The Player's Handbook Miniatures

[fanboy2000]

So, true to me screen name, I bought all the new Player's Handbook Miniatures. I'm not the world's best judge of miniatures, but I like them in terms of quality. My only problem is their selection of race/class combinations. For example, the only small mini is a halfling cleric. I would have thought that, if your only going to include one small mini it would a halfling rogue or a gnome bard. (Or hey, a Gnome Illusionist. What a thought!)

One observation: each pack of 3 minis comes with 2 at-will powers and 1 utility power. IIRC, each power card corresponds to one of the classes in pack. There 12 1st level at-wills each for a different class. They are Foe to Foe (Barbarian), Cutting Words (Bard), Gaze of Defiance (Cleric), Grasping Tide (Druid), Knockdown Assault (Fighter), Challenging Strike (Paladin), Hunter's Teamwork (Ranger), Probing Strike (Rogue), Arcing Fire (Sorcerer), Eldritch Strike (Warlock (all)), Rousing Strike (Warlord), and Chilling Cloud (Wizard).

Anyone see what I see? Those are the 10 or the 11 classes in 3e/3.5 PHBs minus the monk and plus the Warlock and Warlord. Also, only one PHB 2 race is represented: the Goliath. Come-one WotC, give the Gnome some love, or the Half-Orc, you wouldn't even have to change the class for the Half-Orc. (Unless the concept of a Gnome Barbarian just makes you giggle with anticipation.)

 

[pawsplay]

There are also no human females at all.

 

[Echohawk]

The choice of minis for the first set of PH miniatures was constrained by the transition from the old minis line to the new one. That meant that it wasn't possible for the designers to include all new minis, and several figures are recycled sculpts. Presumably, that also meant that the designers had fewer choices of class/race combinations that they could include. Hopefully the selection will improve as the line expands.

 

[CharlesRyan]

Yeah, the next set is less than three months away, and they'll be pretty regular after that. So I'd expect complaints (however legitimate) about the lack of this or that race, class, or gender to dissipate pretty quickly.

 

[mach1.9pants]

That is good news, I have 2 drawers full of humans (divided into light and heavy armoured) but when you go beyond the other racial stereotypes, the pickings are thin.

I think minis going not random is a great thing.

 

[Zaukrie]

They are significantly better looking in hand than on line. Significantly. I won't be buying a lot, as I own too many minis already, but I'd suggest seeing them in person before judging them (and no, they aren't perfect - I don't like the weapons on the tieflings at all, for example).

 

[fanboy2000]

Yeah, the next set is less than three months away, and they'll be pretty regular after that. So I'd expect complaints (however legitimate) about the lack of this or that race, class, or gender to dissipate pretty quickly.

I agree, it was just weird seeing the set's only small mini be a halfling cleric. It's kind of a head scratcher. Now that I know that some of the minis were recycled sculpts, the class selection makes a lot more sense.

 

[JohnnyQuest]

Official skirmish (head-to-head battle) stat cards can be downloaded fo' free here:

http://ddmguild.com/downloads/revised/cards/PHH-01.pdf

 

[Ktulu]

I've picked up almost all of these so far. My favorites are:

Goliath Barbarian - Even with the green paint job he's frickin' awesome. Great mini with an awesome action pose.

Eladrin Ice Wizard - Just wow. That's how you make wizards lookin' cool.

Redone Cuthbert - proving that they're actually doing a lot of extra paint steps and made a great looking repaint.

half-elf fighter/warlock - I don't know what I'll ever play to use this guy, but I love, love, love the mini

Human (who looks like an eladrin) fighter - Good paint job, nice pose, and has the ease of multiple class/race uses (could be eladrin, elf, human, half-elf, etc..., along with a number of classes)

Not impressed with:

Teifling - I don't know, but they just haven't wow'd me with a tiefling mini, yet. Waiting, though.

Dragonborn rogue - Sad posing, odd weapon choices (seriously, the dragonborn with the spiked gauntlets in AV needs to be a mini, imo) and as one friend pointed out, it looks more like a predator than a dragonborn. Some good action poses would help the DB's out, since most of their minis are stoic poses, so far.

Female Elf druid - It's not a bad mini, just boring. The half-elf druid from WotDQ was a million times more epic looking. The stance, the mold, everything. At least do better than previous iterations of similar minis.

 

[Echohawk]

That is good news, I have 2 drawers full of humans (divided into light and heavy armoured)

Ah, the joys of collecting, sorting and storing minis. First you have a box labeled "Monsters", then you have a box labeled "Aberrations", then "Tentacled Aberrations", and finally one just for "Ropers" .

At least when the minis were all 3e creatures, I could have a "Miscellaneous Monstrous Humanoids" box for things that weren't already in the "Minotaur", "Dragonspawn", "Kuo-Tuo" or "Yuan-Ti" boxes, but with a mixture of 3e and 4e creatures I am lost. If I need an Immolith in a hurry, should I look in the "Demons" box, or under "Elementals"? (Or, even worse, in the "Magical Beasts" box if I take 4e's word for it?)

I have had to resort to a "Miscellaneous Bipeds" box, and another one labelled "Things That Defy Easy Categorization and Which I Will Thus Never Be Able to Find When I Need Them During a Game"