The Inside Scoop on Gaming

With the advent of the third edition rules there seems to be somewhat of a resurgence of interest in D&D. The new rules apparently place emphasis on the use of miniatures in the resolution of combat. This means that there are going to be a lot of players out there looking for good quality miniatures to represent their player characters. Well look no farther than the Reaper Miniatures Dark Heaven line. Reaper produces an extensive line of miniatures most of which are well suited for representing player characters. They also produce a fairly good selection of monsters, particularly undead, but I'll leave that for another review.

Reaper produces such a variety of player character miniatures that almost every race, gender, and class is represented. The line doesn't have any half-orcs, gnomes, or half-elves, but the dwarf and elf characters can easily pull double duty for the later two. Another strength of the Reaper line is the number of quality female miniatures available. In the past, I have noticed few female miniatures and those that did exist were of the robed magic user type. Not so with Reaper, they give you a large selection of female characters in all races and classes. This may be a result of the fact that several of Reaper's more prolific sculptors are women.

Enough general comments about the line as a whole. Let's get down to business of reviewing today's miniature of choice: Dorian Starbrow. For those who are interested a photo of the miniature can be seen at the Reaper website (www.reapermini.com) at http://www.reapermini.com/photos/dh/2154.JPG.

Description:

Dorian Starbrow is an elf. He is wearing a full length cloak and is crouched and ready to fight with a sword in his right hand and a dagger in his left. Closer inspection reveals a great amount of detail including: bracers on his wrists, a breast plate, well detailed boots, a metal clasp for his cloak, and even a hint of chainmail visible beneath his tunic. Straight out of the package, there was minimal flash which was easily removed. As is often the case, the sword was bent and needed to be straightened, but this was easily accomplished. Painting this figure was easy. I must confess that I am a mediocre painter, yet the detail on this figure lends really lends itself to easy painting.

Positives:

Dorian Starbrow is cleanly sculpted with a great amount of detail. Simply put, the figure looks great. I am also pleased that Dorian, along with the other elves in the Reaper line, looks like a real person rather than an "anime-like" rendition of an elf which is popular in some other lines of miniatures. If you like that more stylized look you might not like the Reaper elves. Again, I must mention that the "heftier" look of the Reaper elves lends itself to having them do double duty as half-elves should you desire.

One of the most positive aspects of Dorian Starbrow is the shear versatility of the figure depending on how it is painted. I envisioned at least three different ways to paint the figure. First you could paint it in brighter colors and use metallic paints for the breast plate, bracers and boot decorations. Painted this way Dorian becomes a swashbuckling elf fighter – prince. Secondly, you could paint him with muted woodland colors, such as greens and browns. Paint the breast plate and bracers brown leather in color and Dorian becomes a Ranger using the Ranger's two handed fighting style. Finally, you can repeat the leather breast plate and bracers treatment and paint the other clothing in darker colors which transforms Dorian into a rogue (thief). This last option is the one I actually took and the Dorian Starbrow figure represents a half-elf rogue character in our current game campaign.

Another plus of the figure, and the entire Reaper line, is that it is cast in one piece on its own base. Once you remove the flash, wash, and prime you are ready roll. There is no assembly required. There seems to be a current trend among miniatures manufactures to make their miniatures in many pieces. The new D&D line from Wizards is a good example. Even the simplest figures seem to be needlessly cast in several pieces that require gluing and then you need to glue or putty the figure into a slot base. If these other manufacturers' excuse is that this is necessary to get detail, Reaper proves them wrong. I mentioned above that I am only a mediocre painter, I also don't really have the time or patience to do all of this other assembly work on my miniatures. Thankfully, I don't have to with Reaper miniatures. They prove that you can cast a great looking and highly detailed miniature in one piece on its own base.

Negatives:

There really is little bad to be said about this figure. The only real negative that I can find is scale. Other RPGnet reviewers have also noted that there are scale difficulties with the Reaper line. This is true. Reaper proclaims that its figures are cast in "heroic" 25 mm scale, but when compared to other manufacture's 25 mm miniatures the Reaper miniatures are a good deal larger. My guess is that Reaper miniatures are really cast in a 28mm to 30mm scale range. There are also some scale problems within the Reaper line itself. Some of the figures are of smaller scale than others. Again, my guess is that the size of the Reaper miniatures has increased slightly to facilitate the amount of detail that they put into each figure.

Conclusion:

When all is said, Dorian Starbrow is a great figure. He looks great, has lots of detail, comes cast in one piece with minimal flash, and he is easy to paint. As a figure he is versatile since he can be painted to represent at least three different types of player character. If you need an elf fighter, ranger, or rogue, check him out. If you need another type of character check out the other miniatures in the Reaper line, I don't think that you will be disappointed.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Dorian Starbrow
Author: Sandra Garrity (Sculptor) Category: miniature Company/Publisher: Reaper Miniatures Line: Dark Heaven Cost: $2.50 Page count: n/a SKU: 2154 Capsule Review by David Havelka on 10/19/00. Genre tags: Fantasy	With the advent of the third edition rules there seems to be somewhat of a resurgence of interest in D&D. The new rules apparently place emphasis on the use of miniatures in the resolution of combat. This means that there are going to be a lot of players out there looking for good quality miniatures to represent their player characters. Well look no farther than the Reaper Miniatures Dark Heaven line. Reaper produces an extensive line of miniatures most of which are well suited for representing player characters. They also produce a fairly good selection of monsters, particularly undead, but I'll leave that for another review. Reaper produces such a variety of player character miniatures that almost every race, gender, and class is represented. The line doesn't have any half-orcs, gnomes, or half-elves, but the dwarf and elf characters can easily pull double duty for the later two. Another strength of the Reaper line is the number of quality female miniatures available. In the past, I have noticed few female miniatures and those that did exist were of the robed magic user type. Not so with Reaper, they give you a large selection of female characters in all races and classes. This may be a result of the fact that several of Reaper's more prolific sculptors are women. Enough general comments about the line as a whole. Let's get down to business of reviewing today's miniature of choice: Dorian Starbrow. For those who are interested a photo of the miniature can be seen at the Reaper website (www.reapermini.com) at http://www.reapermini.com/photos/dh/2154.JPG. Description: Dorian Starbrow is an elf. He is wearing a full length cloak and is crouched and ready to fight with a sword in his right hand and a dagger in his left. Closer inspection reveals a great amount of detail including: bracers on his wrists, a breast plate, well detailed boots, a metal clasp for his cloak, and even a hint of chainmail visible beneath his tunic. Straight out of the package, there was minimal flash which was easily removed. As is often the case, the sword was bent and needed to be straightened, but this was easily accomplished. Painting this figure was easy. I must confess that I am a mediocre painter, yet the detail on this figure lends really lends itself to easy painting. Positives: Dorian Starbrow is cleanly sculpted with a great amount of detail. Simply put, the figure looks great. I am also pleased that Dorian, along with the other elves in the Reaper line, looks like a real person rather than an "anime-like" rendition of an elf which is popular in some other lines of miniatures. If you like that more stylized look you might not like the Reaper elves. Again, I must mention that the "heftier" look of the Reaper elves lends itself to having them do double duty as half-elves should you desire. One of the most positive aspects of Dorian Starbrow is the shear versatility of the figure depending on how it is painted. I envisioned at least three different ways to paint the figure. First you could paint it in brighter colors and use metallic paints for the breast plate, bracers and boot decorations. Painted this way Dorian becomes a swashbuckling elf fighter – prince. Secondly, you could paint him with muted woodland colors, such as greens and browns. Paint the breast plate and bracers brown leather in color and Dorian becomes a Ranger using the Ranger's two handed fighting style. Finally, you can repeat the leather breast plate and bracers treatment and paint the other clothing in darker colors which transforms Dorian into a rogue (thief). This last option is the one I actually took and the Dorian Starbrow figure represents a half-elf rogue character in our current game campaign. Another plus of the figure, and the entire Reaper line, is that it is cast in one piece on its own base. Once you remove the flash, wash, and prime you are ready roll. There is no assembly required. There seems to be a current trend among miniatures manufactures to make their miniatures in many pieces. The new D&D line from Wizards is a good example. Even the simplest figures seem to be needlessly cast in several pieces that require gluing and then you need to glue or putty the figure into a slot base. If these other manufacturers' excuse is that this is necessary to get detail, Reaper proves them wrong. I mentioned above that I am only a mediocre painter, I also don't really have the time or patience to do all of this other assembly work on my miniatures. Thankfully, I don't have to with Reaper miniatures. They prove that you can cast a great looking and highly detailed miniature in one piece on its own base. Negatives: There really is little bad to be said about this figure. The only real negative that I can find is scale. Other RPGnet reviewers have also noted that there are scale difficulties with the Reaper line. This is true. Reaper proclaims that its figures are cast in "heroic" 25 mm scale, but when compared to other manufacture's 25 mm miniatures the Reaper miniatures are a good deal larger. My guess is that Reaper miniatures are really cast in a 28mm to 30mm scale range. There are also some scale problems within the Reaper line itself. Some of the figures are of smaller scale than others. Again, my guess is that the size of the Reaper miniatures has increased slightly to facilitate the amount of detail that they put into each figure. Conclusion: When all is said, Dorian Starbrow is a great figure. He looks great, has lots of detail, comes cast in one piece with minimal flash, and he is easy to paint. As a figure he is versatile since he can be painted to represent at least three different types of player character. If you need an elf fighter, ranger, or rogue, check him out. If you need another type of character check out the other miniatures in the Reaper line, I don't think that you will be disappointed. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty)