Developing a Miniatures Library

[Agatheron]

Hey all,

I've labelled this as AnyDnD even though I am currently running a 4e campaign with my recently re-constituted high school D&D group. After 20-25 years away from it, we got back together about a year ago and started playing D&D on a monthly basis. Life doesn't really let us get together more frequently than that yet, but we do what we can.

Anyway, during this hiatus, I became an avid miniature painter, and decided to put those skills and knowledge to use in enhancing our gaming sessions. I also really like painting regardless, so it dovetailed nicely. I thought I'd share some of the miniatures I've developed for our gaming session. So far, I have made use of miniatures from Reaper, Games Workshop, Privateer Press, and Cipher Studios.

Here's a broad shot of the adventuring party, all but one of these are Reaper:



The first adventure my group went through was Keep on the Shadowfell... so I needed goblins and hobgoblins. In this case, I used Moria Goblins and Mordor Orcs from GW's Lord of the Rings line:





Zombies, from Games Workshop's Warhammer:


Skeletons (GW):


Some of Kalarel's cultists (3 GW and 1 Reaper):


And Kalarel himself:


I'm also working on miniatures for Reavers of Harkenwold, and will be doing ones for Madness at Gardmore Abbey. Fortunately, many of these miniatures are a type that will get used again, and I only needed to paint up enough to cover whatever encounters I was working on.

Anyway, I'd appreciate any feedback... not just on painting style, but also for making the best choices for using miniatures in D&D/Pathfinder games.

 

[NewJeffCT]

great stuff - will provide more feedback this week, as it's late and I'm tired. Wanted to respond so I'll be subscribed

 

[Mark CMG]

Some of the WH boxes are great for filling out the ranks. Good stuff and I look forward to your monthly updates!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Nice work!

I've been a minis junkie since 1979 or so, but I've never been much for painting them. Name a band, I probably have something by them.

You want to get minis that cover your most common foes- you have skeletons, zombies, goblins & orcs, and that's an excellent start. Get some:

1) vermin/swarm/yucky type stuff- rats, spiders, ants, oozes

2) oversized humanoids- Minotaurs, giants, etc.

3) elves of various kinds- Drow, woodsy, urban

4) townies

5) warriors with a variety of weapon & armor types- these are for PCs and key NPCs

6) warriors with similar armor & weapons- these are guards, brigands, minions, etc.

7) a variety of exotics- dragons, Remorhazes, etc.

 

[Agatheron]

Thanks for the comments so far. I have a few more pictures to share.
[MENTION=19675]Dannyalcatraz[/MENTION]: Your list is very helpful in building a library, and I'm going to keep it handy. I will need it moving forward, as virtually everything you've mentioned shows up at some point or another. I have several spiders of varying sizes either completed, or in development. I also have a Dragon, a Beholder (gale force 9's new model), and an Ettin all on order.

The sequence that I'm going to do these in depends on what adventure I'm running. Since I'm currently running through an upscaled Reavers of Harkenwold following Keep on the Shadowfell (levels 4-6, rather than 2-4), I needed figures that would stand in well for the Iron Circle soldiers. Ultimately, I ended up using Precursor Knights with some mild conversions on them (weapon swaps, add in crossbows).

These guys I use as the Brigands/Non-minion Soldiers:


These I uses as the minion rabble or sentries:


And these two I use for the cutthroats that appear from time to time:


The cutthroats are also Privateer Press, from "Croe's Cutthroats" appropriately enough. I only needed 2, so the blister does nicely.

I also have a few additional figures for adventurers. So far, nobody has taken a barbarian, but this guy was good for skin practice:


A druid that joined the party:


and then there's this one which is an alternate figure for the Eladrin Psion in our party:


This was actually the mini he really wanted, but we couldn't find it initially... so when I did acquire it, he has the choice of using either.

Some of these, I realize that I have not properly varnished yet (the Psion and the Druid), so they're a bit shiny under the lightbox.

I've done a raft of others so far, but I've not had a chance to take pictures of them yet. Hopefully by tomorrow I can take some more pictures. I have done the entire leadership of the Iron Circle that appears in Reavers, plus figures that I think work well for their devilish aides... as well as a few drakes.

I had also forgotten to take pictures of the ghouls and armoured skeletons that I had done up, which can stand in for multiple types of more dangerous undead. Those will come soon.

In all, I'm trying to pick the best from each company. The precursor knights from Privateer Press were a bit pricey, but worth it in terms of look and the use I will get out of them. While you haven't seen them yet, I do have a few Bones miniatures from Reaper that I've painted up as well. Games Workshop has the advantage of being largely plastic, which makes customization and varieties of poses much easier. I've not had a chance to try anything from Otherworld miniatures, and I am anxiously awaiting the Beholder from GF9.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Something that gets overlooked in a lot of collections is normal animals.

I can't say I have a lot of them, but a nice assortment of wolves, lions, bears, bison and so forth can come in handy, especially if you have players using PCs with Animal Companions. Also, having smaller critters for use as a Familiars is good, too.

 

[CAFRedblade]

Beautiful work, I've bookmarked your website Agatheron. Since I'm at work I haven't had much chance to look around, but do you have you recorded any of your tutorials, or taken step by step photos of your techniques?

Thanks.

 

[Agatheron]

A recent article on my blog does a step-by-step for the Goblins and Hobgoblins... but it doesn't show pictures of them in progress.

I've done step-by-step pictures in the past, but usually for some of my Warhammer 40,000 Orks. Since D&D Orcs are grey skinned and have a different physical build, I'll need to do something different. Conveniently, I happen to have a bunch of miniatures that I'm going to use as D&D Orcs on hand that will get painted in the next little while. I'm happy to do a step-by-step of those when I can. I used the GW Mordor Orcs as Hobgoblins, but I will use their Uruk-Hai as the basics for the Orcs in my adventure. They tend to be armed with swords rather than axes, but these are nasty axe-like swords anyway.