Midlam Miniatures

[Guyra]

So I made a thread for Midlam Miniatures kickstarters(they have many, and often!), and Clint asked if they did non human minis as well(since the current one has seemingly human kids only). And I figured that I might as well start a thread here about Midlam Miniatures in general, and have it separate from the KS thread.

Now, I've looked at Midlam minis for years, but never got around to buying any. However, I took the plunge in April with their Wizards' Apprentices Vol. II KS, and those are shipping out now. So I'm looking forward to that! I've also seen a lot of people be happy about these guys over at the Reaper forums.

So, Midlam is creating a lot of really cool minis. Lots of stuff that can be hard to find other places. Here are some examples:


Kids
They're currently running their third KS for miniatures of children to populate your towns and villages with!

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Jesters
Here's a set of a human, dwarf, and halfling jester.

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Dwarf Skeletons
They also have skeletons and zombies of halflings and humans, maybe more.

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Green Men
There are also lady versions of these plantlike folk.

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Horse and cart with driver
You often find either a horse or a cart, sometimes together, but even then rarely with a driver.

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Phantom Monks
Though not too much, they do make more "monster" type minis as well. Creepy claws popping out of the ground, big eyeballs in jelly or with wings, even intellect devourers!

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Mind Flayers
Technically, these are are "Kraken Cultists". But I really think they'd work well for some interesting mind flayers, especially those in poses you'll never find mind flayer minis in elsewhere.

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Halfling Lich Woman
Very cool sculpt! Could also work as a necromancer. There's also a halfling lich man. And other liches, I think.

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Goblin Vampire
I don't think there are a lot of places where you'll find goblin vampire minis! They also have vampire versions of humans, dwarves, and halflings. And they have the "nice cape" type vampire, and "nosferatu style" vampire to choose from of some.

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And while there is a lot they don't have(yet?), like tieflings or elves, they do have a lot of niche minis you're guaranteed to not have! Definitely check them out, because they might just have something you've been wanting or looking for!

The minis are also all metal minis, as far as I know.

[Imbalance]

These look good. They've got an excellent painter bringing their sculpts to life.

I feel like metal is underrated these days, especially since one of the main advantages that plastic had - being cheaper - has greatly diminished.

[Guyra]

These look good. They've got an excellent painter bringing their sculpts to life.

I feel like metal is underrated these days, especially since one of the main advantages that plastic had - being cheaper - has greatly diminished.

In regards to the paintjobs: Yeah, I think they look pretty great. Though the paintjobs seems pretty straight forward to me. No difficult techniques or anything. Just good, old base coats + mainly drybrush and/or wash. The mind flayers have some very simple freehand with those two part splotches on the tentacles. I think it's just mainly good choice of colours, and that's it. So in my eyes, this level is achievable for most painters.

And I honestly think it's pretty great that they're painted up like that, and not using a pro painter that's spent 10-20 hours per mini. I don't know whether it's a conscious choice, or they just don't have the money/time/care to get the stuff professionally painted. But the result is that what you see is something that is mostly achievable, even for less experienced painters. And I think that's great.


In regards to material: Metal is definitely underrated! While plastic minis have become expensive(despite mass production and material meaning way lower production expenses), metal minis have sort of just stayed at the same price. There becomes fewer reasons not to buy metal minis. Personally, I love metal minis.

[Guyra]

There was a thread some time ago where it was discussed having full sets of priests and such for the temples of various deities in D&D, which I was reminded of when looking through all the Kickstarter campaigns Midlam's had. (They're on their 41st right now, which is a set of classic, Christian looking monks.)

As it turns out, Midlam has made a lot of different, well, cultist sets! And I think all of them could work with established D&D religions(cults and otherwise).

First off, Kraken cultists. Volo's Guide has stats and a little bit of lore for Kraken Priests, and it mentions how they tend to take on hideous, physical traits related to the Kraken. And we also have that single Tridrone, I mean, Kraken Priest mini, with a couple of tendrils coming out of his face. The art also shows squid like suckers on large parts of his body.

The Kraken Society (or cultists of tentacled Eldritch beings)
Midlam's made some Kraken cultist miniatures that go all in on the tentacles bit, however! They could even be mistaken for(or used as) Mind Flayers, but they certainly have a more culty vibe to them. (And there seems to be more tentacles than just in their facial region.) So these could absolutely work well for a full on Kraken Cult temple!



Also note that Midlam has made a lot of sculpts for these, both male and female, and even a couple of what's probably gnome/halfling kraken cultists, and dead ones! (Not to mention that beautiful Kraken throne!) Not to mention the set of people whom are seemingly in the early stages of turning into tentacled Kraken worshippers(perhaps not so willingly).

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The Church of Talona (or many others)
Okay, here's one that could work for a lot of things, but basically these are cultists wearing very, very shabby and heavily worn robes. Midlam calls these the "Procession of the Plague Cult", so you can understand why I make the connection to Talona here. But I'm sure there are other deities this would work for as well.

They can also work well as your standard cultists, if you want them to be a bit less neat looking.



Any Egyptian based/inspired deity
They have made a set of ancient Egypt inspired mages and priests in a set called "Servants of the Undead Pharaoh". Could easily be used as priests to gods like Anubis, Set, Osiris, etc. But also for a cult worshipping a regular Pharaoh or a Mummy Lord, for example.

These aren't that many, but it might also be that the other sets have more than needed. (I believe they can all be bought as singles, though.)



The Church of Selûne (and probably many others)
Pretty much the exact opposite of the Procession of the Plague Cult, Midlam made a set featuring all women priests/worshippers/cultists in a set called "Cult of the Moon Goddess". Both the name and having mainly women in the priesthood sort of screams Selûne, but I imagine there are other deities this would fit well with too. These are all more neatly dressed, and several are in what seems to be well rehearsed rituals.

Of course, a few of them might not work too well, with the daggers and such. But if necessary, I imagine that could be easily fixed with some green stuff work.



Any deity that would have Christian looking monks as priests/worshippers
Yeah, I don't personally know where these would fit in, in D&D. But I'm sure someone with more lore knowledge than me knows of several places these guys could work. This set is the current KS, and is called "The Monks of Midlam Abbey". Now this isn't the Midlam KS thread, but I figured it was a good idea to include them anyway, as they fit the theme of this thread.

I also assume a tenth monk will be added as a stretch goal.



I personally have a ton of cultist minis by now, but I do think I want to get some of these for using them as priesthoods and worshippers of specific deities.