The Thanksgiving holiday seem like a perfect time for another installment of our hand painted miniatures. Ben just can’t paint to that ridiculously fine point of detail so he continuously gives thanks to the master craftsmen who can.

The second set of our multi-part metal minis installment includes a gnawing Dwarven skeleton, a mischievous human thief, an evil demon lord, and a brave human fighter.

Ben pulled all these beauties out of the Gamers’ Inn display case during separate joyous store runs. Ya just never know when some gems will poke through the trade-in rubble. You need to survey and sift.

Price varies but typically you’re looking at anywhere from $4 to $15 a mini (depending on the quality of the paint job and popularity of the mini). You can always check out eBay for online finds.

Ben loves to use his unique metal figs as special characters or heroes in his Dungeon and Dragons 4E battles. It raises the party’s kill salivation and also lets the group know the DM means “bitness”.

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Initial quests are handed out as the group begins its journey to the Labyrinth. Pull up a chair and say hello to new module characters including Vickers and Brugg the Enforcer.

Who doesn’t love a good dark and damp cave setting? Trouble lurks around every unchecked corner. The smell of death fills the air. Unfortunately, a dry erase marker doesn’t exactly portray that same fear and mystery. Never fear, DMs…Dwarven Forge shall show you the way.

Ben covets every square of his Dwarven Forge Cavernous Set Series. These terrain passage pieces are unmatched in the industry. You will absolutely be astounded by their meticulous painting and subtle details. And the supplemental pieces are just as good. In one instance, Ben had our Dwarf, Crag McBeard, mine for whetstones.

Yes, yes – they’re pricey. Ben gets it. Look, if you want to drive in style, a man’s gotta open the wallet a little. This particular pile is all about budget management and slowly amassing your sets through holidays and birthdays.

Thankfully, Dwarven Forge sets also blend in nicely with Hirst Arts molds. And that connection opens the door to all sorts of creative configurations. D&D miniatures, particularly the four legged kind, work great for surprise encounters.

So pick a set (or two) for the upcoming holidays and get some of these babies in your hand. You won’t be disappointed.

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Ben relishes D&D 4E’s combat system. As a DM, he despises losing track of particular powers and effects. That memory loss snafu can completely ruin the battle’s outcome – oh the humanity.

Ben’s game group needed a plan…a way to remember who had what effects on whom. Inspired by Penny Arcade’s sticker effects, our group mind meld produced our first true home-brew accessory! It was a long and tenuous production process to build but Craggy got it done (with a sort of China sweat shop determination).

We’ve done the usual suspects ( Dazed, Bloodied, Fumbled, Prone, Ongoing, Dying, pluses, minuses, etc). And then to spice it up, we threw in some sponsorship flags to reward great moves (ex: after a critical hit, “Magnum – Oreo is on line one.”)

Our condition flags are combined with medium and large bases. And while there is some occasional fat finger clumsiness, the end product has worked like a charm. No more pesky “Who has what questions?” and annoying game stops – just good ol’ fashioned battle beat downs.

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Initial quests are handed out as the group begins its journey to the Labyrinth. Pull up a chair and say hello to new module characters including Vickers and Brugg the Enforcer.

Forget the endless pile of dragon hoard treasure…what every RPG’er truly wants is simply more time to game. In order to maximize those precious hours, Ben uses pre-cut game boards to stage each of his dungeon room encounters. The results will simply amaze you.

All the credit goes to game group member Bobby Hurley (who plays Magnum and Red Dawn in our weekly podcast). He’s the innovator on this crafty idea. Here’s how it works:

The boards can be purchased at Home Depot and are 1/8” in thickness. Hurley cuts them to different square shapes to accommodate Hirst Arts floor tiles (typically 3 by 3 increments). As an added touch, he also spray paints them a dark green to ensure they blend into the game table background. He’s even cut 1 3/4″ tall PVC pipe and camouflaged those when we need to demonstrate dungeon levels.

Prior to game time, Ben stages each room on individual boards and keeps them under wraps. He then lays down the pieces with ease in real time as the adventures move forth. By pre-building the rooms, Ben avoids those pesky 15-minute-plus setup delays.

Pretty soon you will get really creative and experiment with traps, more traps, trap doors, and pits. It’s all pure genius and easy to do. Give it a try and see just how much extra time it saves you in your next game.