Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures is a line of miniatures produced under license by a number of companies and published by TSR for use with the fantasy role-playing game Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D).
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures is a line of miniatures produced under license by a number of companies and published by TSR for use with the fantasy role-playing game Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D).
Even as TSR published the first version of Dungeons & Dragons in 1974, several companies were already making fantasy-themed miniatures, notably Der Kriegspielers Fantastiques, which had just produced a line of miniatures based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings , [1] and Jack Scruby's The Soldier Factory. [2] : 305 Although miniatures were not listed as an essential element of play in the first versions of D&D, several companies quickly formed to produce miniatures for use with the game, including Archive Miniatures (California), [3] and Asgard Miniatures (UK). [2] : 45 These companies all produced generic fantasy figures, since they were not licensed to produce figures based on TSR's products.
In 1977, TSR licensed a British company, Minifigs, to produce a line of 25 mm figures for D&D. [4] With the publication of AD&D, TSR licensed Grenadier Models in 1980 to produce 25 mm miniatures for the game. Over the next three years, Grenadier produced
In 1982, TSR disagreed with Grenadier's plans to start producing fantasy miniatures for other companies, and TSR subsequently terminated Grenadier's AD&D license at the end of 1982.
TSR began to produce miniatures on their own, and during the next two years, produced eight boxed sets and 23 blisters packs. These were not seen as having the same level of quality as Grenadier, and they were not well received. [5]
In 1985, TSR licensed Citadel Miniatures to produce official AD&D miniatures. [6] Several things differentiated Citadel's miniatures from previous works.
From June 1985 until the end of 1986, under the AD&D banner, Citadel produced
At the end of 1986, TSR abruptly terminated Citadel's license, leaving Citadel holding a large amount of stock, which they were forced to sell off at half-price. [7] TSR immediately signed a licensing agreement with Ral Partha to produce AD&D miniatures. [8] Ral Partha produced individual figures for AD&D in great numbers, as well as 13 boxed sets that each contained 8–10 miniatures. With the release of the second edition of AD&D in 1989, Ral Partha continued to market the same lines of figures with "Second Edition" added to their packaging. [8]
When Wizards of the Coast took over TSR in 1997, they ended Ral Partha's license, bringing the production of official AD&D miniatures to an end. [8]
In the June 1983 edition of Different Worlds (Issue 29), John T. Sapienza reviewed eight blister packs of AD&D miniatures produced by Grenadier, finding all of them to be of good quality. He especially liked a figurine of a djinn, calling it "very handsome indeed." [9]
In the January 1984 edition of Imagine (Issue 10), Ian J. Knight reviewed the AD&D miniatures being produced by Citadel, and stated that "The models themselves are in the Ral Partha/Citadel style, well animated, with lots of character and a good degree of detail definition, though a few seem a little thin when studied side-on - and heavy-handed gamers might find some of the sword blades vulnerable, as the metal is quite soft." Knight concluded that these were "a good set of figures intelligently presented." [10]
In a retrospective review, Richard Scott noted that Citadel's AD&D monsters "had a definite 'UK flavour'", since many of them were taken from the Fiend Folio , a British publication. Scott also noted that for the first time, "lots of the monsters were produced with subtle variations in weaponry, clothing and facial features", allowing a gamemaster to put together large groups of monsters that had enough variation to allow for individuality. Scott called this a "welcome innovation." [6]
In a review of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons figurines in 2014 in Black Gate , Mark Rigney said "I like having a little bit of my history in the house, and thanks to this surprise gift, any time I wish to rocket myself back to 1981, all I need do is open the lid..." [11]
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). It has been published by Wizards of the Coast, later a subsidiary of Hasbro, since 1997. The game was derived from miniature wargames, with a variation of the 1971 game Chainmail serving as the initial rule system. D&D's publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry, which also deeply influenced video games, especially the role-playing video game genre.
Arduin is a fictional universe and fantasy role-playing system created in the mid-1970s by David A. Hargrave. It was the first published "cross-genre" fantasy RPG, with everything from interstellar wars to horror and historical drama, although it was based primarily in the medieval fantasy genre.
Fiend Folio is the name of three separate products published for successive editions of the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). All three are collections of monsters.
Caramon Majere is a fictional character from the Dragonlance books. He is depicted as a fighter and is one of the main characters in Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's first Dragonlance trilogy, the Dragonlance Chronicles. Caramon and his brother Raistlin Majere's relationship was explored in the NY Times Best Seller Twins Trilogy.
Citadel Miniatures Limited is a company which produces metal, resin and plastic miniature figures for tabletop wargames such as Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000.
Several different editions of the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of D&D, Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the game. However, many D&D fans continue to play older versions of the game and some third-party companies continue to publish materials compatible with these older editions.
Battlesystem is a tabletop miniature wargame designed as a supplement for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The original Battlesystem was printed as a boxed set in 1985 for use with the first edition AD&D rules. For the second edition of AD&D, a new version of Battesystem was printed as a softcover book in 1989.
Judges Guild is a game publisher that has been active since 1976. The company created and sold many role-playing game supplements, periodicals and related materials. During the late 1970s and early 1980s the company was one of the leading publishers of Dungeons & Dragons related materials. Its flagship product, City State of the Invincible Overlord, was the first published RPG supplement to feature a fully developed city environment. The supplement was followed closely by numerous ancillary cities, maps, and other materials published by Judges Guild.
Grenadier Models Inc. of Springfield, Pennsylvania produced lead miniature figures for wargames and role-playing games with fantasy, science fiction and heroic themes between 1975 and 1996. Grenadier Models Inc. is best known for their figures for TSR, Inc.'s Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, collectible Dragon-of-the-Month and Giants Club figures, and their marketing of paint and miniature sets through traditional retail outlets.
Robert N. Charrette is an American graphic artist, game designer, sculptor and author. Charrette has authored more than a dozen novels. His gaming materials have received many Origins Awards. Charrette was inducted in the Origins Hall of Fame in 2003. His work is known for a clean, realistic style that invokes themes from Feudal Japan and Chanbara films and in particular, historical and fantastic representations of Samurai culture. His early work in game design and miniature sculpting set the tone for depictions of Japanese mythology in American fantasy and science fiction. His 1979 role-playing game Bushido was one of the first role-playing games with a non-Western theme and remained in print for more than three decades. Charrette produced gaming products for Fantasy Games Unlimited, Grenadier Models Inc., Ral Partha Enterprises, FASA and currently operates Parroom Enterprises, LLC, a boutique miniatures game company.
The original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson was published by TSR, Inc. in 1974. It included the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Its product designation was TSR 2002.
The Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set is a set of rulebooks for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. First published in 1977, it saw a handful of revisions and reprintings. The first edition was written by J. Eric Holmes based on Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson's original work. Later editions were edited by Tom Moldvay, Frank Mentzer, Troy Denning, and Doug Stewart.
Formed in 1975, Ral Partha Enterprises, Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, is now known as Ral Partha Legacy Ltd. and produces miniature figures in 25 mm, 30 mm, 15 mm, and 54 mm scale. The company's products are made by spin-casting metal alloys which depict soldiers, adventurers and creatures that have been inspired by history and fiction. Their miniatures are sold at gaming conventions, in hobby shops, and by internet and mail order for use in role playing games, wargaming, dioramas, competitive painting, and collecting.
Tom Meier is a sculptor, a founding partner of Ral Partha Enterprises, and the winner of numerous awards for the design and sculpture of historical, fantasy and science fiction gaming miniatures.
RAFM Company, Inc. of Brantford, Ontario is a producer of miniatures, reference materials, and board games. RAFM has produced games, reference materials, and their own lines of miniature figures in 15 mm, 20 mm, 25 mm, and 28 mm scales since 1977. Their games concern soldiers, adventurers and monsters inspired by both history and fiction. Their products are sold at gaming conventions, in hobby shops, and by mail order for use in role playing games, wargaming, dioramas, competitive painting, and collecting. The company is best known for its Baker Company, Charlie Company, Death in the Dark, RAFM historical miniatures, Call of Cthulhu miniatures, fantasy miniatures, Space: 1889 figures, historical source materials, and pewter dice.
Fantasy Lords is a line of miniatures published by Grenadier subsidiary Pinnacle Products.
Cloudland is an unlicensed adventure published by Grenadier Models in 1984 using the rules of the fantasy role-playing game Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
Archive Miniatures & Game Systems was one of the first companies to produce fantasy miniature figures following the birth of role-playing games in the 1970s.
Dungeon Planner Set 1: Caverns of the Dead is an adventure published by Games Workshop in 1984 for use with fantasy role-playing games.