Bump in the Night is a now-out-of-print board game from Twilight Creations. It has some interesting minis well-suited for fantasy gaming, and since other minis by the company were close to 1/72 scale (the preferred scale of this blog), I thought I'd check out a copy of the game and see how they looked. Was this a wise decision? Let's see.
Here's a set of the player minis. There are six sets in six different colors, plus 14 child minis for the monsters to scare. That's 36 monsters total. We have some bats, Death, a cat, a ghost, a goblin, and a poltergeist. On the plus side these have a lot of character, and they portray creatures that are not easy to find in 1/72 scale. On the negative, you can see they are just a little large, something that is especially apparent with the ghost mini.
Some comparisons. The cat and the bats are compared with a few Reaper Bones familiars. The familiars are already a little on the large side for 1/72, as they are technically for 28-32mm scale. And the Bump in the Night figures are even larger, though since they are still smaller than Sven, I don't think it matters. I mean, that Bump in the Night cat is probably about the size of a 1/72 scale golden retriever, but I doubt anyone at the table would notice. The Bump in the Night goblin is stylistically similar to its counterpart from Caesar Miniatures, but is likewise much larger. Maybe it could be a goblin brawler, a giant among goblins (like Brandobras "Bullroarer" Took, a hobbit tall enough to ride a horse).
Comparisons with the specral figures and some modified Caesar undead. You can clearly see how much taller these are.
Verdict? It really depends on how much the scale differences bug you. I think the cat and bats are perfectly usable, the goblin somewhat adaptable, and the spirits useful perhaps as solo or boss figures. I didn't show any of the child minis, but they are almost as tall as Sven. The plastic is a lot more solid that the rubbery "Zombies!!!" material Twilight Creations is known for. The minis all have great character and are just a little cartoony. The tall "ghost" figure is particularly frightening despite, or because of, its larger size. I paid about $22; if you can find it for that or less and you like the figures, go for it!
Interesting of course !
ReplyDeleteI like the animals and some figures (not all )
I will check your list of "for sale figures" !
The ghosts size doesn't bother me. It seems like an evil apparition could be any size it wanted.
ReplyDeleteHuh, another Twilight Creations games that went out of print before I even heard of it. :(
ReplyDeleteThe bats would be pretty useful. I wish TC would offer all their minis in bags like the zombies. BTW what do the children look like & are they all the same?
Here's a pic. They are all the same. As I indicated, they are almost as tall as Sven and don't really look child-sized in 1/72.
DeleteHi from Germany,
ReplyDeleteFirst I like your low budget approach and really appreciate your creativity. This Site is a real brine well for gamers with a same notion. Thank you for that!
It's maybe a bit off-topic but I hope for your advice. I have the chance to purchase a set of Descent 1 Miniatures relative inexpensive (I say relative because since the game went oop the prices went through the roof, how you maybe now).
I really liked the game in my childhood but never owned the game itself and I am a Wargamer who loves 1/72 as well. The question for me before I decide if I clinch the deal. Is how the human sized models scale up with the Caesar fantasy range.
Could you maybe shot a photo of some Descent heroes with your fantastic scale grid? Maybe even with some Caesar minis if this is not to much to ask for.
That would be relaly nice.
And dont be irritated by my profile. I made this only to post here. LOL
Welcome, and thanks for the kind words!
DeleteThe only Descent mini I have is this halfling hero from the 2nd edition of the game (Third figure from the right). I believe the heroes are about the same scale in both editions of the game, but note that most hero minis would be quite a bit larger than the halfling, maybe twice as large. As I understand it, the monsters in Descent can be much larger than the heroes, though that may be fine.
I don't know how helpful that is. Hopefully it helps a little!
Kind of a broad, Ask the CFM type of question, but do you have access to any other board game figures that could be usable? I did take advantage of the Age of Mythology miniatures for sale from the manufacturer (Thanks for that!), and I've been looking at the "Age of Conan" board game and "Risk: Godstorm" in particular. I can't seem to find any images of these next to 1/72nd miniatures so its a bit difficult to get a sense of size, but the miniatures are very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI have a few minis from War of the Ring, now made by Ares Games. In addition to the games you mentioned, Battlelore minis are close to 1/72, though it's a little complicated. I hadn't heard of Risk: Godstorm (thanks for the tip!), but I've heard the Risk: Lord of the Rings minis are 1/72.
DeleteThis thread/list at Board Game Geek I've found helpful in the past. Some of the scale information is missing or inaccurate, and it can be a pain to search through, but it's extraordinarily comprehensive.
So as a kind of addendum to this, I've got some lineups of figures from a couple of board games with Olaf Svenson for comparison. Maybe it could be useful to someone else.
DeleteLineup 1
Left to Right: LOTR Risk Goblin, Viking axe thrower from Age of Mythology, Samurai Archer from Samurai Swords, Enclave of the Bear Army from Risk Legacy, Viking from ????, Bear Rider from Risk Legacy, and LOTR Risk Elf.
Lineup 2
LOTR Risk Cave Troll, Viking axe thrower from Age of Mythology, Roman and Hittite from ????, Samurai from Samurai Swords, and Zulu Warrior from War! Age of Imperialism.