Ooooohh. Glaurung the Golden?

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Are North Star deliberately going down a Tolkien 1st Age path?

http://wargameterrain.blogspot.co.nz/2017/10/breaking-northstar-miniatures-fantasy.html

I hope this bodes well for the elves.

[Wulko]

I am starting to get really exited about this!

[Emir of Askaristan]

Straight off the cover of Unfinished Tales - IMHO

[Mac V]

The author has said the game would be far more Tolkien and not so Hammery.

[Codsticker]

So far I love the dwarves and the goblins... not so much the wyrm though.

[nic-e]

It's not jumping out at me as a great sculpt, But as with alot of GW's recent offerings, I think the paintjob is holding it back.
(And to be fair I've never liked the look of metallic dragons.they always look too plasticy )

[Sunjester]

This is looking more and more tempting. I have masses (approaching a thousand) of 25/28mm Tolkienesque fantasy figures from Vendel to stuff from my yougth in the 1970s/80s. I do like the look of the Northstar plastic Dwarves and think they will fit in well with my existing collection.

[Hobby Services]

I have to admit, this particular sculpt doesn't do anything for me.  It looks very toy-like, more akin to something I might buy from a big box craft store to repaint than a centerpiece miniatures sculpt.  Which I guess is fine if it's down in the under-$20 range and made of even marginally better plastic than Safari stuff is - do we have any idea what retail will be?

Fortunately, I love the other figs we've seen so far and I doubt giant wyrms are going to be a mandatory part of playing the game anyway
.

[MattW]

I like the idea, but i’m not sold on the execution. The pose is very static, and there just doesn’t seem to be any tension in the muscles (if that makes sense). The scales also look... strange, and more like cracked earth. I think i’ll use the GW cave drake for my giant wyrm needs.

Maybe i’ll like it more with a different pose and/or camera angle, though.

Having said all that, I am hugely excited for the rest of this range. Definitely going to grab a few goblins in the next nickstarter!

[DivisMal]

Oh, that wyrm is pretty awesome! I like the dwarfs, too, but haven't checked the goblins yet.
A good tolkienesque Tabletop would be awesome. I just hope they resist the temptation of taking inspiration from the Peter Jackson movies and rather go for the books!

[Severian]

Not sold on this wyrm I'm afraid.

Behind all Tolkien's pictures of Glaurung (or earlier Glorund) are the Lancelot Speed illustrations of Fafnir done for the Red Fairy Book (see below). The key things Tolkien carried over, I reckon, are the long clawed legs, the body low to the ground (so that he leaves a grooved and slimed trail wherever he goes), and the general snakeishness of the neck and head. This sculpt, in contrast, is short-legged, a bit fat about the middle, and too high off the ground; also the neck is too short.

Yes, the paint-job might be a bit better (though I'm hardly one to say that, and the colours are right - Glaurung's "polished bronze scales", IIRC), but I think the real problem is the model. It could make a pretty good standard dragon, but if it's meant for an old-style wyrm (a crawling wingless dragon, like Glaurung or Fafnir), it doesn't really match my vision of this.

But, saying all that, I'm happy this range is being extended beyond basic infantry, welcome though those are.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

It may not be the best sculpt or well painted, but the intent seems clear; a wingless golden dragon means Glaurung and therefore (one hopes) Tolkien elves to follow.  Presumably this will mean elves in mail, not plate armour, and without outrageously pointy ears.
I still have no idea what rules I would ever use these for, but would be sorely tempted to buy them.

[Munindk]

I'll buy the Goblins and I'd be interested in the elves, but the Dwarves are just too big for my tastes.

[Severian]

It may not be the best sculpt or well painted, but the intent seems clear; a wingless golden dragon means Glaurung and therefore (one hopes) Tolkien elves to follow.  Presumably this will mean elves in mail, not plate armour, and without outrageously pointy ears.
I still have no idea what rules I would ever use these for, but would be sorely tempted to buy them.

You're right of course - the intent is far more important than whatever one thinks of this particular dragon. Sorry if my nerd obsession with dragonish taxonomy obscured that...

And if we get plausible First Age Noldor, then I'll be very happy indeed (though I would like some proper wood elves too, not least for Doriath and Ossiriand...). And if we get some not-character figures (as it were) for, well, you name it (from Feanor downwards, or upwards depending on one's point of view) and some good Edain, and Gothmog's troll guard...and...and...

Well, if some or any of these things happen, this will be a Very Good Thing. The dwarves are an excellent start. I've had an unsatisfied and wholly impractical urge to wargame the Nirnaeth Arnoediad for over thirty years, and this range has started me thinking again. The question of what rules to use is indeed a knotty one, though.

[sukhe_bator]

I'm looking at the Dwarfish warriors review and sprues and thinking I should hold off on my Em4 dwarf army build until I get a set(s) of these. The kitbashing possibilities are potentially considerable...