WizKids has recently produced an article looking at some updates to the pre-painted HeroClix collection starting with X-Men and the House Of X line. Things are getting a lot more detailed when it comes to their pre-painted offerings!

Apocalypse // HeroClix

In the article that went live HERE the team talk about the different ways they have been improving the visuals of their pre-paints for the HeroClix range which you would imagine is also going to filter down into their board games and such too.

Definition and attention to detail were the first things they talked about, especially when you see the way muscles look across the characters as well as items of clothing and armour. For example, with Apocalypse above you can see a lot more detail worked into the muscles to make him feel like an unstoppable titan.

Jean Grey // HeroClix

The team has also worked on things like posing and such to make each character feel a little more unique and natural. Jean Grey (above) has been posed so she's in the middle of using her powers and you'll notice that there is much more definition between the fingers, with her hair and of course on the face.

Another thing to be pointed out is that they've also worked on the general paint quality of the miniatures too. Lines look a lot cleaner and a lot of attention has been paid to faces in particular. You can actually make out eyes, noses, lips and expressions on the faces which is always good to see.

Jubilee // HeroClix

The team have also started taking on board plenty of painting techniques that hobbyists are familiar with. Instead of just flat colours on their miniatures they've started to throw in shading through the use of washes and dry brushing in order to bring out the raised areas of miniatures.

Gambit // HeroClix

This kind of technique is getting introduced not only to the miniatures themselves but also their ability effects too. So, the likes of Gambits flash of cards will have a little bit more definition to them. It's hard to pick it out here in some of these images but they do show a vast improvement over the previous HeroClix entries.

If you're interested in these close-ups you can also check out some comparisons to the older figures in the line HERE too...

Before & After // HeroClix

As you can see, a vast improvement in terms of scale and definition that makes the miniatures feel less like cheap toys and more like hobby collectables which you'd be happy to have on the tabletop when playing games.

Pre-paints are always going to be less detailed and refined when compared to those painted by professionals and hobbyists but for those who just want to dive in and play, this is a massive improvement to the HeroClix line which starts with X-Men.

It would be good to see this continue beyond just the X-Men collection and flow through the rest of the HeroClix range and into their board games. If this becomes the norm for their Dungeons & Dragons/Pathfinder range plus their board games then it'll be a real treat for those checking out their range.

What do you think of the update in visuals?