Voted top three. Special mention to #4.
Characters of myth or legend: unless they're known for leading or fighting in big armies, and given the scale of the confrontation in the example (one Geat vs. one bog monster), it could be a wee bit outside Warmaster's scope.
1. Generic fantasy: I love those golden years in the 80's with generic fantasy made by granadier, nick land, and ral partha, that pops up with full display of imagination and open minded set of figures. Love to see this explosion in 10mm figures (and also it is not a complain because we have nowdays several active manufacturers).
Aye, that. Very few dragons since the '80's match Julie Guthrie or John Dennet's Grenadier stuff, IMO.
1. In general, do you prefer your troops strip mounted or individually based? And why?
Also, does that go for both, Infantry and Cavalry?
2. With that in mind, do you prefer to buy whole units, or individual strips/figures?
I wondered about a 10mm range myself, too long ago. I was told that the GW-style strips were deadly mould-rippers. Pity, 'cos I like the idea, but I'd personally go for singles if I was producing any. On the other side of the webshop, I wouldn't mind buying either strips or singles, or whole units.
3. Same goes for Characters and Monsters. Do you prefer to buy them individually or in packs/sets?
Depends on model and WM unit size. No strong feelings though.
4. How do you personally judge the quality of a 10mm sculpt? Or, what makes a good 10mm figure for you?
I know, this is an odd one, but I find myself looking at a lot of 10mm ranges out there, and they simply don't appeal to me... especially when compared to GW figures. It may just be the photos, but I often find that the proportions are not quite right (big heads, small horses, etc.).
Tell me about it! At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, GW's Warmaster range is the only 10mm fantasy I like - and even some of that's a bit iffy. I think that's mostly down to the facts that they've got a decent, established design (Warhammer!) and the sculpts are kept reasonably tidy, smooth and sharp, in my eyes. Even if some detail is sacrificed so long as things are kept tidy and sharp, that's fine by me.
Most of the rest of 10mm fantasy seems to be produced by historical-style or oldschool sculptors. That is, flubbing design (including pose), proportions, details, and/or tidiness, just so long as they can knock it out in the minimum time and it
kinda looks like what it's supposed to be. I've got kind-of impossible standards, maybe, but I wouldn't mind if sculptors or their employers put a wee bit more love into the finished articles and treated them as tiny figurines as well as game counters.
I don't like Pendraken's legless Asterix-faced dwarfs* (or their dearth of photos, for that matter); Copplestone's horses are oddly proportioned, I don't like his pinch-nosed wolves or his plasticard-armed half-orcs, and his not-fellbeast makes me want to cry; and Kallistra's stuff looks 'uge, and their dragons look like they're from a Christmas cracker.
*I like Asterix, I do. But if I'm looking for dwarf proxies for a grimdark or third age game, I maybe rather they didn't look like they were deformed mutants looking for roast boar and stringing up the noisy bard.
5. As far as I can tell, 10mm scale is not a very accurate measurement. How much of an issue do think the different sizes between various ranges are?
I got some of Copplestone's 10mm to go with BoFA stuff. It
might not matter much when they're at arm's reach and a foot apart on the table, but when I lined them up and noticed Mark's chunky, hunched orcs dwarfing the plastic elves, I just thought 'no'.
I like 10mm to mean 10mm - to the top of head, if you want to narrow it down further. Again, maybe I'm being too strict, but when you start to go 12mm and beyond and still call it 10mm, it just loses it's meaning for me. 2mm difference is like - what? - a foot taller at that scale? But it's not going to make the mini too much easier to sculpt or paint, IMO. So with all that, why on earth go 12mm+ in the first place? Leave the scale creep to the 35mm tall '28mm' minis.
6. With a completely new range/setting, would you want it to have its own rules set? Or just the minis?
And lastly, I'm guessing that most people on this forum here are fairly biased towards (as am I) GW's Warmaster, both in terms of aesthetics as well as the rules... is that correct?
Just the minis for now, and for that reason.
Poll