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 Vain wrote:

 chris_valera wrote:
It's not whining it's just that that's a lot of Bathalians they're making, for no ral reason. Three variants of a race? Making big figures and Tyranid stand-ins I understand, but three variants of the same figure?

I fully agree, the amount of times I have seen multiple version of a human cleric and thought to myself "Why the hell did there need to be different versions of this? I mean they already have one, isn't that enough? And if someone did want multiples wouldnt they just be happy with having two that looked identical?"

...oh hang on, no I have never thought that. Just because it isn't something that I really need or want right now doesn't mean that there isn't someone out there that would like a par or trio of unique gribblies to throw into an adventure or have as a BBEG.

And you never know, this might be the start of a range of models for some race Reaper want to push, and it was most economically paced at three at a time or some feth I have no way of knowing?

If Reaper flat-out said they were starting a sci-fi game, I would applaud them. If they're doing it because these are big figures and it makes the most sense to do them now, I have no problem with it. But Bathalians aren't like clerics (although an all-cleric party in D&D is pretty useless) it's the fact that all three are taking up spots that could be held by other things.

I'm not into these new grey alien figures, but at least it's not another giant Bathalian.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
The Bathalien Primarch is a model that I've carried up to the FLGS's cash register multiple times, each time making with the misty Old Yeller eyes, but just have not yet pulled the trigger on the purchase. Now I can afford to get more than one, and with almost no guilt!

Somebody call Sally Struthers. "We can buy gamers Bathalians for just pennies a day!"

So Bathalians have their fans. Fine. I don't begrudge you a thing. But you're buying the same Bathalian to make a squad. I can understand that. I might do it myself. But three Bathalians, of all different types, but basically the same? They couldn't do a medium-sized Bathalian troopers, and a giant-huge sized Bathalian, the size of a dragon or Mashaaf? No giant Bathalian tank that's like the old Reaper 40K2 Carnifex? No psyker Bathalian? No flying Bathalian jump trooper with wings? No royalty Bathalian with giant head crest?

Even the 14059 Darkspawn makes a better, and varied alien horror. They can't release that in Bones?

 Sean_OBrien wrote:
3 figures which are not the same. The Primarch, Centurion and Exarch are different. You have two which have hand type things and one which has mantis like arms. The Primarch is larger than the other two as well. They work as a good stand in for all sorts of things, and should be handy for doing a space oddity type army, where they make up the core and than something like the big worm and other Lovecraftian inspired critters flesh it out.

Personally I would have preferred 3 different mind flayers - but having fewer than 3 of anything which isn't huge limits there usefulness for wargamers. 3 or more and you can then start mixing things up to make units of them.

Oh come on, there's no rules for these things? It's not like orcs/kobolds/skeletons/whatever, some with swords and some with spears, that have different game rules. They're just alien beasties with no rules attached.

"Oh, but the head and hands are different!" is the new Malibu Stacy with a new hat. I know we're going to disagree on this, but they're mostly the same. I see nothing "royal" about the leader-guy, no big head crest or scepter.

I'm not against variants, but variants that are so similar is annoying.

And the Exarch and the Centurion? Which one is the basic fighter guy, and what is the other one? A sergeant or squad leader? Could you even tell me?

As an aside, like everyone else, I am not excited about the grey aliens. They ok, and the saucer is great, but not anything I need to add to my buy pile immediately. Especially when I have to order $50 worth of stuff to get them. I can get them on ebay after the kickstarter is over for a decent price, I'm sure.

The bullete looks average and the barbarians look great, but if you could that bulette as four/eight miniatures, that's really only six/ten (seven/eleven if you count Sophie) miniatures added to the core.

And what's in the core is a 50/50 mix of good/bad.

It's worth noting, I just bought a box set of The Hobbit: Escape from Goblin Town on ebay this morning for $64.99, with free shipping. Costs more, but I get figures I know I'll love and some great terrain. Not misshapen 1950's police call boxes and shipping containers that probably won't hold their shape.

I know you guys are in love with getting multiples of Bathalians, but unless they release something huge like Gauth in Bones plastic, and add it to the core set, I'm still on the fence.

czakk wrote:
Clever crow minis has some painted photos of narthrax on their face page.

Narhrax does indeed look excellent.

ced1106 wrote:
Reaper has a ridiculously huge catalog of miniatures. They mentioned possible KS for specialized lines, such as CAV, which does have a Bonesium prototype picture somewhere on the 'net. Fairlytale Games has shown a demand for fairytale miniatures, and Reaper certainly has those. Those "caeke" and mousling anthopomorphs have their own following as well. Reaper also has dissatisfaction with the traditional retailer-distributor system (whaddaya mean you won't carry 5000 miniature SKU's?) so may rely upon KS more than your typical game company.

I don't begrudge Reaper trying to make a profit, or improving on the mistakes they made last time (being bit by that ROW shipping increase must not have been fun...) but I think the previous kickstarter was better in that it gave you a sampler platter of everything.

But internet D&D grognards bitches about getting moderns and sci-fi figs.

If Reaper was smart, they should have ignored them, and added a CAV figure to this kickstarter. Just one. Everybody loves the Dictator, just give away one. Because if you give away one, then there's no reason not to try the game. I mean, the rulebook is free, right? There's a lof ot D&D nerds who play nothing but D&D, but I think they could have turned a lot of gamer nerds onto Cav. Or Warlord. Or whatever.

They should look at this as promotion. They got a push of Penny Arcade last time precisely it was such a good deal, you simply had to get in on it.

I don't blame them for trying to make money this time around, but promotion in mainstream news sources counts, and turning people onto your game counts too.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

Well, Kickstarter's not supposed to be about "profit" - it's about bringing new products to market, and it certainly did that - paid for the tooling and production of how many new models in the Bones range? - with enough left over to build them a new warehouse wing and buy an injection moulding machine besides.

I mean, retail is for "profit" proper. This is for infrastructure and bringing new products to market. Besides, If they'd taken out a loan for 3.5 million dollars from a traditional financial institution, they'd be paying interest, not worrying about a small profit margin...

Alright I just cleaned up and reposted my last few responses to the Reaper forum, on page 432. We'll see what they make of my views on Bathalians. Hopefully it will go better than my foray onto Defiance Games' facebook page, lol.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

For those worrying about the burrowing horrors legs not being long enough to reach past it's head

remember not all burrowing animals use their legs to burrow

water voles use their teeth, and the horror has plenty of those

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
For those worrying about the burrowing horrors legs not being long enough to reach past it's head

remember not all burrowing animals use their legs to burrow

water voles use their teeth, and the horror has plenty of those

I'm not worried about the length of the legs, I just think that is one of the most poorly sculpted monsters I've seen in a long time, and it isn't just the legs. The underbelly and tail look really bad, the upper scales/plates are mediocre at best. It really looks like an inexperienced sculptor's first attempt at sculpting a monster. A couple of folks have stated 'except for the legs it looks good'. They must have seen a different picture. That figure is just bad.

Ya know, now that I think about it, those Barbarians in core was a stupid "bone"head mistake. Putting aside what my personal thoughts are on the exposed nipple, why are they forcing that on everyone in the standard package? That's a CORE figure. At first I thought the complaints were the same old nonsense, but ya know, they are more then justified.

They were playing with fire, and I think they got burned a little. Make it an add-on, and everyone would be happy. Should have put in their Hobgoblin set in the Core pledge instead.

This is a solid example of pushing your beliefs on someone else from the other direction and really is inexcusable. Again, add-on and it's no problem.

Well, color me excited.



Also, it looks like the female barbarian here has suddenly come over with a case of the dreaded squareboob.

That's a really nice Bloodthirster.

Love the stone guardians. Love the Minotaur Demon and already liked about everything before that.

Definitely getting now. To bad I can't get like 4 sets of the town guard. Hopefully those will be under $10 retail for the lot.

The minotaur has me a little surprised, actually. Has Reaper ever shown any renders like that before for new models? It seems more like Raging Heroes' style than theirs. Not that I'm complaining. The integrated base is kind of interesting too. All in all, I rather like it.

The hezrou looks like it could be pretty cool too, the caryatid columns look pretty nice, and the dracolisk will be nice to have, even if it's not the snazziest model out there. This all definitely seals the deal for me on expansion 2.

Also, I REALLY wish the Deva had been around in bones when I made my Celestine conversion. It would have made things soooo much easier. Might still have to swap them out once I get this in. She could have a set of wings for every occasion!

2.4 mil

The Minotaur Lord may well be one of their first full digital sculps

they have done some previously where the hand sculpt over a less detailed 3D print (I think Kaladrax was one)

This makes me feel better about expansion 2 but I still don't think I'll get it. Looks like a much better value for those who are interested though! That minotaur lord/god thing is pretty sick.

Well I officially dropped my $100 pledge last night. reaper and just added a $1 pledge. I'm tempted by the second expansion and a couple of dragons but don't want to make the decision now And this way I don't have to watch it all weekend while i'm out ot town to decide if I wanna stay in or not.

Dammit. That big giant Minotaur makes me want Expansion 2 now. The rest is just a bonus basically (a nice bonus though).

Well played Reaper, well played. I really thought I'd pass on that expansion. Let's see if you can pull a similar stunt with expansion 3.

Plus we've still got those ruins and that kaiju Tarrasque looming in the shadows somewhere....

EDIT- so according to Reaper's Ron, that minotaur should be somewhere between 80mm/ 3 inches at the hump of his back. He might play nice with the bull boys from Journey!

I'm in for Expansion 2. I liked what they did with the translucent purple figures, but the Minotaur Lord sealed the deal. I'd previously dropped my Core pledge to $1, feeling that there was a lack of value in the core set, but the complete Expansion set 2 makes up for that.

Yeah, Expansion 2 is the only thing right now with enough stuff I really, really like to put in early for. So my $1 will probably turn into 50-80 depending on how many add-on dragons I want

 chris_valera wrote:
. But Bathalians aren't like clerics (although an all-cleric party in D&D is pretty useless)

Whaaaaaat? You've been playing a different version of D&D than myself for the past 25+ years. Save for 4th edition, clerics are absurdly powerful if played right (ie, other than simply a walking band aid). Go team cleric!

The bathalians are good for fantasy too. You could easily work them into any underdark game. Their heads correspond to the design for the goroloth/aboleth as well, so they could be aboleth constructs/bioweapons. They'd work great for Darksun, Gamma World, or anything you want to. It doesnt need an official Monster Manual entry to be used.

I wonder how closely the Minotaur render will resemble the final product though - lots of very fine detail and spikey parts that might not translate so well to bones. I think the undercoated metal pictures give a better idea of what is actually possible.

Bone casts fine details pretty well in my experience. I would expect it to look about as close as any 3d renders I've seen turned into mini (ie- I've not yet seen a method that doesn't have some of the finest detail lost- whether we're casting in hard plastic, soft plastic, resin, metal or 3d print).

That minotaur looks fantastic. So pretty.

Bossk_Hogg wrote:
[Whaaaaaat? You've been playing a different version of D&D than myself for the past 25+ years. Save for 4th edition, clerics are absurdly powerful if played right.

Nah, it held true in 4E as well.

Had a team with a dedicated healing/buffing cleric and my Paladin/Cleric hybrid in the group.

The DM had to start bumping up encounters in order to account for the fact we simply would not drop to a standard fight.

Of course, a Warlord would've been nice to speed up some fights as well. It's all about action economy and getting in those extra hits at a hefty bonus or three.

But I digress.

Glad to see this picking up a bit of steam. Perhaps the wailing and gnashing of teeth can come to an end now? 3.8k away from the Barbarians, looking forward to the next unlock teaser. Still only in for some cheap terrain and a couple of promo figures, but it's good to see the backer numbers popping up. Hopefully a lot of RPG groups are going to have some awesome games starting late next year.

The barbs are funded and revealed a basalisk for the core set.

Am I the only one who saw that Basalisk and made a little "squee" noise? It's downright adorable.
I don't know if I could bring myself to make the party fight it, maybe it could be their mascot instead?

... now I want to play a game where the party has a pet basilisk.

"No, NO! Don't petrify the deer! Damnit, that's supposed to be dinner... well, for the rest of us. Okay fluffy, enjoy your granite deer, we'll go hunting. Again."

 lord_blackfang wrote:
That's a really nice Bloodthirster.

With tiny arms that barely reach its waist. Curious.

Photo of the basalisk:

 Agamemnon2 wrote:

 lord_blackfang wrote:
That's a really nice Bloodthirster.

With tiny arms that barely reach its waist. Curious.

You mean the minotaur lord? The arm by its waist is held up with the forearm nearly horizontal. Looks to be about proportional to me. If the other arm swung down I'd eyeball that at about mid-thigh too, which is pretty spot on. Might be a tiny bit short.

Expansion 2 really filled up with some nice models quick!

I think what would make Expansion 3 go from "meh" to "YES" would be some kind of IMF set. Maybe some kind of vehicle with some new dudes in heavy armor, or with new weapons. Give me some good guys to kill those grays!

Crap, even those fugly grays are starting to grow on me.

RPGs have always had steampunk robots or 'ancient automatons'. If they had a few clockwork robots or steam robots that could be dungeon or scifi, that would be cool.