Among the new figures from Dark Sword Miniatures are this serious female fighter, cute rabbit ranger, and majestic Westie warrior. The last of these was modeled on a recently passed-away dog that belonged to the Noes of Iron Wind Metals.

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In Wizards of the Coast’s Forgotten Realms Character Creation Contest, submit a Dungeons & Dragons character for a chance to see that character appear in an upcoming comic book written by Ed Greenwood.

WOTC is also hosting a celebrity charity Dungeons & Dragons game. On Saturday starting at 1:00 PM PT, you can watch the game online for a donation to Reach Out and Read.

Buy one, get one free Monopoly documentary DVD. Use coupon code “BOGO”.

Pawsitive Living is giving away Got Em from Calliope Games, using one of those Rafflecopter systems. Take It From Me blog is giving away Calliope’s Tsuro but without the Rafflecopter.

Mayfair Games is giving away a copy of Automobile Deluxe. To enter, leave a comment telling the company what games you’re planning to play over the upcoming Valentine’s Day, Easter and April Fool’s holidays. [My suggestion is 52 Pickup. Want me to show you how it works?]

Tell OneBookshelf/DriveThruRPG/RPGNow in 200 words or less about an experience you had trying a new game this year. Their favorite story will earn the author a $50 gift certificate.

Fantasy Flight Games is running a Dust Tactics walker conversion contest. One prize will be awarded for the best concept and another prize will be awarded for the best implementation. Each prize is $200 in product plus the opportunity to display the model at FFG’s booth at Gen Con.

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From Capitan Miniatures, Master & Commander Close Quarters is a war game of Napoleonic naval boarding actions. The rule set is available as a free download (in multiple languages), as are print-and-play tokens, record sheets, and combat maps for eight different ship types. The company also offers actual miniatures for the game, 18 mm figures sold individually and in complete crew packs—for British, French, American, and Spanish navies, non-uniformed sailors, and Barbary corsairs.

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One of the hottest tech news stories of the last couple of days is that The Pirate Bay has begun hosting 3D models suitable for the new range of inexpensive 3D printers (they’re calling them “physibles“). Reporter Michael Rundle on The Huffington Post hit the story from a gamer angle on Wednesday, pointing out that the earliest hosted files already included a model for a Warhammer 40k figure.

Games Workshop wouldn’t comment on the situation. But what about you? Any thoughts on how this might affect the miniatures business?

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According to an announcement by the company [PDF], Games Workshop’s profits rose across all segments in the 6 months ending November 27th. Core business operating profit was up 12% from the same period the year before, to £6.5 million. Royalty income increased from £1.0 to £2.6 million, or 260%—this the result of a large payment from THQ related to the launch of Space Marine. Profits rose at GW despite an increase in overheads “due to the creation of a digital development team and new management information system.”

In other GW news, the company settled its lawsuit against Paulson Games but is continuing to pursue litigation against ChapterHouse Studios for alleged copyright infringement (producing conversion kits, add-ons, and accessories for 40K models).

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Osprey, publisher of many military history books familiar to gamers, is expanding its line of miniature war games with a couple already scheduled for release in August. The company, however, is apparently still looking for more to produce. And it’s inviting proposals from the public.

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I stopped by the factory and visitor center of Prince August while on vacation in Ireland The factory is located to the west of Cork just outside a small town called Macroom. Signs along the road point the way.

Prince August was founded in Sweden by Jan Edman and moved to Ireland in 1976. In 1987, Lars Edman (Jan’s son) began the Mithril line of Middle Earth figures intended for the ICE RPG. The sculptor was Chris Tubb, who remains until today Prince August’s solitary sculptor. In addition to the Mithril line, Prince August makes hundreds of other sculpts: Irish heroes, various military figures, and Chess sets. They also produce lines of miniatures called Warzone and Chronopia (the latter aka Drakar och Demoner), originally for a game set in the Mutant Chronicles world by Target Games from Sweden. The game is now owned by its daughter company Paradox Entertainment. Licenses were briefly given to Excelsior Entertainment (which went on to become Cauldron Born) and COG Games (as usual, it’s all very convoluted). The games are not in production, but it appears that the minis still are (although some were destroyed).

However, Prince August’s focus doesn’t appear to be selling the figures, but the molds and modeling kits for you to make the figures yourself. Each kit comes with a prepared mold, clamps, metal, brush, pan, instructions, etc.

See the process of miniature making, mold making, and more of what the store has to offer after the break.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Offbeat Bride provides step-by-step instructions for creating a chocolate dice mold.

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With Jihad: Final Reckoning Catalyst Game Labs completes the Jihad series of BattleTech plot books. It details the final years of the war, and includes articles and intelligence reports for both miniature battle and RPG campaigns, as well as rules for experimental superheavy mechs and experimental robotic drone battlemechs.

Objectives: Federated Suns is a Jihad plot supplement that focuses on House Davion’s territory with details on key systems, major factories, and training and command centers.

Supporting BattleTech miniatures are Record Sheets: 3058 Upgrade, for the RPG A Time of War GM Screen.

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If what you really wanted from WizKids’ Star Trek license was cool starship minis and a space combat game, now you’re going to get it. Today the company announced Star Trek HeroClix: Tactics to be available in February. The game will be compatible with the HeroClix core rules system but is meant to be played separately and will have its own organized play program.

The first set of figures will include Federation and Klingon vessels (from all eras), which will be sold in a four-ship starter set and single-ship boosters.

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