Pathfinder Battles Preview: Red Dragon Evolution

Friday, September 20, 2013

I can hardly believe it's already Friday again. It seems like only yesterday I was writing last week's preview blog, but that's life at Big Gaming. There's always so much cool stuff coming across my desk that whole weeks seem to go by in a flash. It's a good problem to have, though, so enough complaining. Let's get onto the main event, a preview of December's Red Dragon Evolution Encounter Pack!

I've mentioned it a few times in this space before, but when it comes to producing plastic gaming miniatures, the most difficult aspect to master by far is SCALE. Compare, for example, the Troll from our first set, Heroes & Monsters, to the recent Sea Troll from Skull & Shackles. The latter is the "correct" size for a standard troll, whereas the former is pretty runty by comparison. We've been learning as we go on the line, and over several sets there's been a bit of inflation in size, particularly for Large-sized figures. Even mighty dragons have been bit by the size bug a time or two.

For example, compare the Large Young Red Dragon from Rise of the Runelords (our second set) to most other Large figures produced since. He's a bit small by today's standards.

When it comes to the Dragon Evolution Encounter Packs for Pathfinder Battles, we often try to include at least one repaint of a previously released dragon to help keep costs manageable and keep the final retail price under $40. For White Dragon Evolution the "reused" miniature was the Huge White Dragon, which originally was to appear in Rise of the Runelords, but from a production perspective, that one was already in the can even if none of you had seen it yet.

For the Red Dragon Evolution set, I knew WizKids would want to include at least one re-used sculpt, and the only option available to us was the Young Red Dragon from Rise of the Runelords. I knew, however, that if I could get two new sculpts out of WizKids, I'd end up with much better figures if I let them unleash their sculpting magic on larger figures, so the decision to change sizes seemed like the smartest thing to do.

Here we have the new version, which is called the Medium Red Dragon. His new paint scheme is a bit brighter than the previous version, and some of the coloring on his chest, tail, and legs varies a bit from the previous incarnation. As you can see, the figure now stands upon a Medium base, which fits his feet and overall body quite well. There's a bit of overhang on the wings, which is something we generally try to avoid, but in this case I think the trade-off was well worth it, because it allowed for two awesome new figures like this one:

This stunning Large Red Dragon stands on all four legs, looking like he just stepped off of one of Ben Wootten's illustrations. The Large Red Dragon makes full use of the Large base without seeming oversized, and the detail on his back spikes, wing, and face make for an excellent and imposing figure.

Finally here is the coolest piece in the box, the terrifying Huge Red Dragon! This draconic tyrant stands taller than the huge in the White Dragon Evolution set, and is clearly the big dog among his (or is it her?) fellow reds in this box. With an open mouth that seems to be saying "You're fired!" and a hateful look in its eyes, this dragon truly is a sight to behold.

And there you have it. Three red dragons for $39.99. Don't forget that folks with a Pathfinder Battles Ongoing Case Subscription receive codes good for a 20% discount on special releases like this one. Set up your subscription today to lock in your discount code and make sure you don't miss a single Pathfinder Battles miniature!

NEXT WEEK: More never-before-seen images of figures from October's Legends of Golarion 55-figure set!

Until then, enjoy your weekend!

Erik Mona
Publisher

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Tags: Miniatures Pathfinder Battles

I'm in. Still waiting for the greens, though.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, PF Special Edition Subscriber

Already have mine ordered ;)


Great reveal. Well worth the wait. Those new sculpts are simply excellent. Majestic and yet terrifying at the same time.

Time to tell my players that they are going to be visited by a Big Red Guy this Christmas. Boy are they going to be in for a surprise...


Keep them coming, those will look great with my whites and the other dragons. So cool. Again these dragons can be used in a certain worm themed adventure path. I don't know if it's subconscious but pathfinder battles has produced many miniatures that would be usable in that AP. By the time I am ready to run it as my magnum opus, hopefully I'll have all the minis necessary to run that AP. Any chance of a Golarion version of an Earthcancer Centipede, a mindkiller scorpion or a Thessalhydra.

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

Woo! Pre-ordered and excited. The old large certainly seems better based on a medium. The other two look great and the colour palette is certainly more dynamic than the white set, although I loved the three white dragons because of their poses. If I had to critique - the poses may be a little static in comparison to the previous set, the large is hard to gauge since the front on look never reveals much but the huge with it's four legs squarely planted seems to lack the dynamic in your face, red dragon superiority. The details, however on the new scultps are freaking awesome. I have a feeling it will blow me away in hand. December seems so far away, of course with the possibility of another full set by then my bank account may well weep. Now to wait for the other colours.

Erik, is there a possibility the evolution line will include things other than dragons?

Paizo Employee Publisher, Chief Creative Officer

Yes.

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

Hmmm. Nicely played...
Erik, is there a possibility you can divulge any clues in regard to the evolution line and these things other than dragons?


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I was thinking the other day how nice it would be to have a set of spell-effect minis. I know that's not an evolution set, but I know this gets read by the Grand Poobahs of Mini Selection, so....
Anyway, it would be great to have a couple of Hand-spells-that-are-not-Bigby-spells-oh-no-of-course-not, some walls (flame, force, thorns, lots of options really), a forcecage (ideally without a base or w/ a removable base), a flaming sphere, a sword-that's-not-Mordenkainen's-sword, a phantom steed -- lots of options really, if you start to think about it. And the only other spell effect already out there, so far as I know, is the Living Flaming Sphere that WotC produced. If you want to really wow me you could make a whole area's worth of black tentacles. Just putting that out there.

Lantern Lodge

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As we meander off topic to spell minis, I'd like to see a Summon Monster set. One mini for each summonable creature for each version of the spell along with a stat card. Maybe bundle SM 1-3 and so on.


Yes, that would be wonderful, good idea Donald!

Contributor

This shade of red is SO much better for the dragons, in my opinion! The Rise of the Runelords one is very, very dark.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Cat-thulhu wrote:

Hmmm. Nicely played...

Erik, is there a possibility you can divulge any clues in regard to the evolution line and these things other than dragons?

We know that there was a Cloud Giant cut from the Runelords set, so something Gianty is likely.

As for this set I'm surprised that the huge isn't based off of the Core book cover, but I don't mind that it isn't, as it means this set will complement the Reaper Bones version I've just finished painting


Hey, where's the gargantuan red? No-ones tackled that piece yet, and getting one that would match these snazzy evolutions sculpts would be the bomb.

Paizo Employee Publisher, Chief Creative Officer

If we do a Gargantuan red, it will be as a case incentive special miniature for an upcoming full set. That size of figure doesn't really work in any other format.

Grand Lodge

OK! That works. :)


These look nice, it looks like a purchase. Looking forward to the black dragons though.


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Hmmm. You know, Erik's not the kind of guy to chose words carelessly. I'd expect this to read "if we do a Gargantuan red, it would have to be..." That's how you phrase theoretical events in the future. "Will be" typically removes the theoretical aspect. Hmmm.

Erik Mona wrote:

If we do a Gargantuan red, it will be as a case incentive special miniature for an upcoming full set. That size of figure doesn't really work in any other format.

Liberty's Edge

Jason S wrote:

These look nice, it looks like a purchase. Looking forward to the black dragons though.

I doubt they will, or at least anytime soon. We already have the huge black dragon, and they announced the medium black dragon for LoG. We'll probably get a large black in a set before they package them all up and sell them.

Paizo Employee Publisher, Chief Creative Officer

Anguish: I'll be even less subtle. I would love to do a Gargantuan red as a case incentive.

To be even less ambiguous, I will say that there are no current plans for such a thing, and it is not the incentive miniature for any of the next three sets.

So, yeah, I want to do one and I expect that we will, but it's not likely to happen in 2014.


So any non-dragon Evolution sets in the pipeline already? Or non-chromatic dragons? Just curious.


Erik Mona wrote:

Anguish: I'll be even less subtle. I would love to do a Gargantuan red as a case incentive.

To be even less ambiguous, I will say that there are no current plans for such a thing, and it is not the incentive miniature for any of the next three sets.

So, yeah, I want to do one and I expect that we will, but it's not likely to happen in 2014.

I'm ok with that, because I'm due to start up a new campaign at some point anyways. By the time you folks get one out, my players should actually be ready to face a Gargantuan Red.


mini adventures path spoiler:

Grand Lodge

Sweet stuff Big Jay. Thanks for posting.


Thanks Big Jay. I updated the PathfinderMinis gallery site accordingly.


Kor, your link is kaput.

The unknown cavalier is Alain, the iconic.
The unknown demon is a Schir Demon.
And the unknown templar is a Low Templar that looks suspiciously like its illustration in the ISWG.


Kor - Orc Scrollkeeper wrote:
Thanks Big Jay. I updated the PathfinderMinis gallery site accordingly.

Haha, I actually emailed you that info at the websites admin email address the other day. ^_^


Lorian wrote:
Haha, I actually emailed you that info at the websites admin email address the other day. ^_^

Thanks Lorian, I'll check my mail server to see why I didn't receive it.


Looks like it showed up eventually, you replied to me a bit ago haha. (That email from Shawn was me).

Either way, as long as you got the info it's all good, I just wanted to help :)

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Maps Subscriber

Kor, you link is not working.


Shem wrote:
Kor, you link is not working.

Thanks Shem and Isil. It appears I missed the two backslashes in the link:

PathfinderMinis

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Maps Subscriber

Works now. I always appreciate you site. Thanks for all the work you do on it.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

WOW! Several AMAZING minis in the preview ... and a special thank you to "Big Jay" for the Wrath of the Righteous sneak-peek. (And double WOW ... Deskari, Demon Lord of Locusts ... did not see that coming ... well at least not Gargantuan (was thinking he'd be on the "Large" side of "Large" minis ... like the elementals, troll champion, or gug from Shattered Star).

Man oh man ... I"m "poor" as it is ... and it looks like I'd very much like to get Legends of Golarion, Wrath of the Righteous, the Red Dragon Evolutions and Reign of Winter Evolutions sets. :(

Selling stuff on eBay ... here I come. ;)

Dean

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