Dollar Tree Halloween scenery for fantasy gaming

Tis the season! To raid dollar stores for cheap horror-themed bits for gaming! I picked up some resin bits at Dollar Tree several weeks ago, including some figures. The figures are way too large for 1/72 scale, the preferred scale of this blog, but at $1 for a set of three figures, I decided they were worth getting to experiment with.

As you can see, the painting is awful, but the poses and detail aren't terrible, so I think they hold some promise for repainting. I have them in groups of three, as per the 3-pack they came in; that is, each group was purchased as a single set. In the northwest, some mummies and a gargoyle. Northeast, a creepy tramp, witch, and werewolf. Southwest, two mad scientists and their assistant. And in the southeast, a Frankenstein-esque monster, some sort of goblin-person, and another creepy tramp or possibly a scarecrow. Again, most of these are too tall compared to Sven the 1/72 comparison viking (that gargoyle isn't bad, though), but they seem like they'd be great for more conventional 32mm figures. (Note that Sven is exactly 1" tall from foot to crown.)

Here are some scenery items, $1 each at Dollar Tree. The gazebo and gate are from last year, but they are selling basically the same pieces this year. I think they are a little too tall for Sven, though I can't imagine anyone broader than Sven fitting through that narrow gazebo doorway. The mausoleum on the right is more like it, if I can think of something to do with that spider on top.

Chris Palmer recently painted up some of the scenery items Dollar Tree sold last year, and I think they look pretty nice. Repainting can do a lot to reclaim the value of these pieces. When I bought these a few weeks ago, the folks at the store said they were already selling fast, so unfortunately I don't know if they are still in stock. If they are, get them while you can, or wait until next year!

Splintered Light and Rebel Miniatures sales

I've often mentioned that a number of 15mm metal fantasy mini companies have potential as 1/72 figures. Splintered Light Miniatures and Rebel Miniatures are two such manufacturers. They are both having sales until the end of the year; it's not too late to take advantage of them! For Rebel Miniatures, just enter coupon code Rebel2014 when you checkout for 20% off your order. Likewise, for Splintered Light, just enter code xmas2014 for 20% off. Splintered Light is also offering 30% certain items in their store.

I'll feature some of these figures in better detail in future posts, but I thought I'd show off what I bought to show the potential of some of these figures.

A Large Wolfhound, Dire Hyena and Dire Wolf from Splintered Light. They all look just fine next to Sven. The hyena will make a fine hellhound or direwolf.

Heroes of Shadow, also from Splintered Light. They're about the size of some of my halfing minis, such as Lidda from the One Inch Guild.

A Splintered Light hyenaman/gnoll and kobold are on the left. The rest are from Rebel Minis: a Deep One, two Wolven, and two Monkey Boys. The kobold is sold as 20mm, but is a little small for my taste. Most of these I think are a bit on the small side, but the Deep One works as a small fishman, and the Wolven are actually perfect as 1/72 werewolves (the "15mm Werewolves" that Rebel sells are probably too small for 1/72, so don't mix them up!).

Many of these figures I got as free samples on request. Both Rebel and Splintered Light are great companies that will happily provide such samples; just leave a note with your order. I'll definitely be making future orders thanks to seeing some of these figures in person.

Metal minis are a bit more expensive than plastic, and though I understand that these are delicate figures, I wish there were cheaper shipping options at both companies. Still, they often have figures that can't be found or made in plastic, so when they offer sales like these, it's a great time to stock up.

New and old stuff from Twilight Creations

A thread with reader Kevin Morton led me to a bunch of news items from Twilight Creations, everyone's favorite producer of gonzo horror games and horror 1/72-ish scale minis. Kevin mentioned that Twilight Creations were selling the zombie zoo animals I've discussed before in bagged sets at Gencon, and I found out that they're apparently going to start selling them to the general public soon. So now you can get 90 of these figures without paying for the full game, like I did, which is great!

TC is also coming out with a new version of their flagship Zombies!!! game, which among other things includes four unique zombie minis. The "Deluxe Bag o' Zombies", now available, likewise gets you 100 of these minis without paying for the full game. TC's webstore offers this photo:

I like that there are now multiple cheap zombie sculpts, which makes the "Bag o' " line an even better value. These sculpts aren't quite generic enough to be too useful for fantasy, unfortunately, plus it's odd that the zombie plague seems to have affected the construction, law enforcement, and, um, chanteuse industries so discriminately. For more modern scenarios, though, the set should prove quite useful.

That's the new stuff: the old stuff is that as TC makes room for all their new games, they are clearancing out some of their older products. Check out the deals here. Highlights include Dante's Inferno ($5 for the whole game!), Little Dead Riding Hood (still too expensive for just the minis, but the only source of plausible 1/72 plastic werewolf minis I've found), and Easter Island (with plenty unusual Maori statue minis). They also had Bump in the Night, which has some great minis, for $15, but they seem to have sold their stock. You can now get it for $15 at Noble Knight, though.

I'm assuming that all the games I mentioned here are in the same almost-1/72 scale as Twilight Creations' other products I've seen. I can only really vouch for the Zombie Zoo and Dante's Inferno minis (Mike the Bunkermeister has these comparison shots with the Easter Island minis). If anyone can tell me anything more about these other sets, I'd appreciate it!

Reaper Bones Minotaur

The baby slept enough this week to give me time to finish this guy.

Not an original look for this one, but I like it. It's my usual good-enough block-color approach, though I did try a little bit of wet-blending around the nose. I'm not sure it comes across, but it looks fine. I also tried free-handing some eyebrows, as he was looking a little too much like a friendly cartoon cow. Eyebrows make everything look meaner.

Here's the comparison shot with Sven. I swear, these large Bones minis seem like they're made to look down on 1/72 scale humans. The larger scale that Reaper uses for humans just isn't as dramatic with these large monsters.

Sven gets lost on the way to Crete and asks for directions.

Ask the CFM: Devils and Clerics (and other folks)

Pic credit: Zigzag Journeys to Northern Lands; via Project Gutenberg.

It's "Ask the Cheap Fantasy Miniaturist", where I try to answer reader questions about 1/72 fantasy miniatures. In this installment, Raph from the 1/72 Minis Google+ group asks:

1- what about tieflings and other d&d playable races (halfeling, ferals, etc.)2 - what would be your choice for a typical d&d cleric ?

1.) Tieflings could simply be any old human figure painted red or some other exotic color, maybe with some horns made from Milliput or Kneadatite. If you're looking for something more overtly devilish, there are certainly possibilities. I've discussed some devilish conversions I made previously. You may also want to check out these demon figures from Twilight Creations; they're a pretty good match for 1/72 figures.

I could do a pretty detailed post about halfings, but I'll keep it short (heh). Turns out there are a lot of DnD halfling figures that work with 1/72 scale. I'd also consider 15mm figures, such as these guys, for 1/72 halflings. Lord of the Rings hobbit minis from Games Workshop may also be something to consider; they look a little too chunky next to 1/72 figures, but aren't bad.

A DnD halfling, Games Workshop hobbit, and Sven.

I'm not sure what you mean by "ferals." If you mean wildmen, there are lots of 1/72 barbarian sets available (these are my favorite). If you mean beastmen, there are various 20mm and 15mm metal figures that ought to work, and headswaps with animal figures are always an option.

2.) There are two images that come to mind when one thinks of a DnD cleric; the armored warpriest, and enrobed holy man. For the former, any old knight figure (such as these) should do the trick. You may also find this post helpful for finding suitable clerics of this type.

There are more 1/72 scale guys in robes than you might imagine. For Christian priests, consider these sets among many. For more generic dudes in robes, these sets may be useful.

Any more questions? Feel free to ask the Cheap Fantasy Miniaturist, and I'll do what I can.