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.

DragonTooth's Horus and the City of Magic Money



I haven't done a lot of buying over the summer, mostly because I haven't done much selling. But I couldn't resist putting in a bid on DragonTooth's GD-1 Horus, even though he is broken at the ankles and missing his sword and sceptre. I was pleased to win him for less than $9 - that's a bargain to me, even in his current state. Now I just need to acquire his sword and sceptre...

You can see him above after he has visited my little shop of mini horrors. He has been pinned back together, and I used a bit of Citadel's LGS (Liquid Green Stuff) to fill in the gaps. I still need to smooth it out before I prime and paint, but I'm getting there.

 

The Grenadier mind flayer in the third picture is for scale reference. I had no idea how big Horus was until he arrived at my house. Overall height is 60mm, and measures 45mm from foot to eye. I imagine he would scale out at close to 54mm if he were standing upright. I'm glad he's posed and not standing still like a statue.

 

In other DragonTooth news, did you see the City of Magic sets that recently sold? If not, let me recap: King Niflung's Throne Hall sold for a staggering $898 USD! Tomb of the Dwarf King went for $521.11 - a princely sum for a king's tomb. Ye Blind Cyclops Inn sold for $316.11, and the Dwarf Armory ended at $266.

 

There is a deep-pocketed DT collector out there who was willing to shell out $2,001.22 to add those four City of Magic kits to his or her collection. WOW! At an average of $500 per kit, that is dedication. On the plus side, all four kits look like they are 100% complete, something that is not very common considering the age of the kits and the amount of components involved.

Achilles Reborn!

I will rupture you!

 

 

No, I am not declaring myself the second coming of the legendary warrior Achilles. Rather, I am celebrating my return to indoor soccer after a seven month hiatus, courtesy of a ruptured right achilles tendon suffered at the end of January. My repaired tendon held up just fine - the rest of my muscles that have seen scant use in the intervening months, however, made their displeasure be known. The pain was worth it! Things started out well as we went up 2-0, and then quickly fell apart in the second half as we went on to lose 4-3. I am, needless to say, very happy to once again don my gloves and jump around and catch the ball kicked towards me at high velocity.

I have been eyeing the lead pile lately, cleaning up and organizing the mess that has lingered over the summer. Over on acaeum.com, there is a thread that shows the result of one collector's hard work: his painted collection. Hats off to Chris for the drive and desire to not only accumulate a nice stash of lead, but to actually paint every piece.

A Rogue, Paladin, and Ranger walk into the Yuirwood...

Since our regular DM has had his hands full of late, I was suckered into making a guest appearance by some of the players who were just itching to roll some dice. Well, I wasn't really suckered into it as much as begged/cajoled, and to be honest I enjoy a little DMing every now and then. I spent some time brainstorming during our vacation in Idaho and managed to come up with some encounters, as well as a rationale for the events that unfolded.

To explain the departure of our wizard (my character) and our cleric (otherwise busy), I decided to create a rift in The Weave that was caused by the forces of Chaos. It allowed quite a few nasty creatures to enter Faerun, as well as cause an increase in the general monster population - at least in Aglarond, where our characters are based.

Most of the spellcasters were summoned to Velprintalar to see if they could band together and close the rift, so off went Garrity (wizard) and Posht (cleric). The three remaining characters - Palau the halfling rogue, Callum the human paladin, and Nikola the human ranger - were left behind in Relkath's Foot to see what developed. The guards and patrols were increased and stepped up to meet with the surge in monster activity, leaving the trio of adventurers to help as needed. In this case, they would be needed to track down the perpetrator of a heinous crime.

According to the survivors, an elf (not a drow) walked into the temple of Corellon Larethian and killed a group of acolytes, along with the acting priest. The guards who attempted to stop him were likewise killed, and the assailant walked off into the woods, heading east. Palau, Callum, and Nikola are sent off after him/her.

After about a week in pursuit, they finally catch up with the mystery elf. It looks like an elf, speaks like an elf, wears elf armor - but it detects evil and is wielding a nasty-looking black greatsword. An intense battle ensues, with Nikola effectively incapacitated thanks to a word of chaos spell. I make my first error of the evening when I "kill" Callum - he had actually done enough damage to kill his enemy, but I made a simple math error, allowing one more attack that would have killed the paladin, but quickly catch the mistake.

The party is then able to discover that the elf is actually a death slaad! The unholy greatsword was as effective against the paladin as the paladin's chaotic bane bastard sword was on the slaad. Callum would like to destroy the evil blade, while Palau and Nikola seem to think they can somehow trade or sell it for something more useful to the party. I'll let Ned (regular DM) sort that one out!

Moving on, the boys run up against my next creation: a fiendish half black dragon ettin (!) and his plain vanilla ettin minion. The pair had been wreaking havoc on a small mining community, but the miners will be troubled no more. It was fun watching the players react to such an unusual template. The theme would be repeated later on down the road ;)

A random encounter with a pair of fire giants filled out the first leg of the trip, with the power trio arriving safely at The Watchwall. Callum trained to become a level 12 paladin, and picked up Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword) so he can once again resume using his shield. Things at the wall are busy but under control, so the party decided to head back to Relkath's Foot.

On the first leg of the return trip, they come across an ogre, busy defiling a lovely elven grotto in the name of Baphomet. The characters attack the ogre in a sort of "hmm, it's only an ogre, but something must be up" sort of way. Right! The ogre in question is a 4th level barbarian ogre, who rages and attacks. It is joined by a 4th level ogre rogue and then their master - a ghour demon. The ogres are tough, but they aren't up to the combined fury of our brave adventurers. The ghour is a lot tougher and inflicts a large amount of pain, but in the end it falls.

Now just a couple of days from returning home, the party has its final encounter, and stunning one at that. Following a trail alongside a stream, they come to a smallish lake. As they move around it, they are met by the steely gaze of an abyssal greater basilisk rising out of the water. In a heartbeat, Palau is petrified and promptly dubbed "the garden gnome" by yours truly. The basilisk is TOUGH (almost 200hp) and provides a challenge to the paladin and ranger, denied the extra DPS from the sneak attacks of Palau.

Once the hellish basilisk is vanquished, and the garden gnome secured to the paladin's mount (a wingless hippogriff), Callum and Nikola complete the journey back to Relkath's Foot. There they learn that the rift has been closed (yay!) and all is back to normal. Well, with the small exception of an unknown quantity of chaotic-aligned creatures now running loose in and around Aglarond, that is to say.

All in all a successful evening of D&D for all concerned, I have to say. I had fun in my role as guest DM, even with all the extra work that comes along with the job. And the players gained a good amount of XPs, along with a modest amount of treasure (uber evil greatsword notwithstanding). Callum dinged 12 pally, Nikola is close to 12 (I think), and Palau has enough to ding 13 rogue - once we manage to un-garden gnome him, of course :P

Now that I'm back from my last major family vacation and school for the kids is nigh (only two more weeks of freedom!), I know the lead-oriented content on TLD will resume at my normal pace. Thanks for reading!