The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Hello. I thought I would begin by discussing some of my background as a gamer. I've been playing RPG's for about 18 years, starting with (of course) D&D. I have also been collecting and painting miniatures sporadically over that time, primarily for use either as game pieces or for the joy of painting. Recently, my interest in miniatures has waxed, and I play several miniatures-based wargames. I only recently discovered Reaper's line of miniatures. I have been very impressed with their quality, and as I happen to have two rather imposing fellows staring down at me from atop my monitor, I thought I would review them for you (one at a time, of course).

My first victim goes by the name of Jonas Kane. A good picture of this miniature can be seen at Reaper's site (http://www.reapermini.com/) here: http://www.reapermini.com/photos/dh/2184.JPG (pardon me for not using HTML tags... HTML is not my strong suite).

General Description:

As can be seen in the picture, Jonas Kane is a human, clutching a large open book in his left arm, carrying a very large cross in his extended right arm, and standing with his right foot on top of a stone block. One can easily imagine him facing down a particularly nasty Undead. Jonas is wearing a hooded cape, a long robe, a suit of half-plate armor covering his upper torso and arms, boots and trousers. He carries a hammer and three stakes slung on his right hip, and a small sack with some sort of rune or sigil on his left hip. Another, larger pouch on his left hip is mostly concealed under the fold of his cloak. Looking at the back of the figure, another cross can be seen on the cover of the book, which would indicate that it is a Bible or some sort of holy tome.

Good stuff:

Jonas Kane is full of subtle detail, cleanly and crisply sculpted. Among other things, I am impressed with the folds of his robes, the way the handle of his hammer appears to be wrapped in leather, and the way the cover of the Bible appears to be an ornately embellished, details just crying to be brought out with a bit of highlighting or drybrushing. These are only a few of the virtues of this figure.

Bad stuff:

What little flash there was was easily removed with just my fingers. There are few mold lines. However, what mold lines there are are in places which are difficult to reach with tools, or run across some detail. One area is the underside of the right sleeve of his robe. Another is across the front of his Bible. Another area that concerns me is the pear-shaped pommel of his cross. On the back, there is one engraved line. Why just one? If the pattern of lines had continued all around the pommel, it would be more visually interesting, reminescent of a 'scent stopper' pommel as seen on some medieval weapons. It leaves the painter a choice of either ignoring it, filling it in with a bit of putty, or using an X-acto knife to continue the pattern themselves. Still, a pretty trivial flaw.

Other stuff:

Reaper Miniatures are supposedly cast to a 'heroic' 25 mm scale. When I was comparing miniatures at my hobby store, I noticed that not all the Reaper minis appear to be at the same scale. For example, the 'Dark Lord Logar', which I did not purchase, was rather runty next to Jonas, which is strange, considering that he is supposed to be a big muscular guy with a huge axe. Getting back to Jonas, I noticed some other unusual size issues when I had him on my workbench. Comparing Jonas to a Games Workshop Space Marine, I found that Jonas stood a little taller. This seems odd, as GW uses a 'chunky' 28 mm scale, and Space Marines are supposed to be 7' tall. Either Jonas is a basketball player, or he's really about a 30 mm scale miniature.

Justification of the Rating:

Jonas Kane is a well-sculpted, minutely detailed miniature, fully deserving of an Excellent Style rating. However, his relative hugeness compared to 'true' 25 mm miniatures, and even 28 mm miniatures, might make him seem out of place on a dungeon map. Also, his clothing and gear identify him as a Late Medieval or Renaissance-era character. While many fantasy games are rather 'fuzzy' about the coexistence of characters which draw inspiration from different time periods, there is also the fact that he is clearly focused on vampire-hunting. He wouldn't really make a good representation of any other character types in a role-playing game, and he doesn't bear any weapons that would make him appropriate for use as a soldier in a wargame either. This is why I gave him an Average Substance rating.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Jonas Kane
Author: Bob Ridolfi (sculptor) Category: miniature Company/Publisher: Reaper Miniatures Line: Dark Heaven Cost: $2.75 Page count: n/a SKU: 2184 Capsule Review by David Rhode on 09/29/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Horror Vampire	Hello. I thought I would begin by discussing some of my background as a gamer. I've been playing RPG's for about 18 years, starting with (of course) D&D. I have also been collecting and painting miniatures sporadically over that time, primarily for use either as game pieces or for the joy of painting. Recently, my interest in miniatures has waxed, and I play several miniatures-based wargames. I only recently discovered Reaper's line of miniatures. I have been very impressed with their quality, and as I happen to have two rather imposing fellows staring down at me from atop my monitor, I thought I would review them for you (one at a time, of course). My first victim goes by the name of Jonas Kane. A good picture of this miniature can be seen at Reaper's site (http://www.reapermini.com/) here: http://www.reapermini.com/photos/dh/2184.JPG (pardon me for not using HTML tags... HTML is not my strong suite). General Description: As can be seen in the picture, Jonas Kane is a human, clutching a large open book in his left arm, carrying a very large cross in his extended right arm, and standing with his right foot on top of a stone block. One can easily imagine him facing down a particularly nasty Undead. Jonas is wearing a hooded cape, a long robe, a suit of half-plate armor covering his upper torso and arms, boots and trousers. He carries a hammer and three stakes slung on his right hip, and a small sack with some sort of rune or sigil on his left hip. Another, larger pouch on his left hip is mostly concealed under the fold of his cloak. Looking at the back of the figure, another cross can be seen on the cover of the book, which would indicate that it is a Bible or some sort of holy tome. Good stuff: Jonas Kane is full of subtle detail, cleanly and crisply sculpted. Among other things, I am impressed with the folds of his robes, the way the handle of his hammer appears to be wrapped in leather, and the way the cover of the Bible appears to be an ornately embellished, details just crying to be brought out with a bit of highlighting or drybrushing. These are only a few of the virtues of this figure. Bad stuff: What little flash there was was easily removed with just my fingers. There are few mold lines. However, what mold lines there are are in places which are difficult to reach with tools, or run across some detail. One area is the underside of the right sleeve of his robe. Another is across the front of his Bible. Another area that concerns me is the pear-shaped pommel of his cross. On the back, there is one engraved line. Why just one? If the pattern of lines had continued all around the pommel, it would be more visually interesting, reminescent of a 'scent stopper' pommel as seen on some medieval weapons. It leaves the painter a choice of either ignoring it, filling it in with a bit of putty, or using an X-acto knife to continue the pattern themselves. Still, a pretty trivial flaw. Other stuff: Reaper Miniatures are supposedly cast to a 'heroic' 25 mm scale. When I was comparing miniatures at my hobby store, I noticed that not all the Reaper minis appear to be at the same scale. For example, the 'Dark Lord Logar', which I did not purchase, was rather runty next to Jonas, which is strange, considering that he is supposed to be a big muscular guy with a huge axe. Getting back to Jonas, I noticed some other unusual size issues when I had him on my workbench. Comparing Jonas to a Games Workshop Space Marine, I found that Jonas stood a little taller. This seems odd, as GW uses a 'chunky' 28 mm scale, and Space Marines are supposed to be 7' tall. Either Jonas is a basketball player, or he's really about a 30 mm scale miniature. Justification of the Rating: Jonas Kane is a well-sculpted, minutely detailed miniature, fully deserving of an Excellent Style rating. However, his relative hugeness compared to 'true' 25 mm miniatures, and even 28 mm miniatures, might make him seem out of place on a dungeon map. Also, his clothing and gear identify him as a Late Medieval or Renaissance-era character. While many fantasy games are rather 'fuzzy' about the coexistence of characters which draw inspiration from different time periods, there is also the fact that he is clearly focused on vampire-hunting. He wouldn't really make a good representation of any other character types in a role-playing game, and he doesn't bear any weapons that would make him appropriate for use as a soldier in a wargame either. This is why I gave him an Average Substance rating. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 3 (Average)