Five Leagues From The Borderlands - The Civic Minded Six

 It's beginning to look like 2023 will be the year of games that can be played solo for me.  I am actually currently in the process of playing four (seriously FOUR?!) separate solo fantasy miniature skirmish/RPG games.

The first game up in the que is Five Leagues From The Borderlands.  Five Leagues is probably the most popular and well known solo game I'll be playing.  I am definitely still trying to find the game that appeals to me the most.  So far they all have strengths and weaknesses.  Five Leagues is fairly straight forward and rules lite (which I like) but in my opinion lacks flavour.  The campaign system is engaging but it feels to me like the campaign system should be bolted on to some other game?

For my Five Leagues warband I re-cycled two underused figures from previous D&D and Dungeon Crawl Classic games, and painted four new figures.  Let's meet the Civic Minded Six!

The leader of The Six is Sir Dane Lorcan.  Sir Dane is a WizKids Frameworks miniature with a head swapped in from the plastic Frostgrave Captains.

My favourite new character was Cheech my Feral Outsider.  He's a tremendous miniature and was highly effective in my first game.  In my second game?  R.I.P. Cheech.

Penelope Haberdasher was probably my most effective character snipping away with her crossbow and also filling in the underappreciated role of fashionista that every successful adventuring party needs.

My final hero level character is a reused miniature for Donal from a previous D&D game.  I only got to use Donal once in his D&D game before he was forced to retire for somewhat meta reasons.  I'm excited to use him in a bunch more games!  On an unrelated note; R.I.P. Donal.

In addition to my heroes, each warband starts with two followers, who are effectively lesser characters.  My first follower is The Penitent.  The Penitent is a Fireforge Games miniature that I had effectively as a backup character in a Dungeon Crawl Classics game.

My last character/follower is Mac.  Mac is a Wargames Atlantic celt model.  Mac was a moderately effective support character and I look forward to painting more of these cool models going forward.

It was nice to get some painting done, as well as scratching a bit of an old school RPG itch.

And as always I got all of the assorted miniatures from a variety of different companies through my friendly local game store.

Thanks for checking in!

-Jay

Back To Stennard

 I recently got to return to Breaker Press' fantastic grimdark Stennard campaign.  Ironically after a year-ish away I returned playing one of the characters from the original funnel I played in the setting; Rhonda Eynion.

Rhonda is a first (almost second) level Cleric and is the conscience of a party that desperately needs one.

Being the moral center of the party Rhonda tends to jump in to save people and defend those in need.  The result of this is that she has slowly surrounded herself will a small entourage of NPCs that she is accompanying to their homes and relatively safe havens.

First up is Vela Correnwood one of the NPCs you are trying to save in The Precipice Of Corruption published adventure.  After rescuing Vela Rhonda and the party escorted her to her home at Hillwood Camp to recover her axe.  At this point Vela is filling the niche of a henchman/backup-PC.

While playtesting another adventure Nick is working on the group saved a couple of children that an evil witch in the woods was trying to consume.

Both children should actually be girls, but unfortunately I only had one female child miniature so I had to make do with what I had.  As an aside this is the 'Children' 2 pack from WizKids and I have to say it is one of the few packs of their miniatures I have gotten that I was actually disappointed with.  The figures are quite small (befitting of children) which is fine but for some reason this has translated into some incredibly shallow detail.  Both of their faces are virtually non-existent and the texturing on the boy's clothes is barely there.  Generally I really like the WizKids models but this pack is a rare miss for them.

The other great thing about these figures is that in addition to using them for Dungeon Crawl Classics I've decided I'm finally going to play some Rangers Of Shadow Deep (and maybe some Frostgrave) in 2023 and all of these figures will work well for those games.  The motivation to paint the children was actually as objectives for one of the first scenarios in the Rangers Of Shadow Deep book.  I also want to call out that North Star Military Miniatures official Frostgrave miniatures are a great line both for fantasy RPG miniatures in general, as well as specifically having a great assortment of female miniatures that break from the pin-up style of clothing and gear.

Here's the group making their way through the woods to...safety?

For anyone looking for a grimdark campaign setting with a real old-school feel I would highly recommend checking out the content from Breaker Press Games, all their current titles can be found at Breaker Press DTRPG 

And my miniatures, as always, can be purchased from your friendly local game store.  Please check them out and support local businesses!

Thanks for checking in.

-Jay

I just got 'funneled' in Stennard

 In case it's not already obvious; I like gaming with miniatures, I mean I REALLY like gaming with miniatures.  One of the odder ways this manifests itself is that even when I'm playing an RPG that doesn't need or require miniatures I paint them anyways.  Case in point, I recently got to play in a Twitch stream run by Nick from Breaker Press Games on Goodman Games official Twitch channel.  Obviously playing remotely and we were not using miniatures but...I've got to be me, so I painted up the three characters I would be playing in our level 0 funnel.

A funnel is the concept in Dungeon Crawl Classics where a player players usually four, but in this case three, 0 level extremely fragile characters some, most, or all of whom won't survive to the conclusion of the adventure and then when it's time to play a traditional level 1 starting character you choose the one you enjoyed the most from the funnel.  These are the three adventurers (not heroes) that I played with through The Precipice Of Corruption with.

I should also point out that every time I play through a funnel I seem to follow two traditions or patterns but I'll get into those in the additional entries below.

First up is Aels Crowgrounder.

Aels is a Forrester and statistically was neither very good at anything, nor exceptionally poor at anything (which for me makes him above average!).  Unbeknownst to the rest of the players Aels was in league with the villains of the adventure and was destined to turn on the group at a key moment.  To this end Aels fulfilled the first of my traditions when playing a funnel; I was playing the scummiest character in the group.

Next we have Ehns Logsplitter.

Ehns was a Woodcutter from the nearby community of Hillwood Camp and was statistically my best character.  She was going to fill a warrior role in the group and had above average physical stats as well as being armed with one of the most damaging weapons 0 level characters had access to.  Ehns fulfilled the second of my traditions in that from start until almost the end she was the character I thought would become my main level 1 character at the conclusion of the adventure.

And finally we come to Vandiss The Blinding Light.

Vandiss is a Legerdemainist who is new to the area and is slightly below average statistically as well as being armed with a mediocre weapon and some starting equipment that really doesn't work well with their stats and bonuses.  Having said that Vandiss turned out to be a great utility character who was excellent at playing a support role.

So how did the funnel go?  Aels betrayed the party at a key moment and not surprisingly met a gruesome (no, seriously GRUESOME) fate that he clearly deserved.  Ehns bucked the spirit of the game by in fact being a heroine!  We played for about 5 hours and through 4 3/4 of those hours Ehns was a tank that absolutely demolished every obstacle in the party's way...but man those last 15 minutes were rough.  Ehns squared off against the adventure's big bad and fell to a single crushing blow.  I have to say it was really impactful, no pun intended, because as soon as she died the entire rest of the group seemed very aware of how much danger they were in.  RIP Ehns, you were too good for this world.  And so we come to Vandiss.  Vandiss spent most of their time on the fringes avoiding direct confrontation and not being particularly brave or cowardly.  In our first of two sessions Vandiss did manage to get off an attack with some flash powder that greatly assisted the melee characters in the group, so overall they had a positive impact on the group as a whole, but they also made the decision in the closing moments of the final battle that there was in fact no place like home and broke for Stennard before the battle's conclusion.

Overall I really enjoyed The Precipice Of Corruption and anyone looking to run a Dungeon Crawl Classic funnel should definitely pick it up at Precipice Of Corruption 

I also really like the figures I painted up to sit on my desk alongside me while we streamed this game and highly recommend this box set from Fireforge Games for anyone looking for 0 level characters for their low level RPGs or specifically Dungeon Crawl Classic funnels.  It's a rare box set that includes both male and female figures as well as a mix of both actual and improvised weapons.

And as always I picked these miniatures up from my Friendly Local Game Store.  Please support both your FLGS and small publishers online!

Thanks for checking in

-Jay

Review - The Stennard Courier Vol. 1

 Today I'm looking at the newest release from Nick Baran at Breaker Press Games; The Stennard Courier Vol. 1.

The Stennard Courier is a 'zine that continues to flesh out Breaker Press' grim and grimy fantasy setting for Dungeon Crawl Classics.  The 'zine describes the town of Stennard one of the principal early locations of a current ongoing series of adventures and campaign materials in what feels like a very old-school fantasy setting.  For adventurers playing in Breaker Press' game world Stennard is likely to be their first base of operations, and a likely starting location with all the features a low-level party will need between adventures.

The Stennard Courier itself is a 40 page 'zine that is absolutely PACKED with; NPCs, rumours, adventure hooks, world building, and commerce.  It's the exact kind of campaign starting point that every RPG box set or GM guide should include to give players and game masters the kind of world that feels full and lived-in to establish the tone of the game.  Within it's 40 pages the Stennard Courier gives 11 detailed locations (with additional allusions to other areas), 11 detailed NPCs (again with more from other Breaker Press products alluded to), as well as 12 separate lists of rumours (enough for an entire campaign), and price lists for 3 local businesses.  As I mentioned before this is the exact kind of supplement that a GM needs to make their game world feel more 'real' and less like a series of disconnected quests or missions.  The overall quality of the writing is outstanding with rich full descriptions of NPCs and their locations laid out in a clear easy to understand format that will make the material extremely easy for a GM to integrate into their own campaign.  The artwork has an old-school aesthetic to it that immediately puts me in the mind of the original Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

Overall the Stennard Courier is a must-have for anyone looking for a starting/home location for a low-level fantasy RPG, as well as being an excellent reference for anyone looking to create their own small town in terms of what both completeness and utility should look like.

The Stennard Courier Vol. 1 is currently available directly from Breaker Press Games at: https://breakerpress.storenvy.com/products/34299427-the-stennard-courier-vol-1-pdf

As well as via DriveThruRPG at: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/378456/The-Stennard-Courier-Vol-1--BPGDCZ004?term=stennard

For a small indie business that already has a track record of outstanding releases this might just be their best and most useful yet!

-Jay

A new warrior!

A fiend of mine is getting ready to run a Dungeon Crawl Classics one-shot for Halloween and I needed to create a new 3rd level character.  I think as far as Dungeon Crawl Classics is concerned I've only ever had one character legitimately 'earn' his way up to 3rd level so a one-shot is my best chance to play a mid to high level character.

Oddly enough even though in D&D I regularly play fairly vanilla human fighters I've never played a simple warrior in DCC.  That is until now.  Meet Fergal:

Fergal is a Reaper Bones human paladin miniature that I got to try something new on.  Originally I planned to go with the same blue shield and tabbard as my last few fantasy figures again with an eye towards eventually re-purposing them as a warband but then I took a slight turn.  I've always liked the idea of white clothes for fantasy holy warriors but I've never been able to do an even passable job painting white on miniatures.  This time out I decided to try the new Citadel Contrast Apothecary White paint.  I'm fairly happy with how it turned out and I may try it again on another model soon.

Anyway Fergal's got; his sword, his board and he's ready to lay waste to some monsters.  Either that or meet the fate of most DCC characters and go to the graveyard or ripped up character sheets.

-Jay

Zoe's World - Skeleton

After another brief sabbatical from the hobby Zoe asked me about painting some more figures from out of the blue last week.  At the conclusion of her last batch of painting I had her pick out another group of models so I could prep them ahead of time and this worked out great!  It meant as soon as she felt like painting I already had 5 models based and primed and ready for her her to go.

Zoe's painting options were; Human Female War Cleric, Griff-hound, Medusa, Orc or Skeleton.  She chose to start with the Skeleton but she did manage to make a bit of progress on the Medusa as well.

The skeleton is a Reaper Bones model and I have to say for a small very inexpensive figure it was really good.  All the depth of detail was fully realised and in spite of multiple small-narrow points on the model there was virtually no bending out of the package.

Although the Skeleton is a far simpler more basic model than a lot of what Zoe has painted in the past painting it actually show a tremendous amount of growth and learning on her part.  She drybrushed the Skeleton proper and for her first time did not go overly heavy on the paint during a drybrush.  She also chose a light pink colour for the shield which required multiple (four or five, I can't remember) thin layers of paint to get a consistent colour.  Compared to her previous pastel coloured Unicorn you can really see improvement in her technique which yielded a smoother crisper result.

She's going to have quite the eclectic model collection if she ever decides to jump in and start playing miniature games.

-Jay
 

Satanic Panic 2019 edition (sorry, not sorry)

This is a follow up to my post from yesterday (mild spoilers for Winter's Splendor ahead).

For Winter's Splendor I needed some fairly northern/wintery themed monsters which for the most part I already had, I won't list or show them for fear of ruining the impact of their potential appearance.

I did however need 2 new miniatures, 1 of which I had meant to add to my collection for sometime and 1 of which I ended up compromising on because I couldn't find anything quite right.  In addition to it's wintery creatures Winter's Splendor features some fiends to pop up and challenge the players.

The smaller of my two fiends is my stand-in for one of the Imps.  I like this miniature (it's from the WizKids pre-painted line of young adventurers and animal companions) and his mischievous grin suited my Imp quite well.  But...he's actually meant to be the Imp from the front cover of the module, which if you haven't seen it is an Imp in a Nutcracker costume.  What struck me as odd was that I was prepping to run this adventure in the 2 weeks leading up to Christmas and I couldn't find a small enough Nutcracker toy ANYWHERE.  I had something like a Kinder Surprise toy in mind but just couldn't find anything suitably Imp-sized.  If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them, even though I've already run the adventure it now feels like a model that's 'missing' from my collection.

The larger fiend is one of the Nephilim models from Malifaux.  Historically my D&D games have not included a lot of demons and devils so I've never needed miniatures for them but in the last year I've run 2 published adventures that required a small-to-medium sized devil and really needed to add on.  This model fit the bill perfectly and has me looking at adding another Malifaux Nephilim even though I'm not sure I need it for anything anytime soon.

That wraps up Winter's Splendor for me.  I'm actually thinking ahead (for a change) and am looking at some Valentine themed adventures to potentially run as another one-shot in February.

-Jay

Clarence the Cleric of Cthulhu

My buddy Darren had wanted to do an OLD (40 years old) D&D adventure from Judges Guild using the Dungeon Crawl Classics rules.  A group of us each rolled up characters the way the ancients intended (3d6 in order rolled) and I ended up with a cleric.

I have a lot of experience playing Clerics in other game systems but Dungeon Crawl Classics can yield some odd (and harsh) results.  Clarence's pre-adventuring 'profession' was a slave so I wanted him to have a very rough appearance.  Statistically he was also on  the low end of the spectrum with all 3 of his physical traits being below 10.

I decided to build a figure out of the Bretonian Men-At-Amrs (why didn't I buy more of those when they were around?) as the equipment would look right, but it would also be easy to end up with a poor, rough looking fellow.

Overall I'm happy with how Clarence turned out as a miniature and he was CRAZY effective in our game!  I had generally terrible luck with my rolls in combat as well as my saving throws but if I recall correctly EVERY roll I made to either cast a spell or turn unholy yielded a result of 19 or higher!  In Dungeon Crawl Classics your spells and turn effects become significantly more powerful if you roll high numbers.

Tegal Manor was conceived as a one-shot so I don't know if Clarence will ever return but I would certainly enjoy using the character again.

-Jay

Ranger of many systems!

I had actually prepped this miniature months ago with the thought of using it for a D&D game but in the end opted out and went with the figure that became Rolf Rolfsson.  He's been sitting primed without a purpose on my desk since then and the upcoming release of Rangers Of Shadow Deep made me decide to finally slap some paint on him thinking he might end up being the titular Ranger leading my warband.

I've lost track but this is either the third or fourth different miniature I've painted that is based off the 'Valeros Iconic Fighter' from Pathfinder.  Its the current WizKids Pathfinder model and like all of its predecessors works really well for a lot of adventurers due to his piecemeal armour and full assortment of weapons.

Hopefully this guy will work out and I'll eventually settle on a name.

-Jay

Monster Manual (barely) Advent Calendar - Day 24

Cambion (...but really....it's Venger)

Sticking with my theme today finale is the Cambion.  The Cambion is the offspring of a humanoid and a fiend.  Basically the demonic version of a half-elf.  So...in a Monster Manual context this figure is a Cambion but for purposes of my gaming; he's Venger.

Back in the 80's during one of the first rises in popularity of D&D an animated show aired in which the recurring  villain was a demonic sorcerer named Venger.  The show only aired for a single season but managed to roll out a lot of classic D&D tropes and monsters all with Venger standing in the  background.  Interesting bit of trivia (that I may have mentioned in another post); the voice actor for Venger was Peter Cullen who is far better known as the voice of Optimus Prime.

This miniature is from Antediluvian Miniatures, a company any fan of classic fantasy rpgs should look to for miniatures.  I made one minor change, the original figure had 2 horns on his head but the character I am using him as has only 1 horn so I removed one.

-Jay

Monster Manual Advent Calendar - Day 23

Yet another Owlbear!

You know how sometimes you can be very descriptive and specific about why you like something, and sometimes you just like it because you like it?  For me since my earliest days in D&D I've just liked the Owlbear because I like it. 

The Owlbear is exactly what it sounds like.  A hybrid creature that is part owl, part bear.  Over the years the Owlbear has appeared as a wilderness encounter in almost every non-horror campaign I've run.

This particular Owlbear is something slightly new for me.  I've painted  a number of Owlbears over the years but they have always been posed up on their hind legs poised to attack.  This Owlbear is in a more  bear-like pose and in spite of being my fourth or fifth Owlbear model feels unique and different.

The Owlbear is definitely my personal favourite D&D monster, what's yours?

-Jay

Monster Manual Advent Calendar - Day 20

Lich/Demi-Lich

Oops.  I definitely hit a wall and missed a few days there, sorry about that.

Today's addition feels a bit like it straddles the line between the Lich and the Demi-Lich.  The Lich is an ancient wizard who has used magic to grant himself a sort of immortality but in comparison to many other immortal creatures the Lich's immortality is a bit cheap and second-rate.  Although Liches are extremely powerful spell-casters they are also undead and not even vaguely human anymore. 

Liches have long been a staple high-level boss monster in D&D due to the fact that even if they are completely destroyed, if the vessel they have placed their soul in is still intact they can remake themselves and return to torment their 'destroyers'.  They are an easy go to for a recurring villain in any campaign.

For my Lich I've gone a bit outside the box and used Games Workshop's new Wraith model.  Truthfully this model is a bit more ghosty and insubstantial than a traditional Lich but I really like the skull and general feeling of malevolence this figure  projects.

-Jay

Monster Manual Advent Calendar - Day 16

The Peryton

Now we're getting into strange mythological hybrids.  The Peryton is a beast with the body and wings of a bird and the head of a stag.

When I originally got into D&D the first two things I got were the red box D&D Basic Set and a copy of Dragon Magazine #80.  I was immediately hooked on Dragon as in those pre-internet days the magazine's content was a window into games and worlds beyond my immediate game group.  One of the regular features was "Ecology Of ........" a series of articles where in game academics such as wizards and alchemists would discuss various creatures inhabiting the worlds of (at the time) Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms.  If I recall correctly that first issue featured the Doppelganger but the a few issues later I got a creature I'd never heard of before  but became instantly fascinated with; The Peryton.  First of all the Peryton got in my head because it was the first fully developed fantasy creature I had read about that I didn't already have some sort of passing familiarity with from books or movies.  In addition two of the Peryton's special features struck then 12 year old me as so alien and terrifying that I immediately felt like it was one of the most malign and evil things in Dungeons & Dragons.  The first feature  was that it's diet was not the flesh of its enemies but specifically their hearts, that just weirded me out.  But the second feature (to me anyway) was pure nightmare fuel; the Peryton casts the shadow of an average man.  I don't know why but something about that relatively minor detail struck me as the most actively deceptive and evil idea I'd been exposed to to that point in my life.  To this day 30+ years later the idea that anything can cast the shadow of something else remains my most Lovecraftian nightmare.

This particular Peryton is from the Reaper Bones line and painting it has made me realise two things:
1.  I am 100% certainly going to use this monster in a game sooner rather than later.
2.  I need to contact the retailer I purchased this from and see if I can get the metal version to replace this guy.
This is unfortunately one of those cases where the Bones medium did not yield a great result on the finished product.   I LOVE this creature and this model  is certainly serviceable but I would really like to have a much crisper cast of this model to bring out ALL the detail.

-Jay

Monster Manual Advent Calendar - Day 15

Troll

The Troll is one of those classic D&D monsters that many players will remember as their first encounter with something that could heal and regenerate damage, which could ultimately be incredibly frustrating.  When I first started playing D&D and none of us were very meta or rules-savvy I remember our group defeating a Troll and then carrying on only to get ambushed from behind by the Troll we thought we had killed while fighting other monsters.

This particular Troll is the WizKids  model for the D&D unpainted miniature line.  I choose it because the look of it is a great throwback to the original Troll artwork.  Having said  that Trolls are one of those miniature where I feel like we're spoiled for good choices.  Games Workshop's current Trolls for Warhammer as well as Lord Of The Rings are all great models.

-Jay

Monster Manual Advent Calendar - Day 14

Goblin

When I plotted this advent calendar idea out my initial plan was to bookend the series with the Orc and the Goblin, but I've since decided to finish with a different model so the goblin is showing up today.
Goblins are one of the most classic-stock low-level monsters in any fantasy RPG or miniature game.  Over the years a lot of companies have done a lot of different visual takes on goblins.  As much as I like Games Workshop's Night Goblins my favourite look for goblins over the years has been Paizo's take on goblins for Pathfinder.

The Pathfinder goblin is simultaneously menacing with a giant mouth full of teeth while also being sort of comical looking with it's Stewie Griffin style head.  In regular Dungeons & Dragons the goblin is a simple low level monster that doesn't really do anything fancy.  If however you're playing Pathfinder goblins do pick up some extra abilities and even had a supplement dedicated to making full proper characters of them.

-Jay

Monster Manual Advent Calendar - Day 13

BANSHEE!

The Banshee is one of the classic old school monsters that I have actually used in a fair number of games.
They were background characters in any adventure/story involving our good friend Lord Soth as well as being featured in one of the first third party D20 adventures I ever purchased and ran (the name escapes me at the moment).

The Banshee's key ability beyond its ghostly touch and terrifying presence is that its wail can outright drop a PC to 0 hit points with one failed saving throw.  Its yet another potentially instantly lethal monster.

This Banshee model is by Games Workshop and I have to say I really like it.  Its got some rotting clothes and a gaunt face to highlight its undead nature in addition to being posed like its floating rather than walking.  I can't help but feel there some inspiration from Galadriel here which is why I choose most of the colours I did.  My only break with that was red hair to both give the model some contrast and because there's a certain 'forlorn' castle I might want to use this fig with for a D&D game down the road.

-Jay

Monster Manual Advent Calendar - Day 11

Time to start getting into the 'weird' stuff; Umber Hulk

Today's addition to the Monster Manual collection is old school D&D stalwart the Umber Hulk.

The Umber Hulk is one of the strange creations from the early days of D&D that takes a fairly basic monster concept and gives it a slight twist.  The Umber Hulk is a typically brutish creature in the same vein as an Ogre or a Troll but adds in it's "Confusing Gaze" special ability.  The creature has an almost hypnotic effect on anyone who can see it's eyes, it can't actually control them but anyone looking at am Umber Hulk's eyes can become disoriented and somewhat foggy-headed.

This particular Umber Hulk model is from the new WizKids line.  I really like the figure and it held detail really well but there is one potential shortcoming with it.  The left mandible drops below the level of the base provided with the figure which means it used as-is out of the pack the miniature will not sit flat on a gaming surface.  Because my figures are all mounted on Games Workshop bases (which are slightly elevated to begin with) with a layer of plasti-card on top it wasn't an issue for me but anyone who like these things table ready out of the pack might be a little disappointed.

-Jay

Monster Manual Advent Calendar - Day 10

The Gorgon

The Gorgon is one of those extremely striking creatures because it blends the familiar and the unnatural.  In basic appearance it is an over sized bull which a party of armed adventurers might not find intimidating until you add in the fact that it's skin is some form of iron or steel.  The Gorgon is an actual living monstrosity and not some sort of mechanical life form so it's just generally kind of hard for players to figure out the first time they encounter one.

The Gorgon is one of classic role-playing's truly horrific monsters.  I always found that anything that had the an ability to take a character out on one or two unlucky rolls of the dice was always more frightening than something that was just tough and dealt a lot of damage.  The Gorgon has the ability to breathe a noxious green gas that forces players to save against its effect.  If the save is failed the affected character is petrified and begins to turn to stone.  There are a number of creatures with similar abilities but what makes The Gorgon so much worse is that ones foes are turned to stone it smashes them and eats the stone fragments.  So unlike other creatures where you have an almost unlimited amount of time to find some way to magically restore an affected character, with The Gorgon you only have until it gets hungry.

This particular Gorgon is Reaper's 'Brass Bull' model.  This is one of those large models where the Bones resin/vinyl really is the best choice.  The metal version would be heavy and cumbersome and probably prone to chipping given all the points on the model.  In addition this is a pretty big figure (the base it's on here is a 65mm GW base)  and at this size this miniature was only about $6.50 so a lot of bang for the buck.

-Jay