Pathfinder Battles Preview: Power Preview

Friday, October 18, 2013

This week sees the official release of the Legends of Golarion set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic figures, and I couldn't be more excited. This set is extra special to me, because unlike previous sets, it takes its inspiration not from one of our Pathfinder Adventure Path campaigns, but instead from the whole breadth of all Pathfinder releases to date. This set, more than any of its predecessors, includes lots of original Pathfinder creatures like the Sandpoint Devil, Seugathi, and Marsh Giant.

Due to an ill-timed vacation on my selfish behalf, the world was left without a Pathfinder Battles preview last week, and I felt the reverberations and gnashing of teeth all the way across the country on the floor of New York Comic Con. So as penance for my breach of etiquette, I feel the only remedy is to preview ALL FIFTEEN remaining figures from Legends of Golarion, from the lowest mooks to the mightiest demons!

We have a ton to cover today, so let's get started!

Up first we have the Tooth Gang Knifer, a masked street thug from the cover of the Guide to Absalom sourcebook on the city at the center of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting. I've long wanted to add some thugs to the Pathfinder Battles line, and this guy fit the bill perfectly. He's got a simple, dark paint scheme fitting with his common rarity, but also fitting with the fact that the only money he has to spend on clothes he intends to steal from the purses of dead player characters. The Tooth Gang Knifer is a Medium common figure, and he is not alone…

I like this guy even better. Here we have the Tooth Gang Brute, positioned mid-scream with a big old club he plans to use to see what the inside of someone's head looks like. He is garbed similarly to his companion in the Tooth Gang, and both wear a tooth on a necklace, identifying their allegiance. The Tooth Gang Brute is a Medium, common figure.

Next up we have the Akata, inspired by the classic Second Darkness Adventure Path adventure "Children of the Void,"wherein threats from outer space make themselves known on the world of Golarion. Akatas live on dying planets, asteroids, and even comets, terrorizing the galaxy as only blue space lions with two tails can. (They also dwell, of course, in Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2!)

And while Legends of Golarion gives us the opportunity to focus on purely Golarion creatures like the Akata and certain NPCs, it's also a chance for us to fill out the ranks of common creatures and adversaries, and it's difficult to find creatures more common or more adversarial than orcs! Here we have a great Orc Archer. The detail on the sculpt is really fantastic for a figure at the common rarity, and you can combine your Orc Archers with other orcs in this set and those in Heroes & Monsters to build a huge orc warband! The Orc Archer is a Medium, common figure.

That orc warband is going to need a lot of rank and file troopers. Might I suggest the Orc Soldier? This handsome devil comes complete with his own sword and armor. Just provide the player characters and let him do his dirty work. The Orc Soldier is a Medium, common figure.

Any good orc warband needs to have a lot of heart, and the Orc Mystic is only happy to provide, since he happens to be holding one in his bloody left hand! Looking at this figure I am again amazed at the sculpt quality WizKids is able to work into their common figures. The Mystic's screaming face and double-skull staff would look cool on a rare figure. The Orc Mystic is a Medium, common figure.

Back to Golarion, for a bit. Here we have the Eagle Knight, brave warrior of the goodly kingdom of Andoran, on the Inner Sea. Andoran is one of the most popular factions in the 55,000-player Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign, where Eagle Knights are a very important player organization. They've also played a role in the campaign setting since the very beginning. This female Eagle Knight wields a cool greatsword and wears the traditional colors of her order. The Eagle Knight is a Medium, uncommon figure.

This Eagle Knight Officer makes the perfect companion for the Eagle Knight. He has a great mid-swing pose and a cool ponytail. The Eagle Knight Officer is a Medium, uncommon figure.

This scummy aquatic humanoid comes from the most prolific and successful of the countless races created by ancient aberrations who once ruled the world. The Ulat-Kini makes a great stand-in for any sort of subterranean or aquatic lurker. The figure has surprising paint gradients and details for its rarity, and is one of my favorite "rank and file" figures in the set. The Ulat-Kini is an uncommon, Medium figure.

This Snow Leopard is a perfect match for Droogami, the animal companion of the iconic druid Lini (who also appears in this set). It also makes a good generic great cat figure, with or without its gnomish partner. The Snow Leopard is a Medium, uncommon figure.

Golarion has many heroes, but few have such a strong claim to that title as the Knights of Ozem, ancient protectors of Lastwall and outright enemies of evil in all its forms. This female Knight of Ozem wears beautiful golden full plate and rushes toward enemies with a longsword held aloft and a mighty shield ready to defend her from certain doom. With a heroic pose and a paint scheme that screams "I'm a paladin," this figure makes a great proxy for a heroic player character, as well. The Knight of Ozem is a Medium, uncommon figure.

The imposing Calikang comes straight from the pages of the Inner Sea World Guide. Legend holds that, an untold number of eons ago, one of the thousand deities of distant Vudra failed at a task, and the first calikangs were born from that god's severed fingers. They have a powerful sense of guilt and shame of their divine source's ancient failings, and they believe that if enough calikangs protect worldly holdings from robberies or destruction, this inherited sin will someday be wiped clean. That makes them awesome treasure guardians, and the fact that they're CR 12 makes them awesome enemies for your greedy PCs. The Calikang is a Large, uncommon figure.

Here we have the croaking Toad Demon, a hideous creature that dwells in vast Abyssal swamps and waterways. Toad Demons prefer torture, slumber, and other lazy activities, but man, they pack a mean punch in a fight. The Toad Demon is a Large, uncommon figure. You'll want to stock up on a few of them before playing the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path, I imagine.

Speaking of minis that will be helpful with the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path, this unusually colored Serpent Demon has six swords of different skymetal to kill you six different ways. She looks amazingly cool, and at the uncommon rarity she'll be a great encounter builder with other figures from the upcoming Wrath of the Righteous Pathfinder Battles set. The Serpent Demon is a Large figure.

This is probably my favorite figure in the entire set. Here we have the mature form of the Death Demon, creatively named the Greater Death Demon (you'll have to wait one set to get the junior version). I like pretty much everything about this figure, from the cool cross-armed forward-lunging pose to the blackfire weapons to the gradient paint job on its fleshy wings. Whatever you do, don't let it eat you! The Greater Death Demon is a (sweet-looking) Large, uncommon(!) figure.

The last figure we'll preview today is the Fire Demon, an amazing adversary that dwells on the top of the normal demonic food chain. He's got a cool flaming whip sculpted in clear plastic and a neat face that took us something like 9 tries to get right. I'm very happy with this figure, and hope you will be too! The Fire Demon is a Large, rare figure.

And THAT'S IT for the Legends of Golarion set. We've got a ton of figures from upcoming sets to preview in future weeks, so be sure to come back next Friday for absolutely 100% new figures no one outside the office or the factory has ever seen before.

Until then, please consider setting up an Ongoing Pathfinder Battles Case Subscription. This option is the best way to make sure you don't miss a single figure, and comes with great discounts on Encounter Packs and single figure purchases!

Or, check out the new Legends of Golarion Singles we've just put on sale and pick your figures one at a time.

And after revealing fifteen figures, I'm exhausted and need another vacation! See you next week!

Erik Mona
Publisher

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Tags: Miniatures Pathfinder Battles

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

I never really liked the art on the Balor in Bestiary I, but I'm glad that a lot of work went into that face. It finally looks like the ferocious demon it is supposed to be and is far better than the original art IMHO. Great job!


1 person marked this as a favorite.

There's a lot here to love! I especially like the Greater Death Demon and the Toad Demon, and I like the Calikang even though I'm not sure when I'd use one. I'm very pleased to finally have a skum mini, and I also am sure I'll get good use out of the Tooth Gang figures. The Knight of Ozem is a great general use mini too. The only stuff I'm not really excited about here is the orcs; I just don't like that bright green skin. I guess I like my orcs grayer. But all in all, this is a really nice set, and I've been enjoying the figures I've already got in hand. (Not, alas, all of them.)


Awwwe the Calikang is so cool. To bad I ran that encounter for CoT already. Oh well. Still cool.

Grand Lodge

Another awesome set Erik. Thanks to Wizkids, Paizo and you for making it happen. Look forward to getting them in hand.

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

Peoples views of painting and issues aside this is a great set. The final reveals show the depth of thought that has gone into the line. The tooth gang members look good - I was wondering where they came from, and I have that book. Human thugs, hooray!

The Orcs look like a unified group and the detail is incredible. Hopefully the green isn't too bright - say more like the goblins in the builder set. Certainly poor quality ebay photos look that way.

The Eagle knight would easily be favorites for me. They look good together, offer a mini with effectively two poses for the table and will be needed inlarge numbers (pit they're uncommon but ~3 each from a case should be fine).

The demons are fantastic. I love all of them and can easily see my old DDM one relegated to storage - plus they are uncommon! I can hopefully get ~3 per case, happy days! Especially since I'll be running WotR.

The only one I'm not sadly on is the Knight of Ozem, but I'll reserve judgement until I have her in hand.

I know there has been some initial poor response to the quality but I've now seen reviews based on minis in hand (from people I generally agree with)and these alleviated my concern.

Hats off Erik and wizdiks, this is another fine set you've gotten me in to.

As a side note will WotR have a Brimorak Demon - would love to see how you pull off the micro-minotaurs of fiery doom!

Silver Crusade

AKATA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The demons also look pretty badass.


Alright the Serpent Demon looks like a Marilith but are their stats for a specific "serpent demon" and what are the stats for the Death demon. I'm pretty up on my monsters but I'm at a loss for these two.

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

Noticed a curious thing with the orc archer. Your proof has the bowstring passing UNDER his left arm (one holding bow). This lends the mini are great action pose Every image I've seen of the production mini has the bow string going OVER this arm, in a very unnatural pose with the archer looking like he is using his bow completely wrong - now I'm willing to believe Orcs aren't the smartest folk but...
Check it out: Pathfinderminis.com
Is the bowstring a separate piece? Has it been attached wrong? Looks like it would be easy enough to detach and re-glue in the correct position but it strikes me as a weird issue.


Cat-thulhu wrote:
Is the bowstring a separate piece? Has it been attached wrong? Looks like it would be easy enough to detach and re-glue in the correct position but it strikes me as a weird issue.

Well, if the orc is going to fire the bow "ballista-style" or perhaps "orc gansta-style", then having the string on top is fine.

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

he-he. Nicely called Kor. I can just see my players faces when the orcs pop up and bust an arrow in them.
"Yo Playa characta I iz gonna bust an arrow in yo @#*"


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Oozi McOoze wrote:
Alright the Serpent Demon looks like a Marilith but are their stats for a specific "serpent demon" and what are the stats for the Death demon. I'm pretty up on my monsters but I'm at a loss for these two.

For those with a low Knowledge (planes) roll

Toad Demon
Serpent Demon
Lesser Death Demon - Mentioned in the post, but not pictured.
Greater Death Demon
Fire Demon

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

Oh by the way Mr Mona I hope your holiday went well and you had a relaxing, enjoyable time. Now get to work, two preview blogs every friday from now on!!


Well, oh my. We sure got a lot of demons for the set before WoR. Bring them on, the current game I'm a player in has a very strong demon theme. We're not quite up to Toad Demons or Serpent Demons yet, but we're getting there. Some other interesting stuff. The Orcs army is shaping up nicely.


Waw, what a reveal this week. Some very nice sculpts.

Funny, last week - after my initial disappointment that there was no reveal - I thought to myself that even Paizo employees have the right to be ill or take a break. So, I hope you enjoyed your holiday, Erik. And even if we miss you during these breaks, you truly deserve them.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Out of curiosity, why the "Toad Demon" nomenclature? (I.e., instead of "Hezrou"?)


Jeff Wilder wrote:
Out of curiosity, why the "Toad Demon" nomenclature? (I.e., instead of "Hezrou"?)

I believe that every product using the OGL for the "proper names" requires the text of the OGL to be printed on the product. No room for legalese on a mini. :)

Silver Crusade

I just picked up the gargantuan green dragon. It is the best mini of the entire set well worth the $40.00 I paid for it. It is just awesome. I can't wait t torment my players with it. I also picked up a Shaitan single it has recieved bad critiques but mine seems to be painted well its face is painted well I have o complaints on it at all. Tough I looked at a Knight of Ozem and was not impressed with it.

Shadow Lodge

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber
Joana wrote:
Jeff Wilder wrote:
Out of curiosity, why the "Toad Demon" nomenclature? (I.e., instead of "Hezrou"?)

I believe that every product using the OGL for the "proper names" requires the text of the OGL to be printed on the product. No room for legalese on a mini. :)

Yep. Erik or Vic have stated as much in the past. Give them the OGL name and you need to print the OGL on every package - and it's quite long.

To assuage some issues people have with the set I think you need to watch this video on youtube
Go to youtube.
the guy does a great preview and frankly most of the minis look really good.

Now that we will be awaiting a new set I need to ask if there are plans for more ogres - especially along the lines of the smaller, standard ogre, from runelords. We have many goblins, kobolds and orcs now and I'd love to see at least one more standard ogre for the variety on the table.


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber

I purchased a case earlier and these were a real letdown. I was confused by some of the positive reviews--especially by those who have done reviews in the past with reviews I've learned to trust. I ended up hitting on my parlay sheet, so I took my winnings and bought another brick today, just for more up-close comparison. Wow. A majority of the (same) miniatures were night and day better than the ones I received in my case. I realize there will always be a bit of a discrepancy between the same miniatures in a set, but this difference was extremely noticeable.

I would go as far as to say there must have been some sort of screw-up with the first wave of miniatures? Perhaps a few bad cases were shipped out accidentally? Has this ever happened before with one of these sets? I'm so confused about where I stand with this line, now. I was ready to cancel my pre-order on the Wrath of Righteous case, but seeing this "new wave" of good looking minis from this set I've got to wonder what is going on.

I watched the video that one of the above posters linked. While overall it's a great review, his minis are vastly better looking than the ones I received in my case. Please tell me, Erik or Vic, that there was just a random bad wave of early minis, and I was unlucky enough to receive part of it. I've liked a majority of everything you & the WizKids have put out as far as the pre-painted minis are concerned. But if the quality sets from here on out vary significantly with each wave, I've seriously got to reconsider where I put my money.

As Adam said in his review video, he wouldn't be surprised if some people are receiving entire cases of miniatures with significantly different (lesser) paint jobs. To my knowledge, this would be the first time out of all the releases so far that this would be a significant issue. While it can easily be remedied with some smart purchasing of individual miniatures online (or just lucking out on a case or booster), it still warrants concern for future releases. As I said in my written review, not everyone is going to like every single miniature within a set (sculpt and/or paint job), but if the quality of the same miniature within a set is luck of the draw from booster to booster, that actually becomes an issue to worry about.

All this aside, welcome back. I hope you had an amazing vacation.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, PF Special Edition Subscriber
Cat-thulhu wrote:
Joana wrote:
Jeff Wilder wrote:
Out of curiosity, why the "Toad Demon" nomenclature? (I.e., instead of "Hezrou"?)

I believe that every product using the OGL for the "proper names" requires the text of the OGL to be printed on the product. No room for legalese on a mini. :)

Yep. Erik or Vic have stated as much in the past. Give them the OGL name and you need to print the OGL on every package - and it's quite long.

To assuage some issues people have with the set I think you need to watch this video on youtube
Go to youtube.
the guy does a great preview and frankly most of the minis look really good.

Now that we will be awaiting a new set I need to ask if there are plans for more ogres - especially along the lines of the smaller, standard ogre, from runelords. We have many goblins, kobolds and orcs now and I'd love to see at least one more standard ogre for the variety on the table.

I think it's just really the two hellknights, the janni, the beatific one, two iconics (especially the monk with a bra...) and king irovetti and queen ileosa that just look bad.

It's really unfortunate. Some even look like some black paint exploded over a bunch of the minis for no reason. Has Paizo seen this video?

Was the set just rushed?

I have yet to get my shipment notification, I'm crossing my fingers that it's only affecting a certain batch of the minis :(


I can confirm bad paint jobs on the king and queen, red paint dripped from another part of the djinni onto it's abdomen, a few humans with bad attention to detail on where face ends and where hair beings.

What makes me sad is that this is the first case where I didn't get all the minis.

Not due to a collation error, but because the spot that I can only assume was my mothman was just empty. No broken pieces, nothing. Just an empty slot. Was very disappointing.

I can buy one on ebay, so that's not such a big deal.

But the QA on the paint jobs is. This set is a huge, HUGE step backwards. The proofs they're sending Erik are not representative of the product.

Also I can confirm all 4 of my orc archer's bowstrings are on the wrong side of his arm. The only way to fix this sadly will be to but and super glue them.


Let's hope the next set won't be even worse since it's going to be released in only 2 months.
Sounds like they'll have to rush it even more...


I keep reading such mixed reviews about the paint quality. I must admit I am worried, but will follow up once my case arrives. If there issues I will also send photos to Paizo as I am sure that will help with their conversations with WizKids.

At the least I assume Paizo will wan tto discuss why the paint proofs are so different from production quality levels.

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

Erik where are you? We haven't heard form you in a while, hope work isn't doing your head in.

I'm of the same mind Danielc. The huge difference in reviews makes me worry. Looking back at some minis I think wizkids may have tried something new with washes - in most of the previous mediums skin was largely left without a wash. In an attempt to add depth (in response to feedback I might add) they may have added a wash step and been a little heavy handed. I find it hard to believe that Paizo and wizkids won't make changes in response to feedback before the next set. I just hope won't delay the set.


I'd rather have the set delayed a bit due to additional QA than get it on schedule running the risk of mishaps.

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

I was thinking more like delay unduly. I'm OK with a delay just hope it won't be necessary or too long.


I’m actually ok with them delaying it as long as they need to. I would rather the sets looks the quality that they should, than to get them out by a certain timeframe.

Also, the longer delay would be a bit of fresh air for many with the recent quick succession of set releases.

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