Magnificent Multi-Part Fantasy Minis On The Way From WizKids
August 3, 2021 by avernos
WizKids has been producing some terrific one-piece plastics for players of RPGs for a while now, the Dungeons & Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Miniatures has been gratefully received by Games Masters across the world as they have been able to easily fill their tabletop games with cheap models that still look good.
Balor // Wizkids
In an article on Games Radar Wizkids have announced that by the end of 2021 there will be two new ranges to help gamers get miniatures on the table for their games and to help new players and GMs who maybe haven't been involved in the hobby before to easily individualise their figures and get them painted. First up is a new paint range in collaboration with Vallejo.
Prismatic Paint Range // Vallejo & WizKids
The Prismatic paint range will contain 60 paints, available as individual dropper pots and also two 30 bottle sets the Starter Case, which includes 30 basic colours and serves as an entry-level option. The second is an intermediate bundle with 30 more complex effects, I imagine that will contain washes and effects paints as well as traditional paints but twenty of the line will be completely new. One of the things they have stated is that they will not be naming the paints with strange paint names making it easier for new gamers to step in without having to puzzle out what colour noxious kobold sweat is! I for one appreciate that weird names help nobody keep track of what they are using.
Frameworks // Wizkids
Now onto the meat of this hobby meal, the new Frameworks miniatures will come with a variety of components that allow individuality and variety in the build of both smaller groups of monsters and of the Player Character heroes themselves. There is no talk yet on what the material will be, whether hard plastic styrene sprues or something more akin to the current softer plastic, but regardless of what they use it certainly offers up a lot of possibilities for gamers to define their characters exactly as they want them without having to do more complex re-sculpts or kit bashing.
There are also additional pieces going to be included on the sprues so sets of arrows, mushrooms, and similar detritus will be available in differing numbers that can be dropped onto bases to mark out different models to track stats and wounds without having to number or add other things to the bases and that is a subtle inclusion that will come in very handy for GMs.
The Frameworks range will feature single characters, box sets of groups like orcs and kobolds, and also larger sets that all will include a ton of details and opens up the options for not just roleplayers but a wide range of gamers, and despite the D&D branding the team are aiming to make them game agnostic so whether you plan on running a game of Pathfinder, Tunnels & Trolls or even playing a skirmish game like Frostgrave you will find a large variety of kits coming that should help you.
I am going to be keeping an eye on WizKids frameworks to see what comes down the line as it could be an excellent resource for gamers but for now, I shall leave you with the rest of the model renders to drool over.
"it certainly offers up a lot of possibilities for gamers to define their characters exactly as they want them without having to do more complex re-sculpts or kit bashing."
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Wow, I never thought I would see WizKids commit to an entire line of multi-part miniatures. They seem to be betting on their consumer base being receptive to a bit of hobby crafting. Time will tell!
this is only part of what is slated for the first wave, I think the plan is for a wave every 5-6 months, but they said a lot is up in the air with manufacturing at the moment due to covid
Interesting. Depending on the cost this could be great. Some tiny magnets might make these in to versatile minis.
I’m liking the figures is the prismatic paint just a name or is that the effect they have in the paint mix?
just a name, they’ll be vallejo acrylics
Ooh shame some of the other ranges have tecnical paints in their range including those you guy’s sell on the OTT STORE.
I’ve got the blue for doing Papa Smurf eventually Ha
Looks like wizkids trying to complete with 3d printing. Allow the player to build the mini that fits their character which is not a bad thing.
Although I’ve toyed with the idea to 3D printing, the initial cost and seeming unreliability of the printers at present puts me off.
If they truly wanted to make it beginner-friendly, they would do a paint-by-numbers type of thing like you find in some Tamiya or Italeri model kits. in the sprue diagram or a sketch of the final assembly, they show what color each part should be. They could do this as a video and provide a QR code to the painting tutorial for that specific model. I believe people starting out would be more attracted if they had a step-by-step tutorial showing them exactly how to paint and with what color palette. Maybe they intend to do just that but it… Read more »
Those look really good. I like direction that WK has taken.
This looks interesting, i’ll keep an eye out, could be good for kitbashing with the leftover pieces
I have several Nolzur’s figures and while the larger monsters are pretty solid, the smaller figures are pretty soft. This is certainly not helped by the hydrophobic primer they heavily coat the miniatures in. Here’s hoping they learn some lessons there.
I’ve only recently purchased and painted some of their mini’s. My experience is a bit mixed, but overall positive. I found there were many difficult mouldlines to remove, but the sculpts and detail were very nice. I understand they are pretty cheap in theory, but unfortunatly haven’t found a european retailer yet that comes close to suggested price. This will mean I’ll only buy what I really need. For the money I wouldn’t mind some extra prep work, but as it is there’s often better alternatives. I hope this changes. If anyone knows a good EU retailer let me know.… Read more »
I will ALWAYS be thankful to Wizkids for prepainted minis. I sure hope they continue that as well. I tried the painting hobby and simply hated it. I WANTED to enjoy it so much, but it just isn’t me. I want to grab the minis and start playing. Assembly and painting is not relaxing for me and, worst of all, it cuts into my limited gaming time. I envy those that enjoy the hobby, but it will never be me. So I’m very happy that Wizkids is branching out and offering these cool looking hobby minis to those that will… Read more »
If you sell me a beholder kit with 22 options for eye stalks then guess what? From now on all beholders have 22 eye stalks.
“ There is no talk yet on what the material will be, whether hard plastic styrene sprues or something more akin to the current softer plastic”
Wizkids press release says the material is HIPS.