Plan B?

Sometimes you paint miniatures and a game falls through, or rules change or you just plain end up not using them.  That's a fairly common occurrence when you're a casual miniature gamer because you buy stuff without fully thinking through what you are going to need for a themed force in various circumstances, but it's less common (in my experience) when painting miniatures for an RPG.

Nevertheless, as I have been painting stuff for my current D&D game I did end up plotting out a couple of encounters that I ultimately didn't go through with and therefore the miniatures never made it to the table.

First up a steampunk witch from Reaper.  When I plan encounters I usually plan them around miniatures I want to use.  This is the first case where a Reaper Bones figure completely let me down.  When I saw the original (metal) steampunk witch I thought it looked great and I had just read the first Girl Genius novelisation of the ongoing web-comic so all around I was excited about the idea.  Unfortunately the Bones version loses a lot of detail (I could have sworn she had a nose before).  So basically I dropped the idea all together.  Having said that she's done and she'd be great if I needed an extra fig in a Malifaux or Warmahordes setting.

Next up are 5 (of 10) figures I've had half painted for months and finally just decided to finish last night.  These are Imps for Ex Illis.  I had originally started painting them because I needed some lowly non-goblinoid minion models for my current D&D game but eventually I realised I just liked the Malifaux Ice Gamin figures better.  I still like these little guys and I'm sure they'll see a tabletop eventually.

There you have it.  I thought I knew what I was painting these for but it turns out I was wrong.

-Jay