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NEWS: Totally Pawsome Policies for Interviews and Reviews - Thundermouser

  Hail Mighty Readers and Rollers of the Maths Rocks, We love to interview people in the TTRPG scene so if you are in one of the following r...

Wednesday, 9 July 2025

INDEPENDENT MINIATURE CREATOR INTERVIEW: Crippled God Foundry

Back in the saddle again, we've been hard at work seeking out talented people for interviews to bring you content that allows you to get to know small creators who always bring fabulous things to the fore for gamers attention.


Here we grabbed a few minutes with Crippled God Foundry whom we've been admiring their mini's for quite some time.  Based in Athens, Greece, they've been hard at work bringing so many things to the fore for your tabletop from scenery to miniatures for both Science Fiction and Fantasy that really does allow you to stretch your imagination.  So please, sit back, read and enjoy...



Totally Pawsome:  How do you work out which themes to create pieces for?

Crippled God Foundries:  Our themes are influenced from the fantasy genre and pop culture. We look into our favourite TTRPGs, boardgames and wargames.

We draw inspiration from comics, books, movies and video games.

We ask ourselves “What would make an interesting miniature, what we would like to see on the table?  What use will it have and if it would be appealing to our fans?”

We do our market research, find out what is and isn’t available and at the end we follow our instinct.


TP:  What would you say sells your miniatures to people? 

CGF:  First of all, our exceptional miniature detail and the love of what we do. The nostalgic feel, unique and fresh takes on known themes and in regards to our physical miniatures, the detail, the excellent production quality and detail, fast fulfilment, customer service and respect to our fans.


TP:  What is the turnaround time from designing a concept to having it ready for printing?

CGF: This depends on many variables. For example, the kind of concept we want to create (if it is a miniature or scenery piece) who will make the concept art and if it will be outsourced or sculpted internally. I would say around 1-3 weeks. We never use AI.


TP:  What is your favourite piece that you've created and why? 

CGF: As creators we love everything we created so as you understand, it is a bit hard to say.

But if we had to choose, I would say the Dungeon of Despair collection. It is a fantastic set, full of nostalgia, where we brought some iconic designs, with high detail and lots of cool miniatures, scenery and props with many uses in tabletop games!


TP:  Coming up with a piece is often an idea that gets written into a journal to come back to. How often do you find yourself working on one piece and another comes to mind and can you give an example? 

CGF: This happens all the time! 

When we work on a piece or a release, at the same time a world of possibilities and ideas opens. For example, when we designed the first Troll with the Goblin Blood release, many ideas and concepts of additional goblins, characters and monsters came to our minds. In the end, this was translated into two awesome and well received releases!


TP:  What do you think is most inspiring about your miniatures and why? 

CGF: Every one of our miniatures has a story to tell. We put a lot of attention to the concept creation, design and details that each miniature has, so when you take it in your hands and look at it, it will ignite your imagination. 

The same goes for our terrain pieces and props. The details we put in our scenery, will inspire you to create fantastic adventures and help you to set the scene in your games and also can provide ideas for your next hobby project!


TP:  Where do you see your business taking you in 5 years? 

CGF: We aim to have a physical presence in well-known international conventions, expand our physical miniature catalogue and make it more accessible to international markets and brick and mortar stores. Also, we want to have brought to our fans our own tabletop game. 

We have many exciting projects in the works that we are looking forward to announcing!


TP:  If you were given the time and opportunity to create anything you wanted, what would it be and why? 

CGF: To develop and publish our own tabletop game and fantasy universe!

We would love to be able to have all our projects and miniatures brought together under an original setting of our own creation that will enable us to share our ideas with the community in various forms like rpg supplements, and create a boardgame or skirmish wargame set in this setting.


TP:  Who do you admire in the fantasy community and why? 

CGF: We admire creators who share their amazing creations and knowledge with the community, work hard and make their dream come true.

They are small teams of people with a dream, who bring their creations out there and despite difficulties, they succeed!

We also admire the Youtube Tabletop Crafting community with their inspiring techniques and unique ideas that they share with everyone!

Some of the amazing people that inspired us and ignited the birth of Crippled God Foundry are DM Scotty, DMGinfo, Wyloch, Black Magic Craft and many other 3D printable miniature creators that offer their amazing designs for our hobby.


TP:  What got you all into TTRPG's in the first place?

CGF:  Board games such as Heroquest and Space Crusade were a major influence to us.

Fantasy literature like Conan the Barbarian, LotR, Elric of Melnibone, Lovecraft, lots of comics and 80’s fantasy movies.

And of course the first TTRPG we ever played, introduced us to this amazing world: AD&D 2nd edition.


Monday, 7 July 2025

MONTHLY MINIATURE PICKS: Wa’Kura and Termigants in the Lands of the Crescent Sands - Heroes Infinite

 


Hail Mighty Readers and Mini Painting Officionado's,
Into July, we've hit the half way point with something thats going to take your Arabian Adventures to a new level on the gaming table with these fabulous mini's being released from 
Heroes Infinite in this months pack.  Whilst we can't show you everything as it is not all safe for work, what we can show will have you champing at the bit to order, download and print.  





This character centric piece will add so much to your table, giving you a central option to aim for, to add flavour as well as to give your troops something to protect as well as lead them.


Alongside this, they have a whole range of other mini's out there with two price ranges, where under the Leader Tier ($10) you get:
9-10 Heroes
3 Dynamic Troopers
1 Epic Centerpiece
14+ Scenic Bases
2 Monsters

Whereas if you take out the Overlord Tier ($16) you will get in addition to the above:



Additional 15-20 new Troopers

to create 5 different units
Exclusive alternative versions
of Heroes and Monsters
Mind-boggingly extensive
Modular / Scatter Terrain
Exclusive additional models
for our Heroes Infinite Overlords,
such as Mounted Heroes, Monsters, and more.


Each tier is pretty fab and we also wanted to link to their YT vid where you can see the full range for your money.

Please join us in celebrating everything to do with the joy of mini's.


And as we continue the series please remember that some of these will only be available at the prices cited for this month, so if you like them, get them now.  

There are plenty of others that we don't have the space to feature so please watch the YT trailer so that you can see everything to decide if there's some that you really want.












Friday, 20 June 2025

INDEPENDENT MINATURE CREATOR: Crippled God Foundry: Goblins

Hail Mighty Readers and Mini Painting Officionado's,


As we're delving more into the You Tube experience we are exploring more and more independent miniature designers and creators.  We love bringing something new to our audience and giving props to companies who bring something different to the fore, and as such we couldn't help but fall in love with this range from Crippled God Foundry.  






With so much on offer on their site, whether you like to home print or buy pre-printed, they have something for everyone and every type of TTRPG game out there, its just a case of looking to see what grabs your fancy.  We hope to visit again soon with other mini's from a different species.  


Have fun, prepare to prime and get some mini's painted.  


Thundermouser




Friday, 6 June 2025

MONTHLY MINI's - Jagerholm - Dark Fantastic Mills

 



Hail Mighty Readers and Mini Painting Officionado's,
As we're delving more into the You Tube experience we really are starting to love making video's of things that we love, this time with some limited offers on their latest releases, we couldn't help but feature the divine Jagerholm miniatures from Dark Fantastic Mills.




With so much on offer on their site, whether you like to home print or buy pre-printed, they have something for everyone and every type of TTRPG game out there, its just a case of looking to see what grabs your fancy.  


Having developed their worlds and unique looks for over five years, this British based company has sold over 30K miniatures which tells you how much others love their work.  All round, there is so much on there, one video just isn't enough to show you the fabulous work available.  So over the next few months we hope to tackle others and bring them to you.

Have fun, prepare to prime and get some mini's painted.  


Thundermouser



Monday, 2 June 2025

MONTHLY MINIATURES: Jade Empire and the Void Elves of Dusk - Heroes Infinite

 


Hail Mighty Readers and Mini Painting Officionado's,
With June being a special month for us, we're planning on quite a few video's as well as features so we wanted to kick off with some fabulous mini's that we're already in love with that would add so much to your gaming table.  Heroes Infinite steps into the fantasy eastern empires and will give you the chance to prepare terrain and troops for so many games.  




This centrepiece will add so much to your table, giving you a central option to aim for, to add flavour as well as to give your troops something to protect as well as lead them.


Alongside this, they have a whole range of other mini's out there with two price ranges, where under the Leader Tier ($10) you get:
9-10 Heroes
3 Dynamic Troopers
1 Epic Centerpiece
14+ Scenic Bases
2 Monsters

Whereas if you take out the Overlord Tier ($16) you will get in addition to the above:




Additional 15-20 new Troopers
to create 5 different units
Exclusive alternative versions
of Heroes and Monsters
Mind-boggingly extensive
Modular / Scatter Terrain
Exclusive additional models
for our Heroes Infinite Overlords,
such as Mounted Heroes, Monsters, and more.


Each tier is pretty fab and we also wanted to link to their YT vid where you can see the full range for your money.

Please join us in celebrating everything to do with the joy of mini's.


And as we continue the series please remember that some of these will only be available at the prices cited for this month, so if you like them, get them now.  

There are plenty of others that we don't have the space to feature so please watch the YT trailer so that you can see everything to decide if there's some that you really want.










Saturday, 17 May 2025

MINIATURE PAINTING TUTORIAL BOOK: Color - Angel Giraldez


Release Date: 10/05/25

Publisher: Self Published

SYNOPSIS:
Angel Giraldez: Colour, BSL System Product Description
COLOUR is far more than a simple book: it is the main entrance to the BSL System universe.

Throughout its 164 pages you are going to discover the BSL chromatic families and will learn to use them to take the maximum advantage of them. Guided by practical cases and video examples, you will experience the power of colour while you apply new techniques and tools to breathe life into your miniatures.

Immerse yourself in a creative journey that will transform the way you understand and apply colour, guided by Angel Giraldez and Pedro Gonzalez, the creators of the BSL System. Take your skills to the next level and become an expert with this must-have manual for artists of all levels.


REVIEW:

(Disclosure:  I purchased this with my own money and wanted to review it for others.)

As a painter of miniatures who wants to improve, I take every opportunity to sit down and learn, not only though You-Tube but also with helpful books.  As such I've been following an online painter called Angel Giraldez, I love his style, how he paints and of course how the miniatures look upon conclusion which easily allows you to see how the process works from start to finish.

Whilst a great many others out there have a good fundamental standing of artistic principles such as having studied at school or at a higher learning centre I haven't so whilst telling me that x and y work together, I've never had it explained in a way that makes sense to me.

This new book "Color" by Angel is a book that does this.  Written and produced in association with Vallejo, this book utilises his years of learning and skills to easily explain why certain colours work and others don't even explaining how some skin tones won't work with others to present a finished product that you're proud of.

It walks you through what some call basic skills, explains what's what and helps you learn as you develop through practice and repetition on your own mini's as well as having QR codes throughout that allow you to see it in practice.  




All round I'm more than happy with this book, I love how easy it is to follow, understand as well as seeing fabulously detailed photo's of the processes alongside having quality produced video to help back it all up.  

The only thing that I would have liked that wasn't included as a pull-out colour chart of the various paints mentioned within so that its easy to keep an eye on what is being referred to over just having to make a list and look them up separately which takes time away from the book.  It could easily have been added and I do feel its a little bit of an opportunity missed.  That said, there is a dedicated paint set coming out shortly that accompanies this book but when you start totting up the costs it can get quite expensive if you already have invested in other brands.  

Tuesday, 29 April 2025

SCI-FI HORROR REVIEW: The Staircase in the Woods - Chuck Wendig

Release Date: 29/04/25

Publisher: Del Rey

SYNOPSIS:

Five high school friends, bonded by an oath to protect each other no matter what.

On a camping trip in the middle of the forest, they find something extraordinary: a mysterious staircase to nowhere

One friend walks up – but never comes back down.

Now twenty years later, the staircase has reappeared, and the friends return to find the lost boy – and what lies beyond the staircase in the woods…

FROM THE MODERN HORROR SENSATION COMES A NEW BONE-CHILLING MASTERPIECE.


REVIEW:

In addition to this, if you prefer to listen rather than read, click our YT video here:


Chuck Wendig is a prolific author and with a ridiculous number of books to his name, across a lot of genres.

Lucky enough to get a copy early from the publisher, we dig deep and consider climbing "The Staircase in the Woods."

Diving into this book was a  plunge into the unknown as whilst the mythos of the Stairs in the Woods is well known, what you'll get from the furtive imagination of an author like Chuck is a complete mystery.

The book is written with his usual panache, has cracking prose, top notch description and of course keeps you hanging on by your fingernails right until the final page, occasionally  allowing you to grab a breath of air  with masterful lulls of pace.

Add to this, characters that you want to spend time with, that are believable and of course dialogue that feels realistic with choices that you could see yourself making, all round makes this one of the books that I am recommending already for people who love something a little different to pick up as they'll love every page.

All round, a book that was a pure joy to devour and one that will stay with you long after the final page is turned.  Magical.