Bigging up the love for Runewars Miniatures kit

By Watercolour Dragon, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Just expanded my RWM miniatures collection for things I hope to bring to Descent/Genesys and my recent purchases really bring home just how good the minis are- I can really recommend getting some of the RWM sets if you like the creatures/characters in them, yes you've got to assemble them but they're not loads of pieces and it's not too much hassle, there's only a few pieces to glue together, and yes they're unpainted but as with Descent minis you don't have to paint them unless you want to, of course they'll look more impressive painted- and they've been well designed for painting enthusiasts.

The other big reason is they do have plenty of potential to use with Descent- you don't have to glue the smaller bases to the larger main bases (the RWM army bases that sit in the army trays) and the smaller bases' sizes match the Descent tiles - most being 1x2 or 1x1.

I really like the RWM minis and I'm working on Descent ideas for them but it's not too difficult to come up with your own ideas and they open up some interesting new possibilities for heroes, monsters or lieutenants (and of course you don't have to go with expectation- maybe a character can be on either side as with some of the D2e lieutenants or an Uthuk character's on the heroes' side....)

The sets I've got most recently are the Latari expansion (I love the leonx, hoping to get one or two leonx sets too), Kethra- a really interesting character and I've got a bit of a soft spot for her mount in a tamable beast kinda way- maybe if it trusted you, nice 'doggy'...., the Beastmaster who's also awesome and the Uthuk expansion with the suitably chunky Ravos (a great way to bring a key Uthuk character and some Uthuk minions to your games and game kit).

Still some sets on my RWM wishlist so I'll likely be getting a few more, looking forward to making use of and eventually painting the ones I've got.

Even if you don't want to play RWM they're useful for adding to your Descent options/kit- each also has a terrain piece or two that could be used with map tiles for example.

I bought Rune Golems and modified Descent Golem card with his art. Really looking forward to paint them and use them :)

img_20190909_201310.jpg?pub_secret=19816

Edited by AwesomeTree_in_the_Dark

how do the runewars minis compare to Descent board tiles?

i.e. is he on a 50x50mm base in the picture?

I ask because i love the sculpts on the RW stuff, and would love to incorporate Uthuks into D2e

Edited by thinkbomb
3 hours ago, thinkbomb said:

I ask because i love the sculpts on the RW stuff, and would love to incorporate Uthuks into D2e

They are a bit taller but for uthuks this should not be a trouble

I want to integrate uthuk too

I'm more concerned with the horizontal side (i.e. does it play nice with the 25x25mm square map tiles).

Scale's a joke in Descent, tbh. Even in the base game a standard zombie is like 7 feet tall when you stand him side by side with Avric Albright.

But yeah, if they fit on the 25mm square tiles (and similar round bases) fine ... time to get me some cool figs. lol

8 hours ago, thinkbomb said:

I'm more concerned with the horizontal side (i.e. does it play nice with the 25x25mm square map tiles).

Scale's a joke in Descent, tbh. Even in the base game a standard zombie is like 7 feet tall when you stand him side by side with Avric Albright.

But yeah, if they fit on the 25mm square tiles (and similar round bases) fine ... time to get me some cool figs. lol

Golem above is on Descent 50x50mm base (you have to replace original square with rounded corners one). Runewars Reanimates have same 25x25mm base as other monsters, just taller.

img_20190913_082132__01.jpg?pub_secret=2 img_20190913_082330__01.jpg?pub_secret=f

Edited by AwesomeTree_in_the_Dark

that's definitely good enough for me! :D thanks for the solid comparison pics

Are RW minis snap-in or need to be glued?

9 minutes ago, Jubez187 said:

Are RW minis snap-in or need to be glued?

judging by sorrastro's vid on painting the golem, they dry-fit decently ok. but really they should be glued. Super easy assembly, regardless

If you played Imperial Assault, they have a similar construction to the larger multipart figures like the Rancor - tight fit.

Edited by thinkbomb

Getting RWM has also inspired some interesting options for my customizing some minis with a bit of redesign/resculpting with green stuff and other kit- as I've got a new Ardus from RWM I'm thinking of redesigning that into a Waiqar piece and I really want to get some more rune golems to add to the core set one and the two I've got from the rune golems set, as I then intend to do some elementally-themed rune golems. Likewise some more carrion lancers would be handy as I'd like some of the creatures without riders to tie in with my parasitic creature lifecycle idea (been toying with the idea that broodwalkers, corpse bugs and some other things like plague worms are different life stages of the same parasitic creature).

They dry fit well, but I'd still glue them. I too was very impressed with the RuneWars minis. They are some excellent figs.

I use the Rune Golems in my Descent games. Very easy to do and they fit perfectly on the board. They make awesome boss fights!

I also plan to put the Carrion Lancers on the board in a Waiqar Castle scenario.

rune golem front act 1.jpg

rune golem front act 2.jpg

I'm on the Uthuks right now.

22 hours ago, 1mikethebuilder1 said:

This picture makes me remember the darksiders style, very cool

ffg should have done this job with crossover kits but....

On 2/4/2020 at 9:31 PM, jopan said:

ffg should have done this job with crossover kits but....

maybe, just maybe, in the future

On 2/22/2020 at 10:41 PM, Watercolour Dragon said:

maybe, just maybe, in the future

😞 They haven't put in that kind of forethought in quite some time.

Did someone come up with something for Uthuks? :)

I just bought Flesh Rippers to integrate them into my game.

rwm22_fleshrippers_group.png

I was thinking about something like this:

EDIT:

fleshripper_act1_en_front.jpg?pub_secret=eba37dbdc2 fleshripper_act1_en_back.jpg?pub_secret=d54189281c

img_20200803_185214__01.jpg?pub_secret=b

Edited by AwesomeTree_in_the_Dark

I did some some times ago. Want to see ?

2 hours ago, rugal said:

I did some some times ago. Want to see ?

Yeah 😄 that is why I am asking 😁

Uthuks.jpg

Flesh rippers should have only 1 Blue die.

Edited by rugal

Last year I nearly bought a complete pack of runebound miniatures which was sold with a huge discount. But in the end I just did not want to have hundreds of new miniatures which would need to be painted.

But I had already planned a Custom Mission for Valkyrie which would have dealt with a little time travel to the Ru Darklands where the heroes witness the transformation from the less demonic Uthuk Yllan from the Diskwars age to the demonic ones from Runebound.

While Ravos would have been transforming in a center area the heroes would have to visit multiple areas where normal descent monsters and villager tokens would have transformed into the runebound miniatures.

image.png.d85b63fed40c9919bfc3306b3b71fdb1.png

I still think this would have made a nice scenario but the main reason not to do it is that Descent has no desert / plain tiles at all. Not very good for the atmosphere if the desert area where everything happens is full of green gras and waterfalls...

Descent *might* have desert tiles in future, as a somewhat obsessed fan might be working on something :) , might be slow to happen but if you sketch something out I might be able to realize it in my mapmaking software collection (my big fan project includes working on some new maps hopefully and desert/ice/jungle are key aims as D2e lacks a lot of them)- can't promise anything and it will be some time coming as I already have a huge Descent worklist I'm ploughing through- the only downside of making your own campaigns (and going way deeper than you initially planned) but if you share a sketched map you could use and refine this while you playtest any ideas (or you could look into mapmaking yourself- there are apps for making fantasy maps out there and it's easier than you think, there are some useful tips out there too- you can even use your own texture photos,, with a slightly 'model railway' approach- you don't have to visit the actual desert to get the right textures or photo sources for sand for example)

If you don't want to add to your minis collection you could make some card standees or substitute similar Descent figures/ other figures you do have, if you do wish to bring more characters into your games.

Or if you're transforming characters to save having the minis for what they become you could just have some way of marking their current condition, if they transform there could be a card and that could be how you mark the transformation in-game.

I do have the Uthuk from RWM though and have been thinking of similar- the Uthuk being more primeval than evil, their only corruption being that which has been spreading through Mennara generally, and similar transformations during play such as normal dogs, wolves or barghests becoming flesh rippers and other beasts or units being summoned or created.

Afterthought: another way to get different map environments is to make use of map packs/tiles you can get for RPG games- these would give you the terrain which you could integrate with the D2e map tiles- there are several compatible systems. You just need to work out how to use these with your adventure.

Edited by Watercolour Dragon
map packs

fleshripper_en_act1_front.jpg?pub_secret=4d7f817825 fleshripper_en_act1_back.jpg?pub_secret=40907ef64f fleshripper_en_act2_front.jpg?pub_secret=1d9dbe329e fleshripper_en_act2_back.jpg?pub_secret=45a6565d18

Czech version:
fleshripper_act1_front.jpg?pub_secret=7f451acb64 fleshripper_act1_back.jpg?pub_secret=840b0f0b3a fleshripper_act2_front.jpg?pub_secret=215d117dc3 fleshripper_act2_back.jpg?pub_secret=373d217fea

_bg.jpg?pub_secret=945052d4a4
__ig_all.jpg?pub_secret=e6445ab116 __ig_0_master.jpg?pub_secret=9ddac9074b __ig_0_regular.jpg?pub_secret=38c59ebeb2

Edited by AwesomeTree_in_the_Dark

These look great.

I'm in the middle of painting my set now. All traditional figures, but it all helps.

Runewars, RIP. But I felt I knew it was going to happen. :(