If you are like this reviewer, you have neither the desire, nor space, nor cash, to ?collect? traditional miniatures. Yet, with the tactical combat systems used in many game systems these days, being able to bust out the battle mat and a set of minis is often necessary. Thus you find yourself looking for a practical and inexpensive option for your miniatures needs. Paper miniatures meet this need. When they are packaged as a PDF, you are provided with a readily available source of minis for your games, being able to print as many of a particular figure as you need, without having to invest too much money in them, or time and effort, in the case of those who paint their minis. In short, paper minis are an attractive option for their low cost and convenience, and are also logical options for ?collectors? needing a particular miniature, or several of them, for their game.
The figures in Arion Games? miniatures sets come in 3 styles, ?A-frame?, ?Flat?, and ?Triagonal?. The ?A-frame? and ?Flat? figures can be constructed from the same sheets, depending on how they are cut out. The ?Triagonal? minis are constructed from a separate sheet. These construction choices provide additional options in preparing your minis for use in the game, major characters or monsters can be constructed as the ?Triagonal? versions to provide a more visual flair, and to emphasize their importance. Other figures can be done as ?A-Frame? or flat versions to make them easier to handle or distinguish them from each other, thus providing a functional use beyond their graphical characteristics. Vehicles done as Triagonal versions of the minis work very well, giving a better impression of their relative size.
The instructions, which are not included in this PDF, but are available on the publisher?s website, are easy to follow and assembling the minis is quick and painless, just requiring a bit of work with scissors and some glue. The minis look good, even when printed on plain paper. Each figure is drawn from a 3D rendering (done in Poser using figures provided by DAZED, according to the credits), providing sharp detail and life-like shading, even when printed.
This 5 page PDF (6 with cover) provides a set of 30 figures. It includes three Cop figures, which all look good, two Engineer figures, two Pilot figures, one Agent figure, one Scientist figure, one medic figure, twenty general Civilian figures, including five different types of aliens as well as humans. The aliens include a cat-type humanoid, a Twi-lek looking alien, a green skinned alien with large pointed ears, a statuesque purple-skinned female type, and a white-skinned imperious looking humanoid alien species. There are two examples of each alien species except for the twi-lek looking one. All of the alien types look good, and would be easily adaptable to most SF RPG?s. It also includes 4 ?vehicle? figures, two Police Patrol Walker type robots, a Hovercar, and a Skorpion Personal Transport.
Overall, this is an excellent product from Arion Games. The array of figures and variety of costume types is very good, the aliens are good looking and adaptable to many settings, all of the vehicles look good. Many of the figures can be used in modern and near-future settings as well, and a few in fantasy settings, giving you extra bang for the buck. Adding in the fact that you can print as many as you need, and prepare your own figure sheets, this is excellent value as well. If you are looking for some extra?s to fill out the set of your space station shootout, all of these figures would do nicely. The large number of figures is also a plus as a well, making it a better than average value.
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<b>LIKED</b>: Purple skinned alien chicks, Police Walker, large number of figures.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: No wookies, no slave girls! <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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