Dark Age figs: where\'s the luv?

[Chrispy]

I\'m here to adress an issue with not one submission, but a whole category.. and that is the New Dark Age figs.. Although the rules look complex (firing arcs are 360 but acutally work like 180?) I must say I\'ve been a moderate fan of Brom\'s a bit before he started doing Magic: The Gathering cards (Fess up, you know who you are..) and I think is cool that he gets his own minis, after his video game Necrocide went under.

However, I am not seeing many artists take up the brush on these (yet willingly use their bases.. another subject completly.). Take a look at the \"upper crust\" if you will.. everything over an 8 is by you-know-who, with the one exception of forsakenZen.

I\'m just wondering what the mentality of this is coming from. Are people pressured into thinking they must paint like JH? Or is it just that only gamers have gotten their mitts on them and want to get out there and play, not paint? Or are people taking their cues from Brom directly and can get that milk-white fleh right? (I haven\'t even attempted yet, but one day..)

It can\'t be the price.. when compared to Confrontation, they are much more availible and cost effective. Take these for example:
Average Wolfen: 10.99
Golab: 7.99

Keltois Druid: 6.99
Grafter: 5.99

List goes on, but I\'ll admit not in the favor of Dark Age.. A two pack being 9.99 versus Rackhams\' 7.99. But think to yourself, aren\'t you sick of Fiannas? I\'m sure getting there soon enough.. I don\'t even like the newer man-girls! But I digress..

So, all I ask is why has so many scorned Dark Age? You can bet I\'ll be getting a few to hone my skills..

 

[The Artisans Edge]

I can\'t speak for others but I personally don\'t care for the style too much. Just not my thing. I can\'t really say why to be honest but they just don\'t appeal to me at all. I don\'t really care for Brom\'s artwork either. He\'s definetely an extremely talented artist but his style is not my flavour. Maybe I\'m just a picky bastard.

 

[PT_Racel]

Dark Age

Hi Guys,

First, let me say this is off the record in regards to my status as part of Dark Age Games.

After talking to a lot og gamers, and especially painters, it seems to me that most people have only seen the Forsaken miniatures. Personally I feel that most of these miniatures were not as appealing because they lack details. Most of the minis, with the exception of St, Mark and the Coil do not have a lot of detail since they tend to have cloaks and capes on. I think most people were looking for more detail and others were not into the fetish / S&M look.

That said, I hope that everyone will give us another look and see if they don’t see some things more too their liking. The Skarrd are just now starting to hit stores all over the country, and they offer a very different look than the Forsaken. They also off a lot more details for painting, not to mention a LOT of bare skin (especially on the Harpies!). Werner Klocke has done some amazing work on the Skarrd, but wait until you see the new Dragyri we are releasing. The female Dragyri have just been painted and added to Cool Mini. They are a far cry from the Forsaken and Skarrd, giving a whole new look to our range. The minis are about the same size as Wolfen from Rackham, and will have multiple poses with interchangeable arms. http://www.coolminiornot.com/index.php?id=15728 and http://www.coolminiornot.com/index.php?id=15727 We have just received the greens for the male Dragyri that Werner has done and they are going to blow you guys away. All I can say is that Werner is a wonderfully talented artist that is almost single-handedly bringing the world of Dark Age alive. We will also be releasing the Brood soon, and again the miniatures are coming out great. Werner is a human photocopy machine that takes concept art and makes perfect 3D copies. Hopefully we will have some of the Brood on our site soon so that you can see just what I am talking about.

All I would ask is that you guys take a look every once in a while at our site and see if there might be something new that you like. I can promise you that each army will have a completely different look and you will find that not everything from DA is leather fetish and capes.

Thanks guys,

Jeff Racel
Dark Age Games Demo Team Coordinator

 

[ZaPhOd]

Hmmm, well

I kind of just think most are downright ugly. Don\'t get me wrong, there are some that are pretty cool, just I would not paint them myself. I don\'t play skirmish games and if I play anything, it is AD&D so they are not even useful for me there, except maybe the odd monster

 

[The Artisans Edge]

fetish / S&M look

I couldn\'t put my finger on what it was I didn\'t like about them, until Jeff mentioned \"fetish / S&M look\". That just ain\'t me. Perhaps I\'m a bit of a prude in my old age. But I have some friends that this would likely appeal to. I\'ll have to show it to them and see what they say.

That really is a different spin for a miniature.

 

[angelo]

I was wondering about that myself. Love to see some of the top painters here have a go at them.

First, I think this is a case of different strokes for different folks lol I don\'t really play games, but I enjoy painting. Some of the earlier Dark Age stuff seem to match the The Artisans Edge\'s description. Very S&M and it does suit only a portion of the people\'s taste. But their latest stuff seems to be a 180 degree change. The female Dragyris are really nice. I pulled up the new female wolfen from the Confrontation site and compared the two and they look pretty damn close in terms of quality and detail. If I didn\'t know any better, I would have thought that Confrontation put them out. I will definately buy a couple of those female Dragyris and post some pictures when I am done with them. They look saaweeeet!

For a new company, I do think that they show promise, and from what I have seen so far, they are not as single dimentional as most people think. Time will only tell I guess.

 

[Lurch]

I actually like these new mini\'s. They are just really hard to get in my area. The hobby shops I go to don\'t carry it, and to get anyone around here to try anything other than GW games is like trying to pull real teeth from my Grannies mouth full of dentures lol
I also like Jen\'s work on them (course I like most of her work, and those I dont are because I\'m jealous of her talent )
I have ordered a few to paint, but I dont see myself playing the game unless Dark Age somehow gets in touch with the Hobby stores down here
( hint hint Table Top Games in Lenexa, Kansas or Battlezone in Overland Park, Kansas)
and hold a demo day or something; hopefully have Jen come with... :bouncy:

For painting classes, ya nasty people!! Sheesh
lol

 

[Errex]

I, for one, would love to get my mitts over some of them figures, but as today, my shop doesn\'t carry the line yet.

Something that I like is that there are already made color schemes for most of the figures (Brom\'s Darkwerks contains several color illustrations of the first release minis).

So, I\'ll just wait and hope my store orders some.

 

[No Such Agency]

As I see it, the \"S&M look\" is mostly restricted to one faction (Forsaken). I happen to like the look (it\'s very dystopian), but I\'m a perverted freak so your opinions may differ. I\'ve done only one DA mini, Sister Compassion, and I was very conscious of the fact that Jen H. had posted not one but TWO versions of the same character here (both exquisitely painted of course). But I posted it nonetheless, this isn\'t a competition after all . I have too many other minis on my plate right now to get any Dragyi but they look fantastic.

 

[SJB]

Well, I can certainly say I\'ve noticed that there haven\'t been many Dark Age paintjobs around here. Certainly something I would like to see change (lets face it: I\'m biased on the matter).

Not totally sure why we haven\'t seen more from the top painters (or any painters). Dark Age is far from a low quality range. Putting aside my own figures in the range (not really qualified to comment), there are some beautiful figures out there. Funnily, Werner Klocke is such a popular sculptor too?

To be honest, I think there\'s something rather silly going on. Jen\'s paintjobs are obviously very beautiful but I wonder how many people are feeling that the figures have to be painted that way. Brom\'s colour palette is very tight and tends to lend a particular \'look\'.

Well, I know I\'m going to be trying something different. I have a batch of Dark Age figures en-route from the states as we speak. None of my painting plans for them bear a whole lot of resemblance to the works of Brom or Jen.

Well, that\'s my position (you guys should see the fruits of my labour fairly soon. The female Dragyri and the Skaard Harpies are calling to me). Personally, I\'d love to see what all the great painters around here could do with these sculpts and a little of that imagination that they all show in such abundance.

Steve Buddle

 

[vincegamer]

To quote Mr. Horse from Ren & Stimpy: \"well, sir, I don\'t like it.\"

There are a few figs I like based on the pictures on Newwavegames, namely the Skarrd Chitin and Golab look fun to paint, and I have to say Haley\'s Forsaken Reaver has burned its image on my retina and is the only picture here I can instantly call to mind in all its detail - that\'s one beautiful mini.
Otherwise the same as others have said on the S&M, and I\'ve always wondered about the people who do the sexy nun figs. Otherwise it\'s just kinda gross to me. Bits of flesh falling off and needing to be sewn back on aren\'t my bag. The Dragyri females are okay, excellent poses but the \"alien\" aspects are dull, but I must say I am looking forward to the Dragyri slaves based on the drawings they have up.

 

[Chrispy]

Well, of course people will be people.. For me it\'s not a question of being perveted, as I am an artist.. And as most of you find out in life drawing, you\'ll have to get used to drawing nude bodies and the like. This does not stop me from ordering some, but of course I wonder if they\'ll do okay on Ebay. I would onlu keep them for looking at, and that\'d get old quick.. If I can actually get people playing around here that might be different.. Seesh, I know the basic rules for 5 different games now, what\'s another lobe of my brain?

 

[Cenobyte]

i\'d really like to own and paint some of these miniatures, but i\'m not able to get some here in germany. have checked lot\'s of well-sorted fantasy-stores, but noone offers them.

 

[PT_Racel]

Originally posted by Cenobyte
i\'d really like to own and paint some of these miniatures, but i\'m not able to get some here in germany. have checked lot\'s of well-sorted fantasy-stores, but noone offers them.

As a little note about Germany, I have three Demo Teams we just set-up there and hopefully we can pick up a few stores or Online retailers in the near future.

Since Most Folks are saying they would like to get minis in their local stores, I will be happy to forward store names and locations to our sales team, and as far as demos, I am working on building up our ranks of demo teams, so let me know where you need a demo and I will see if I have someone there yet, or if you are interested in doing demos, drop me a line.

For Store locations or Demos, send message to demoteams@dark-age.com

(On a side note, I really don\'t get into the S&M look, that\'s why I understand how so many of you guys feel about the early line (Forsaken). I think that as the Dragyri come out and we add the Brood and other armies there will be a lot more to look at that you will like. At least I really hope so!)

Thanks guys,

Jeff

 

[Chrispy]

Thanks for the info! Other companies like GW usually have an oniline store locater, but if there\'s not one near me I can\'t do much about it. It feels good to know that an actual person will answers.. BTW are there any requirements for being on a local demo team or are you guys done recruiting? I\'ve always believed if you want to get something done right, do it yourself and that includes getting people into games!

 

[PT_Racel]

Originally posted by Chrispy
BTW are there any requirements for being on a local demo team or are you guys done recruiting?

I have been working my tail off to get the DA Demo Program moving again (had a few bumps early on). If you are interested, drop me a line at the DemoTeam Address in the above post and I will get you some information. Thanks for the interest, we can\'t ask for anything more.

Jeff Racel

 

[nvstudios]

We don\'t paint them because the figs frankly look like crap, are as flat as GW\'s Wights and Dark Elves, and they really look quite ridiculous. Brom is alright, the mini line isn\'t. Also, the fact that you know who painted them turns us off of painting them, doesn\'t intimidate.

Also, we paint what people want and no one wants Dark Ages. Mostly we do GW.

The Ice Elemental is nice though. But I\'ve not had a situation where I could pick one up and see it in all 3 dimensions.

 

[languin]

Well im not gonna blast the whole line of miniatures, but im no big fan of them and that judgement could change when i actually paint one.
Some things i do know is that the sculpts does not reflect broms art.They are kooky and attractive but other than that unless i was told they were based on broms design i would not associate them with his art style .
Also i think jens choice in colors and paint jobs lacks some contrast that would make them look more remarkable.

Personally i doubt i will be painting any in the near future...much too busy with another new miniature line...Warmachine.
Those mini\'s are sculpted by Mike Mcvey and for the most part amazing.

LOOK A PUKE SMILEY!:|~

 

[Badaab]

hmmm...

Seeing as how I haven\'t been able to examine the miniatures up close, I really can\'t make a judgement apart from what I\'ve seen painted online, which isn\'t much.

Brom\'s artwork isn\'t for everyone, granted. Neither is John Balanche\'s stuff. I really don\'t care for the majority of the GW miniatures based upon his designs and concept drawings (most notably some of the Inquisitor models... like the ugly Rogue Trader). His stuff doesn\'t translate too well into the third dimension, which is similar to the way I view Brom\'s work and Dark Age\'s models. Its a decent enough idea, but post-apocalyptic Earth has been so overworked in cinema, television, and all types of games (computer, console, rpg, tabletop, etc.), so its difficult to really come up with original ideas in that genre, when the field is so used.

Joe

 

[languin]

My comments arent insults buddy they are criticism plain and simple.
And please keep the fanboy sentiments to a minimum i personally cant stand it in any form
In any event i just dont see brom in either the miniatures or the pallette of said mini\'s. The dystopic feeling of the world of dark age is missing a banal look is thrown in instead.
Dark age has excellent individual talent, but suffers from that same individualisim.
I do not see effective complimentation of the artists skills with each others work. Perhaps with time,hard work and willingness to risk change they can find their synergy I would personally like to see the company do well as to further the industry.