Pathfinder Battles Preview: That's a big sword!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Last Friday, the poor Paizo Blog was bereft of a Pathfinder Battles preview on account of yours truly running the Pathfinder demo room at PAX Prime. PAX is an enormous Seattle-based convention with a primary focus on computer games, which means that the 70,000+ attendees are all decked out with the latest trends in wireless gaming and handheld mobile devices. This has the side effect of train-wrecking internet access from virtually anywhere in the convention, which means no blogging from the show floor.

Thanks for your patience, and I hope you minis fiends out there were able to make it through the weekend without a major bout of the DTs.

Anyway, because you got no previews last week, I wanted to make sure you got something big this week. And when I think big, one of the first things that comes to mind is the massive sword wielded by our iconic barbarian, Amiri, who just happens to star in the new Shattered Star Pathfinder Battles set!

WizKids really outdid themselves with this figure, as they have with all of our iconic characters so far. I originally tried to get the company to include Amiri in our first Pathfinder Battles set, Heroes & Monsters, but WizKids politely declined, saying that the overwhelming detail and pointy bits of Wayne Reynolds's original illustration would make it impractical to sculpt in plastic. (Incidentally, that's why H&M only has one iconic character, whereas all following sets have two).

By the time Shattered Star came around and WizKids had already proven themselves more than capable of handing challenging subject matter, I quietly added Amiri back to a set list, and this time they didn't even flinch. Instead they came back with what I consider one of the most beautiful figures they've produced to date.

Looking at the figure in hand brings out a lot of awesome details that you can't quite make out from the photograph. Amiri's slight sneer, the cracks in her armor plates, and the scars on her belly really jump off the figure in an awesome way.

And yes, she's holding an enormous sword. Don't blame us! She stole it from a frost giant, and it's served her very well to date, especially when she's raging.

I think you guys are going to love her.

But since I said "big" in the title of the blog post, it only seems fair that I include an actual "big" miniature in addition to a regular-sized miniature holding a big sword. For that purpose, I've decided to also reveal the Hill Giant!

This sculpt perfectly captures the slack-jawed glory of the original hill giant illustration in the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, and continues to round out our offerings of "core" giants in prepainted plastic.

Although the Shattered Star Pathfinder Battles set includes lots of specific NPCs born out of the Adventure Path itself, it's also a chance for us to include plenty of rank-and-file monsters that just happen to be encountered in the course of the campaign. This rock-throwing simpleton is just one of the many yet to come.

But they will, alas, have to wait for future Fridays, as I am all out of time!

See you next week,

Erik Mona
Publisher

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Tags: Miniatures Pathfinder Adventure Path Pathfinder Battles Shattered Star

Woot hill giant!! DDM did a few Hill giants in their run but when it came to giants it just never seemed like enough. And Amiri looks great.

Dark Archive

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Well, ERIK! You know I'm happy about it! ;o) RAWR!

Sovereign Court

Sweet! How does the hill giant compare sizewise next to the ogre we got from Runelords?

Paizo Employee Chief Creative Officer, Publisher

Hard to say exactly since the paint master is back at the factory, but I think they're comparable. The Hill Giant is taller than the regular ogre, if my memory serves, but I don't quite recall how he measures up to the likes of Jaagrath Kreeg.


The quality improvement is stunning, and the last set were great.


So... WizKids made a mini of SKR's wife. Not bad. The resemblance is impressive.

No... not the hill giant.

Grand Lodge

I am assuming that the base sizes for Jaagreth Kreeg and the Hill Giant are the same, so it appears that the two are comparable in size. Since Jaagreth is larger than typical Ogres, then that's about right.

We so need more Hill Giants. And that is a good looking one.

Amiri looks great too. She would make a good date for my Giants of Legend Half Giant. I need to look up her stats. I am curious of the attack/damage of that Frost Giant sword.

Another great preview. Thanks Erik!

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

Wow, the amiri is simply amazing. I am blown away by the detail - both attention to, and care taken in painting. Interestingly, no base? Paint master or proof? This levl of detail also leaves me excited to see Lem.

As for the hill giant, hats off! Its a great mini that captures the look and feel of the cretinous beasts. I'd agree with a previous poster, we need more giants of various types. That still includes Ogres - so the poor old Runelords ogre doesn't seem so small next to his brutish kin. However what is needed is more giants of both sexes! In fact monsters of both sexes in general. A female hill giant, frost giant, ogre, troll(?).

I'm also hoping your statement about "continuing" to roll out the core giants means we have the last few on the way. Personally I'm hoping for a fire giant, but mostly just to see how wizkids/paizo does it.
Really after that all we need is the cloud (alas huge so not likely to see for a while). Of course I'd love to het an ash or cavegiant since the artwork is so cool, and the lovecraft in we desperately wants a deep one giant...err..marsh giant


That hill giant looks sweet.


I like Amiri.

Through no fault of its own, I'm not excited about the Hill Giant. I already got a variety of Hill Giants from DDM. What really interested my in Rise of the Runelords was all the unique creatures and characters it had compared to Heroes and Monsters. However, I do understand the business reasons for including a lot of popular monsters in the miniatures line and if I was a new player I would probably pick PFM over DDM.

Dark Archive

I guess I will be the one to say it but the Amiri figure's face looks like John Merrick the Elephant Man.

The Hill Giant looks great though. And he looks more appropriately like the Elephant Man.

Paizo Employee Chief Creative Officer, Publisher

Fire Giant is coming later in this set. A female Cloud Giant was cut from Rise of the Runelords, and is still floating around, waiting for its moment (and for another set where we finally do Huge minis again). There are at least three additional giants currently in production for either Shattered Star or the set after that.

We'll get male and female versions of all the core giants eventually.

Paizo Employee Chief Creative Officer, Publisher

Furdinand wrote:
What really interested my in Rise of the Runelords was all the unique creatures and characters it had compared to Heroes and Monsters. However, I do understand the business reasons for including a lot of popular monsters in the miniatures line and if I was a new player I would probably pick PFM over DDM.

There are plenty of unique creatures coming up in future weeks in this set (and in future sets). I'm trying to keep a nice mix of traditional monsters, new monsters, and PC/NPC types. Everyone gets a turn. :)

Grand Lodge

Love the hill giant! Even more happy to hear more giants are coming.


I'm not an artist, not a sculptor, I'm just a guy. But I have to say, I really don't like the Amiri model. It looks awful to me.


Love the hill giant! Amiri looks great but, man, that sword is impractical. I may try to mod the figure, cutting away the sword and replacing it with Orik Vancaskerkin's weapon.

Regards,

V


Erik Mona wrote:

Fire Giant is coming later in this set. A female Cloud Giant was cut from Rise of the Runelords, and is still floating around, waiting for its moment (and for another set where we finally do Huge minis again). There are at least three additional giants currently in production for either Shattered Star or the set after that.

We'll get male and female versions of all the core giants eventually.

Good to hear. I like how Reaper has a male and female of each giant. Unfortunately, I'm not impressed by their look.

The nice thing about how the huges were packaged, it's seems easy to add a six pack to any set. Maybe you could do it once a year.


On some illustrations in the bestairy 1 I can't imagen paizo is all that proud (chimera, ettin and the hill giant for example), especially after the MARVELOUS art in both the bestairy 2 and bestairy 3, but this hill giant minature actually looks good! (unlike its art cousin)

Keep it up!

Grand Lodge

Furdinand wrote:

I like Amiri.

Through no fault of its own, I'm not excited about the Hill Giant. I already got a variety of Hill Giants from DDM.

With all do respect, REALLY! You have the Archfiends Hill Giants which looks nothing like Hill Giant Barbarian and Chieftain from Wardrums. And that is it. And none are rock throwers. Finally we will have a rock throwing Hill Giant in PPM.

Like I often say, YMMV, and clearly yours does, but for me this is great and I can't wait to see what other giants will be in the set. The only thing that makes me sad is I will not have this bad boy for my RotR campaign.

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber
Erik Mona wrote:

Fire Giant is coming later in this set. A female Cloud Giant was cut from Rise of the Runelords, and is still floating around, waiting for its moment (and for another set where we finally do Huge minis again). There are at least three additional giants currently in production for either Shattered Star or the set after that.

We'll get male and female versions of all the core giants eventually.

That is good news - hows about making the next set one with huge minis - then that cloud giant can hit the table! On a side note I am curious as to why was it cut from the runelords - there are probably just as cloud giants in the adventure than storm giants.

As for 3 other giants well...would that be a hill giantess, but more likely a chieftan, and 2 fire giants? Or can we get a marsh giant? Please.

As for the negativity to Amiri folks - the sword is a big part of her story, so it needs to be there. These are pathfinder minis! And for a PPM her face is pretty damn good.

Didn't think the quality could really ramp up like the hype suggested but so far this set is looking to be an impovement on the same scale as Runelords was to H&M.

On a different note, any news on encounter sets?


Mazra wrote:
Furdinand wrote:

I like Amiri.

Through no fault of its own, I'm not excited about the Hill Giant. I already got a variety of Hill Giants from DDM.

With all do respect, REALLY! You have the Archfiends Hill Giants which looks nothing like Hill Giant Barbarian and Chieftain from Wardrums. And that is it. And none are rock throwers. Finally we will have a rock throwing Hill Giant in PPM.

Like I often say, YMMV, and clearly yours does, but for me this is great and I can't wait to see what other giants will be in the set. The only thing that makes me sad is I will not have this bad boy for my RotR campaign.

Hill Giant Chieftain is a rock thrower.

I also prefer the aesthetics of those three Hill Giants, though this Hill Giant is closer to the pot bellied oaf that earlier editions of D&D portrayed. I also have an old Warhammer Giants that fits that description so I am more than covered in that department. My point is that as I've gotten older, game companies a tougher proposition selling me miniatures because I already have a lot of the basic monsters/player archetypes. Fortunately, there are third parties that sell singles so not every mini has to appeal to me personally.

Grand Lodge

Furdinand, what the Hill Giant Chieftain is throwing is more like a pebble. That sculpt is far and away from the classic boulder throwing Hill Giants. But, you are right it is a rock. My main point is that there really aren't a lot Hill Giants in PPM. Grenadier had a nice set a while back that had a female Hill Giant too. But that is not PPM. There have only been three Hill Giants in PPM. And two of those were DDM rares that often sells for over $15.00US.

It is cool that you don't need Hill Giants. But there really hasn't been enough of these out there.

Cheers,

Mazra


Wow, Amiri looks great, and the hill giant has a definite old-school look to it that really makes it awesome. Like!


Cat-thulhu wrote:
That is good news - hows about making the next set one with huge minis - then that cloud giant can hit the table! On a side note I am curious as to why was it cut from the runelords - there are probably just as cloud giants in the adventure than storm giants.

From memory it was necessary in order to get the pricing right on the huge cases. One way of keeping prices low is to ensure some of the scuplts are produced in higher numbers.

They had initially planned six sculpts, if I remember correctly - the cloud giant and huge white dragon were cut so they could make two "common" huges and two "rares" (rather than having six rares).

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

Oh a realise they cut the two huge for pricing reasons. I'm just curious as to what was behiind the decision to go with the Storm Giant as opposed to the Cloud Giant. I'm hoping the white and cloud see the light of day soon - but hopefully the white won't be the case incentive for Shattered Star (hopefully that wil be a Frogemoth - I can hope can't I?).


Ah,sorry. I misunderstood. I have no idea. :p


This Hill Giant's boulder is much more what I would envision a giant would throw than the "pebble" that the Chieftain wields. But he needs a club too. I really like the Stone Giant spears in RR, even for the rock hurling pose of the Stone Giant Champion.

The Exchange

3 people marked this as a favorite.

My way isn't very sportsman like...

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber
Cylyria wrote:
Sweet! How does the hill giant compare sizewise next to the ogre we got from Runelords?

Looks to be slightly larger, a few mm, than Jargreth Kreeg or the Ogre Brute - should stand somewhere around 65mm tall, give or take.

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