#criticalrole3

With Andrew Harshman

An analysis of the minis used on CR.

Two downright dense maps in one episode? Gimme a break! I reckon I've taken enough of a break though. Let us take a look at these two epic encounters!

The solstice with the mostest, it’s time for Critical Role Miniature Rollout Campaign 3 Episode 51!

Mini Map Overview

Encounter number one here is a Mats by Mars Shattered Soil mat, followed by a layer of Dwarven Forge 4x4 Mountain Ground tiles, with a perimeter of DF Mountain Elevation, Caverns Elevation, and Cave Cliff pieces. And let's not forget the Dwarven Forge Wildlands Winding Stair escARPment (pronounced in a midwestern Pumat Sol accent):

If you're lookin' to make a quick escarp, this here escarpment is the place to do it. Ya know, I don't think I've seen an escarpier escarpment in a long time. Nice escarpment Dwarven Forge!

Yall dwarves keep this up, and you may need to rebrand yourselves as Dwarven Escarpment.

In terms of scatter terrain, we're looking at mostly DF items. Including some of those snazzy LED pieces. There's also some furniture from the Pathfinder Battles line, a Dragon Lair chair, and the reoccurring Hirst Arts open crate.

For prepainted miniatures, we have a D&D Wizkids Goliath, Pathfinder Iconics Red Raven, a Pathfinder Goblin, and a drake, probably the Deadly Foes House Drake. Also, there's a Wizkids raven that's about 3 by 3 pixels onscreen (4K broadcast when?)

Onto the terrain of map number two! The aptly named Mats by Mars: Desert mat. And what's a desert without some fashionable desert tents? We got Wizkids tents, Mantic Games tents, and the Safari Ltd tent. Say, what them ruins doin'? Ruins gonna be ruined. Three main ruins type here are Dwarven Forge, Hagglethorn Hollow, and HeroScape, or DwarvenThornScape for short.

Models in this encounter include figures from Wizkids, HeroForge, and Steamforged, or WizForgeForged for short. I think there may also be a Reaper model or two? It's very fun to see the return of previous campaign models. Though it woulda been even more fun to see higher level versions of Beau and Caleb.

Best Mini of the Ep

Well obviously this tower centerpiece with the fancy schmancy spell effect magic puck has gotta be the best mini pick. Spectacular table presence. I assume it's a custom piece.

Worst Mini of the Ep

At the climax of the episode we get these beautiful sweeping cinematic shots of the miniatures as Vax appears to save Keyleth. AND THEN disrupting the drama we got this waving tiefling totally photobombing the scene!

The Tiefling Cleric of Asmodeus miniature is actually pretty decent. Super simple and ugly prepaint paint job though. I actually like this model quite a bit, I just thought the unintentional waving to the camera positioning was amusing.

With Andrew Harshman

An archive and review of the minis used on CR.

I was anticipating a possible warehouse battle map setting. I was not anticipating the cold-blooded murder of a beloved Critical Role character. Beloved to me anyway. Only took three session for me to get rather attached to Bertrand Bell. Tis sad, but I’m sure some good storytelling will come out of this tragedy.

Yes, for the good of Jrusar. I will enter the fray with you, it’s time for Crit Role Miniature Rollout Campaign 3 Episode 3!

The Episode Mini List

Chest and Trove 5E Condition Rings

Dwarven Forge City Builder System Stone

Dwarven Forge City Builder System Tudor

Dwarven Forge Tudor Wall & Post Add-On Pack Wooden Balcony

Dwarven Forge LED Lighted Walls Add-On Pack

Dwarven Forge Wicked City Accessory Add-On Pack Stone Gargoyle Corner Post

Pathfinder Battles Rusty Dragon Inn Dressing: Crate

Mantic Games Terrain Crate Dungeon Depths frame/mirror

Mantic Games Terrain Crate round table

Dungeon Lair Desk & Chair Accessory Set

Dungeon Lair Treasure Chest

Dungeon Lair Chairs

Tiny Furniture Noble's Bedroom

Tiny Furniture Bedroom set v.2 wardrobe

Bertrand Bell HeroForge Mini

Custom Campaign 3 Party Minis

Monster Menagerie #006 Larethar Gulgrin

Waterdeep Dragon Heist #15 Darkling

Pathfinder Battles Lost Coast #01 Goblin Snake

The Player Characters

Got a much better look at the party this broadcast. And they are beautiful! Truly inspired sculpts with incredibly rich and intricate paint work. The party minis are so nice in fact, Dorian’s ridiculous outfit actually looks pretty cool. These models are very true to their character portraits. So true in fact, they surely have to be original 3D sculpts. FCG is such a unique character design and the models have too many specific geometry details to have been made in a character creator engine. Still no word on the manufacturer’s identity.

I did want to mention Fearne’s wild shape very briefly. That’s no average snake. That there’s a goblin snake! The Pathfinder Battles Lost Coast #01 Goblin Snake. Another delightful PF monster. Complete with that distinct Pathfinder goblin football head shape. Delightful creature, fun seeing this figure pop up.

Favorite Mini

Bertrand Bell of the Bertrand’s Bells Adventuring Co. Bertrand Bell Hero Forge Mini

Guess I won’t get another opportunity to award Favorite Mini to Bertrand Bell, so I better do it now. Love myself a good Hero Forge. An excellent HF build with excellent paint. He’s got those signature Iron Tusk Painting eyes, I’m willing to bet that’s who did the painting. What a shame we’re unlikely to see this miniature again. Pour one out for a true adventurer (but miss the floor and accidentally hit a friendly party member’s shoes). 

Least Favorite Mini

Shadowy Pale Dwarf Monster Menagerie #006 Larethar Gulgrin Mini image sourced from minisgallery.com

Shouldn’t this mini be a duergar? If this villain ends up being significant enough, they might end up with a customized model. This is my least favorite mini based entirely on the murderous deeds perpetrated by the character it represents. The mini itself is quite decent. And we’ve actually seen it quite recently, as the miniature base for Dagen in C2E115:

Final Thoughts

I’m now very invested in the party finding this new villain NPC. That is, unless the party gets found first! An enemy with the the feature Favored Terrain: Alleyways is indeed dangerous in an urban gaming setting. Session 4 begins the quest for coin and vengeance, I wish the Campaign 3 adventurers much luck.

See ya next sesh!

With Andrew Harshman

An archive and analysis of the minis used on CR.

Lots of action and plot development this sesh! New villain, new miniatures, new moon, and new questing horizons. Plenty of plastic and resin on display this episode, let us analyze the new models.

Buy yourself a chisel and bark at the moon, it’s time for Crit Role Miniature Rollout Campaign 3 Episode 11!

Chest and Trove 5E Condition Rings

Dwarven Forge Dungeons

Dwarven Forge Dungeons of Doom

Dwarven Forge Chair

Dwarven Forge Castle Stone Stairs

Dwarven Forge Dungeons of Doom Cages

Dwarven Forge Dungeons of Doom Vaulted Open Arch Wall

Dwarven Forge Powerstone Charger

Dwarven Forge Dungeons of Doom Bars Insert

Dwarven Forge Pathfinder Plaguestone - Alchemy Poisoner's Bench

Dwarven Forge Dungeons of Doom Vaulted Large Curved Walls

Pathfinder Battles Crown of Fangs: Court of the Crimson Throne Torch Pillars

Terrain Crate Round Table

Terrain Crate Torture Rack

Terrain Crate Debris Barricades

Dungeon Lair Chair

Hirst Arts Large Crate

Halaster’s Lab Candles and Summoning Circle

Tiny Furniture Dark Magister Workplace (barrel on top shelf iteration)

Arcknight Spell Effects

Custom Campaign 3 Party Minis

D&D® Icons of the Realms: Spell Effects: Mighty Conjurations Arcane Eye Spiritual Weapon - Warhammer

Volo & Mordenkainen's Foes #27 Boneclaw

Night Below #42 Trained Carrion Crawler

Mythic Odysseys of Theros #03 Oracle

Monster Menagerie #20 Werewolf

Flaming Sphere - Blood War #27 Living Flaming Sphere

Monster Menagerie 2 #001 Giant Rat

Assorted scatter terrain

The Heroes

At last, there’s our boy! Chetney’s miniature looks amazing. Quite the imposing pose. And the paint looks very good from over here.

Like the rest of the party figures, Chetney’s werewolf form appears to also be custom. A very nice werewolf mini, Joe Manganiello would surely approve. But you know what would take this wolfmangnome to the next level? The werewolf’s shorts should really be the same colorful pattern as Chetney’s beanie. Ah what fun that would be. 

The Villains

Nightmare King Volo & Mordenkainen's Foes #27 Boneclaw Mini image sourced from minisgallery.com

Zoinks Scoob, it’s a BUH-BUH-BUH-BUH-BONECLAW! Spoopy. Say, this is a pretty good model. With impressive table presence that makes for an intense looking boss monster, despite the rather flat paint. And for some reason the boneclaw’s skirt looks like it’s made of black pudding ooze:

Screenshot from C2E116

The Nonplayer Characters

Gurge Human Form Mythic Odysseys of Theros #03 Oracle Mini image sourced from minisgallery.com

Wildman Gurge is lookin’ fit. And he’s got that sweet championship belt. No wonder he’s famous, this man’s got an impressive aesthetic. I like this character and I like this miniature.

Gurge Werewolf Form Monster Menagerie #20 Werewolf Mini image sourced from minisgallery.com

Well will you look at that, Matt Mercer picked two miniatures with matching poses. That’s clever as all get out! Well played dungeon master. Not an especially engaging werewolf miniature, but I’ll give it a pass for the pose matching. Spectacular. Inspired mini picks.

Test Subject Monster Night Below #42 Trained Carrion Crawler Mini image sourced from minisgallery.com

A carrion crawler with a beanie, what fun! A bit puzzling, but fun. When I started collecting prepainted D&D miniatures, I kept encountering this model and not purchasing it. Cuz like, when I’m building a miniature collection, I don’t want a trained carrion crawler. I want a buck wild, ferocious carrion crawler! Kind of a curious sculpt with limited uses. But it just so happens that one of those uses is in a fey villain’s secret laboratory. Another great miniature pick.

Closing Thoughts

The mini rain is here after a three episode drought and it feels so refreshing! Now that all the PCs and their miniatures have been revealed, I expect some promotional miniature photos to appear on the Critical Role social media pages. Excited to get a closer look see at these fine figures.

See ya next sesh!

With Andrew Harshman

An archive and analysis of the minis used on CR.

That’s a lot of shade creepers! What do you call a group of shade creepers anyway? Let’s just assume it’s a gaggle, a “gaggle of shade creepers”. So many shade creepers in fact, that other miniatures had to be leveraged. 

Express elevator going down, it’s time for Crit Role Miniature Rollout Campaign 3 Episode 15!

The List

Campaign Coins DEVEN RUE COMPASS ROSE

Chest and Trove 5E Condition Rings

Mats by Mars Tabletop Mat Shattered Soil

Dwarven Forge Caverns Deep

WizKids Deep Cuts Unpainted Minis: W6 Cage

Jewelry chain

Arcknight Spell Effects

Waterdeep Dragon Heist #15 Darkling

Tomb of Annihilation Su-Monster

Invisible Lightfoot Halfling Rogue Epic Level Starter Set

Storm King’s Thunder #14i Bandit Captain Invisible

Critical Role Monsters of Wildemount 1 Core Spawn Crawler

Custom Cloven Crystal Mini/Sphere of Annihilation

Lords of Madness #34 Neogi Slaver

Assorted scatter terrain

Favorite Mini of the Ep

Apex Shade Creeper Monsters of Wildemount 1 Core Spawn Crawler Mini images sourced from minisgallery.com

Core Spawn are cool critters. Aesthetically, very much in the vein of xenomorphs, zerg, and the like. Very fond of this alien creature design. Makes for a cool miniature. As with Lady Emoth, it’s not totally clear to me whether this is an intentional miniature choice. Is this a core spawn crawler or just a shade creeper that looks like a core spawn crawler? Probably the latter.

Least Favorite Mini of the Ep

Shade Creeper Tomb of Annihilation Su-Monster

The Su-Monster looks like some sorta b-movie gorilla suit based monster costume. Not great. If you’ve followed this post series at all, you may be aware of my extreme dislike of the Tomb of Annihilation miniature series. This model isn’t extremely bad, but it is extremely boring. A boring miniature based on a boring creature design. 

Closing Thoughts and Predictions

The description of the cliffhanger giant creature brings to mind Great Old One Mashaaf by Reaper Miniatures. The sheer size of the monster may require a custom miniature/terrain piece however. I expect we’ll find out right at the top of next episode.

Mini image sourced from reapermini.com

See ya next sesh!

With Andrew Harshman

An archive and analysis of the minis used on CR.

Mini images sourced from minisgallery.com

Howdy party people, it’s been a long two week break. Not a ton to talk about in this post. Not much in the way of new miniatures. But we do have the first Mats by Mars mat of the campaign! Shattered Soil, a Campaign 2 staple. A most welcome sight.

Let’s do some D&D-B&E, it’s time for Crit Role Miniature Rollout Campaign 3 Episode 5!

The Episode Mini List

Mats by Mars Tabletop Mat Shattered Soil

Chest and Trove 5E Condition Rings

Dwarven Forge City Builder System

Dwarven Forge Cottage Set - Stone

Dwarven Forge Cottage Set - Tudor

Dwarven Forge Wicked City Accessory Add-On Pack Stone Gargoyle Corner Post

Dwarven Forge Mountain Elevation Pack

Dwarven Forge Mountain Peak Pack

Dwarven Forge Mountain Cliffs

Mantic Games Terrain Crate Dungeon Debris Crates

Mantic Games Terrain Crate Dungeon Debris Barrels

Tiny Furniture Noble’s Bedroom

Tiny Furniture Bedroom set v.2 wardrobe

Tiny Furniture Mason Stone Wall

Dungeon Lair Chair

Pathfinder Battles Rusty Dragon Inn Dressing: Crate

Pathfinder Battles Rusty Dragon Inn Dressing: Table

D&D Icons of the Realms Miniatures: Waterdeep Dungeon of the Mad Mage - Halaster’s Lab Premium Set Table

WizKids Warlock Dungeon Tiles: Dungeon Dressings Bed, Crates, Table, and Accessories

WizKids 4D Settings: Castle Barracks Weapon Rack

Monster Menagerie #006 Larethar Gulgrin

Waterdeep Dragon Heist #15 Darkling

Monster Menagerie 2 #001 Giant Rat

Jewelry chain

Assorted crates and scatter terrain

The Terrain

Many terrain bits on this map. Most of them are familiar, but there are a few mystery pieces. There are a series of squat barrels (such as the far right barrel pictured above) that have eluded identification. The Critical Role studio barrel collection must be getting quite massive at this point.  

The interior of the building is populated by scatter terrain and furniture of many types. I’m finding it pretty tricky to differentiate between the different Wizkids furniture. They have/do produce miniature furniture across four different lines of products: D&D Icons of the Realms, Pathfinder Battles Miniatures, Wizkids 4D Settings, and Wizkids Warlock Tiles. And they are all aesthetically very similar.  Take for example the Wizkids Warlock (pictured left) Chest, Crate, and Round Table and the Wizkids Pathfinder Battles (pictured right) Chest, Crate, and Round Table:

The design differences are quite subtle and tough to make out on the Battle Cam. I love these sorts minis though. When the Pathfinder Battles Dungeon Dressing pieces were first being released, they was really tough to get ahold of because they were doled out in random boosters. But now Wizkids is making similar products more widely available and easily purchasable. This is most welcome indeed.

The Wild Shapes

Rat Monster Menagerie 2 #001 Giant Rat

Hey, I recognize that rat! The Mighty Nein fought this very same rat miniature in the sewers of Zadash. It’s pretty alright. Level 1 adventurers need giant rats to slay and it’s good to see that giant rat models are still being produced to fulfill that duty.

Final Thoughts

This dynamic lighting business is interesting. But Critical Role has been awfully blue recently. Looking forward to more daytime adventuring and some fresh lighting tones. And hopefully some fresh minis in the next ep.

See ya next sesh!

With Andrew Harshman

An archive and analysis of the minis used on CR.

Anonymous submitted: Hello! I have a question/request/suggestion. Are you planning on reviewing the wizkids critical role miniatures? I've just been made aware that the have a bunch of new packs I didn't know about. I know you have reviewed their aeorian monsters and PC minis before but I was wondering if you intend to do the others, and if you don't, suggest that it might be a nice thing to talk about on weeks with no combat in the episode. Either way, I hope you're doing well, have a nice day :)

Excellent suggestion! Thank you for the submission. Episode 8 is in fact one of those weeks with no combat in the episode. I agree, this certainly seems like good content for mini-less weeks. The line of Critical Role Wizkids miniatures is already pretty expansive and there is a lot to cover. For now, I’ll just share my general thoughts. 

Images sourced from the Crit Role Shop website

Personally, I only own the three Factions of Wildemount character miniature sets. When it came time to submit a preorder, I held off on purchasing any of the Monster of Wildemount, choosing to prioritize unique NPC/PC models over creatures. I have an expansive collection and I feel confident that if I run any Wildemount monsters, I could find a relatively accurate proxy miniature. With the possible exception of the Aesorian Absorber (lol, that eyeball cat aesthetic is puh-retty specific). But even at that, I would probably just use a displacer beast mini and make a point of clearly describing the creature to my players.

I am always on the lookout for unique, interesting, and diverse prepainted character miniatures. And the Factions of Wildemount series has that in spades! I appreciate the variety of classes, skin tones, and body types represented.

The bases are clear plastic, the new Wizkids standard. Which is a base aesthetic I’m partial to. The sculpt detail is generally good, with a tad bit of resolution lost in some of the hands and fiddly bits. I’m pretty pleased with the miniature manufacturing quality overall. The sets I received even have crisp looking eyeballs, which is a good indicator of prepaint quality.

Regarding the package manufacturing, something I found interesting is that the Dungeons & Dragons logo appears to be a sticker that was presumably added post-printing. I’m curious what the production story is here.

Particularly excited for the new episode as things ended with quite the dramatic bit of cliffhangery. I’m crossing my fingers for a battle map right outta the gate, but I can see this forthcoming encounter/challenge being run entirely narratively.

See ya next sesh! 

With Andrew Harshman

An archive and analysis of the minis used on CR.

Two episodes in a row with no combat. No miniatures to document or review. 

-But check out the flames on the soon to be released Ember Roc! This epically sized raptor has translucent fire on their feathers, that’s amazing. I had not noticed this fantastic-feather-feature until I watched the Wizkids streaming show Model Behavior. Hostess Jessa Blackthorne was good enough to point this awesome detail out. And lemme tell ya, I’m quite impressed. With the flame effects, but also the mini in general. Looks to be a well executed elementally-infused model design. Quite the righteous roc.

Mini images sourced from wizkids.com

With 5 new Wizkids Critical Role box sets and 2 premium figures releasing shortly, hopefully we’ll be treated to a sighting of some of these new models in an upcoming episode. 

See ya next sesh!