Pathfinder Battles Preview: Tri, Tri Again

The monk is phenomenal! And I can't speak highly enough of the dragonkin with rider. These are amazing!

Those all look very cool! I've never played Reign of Winter or heard of Triaxians before, but these do look like they will work in game as other races. Definitely looking forward to this set!

Wow, I was hoping we'd get a dragonkin with rider, and I'm glad we did. It looks amazing.

Interesting that all 3 are Rares though.

I was assuming we were going to see some Triaxians eventually, and these look great! And I'm sure catfolk lovers will be happy too.

Question: It looks like there's something big and straight on the far side of the Dragonkin mini. Is it carrying a sword in its far hand?

does Ceseer have a mustache? also the second picture is quite blurry,
otherwise awesome set!!

I thought we might see more Dragonkin. Good preview.

I was assuming we were going to see some Triaxians eventually, and these look great! And I'm sure catfolk lovers will be happy too.

Question: It looks like there's something big and straight on the far side of the Dragonkin mini. Is it carrying a sword in its far hand?

I haven't seen the actual mini yet, but dragonkin usually wield weapons of some sort. I believe it's a glaive or some other type of polearm.

Beautiful!

These look amazing!!

I'm a fan of non-human PC characters. I'm especially glad to see that in the conversion from print to miniature, this Triaxian looks so close to a Catfolk. And I'm just as excited to see that it's a non-human monk that actually LOOKS like a monk and is in a monk-like pose. Awesome!

The dragon legion dragon rider looks pretty cool, from what I can tell. When I click on the pic to enlarge, it appears a bit pixelated, as Captain Yesterday first pointed out. But from the small pic and from the pixelated version, he looks rather dynamic. I'm feeling pretty good about using him either as a PC (human or otherwise) or NPC tag-along.

This Dragonkin looks great, and I love that he even has a rider! I can't wait to get him and put him on the table.
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For the record, I'm not sure you should ever worry about making a miniature based on a race that can be played as a PC. As long as you don't overdue it with the amount of creatures of the same race, I think most people will be happy It seems like every week I see posts that are asking for more Catfolk, Tengus, Ratfolk, etc. I hope we see more of these in the future. They are fun to throw in the world, and just as much fun to play.

The number of people who play in my campaigns that prefer humans, elves and dwarves is great. And yet, there is always at least one player hoping to try something new. I think it is because so many DM's appear intimated or unwilling to admit new PC races into their games.

I'm good with all three! Agreed that the one pic is quite blurry. The Triaxian's can easily pass for catfolk and we certainly can use some more of them. However, I may just have to try the race as is if they have some common representation in the set. I'd have to have minions for the leaders as these would represent as rares.

I like these for the most part. I really like how the Dragonkin rider came out. But I have to admit I am not real fond of Cesseer's clear pole. It always was used for things that float above the ground, so it makes it look like the monk is flying. But in eather case, I like what I am seeing so far.

I like these for the most part. I really like how the Dragonkin rider came out. But I have to admit I am not real fond of Cesseer's clear pole. It always was used for things that float above the ground, so it makes it look like the monk is flying. But in eather case, I like what I am seeing so far.

I think the idea is Cesseer is jumping high with a kick. So the monk is technically above the ground.

I'm not a fan of "extreme action poses" for humanoid minis. I use them more often in non combat scenes or as proxies for PCs than the more typical monstrous ones. As such, I would have preferred if the monk wasn't actually mid air.

I'm not a fan of "extreme action poses" for humanoid minis. I use them more often in non combat scenes or as proxies for PCs than the more typical monstrous ones. As such, I would have preferred if the monk wasn't actually mid air.

In almost all situations I'm the exact same way. If I'm not using them to represent NPC's, then I'm busy using them as PC's.

I don't know why it is, but I've always been a fan of typical base formations for my main characters. It's a preference that pre-dates miniatures for me, going all the way back to the 80's. I remember playing with my Kenner Super Powers, always happy that they pretty much all came in the same pose. With those toys you could squeeze their legs together and their arms would move, so one was able to still utilize the action aspect of the figure. I always appreciated that I wasn't forced into it, a choice that wasn't always given in some lines.

I remember a DC line that came out after I'd stopped collecting, maybe mid-90's. The Batman was in a batarang throwing pose, the Flash in a running pose, and so on and so on down the line. These figures were nicely detailed, but their action poses were forever cast in plastic. Had a child simply wanted to line them up so they were all standing in a room, each one would have looked out of place, especially in comparison to one another. And while the shoulder and legs were moveable on these figures, the knees and elbows were not, locking the arms and legs into funny angles. Thus, there was only ever one pose and scene of play where each figure wouldn't have looked ridiculous.

So in the tradition of my old Super Powers, Star Wars, Masters of the Universe and Thundercats figures, I've always come to appreciate a normal, standing pose in a miniature. It's one of the reasons that I find the second revealed figure in this batch to be very appealing. He's very busy, with all his weapons and features emphasized, but he's in more of a stand and be ready pose instead of trying to cut somebody's head off.

Having said all that, I do like the pose of the monk. In my opinion, speed, agility and hand-to-hand combat ARE a monk's weapons, at least in the classic RPG sense. If there is one type of PC I enjoy seeing in action, it's going to be a monk.

I like the pole in this one. It lends the monk a truly dynamic look which I'm all for. Wizkids continue to push up my expectations from set to set.

The Red Dragonkin is indeed holding a glaive or spear by the look of it. I can't help but imagine how much cooler it would be if I could remove the rider and saddle, a little like the frost giant from H&M with his interchangeable hands, then I'd have 2 for 1.

There is a second Dragonkin in the set - He's been spotted on some GAMA trade show pics. Its a silver with a falchion. There is also a snow goblin alchemist and from a pic of the D&D I believe you can see 8 legged polar bear (bottom left hand corner)- so that may be the weird animal left to reveal.

I like the pole in this one. It lends the monk a truly dynamic look which I'm all for. Wizkids continue to push up my expectations from set to set.

The Red Dragonkin is indeed holding a glaive or spear by the look of it. I can't help but imagine how much cooler it would be if I could remove the rider and saddle, a little like the frost giant from H&M with his interchangeable hands, then I'd have 2 for 1.

There is a second Dragonkin in the set - He's been spotted on some GAMA trade show pics. Its a silver with a falchion. There is also a snow goblin alchemist and from a pic of the D&D I believe you can see 8 legged polar bear (bottom left hand corner)- so that may be the weird animal left to reveal.

Sweet! I was hoping they'd do the Silver one, too! It looks great!

And I was hoping for the Snow Goblin Alchemist. I love the art on that one!

I didn't think they would take a chance on the Wolliped, but it looks like they did and I'm thrilled!

I do hope we get another Frost Giant.

Oh, and while I know it's the whole D&D thing, but those dragons up there look pretty sweet.

Ooh, nice. Especially the Cesseer and the Dragonrider, I would love to use them!

The Red Dragonkin is indeed holding a glaive or spear by the look of it. I can't help but imagine how much cooler it would be if I could remove the rider and saddle, a little like the frost giant from H&M with his interchangeable hands, then I'd have 2 for 1.

Erik had mentioned in that Frost Giant blog post in referencing the interchangeability of the weapon hands: "...and I think it bodes very well for future sets, which could hold similar surprises of their own."

Sadly we have never seen this occur ever again. I wonder why this is? Does it increase production costs too excessively?

That dragon rider is one of the coolest minis I've ever seen. Between that and the awesome gargantuan white you guys have completely nailed it

I'd like to voice a request for a cloud giant at some point. There aren't many out there to choose from and the D&D one sucks

I will add my voice to the request for cloud giants when we get an AP that is an homage to Against the Giants. I want to play Golarion's version of that classic, expanded and complicated.

Parts 3 & 4 of Runelords have a very Against the Giants thing going on.

Yep, I was always under the impression that that's exactly (and explicitly, I think?) what it was intended to be doing.

I think they planned on including a female Cloud Giant sculpt in RR. But in the end they decided to cut the Cloud Giant and the Huge White Dragon from the set. The Huge White made it into the first Dragon Evolution boxed set. So there, potentially, already is a sculpt out there somewhere that we may see cast in plastic in the future.

Parts 3 & 4 of Runelords have a very Against the Giants thing going on.

My group just started part 5. I read ahead and noticed cloud giants in the near future

I'd honestly really like another try at the storm giant too, but that prolly won't happen. Still, we don't have a cloud giant at all. I'd really like one

Ross Byers wrote:

Parts 3 & 4 of Runelords have a very Against the Giants thing going on.

My group just started part 5. I read ahead and noticed cloud giants in the near future

I'd honestly really like another try at the storm giant too, but that prolly won't happen. Still, we don't have a cloud giant at all. I'd really like one

I stand in agreement about the Storm Giant. I was disappointed both with the sculpt and the paint job of the RotR miniature.

I also wouldn't mind another Frost Giant. While I thought the appearance of the H&M Frost Giant was decent, I thought it was a bit on the smallish side for a Giant. I consider Frost Giants to be among the more ferocious and wild of all the Giants. I was hoping for something a bit more intimidating. I'm holding out hope for another version in this Reign of Winter set.

As for future Giant miniatures, here is my list in order of preference:

Cloud Giant (Huge) - I'd like a cloud giant, but perhaps one with new artwork. I'm not so impressed with the artwork in the Bestiary.

Frost Giant (Large) - The Frost Giant artwork in the Bestiary is okay. The miniature created for the Heroes & Monsters set is okay, with the exception of his bulk. I feel like he's just too thin for a big creature that spends most of his time in the frozen areas of the world. There are several really nice illustrations of Frost Giants in the Reign of Winter Adventure Path and the supporting materials. I'd love to see one of them make it into the set.

Ocean Giant (Huge) - I feel like this is one of the better giant illustrations in a Bestiary. The ocean giant is listed as chaotic good or chaotic evil, so he offers versatility in relation to his interaction within a campaign.

Cave Giant (Large) - One of the better illustrations among all the giants, this giant, in the Bestiary 3, is chaotic evil and looks ready to fight right away.

Jungle Giant (Huge) - Granted, jungles aren't all that common in many campaigns I've been a part of, especially when compared to a forest. But as far as illustrations are concerned, I consider the Jungle Giant (Bestiary 3) one of the better ones out there.

Wood Giant (Large) - This giant's illustration is just so-so, but having a giant that makes his home in the wooded areas in a campaign would be extremely useful.

Taiga Giant (Huge) - This giant is really cool looking. They look a little bit like the Rune Giant, of which we already have a miniature of. This creature is down my list some, but I still hope we get him at some point in the future.

Ash Giant (Large) - The artwork on this guy is good. I would love seeing him at some point, but I've never used him in a campaign. This is one of those villains I probably won't ever use unless I have a miniature to represent him.

Desert Giant (Large) - I like this guy. I hope he shows up at some point in Mummy's Mask. I wouldn't mind getting a miniature of him if Paizo makes a miniature line for the Mummy's Mask at some point.

Cliff Giant (Large) - Another giant I like, although I've never used one in my campaigns. I'd love to change that.

River Giant (Large) I love this guy. The more I think about it, the more I suppose I'd love to see him move up this list.

Slag Giant (Large) I don't know about about this giant, and have never used one in a campaign. Maybe having a miniature of him would change that.

I'd first like a cloud giant, then a new storm giant, then a new frost giant. Tiagas would be nice as well. I love the hill giants and stone giants though. The frost giants are ok but id like something better. As I said before, I was pretty dissapointed with the storm giant. I've never been fond of the look of PF fire giants alltogether so I've been using the old DnD ones. I'm hoping they release some cool ones with its reintroduction by WizKids. I'm totally happy mixing these 2 line ups. The style will be very close.

These are really all the giants I use unless I'm playing an AP

I like the pole in this one. It lends the monk a truly dynamic look which I'm all for. Wizkids continue to push up my expectations from set to set.

The Red Dragonkin is indeed holding a glaive or spear by the look of it. I can't help but imagine how much cooler it would be if I could remove the rider and saddle, a little like the frost giant from H&M with his interchangeable hands, then I'd have 2 for 1.

There is a second Dragonkin in the set - He's been spotted on some GAMA trade show pics. Its a silver with a falchion. There is also a snow goblin alchemist and from a pic of the D&D I believe you can see 8 legged polar bear (bottom left hand corner)- so that may be the weird animal left to reveal.

Cat-thulhu ... I'm not 100% positive but that 8-legged "polar bear" looks like a Medium or Small base to me (perhaps its the perspective) and I'm almost positive the human barbarian guy with the greataxe leaning casually on his shoulder is the Northlands Warrior (or Fighter) for the upcoming "Tyranny of Dragons" D&D/Wizkids set. And actually the dragons I'm seeing (the silvery one is on a clear square base) and the (possible) coppery one ... makes me think these also might be from "Tyranny of Dragons". Oh, my point about the 8-legged polar bear (wasn't that a HUGE creature in the RoW Bestiary)?

In any case, the minis in this pic look fantastic - no matter what set they are from.

Dean

Minstrel Wyrm, the "eight-legged polar bear" is on the shelf below the D&D minis (that's why the base looks smaller), and is most likely a Wolliped as pigraven suggested.

Cat-thulhu wrote:

I like the pole in this one. It lends the monk a truly dynamic look which I'm all for. Wizkids continue to push up my expectations from set to set.

The Red Dragonkin is indeed holding a glaive or spear by the look of it. I can't help but imagine how much cooler it would be if I could remove the rider and saddle, a little like the frost giant from H&M with his interchangeable hands, then I'd have 2 for 1.

There is a second Dragonkin in the set - He's been spotted on some GAMA trade show pics. Its a silver with a falchion. There is also a snow goblin alchemist and from a pic of the D&D I believe you can see 8 legged polar bear (bottom left hand corner)- so that may be the weird animal left to reveal.

Cat-thulhu ... I'm not 100% positive but that 8-legged "polar bear" looks like a Medium or Small base to me (perhaps its the perspective) and I'm almost positive the human barbarian guy with the greataxe leaning casually on his shoulder is the Northlands Warrior (or Fighter) for the upcoming "Tyranny of Dragons" D&D/Wizkids set. And actually the dragons I'm seeing (the silvery one is on a clear square base) and the (possible) coppery one ... makes me think these also might be from "Tyranny of Dragons". Oh, my point about the 8-legged polar bear (wasn't that a HUGE creature in the RoW Bestiary)?

In any case, the minis in this pic look fantastic - no matter what set they are from.

Dean

-The 8-legged Polar Bear does look like the Wolliped. I feel like you can even see the tail if you look close enough. Well, the beginning of the tail attached to the body; it looks like this one is angled more in front (further away from our viewpoint).

-According to page 90 of The Frozen Stars, the fourth book in the Reign of Winter Adventure Path, the Wolliped is indeed a large creature. I admit I always assumed it to be huge, as surely a polar bear-like creature with an additional four limbs would be much bigger than a regular polar bear. And as any animal lover will tell you, the polar bear is generally considered the largest of the eight bear species. Having said that, I was desperately hoping for a Wolliped in this miniature set. If having the creature be large gets me one in the set, I'll gladly take it. It does look like a pretty big large. Check out the illustration on page 91 of The Frozen Stars and then compare it to this dude.

-You're right about the D&D miniatures, but as Isil-zha pointed out, they are all on the shelf above the Pathfinder miniatures. It's simply a perspective thing.

-My challenge to you and anyone else is to try and pick out the other miniatures around the Wolliped. So far I see what appears to be the falcon to the left of the wolliped. Closer to the bottom of the picture you can see the left wing of the white gargantuan dragon. Can anyone make out anything more?

Minstrel Wyrm, the "eight-legged polar bear" is on the shelf below the D&D minis (that's why the base looks smaller), and is most likely a Wolliped as pigraven suggested.

Oh, my mistake, I was thinking the Kokogiak from "Maiden, Mother, Crone".

That was a HUGE sized eight-legged polar bear.

I forgot all about the Wolliped from "Frozen Stars".

@Pigraven - (And yes, I mention "perspective" as well). ;)

Hmm. Wolliped,Svathurim, and Kokogiak ... the RoW Bestiary is just full of eight-legged monsters. (Say Wizkids and Paizo - any chance of a second encounter pack for RoW with a Kokogiak and some other Huge mini)?

Dean

Does the Wolliped actually make an appearance in the AP? I can't think of an encounter with one, which would make it an odd choice to include.

Isil-zha wrote:

Minstrel Wyrm, the "eight-legged polar bear" is on the shelf below the D&D minis (that's why the base looks smaller), and is most likely a Wolliped as pigraven suggested.

Oh, my mistake, I was thinking the Kokogiak from "Maiden, Mother, Crone".

That was a HUGE sized eight-legged polar bear.

I forgot all about the Wolliped from "Frozen Stars".

@Pigraven - (And yes, I mention "perspective" as well). ;)

Hmm. Wolliped,Svathurim, and Kokogiak ... the RoW Bestiary is just full of eight-legged monsters. (Say Wizkids and Paizo - any chance of a second encounter pack for RoW with a Kokogiak and some other Huge mini)?

Dean

Oh heck…I don't know what's going on anymore. Haha.

So I just checked the Maiden, Mother, Crone book, and you are right, the Kokogiak on page 86 is the one that looks like a Polar Bear. That said, it's got ten legs, so that's a bunch of craziness…

When I first got the RoW books, I remember thinking I wanted both the Kokogiak and the Wolliped really bad. But because the Kokogiak was huge, I figured we wouldn't get him. But I was equally as happy with the two huge-sized miniatures that were chosen instead. In fact, I think I like them better, just because I'm partial to big worms (Purple, Frost, etc.).

Of course, I'll fully get behind your campaign for a release of the Kokogiak at some point. In my opinion, I think the Kokogiak and the Ursikka, on page 88 of The Frozen Stars, would be a great pairing of two Huge creatures.

One thing I really like about the Wolliped is that it can be trained as a mount. It can be domesticated or wild, and therefore a companion.

...actually the dragons I'm seeing (the silvery one is on a clear square base) and the (possible) coppery one ... makes me think these also might be from "Tyranny of Dragons"...

The Pathfinder Battles minis that we had at GAMA Trade Show were final production figures, which means they had the correct black bases. I believe that the D&D Minis do have transparent bases.

I think they planned on including a female Cloud Giant sculpt in RR. But in the end they decided to cut the Cloud Giant and the Huge White Dragon from the set. The Huge White made it into the first Dragon Evolution boxed set. So there, potentially, already is a sculpt out there somewhere that we may see cast in plastic in the future.

This is true. There is a Huge Cloud Giant (female) on the sideboard, waiting for her chance to strike.

Does the Wolliped actually make an appearance in the AP? I can't think of an encounter with one, which would make it an odd choice to include.

Unless, of course, it was the "Erik's Choice" figure of the set…

Isil-zha wrote:

I think they planned on including a female Cloud Giant sculpt in RR. But in the end they decided to cut the Cloud Giant and the Huge White Dragon from the set. The Huge White made it into the first Dragon Evolution boxed set. So there, potentially, already is a sculpt out there somewhere that we may see cast in plastic in the future.

This is true. There is a Huge Cloud Giant (female) on the sideboard, waiting for her chance to strike.

Two questions:

1) How long does it take to determine if a particular release of a miniature set is a success for the company or not? I'm sure some sets ultimately sell better than others. I'm curious if there is a particular timeframe before you declare a release a success or not. And if so, does the criteria ever change from set to set?

For example, is the success bar for the Reign of Winter battles line set at X amount of units in X amount of time? And if so, is that bar set differently for, say, the Reign of Battles two-pack?

2) How many sets in a battles line are typically made for the initial run? I see that one can purchase singles both on the Paizo website and third-party sites & stores. Do you ever run out of particular singles? If so, do you order more in or is it first come, first serve?

Are all these miniatures printed by the case? Or do you print up, say, 10,000 full cases and then order an additional five thousand singles of each miniature?

Curmudgeonly wrote:

Does the Wolliped actually make an appearance in the AP? I can't think of an encounter with one, which would make it an odd choice to include.

Unless, of course, it was the "Erik's Choice" figure of the set…

You DO get to make such choices ;) that doesn't not make an odd choice though :P

I'm just voicing my concern in what's been revealed so far. I feel like there are too many animals (a viewpoint that's clearly in the minority however!), when there are some really cool creatures in this AP that I was hoping would be in this set. I'll reserve my judgement until all the figures are revealed however :)

A builder set for animals would be cool though! Speaking of which, how have those been doing? Will we see a new one announced soon?

1) How long does it take to determine if a particular release of a miniature set is a success for the company or not? I'm sure some sets ultimately sell better than others. I'm curious if there is a particular timeframe before you declare a release a success or not. And if so, does the criteria ever change from set to set?

Keep in mind WizKids is the publisher, not Paizo, so its their standards for success that matter the most... and it's not really our place to tell you what their standards for success are. (You can imagine, though, selling a lot really fast is a good thing...)

2) How many sets in a battles line are typically made for the initial run? I see that one can purchase singles both on the Paizo website and third-party sites & stores. Do you ever run out of particular singles? If so, do you order more in or is it first come, first serve?

Are all these miniatures printed by the case? Or do you print up, say, 10,000 full cases and then order an additional five thousand singles of each miniature?

WizKids doesn't generally release information on their production quantities.

The large Pathfinder Battles sets have, to date, been one-time deals. The smaller sets have been as well, though WizKids doesn't rule out making more of them if there's demand.

As for the singles we sell on paizo.com, no, we don't get to order individual units in specific quantities from WizKids—we have to deal with the same rarity distribution as everyone else.

(We do get to order specific quantities for our exclusive promo minis, of course.)