On a Wing and a Prayer

I am very excited about the river drake! At CR3, I have used it a number of times to give low level players their first taste of some type of dragon. As for everything else, all great as well. Good work, folks!

...believe it or not, it's just meeee~

*ahem* Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. ^_^

I'm not usually thrilled about prepainted minis, as I take great pride in painting my own, but this set does have me thinking I might just buy a few packs.

I’m thrilled for all the plants and fey in this set. Plus the Hydra is ici g on the cake. 22 days and counting...

Chupacabra chupas on some cabras :)

Now that were closing in on the end i wouldnt mind seeing a production run of the hydra and some of the other minis of diff sizes, say the mold runt, that pixie, serpentfolk, morlock and a large or two just to get an impression of the actual production minis - renders are great but far more detailed than the final mini tneds to be.

Wizkids has provided the release date:

It's april 25th already!

Monster Menagerie III was in stores on the 28th of march, just 10 days ago.

I really don't like having only 4 weeks between a D&D set and a Pathfinder set as i collect both lines.
The Pathfinder Battles minis are of much better paint quality.
The "Kraken" case incentive (gargantuan size with overhang) is fantastic though.
In my opinion it is a great Dagon or even Cthulhu proxy (even if they are huge & colossal in Bestiary 4).

I’m thrilled for all the plants and fey in this set. Plus the Hydra is ici g on the cake. 22 days and counting...

As a Reaper "Bones" unpainted plastic miniatures backer for all the Kickstarters, I've noticed that "more fey" has been a popular fan request for a long time: it seems that fey miniatures are sort of a rarity. It's definitely nice to see Pathfinder Miniatures adding some common ones in! These are some really nice fey miniatures, if the sample picture above is anything to go by - I hope the miniatures are as popular as the requests seem to suggest they will be!

I picked up two packs of Monster Menagerie III at a con last weekend, and I gotta say: I don't know what Paizo is doing on their side, but I can definitely see the difference. Pathfinder Battles minis are far and away better than the current D&D offerings.

Chupa... Chupa-thingie!

I picked up two packs of Monster Menagerie III at a con last weekend, and I gotta say: I don't know what Paizo is doing on their side, but I can definitely see the difference. Pathfinder Battles minis are far and away better than the current D&D offerings.

100% agree, now all we need is a set from pathfinder that includes huge miniatures as well. Say an aboleth(R), frogemoth(R), elementals (these could be an uncommon, that way you could get several in a case, and yes i know we just got an air and fire i’d be happy to recycle), athach(U) plus others

I didn't mind the Rise of the Runelords approach to Huge minis... but I have several sets' worth of Huges from the original DDM lines, so I'm willing to accept a slower rate of production.

(Something like Giants of Legend would be the dream, especially with Paizo's not-quite-guarantee of a full set per case, but I can't imagine that's anywhere near fiscally feasible at this point.)

Travelling afar for conventions limits space for larger minis in my situation, it cannot be a unique thing.

Personally, I relish that Pathfinder Battles and Icons of the Realms are producing miniatures at the same time. The rivalry of the two lines seems to fuel innovation, giving us some of the best miniatures ever. If the cost of all this is occasionally having a couple sets released at the same time, I’m willing to weather the storm and reap the benefits. Even if it means skipping lunch for a while to support my hobby.

I do wonder what effect Pathfinder 2.0 will have on the Pathfinder Battle lines. Will humanoids and monster change enough to force a reboot on much of what has been released? Or will the rule changes be more mechanical, leaving us with our familiar iconics and traditional looking creatures?

If you've been following the playtest preview blogs, you'll have noticed that we've had Wayne Reynolds do a lot of new concept art for the new edition. It's safe to say that minis based on that artwork will appear in the Battles line eventually, but "forcing a reboot" is a strong wording.

We need an inverted giant miniature!

Kalindlara wrote:

I picked up two packs of Monster Menagerie III at a con last weekend, and I gotta say: I don't know what Paizo is doing on their side, but I can definitely see the difference. Pathfinder Battles minis are far and away better than the current D&D offerings.

100% agree, now all we need is a set from pathfinder that includes huge miniatures as well. Say an aboleth(R), frogemoth(R), elementals (these could be an uncommon, that way you could get several in a case, and yes i know we just got an air and fire i’d be happy to recycle), athach(U) plus others

I wonder if sales of the D&D line are significantly stronger. The monster menagerie three case was considerably heavier and bulkier than previous sets but not the same cost as the infamous RotRL set. They also make a lot of use of 39A and 39B type figures (identical with different arms). Presumably that saves significant costs.

By the way, are you comparing the newer D&D sets with the newer PFB ones? I think WizKids quality had the same learning curve with the two lines. The rares and huge minis in particular are great in the more recent D&D sets. (Several of the D&D versions are superior to the equivalent PFB figure, in my view, it’s not all one way).

The common D&D figures are the only ones I feel are substantially worse than the PFB analogs (and the inclusion of super-rares/invisible sculpts is a definite negative, in my view).

I picked up two packs of Monster Menagerie III at a con last weekend, and I gotta say: I don't know what Paizo is doing on their side, but I can definitely see the difference. Pathfinder Battles minis are far and away better than the current D&D offerings.

Can I ask which figures you got? I really liked this set and am surprised you didn’t (though there were some goblins and kobolds I could take or leave).

The gibbering mouther in particular was sensational, I thought. There were also two gnome wizards, two storm giants and a couple of really neat unique minster sculpts that I’m very glad I got.

I'll admit that part of my disinterest comes from getting figures I didn't like very much (especially since I was spending money I oughtn't have been spending). Let's see...

Mouth of Grolantor (BLEH)
Frost Giant (too big, weird green color)
Gnoll (Meh)
Gnome Wizard A (OK, I guess)
Goblin (actually not bad for a common... and I kinda like them better than PF goblins, to be honest)
Winged Kobold (I guess?)
Wereboar B (indistinguishable from an orc)
Tiefling Rogue B (the only one I took any particular interest in, though I really wish it were a female tiefling)

Looking again, they have definitely improved since the beginning of the new DDM line. I think the color schemes put me off, though... the colors are very dull and dingy, where PFB minis seem more bright and evocative. That could just be me, though.

Maybe if I'd gotten different minis, I wouldn't have been so meh. But for $36 (two packs), I kinda need them to wow me.

Actually, the too-big green "Frost Giant" would probably make a really good storm giant. So that might be useful after all.

Also, yes, super-rares and invisibles are a blight on the brand. I'm really glad PFB doesn't do that. (And I say that as someone who got a good one from a single pack.)

I think the color schemes put me off, though... the colors are very dull and dingy, where PFB minis seem more bright and evocative. That could just be me, though.

I think that's a very common position of PFB fans.

It's one of the things I like about Wizkids' approach, actually. For me PFB are too pastelly/cartoony (especially the larger minis). I much prefer the D&D dark palette and I'm glad they're taking two different approaches for the different lines, rather than making a unilateral choice for the market (albeit that does make it obvious when one mixes-and-matches between sets).

Actually, the too-big green "Frost Giant" would probably make a really good storm giant. So that might be useful after all.

I really didn't like the green.

However, I much prefer the size of D&D giants though. PF giants/trolls/cyclops are kind of pathetic-sized, in my view.

Winged Kobold (I guess?)

You guess correctly.

Another significant plus for the PFB is the clear labelling on the base. I don't know why anyone thinks black-on-black identifiers is a good idea for the D&D line. It's just stupid. >(

Kalindlara wrote:

Actually, the too-big green "Frost Giant" would probably make a really good storm giant. So that might be useful after all.

I really didn't like the green.

However, I much prefer the size of D&D giants though. PF giants/trolls/cyclops are kind of pathetic-sized, in my view.

The problem is, I'm using them for Pathfinder. (That's why the storm giant thing works - they're huge in Pathfinder.) Having them be Pathfinder-sized is something of an important factor. ^_^

That said, I don't necessarily disagree about size preference, aesthetically speaking. It certainly would make them more "giant". I'd worry about being able to provide adequate map space for too many Huge giants, though - published adventures can easily bump up to ten-foot squares, but my table can only hold so much map.

Kalindlara wrote:

I think the color schemes put me off, though... the colors are very dull and dingy, where PFB minis seem more bright and evocative. That could just be me, though.

I think that's a very common position of PFB fans.

It's one of the things I like about Wizkids' approach, actually. For me PFB are too pastelly/cartoony (especially the larger minis). I much prefer the D&D dark palette and I'm glad they're taking two different approaches for the different lines, rather than making a unilateral choice for the market (albeit that does make it obvious when one mixes-and-matches between sets).

After the 4e-era DDM minis, I can't ever see anything else as "too pastelly/cartoony". The bar for goofy bright minis has been set, and set very high. ^_^

If you've been following the playtest preview blogs, you'll have noticed that we've had Wayne Reynolds do a lot of new concept art for the new edition. It's safe to say that minis based on that artwork will appear in the Battles line eventually, but "forcing a reboot" is a strong wording.

We saw this with D&D when 4.0 and now 5.0came out. One of the things I’ve enjoyed so far with the Pathfinder Battles line is the fairly consistent look of similar creatures, even across sets.

I’m sorry, I haven’t been following any of the 2.0 threads, so I don’t really know what to expect. One of the things I’m concerned with is the dragon lines. The evolution packs were fantastic, except that they only gave us the red and whites in various sizes. I would have liked to at least finish off the other chromatics (within sets) before we get any changes in appearance of them (like tthe D&D green nose fiasco). Aside from minis not longer quite matching, getting reissues of creatures previously made because their artwork has changed is also an issue.

It all remains to be seen. I think that Paizo and Wizkids have made great decisions about set content up until now (what, with 14 sets now produced). And I hope, that with new artwork consideration has been giving to miniatures being created off of it. I imagine in the past some great creatures may have been passed over because the artwork just wasn’t suitable for conversion into plastic.

I’m going to guess that there is at least one more set in the works before we start seeing 2.0’s impact. I’m hoping it is an ecletic fill-in-the gaps type set (perhaps with huges). There are still some pieces I am holding out hope for, such as the Aboleth, for which I really feel the Pathfinder artwork is superior to D&D’s.

Steve Geddes wrote:

Kalindlara wrote:

Actually, the too-big green "Frost Giant" would probably make a really good storm giant. So that might be useful after all.

I really didn't like the green.

However, I much prefer the size of D&D giants though. PF giants/trolls/cyclops are kind of pathetic-sized, in my view.

The problem is, I'm using them for Pathfinder. (That's why the storm giant thing works - they're huge in Pathfinder.) Having them be Pathfinder-sized is something of an important factor. ^_^

That said, I don't necessarily disagree about size preference, aesthetically speaking. It certainly would make them more "giant". I'd worry about being able to provide adequate map space for too many Huge giants, though - published adventures can easily bump up to ten-foot squares, but my table can only hold so much map.

Perhaps this third party ruleset may offer some assistance with those giant minis that are just too big to be reasonably sported in normal Pathfinder rules. The Jotunblood Template can be applied to enlarge just about any giant one size class larger.

And you can obtain a copy here on the Paizo site.

Steve Geddes wrote:

Kalindlara wrote:

Actually, the too-big green "Frost Giant" would probably make a really good storm giant. So that might be useful after all.

I really didn't like the green.

However, I much prefer the size of D&D giants though. PF giants/trolls/cyclops are kind of pathetic-sized, in my view.

The problem is, I'm using them for Pathfinder. (That's why the storm giant thing works - they're huge in Pathfinder.) Having them be Pathfinder-sized is something of an important factor. ^_^

That said, I don't necessarily disagree about size preference, aesthetically speaking. It certainly would make them more "giant". I'd worry about being able to provide adequate map space for too many Huge giants, though - published adventures can easily bump up to ten-foot squares, but my table can only hold so much map.

I can see that. I don’t really care about that side of things, so aesthetics is everything for me when it comes to minis.

Having just got a small selection of monster menagerie 3 minis (huge minis and a selection of others). I can 100% attest to the fact that the pfb line production quality has been a lot better up to now, hopefully still the case for this set of course.

Storm giants (both): amazing quality
Everlasting one, cyclops, hill giantess, empyrion: good sculpt details, average paint job, still quite good. Easilly adaptable to pathfinder.
Sea spawn, slaad: passable but very muddy wash used.
Bards: fail. Muddy, overpainted so detail lost.
Gazer; really poor unfortunately. So heavilly painted all detail is lost.
Stirge: ok, solid addition.

It appears wizkids still favour their brown/black muddy wash. I hope they elected not to use this in this set.

It appears wizkids still favour their brown/black muddy wash. I hope they elected not to use this in this set.

It seems to me they’re favouring the darker palette for D&D sets and the brighter colours for PFB.

Other than Legends of Golarion, the darker washes haven’t really been used as much in PFB line.