make.
2. The cog is 28mm listed as 1:72. Increase the height of the castle parapet with a line of plasticard under the fore and aft castles and it now fits 28mm. It is odd that the artwork in the kit shows the cog as a 28mm project, judging from the size of the crew. According to wiki the ship as scaled at 28mm is average to large for a medieval cog. I cannot recommend this kit enough. Zvezda do three variants, Hanse Kogge, English Ship Thomas, and Crusader ship, each with only one sprue difference and almost identical. Only Hanse Kogge got a re-release. This kit was originally made by Revell and produced under licence. You might find the Revell original, but that is long OOP.
Why am I listing a ship as a building? Because for a tabletop RPG point of view it is, you just add it to blue rather than green cloth and move it around more often.
The orange band is plasticard. These are 28mm models on e '1/72' ship. Make the band slightly higher if you use heroic scale minis.
What makes this kit extra special is the fact that the lower hull is a seperate piece, you can take it off at the waterline. You could magnetise and leave the lower hull on its display stand and use that for storage. You could use the lower hull as an interior template, you will ned to add internal detail yourself with cardstock, or you could add the lower hull to a flight stand add a couple of side sails and have the model do double duty as a ship or skyship. There is a lot of room for fun here.
3. This kit is 28mm. I do not have own it, yet. But saw it many times at Salute and walked past it. Typical European wooden castle, the most common kind and the easiest stronghold for the party to make and most common to be encountered out on the frontier.
In all three cases you need to keep an eye out for pot luck. These kits turn up, and because of their size being too much for playsets and their listed scale being incompatible they are easily overlooked. So they come up at a wide range of prices and only gamers in the know are after them. Be patient and you can get ebay deals. Many of the copies I see listed are in the US, quietly gobble them up when the price suits you.
Tabletop Workshop is 28mm, but it's $30 per house plus shipping. I just added myself to the Warlord mailing list on the offchance they'll have a sale. If you know where I can get 'em cheap, lemme know. I do know that, unlike shiny miniatures, once you have six buildings, a game mat (I use the OOP Terra Tiles), and some terrain (Mantic Terrain Crates), you don't need any more, unless you make a gaming table for another genre (eg. sf).
https://us.warlordgames.com/collections/tabletop-workshop
I highly recommend Tabletop Workshop, but as a UK based Dakkaite I give recommendations from my own perspective. It is a pity there is not a Yank who makes posts like this, I am sure there are lesser known companies in the US, some dead, some going, that bear similarity to TTW.
Yes you can get this cheap, there is one ebayer who does multi-deals of TTW houses and castles. They are open for negotiation for bulk buy. I cut a deal for 15 buildings and a castle in 2020 at a very reasonable price. If you 'Skyrimise' your game 15 buildings plus is enough for a reasonable size town. It's more housing than Whiterun.
Warlord does licence old stock, but I don't think they have exclusive access to the molds. The ebayers get restocks somehow and can sell bulk and are way cheaper than warlord.
A note on TTW buildings, they are true 28mm, so you need new doors for fantasy. I leave interior doors alone, the kits being fully detailed inside and out, and think you only really need to replace the outside door facing, this can be done with a thin facade.
Two of the houses are two storey and there is a lift out wooden floor section with a hatch hole, you need to provide the ladder or stairs yourself.
The interiors are wide enough for tight encounters, you can fit six models inside easily enough but combat will be contact and interposition only, no room for maneuver. You can use the buildings for hidden sniper archers and house to house skirmish games, or just as a high detail diorama for the character models to be immersed in.
I hear good things about Battlesystems and Clever Paper cardstock terrain. Obviously not the same as wood (or plastic), and even Clever Paper is in the $20 range for a building. I did pick up the way OOP Terraclips when they were on sale, and it's not bad, but not as sturdy as plastic or wood. Should look closer at Etsy.
Sarissa Precision is worth a look, as is Warcradle, (and Hab Block for SF).
Its a one stop shop for 3d print buildings, you can either buy modules outright or as subscription based.
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
Little off-topic: could any of you guys, who own Archon's Draculus The Cunning dragon, please post a size comparison pics with both human and not human (trolls etc.) sized miniatures? I am thinking of buying it but I am not sure if it is not too small.
Shadow Walker wrote: Little off-topic: could any of you guys, who own Archon's Draculus The Cunning dragon, please post a size comparison pics with both human and not human (trolls etc.) sized miniatures? I am thinking of buying it but I am not sure if it is not too small.
Hardly off topic.
Sadly I don't have a camera available but:
Head including horns is roughly one inch cubed. each wing is four inches long by two inches of wing membrane.
Model on flight stand stands a tad under 6 inches tall, it has a 50mm base.
There are far larger dragons out there, but Draculus is perfectly fine for gaming and is quite capable of inflicting TPK without you having to make excuses for the model. Too small, too big, that depends on the age of the dragon and the game background.
In D&D it is big enough to classify as a huge creature, even though it is on a 50mm base, because it is perched on a narrow rock and is less spaced out than it naturally would be with four legs on the ground. A 3" base or chariot base is quite appropriate despite the pose, though it fits nicely on 2" or the base it has. For 3.5e that means it is a fit for mature adult to ancient black dragon, however the dragon is on the smaller side of huge. In 5e it would also make an adult dragon. However dragons models have been since upscaled quite a bit.
In other comparisons it is a very large miniature for the point of traditional D&D, and is broadly comparable to old WHFB dragons in size, though the Citadel plastic dragon wings were much bulkier.
Dragons are getting a lot bigger of late. I am not up for that as the old scale looked dangerous enough and more reasonable.
Draculus and the other Archon dragons would not look out of place in a Warhammer army, or fighting 28mm adventurers. I use Thall for my Vampire Counts army and the rest are staples for D&D.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2022/08/01 19:59:56
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
@Orlanth - big thanks for all info Two more questions:
1. Are the dragons properly balanced on those 50mm bases? I am a bit worried that they could fall a lot.
2. How long it takes for Archon campaign products to reach retail? I am only interested in a box of elven woods so no point to back that campaign.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/08/02 19:02:11
1. Are the dragons properly balanced on those 50mm bases? I am a bit worried that they could fall a lot.
Yes, and no. I have not had much problems with them as the plastic is light, but it does overhang the provided bases a lot. They are not unstable, but it doesnt take too much to knock one over and they will be less stable than most if resting on a slope.
There is no way to test this as if the slope is steep enough any miniature will topple over, however a ripper base will be stable longer than a space marine which will be stable longer than a dragon.
The good news is that if you want to use the provided bases they are hollow like GW (and most other) bases are, so you can counterweight with lead shot weights if you need to. A small box of shot is a standard hobbyists tool, I use them particularly for counterweighting standard bearers.
2. How long it takes for Archon campaign products to reach retail? I am only interested in a box of elven woods so no point to back that campaign.
A lot of them never do, and releases are sporadic. Some kits also get replaced for retail. D&L Dwarven Mine has not come out in retail, but Pathfinder Dwarven Mine, which is a different product produced afterwards.
Change your mind about backing Woodhaven.
Go to Gamefound and make a pledge. Try and see if you can get in for Woodhaven. Archon will take your money and process it. If Gamefound doesn't do this message Archon and try another way. If you don't make a pledge for new stock you can choose early delivery, and it will be batched sooner, You don't need any Encounters to enjoy the benefits of the Encounters pledge campaign, and Archon is reliable and good for the money.
Ok. You can late pledge for Encounters from the 8th, from history this should be at the same price with all the stretchgoals, minus any which are listed as early bird freebies. AFAIK there arent any this time, in previous campaigns you got a free mini for backing early. Even so it was available afterwards.
This is a D&L campaign, so it should have all the legacy items in the pledge manager.
Also if you manage to wangle in a late Dragons Lair pledge, you need not pay $31 per dragon. You get six for approx 100 Euro instead. This may or may not be a saving from your perspective, but the dragons are worth it IMHO. That is why my second order of D&L2 included a second Dragons Lair pledge. I managed to order a second delivery after receiving the first for D&L2. So I had twenty dragons from that campaign, and gave away several.
I didn't buy them all at once, I came back for more at $11 each, and believed they were not only good enough for my own use, but as meaningful gifts; and they were very well received because they are good kits. This should tell you all you need to know.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2022/08/02 21:39:31
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
Small update: The pledge manager will likely have to be launched tomorrow or on Friday. The reason for the delay is because we're unsure whether the weight of the free Leshy miniature is counted when making your order, which might lead to unforseen shipping costs not displayed in the pledge manager which is something we want to avoid. We're very sorry about the delay, however we're commited to providing the best service possible and we ask for your understanding.
Very impressed with my pledge.You do get a lot for your money on these KS projects.
One thing which seems to happen a lot is that most of the miniatures suffer from the foot on a rock or such object syndrome.
Only made up most of the larger models which are quite impressive.Also made some of the miniatures up and scenic items.Love the cart and stall models.
Anyone know when or if the Sci-Fi scenery KS project will have a late pledge manager option?Missed out on that one.
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
That's locked until after they deliver - which was due to start last week but seems to have slipped back due to D&L 3 shipping and summer holidays it should reopen after delivery which will take 4 to 6 weeks.
" - Rick Priestley "I've decided that I'd rather not have you as a member of TMP." - Editor, The Miniatures Page "I'd rather put my testicles through a mangle than spend any time gaming with you." - Richard, TooFatLardies "We need a Doug Craig in every store." - Warlord Games "Thank you for being here, Judge Doug!" - Adam Troke 
I have some resin 
