Oh, My! What a Big Elf You Are!
There are a few threads over at Hordlings.com where the issue of the Unhallowed minis being way larger in scale than previous sets is being discussed. This was the first thing I noticed when I started opening boxes, and it really was a major part of the disappointment for me in this set. They are calling it "size creep" over there.
Call it size creep if you want, but at the end of the day, only the measurements and the math count.
The standard miniature scale when all this started in the '70's was 25mm. That was the standard for D&D until WOTC took over from TSR and ended the lisence agreement with Ral Partha, who did the previous line of official figs. Ral Partha had a very consistent 25mm scale.
The Boyz at Citadel had mostly used 28mm scale, and when WOTC started doing their minis, they moved up to 28mm too, and most of the rest of the industry followed to keep up with Warhammer mini size. Reaper now does 28mm too.
At some point, because there is no "size creep" in real human beings*, larger minis become a larger scale. There is a trend in minis toward the larger, and I expect that soon 30mm will be standard, and UH looks like a step in that direction.
And it works like any of the other "get them to buy the same thing several times" schemes. Now that most of my humanoid minis are 28mm, I don't like using the hundreds of 25mm minis that I've been collecting for decades next to the 28mm ones because they look stupid. At some point, if all I can get are 30mm minis, then I won't like how puny my 28mm minis look next to them, so I'll stop using the old and keep buying the new.
At some point, though, you can't really call them minis anymore.
Personally, I wish everything were still 25mm because that was a great size for 1" squares on a battlemat or diarama. You won't convince me you can't get good detail on smaller minis, because I'll ask you to put the Marshmallow Construct against any 25mm mini that Ral Partha ever did and laugh in your face.
Change makes me very grumpy. Especially if the main reason for the change is pulling extra money out of my wallet.
*Yes, yes, I know, take a modern homogenized milk drinking person and try to fit him into an authentic Civil War uniform. Yes, there is size creep over generations in real humans but I don't think the Vampire hunter and Werewolf Lord are examples of genetic improvements due to better nutrition. Stay with the spirit of the argument and don't make me grumpier by focusing on minutae to prove you're clever. We know you're clever, because you play a game that requires cleverness. At some point it just isn't a 10 foot hobbit, you've entered a new scale. Harumph. I'm just a cranky old wizard, after all. Who cares what I want?
Call it size creep if you want, but at the end of the day, only the measurements and the math count.
The standard miniature scale when all this started in the '70's was 25mm. That was the standard for D&D until WOTC took over from TSR and ended the lisence agreement with Ral Partha, who did the previous line of official figs. Ral Partha had a very consistent 25mm scale.
The Boyz at Citadel had mostly used 28mm scale, and when WOTC started doing their minis, they moved up to 28mm too, and most of the rest of the industry followed to keep up with Warhammer mini size. Reaper now does 28mm too.
At some point, because there is no "size creep" in real human beings*, larger minis become a larger scale. There is a trend in minis toward the larger, and I expect that soon 30mm will be standard, and UH looks like a step in that direction.
And it works like any of the other "get them to buy the same thing several times" schemes. Now that most of my humanoid minis are 28mm, I don't like using the hundreds of 25mm minis that I've been collecting for decades next to the 28mm ones because they look stupid. At some point, if all I can get are 30mm minis, then I won't like how puny my 28mm minis look next to them, so I'll stop using the old and keep buying the new.
At some point, though, you can't really call them minis anymore.
Personally, I wish everything were still 25mm because that was a great size for 1" squares on a battlemat or diarama. You won't convince me you can't get good detail on smaller minis, because I'll ask you to put the Marshmallow Construct against any 25mm mini that Ral Partha ever did and laugh in your face.
Change makes me very grumpy. Especially if the main reason for the change is pulling extra money out of my wallet.
*Yes, yes, I know, take a modern homogenized milk drinking person and try to fit him into an authentic Civil War uniform. Yes, there is size creep over generations in real humans but I don't think the Vampire hunter and Werewolf Lord are examples of genetic improvements due to better nutrition. Stay with the spirit of the argument and don't make me grumpier by focusing on minutae to prove you're clever. We know you're clever, because you play a game that requires cleverness. At some point it just isn't a 10 foot hobbit, you've entered a new scale. Harumph. I'm just a cranky old wizard, after all. Who cares what I want?
Labels: Miniatures
posted by Shandar the Ashen at 5:59 PM
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