The Maztica Campaign - Interlude II

 

Voil Guldi had been pleased. The party was paid, as contracted, and the Dwarven gemcutter had offered to broker the converting of the barrels of copper and smaller barrels of silver into Awmnite currency for a modest commission.

"How modest?" Esperalda had asked.

"Practically embarrassed." Guldi had answered. "There's not much call for copper in Athkatlos - no status in it."

During the interval, the Jeweler's Guild had sent some guards down into the storm drain to secure the trapdoor, and to prevent the kobolds from re-establishing control of that level. Hunting dogs were let loose in the sewers. Success was mixed.

A week or so after, the party was summoned to Voil Guldi's office at the Jewelers' Guild. A series of burglaries had struck the Gem District, first a smith had some iron files stolen, then merchants began to report break-ins in their cellars - from the sewers.

"Kobolds...again!" said Esperalda.

"They seem pretty determined to get back into the storm drains." said Jao Afonse.

"Filth beckons filth." said Esperalda.

"Perhaps something is driving them from below?" mused Osondria.

Once again, with weary hearts (but dry feet) the party prepared to enter the storm sewers...

The Old School Strikes Back

Blogger Ray Simmons has issued a fine defense against the revisionism in which New School D&D loves to indulge. 

 

TPK Carol

Ginny Di makes me laugh..

 https://youtu.be/VCwYCyyIGvo

The Problem with Plastics

What's wrong with plastic miniatures?

This, for a start.

Reaper Bones - because money.

This is after several goes with the hair dryer to try and straighten the bend. The mace was finally, permanently straightened by cutting it off above the hand and reversing it. News Flash: it's now a permanent weak spot, despite gluing. This figure is well on it's way to completion, and it will look fair-to-middling once finished.

Plastic cannot hold fine detail the way metal can - by nature, it's a softer medium. And logically, the detail is less crisp. Is that why the manufacturer's suggest you don't prime the mini? Is the detail so lacking that even a single coat of primer will serve to efface it? You be the judge.

Nolzurs Marvelous Miniatures are not immune to this - pictured below is a Female Gnome Thief, which is an admittedly niche concept: 

For starters, this isn't a picture of the miniature, it's a computer render. Because it looks much, MUCH better than the actual miniature. It's Corporate Marketing.

Even when it's shown "painted", Bishōjo style, it isn't. It's been cg coloured: 

They even duplicated the angle of light, from the 3d render. That's talent...wow.

I tried painting the top example, and I've been painting miniatures for THIRTY years. That result is almost humanly impossible. I say almost, because I'm sure some savant could do it - but you probably can't and neither can I.

Also, since she's a tiny miniature in a half-crouch, how is the brush supposed to get in between the arms? My money is, the CA Designer has never physically sculpted a miniature in their life; instead of looking for trouble spots for a brush to reach, they just went with "the rewl of kewl."

Make no mistake, plastic minis are part of the New School Corporate Gaming philosophy. There is no material benefit for the consumer, but the manufacturer, by using cheaper, lighter materials, saves pennies on the dollar. Multiplied, those pennies add up.

If you're using plastic for unpainted game pieces, like a fantasy version of Parcheezi, then plastic figures are fine - you can even paint them a single colour, just like the game.

If you're looking to paint with a reasonably rate of return, stick with metal. Life is too short to paint plastic miniatures.

Reaper Miniatures - Well Played.

 Earlier this week, I received a parcel from Reaper Miniatures. I had placed it at the beginning of the month, and it had arrived in about a week. Excellent service, per usual, from Reaper miniatures.

To my surprise, there was a bonus package in the box. 

If Reaper Minis intention was for me to look, blink, pick up the package and shake it, read the title and have a good laugh, they succeeded.

Well played, Reaper Miniatures. Well played.

Troglodytes!

 Here are some pics of some 28/32mm Shadowsea Troglodytes from Antimatter Games (although, per an announcement on the Antimatter Games site, miniature production for their various titles will be going over to Dark Sword Miniatures). 

Nice animation, excellent detail. The metal is rather both soft and brittle - I'm not sure exactly how one achieves that.  Sprues of arms, with shields and stone axes and stone spears are included - though it would have been an improvement if they had mixed up some of the handed-ness of these accoutrements. As it stands, your choice for the right hand is either stone axe or spear, and for the left hand, a shield.

Antimatter Games/Dark Sword Miniatures

These sculpts share a design aesthetic reminiscent of Edition 3.5 Troglodytes. I've added some Otherworld Miniatures Trogs, which are right out of the first edition Monster Manual. 

Shaman and Chieftain by Otherworld Miniatures

While slightly smaller than the Shadowsea Trogs, the Otherworld ones come with a plastic slotta-base, which compensates for the disparity in height. The Otherworld miniatures also have great animation and detail, and are made of sturdier stuff.

Shaman and Chieftain by Otherworld Miniatures

Ratings:

Shadowsea Troglodytes: 4 out of 5

Otherworld Troglodytes: 5 out of 5

Terrain Crate - Dungeon Traps

Recently, I've painted up some Dungeon Traps from Mantic, and while I'm not partial to plastic miniatures, I found these "terrain bits" to be useful and fun to paint. They are not Old School, but neither do they detract from the Old School æsthetic.

Dungeon Traps Terrain Crate by Mantic

Included in my "crate": a spring trap, a poison trap, a pit trap, and a blade trap.  Also a lever, a ladder and a trap door. Finally, there is what looks to be a wooden chock on a rope; perhaps to be used with a boulder in the style of Indiana Jones.

These bits are easy to paint and yield a good result. Below are my own, painted versions - I did not need the ladder or wooden chock; they will appear in some later post. 

Unfortunately, despite the reasonable price tag (USD $19.99/GBP £14.99), the set, as seen above, is no longer listed. Elements can be found in their Dark Lord's Tower crate, where the buyer receives two sets of Dungeon Traps for USD $29.99/GBP £24.99, plus some sorcerous bits-and-bobs, which seems to be a fairly good deal....