Good ol’ eBay is filled with RPG artisans looking to shop their wares to gamers in need. This type of Pile gathering comes with turbulent stakes. These opportunities come and go with regularity and an eBay artisan’s precious inventory always runneth low. Ben birddogs certain keyword searches on a weekly basis to ensure he catches as many of these gems as possible. This week we review a valuable haul from Flights of Fancy Miniatures by JAHecker. Their product offerings are in a class by itself.

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Sweet sassy molassey! Are we actually on the letter Z?! Johnny and the Moondogs were right. This RPG letter series has been a long and winding road that led to your door (for fun-filled 26 weeks). So let’s close out in style with an American cult icon – Zombies!

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Ben’s feverish room building exploits continue with his interpretation of Thunderspire Labyrinth’s Duergar Workshop (which lies deep within the Northern Fortress of the Horned Hold).

The game group couldn’t conquer the first tower without eliminating Urwol, the Master Smith. Thus, the guys needed a whiz bang encounter with some terrain that would leave a lasting impression. Ben felt this blacksmith chamber was the perfect location.

Key detail pieces and building notes include:

• Two blacksmith kilns ( large & small) for Urwol to start the process
• Anvil-like stone tables to pound the metal in place
• Dry-brushed flock from Skullcrafts to show metal shavings remnants
• Lots of snapped off weapons to demonstrate a fevered production pace
• Crystaline Counters to act as the burning fire
• Trinkets to show a little smithing variety
• Hirst Arts molds (#203, 701, 76, 75, 71, & 70) to put it all together

The 3-D terrain really made this Duergar showdown sing but in the end, the good guys won. Do you have some cool rooms coming up in your dungeon crawls (such as a spider’s lair, excavation pit, etc)?

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Sometimes a guy takes a step back to assess his RPG collection and simply wonders how he got all those…dwarves. No complaints cause who doesn’t love a good ale-drinkin’ dwarf?

One particular hand-painted set, the cannon crew, was a no-brainer. No gamer could resist that army behind a glass display case. Ben’s not sure what 4E role they will play but maybe some sort of town siege (for impeding upon their mountain resources). What plot hook would you use?

Ben has lots of nice main characters to choose from including a fearless sergeant, a storied general and a maniac warrior. This one even looks like the Viking dad from the upcoming “ How to Train Your Dragon” animated movie. These all also fit well into your own character mini or campaign NPCs.

Ben’s got ‘em in metal or plastic (bet you can’t tell which is which). Lots of soldiers to choose from too – even a winter brigade (with a fancy “ desktop for download). And we haven’t even talked about all those WotC pre-painted ones either.

So can you ever really have too many dwarves? Well, no…no you can’t.

Side Note: These might be the product of Games Workshop but Ben honestly doesn’t know. Post a comment here if you know the answer and we’ll update the links.

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Experts say once you build one custom terrain game piece, you’re hooked. Well, those guys sure are right. Ben’s got the fever now and there’s no sane end in sight.

As the group plays Thunderspire Labyrinth, Ben wanted to introduce a more credible connecting plot line to the Pyramid of Shadows D&D module. Thus, a prison block was placed within the Horned Hold to introduce the hook.

The key jail cell components included:

▪ A custom hand-painted miniature to play the main character
▪ A new NPC card for identity and key data points
▪ Floor Terrain and Accessories: Hirst Arts molds (#701, #282, #203, #75, #76, #70)
▪ Chain: Michaels Craft Store
▪ Paints: (Graveyard Earth, Silver, Blood Red, & Chaos Black)
▪ Flock: Dirt from Skullcrafts and dead grass from Citadel

Ben focused on more ornate touches for this piece. It’s the little things like the torches/sconces, tiny buckets, bit box minis, and steel cell doors that really makes this unique build work.

You can learn more about this build by watching the video flyover on our YouTube channel.

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Every DM reaches a point in their game where they decide to throw up a terrain Hail Marry. For Ben, he wanted to seal the deal on his Thunderspire Chamber of Eyes dungeon with a memorable piece of terror.

The assembly components touched on all the building basics including:

▪ Dire Vampire Wolf: D&D Miniatures Unhallowed.
▪ Rocks: Concrete Rubble Mix from GaleForce nine.
▪ Floor terrain & Accessories: Hirst Arts molds (#203 & #85)
▪ Chain: Michaels Craft Store
▪ Paints: Games Workshop series (Graveyard Earth, Silver, Blood Red, & Chaos Black)
▪ Flock: Grass and Dirt ground cover from Skullcrafts.

Ben’s finishing touches included body parts from the land of misfit minis (the bit box at Gamers’ Inn). He also grabbed an old toothbrush (and not his wife’s existing one) for the ominous blood spatter effect.

So now Torog’s Shrine has a focal terrain piece that is sure to make the party shat themselves. Pick a big battle in your own module and one up, Ben. If he can do it, so can you.

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