More Antagonists!
We are still awaiting the release of West Wind Productions "Antagonists" miniature line for their Vampire Wars: Gothic Horror game. According to their website it was scheduled for release "Easter 2003" which has passed.

News and Rumors!
It's been a slow week as far as new releases and actual miniature products. I try not to duplicate what is already out there so if you haven't done so be sure to check out The Miniatures Page for some of the new stuff they are featuring.



Instead of copying what you can find elsewhere I've decided to devote this space to News and Rumors in the industry!
* Rumors persist that The Foundry may be closing by the end of this year. This is a "new" old rumor but always taken seriously when it is resurrected.

* This isn't really news or a rumor but I am starting to wonder what is taking so long with the Heroclix Indy range. This range was announced over a year ago and I still haven't seen one promo picture or figure on this range. For those who don't know this was supposed to be a Heroclix set of heroes from Independant comics like "Image". I was especially interested in potential "Spawn" figures.

* This has been posted previously on this page but is worth repeating that Games Workshop apparently intends to stop allowing its products to be sold "online". The target date for this I keep hearing is July 15th or so! Order up!

* I keep hearing rumors that Em-4 has the rights to Nick Lund's old Fantasy Warriors miniature range. I can't find anything official on this and definitely haven't seen any actual miniatures. For those who have never seen this range I recommend you check out the gallery at the "old" Nemo Miniatures website. There are a lot of good pictures of the dwarves and barbarians in their catalog there.

* Talisman is back out. This is also not a rumor but apparently it will only be available from Games Workshop and for a U.S. price of $75.00!! Ever heard of ebay?!

Glutter of Ravens
There is a good article on the Dark Ages game, "Glutter of Ravens" on the Planet Wargaming web log.

Games Workshop Limited Edition War Cry Figure!
Readers of White Dwarf this month will find an offer for a Limited Edition "War Cry" High Elf miniature. This miniature is based on the Dogs of War card for the new War Cry CCG. The miniature is only $10.00 however the only way to get a copy of the miniature is through the mail. As a service to our readers you can print out a copy of the order form by going to the "comments" links of this article. We do not know how long we will be able to offer the form here so if you are interested please act quickly. Also please be aware that we cannot guarantee that GW will honor these reproduced forms but even if they don't they will still have to return your payment so it doesn't hurt to try.

Miniature Round Up: The goings on in the hobby!
Hopefully the miniature round up will be a regular feature on the Miniature Gaming News where I can update you on the goings on in the miniature hobby.

This week I picked up a copy of Fantasy Flights Games "Mastercraft Anthology" this is a $4.99 compendium of excerpts from some of their most popular series. Although it is a d20 product it includes some great reference material on such things as fighter classes, naval combat and traps and treasures! Definitely worth it for a 'lincoln'.

Speaking of d20, WotC stores are steadily depleting their non-Wotc miniature and RPG products. Couple that with a going out of business sale and you get 75% off! Which is exactly what I got when I picked up the GURPS Imperial Rome supplement for $5.00. This is probably one of the best sources of everthing Rome I have seen put together. It contains notes on the government, the people, the legions, the arena, and religion. In addition it includes border text on possible "adventure seeds" which are just perfect for ideas for miniature game scenarios.

Probably the best grab of all were some sets of Dwarven Forge miniatures. Dwarven Forge is probably best known for its Master Maze series of resin dungeon layouts. However, they also do pre-painted resin miniatures. I picked up several sets of the Skeletons and Orcs and was quite impressed with the quality of the paint jobs. At about $2.00 per pack I would definitely recommend getting as many of these as you can.

Wiz Kids Debuts Crimson Skies Website!
Wiz Kids has set up its "Official Crimson Skies" website in anticipation of the July 2003 release of the upcoming Crimson Skies miniature game.



Crimson Skies is an action-packed collectable miniatures game of aerial dogfights and barroom brawls. In the world of Crimson Skies, the United States was shattered in 1930 under the crushing weight of the Great Depression. By 1937, nearly 20 separate countries feud where once stood a great nation.



I had an opportunity to demo this game at GENCON 2002 and was quite pleased with it though I do not usually play aerial combat games. Another great feature of Crimson Skies is unlike the Mage Knight and HeroClix game lines, Crimson Skies WILL NOT be collectible which means you can purchase the pilot and the planes you like best.

Editorial: GW Giveth and GW Taketh Away!
Word is spreading online very quickly that Games Workshop has announced that as of July 15, 2003 it will no longer allow miniature retailers to sell its products on the internet.

According to Games Workshop this is being in done in an attempt to protect its intellectual property (IP) rights which it feels are being infringed upon by retailers who use GW images with their products.

Over the years GW has done a lot to earn a reputation of being an "evil empire" type of corporation that seeks its own profits over the good of the industry in general and its retailers in particular. However, with this recent policy GW may have tipped the pendulum over and down. By depriving miniature retailers of valuable internet sales GW will inevitably deprive itself of sales from those retailers. There are a lot of internet only retailers - probably far more than brick & mortar hobby shops - who will no doubt go out of business as a result of this policy if it enforced. Some believe GW has anticipated this and still feels it will benefit in the end with more online consumers coming directly to their website. I fear they are wrong. Most if not all of these retailers got their business simply because of the 20% or greater discounts they offered on GW products. A discount that is not available at the GW website. Without that discount most consumers will either buy from their local hobby shop, or else not buy at all. And in the end it is the local hobby shop, and not GW, that will probably be the big winner in all of this.

And just maybe that is what GW is up to after all... a little back scratching.


Deano C. Ware

Pulp Figures and Rugged Adventures!
For those looking for a change from the usual miniature vignettes of WWII, Fantasy and Medieval then you have got to check out sculptor Bob Murch's "Pulp Figures!"


According to Bob: Pulp Figures and Rugged Adventures are primarily designed for a fictionalized historical setting we call the 'Pulp Era'. The pulps were entertainment magazines of the early 20th century and reached their peak of popularity in the period between the first and second world wars. The pulp magazine venue introduced tough guy detective stories with famed characters like Sam Spade and Philip Marlow, occult action/adventure stories from authors such as Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan or Sax Rohmer of Dr. Fu Manchu fame. They also introduced the jungle fantasy adventures of Tarzan of the Apes. Within the pages of the pulps you might join an expedition into distant lands in search of a lost city. You might sail an airship through a polar gateway to a pre-historic world at the center of the earth. It was an action packed world of brave heroes standing alone against sinister villains plotting world conquest, tough dames, spies and even the occasional brilliant scientist with a newly invented rocket ship. It was a brightly coloured world of action packed, spine tingling adventure.



In addition to the miniatures you can also download a free copy of the draft rules for his miniature game, "Rugged Adventures".

em4miniatures Now Has Plastic!
Many of you may know that em-4 miniatures carries a range of pre-painted metal miniatures, but many of you may not know that they also now carry a range of unpainted "plastic" miniatures.



Pictured above is an orc and dwarf, from their plastic fantasy range and some converted command troopers from their plastic sci-fi range. Remember these come unpainted!

Reaper "Greens"!
Reaper Miniatures has posted their latest "greens" on their website. Pictured below is a male druid by the irrepressible Sandra Garrity!