These are 25mm sized figures suitable for any tabletop. They are well made figures with a great amount of detail but not so overwhelming to the beginner. I find that these figures get more use than most others, mainly because of their great look and because of their utilitarian subject.

Richard Scott began Otherworld to produce miniatures that hearkened back to the size and exact descriptions of beasts from early versions of D&D. He’s succeeded beyond anyone’s dreams, releasing a great many figures ranging from trolls to giants, hobgoblins to spores, molds and fungi. Their figures include many familiar, classic monsters: trolls, bearded devils, pig-nosed orcs and the iconic demon idol (from the 1st Edition AD&D Players Handbook). Yet when in a pinch, or when using the published modules, Dungeon Masters find themselves not looking for the unusual creatures, but rather the ordinary vermin that infest many a dark corner.

Giant Rats are usually among the initial creatures that low-level characters encounter and Otherworld’s Giant Rats really stand out. Standing about 15mm tall, there are four different poses available. They come with a nicely cast flagstone circular base, or a “slotta” base for those using dungeon tiles. The detail is nicely done, with a lot of fur texture for washes and highlights. The teeth are clearly visible and each rat has it’s own personality. A Giant Rat Leader is sold as a separate figure. He is slightly larger than the other rats and his expression shows he is clearly King of his own domain. A large-pack of 21 rats (five copies each of the four poses, plus the leader) can be bought; imagine the look on your players’ faces when you lay down 21 rats in their midst!

The second group of “creepy crawlies” is the Giant Beetles. These can be painted as Fire Beetles (with glowing eyes/areas behind the eyes) or as simple Bombardier Beetles. These sculpts come three to a pack (or you can buy a large-pack of 15) with a separate antenna sprue. The figures come with the aforementioned flagstone base or “slotta” base. They are a large size, filling out the base, so they will look pretty imposing next to any 25/28mm fantasy hero. The antennas are the challenging bit to these figures; you’ll have to experiment a bit to get the angle and the glue right. There are some excellent pictures available to help you. You may also find that you have to file the stomachs/lower area down a bit to get them to fit well on the bases, but that’s a minor quibble.

The last two sets of figures are Giant Centipedes and Giant Ticks. These both come cast on 25mm circular flagstone bases. They don’t have the personality built in like the Giant Rats, but there are four different poses for each type. These also are sold in either the four figure or 20 figure packs.

The models come well packed in secure cases with foam to keep them from shifting around – that’s greatly appreciated! You don’t see that too often anymore from the larger companies. All of these models had few flash or mold lines. The antenna sprue probably had the most and it was quickly cleaned up. I used the flagstone bases for all models and had no problems with the base, they are straight and very nicely done.

The miniatures are priced in British pounds, so you will have to pay attention to your currency rates when purchasing, but Robert does offer sales from time to time. It’s worthwhile to pay attention to his forum for announcements – these models are definitely worth the time and will serve you well in years to come when you need the more common of vermin for your games.

All of these figures are very interesting models. They are well cast and have a lot of detail for artists to spend time on. These all are very playable figures as well. Most Reaper figures I’ve assembled tend to be on the large size, and these three are no different. The Troll and Exarch look like fearsome, large monsters so the size adds to their charm, but the wizard figure is larger than most standard 28mm figures. I’ve not had the chance to paint them up, but I’m looking forward to seeing how they look when finished – I’ve always been pleased at the look of Reaper figures when painted.

First are the two Dark Heaven Legends figures – Damien, Hellborn Wizard by Derek Schubert (03321) and Hellborn Troll by Ben Siens (03407).

Damien is a mage figure and comes as a main body with three left hand options: staff, wand or orb. It is taller than the standard 28mm figure, as it’s 35mm tall. It’s a fascinating figure and takes its cue from the Dungeons & Dragons “Tiefling” race, with demonic features of a pair of horns and a spiked tail curling underneath a cloak. He’s performing some sort of spell action with his right hand and his left hand can hold a magical implement – I chose the orb for my assembly.

This is a very nice looking figure. It can easily be used as a Tiefling for the D&D 4e crowd or a suitable demonic mage figure for other games. A base is required – the curved small base didn’t give me the confidence that it would stay standing during use, so I ended up using a washer.

There wasn’t much flash on the figure and it was easy to clean up for assembly. I found it difficult to mount the hand with the orb as it didn’t seem to make a good fit. A little extra glue and a bit of greenstuff fixed it all up.

The Troll comes in three pieces: legs and lower torso, upper torso and arms, and head. It’s a hefty figure, approximately 75mm tall from foot to upstretched arm holding the boulder. It has a very wide 40mm stance and it’s open hand/arm hangs down. I found it to be an awkward figure to mount, given how it seems to lean over and to the front. It does require some experimenting to place it correctly and you will need a wide base. I used a large metal washer and will use spackle to fill the hole in.

This figure also had low flash and the mold lines were easy to remove. A good amount of green stuff is required to fill in the gaps at the torso in front behind the belt buckle where the two pieces meet. For the rest of the torso, the strategic “split” at belt line hides most of this. The head also required green stuff, but mainly at the head/neck ridge, and it was fairly invisible once I primed the figure.

There is a lot of detail on this piece, from the spikey back to the wide open mouth with huge teeth to the bulging muscles. The boulder seems a bit man-made – I’m not sure if it’s meant to represent a natural boulder or something else. The detail is very nice overall, and once painted, it will make a very nice piece.

Last is the Bathalian Exarch by Kevin Williams (50062) which is from the Chronoscope line. It is an alien creature with many tentacles and a scaled/armored body. It comes in six pieces – body, head, two arms, and two additional ‘tentacles’. It is a large, heavy figure – it boasts a 35 mm “body” length, is approximately 56mm tall, and 50mm wide. Like the Hellborn Troll, it will require a big base, and just like the troll, I used a large 1 1/2 inch metal washer.

The tentacles had the most amount of flash at the mold lines, but it was easily scraped off. Assembly was tricky. I put the arms on the body first, then attached the tentacles to the head, and finally assembled the head to the main body. It required a fair amount of green stuff for arms, tentacles and especially the area where head joined on the body. Even though the head “shield” hid most of the neck/head area, I had to put in a fair amount of green stuff to give it a more natural flow that followed the rest of the curves of the model.

I really like this figure. It has good, clear detailing. The ribs on its head area are well done, the eyes are very well created and will be easy to detail. The armor scales on the body are a nice touch. The model can easily be used as a strange tentacled sci-fi alien, a Cthulhu-like creature or a strange otherworld fantasy figure. I can’t wait to put it in front of my players.

I’ve never been disappointed in Reaper’s figures, even if they do come a little larger than I prefer. These three will make nice additions to anyone’s game table.

I’m very impressed with the line. The price is right, the casting of these miniatures using the old molds is well done and the figures themselves are a fantastic representation of Julie Guthrie’s skills as a sculptor from a time when Dungeons & Dragons was taking off.

Miniatures for fantasy role playing games have gone through quite a number of changes over the years, from the first chunky figures of the 1970s to the oversized, hyper-heroic figures of today. Over the years, some of the more evocative sculptors, like Julie Guthrie, have seen their molds and models resurface. Mega-Minis has over 180 of Julie Guthrie’s old Grenadier models for sale. These figures take us back to a day when the heroes were small, but their details and poses showed them to be the death-defying dungeon explorers they were, and the monsters were evil, creepy and to be feared.

The two figures shown in the pictures (The Henchman and the Dungeon Raider, respectively) are good examples of the detail available. The Dungeon Raider has quite a bit of detail on his chest armor and the dagger thrust into his belt. You can feel that this figure is intent on getting through the adventure as quickly and safely as possible. The Henchman has quite a bit of gear on his back, but is well armored in easy to paint chainmail and a helmet. The faces on both have good features to paint and draw out unique qualities (the Henchman with his eyes peering from under the helmet, and the Raider with his scruffy beard.) As you can see from the worn paint, these miniatures get a lot of use at my table.

The figures themselves are cast in pewter and are very robust. Mega-miniatures in general are good quality figures, and I’ve never had a problem with the many figures I’ve ordered over the years from them. On the Guthrie models in particular, the flash and lines are at a minimum and Guthrie’s mark was visible on the bottom. The figures have enough detail for someone who wants to take the time to display a well painted figure, but can easily be painted in a simpler manner for tabletop use. The only drawback to the figures might be the fact that they do come with small bases, perhaps requiring rebasing or careful use.

I highly recommend these miniatures, both for players and for Dungeon Masters wanting to fill out their monster ranks with unique figures. Guthrie’s models are evocative of an old-school D&D, but will add to any game. It should be noted that these figures are most definitely of the old school 25-28mm size and will look small next to more modern 30mm sculptures commonly found today.

The Julie Guthrie catalog (PDF) can be found at Mega-Miniatures.

Otherworld Miniatures are fantastic sculptures, appealing to any collector or gamer who wants that “old school” feel on their tabletop.  I’ve been singularly impressed with all of their products. These figures are well made and paint up very nicely, with little problem from flash or mold lines. I’ve not been disappointed yet with any Otherworld figure.

Back in 2006, in a popular “Old School” forum, Richard (Otherworld) posted a thread of a “Demon Idol” sculpture that he had commissioned from Paul Muller, ex of Games Workshop. Of course, there were many requests for duplicates and Richard started supplying them. The rest, as they say, is history as Richard continued by releasing sculptures of subsequent old-school favorites, giants, pig-faced orcs, stirges and oozes. Otherworld Miniatures is heavily involved in the “Old School (Dungeons & Dragons) Renaissance” as a supporter and obviously a vendor.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with several of Otherworld Miniatures items and I can say that I’ve been completely thrilled with the results. I’ve worked on the Troll (DM-4), Stirges (DM-9) and the ‘Slimes, Oozes and Jellies’ 4 pack (DM-7), and I have the fortune to have one of their new models as a master casting, the Harpies (DM-12).

All of the models are hand packed by Richard at his home and shipped out, so this is not only a labor of love, it’s a personal type of interaction that a modeler has with the vendor. All items have been well packed with protective foam and I’ve never had a problem with missing pieces or broken items. All of the models I’ve received have come with appropriate bases – large bases for the troll, clear plastic “flight” bases for the Stirges and Harpies.

The sculptures themselves are gorgeous to look at. Each one has a level of detail that is just stunning. From the troll’s malevolent snarl and pustules to the harpies shrieking faces (and amusingly/disturbingly accurate breasts) to the feathery bodies of the stirges and the intricate bubbling of the jellies, each model has surprises and hews close to the descriptions from the original editions of Dungeons & Dragons.

Several of the models did come requiring assembly. I had to put the troll’s head and arms onto the body, and I had to use a little green-stuff as filler. The harpies will require some assembly with the wings and bodies. They appear to fit very nicely together, although some filler will be required. Few of the items had any degree of flash or mold lines, and those that did were easily taken care of. I will confess that I missed a line or two on the troll, but I think that was because I was rather smitten with the level of detail.

I can’t really find any downside or faults with Otherworld’s line or shop. Richard is attentive to his customers through emails and on the Otherworld forum. Although the line only includes the classic monsters, there have been many requests about possibly releasing character based figures, so we’ll see.

As you can see from the pictures, they paint up very nicely. I know that the troll itself has gotten quite a few exclamations from the game table (and not just because the troll was smashing the party) so I think these models are a hit. I highly recommend Otherworld miniatures for your game table or display.