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Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Harbinger Expansion Pack

Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Harbinger Expansion Pack

List Price: $9.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: cheap figures for your hordes
Review: The expansion pack contains 8 prepainted flexible plastic figures, in a typical distribution of 4 commons, 3 uncommons and 1 rare. Also contained are 8 related cards for each of the figures, with rules for use in the D&D Miniature Skirmish game on one side and the D&D roleplaying game on the reverse side. If you wish to play the skirmish game, you will need access to one copy of the D&D Entry Pack which is also availible through Amazon. Since the expansion pack has no rules for the game, I will concentrate this review on the quality of the figures.

Are they perfect? Not in the least. I agree with some points from a review written by the reader in Florida. (The one who thinks I sound like a company plant.) There are sections of the figures which have not been fully painted. My Umber Hulk figure (a Rare) has what looks to be a half centemeter light brown spot which is probably caused by a drip from an overloaded paint brush. You'll have figures without the eyes painted. Many of the sculptures pale when next to the majority of quality metal figures on the market.

There are other options to these miniatures. There is a company that have small sets of 5 prepainted non-random metal figures which are much better than these D&D figures, but they also cost $25 for a set of 5. A typical unpainted metal figure will cost on the order of $3, with some of the larger figures around $5. Games Workshop puts out several sets of plastic figures which are unpainted but a similar price. At first glance, the Mage Knight prepainted figures look to be of higher quality, but once you take into account that they're a larger scale (35 mm tall as opposed to the more historical 25-28mm D&D Miniature scale) the overall quality is about the same. There are plenty of options availible for those people who wish to pay more money.

That's the key point to my review for this product. At $1.25 a miniature, the number one advantage is that these miniatures are cheap and you need to spend no time painting them. These figures are not works of art and shouldn't be viewed as so. They're tokens for a game. Some are absolutely delightful, like the tiny common Kobold figure. Some figures are horrible; the rare elf called the Arcane Archer looks like it was painted with a cotton swab. (I feel that the elves are a general weakness in this line.)

Would I like a higher quality? Sure, but it would drive the cost up. I can understand how people might not like these figures -- they're the ramen noodles of the miniature world: cheap, usually bland, but they get the job done. Considering the inexpensive price and the time saved by not needing to paint hordes of miniatures, I highly recommend these figures, and I look forward to the future sets.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: cheap figures for your hordes
Review: The expansion pack contains 8 prepainted flexible plastic figures, in a typical distribution of 4 commons, 3 uncommons and 1 rare. Also contained are 8 related cards for each of the figures, with rules for use in the D&D Miniature Skirmish game on one side and the D&D roleplaying game on the reverse side. If you wish to play the skirmish game, you will need access to one copy of the D&D Entry Pack which is also availible through Amazon. Since the expansion pack has no rules for the game, I will concentrate this review on the quality of the figures.

Are they perfect? Not in the least. I agree with some points from a review written by the reader in Florida. (The one who thinks I sound like a company plant.) There are sections of the figures which have not been fully painted. My Umber Hulk figure (a Rare) has what looks to be a half centemeter light brown spot which is probably caused by a drip from an overloaded paint brush. You'll have figures without the eyes painted. Many of the sculptures pale when next to the majority of quality metal figures on the market.

There are other options to these miniatures. There is a company that have small sets of 5 prepainted non-random metal figures which are much better than these D&D figures, but they also cost $25 for a set of 5. A typical unpainted metal figure will cost on the order of $3, with some of the larger figures around $5. Games Workshop puts out several sets of plastic figures which are unpainted but a similar price. At first glance, the Mage Knight prepainted figures look to be of higher quality, but once you take into account that they're a larger scale (35 mm tall as opposed to the more historical 25-28mm D&D Miniature scale) the overall quality is about the same. There are plenty of options availible for those people who wish to pay more money.

That's the key point to my review for this product. At $1.25 a miniature, the number one advantage is that these miniatures are cheap and you need to spend no time painting them. These figures are not works of art and shouldn't be viewed as so. They're tokens for a game. Some are absolutely delightful, like the tiny common Kobold figure. Some figures are horrible; the rare elf called the Arcane Archer looks like it was painted with a cotton swab. (I feel that the elves are a general weakness in this line.)

Would I like a higher quality? Sure, but it would drive the cost up. I can understand how people might not like these figures -- they're the ramen noodles of the miniature world: cheap, usually bland, but they get the job done. Considering the inexpensive price and the time saved by not needing to paint hordes of miniatures, I highly recommend these figures, and I look forward to the future sets.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Harbinger Expansion Pack
Review: The Harbinger and Dragon Eye expansions are a great way of accumulating miniatures for your roleplaying enjoyment. Don't expect any professional paint jobs using dry brush and ink techniques, and you'll be well pleased. For the price, this is the way to go to quickly enjoy miniatures battles.

For those that enjoy customizing/painting miniatures, these provide a suitable paint foundation to expand upon. Rather than having to start from the ground up as you would w/typical miniatures you buy for $5 a pop, you can quickly improve upon the look of the miniature through your own drybrush and inking techniques straight out of the box. Add ground cover and you've got a professional looking miniature that closely rivals lead-based.

Another advantage of using plastic miniatures is their ability to withstand being tossed around more during battle, or in storage. Paint on lead-based miniatures tend to chip more often due to their shear weight and inflexibility when colliding with other miniatures or objects.

The drawback w/plastic is that many long swords on these miniatures look more like melted taffy than strong and dangerous instruments of destruction.

Have fun!


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