Demons & Devils invade North Pole!

A couple of weeks ago, a long-awaited package finally arrived at my doorstep: a big box of metal and resin evilness! The box contained my miniatures for the Demons & Devils Kickstarter campaign from Center Stage Miniatures. All I have had time to do so far is unbox them and make sure everything I ordered was present - and I am very happy to report that it is all there. What I still need to do is check each mini and make sure nothing is miscast or missing parts. That will have to wait a couple more weeks, though.

This will give me plenty of posting fodder for 2014 as I clean, prep, assemble, and god forbid paint each one. Overall, they are totally badass and most of them look just like they stepped off the pages of the AD&D Monster Manual! If you need some demons or devils for your campaign and missed this Kickstarter, stop by the CSM store and pick up a few.

Demons & Devils

As the CSM Demons & Devils Kickstarter winds down (just over two days left!), I wanted to trot out some of the various underworld denizens from my own cases and shelves. March seems so far away right now, but I'm really looking forward to doing a follow-up to this post when I can show all the shiny new CSM minis with the ones I'm showing today.

The pic above shows a trio of vintage minis from Superior Models Inc. They are (from left to right): WL-113 Large Devil/Pit Fiend; WL-071 Surtur The Fire Giant; and WL-098 Baalzebul Arch Devil. Surtur looks a LOT like a balrog to me and unlike any fire giant I've ever seen. If it walks like a cloven-hooved duck and carries a nasty-looking sword and whip, that makes it a balrog to me! I love the old Superior stuff, even if a lot of it tends to be on the smallish side of the scale.

Next up we have some offerings from Ral Partha. The balrog is 01-003v3 - upon closer inspection, you will notice that he has been "fixed" in dog-speak. When I was much younger, I was somewhat disturbed by his realistic anatomy, so I took my Xacto knife to him and did a little nip tuck. Ah, the folly of youth. On the far right is another common RP demon: 02-954 Demon Lord from All Things Dark & Dangerous. He's got that classic demon look but isn't terribly imposing size-wise. Flanking the Pit Fiend in the middle are my AD&D Ice Devils (11-640 Greater Gelugon). They each sport one green horn because they came to me damaged, so I repaired them with wire and Greenstuff. You can read the older posts here and here that go into detail about those fixes. I really like the Ice Devils for the most part, I just wish their necks were shorter, though. The Pit Fiend in the middle (11-648) is a nasty-looking critter, no mistake about it. The bloated body, ghoulish grin, and wicked club just really can't be beat. I also like that I only paid whatever the retail price was back in the day instead of the massively inflated prices he commands these days.

And here are some current offerings from Reaper, who boasts an excellent assortment of demons and devils, many that look like they walked off the pages of a certain manual that has monsters in it. From left to right we're looking at 2672 Clawed Devil; 2656 Demon Marbrezuk; 2895 Agramon Pit Fiend; 2654 Narglauth Fire Demon; and 2633 Vandorenda Demon. What I like about this bunch is that they are all very close representations of various AD&D demons and devils, but they are much closer in size and scale than their older counterparts.

This group shot of balrogs and pit fiends gives you a great idea how they all compare scale-wise.

Here are just the balrogs.

Followed by just the pit fiends.

I know I missed a few (11-654 Barbazu) and the old balrogs from Grenadier and Heritage (the Heritage LoTR balrog is tiny - man-sized at best). I'll have to round those up for my demons & devils follow-up this spring. Give now and give often to the CSM Demons & Devils Kickstarter! And if underworld fiends aren't your cup of tea, how about the massive King of Evil Dragons for only $75? You know you want to!

Center Stage Miniatures Giants

Did someone say Jolly Green Giant? I didn't think so! Here's a pic of The Usual Suspects, CSM giant-style. From left, we have the Cloud Giant, Fog Giant, Mountain Giant, and Firbolgs. They belong to CSM's Advanced Fantasy Miniatures Giant range, and I thought I'd give you giant fans and collectors a bit of a review, especially if you are considering any of these bad boys as Add-Ons for the CSM Demons & Devils Kickstarter.

Here's the CSM Cloud Giant posed alongside his venerable yet popular Ral Partha 11-440 counterpart. He's a big hunk of metal, weighing in at 5.4 ounces (150 grams). This is a single-piece casting, so hooray, no assembly required! His massive spiked club looks a LOT meaner than the RP flail, and his fangs give him a decided "more evil than neutral" vibe. And his crown or circlet really gives it that First Edition look, along with his robes and accessories - an hourglass and belt pouch. The only thing that seems odd to me are the hands - his right hand grips the club no problem, but the left hand looks out of place on top of the butt end of the club. Also, I think I would have liked his head to be a bit more upright (when you look at it from a higher angle, it's tipped down to the right a bit). But maybe that's just me nitpicking, because it's still a wonderful sculpt overall.

For a 28mm comparison, here is the CG posed next to Reaper's Frost Giant Princess (without her massive spear).

Next up is the CSM Fog Giant, shown with a true classic from Ral Partha, the 01-057 Frost Giant. The Fog Giant is a three-piece casting: lower body from the belt down, upper torso, and sword/hands. It only took some minor scraping and filing to mate up the two body sections nice and secure. And I really like the peg that Nic sculpted on the left arm - just slide the hand on the peg and line up the right hand with the arm stump and you're done. The sword is almost two inches (5cm) long, which gives it a lethal look for sure. I'm not crazy about the hilt, but that's my only critique. Good action pose, and a fierce roaring face that matches up with the giant's demeanor.

The CSM Mountain Giant is a real looker in my opinion. Here we see him out on the town with his good buddy Snow Giant (number 035 from the second series of Grenadier's Fantasy Lords). The Mountain Giant is a two-piece casting, and I had zero problems pinning his right arm to his body - they meet very nicely at the shoulder. The heads dangling from his belt (next to his left hand) are a lovely touch, and don't be fooled by his beer belly - just look at those guns he's flexing! His balding head and tree-trunk club round out this giant package. I can also see him painted up as a Hill Giant or even a Stone Giant who joined the Hair Club for Giants.

I forgot to snap a pic of the Firbolgs, but of course you can see them on the right side of the first picture above. They may not be rocking the extra-wide beard and 'stache like RP 11-419, but they are a mean couple of mutha-truckers to behold. Both are two-piece castings, and the one holding a sword in his right hand has a small pin and pilot hole molded in, so pinning it was that much easier. And the other one (holding his sword in front of him) has a small hole in one of the stones on the base so you know exactly where to place the tip of the sword when gluing it into place. They both look very tribal in a Celtic sort of manner, but could always pass as handsome ogres or small but well-groomed hill giants.

And finally, here's a little bonus for everyone who made it to the end: two adventurers taking a breather next to a basin of cool, clear water...

SWEET CALAMITY JANE! It's a CSM Water Weird, and it's about to grab the hapless RP cleric. I have the basin set between the 28mm Reaper mini on the left and the 25mm RP mini on the right to give you some scale reference. The resin basin is about 1 and 3/4 inches across and a half-inch high without the Weird. It might be hard to see in the picture, but the Weird's face has a good draconic or reptilian look about it, and seems a lot closer to being 10' long as described in the First Edition Monster Manual. A great bit of dungeon terrain with the added bonus of being able to table the Weird when you are good and ready to scare the crap out of the adventuring party!

Next up is a gallery of demons and devils to look at and compare while we wait for the CSM Kickstarter to wrap up and then begin the wait until the CSM minis arrive next spring. Rock me Asmodeus!

Too Many Irons In The Fire

I have been remiss in posting lately, but for once it's because I'm too busy rather than unmotivated or simply procrastinating. There's a lot going on right now, so I'll sum up what I've been working on so you know what to expect in the near future.

Center Stage Miniatures: We are almost halfway through the CSM Kickstarter, and are currently closing in on $23K as of Friday 9/28. I think there's an excellent chance Matt will hit the $35K mark. More than that would be nice, of course, so we shall see where things end up.

Otherworld Miniatures: OW has jumped on the fundraising bandwagon via Indiegogo. They are working on a line of 28mm classic fantasy adventurers, and the first couple of greens look rather nice. The downside, in my opinion, is their pricing. If you want all four sets, it's going to set you back $280. Ouch.

Side-By-Side Comparisons: While we wait for the CSM KS to wind down, I've been digging through the lead troughs and pulling out my demons and devils. I'll have some pics that compare some old school evilness right alongside some Reaper baddies, along with one 25mm and one 28mm mini to give you a sense of scale. I will then follow up by adding my CSM demons and devils to the pics when those arrive next year.

Same goes for my CSM giants. I'll be snapping them with some old and new giants, and with human sized minis again for scale. I'm trying to get up to speed on using my new camera, as the old one seems to be slowly crapping out.

OSFMapa Journal #3: I have mostly finished my Weird Miniatures article for Journal #3, so I'll be polishing that up and adding the pics in the next day or two to meet the deadline. Yikes! And we are always looking for new members who wish to share their wisdom and collecting passion with like-minded people.

Painting: Yes, I have been painting! It's one of my DragonTooth giants, and he's looking about 75-80% complete right now. I found the perfect base to mount him on, so it's something old meets something new. I'm hoping the finished product will meet my expectations.

So there you have it. I need to wrap up my OSFMapa article, finish painting my DT giant, take some pics, and oh yeah, bang out my long-overdue mega LMR (Lead Market Report) that I've been pecking away at.

Kickstarter Update: Center Stage Miniatures

We are currently four days into CSM's Kickstarter, with 118 backers and $8,703 in pledges. It's a great start, and four stretch goals have already come and gone. More will topple soon, of that I am quite confident.

In case you haven't looked at it yet or tallied up what your $75 or $100 pledge gets you, take a look at the following list. It is absolutely mind-blowing:

Baphomet, Demon Lord of Minotaurs (resin)
Molydeus + bonus weapons (halberd & giant flail)
Ice Devil
Horned Devil
2 Advanced Fantasy Personalities (Julie Guthrie Grenadier sculpts)
2 Bearded Devils
3 Lemures
3 Manes
Bone Devil
2 Barbed Devils
Succubus
2 Spined Devils
Erinyes
Horned Devil (variant sculpt)
Type I
Type II
Type III
Type IV
Type V

The above list does not include any additional miniatures available through the Add-On updates, or the T-shirt and poster that come with the $100 pledge.

The next stretch goals are at 10K, 15K, and 20K. Matt also talked about 25K and 32.5K stretch goals. The list of cool minis that you will get once those goals are met will only make the above list even longer and sweeter!

Matt mentioned in one of the updates that if the pledges hit the six-digit mark, we could be looking at adding a "five-headed lord of evil dragons" to the haul. At this point, it's too early to say how realistic 100K is, but if enough people want an entire lineup of demons, devils, lords, lackeys and Tiamat, it could happen. Just say it with me - TIAMAT!

Best. Minis. Kickstarter. Ever.

Center Stage Miniatures Acquires Grenadier Classics Range and Launches A Kickstarter Project!

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Center Stage Miniatures. Matt and his gang have been turning out some killer minis for a couple of years now, and based on the current release schedule, I'll be spending some of my miniatures budget on CSM products well into 2013 and beyond.

Tonight, the big news is that CSM has launched their very own Kickstarter project! If you like Demons & Devils that capture the old-school look and feel, check it out for yourself. The pledge amounts are very modest in my opinion, and the stretch goals are out of this underworld. Tell your friends, family, and fellow gamers to pony up and help CSM make some bad-ass demons and devils come to miniature life.

And if the Kickstarter news wasn't enough, how about the announcement that CSM has acquired the Grenadier Classics range of minis! 180+ miniatures sculpted by Julie Guthrie have been added to the CSM stable, which is a HUGE WIN for Grenadier fans.

Finally, CSM will produce a color catalog sometime in Q1 of 2013. What can I say? Even in this day and age of websites and PDFs, I still loves me some good old-fashioned printed matter.

Big congrats to Matt and CSM for some great news.

Center Stage Miniatures Interactive Giveaway!

The good people over at Center Stage Miniatures are putting on an old-fashioned giveaway! That's right, Matt is going to give one lucky leadhead a big box of CSM minis - one of every mini they have currently produced, to be exact.

There are two steps to enter: You need to Like CSM on Facebook, and then register on the CSM forums and make at least 10 relevant posts there. The details can be found on the CSM forums here.

Don't be shy, go ahead and leave your comments on the CSM forums. You can ask questions about the current release schedule, read about their foray into resin casting, tell Matt what kind of minis you'd like CSM to produce, or just chat about minis. Come on, tell Matt you think there's a need for a Caterwaul mini! Or was it a Carbuncle? Damned Fiend Folio and their crazy-ass critters...

Oh, and if you're in a buying mood, you should take advantage of the current 20% off your order promotion running on Facebook - enter FACEBOOK100 in the coupon code box. Offer valid until May 15, 2012 and it does not apply to Secret Skeleton Miniatures.

See you on the CSM forums!

A Remorhaz by any other name...

The good peeps over at Center Stage Miniatures are now accepting pre-orders for the long-awaited Glacial Wyrm! According to the CSM store, it will be in stock on or around January 31st, so get those pre-orders in ASAP. This huge Jason Wiebe sculpt should look totally killer all painted up and eating characters on the gaming table. Pre-order price is $29.95 and the retail price is $39.95 (I had this incorrectly listed at $34.95).

For comparison, there is Reaper's Frost Wyrm and Ral Partha's 11-504 Remorhaz. The Frost Wyrm is readily available, and roughly the same price (if not slightly higher) through various sources. The RP Remorhaz is quite rare, and commands prices in the $75+ neighborhood.

What I'd really like to see is a side-by-side-by-side comparison of all three models listed above. Anyone?

Congrats to Matt and the CSM crew.

Spend $50, get $65 at Center Stage Miniatures

There are only two days left to score yourself $65 worth of Center Stage Miniatures for only $50. And it's worth mentioning that there is NO EXPIRATION DATE on your certificate, so you can always wait and see what else CSM is going to create down the road. Like a Glacial Wyrm. Or Fog Giant. Or Baphomet...

Want To See A New Mini? Speak Up Now!

Do you ever find yourself perusing your collection of minis and notice that you don't have a particular model for an upcoming encounter? Or maybe you are trying to collect each monster listed in the Monster Manual, and just can't find exactly what you are looking for?

The good folks over at Center Stage Miniatures know where you are coming from, and they are currently soliciting your input. Stop on by the CSM forums (this thread in particular) and give them a few minutes of your time. I've already left my feedback - my board ID there is TheLeadDragon - and I must be omniscient or something!

It looks like Matt is trying to see what the people want, and hopefully give them exactly what they want, so kudos to him for that. I know I'll be following that thread and see what kind of miniature goodness CSM releases this year.

Giant Axe-Swinging, Snake-Growing-Out-Of-Neck Goodness!

Check out the photos at the bottom of page 3 on this thread over at acaeum.com!

That's right, it's none other than Molydeus! Center Stage Miniatures is bringing this huge baddie to a gaming table near you in the not-so-distant future. This is a Tim Prow sculpt, and I can only guess that it will be a whole lot less than the $150-$200 price usually commanded by the Ral Partha 11-series Molydeus.

The CSM blog is located here, and the their store can be found here.

Way to go CSM!

Painting Progress, Dead Computers, and Rooney

I've been hacking away at my DA scouts, and while I feel I'm getting close to finishing them, I've also been a little frustrated. There are so many details on them! Grenades (3-4 different kinds), pouches, holsters, weapons, armor, commo gear, skin, eyes, hair, etc. Looking back, I probably should have picked a standard tactical squad to paint up first. Oh well, just a bit more work.

I'm also working on some D&D lead as well, and really like how those are shaping up. Let's just say there are skeletons, and then there are skeletons clad in plate, grinning skulls leering at the PCs they are about to tear into.

A couple of posts back, I talked about the new Peryton from Center Stage Miniatures. I really like the look of their Sea Devils, so I ordered the three different sculpts available. I'll be sure to post a product review once they arrive and I get a good look at them.

We finally decided to replace our aging PC with a new laptop, complete with a 24" monitor and docking station. A couple days after we place the order, the old PC stops working! Seems to be a hard drive issue. But lo and behold, the new rig arrives a day or two early, so I'm back in business. Huzzah!

And for those footie fans out there who have not already seen it, here's a link to the Wayne Rooney bicycle kick goal he recently potted against Manchester City. Brilliant!

That is all for now. Until next time, happy painting and prosperous gaming.

Got Peryton?

For those of you who run old-school campaigns or collect old-school monsters, here's a new miniature of an old favorite, the Peryton from Center Stage Miniatures.

It's a Jason Wiebe sculpt (who has also done a lot of work for Reaper), and personally I like this one better than the Ral Partha 11-530, which is pretty rare and therefore too pricey for the average gamer/collector.

According to this thread on the Acaeum.com forums, the Peryton is $10.50, or $9.45 during the limited pre-order. The Center Stage Miniatures shop can be found here. Check out the Sahaug...I mean, Sea Devils. Great sculpts! Might have to pick me up one or three.

You can also check out product news on the CSM blog.