Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: Rotorcraft on April 13, 2017, 02:00:35 PM
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(http://i.imgur.com/DagoZXG.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/3MoG4Ft.jpg)
The Dwarves are Marching to War!
Later this year, North Star Military Figures and Osprey Games will be releasing a new range of fantasy miniatures, beginning with a plastic box set of Dwarf Infantry! Each sprue from this set allows you to build 5 Dwarves armed with spears, hand weapons, or bows, with a huge variety of head options. We are also working on similar boxes for Elves and Goblins! There are no official release dates yet, BUT we will have a limited number of pre-release Dwarf sprues for sale at Salute!!! These will be £5 a sprue and strictly limited to one per customer.
More sneak peeks from the range will be on display at the Osprey Games stand; so, swing by stand TJ05 early, get your sprue, and see what all of the excitement is about.
https://www.facebook.com/northstarmilitaryfigures/photos/a.218637431498500.77933.218634441498799/1607385349290361/?type=3&theater
Best regards.
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They are not shit... Look at the chain mail; quite nice definition and compromise to scale. Well charactered faces. I'd buy them. Are they part of the Frostgrave effort?
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Definitely prefer these to Mantic's Dwarf offerings at a similar price, much more character to them. Will keep an eye on these, I may well end up being tempted back into 28mm fantasy at some point :)
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They are not shit... Look at the chain mail; quite nice definition and compromise to scale. Well charactered faces. I'd buy them. Are they part of the Frostgrave effort?
In Facebook they said that this is a whole different project, unrelated to Frostgrave.
Best regard.
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Grrr...I was doing dwarfs for Mordheim and I just bought a bunch. These would be incredibly suitable. To be fair I vastly prefer metals so not a total loss.
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They are nice, I wonder how they scale up with other dwarf ranges
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Oh my, great initative! Mantic has not inspired confidence with their design choices when it comes to fantasy archetypes, but North Star has put out great product so far. Looking forward to the elves especially.
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These look terrific - genuinely generic fantasy dwarves that cover both the Tolkienesque and folkloric aspects nicely! The grim (Grumpy?) expressions are exactly right. I hope the elves and goblins are similarly styled.
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Rather good :-*
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Very nice. These dwarves fit 'the look' I have always pictured.
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That's a Dragon Rampant army sorted then...
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Very nice they have a bit of a Scibor look to them
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Any pictures of the sprues yet?
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They look great :)
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In a bizarre thought loop (must be I am demob happy for Easter hols) , nothing to do with this but Malamute honest guv ;D
It would be rather good to take a dwarven warband and given them a bit of a "Hicksy make over" creating the ooh what a Carry On in Misty mountains warband as in... not Charles Haughty , Sid James etc dwarven warriors lol
Yes....yes.....I wil take my meds now nurse........
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Sprue pics on North Stars facebook page. Let's see if it works to just hijack them for here:
(https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/s960x960/17880398_1607536205941942_7498383943226881410_o.jpg?oh=7a1eb5e694f200bd078f9b6082703a44&oe=598EA821)
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I really like these, but I hope there are super/ornate armored dwarves as well!
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Interesting take on Fantasy Dwarfs. Will for sure buy their metals if/when released ( although their casting quality usually is sub-par ) and these, have to see them in the flesh first. Plastic building is something I really dislike.... Nothing to do with quality, I just don't like it.
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Yes, these are fantastic! Will be brilliant to have more generic fantasy plastics on the market. I for one hope they DON'T bring out more ornate/plated versions but stick to this more minimalist, "realistic" look as shown in the pics. Maybe some unarmoured, tunic-wearing versions would be nice too!
There are already lots of Dwarfs out there in LARP-esque armour festooned with runes, shoulder pads and metal beard holders. A more classic, dare I say LotR artwork-based look will be brilliant. Same for the elves and goblins, I hope!
I notice there are all bows and no crossbows on that sprue, so it does seem to aim for a more classic look.
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Like those, like the mix of weapons. Two boxes is basically a Dwarf army for LotR including command. And finally some decent spear-dwarfs for an Erebor or Iron Hills army!
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Thank Ogrob for the sprue picture. I like the different weapon options… especially the spears and bows 8)
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Like those, like the mix of weapons. Two boxes is basically a Dwarf army for LotR including command. And finally some decent spear-dwarfs for an Erebor or Iron Hills army!
Will be using them for exactly the same purpose have hundreds of plastic goblins! Hopefully they will be about the right size although the official LOTR miniatures are more non-heroic 25mm.
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As a collector of plastic crack I'm all in. Never liked mantic dwarfs because they are are designed to make a formation (and I dont do that kind of modeling)
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Dwarves with actual bows, lovely.
I really like these. I thought between my Hasslefree feudals and Citadel imperials my stunty itch had been well scratched, but these are just the ticket.
Looking forward to seeing the other boxes and the prices they go for.
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:o Very interesting!
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That's nice! Just a hint of more ornate "stuff" to make it interesting but mainly a clean mailed look.
I've always wondered if I could convert the plastic FireForge Russians to dwarfs by trimming off legs and such...but that doesn't seem necessary anymore!
Maybe you can even use the FF Russian heads with these dwarf bodies for more variety!
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I love those little guys! And that it's coming from somebody who owns exactly 0 dwarves because I usually hate how they look. I really like that they are firmly early medieval in styling and weapons, etc. I can't wait to see the elves! (Everybody and their cousin does goblins)
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The sprue looks tremendous. Spearmen with upright spears are always welcome for games like HOTT. And a couple of boxes of these would give a dwarf army with spear, blade and shooter elements (and plenty of spares).
It's great to see dwarfs with bows - far preferable to crossbows, which have no pre-D&D/Warhammer underpinning.
These also look like they would mix fairly well with Vendel, Asgard and pre-slotta Citadel.
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Yep. This range is looking to be what I'd basically only been dreaming of.
Looks like I'm bound for my 4th dwarf warband.
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That's a Dragon Rampant army sorted then...
Funny, I was thinking the same thing.
Nice looking sculpts, look forward to seeing them in person.
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Interesting take on Fantasy Dwarfs. <Snip> Plastic building is something I really dislike.... Nothing to do with quality, I just don't like it.
This.
Collecting since the 1970s, I have plenty of bow armed Dwarf troops.
Not appealing at all despite nice sculpts. Glue and multi-part is a non-starter for me.
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Hooray for legs. Great dwarves, I shall get some of these ASAP.
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While these dwarves are super sweet (and they are-yay for bows!) I am more jazzed for the thought of plastic elves and goblins! I have yet to find goblins I truly like, and would love to do a Dragon Rampant army with them.
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I assume these would kitbash with all my left over frostgrave plastics!?
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I'm itching to see the goblins.
As these dwarfs look nice I'm also looking forward to seeing elves. Not really a fan of most elf miniatures. I hope they go for the more woodsy type of elf.
I love those little guys! And that it's coming from somebody who owns exactly 0 dwarves because I usually hate how they look. I really like that they are firmly early medieval in styling and weapons, etc. I can't wait to see the elves! (Everybody and their cousin does goblins)
I'm in the same boat as you (although more recently I bought the old Asgard dwarfs and some chaos dwarfs) but I usually can't stand the guys.
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Will get two boxes as you won't need more for a decent Dragon Rampant army maybe three for good measure!! When will they be out ?
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I put this up on a Mordheim facebook page as well. I think it's just smart. If the plastics are well done (and the Frostgrave ones are good, if not great) this is something currently missing from the market. Now that GW has gone bonkers with their world and Mantic has terrible looking dwarfs (possibly the worst)...there is no multi-purpose generic dwarf fantasy kit in existence. All of the people looking for "proper" fantastical dwarfs may lean this way.
The kit is ideal for stuff like Mordheim (and yes, Frostgrave if you want to run a dwarf inspired band). Note the sprue lets you make a full unit of hand weapons, a full unit of spears, or a full unit of archers, etc. I think the banner pole should maybe be left to one sprue, but that doesn't hurt anything. I personally prefer single part metals when available, but I think it's fantastic to see this option out there, and yes I'll be tempted to do a Mordheim band with these too. Elves? Meh. Goblins I'm interested in for sure.
I think it's an exceptionally shrewd maneuver. That being said, North Star needs to do something about their publicity etc. There are loads of people who may have heard of Frostgrave etc. but have no clue about the multi-part plastic boxes etc.
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I think the banner pole should maybe be left to one sprue, but that doesn't hurt anything.
I agree with everything else you said, but a large amount of banner poles is useful for mass-battle games like HOTT (and Rally Round the King and Sword and Spear, I suspect), which might have figure scales as high as 1:1,000. There's no reason why you can't have a banner per element in those games, and they can really help to create a mass-battle effect with relatively few figures. I've often thought that you could create a great-looking HOTT army using only "command groups".
Also, spare banner poles are always handy for other projects. The sprue seems to include an alternative terminal for the banner - unless that's a crest for the leader's helmet. It looks like it would work on the banner in any case.
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I'm glad they have a huge amount of head options. I'm not a fan of the moustacheless head, although I bet it is some people's favourite. Looks more gnomelike to me.
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I will definitely pick up a sprue. They seem like a useful addition to the bits box, even though I don't really play Dwarfs in any game.
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The sprue looks tremendous. Spearmen with upright spears are always welcome for games like HOTT. And a couple of boxes of these would give a dwarf army with spear, blade and shooter elements (and plenty of spares).
It's great to see dwarfs with bows - far preferable to crossbows, which have no pre-D&D/Warhammer underpinning.
These also look like they would mix fairly well with Vendel, Asgard and pre-slotta Citadel.
I wish they'd included crossbow options along with the bows.
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They remind of Keith Parkinson dwarves from D&D
I suspect those are 3 up versions in the Northstar photos like they did for the Frostgrave minis. (https://www.keithparkinson.com/?page_id=40)
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These look very promising. Must remember to pick some up on Saturday.
Very curious to see what they do with their elves. I too would like some proper wood elves...
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can anyone take pictures at Salute if they have three ups of Elves or Goblins please!!
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Yep. +1 to that!
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Why would I want plastic multipart dwarfs?
No idea, but you can probably put money on my having at least one box.
I like the multipart figures, I have boxes of assembled but unpainted ones, they are a good distraction from painting.
The standard arm can be used if you are a heretic and want to build a wizard for your Frostgrave warband (I have a Barbarian wizard using a modified two handed weapon figure, not painted of course ^___^).
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I really love well sculpted multi-part plastic kits (love the variety they bring), and I quite like the classic look of these fellows. I am certainly going to pick a box up when available. I too look forward to seeing what they do with goblins and elves.
-Michael
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In a bizarre thought loop (must be I am demob happy for Easter hols) , nothing to do with this but Malamute honest guv ;D
It would be rather good to take a dwarven warband and given them a bit of a "Hicksy make over" creating the ooh what a Carry On in Misty mountains warband as in... not Charles Haughty , Sid James etc dwarven warriors lol
Yes....yes.....I wil take my meds now nurse........
sorry only just saw this, yes, that would be rather fun lol
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North Star Nick mentioned on FB that the Elves won't be at Salute yet, but the Goblins should be. Very interested in all of them - if these Dwarves are anything to go by, they'll be fantastic. Really liking the simple Dark Age aesthetics, very Middle-earthesque.
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Yup – no elves just yet (though I have seen WIP shots, and they are coming...), but there will be 3-ups of the goblins at Salute (stand TJ05), along with a host of other things!
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Are the Elves "Wood Elf" elves or "pointy shiny hat" elves?
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Yup – no elves just yet (though I have seen WIP shots, and they are coming...), but there will be 3-ups of the goblins at Salute (stand TJ05), along with a host of other things!
Man, just give us elf pictures already!
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Are the Elves "Wood Elf" elves or "pointy shiny hat" elves?
Depends on if you paint their garments green or not!
This first box is more heavily armoured than the common Wood Elf image (hoods, cloaks etc.), so in that regard they're "pointy shiny hat" elves.
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Ill join the chorus of people not normally liking dwarves, but liking these - great stuff. Very interested to see their take on goblins too.
I think it's an exceptionally shrewd maneuver. That being said, North Star needs to do something about their publicity etc. There are loads of people who may have heard of Frostgrave etc. but have no clue about the multi-part plastic boxes etc.
I think part of the issue is their website, awful to navigate around and looks pretty amateur.
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These look great - look, they even have thighs and knees, and their hands are smaller than their heads! ;)
Jokes aside, these are just what I've been waiting for a long while. I'll probably buy a box when they are on full release to do a Mordheim Dwarf Treasure Hunters warband with - the old GW plastics never really appealed to me, and I'm trying to stick to all-plastic models for my Mordheim project (not least, because the models suffer much less if I accidentally knock them off a building or gantry during a game!).
For those that like KoW, or T9A, or similar games, a kit like this will be most welcome, I'm certain. Hopefully some add-on parts (maybe metal sprues?) to add some armour, more heads, crossbows, et., will be available at some point too.
Anyway, a big well done to Northstar for these! :D
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@Smith: are you planning some metal characters/specialists too, as you did to complement the Frostgrave plastic boxes sets or will those only be plastic regiment sets?
If so, you made me a happy man :).
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Any clues as to the what the goblins look like? Where do they sit on the imp-to-uruk spectrum?
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This first box is more heavily armoured than the common Wood Elf image (hoods, cloaks etc.), so in that regard they're "pointy shiny hat" elves.
"First". More being worked on already, or planned? Lighter infantry, cavalry? Better start saving up!
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The dwarves look wonderful; the aesthetic's right up my street. If I've got one reservation it's an old one, shared by many plastic sets. The right arm of the archer looks a bit awkward.
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Precisely what I'm looking for! Has anyone seen 3-ups of the goblins at Salute?
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Found it here! http://wargameterrain.blogspot.be/2017/04/northstar-miniatures-plastic-fantasy.html?m=1
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Interesting! The axe looks a bit oversized, but given the nicely scaled weapons on the other North Star plastics, maybe it's the just the angle - or perhaps it will "shrink in the wash"!
Goblins like that will be most welcome: nasty-looking, but not cartoonish or steroidal. It looks to be about the same height as the dwarfs, which would be good.
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Pose is a bit weird on the orc. Still liking the Dwarfs
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Is it me, or do the heads look oversized on the actual plastics? They look "correct" on the 3-ups but less so on the actual figures. Could be the camera angle.
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Is it me, or do the heads look oversized on the actual plastics? They look "correct" on the 3-ups but less so on the actual figures. Could be the camera angle.
The ones with the oversized heads are wearing helmets, if you look further to the right, the ones without helmets look spot on.
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Orcs! I am even more in than I was before. I would love some classic DnD/old LotR illustration orcs for all sorts of things.
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Here are a couple more pictures - apologies for the quality of the shots. The first has the 3-ups of barbarian, dwarf, and goblin (you can just about see the goblin's axe-head, which is I think only slightly oversized); the second the goblin, and here I've managed to miss his axe completely. But I thought that even so others might like to see some of the detail. Worth noting that the goblin's base is significantly thicker than that of the others, and this will not be carried over into the production model. So he'll be a tad shorter than he currently appears.
Dwarves are promised next month, but goblins not until later in the year, closely followed by elves. These (alas) will be high elves rather than wood elves; but, I was assured, the high elves of Gondolin and Nargothrond (with bright mail and long swords and spears like a forest, presumably) rather than more pointy-hat GW-style guys. So they might be worth waiting for.
I have a sprue of the dwarves amidst my miscellaneous spoils of the day and will see if I can assemble one or more for some comparison shots over the next day or two.
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I like the look of that: the axe looks much better, as you say, and the fact that he's got hair (hooray!) is very welcome. It'll be interesting to see how the other heads and limbs work, but they look very promising as Tolkien-style goblin-soldiers (of greater stature!).
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I'll be getting some of those orcs/goblins. They look great. Thanks for the pictures.
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Thanks for the pictures of the three ups.
Interesting.
I have my sprue of dwarfs, now what to do with them?
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This just keeps getting better and better. I'm really looking forward to see what they do with the elves.
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Those goblins are great. Far more Lord of the Rings and less comedy Warhammer gobbos.
I can sense a project coming on...
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(http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj240/stuartjwargames/2017-04-23%2008.39.36_zpsjwuu8qll.jpg)
First few built.
(http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj240/stuartjwargames/2017-04-23%2008.40.04_zpsfngneo76.jpg)
Height comparison with Fireforge, Perry, and Gripping Beast plastics.
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excellent! thanks for sharing
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They all look very promising to me! I like the way that the goblins are pitched as a kind of middle ground between lotr and early citadel. Hopefully their will be a good mix of characterful heads to choose from some more classic citadel than others...
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The Orc looks better from that angle. I am rather liking all these!
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I am particularly interested in the Orcs and Elves, and I am optimistic from what I have seen so far :) :) :)
And all the minis look like not being infested with scale creep !
cheers Thomas
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@Ninefingers:
Do you have the Frostgrave Barbarians? Would you say it is possible to use their heads for younger dwarves or are they to small? Those dwarves look kinda bulky in comparison to the humans in your pic.
Best regards and thanks
Jere
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@Ninefingers:
Do you have the Frostgrave Barbarians? Would you say it is possible to use their heads for younger dwarves or are they to small? Those dwarves look kinda bulky in comparison to the humans in your pic.
Best regards and thanks
Jere
I don't I'm afraid, sorry!
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Jerekin - I am pretty sure that would work. I got a dwarf sprue yesterday, and the heads look pretty similar size to the barbarians. You would need to cut away a bit of the dwarf neck from the body, but nothing too complicated. The dwarf set is really nice - lots of variety of weapons, arms, heads etc. They are all in similar chain armour bodies, which is a bit of a shame (so they are soldiers rather than 'dwarf adventurer' types) but really excellent in any case.
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I like the look of all these. I might try and redo games workshops lord of the rings with these and the men from fireforge for Gondorians
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I like the look of all these. I might try and redo games workshops lord of the rings with these and the men from fireforge for Gondorians
I had the exact same thought!
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Oh no! The dwarves look enormous! He is the same height as the gripping beast celt!
I really appreciate the scale pics, but I will have to pass on these.
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I am not a fan of plastics but they look great, just wish they looked more like D&D explorers ( sacks and packs and pouches oh my ) but I love the advancing " at ready " poses and the armor
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That orc is great! I like the style they've gone for, seems just right for Tolkien. Looking forward to seeing the Elves, hope they have a similar 'dark age' style as the dwarves, in keeping with Tolkien.... coats of mail, spears, etc...
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Oh no! The dwarves look enormous! He is the same height as the gripping beast celt!
I don't think he is: the Gripping Beast figure is in that "sudden bowel cramp" pose that's a real weakness with many of the plastics in the company's range. From what I can see, if all the figures were in the relatively upright pose of the dwarf, his head would come to the top of their chests. That's about right, surely? It's certainly in line with most celebrated ranges of dwarfs from the past (Asgard, preslotta Citadel, etc.).
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I saw the dwarf sprues at Salute. They are very nicely detailed and nicely moulded.
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I just measured the most upright of the dwarf bodies against an upright GBP Saxon thegn (both on the sprue, no time to build anything yet today...) and the dwarf is certainly shorter, but only by 2mm or so; but the different head and neck arrangement would increase this a little, maybe by another mm and a bit.
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I don't want to be a tease, but some things aren't finalized and some plans may change, so with that understanding, I'll answer what I can...
@Smith: are you planning some metal characters/specialists too, as you did to complement the Frostgrave plastic boxes sets or will those only be plastic regiment sets?
Plastics at present, but metals have also been discussed.
"First". More being worked on already, or planned? Lighter infantry, cavalry? Better start saving up!
Definitely more planned. All kinds of troop types. Speaking of which...
... just wish they looked more like D&D explorers ( sacks and packs and pouches oh my ) but I love the advancing " at ready " poses and the armor
Sounds like light infantry to me. As a more immediate solution, there's a load of pouches in the Frostgrave boxes – I'm sure you could find a load going spare easily enough on the Bazaar.
Orcs!
Goblins! ;D
...Looking forward to seeing the Elves, hope they have a similar 'dark age' style as the dwarves, in keeping with Tolkien.... coats of mail, spears, etc...
Check!
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Goblins! ;D
Synonyms! ;)
"Orc is not an English word. It occurs in one or two places but is usually translated goblin ..."
North Star's reclaiming the word for proper footsoldiers of evil is to be applauded!
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I just measured the most upright of the dwarf bodies against an upright GBP Saxon thegn (both on the sprue, no time to build anything yet today...) and the dwarf is certainly shorter, but only by 2mm or so; but the different head and neck arrangement would increase this a little, maybe by another mm and a bit.
Thanks, this is what I feared. They look so nice, but just not scaled well. Maybe they will look more dwarfish next to the increasingly large GW humans. I can't wait to see the goblins and elves, especially the elves. I've been waiting for years to get a nice basic elf infantry plastic kit. The GW and Mantic offerings are.... hard to speak positively about.
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I had the exact same thought!
it was my thought first. you copy. I kill you...nah I'm kidding...I just take your legs
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To me the dwarves in the photo comparison look pretty much in scale and dressed/equipped as I would hope. I will certainly be getting some of these and will hope and pray and beg for some metal character types to lead them? Really looking forward to seeing some proper elves.
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Wow. This was unexpected!
Can't wait to see the elves especially- like Gallahad said above, the current options are pretty underwhelming. I think that not producing at least a couple of characters in metal/resin would be a bit of a mistake, so it's good to hear that they're being discussed.
Any chance of some WIPs of the elves? Even some concept art? :D
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Can't wait for these! Combined with the existing north star plastics, fireforge, gripping beast... that's a whole lot of possibilities!