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 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
Biggest head scratcher I came away with was there were a lot of sculpts shown off at Reapercon that never made it in.

Didn't someone just post a page ago that they had claimed to have SG's lined up to like 5 million or something massive like that?

Just means they have plenty left over for the next campaign, and it' was nice of them to have a couple of things added in over time and spontaneously to sweeten the deal in those last few hours.

Considering they've now shaved 2 weeks off their funding time and are still pulling in massive piles of cash (even with the exchange rate going to gak for a lot of people), I'd say it was a win all around.

And yeah, Bones 4. As long as they keep getting multi-million dollar loans with zero interest, I can't see any reason to stop this money train.

I call this endless cycle of slightly diminishing Kickstarters "Mantic-Depression".

 Laughing Man wrote:
Actually, if anyone holds rights to it (Froghemoth, as the Tarrasque is a real mythological creature) it would probably be Frog God as it was a Gygax original. They published it under the OGL so its pretty much public domain.

Not... exactly....

The IP for Tome of Horrors is more complex than that for most OGC - the rights are still held by WotC, and Frog God/Necromancer got a special license for using that IP in Tome of Horrors.

BUT... people can use that content, but have to have a separate entry in their OGL license that specifically pertains to the content from Tome of Horrors. (Take a look at the license in the Pathfinder Bestiaries - it will list each of the critters that WotC allowed Frog God/Necromancer separately from the rest of the critters, and cite both WotC and Frog God.

A bit of a legal chimera - but it was a compromise that mostly gave both parties what they wanted.

I love the OGL, and the silly gymnastics that go with it. I have used the list of material cited in OGL material as a shopping list.

The Auld Grump - not having a functional OGL was one of the nails in the coffin for 4th edition.

 Forar wrote:

And yeah, Bones 4. As long as they keep getting multi-million dollar loans with zero interest, I can't see any reason to stop this money train.

Exactly. We'll be seeing a Bones KS a year, until one fails or Reaper/Kickstarter goes under.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I call this endless cycle of slightly diminishing Kickstarters "Mantic-Depression".

I dont think thats a very apt description, as Mantics kickstarters seems to only get better and better.

Deadzone sold high, the rest fell short of it but I still say they were plenty successful. And just look at dungeon saga.

Bones 4... Might have to skip that lol..

 ulgurstasta wrote:

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I call this endless cycle of slightly diminishing Kickstarters "Mantic-Depression".

I dont think thats a very apt description, as Mantics kickstarters seems to only get better and better.

Yes, well, I was limited for choice when it came to snarky puns.

Now its a case of working out what we want to buy.



I only like half of what I see here. The core is fairly weak but it does have enough interest to be worth the pricetag.

Base Set - There are some reall turkeys here 114 abnd 121, yuck.
But there are enough generic adventurers especially : 104, 111, 112, 118 and 127 which in my opinion are better than the overdecorated ones. A mule is always welcome addition and a dog with one head.

Bonus figures - Weaker than previous but useful. Lizardmen, ok, not my top choice but a suseful role play monster box well ticked. i will need to convert one or two to shamen and tribal leaders etc.

Savage Worlds - Nice, but I dont hasve a use for them personally. If I wanted in I would go in in a big way.

Orcs - Now we are talking, nice set. Sadly I use GW orcs for consistency, as I have a crapton of them including an O&G army to pilfer for minis.

Chill Out - God why?

Heroes 1 & 2 - Good sculpts, ok they are in.

Goblins - Nice gobbos but unless I want a specific D&D set I have this covered.

Torture chamber - Will nicely round out the torture devices coming with Heroquest 25th.

Lycanthropes 1 & 2 - Half of these are gold half are poo.

Ogres - I like the ogres set here, and will get the add on for an ogre contingent for RPGs.

Invisible Heroes - Will reserve judgement, sadly they are baed on scuklpts from earlier Bones, I will need to buy the opaque minis for best effect.

Arsenal, Armoury of Virtue etc - lorts of overdecorated wargear, good for special characters. I like overdecorated shields when they are used sparingly, the big bad has one and everyone else has a plain shield. All too frequently everyone gets a freaky shield.

Townsfolk - Yes please. Good for camp followers. I like to add basic logistics in my games and tie my adventuring party to a forward basecamp. Top me doing most adventures is like climbing Everest the adventuring heroes make the assault, but they have a support team not far behind.

Pathfinder 1 and 2 - Not impressed. Somhow adding Pathfinder as a prefix makes the miniatures representation suck somehow. I dont dig Pathfinders artistic style.

Eastern Legends - Pointless, if you want to go east you need enough to do so. Some samurai some ninja some peasants and various kami. Just making the odd minster isnt enough.

Wild West Oz - Doubly pointless, 225 and 227 might be workable, perhaps with minir conversion.

Hobgobageddon - Nice stuff.

Dwarves - Generic stunties. Thumbs up.

Mr & Mrs Bones - Moving on, not impressed,

Pretty deadly - some nice stuff here.

and Sophie. Too specific a pose for generic use, but I like her.




I will be buying:
Frost Giants, Frost Giant Kimng and Queen, Fire Giant Jailer - It comes together as a set. Note that the jailer has frost giant attire and is evidently an employee.

Maryrangul - The best posed dragon here.

Ogre Command - To go with the other gores, it makes a nice set of five. The goblins I will likely use seperately but are also wants.

Goremaw the Devourer - I get to pain something purple.

Ma'al Drakar the reminiscent of but legally distinct from Tiamat - This will be a pain on shipping and will disrupt my careful budget planning, but one look and I knew I had to have this. I am feeling all kinds of stupid right now, but if I have to drop something else to add this model so be it. I don't have a use for her, probably wont ever get around to painting her if I am brutally honest, but that doesn't matter.


Things I will likely to be buying:
Mystic Circle - A good terrain piece methinks, could make my own in all likelihood.

Kyra and Lavarath - I once bought the metal model, it never arrived. Main reason for a second go. This was a nice dragon in its day but has been eclipsed.


Things I might be buying:
Crusaders - They are growing on me, generic temple guard for D&D battles, box ticked. I think I just convinced myself, d'oh.

Undying Lords - They have character all over them. Definitely there as story driven opponents.

Sledgehammer - Not use about this, love the gun, love the crew. Does it really fit in my guard army, no, sadly not. But if I dont buy I might regret not having it. The tracked variant looks interesting this gun looks like it should run on rails.

Mthical Monsters - I really do want generic monsters, sophinx and manticore would be good. I have seen better manticore sculpts though abnd the sphinx can therefore wait for retail.

Solar - Really not sure, the earlier Deva model can work as well, and in my opinion looks better for the task. Has that Lord of the Upper planes been suddenly summoned while on his way to a fancy dress party going as a barbarian?

Air Elementals - Think this is low on content frankly, but would be useful if they get it right. I might buy the large elemental seperately, but that will liekly cost as much so...

Wont be caught dead with:

Mouslings.


The Stonskull expansion is a mix of turds and diamonds.
The Behir 301 leads the wow list, the tree man 304 has promise depending on scale and a generic succubus 305 will be useful. 314, 316, the kobolds and plants 317-325 are all useful add ons. i could do with a naga 330 and an Iron golem 334. While not top sculpts the four bandiots 326-329 could prove handy as generic mooks, so they will be gratefully received.
As for the rest, there are some seriously crap waste of time miniatures in this set. So much so it was difficult to agree to buy. 306-309, what tghe hell are those? Just get them out of my dungeon. missed the bear 303, its ok and would sdo better as a werebear than the partly clothed and armed one in the core set. but then 310 and 315.. WTF?? No thanks.

Ok I will buy this, the succubus and two dragons made the deal, the deadly plants and kobolds helped sweeten it and make it worth $50.



Mythos beasties make for good dioramas. Cthulhu is a must buy sculpt but on the same caveats as Tiamat, only more so. You wont ever really need it. Shub-Niggurath, Dagon, waste of time placing them on the tabletop. To buy them is to love them for themselves, as dust magnets for your shelving. It is tempting.
As for the main Cthulhu set. I must say I rather like it. In fact I think the composition is excellent. The Dark Young is as nice centrepiece, and a survivable large mythos beast as if one is summoned it normally remains in place and doesn't chase down Investigators.
The cultists and alter bing the real focus of attention. In CoC you ignore the beasties and fight the cultists. and this set provides cultists.
Deep Ones and Mi-Go are exceptions as trained investigators can with decent combat skills and at the cost of their remaining sanity actually defeat these monsters, and they are not pointless as a combat opponent. The gug is the only weakpoint of the set. For a start its mouth is wrong and second its only found on the Dreamlands, and the dreamlands needs a set all to itself. A ghoul would have been better. You can also hope to defeat a ghoul.
The two shrines are good focal centrepoints for midway through an Investigation, on the run up to the big reveal.
Next comes investigators and those they traffic with. this is a good generic set, with a mix of Victorian and 20's-30's miniatures with the earlier stuff useable in the latter era. By making some use of some of the SDavage worlds freebies there is enough to go by.
This is indeed tempting, but I don't play Call of Cthulhu. So I will not in all likelihood buy. But if I did I would.




This all fits together so yes, or no?

Hell yes. This set is awesome. like the monsters, or two exceptions, Love the terrain. I am in.

Not too sure on the three pumpkinhead models or 398 which is too static as a mourner and unusable as a statue. I am thinking of using 398 as a ghost for some variety and useage. While some people do collpase at gravesides and not move, its better if its a ghost doing that methinks.

I do hopwe 393 is niot firmly attached to its sarcophagus. That makes an awesome lich king or wight miniature.

I'm thinking Tiamat.

Yes, $60. Yes shipping.

But, dear lord... That thing could be 18" tall.

I'll spend weeks and weeks building, filling and painting it...

Only to be told that I can't put it on the mantelpiece in the living room.

Good rundown! I like to think 394 is the angry, awakened from of 398. The whole expansion seems like a lesson in 'Don't touch'.

I think of 315 as the lizardmen's vengeful, likely cannibalistic deity. They seem like a culture that would be ok with worshipping an oversized monster that eats them when they're caught, and tries to trap travelers to satisfy it.

I think they put a tape measure down by Ma'aldrakar and it was more like 12" tall but that's still pretty enormous for a miniature. Plus it's closer to taking up a 12" cube, not just that tall.

So reading the above post about the fire giant matching the frost giants... do we have consensus? If I can paint them the same and get away with it.. may as well have 5 giants.

But what will you do with 5 giants? Play out some sort of giant genocide?

Bah, you get high enough level and you NEED 5 giants.

Plus its more like you get caught, fight your way past the jailer, then defeat the two warriors before ultimately battling the king and his queen.

The yetis will make great filler encounters/extras.

Thwe King and queen are just male and female giants, they dont look like Giant royalty, arent any bigger or flasher.
Three male giants, one of which is a leader, one female priestess and the jailer, which I might convert a tad to make him more generic thanks to the extra armament choices of the king.
They will need to be rused a fair bit but five giants at a time is sufficient for a medium-high level party to face. I looked at the possibility of getting two more regular giants, but I think its unnecessary to go that far.
I wont 'ice' them up so they will remain regular giants, with careful colour choices I could use them as hill, fire and frost giants, which are the only ones generally fought en masse.

There is a scenario book called Annihilate the Giants, featuring a raid on a Frost Giant stronghold.
http://www.amazon.com/HackMaster-Annihilate-Giants-Steve-Johansson/dp/1889182230.

I think the originals were G1-3 from Dnd 1st or 2nd edition.

Yeah, there are totally reasons to have five giants.. and thanks alot for spending the extra 6 bucks for me guys Sounds like a plan though.

I think it would be fun to pit a party of lower leveled adventurers against the giants but with both surprise and an initial terrain advantage. The party would be scouting for a local town/village and then discover the giant troupe. What do they do, go back and report and then try to help the townsfolk fight the giants, or try to evacuate them before the giants arrive? In a frontal assault they'd be lucky to kill a single giant let alone five. Force them to think outside the box and make traps, avalanches etc, or to make the hard/cowardly choice to save themselves (likely having consequences later..muahaha).

Great fodder for higher levels too though.

 lord_blackfang wrote:
But what will you do with 5 giants? Play out some sort of giant genocide?

I have all the Bones giants released from Bones 1, and plan to buy most from Bones 2 and Bones 3 so that I can use them as a few pantheons of gods. They will war with each other, then the demons, and eventually the Lovecraftian big guys. It will be glorious.

Darn, seems KS did not take my dollar.

Ah well.

 lord_blackfang wrote:
But what will you do with 5 giants? Play out some sort of giant genocide?

Raid a Giant's lair of course.

We had a D&D adventure where our characters devestated an entire fire giant settlement to steal a magical sword, only to have it taken away from us by a Storm Giant the next adventure.

 lord_blackfang wrote:
But what will you do with 5 giants? Play out some sort of giant genocide?

BWahaha.. 5?
I have the Pathfinder Frost Giant, Heroclix Frost Giant, and DnD Miniatures Frost Giant.. plus these. I might end up getting the Heroscape Frost Giant and OOP Paizo Frost Giant as well. Why?

My heroes are going to have to help frost giants reclaim their treasure from a dragon. Afterwards, the surviving frost giants are going to turn on the heroes. Shhhh.. don't tell them that.

The fire giants are going to be a different story. A lot of that adventure is going to be about sneaking past the giants and using subterfuge, poison, and other deviousness. Completely different adventures.

I blame DDO. Sooo many adventures where you drop giants by the dozens. I really like having the option to use them heavily, especially in higher level gaming. Granted, lower level adventures might only see an occasional hill giant or whatever, but once heroes get to a certain point, giants become the equivalent of orcs at lower levels.



I believe the module someone was mentioning earlier was called Against the Giants. Either way.. you can always find a way if you're willing

I'm going with:

- Savage Worlds Heroes (Shadows of Brimstone alternate figures).
- Torture Chamber (always love terrain bits)
- 1 of each specialty weapon pack (Vice, Virtue, Grave)
- and some Sophie/Mr & Mrs Bones (for myself and others).

I'm keeping my eye on the Mystic Circle, Pretty Deadly, and a few others, but even just that limited selection above comes to $35 US including shipping, so other stuff might just have to wait for retail.

I pledged 37 bucks back when Shub Niggurath was 10 bucks, and I kept it at 37. I have no idea what will happen next.

I put in for a core set, an expansion, and the undead diversity pack.

I have no idea what I'll end up with. Probably lots of big things that aren't dragons. Also dragons.

Dagon and the Frogemoth are two I'm really interested in, especially how large they'll be.

 Orlanth wrote:

Not too sure on the three pumpkinhead models or 398 which is too static as a mourner and unusable as a statue. I am thinking of using 398 as a ghost for some variety and useage. While some people do collpase at gravesides and not move, its better if its a ghost doing that methinks.
.

Plenty of Victorian era graves/monuments have elaborate stone mourners draped over them, I think this is what 398 is meant to be.

 rosafari wrote:

 Orlanth wrote:

Not too sure on the three pumpkinhead models or 398 which is too static as a mourner and unusable as a statue. I am thinking of using 398 as a ghost for some variety and useage. While some people do collpase at gravesides and not move, its better if its a ghost doing that methinks.
.

Plenty of Victorian era graves/monuments have elaborate stone mourners draped over them, I think this is what 398 is meant to be.

Interesting, do you have any links, or title for the theme. If I can get a visual reference then things change. Never seen or heard of a gravestone marked that way, but it sounds like the sort of bad taste idea some Victorians might employ.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I pledged 37 bucks back when Shub Niggurath was 10 bucks, and I kept it at 37. I have no idea what will happen next.

If you still want her, you'll have a chance to add more to your pledge later. Not sure what'll happen if you just keep your pledge manager set up as is, but I'm leaning towards "No Goat For You."

 Orlanth wrote:
Interesting, do you have any links, or title for the theme. If I can get a visual reference then things change. Never seen or heard of a gravestone marked that way, but it sounds like the sort of bad taste idea some Victorians might employ.

Have some random Google-Fu images. A lot of them involve symbols of purity and 'goodness' so be ready for a lot of Angels.



edit: coz i can't use tags.

OK, stonework it is then. Thanks for that. It will no longer look daft once I add ivy.


As for those Frost Giants.

Yes G1-3 comes to mind strongly. The whole campaign always does:

Hommlet
Temple of Elemental Evil
Slave Lords
Giants
Drow

Always wanted to run the campaign from Hommlet to Lolth's fane. It is getting to the point where I can actually do so with miniatures.

 Orlanth wrote:
Not too sure on the three pumpkinhead models or 398 which is too static as a mourner and unusable as a statue. I am thinking of using 398 as a ghost for some variety and useage. While some people do collpase at gravesides and not move, its better if its a ghost doing that methinks.

I am pretty sure that she is part of the tombstone - I have seen similar stones in New England, typically mid to late 19th Century. And I am pretty sure that we borrowed it from Olde England.

The Auld Grump - the same era also gave us weeping angels....

*EDIT* Well, rats... I was beaten to it more than once.... The Victorians really did go for some schmaltzy graveyard furniture.



This was the exact stone that I was thinking of!

 Laughing Man wrote:

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I pledged 37 bucks back when Shub Niggurath was 10 bucks, and I kept it at 37. I have no idea what will happen next.

If you still want her, you'll have a chance to add more to your pledge later. Not sure what'll happen if you just keep your pledge manager set up as is, but I'm leaning towards "No Goat For You."

Yeah, the pledge manager will probably be my undoing.