My local game store's Reaper minis are running a tad low, so it was nice to see a few more appear on the shelf- obviously emptying out the last of the stored stock. Delightfully, this included three more pillars of good, so I yoinked them, plus three 'ghostly summons'- which are just perfect as magical portals for Skulldred- so much yoink!
If I could steer the direction of Reapers Bones, there are a few things I would like to see...
Firstly, the medium has proven itself as a good gaming material. Durable, light and affordable. All good.
I would like to see the polymer tinted a little more away from white. Bone color to go with the name perhaps, but a warm mid grey would be a good idea in my book. I have an eldritch horror mini from the earlier release that was more towards this color- and the striking difference was you could see all the detail. I think customers would be more likely to buy them when they can actually make out what treasure is inside. It would make painting easier too.
Secondly, I would like Reaper to step away from the recasting metal originals and make new masters for future releases specifically for bones. Why? Well, it would mean artist can exaggerate and deepen the detail that is lost in the process for starters. The second reason is to allow for modilarity, which is my third point...
Modularity. Bones polymer works perfectly with superglue, so multipart models are not the daunting problem they are in metals- it is actually desirable. I haven't picked up any of the zombies, skeletons and so forth because they are just repeats. Yaaaaaawn. But a sprue of arms and seperate legs and bodies? Yes please. I love the Nova corps models, but an tactical squad of identical poses? Blehg.
Third is the packs. I would like to see them orientated to more 'encounter packs'. So, for example, rather than hunt down two packs of troops, a leader and some treasure- it's all bundled into a mid sized pack.
Likewise, a skeleton encounter- dwarf villagers, a pack of dungeon debris, a bunch of pillars- etc.
This would get over the current problem I can see of lonesome stock no one needs sitting on the shelf. I picked up Eregris Darkfathom to lead my Tiik army, but there are ten or more just sitting there lonely. No one needs fish preists without fish warriors- and the shop is all out of warriors.
Finally, updating Warlord and packaging the minis with bases and cards in skirmish packs suitable for that game would be a no brainer. Warlord could be sold off the back of Bones.
Thoughts? Stick em below biatches!
Sometimes the finer details -- faces in particular -- are a bit mushy, but my main problem with the Bones is that bright white that seems to obscure detail; I've taken to a quick ink wash before I start painting, to better pick out the detail.
ReplyDeleteHmm. I made the first kickstarter and still have TONS of unpainted and unneeded miniatures. I mostly use them, for Fantasy RPGs, everyone picks one figure for his character and we paint them while we make the characters.
ReplyDeleteFrom time to time I grab one or two monsters out of the monster bag, base and paint them and put them on the cupboard.
Sadly a lot of the kickstarter ones are not that well cast, prolonged arms and legs, strong warping and some miscasts. The ones I bought later, were really good.
I dont think that a "theme-packing" is a smart idea. Maybe as an aditional offer but I dont need anymore skeletons for example, but if I want the necromancer in the kit I would rather buy Northstar Miniatures than a box with unnneeded and unwanted stuff.
That's funny, I think encounter packs (in boxes) are an attractive proposition..
ReplyDeleteThere are bone coloured bones out there. It looks like they are switching over to the tinted plastic so that they do show the detail better. They are slowly getting out there. There were a few at Pax on the racks that I was able to spot.
ReplyDeleteThere are bone coloured bones out there. It looks like they are switching over to the tinted plastic so that they do show the detail better. They are slowly getting out there. There were a few at Pax on the racks that I was able to spot.
ReplyDelete