funded Reaper Bones 5: Enthusiasm and Commentary thread

[Doug Sundseth]

17 minutes ago, Skallabjorn said:

BB apparently adds a hardening agent as well, would be my guess.

 

I don't think so, rather it leaves out the plasticizer. PVC is naturally pretty rigid if you don't play with its consistency.

[Skallabjorn]

Just now, Doug Sundseth said:

 

I don't think so, rather it leaves out the plasticizer. PVC is naturally pretty rigid if you don't play with its consistency.

Thanks, as I said, it was a guess.

[Doug Sundseth]

Just now, Skallabjorn said:

Thanks, as I said, it was a guess.

 

NP.

 

I'm pretty sure that it's the plasticizer that makes it hard to lay down the first coat on regular Bones figures, and I've been playing with ways to mitigate that (isopropyl alcohol bath seems to work pretty well), so I've been paying some attention.

[Evilbookworm]

1 hour ago, Rob Dean said:

 

Cedar Point; haven't been there in decades, but, yes, an amusement park day is probably pretty pricey these days, and comparable to shows, etc.  

 

If by "slow burn purchases" you mean that a computer game will last quite a while before it's been "burned out" for you, then miniatures should be similar in the long run.  So, yes, compared to that background, this could certainly seem like a lot of money dropped at once.  (We will also hope that you maintain your interest for the next 18 months--what sort of miniatures work are you doing now?)  After nearly 50 years in "this hobby" (since 1971), I'm confident that my interest will be sustained, as long as I remain capable of painting and/or playing, but it's not a small commitment if you're newer.  Hanging out here is a good way to stay enthusiastic...

 

Chris Palmer posted a few pictures from our recent game day, which I mention because the game I'm playing in them was originally designed to be part of a $100 challenge (less paint): 

https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/64666-house-tabletop-opens-the-gameroom-come-on-in-and-talk-gaming-and-paint/&do=findComment&comment=1874872

 

Chris, by the way, has a long running blog on painting Bones, and he uses the craft acrylics:

 

http://allbonesabout.blogspot.com/

 

Personally, I love the Reaper paints, especially the time you can save for gaming with the paint triads, but it is an area in which some economy can be practiced.  (The other is to paint from a limited collection--I take ~20 colors with me when I travel, for example: https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/72131-travel-paint-kit/)

 

Anyway, welcome to the friendliest forum discussing the greatest hobby. 

 

 

 

My imagination has been prodded by this one in a way that Bones 4, for some reason, didn't.  Sadly, the real question is whether I will still feel that way when things finally deliver.  

Nice!  Glad to see I'm not the only one who uses delta.  I remember seeing it in a forum about good low cost alternative paints for 40k minis. (Never really got into it).  For myself, I use these minis almost exclusively for D&d, villains and the pc minis.  I think that's where my problem is.  600$ is a great value if you paint them all, but I've literally painted 0 of bones 4, though I do have some plans for a few of them at least.

 

I also have mythic battles pantheon, the dark souls board game, the bloodborne board game on the way, deep madness, and middara on the way.  So I have so many minis, and most will never see use.  

[Disciple of Sakura]

On 11/2/2019 at 4:25 PM, YronimosW said:

 

Yeah, that price increase matches the premium commanded by Bones minis in the online shop exactly - it seems that Bones customers like the increase in quality that Bones Black adds, but not the extra cost!

 

I definitely feel like Reaper's reached the limits of their backers' ability to fund the project.  That's why I'm suspecting that new backers are the ones who are probably carrying this Kickstarter.  There were a lot of people saying they would sit this Kickstarter out because they had most of what they wanted already, and didn't have the money this time around.  And there were a LOT of backers who wanted in for a dollar now, but didn't want to commit to anything until after the Kickstarter ended, and still more backers who are making excuses not to spend money on expansions, encounters, etc.  I don't know how many of these backers have changed their mind or will before the very end - how much of those sorts of comments was just talk - but I can't help thinking that experienced backers really are spending less this Kickstarter.

 

I can't speak for others, but I've been a backer since Bones 2, and I've progressively spent more each KS. I'm at about $650 in the PM right now, though I was only able to back for $300 in the KS itself. I'm not sure how I'll be able to fund it all, but here's hoping I can pick up some solid OT soon from work.

On 11/2/2019 at 4:27 PM, Rainbow Sculptor said:

Yes, the figures are all mine and the terrain is Bob Ridolfi's.

The Matron is totally going to be painted based on Rita Repulsa...

[Skallabjorn]

As far as the Chronoscope stuff goes, there are multiple ways to put it all to use within one game system:

 

Time/dimension/probability travel. Probably the easiest, as you can go either direction with it. Welles' Time Machine, Trek TOS or Next Gen. Also Moorcock's Eternal Champion cycle.

Holodeck/Simulator/Theme Park scenarios: Again TREK, plus Westworld, Jurassic Park, Lost World, Pellucidar, etc.

For SF explorers, Alien worlds at a lower tech level, 

For cyberpunk - a Netrun/hack where the programmer forced a specific genre in the web.

 

As far as firearms in heroic fantasy, gunpowder was invented in China around 700 CE. It was first used in warfare in the mid 900s. The exclusion of black powder from most fantasy is an aesthetic choice. Jack Vance's Dying Earth series (on which AD&D was strongly based, as Gygax was a fan) is actually a post-apocalyptic setting, after multiple high tech civilizations have developed, decayed and been replaced by others. Another example of this is the Warhammer 40k universe. Roger Zelazny's Amber Chronicles also touch on these ideas.

 

For Chronoscope, IMO, the question is not "How do I use this?" but "How do I WANT to use this?". These are just examples off the top of my head.  The "Monster Hunter International" series by Larry Correa, "Ring of Fire" by Eric Flint", "Rats, Bats, and Vats" from Dave Freer, all good sources. A good GM plagiarizes EVERYBODY and EVERYTHING.

 

And don't forget, Lovecraft's work was partially Fantasy, partially Science Fiction. Clarke's Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".

 

Really good systems, IMO, that allow for this are GURPS, Savage Worlds, and  Amber Diceless (All of Which I have played), And from what I have read, Rolemaster/Spacemaster, Palladium, and d20 OGL.

Edited November 3, 2019 by Skallabjorn

[ShaneB]

Here's a first run at a spreadsheet list of all the minis in Bones 5.  I play D&D 5e, so the extra fields work mostly around that system, but they could be useful for sorting otherwise.

 

Reaper didn't put names on as many of these minis as last time, so there's a lot of minis named "Grave Knight 3" or similar.  I tried to track down everything currently available in one of the metal lines, and name it according to its name in that version.

 

The numbering scheme for the Options also wound up so big (due to all the minis in the Encounter sets) that it overlapped with the numbers for the Dungeon Dwellers set.  I don't know if that's a problem for Reaper's management of the Kickstarter.  If it is, they'll change it and I'll have to change the numbers.

 

Let me know if you see anything I missed.  Hope this is useful,

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Tza7h0aj-icHh-rD2z5RM6E-DQmMqR3g

[Skallabjorn]

4 minutes ago, ShaneB said:

Here's a first run at a spreadsheet list of all the minis in Bones 5.

Nice

[TheAuldGrump]

10 hours ago, Skallabjorn said:

 

Hmmm. 

'Harvest festival/County fair:

Parking: 5-10$

Admission: 10-25$

Food (per person):15$ plus

Games/rides, etc: 10$+ per person

You and one companion: 75$ - 95$+ per person.

 

This is excluding any merch, raffles, special admission events, etc. It is just spread out a bit more, so you don't notice it as much. FFS, at most of these events, a drink, some food and a sweet can hit 20$ per person, easy.

 

This is for somethimg that happens ONCE and then is just a memory. Your bones (loot, trove, hoard, collection,use the term you like) is with you and continues to give satisfaction until you choose to pass it on to others, as a gift or for profit (then you get that additional satisfaction). Difference, to me, is exponential.

 

The most I have ever spent taking Megan out was last December, when I took her to The Victorian Nutcracker, because she had never, ever seen The Nutcracker Suite.

 

Tickets came to $75, dinner came to about $50, drinks after... maybe another $25? Less than a day at Disneyworld, I think.

 

The night I took her to Jack - a ballet about Jack the Ripper - would have been more expensive, but I won those tickets. (Jack was astonishingly good - there is a scene where they used red silk for the blood, he sweeps his arm and the red unfolds from her neck. The only 'gore' in the entire production.)

 

The Auld Grump

[Green Eyed Monster]

1 minute ago, TheAuldGrump said:

The most I have ever spent taking Megan out was last December, when I took her to The Victorian Nutcracker, because she had never, ever seen The Nutcracker Suite.

 

Tickets came to $75, dinner came to about $50, drinks after... maybe another $25? Less than a day at Disneyworld, I think.

 

The night I took her to Jack - a ballet about Jack the Ripper - would have been more expensive, but I won those tickets. (Jack was astonishingly good - there is a scene where they used red silk for the blood, he sweeps his arm and the red unfolds from her neck. The only 'gore' in the entire production.)

 

The Auld Grump

Just the tickets for a day at Disneyworld are going to run you what you spent for the whole of the Nutcracker entertainment.

GEM

By comparison, this Kickstarter is a bargain.

[Corsair]

I have seen so many comments from friends here about not wanting specific parts of different expansions, that I think when we finally get to the delivery time in 2021 that I will start a FB page for those of us here to make trades/deals. That way we respect Reaper's policy of no sales/trades here and can still work with those we trust.

 

I was glad to see at least that Chrono received some thought in breaking up the groupings this time.

[TheAuldGrump]

7 hours ago, kerthnk said:

I just did 120, will add more in PM as funds allow.

 

I definitely want the ship,  however I hope it doesn't end up like Baba Yaga's hut in Bones 4, where everything was glued and ended up a 2lb useless hunk of plastic. Totally un-playable, and very mediocre sculpt. If they do it right it would be a great competitor to the falling star. At the KS price it is a steal (if it is playable).

Baba Yaga's Hut isn't completely unusable - and paints up rather nicely.

 

But, that said - it was poorly designed in regards to weight, and needs more work to balance than should be the case. I had to sink the legs in boiling water to straighten them out, and add a tree to act as a third leg, to prevent it from slowly tipping forward again.

 

Reaper claims a miscommunication, and I do believe them, but it should have been avoidable.

 

The end result is quite nice, not a mediocre sculpt at all. Nicely textured, and paints up easily.

 

Just a harder job than it should have been.

 

The Auld Grump

7 hours ago, criticalhit said:

I feel like the female Landsknecht in the Fan Favorite Expansion will be one of the most underrated best miniatures in this Kickstarter.

I already called dibs on her.

 

The Auld Grump

5 hours ago, turbocooler said:

 

Nope, I have a 5e starter set and have given many away for gifts to help others get started.  They are all the same color the color just happens to be random.  For example, all red, all blue, all white.  I have at least in my experience never seen a 5e starter with mixed dice.  The different colors does not bother me but I like the solid colors so I as a DM I know which belong to which player.

I think they just represent the dice that Sophie has the 'best luck' with. The ones that didn't kill the party when being attacked by ducks, and didn't make the big bad slip on a banana peel and impale himself on his own sword during the climactic battle.

 

I know Megan has favorite dice - whether lucky or not - but for me... dice are random number generators, first and last, so I grab randomly from a huge pile of dice.

 

The Auld Grump

[TripleH]

14 minutes ago, Corsair said:

I have seen so many comments from friends here about not wanting specific parts of different expansions, that I think when we finally get to the delivery time in 2021 that I will start a FB page for those of us here to make trades/deals. That way we respect Reaper's policy of no sales/trades here and can still work with those we trust.

 

I was glad to see at least that Chrono received some thought in breaking up the groupings this time.

 

There is already page that exists: Buy/sell of Reaper Miniatures and other minis.

[TaleSpinner]

20 hours ago, GHarris said:

 

Thank you sir! Your mermaid bar is looking fantastic, were there any other goodies in the Kickstarter that you worked on that I missed?

 

Thanks. My sculpts were the Goroloth, Arakoth the Spider, Catoblepas, and the bar. 

 

 

12 hours ago, Tordelback said:

Talespinner,  your bar is magnificent. Did you do the Black Freighter raft too? 

 

Thanks.  No just the bar in that expansion. That was enough; got my carpal tunnel all inflamed trying to get it all presentable in time.  I only got the commission from Ron last Sunday. 

 

 

9 hours ago, TGP said:

 

*** Looks bashful ***

 

@TaleSpinner ummm, I might already be done drawing this...

 

 

 

Great idea, thanks. I put your art in my reference file. I think it will actually solve an issue I’m having and meet one of Ron’s requirements in that the maid is supposed to be a bit tongue in cheek, like a Bigmouth Billy Bass. I’ll run it past Ron. 

[TheAuldGrump]

4 hours ago, Rob Dean said:

So, back at the dawn of time, polyhedrals were hard to find, and TSR sold them along with the LBB rules.  They all came from some science supplier, and all had the same color set: yellow d4, pink d6, green d8, blue d12, and white d20. The d10 as we know it today was still years in the future...

 

Of my first set, I still have the 4,8, and 12:

 

 

A little worse for the wear, to be sure.  I don’t recall when we started seeing other dice..

Those were my first polyhedral dice as well - old enough that the D4 had a visible finger print from the sculptor.

 

They started out with nice crisp edges, but the plastic was fragile enough that over time, well - look at the above.

 

My next set were from Armory - and were much, much better. Then Game Science and Lou Zocchi came out with much better dice, around 1980 or so.

 

Then Koplow, then Chessex.

 

Chessex remains my go-to dice.

 

The Auld Grump -- generally Black and White, Black and Red, or White and Black... I like boring dice - except for my glow-in-the-dark ones, me preciousssss!

Edited November 4, 2019 by TheAuldGrump