DarkTarconis's page

First let me say that I found the included random encounter tables extremely useful. However the actual screen.....well lets say I wasn't impressed. The tables are arranged nicely, its the tables the included I have a problem with. The entire left panel is taken up with the weapon chart from the PHB 3.0, and the bottom half of the middle right panel is taken up with the armor chart from PHB 3.0, I would have preferred many other charts over these. Also for being a forgotten realms screen the only thing on the screen having anything to do with the realms (besides the awesome art on the outside)is a calendar of Harptos which has the names of the 12 months (both proper and common names).

I would say this is well worth it if you intend to use the included encounter tables, and/or happen to not have a screen. If you don't intend to use the encounters, I would seriously consider looking at alternative options.

This is another one of my favorite miniatures. High quality molding, nice paint, and looove the pose. Definately one of the best elementals they have made and probably my favorite (except for maybe the Huge fire elemental).

This rat is just imposing when you put it on the table. As far as dire rats are concerned (there are 3 that I know of) this on is my favorite. Recommend it to anyone who needs dire rats, or other such vermin.

The ambush drake was always a cool creature to me, so it was my delight when I received this mini in a booster I purchased. The quality of the mini is top notch, exactly matching its description in the MM III(actual they just exactly copied the picture from it). Admittedly I've only used it once as an actual ambush drake, but it has seen use several times on my table as a medium size drake or dragon. I recommend it to anyone looking for a cool medium size drake/dragon at a decent price.

While there is nothing wrong with the paint or mold (both are done pretty well), I didn't like the pose and he came off a bit....cartoony. That being said, so far there haven't been a lot of choices for your large undead needs, and he passes for filling that slot in your miniature needs.

Lets face it you'll need a handful of orc miniatures. Overall this one is decent, while certainly not the best (I even prefer the orc sergent from this same set) he is the best value at around $2. If you need a bunch of orcs cheap this is your guy.

I've used kobolds a few times in my time as DM, and have to say I always love putting this guy down as the lead kobold. His molding is above average, but what sets him apart is his paint. The gold dragon head shaped shield, the well painted chainmail, and even his little teeth were painted. While not the most useful miniature ever, he is one of my favorites.

I've always been strangely fascinated with gnolls. I have several gnoll miniatures and while not my favorite, this one is solid, straight from the pages of the MM. Decent paint and decent mold make sure it will look nice when put on the table.

This miniature is in a slightly odd pose, but is solidly molded and has a good enough paint job. One of my players uses him for his cleric of pelor and thinks its the coolest miniature ever. I think its a decent miniature that can see lots of table use for a good cleric.

I like this miniature quite a bit. It has a solid mold, and while not a perfect paint job, the attention to detail is impressive. I have about 3 of them and they make great henchmen, thugs, town guard, or even soldiers. They see regular play on my table and I highly recommenced them.

I'm no monster expert but I have never even heard of what a Galeb Duhr is, which does not bode well from the start. I did not particularly like the molding either, while the rocky surface is done well, the rest of the body is vague in shape and detail. I would say if you need a couple medium size earth elementals these might work (or if you know what a Galeb Duhr is) otherwise I can't really recommend this one.

While the pose isn't terrible (but far from good), the molding is, deep lines mark where the different body parts were attached. To make matters worse the paint job is probably the worst I've seen so far from WotC miniatures.

I've seen better angel miniatures, and I'm not sure how particularly useful this one is with its odd appearance and stance. I will say that the opaque blue used for the wings and part of the body do catch the eye and are at first impressive, though the cool factor decreases over time.

The mold killed this miniature, awkward pose and barely recognizable as a bear. The paint job passes....maybe. Get one of the older bear miniatures if you're looking for a bear (celestial black bear was better imo).

The paint job was terribly done, the puke yellow was just brushed over the entire mini with no shading or attention to detail. If you have to get a slime miniature.....I guess it would work, but it wouldn't be pretty.

A decent miniature with an interesting pose and ok paint job. My mini had a slight defect (a small bump sticking out of its back at an odd angle) but didn't detract from the miniature's appearance and I don't think it was a mold problem. For a $1 (what they are currently asking on this site) I would say its a good value if you don't have any of the other dire rat miniatures.

I've seen two different versions of this mini, one great on good. The one I received is identical to the picture, red body with black accents, and decently painted overall. I would say this is a good miniature and will see play on my table.

However I have seen a variant with a yellowish cream underbelly and overall better painted with more attention paid to the finer details. If you could get that one it would be an excellent mini only slightly less cool then the original huge red dragon.

Only purchased one booster of this set, and probably won't buy any more because of the quality (or lack there of). However, this mini was decently molded with a better than average paint job, they actually paid attention to some of the finer details (eyes, armor, etc) unlike many other minis in this set.

I've watched the quality of the official miniatures continually degrade with each successive set. I haven't bought any boosters since Unhallowed because I was less than impressed with that set. I purchased a booster of this set because it was on clearance at a local bookstore. I was lucky in that I received the elder red dragon as my huge figure, which is overall a decent miniature and see play on my table I'm sure. I also had a dwarf warsword in the booster that was probably best painted of them all (including the dragon). Other than those two the rest were either poorly painted, poorly molded, or both. Also several of them were rather obscure creatures that would probably just be "proxy" creatures and rarely used for what they are.

Overall I would say that it would seem WotC is trying to see what is the absolute lowest overall quality they can get away with is. Purchase the singles you like and would actually use otherwise stay away.