Pathfinder Battles Preview: Rise of the Runelords Round-Up

I'm going to have so many goblins.

Yeti Rare? Can I get one Well Done? Oh, I see, we're missing a Carriage Return. ;)

Thanks for the list, Erik!!

.....But dangit, I was *really* hoping for some Shattered Star minis eye candy. :P Oh well, the longer the wait, the sweeter the reward!

Here's the list with sizes by it. Things seem to be reasonably mixed up, without the set of ultra rares notable as they were in the Heroes & Monsters order:

Common
1 Bugbear Hero
2 Goblin Commando - Small
3 Goblin Dog - Medium
4 Goblin Warchanter - Small
5 Kobold Champion - Small
6 Faceless Stalker - Medium
7 Ghoul - Medium
8 Harpy - Medium
9 Ogrekin - Medium
10 Yeth Hound - Medium
11 Denizen of Leng - Medium
12 Redcap - Small
13 Sinspawn - Medium
14 Sinspawn Axeman - Medium
15 Skinsaw Cultist - Medium
16 Alu-Demon - Medium
17 Lamia Kuchrima - Medium
18 Shining Child - Medium
19 Warrior of Wrath - Medium
20 Wraith - Medium
Uncommon
21 Goblin Commando on Goblin Dog – Medium
22 Jakardros Sovark - Medium
23 Lyrie Akenja - Medium
24 Ameiko Kaijitsu - Medium
25 Harsk, Dwarf Ranger - Medium
26 Lamia Matriarch - Large
27 Malfesknekor - Large
28 Orik Vancaskerkin - Medium
29 Tsuto Kaijitsu - Medium
30 Vale Temros - Medium
31 Kaven Windstrike - Medium
32 Khalib - Medium
33 Ogre - Large
34 Ogre Brute - Large
35 Seoni, Human Sorcerer - Medium
36 Shalelu Androsana - Medium
37 Viorian Dekanti - Medium
38 Dire Bear - Large
39 Stone Giant - Large
40 Stone Giant Champion - Large
41 Vraxeris - Medium
42 Lamia - Large
43 Wendigo - Large
44 Yeti - Large
Rare
45 Aldern Foxglove - Medium
46 Jaagrath Kreeg - Large
47 Lucrecia - Medium
48 The Scribbler - Medium
49 The Skinsaw Man - Medium
50 Highlady Athroxis - Medium
51 The Mithral Mage - Medium
52 Runelord Karzoug - Medium
53 Stone Golem - Large
54 Azaven - Medium
55 Lamatar Bayden - Medium
56 Mokmurian - Large
57 Forgefiend - Large
58 Nualia - Medium
59 Warchief Ripnugget - Medium
60 Young Red Dragon - Large
Huge
61 Karzoug Statue - Huge
62 Lamia Harridan - Huge
63 Storm Giant - Huge
64 Treachery Demon - Huge
Promotional
65 Rune Giant - Gargantuan

Here's the list with sizes by it. Things seem to be reasonably mixed up, without the set of ultra rares notable as they were in the Heroes & Monsters order:

What do you mean? How can you tell there's no "even more rares"?

Enlight_Bystand wrote:

Here's the list with sizes by it. Things seem to be reasonably mixed up, without the set of ultra rares notable as they were in the Heroes & Monsters order:

What do you mean? How can you tell there's no "even more rares"?

Sorry, wasn't clear above. There's no obvious ultra rares from this list in the way that the Vamp, Lich & Succubus were as the only minis not in the same order.

aww no sandpoint devil mini?

What is the street date for the sets?

Thanks,

V

What is the street date for the sets?

Thanks,

V

This.

Also, are all the huges equally likely to be found in any given pack?

Vernon Fults wrote:

What is the street date for the sets?

Thanks,

V

This.

Also, are all the huges equally likely to be found in any given pack?

a case of huges will have 2 of the storm giant and treachery demon, and 1 of the other two IIRC

was there a pic of the orge was it different from the one in the Heroes and Monsters set?

Mike

was there a pic of the orge was it different from the one in the Heroes and Monsters set?

Mike

Here are images of all the miniatures in the Rise of the Runelord set from Kor - Orc Scrollkeeper. There are three Ogres and an Orgekin in the set. May be the best Ogres yet in pre-painted miniatures.

Cheers,

Mazra

What is the street date for the sets?

Thanks,

V

August 22.

thanks Mazra the set looks frickin AWESOME

So these won't ship with the GenCon subscriptions in early August?

Fixed typos (in Malfeshnekor and Shalelu Andosana) in set list.

So these won't ship with the GenCon subscriptions in early August?

They'll probably ship the following week.

Remember that on your My Subscriptions page, you can tell us whether you want to delay things (which may save money on shipping), or ship things as soon as they arrive (which may incur additional shipping fees).

Can I ask how these work with the Rise of the Runelords pawn set? Specifically, do they overlap on the same monsters, or do they cover different ones?

I realize I'm in the minority (at least on this thread), but with limited funds, if these overlap with the pawns, I'd rather get the Heroes & Monsters case along with the Runelords pawns in order to cover the most creatures.

Vernon Fults wrote:

What is the street date for the sets?

Thanks,

V

August 22.

Thanks, Vic! Now, I can harrass the FLGS so they get the minis in-store on time. :)

Regards,

V

Can I ask how these work with the Rise of the Runelords pawn set? Specifically, do they overlap on the same monsters, or do they cover different ones?

We released the full pawn list a while ago, so you can compare for yourself. There's some overlap, but it's far from complete.

I missed that somehow. Thanks!

Not sure what you have planned for next couple blog posts until you can release the next set of pics for Shattered Star, but a new pic of the Kaven Windstrike mini without a broken sword might be blog worthy to fill the time.

Speaking of broken pieces, how are the miniatures in the boosters going to be packaged? With Heroes and Monsters, the plastic inserts did a pretty good job of protecting some of the more fragile minis during transport. It took longer to open cases, but that's why I had a miniature opening party with my gaming group. Will the boosters that now contain four miniatures still use plastic inserts? Or has a different approach been taken? I want Kaven, Athroxis and the Wendingo to have the best possible chance of arriving unscathed.

Speaking of broken pieces, how are the miniatures in the boosters going to be packaged? With Heroes and Monsters, the plastic inserts did a pretty good job of protecting some of the more fragile minis during transport. It took longer to open cases, but that's why I had a miniature opening party with my gaming group. Will the boosters that now contain four miniatures still use plastic inserts? Or has a different approach been taken? I want Kaven, Athroxis and the Wendingo to have the best possible chance of arriving unscathed.

+1!

Berk the Black wrote:

Speaking of broken pieces, how are the miniatures in the boosters going to be packaged? With Heroes and Monsters, the plastic inserts did a pretty good job of protecting some of the more fragile minis during transport. It took longer to open cases, but that's why I had a miniature opening party with my gaming group. Will the boosters that now contain four miniatures still use plastic inserts? Or has a different approach been taken? I want Kaven, Athroxis and the Wendingo to have the best possible chance of arriving unscathed.

+1!

It will most likely be like heroclix (see here) one long plastic peice that each of the bases fit into

The solution WizKids is using is pretty clever, but a bit difficult to describe. Each booster, which is roughly 5 x 4 x 3.5, contains two trays, which are each 5 x 4 x 1.75. One tray has spots for the three Medium or Small bases, and the other tray has a spot for the Large base.

Hey, searched and my search foo is weak.

Question had been asked back in January on how many cases would be necessary to 'ensure' that you received a complete set of the miniatures.

It was kind of left hanging whether that was one or two cases because of the large size of this set.

What was the recommendation on this one?

Thanks

They are aiming for a rate of 93% (from memory). Of the 7% 'incomplete' cases, they are hoping that they will generally only be short one figure. There's no guarantee, but their success rate with H&M was very good (over 99% based on the 100+ case reports posted on paizo.com).

Ultimately 1 case should get you at least one of each mini and if it doesnt it's likely you'll only need to find one or two from the singles market (which will presumably be offered here as soon as the set becomes available).

Thank you Steve! Picking up a few singles is much easier than buying a whole nother case.

Yeah - the attempt they've made at keeping a case very close to completion is a huge plus with these sets, in my opinion. I remember having to buy a ton of DDM boosters and still being short half a dozen of the super-rate figures.

It remains to be seen how close to the goal they'll go, but H&M was promising. (From memory only one of the case reports posted on the forums didnt contain a complete set). Plus, the incentives are terrific - ten bucks for a gargantuan humanoid figure is a bargain, in my opinion.

Here is a very long review!!
OK, I received my regular booster case today, along with a huge case and the Rune Giant. After very careful initial consideration, as well as a second look through them all about 3 hours later I have my review.

First, the packaging is better than last time, however, don’t expect a small pile. There will still be a good amount of plastic boxes lying about when all said and done. I understand the rationale behind the hard plastic, but it is certainly a lot more garbage than the previous plastic baggies that WotC put their minis in. I guess the hard plastic would be understandable if the minis remained intact. However, that was not the case for me and there were quite a few minis which had slipped out of their slots in my normal booster case (not the huges as they were all intact).

I received 3 minis “broken.” They were the Scribbler, Forgefiend and Ameiko Kaijitsu. When I say “broken” they had detached from their base. I used super glue to put them back together and I am sure they will be fine. However, when receiving new minis I don’t expect to find them separated from the base upon arrival. This is something I think needs to be looked into with the next set. It seems the minis are not part of the base and simply attached to it after the mini has been cast. This most definitely is the problem as the old WotC minis were part of the base.

I DID receive a full set with my case which was a good thing. However, I was down to my last 2 boosters when I finally pulled the remaining 2 minis I needed (Yeti and Lamatar Bayden). I actually got a Yeti in each of my last 2 boosters which I was glad giving me a total of 2!

I ordered my cases from Popular Collections and let me tell you the actual delivery box I received was huge! I actually understand the $17.00 shipping charge after seeing the delivery!! I just wanted to add that in. They did a great job with price and delivery!!

Strangely, I received two Vale Temros minis, but the base on one of them says Faceless Stalker. I am thinking the mini should have actually been a Faceless Stalker as it seems the Vale Temros mini was glued on to the base (there is a white outline around his feet). I have glued thousands of minis to bases and I have seen this all too familiar tell-tale sign indicating the mini has been glued down. None of the other minis received had this white outline around their feet.

Next, I don’t understand the reason that some of the minis are attached to the base using the minis feet, while others have small pads attached to their feet which are then attached to the base? It can’t simply be because the size of the feet because many minis have smaller feet and do not use the pads (take a look at a few examples such as Jakardros Sovark, Aldern Foxglove and the Shining Child – none have pads). However, then look at the Ghoul, Sinspawn Axeman and Warrior of Wrath. Is there really a difference in their feet size? I am not making a major complaint about this, although they do look much better without the additional pad, however, I would be curious to know from Paizo/Wizkids why some have it and some do not.

So now I will move on to my review of the actual minis themselves!

First the Rune Giant. The paint job and sculpt on this mini is absolutely fantastic! I know it cost quite a penny so it should be expected, but you will not be disappointed in the way it looks! There is literally no complaint I have with this mini other than maybe wanting it a tad taller. However, he is crouching so I should take that into consideration. When putting him alongside Orcus he matches up in size quite nicely. He falls slightly short in height to WotC Gargantuan Black Dragon and seems slightly smaller than the Blue. However, the Gargantuan Blue is quite “beefy” and the Black is standing on its hind feet. When put next to the white he fits in perfectly!! Overall an A!

HUGES. I will go over each of these in great detail as there are only 4.

I am rating all minis with an A, B, C or D scale. No pluses or minuses.

Treachery Demon: The Treachery Demon is the prize without any doubt! It is absolutely awesome. Those two smaller hands protruding from its chest is just plain creepy! That lime green tongue is a bit out of place, but it is a lumbering intimidating beast! A.

Karzoug Statue: After the above listed mini I would consider the Karzoug Statue to be a very close second. Yes, it doesn’t have the color scheme of the Treachery Demon, but for what it is, a statue, it certainly does its job. It is immense in size and weighs a ton. Throw away your bat under your bed and keep one of these under it for intruders! It should do the job just as nicely!! It is a great figure and is just about the size of the Rune Giant! Another A!

Lamia Harridan and Storm Giant: Both are nice minis. However, the Lamia suffers some of the problem the first set had and that is size issues! Her head could fit on many of the large minis and you would not know that it came from a huge. Simply compare her head to the storm giant and it is clear as day! She is a very nice mini and the detail is fantastic. However, I wish Paizo would work with Wizkids on the next set in getting the scale a bit better. WotC was ripped apart for issues like this so I think it is only fair to mention this to Paizo. You may say it is only 1 mini, but wait. I have more! Both B.

The Lamia! OMG! Look at the size of this mini! This is worse than the Chimera from Heroes and Monsters! Please Paizo, correct this moving forward as it really takes away from such a potentially cool mini as the Lamia! You can fit another 3 of her on the base before it gets crowded! I actually got 3!!! If she was larger she could have been awesome. I hate to say it, but I do wonder who let this one pass through review during production? I would have thought Paizo would have stopped this one in its tracks and asked Wizkids to modify it. D!!!

Sticking with the size issue I wonder if the Ogre is supposed to be the young of either the Ogre Brute or Jagraath Kreeg! The Ogre is about half their size? I am honestly curious as to how they made three ogres (which all look fantastic I must add) and one being so much smaller than the rest? Maybe it is supposed to be because of the RotR Adventure Path, but if not there is a serious problem with the ogre’s size! I must say that the ogre’s are one of my favorite minis in the set. They are each painted beautifully and have so much detail, expression and character! Truly outstanding, however, the size differential takes away from my overall love of the three! However, I will still give them an A taking into consideration that the Ogre is a child!

Again I must mention the size issue! The Young Red Dragon has the same issue! Just compare it to the WotC dragons and you will see what I mean. I like the mini, like the detail, like the sculpt, but its size is very uninspiring! Are we seeing a bit of a pattern yet? C.

Now, after saying all of that about size issues let me move on and hit some positives. There are many!

Yeti: Awesome mini. Got 2 and wanted many more (if you read above got it from my last 2 boosters). Some may not like the loin cloth considering Yeti are more “wild” but the mini itself is outstanding! I need many more. A.

All the Stone Giants: They are great. I didn’t look at my WotC ones to compare, but it appears they have a similar look with the lanky muscular build. I think they scored big with these minis. Some may hate the added scenery (rocks for 2 of the 3 minis), but I think it is great! You can see that Mokmurian is smaller than the others. However, I am going to hold it to the fact that he is a spell caster and took this class route because of his size (I am trying to be reasonable here as I really don’t know if his smaller size is becasue he is a spell caster or they just messed up again with size). However, oddly his head is not as squared as the others (being round). In the end, however, these three minis still get a thumbs up! A.

Dire Bear: Very nice mini. Dire? I don’t know, but it certainly fills in for a natural looking grizzly or something. Got three, which I didn’t really need, but at least it’s a nice minis. For a simple brown paint scheme it has some depth to it! Beefy and bulky it might be my favorite bear mini to date! A.

Forgefiend: Besides having no idea what this creature is I think it is well executed. The translucent orange belly makes the mini standout and without that it would simply be a C. One of mine was detached from its base, but after gluing it all is fine. I guess there was only so much they could do with the paint for this mini, but gladly they did it right with the stomach! B.

Lamia Matriarch: Can’t complain here. I think it is nice. It’s torso is much thinner than the snake-like WotC minis, but it still represents size with its lengthy coils on the large base. It gives a different impression than the Dark Naga and such with it appearing long and lanky! B.

Malfeshkekor: What the hell is this? Don’t know but I like. Not only is it intimidating in size it has this malevolent smile upon its face which just screams evil. Awesome mini. Got three and I am very happy about that. A.

Stone Golem: Now, to me this is not really a stone golem. I understand that they can be created with any look wanted, but it just appears undead! However, this is a good thing! This mini is quite creepy! You want to use it as a stone golem, go ahead. You want to use it as some undead, go ahead. It has quite a bit of versatility! Love it as all stone golems simply looked like….stone golems before this creepy dude! In the end, one of my favorites! A.

Wendigo: I will say that this freakish mini is awesome. Nice paint, nice sculpt and love the size! Having it perched on the translucent base is a plus as the creature from what I recall has no legs (or something to that effect). Got 3 and although that is too many to put against any reasonable party I am happy! A.

MEDIUMS and SMALLS

Yeth Hound and Goblin Dog: Both minis are great. We all needed a Yeth Hound and the Goblin Dog can serve any purpose you want from a feral wild dog to well...a goblin dog. Great minis! The two of these look great together as well in regards to size. However, both strangely are on a circular base glued to the actual base which is almost equal in size. I would love to know the reason for this as well? A. (I do, however, want to give both a minus because of the extra “base”). Paizo, please explain!

Sinspawn and Sinspawn Axeman: Think both are superb. I know not what they are, but I can certainly find a place for them in my world. The axeman is the better of the two, but they both look so similar that a group of each rampaging towards any party would look great! Very good minis! A.

Bugbear Hero and Ogrekin: Absolutely two of the best minis in the set. The detail on the bugbear is fantastic as well as the paint scheme. Both are truly superb and some of my favorite minis! That malformed face on the Ogrekin is great! A.

Alu-Demon: Pretty good. I guess I can’t complain and most will say nice. However, I have had enough of these minis and am getting a bit bored even with this one having the sweet webbing covering her arse! B.

Goblin Commando on Goblin Dog: You really can’t ask for any more in a mini! I got three and want more. Both the goblin and dog are well done. Each can, if seperated in a battle, be substituted for other minis in this set! Really good mini! A.

Faceless Stalker: For a simple mini I like it. It has pads on its feet which is a negative, but it still gets my OK. Don’t expect too much from this mini as it can only offer so much with the paint and sculpt! However, for what it can offer it is quite nice! B.

Wrath: Eh! I get them trying to add a little something with the hair and all, but in the end there is something lacking with this mini. Doesn’t give a wrath-like feeling! Paint is bland and just doesn’t feel all that “undead” and scary! Funny thing is even though I don’t love the mini I can see myself using it often! C.

Lamia Kuchrima: Certainly one of the aces of the set! The minis sculpt is awesome. Paint scheme is pretty good, but it simply comes down to its use. Add this to the WotC vrocks and you have one hell of a party! A.

Warchief Ripnugget: This is one hell of a mini! I am not a fan of mounted minis, but this goblin and lizard take the cake! Really solid mini overall. I would have liked a bit more shading on the lizard which holds it back a bit. B.

Harpy: When I saw the previews I thought I would hate this mini. However, now in hand I have changed my mind. The detail on the face of the mini is quite outstanding! The shaded wings look quite good and the size makes up for a missing spot with all the WotC harpies. Very nice surprise, but I only got 1! A.

Ghoul: Maybe it’s me, but I just don’t like my ghoul’s blue! Why this color I don’t know, but I must say it doesn’t look good. The skull in hand looks a bit silly and at the end of the day although I love undead the minis is not really great! C.

Shining Child: So I know that there was a great deal of effort that went into this mini and I am thankful that they created it. But, to be fair it is only so, so. I think it is good for what it is and in truth am happy I got 3 (would have liked more). It is clear plastic which is hard to really see due to the minis small size. I would have liked a better wash on the hair maybe to blend in better with the minis clear plastic, purple body. I still rate it fairly high. B.

Redcap: Simply love this little guy! Maybe I have a routing effort for the “little” guy, but in the end this mini needed to be made for the longest time. Love the oversized axe it carries and for such a small mini the detail is great! You can’t really make out all the detail on this guy due to his size, but because of the red cap and the large axe your focus is drawn to these areas thus making the detail obscured. I want more!!! A.

Goblin Commando and Goblin Warchanter: Of the two which is better? Well, maybe the Warchanter because of his open mouth displaying his teeth. However, once again Paizo has hit it out of the park with their goblins. A definite must have as they are both great! I have not used goblins in my game for years, but when I do I am certainly pulling out these! Great! A.

Kobold Champion: This guy is superb. Simply look at the paint detail. The shading is phenomenal and the sculpt is truly great. He would fit in nicely with all other kobold minis which is a bonus as well. A.

Let me move on the PEOPLE TYPE SCULPTS.

The Best? Well there are many. I think at times Paizo does better with their minis representing “people” than the monsters. I think part of the reason is that “people” are all the basic same size!!

Anyways, here are all the pc type minis rated best to the worst (many are superb):

1) Seoni, Human Sorcerer: And it’s not because of her garb! It is simply an amazing minis). A.

2) Azaven: Can be used for a human or some sort of undead. Detail is incredible! A.

3) The Mithral Mage: The staff in his hands with the clear tip gem looks great. The mini overall is one of the best! A.

4) Runelord Karzoug: Love the color, love the detail and love the green flame. Some may not like this mini because of this, but I can’t help but think that it is one which should be a major npc! Face looks great! A.

5) Lamatar Bayden: Maybe undead and belongs with the creatures above, but this guy I love no matter where he belongs! A.

6) Khalib: Got three of this guy, but his paint and detail are really on the mark. A.

7) Vale Temros: Love that Paizo has added many npc’s of color. The figure is cool and the detail is excellent! A.

8) The Scribbler: Falling in at #8 he still is at the A level. Strangely I can’t really put my finger on what I like about him. A.

9) Denizen of Leng: Maybe should have been under creatures, but looks humanoid enough to me. Great mini with all detail. Love it, but only got 2! I need and want many more! A.

10) Ameiko Kajitsu: Very good looking mini with the tattoos on her arm for detail. Love the shading on the hair (gray stripe). A.

11) Aldern Foxglove: Very regal looking mini. Nice addition. A.

12) Lucrecia: Great barkeep mini for any game. Very nice detail as well. A.

13) Shalelu Andosana: Very nice mini but I am still trying to figure out what that two-pronged white thing is sticking out of her hair? Someone please tell me? B.

14) Tsuto Kaijitsu: Asian I guess. I do think it looks good. B.

15) Lyrie Akenja: Like this mini a lot, but the cat takes away from it overall. Would have been an A if not for the white cat at her feet. B.

16) Highlady Athroxis: Great mini, but I rated it so low because of a couple of things. First, the weapon takes up too much space around her interfering with potential other minis on a game board. Second, I don’t love the pose. Nice mini for many I am guessing, but I am not in love with it. B.

17) Orik Vancaskerkin: The shield makes the mini overall quite nice. In truth could have ranked him much higher. Very good, but he might be suffering from my “late night syndrome as I have been writing this for god knows how long”. B.

18) Viorian Dekanti: One of the last of the B minis. This is another that could have been rated higher. It is truly fantastic. B.

19) Vraxeris: Although great detail the paint scheme just seems a bit “off.” Can’t really explain it, but see for yourself. B.

20) Jakardros: Really good mini. Nothing outstanding like many of the other minis outlined before, but you have to love a simple mini with an eye patch and a bow like this. B.

Going to try and speed these through with simple ratings!

21) Kaven Windstrike: Detail really good. Like it a lot! B.

22) Harsk, Dwarf Ranger: Pretty nice dwarf overall. B.

23) Skinsaw Cultist: You need many of these minis to sort out your cult. Freakishly good for a common! B.

24) Warrior of Wrath: Another exceptionally good common. Love it for that. B.

25) Nualia: Nothing too good here. The connection between the torso and pants looks off. Just nothing here that would sell you as being a great mini! C.
26) The Skinsaw Man: Not only is he seriously leaning (which I can fix) the tongue looks silly especially in purple. Do skinsaw men have purple tongues? If they do then maybe I should raise the rating. However, in its current state I am not a fan! C.

Well there it is. Hope you enjoyed and got soemthing out of this!

I received 3 minis “broken.” They were the Scribbler, Forgefiend and Ameiko Kaijitsu. When I say “broken” they had detached from their base. I used super glue to put them back together and I am sure they will be fine. However, when receiving new minis I don’t expect to find them separated from the base upon arrival. This is something I think needs to be looked into with the next set. It seems the minis are not part of the base and simply attached to it after the mini has been cast. This most definitely is the problem as the old WotC minis were part of the base.

Next, I don’t understand the reason that some of the minis are attached to the base using the minis feet, while others have small pads attached to their feet which are then attached to the base? It can’t simply be because the size of the feet because many minis have smaller feet and do not use the pads (take a look at a few examples such as Jakardros Sovark, Aldern Foxglove and the Shining Child – none have pads). However, then look at the Ghoul, Sinspawn Axeman and Warrior of Wrath. Is there really a difference in their feet size? I am not making a major complaint about this, although they do look much better without the additional pad, however, I would be curious to know from Paizo/Wizkids why some have it and some do not.

The bases are separate from the minis for a couple of reasons; one of the big ones is that it means the base can use a more rigid plastic than the rest of the mini, which avoids the curling bases you sometimes see on D&D Minis.

As for the footpads, they're there to provide a larger surface area for gluing the minis to the base. After Heroes & Monsters, people asked us to try to minimize the use of footpads, and WizKids did their best on that front. With this set, we're getting a lot more reports of minis coming free of their bases, so WizKids will revisit that again. (I suspect the answer is that you'll see more footpads in the future.) As you point out, it's easy enough to reglue any figures that separate from their bases...

As far as scale issues go, keep in mind that characters don't always fill the squares they're in. Yes, you could scale up the Lamia to fill the base... but that would be wrong. Her "human" part is supposed to be human-sized, and her back half is supposed to be the size of a female lion, which it is.

Before you criticize the scale, check the text from our monster writeups and any available contextual illustrations to find relative scales. For example, Mokmurian is indeed a runt among his people, who initially viewed him as "defective." I think WizKids did a very good job scaling almost all of the minis in this set.

As for the footpads, they're there to provide a larger surface area for gluing the minis to the base. After Heroes & Monsters, people asked us to try to minimize the use of footpads, and WizKids did their best on that front. With this set, we're getting a lot more reports of minis coming free of their bases, so WizKids will revisit that again. (I suspect the answer is that you'll see more footpads in the future.) As you point out, it's easy enough to reglue any figures that separate from their bases...

I'm glad to hear this. The craft-challenged among us don't find it "easy enough", unfortunately. :(

I never notice the footpads in play, just when I examine the mini closely. I'd much prefer they all have blobs if the figures will then be as robust as the H&M set.

Vic Wertz wrote:

As for the footpads, they're there to provide a larger surface area for gluing the minis to the base. After Heroes & Monsters, people asked us to try to minimize the use of footpads, and WizKids did their best on that front. With this set, we're getting a lot more reports of minis coming free of their bases, so WizKids will revisit that again. (I suspect the answer is that you'll see more footpads in the future.) As you point out, it's easy enough to reglue any figures that separate from their bases...

I'm glad to hear this. The craft-challenged among us don't find it "easy enough", unfortunately. :(

Just a small drop of superglue on each of the posts should do it.

Yeah its possible, even for me, but three figures took me about twenty minutes, made a huge mess and left a kind of translucent blob anyhow (I think "small" drop may have been the key factor i misjudged).

I'd much rather have figures on footpads which didn't come apart when taking them out of their packaging.

Here is a very long review!!

OK, I received my regular booster case today, along with a huge case and the Rune Giant. After very careful initial consideration, as well as a second look through them all about 3 hours later I have my review.

First, the packaging is better than last time, however, don’t expect a small pile. There will still be a good amount of plastic boxes lying about when all said and done. I understand the rationale behind the hard plastic, but it is certainly a lot more garbage than the previous plastic baggies that WotC put their minis in. I guess the hard plastic would be understandable if the minis remained intact. However, that was not the case for me and there were quite a few minis which had slipped out of their slots in my normal booster case (not the huges as they were all intact).

I received 3 minis “broken.” They were the Scribbler, Forgefiend and Ameiko Kaijitsu. When I say “broken” they had detached from their base. I used super glue to put them back together and I am sure they will be fine. However, when receiving new minis I don’t expect to find them separated from the base upon arrival. This is something I think needs to be looked into with the next set. It seems the minis are not part of the base and simply attached to it after the mini has been cast. This most definitely is the problem as the old WotC minis were part of the base.

I DID receive a full set with my case which was a good thing. However, I was down to my last 2 boosters when I finally pulled the remaining 2 minis I needed (Yeti and Lamatar Bayden). I actually got a Yeti in each of my last 2 boosters which I was glad giving me a total of 2!

I ordered my cases from Popular Collections and let me tell you the actual delivery box I received was huge! I actually understand the $17.00 shipping charge after seeing the delivery!! I just wanted to add that in. They did a great job with price and delivery!!

Strangely, I received two Vale Temros minis, but the base on one of them says Faceless Stalker. I am...

. A few clarifications of some of the details from the AP on some of these

- as Vic pointed out, Mokmurrian is a runt for a stone giant.

- Malfeshnnikor is a greater Bargest.

- It's not a question of Skinsaw Men, but THE Skinsaw Man. Have a look at the mini, and compare it to another rare, and you'll be able to make the connection. The tounge does fit with the illo though

- I have no idea what the things in Shaleulu's hair are. They aren't in the source picture, which can be seen on the cover of Pathfinder 50

- Sinspawn can be found in Bestiary 2, or in the PRD to the left.

The bases are separate from the minis for a couple of reasons; one of the big ones is that it means the base can use a more rigid plastic than the rest of the mini, which avoids the curling bases you sometimes see on D&D Minis.

Please keep doing this, I really like with my Large (and bigger) minis that they actually sit flat on the table. Where with my equivalent sized DDM minis the bases would sometimes be curled enough where the miniature is actually rocking.

Vic Wertz wrote:

The bases are separate from the minis for a couple of reasons; one of the big ones is that it means the base can use a more rigid plastic than the rest of the mini, which avoids the curling bases you sometimes see on D&D Minis.

Please keep doing this, I really like with my Large (and bigger) minis that they actually sit flat on the table. Where with my equivalent sized DDM minis the bases would sometimes be curled enough where the miniature is actually rocking.

Seconded. Some of my DDM minis are near-unusable because of this. Yeah, I know how to fix them ... but such fixes are always only temporary.

I am still not getting the Lamia hate. I have an old Grenadier Lamia. I have had this mini for many years. Until the RotR set it was the only Lamia I ever owned. The image I found shows a nice comparison of how big this mini is compared to a PC type mini. When I pulled the Lamia, I was very pleasantly surprised. It is a great looking mini for a standard Lamia. It is very similar in size and appearance to the one you fight in the computer game Temple of Elemental Evil. The RotR Lamia is a much better size than the old Grenadier. It is a large, but as it is suppose to be, relatively small for the category. The old Grenadier was a medium. So for me, this is great. YMMV!

Cheers,

Mazra

... With this set, we're getting a lot more reports of minis coming free of their bases, so WizKids will revisit that again. (I suspect the answer is that you'll see more footpads in the future.) As you point out, it's easy...

To me, the foot pads really deter from the appearance of the mini. I greatly appreciate the rigid plastic bases these minis come with, and I would rather glue the mini back to the base, rather than have foot pads.

...I would rather glue the mini back to the base, rather than have foot pads.

Personally, I'd be right there with you... but a lot of people feel that those minis are "broken", and that means that's not a viable solution.

Kor - Orc Scrollkeeper wrote:

...I would rather glue the mini back to the base, rather than have foot pads.

Personally, I'd be right there with you... but a lot of people feel that those minis are "broken", and that means that's not a viable solution.

How about just printing "some assembly may be required" on the package :)