Prop Dusting - Wizkids D&D Icons of the Realms Daern's Instant Fortress

My wallet weeps green blood. A fourth costly Wizkids Icons of the Realms show piece has joined the attack, stealing more of my precious and very limited funds. Coming in at a suggested $149 this one also bites deep. As with the others I believe the cost of their product is above what it should be by quite a bit, but they are well made, and I suspect they have to make up in price what they are unlikely to make up in volume.

Large and in charge, Daern's Instant Fortress takes up a 7 x 11 x 7 inch foot print. Like its companion pieces it is scaled for use with the miniatures they produce for D&D. I also buy a ton of their miniatures too.

Accompanied by a 1" cube with Daern's mark on it, the fortress and the cube represent the wondrous magic item of the same name. 

For those unfamiliar, a character places the tiny cube on the ground and speaks a command word. The cube then expands to become the fortress. Characters can use it as a safe place to rest. The magic item can also be used in some instances as a weapon. As it expands, anyone in the way of where it will sit takes a lot of damage. This use can be abused so DMs are advised to think carefully before putting Daern's Instant Fortress into the hands of player characters.

My plans for the fortress include using it to represent a tower in the city of Ptolus along a street known to host the abodes of magic users. Along with other towers of various shapes and sizes it will be in good company.

Unlike the larger The Tower by Wizkids, this one does not break down into useable levels. It was mentioned somewhere that it might function as a dice tower, but until it is in hand that won't be verifiable.

Opening my wallet is like an un-boxing gone wrong. It's empty.

Prop Dusting - Wizkids Icons of the Realms The Wild Beyond the Witchlight Swamp Gas Balloon

In the Ptolus campaign setting is a business known by the name Barbarian Balloonists. The two enterprising owners have a patchwork hot-air balloon on a long tether line and they charge customers to go up not just to have a look around (if that's all you want it's more expensive), but to use bows to hunt flying birds from the balloon. You'd be right if you thought this might have some element of risk not just for those in the balloon, but for people in the city below who might be hit by falling arrows!.

When I saw the Wizkids Icons of the Realms The Wild Beyond the Witchlight Swamp Gas Balloon (egads what a long name) I knew exactly what I would use it for.

The Swamp Gas Balloon has approximate dimensions of 9 x 10 x 9 inches and the gondola can hold about 4 or 5 standard minis. I have not yet tried to cram minis in it so the number it holds could be less, but definitely not more.

Price-wise I'm still feeling the pinch to my wallet (more-so for the Falling Star ship and The Tower). This piece ranges in the mid $70 range typically, but I've seen some vendors go into the $90 plus price range. I have to wonder what the higher price sellers are thinking since the majority have kept the price to about $75 and they offer free shipping. 

Quality of the Balloon is, like the other Wizkids items, very good. It is designed to last for a long time and with care it certainly will. 

I'm working on a scenario that will make good use of the Swamp Gas Balloon on more than one occasion. This will be one way to take a little coin out of their pockets and they'll even catch a price break if they tell the owners what dangerous thing they're going up to do (as long as they take an owner along for the ride because it's something the proprietors would consider great fun).

Prop Dusting - Icons of the Realms The Tower

Another big purchase recently is the Wizkids Icons of the Realms The Tower. It's one of those colossal terrain sets that look impressive as a play space on your gaming table. At a size of 30 x 5.3 x 24 inches, it will take center stage.

The Tower has three levels, each 100mm tall leaving height for your miniatures to stand up and not look larger than the room. The levels are separate pieces needing assembly, and once together can be stacked up to construct the full tower. Floors are heavy cardstock and are removable. 

If you don't care for the fitted plastic trays the pieces are in when it arrives you can always ditch those trays and have a ton of area within the box for the tower (with levels assembled, but not stacked) and gobs of other things.

There is more interior floor space in this tower than in the larger of the Dwarven Forge Castle towers. While Dwarven Forge pieces to expand the tower can be purchased as separate levels, to make this one taller than three levels, you need to buy more complete sets since only the middle floor can be used to stack a higher tower.

This one also has the drawback of cost. It comes in at about $250 suggested retail unless you happen to catch it on sale in which case you can sometimes find it at just a buck or two below $200. 

Have fun storming the castle!

Prop Dusting - Icons of the Realms Falling Star Ship

A recent obsession with water going craft of various sizes led to a big purchase. The Icons of the Realms Falling Star ship, unpainted version.

Unpainted version.

This thing is bigger than I expected and very well suited to miniature battles on the deck and in the provided lower decks cardstock tiles. The masts are removable for ease of access when moving minis around the deck where there is plenty of playable space. 

Cardstock tiles representing the lower decks can be placed on your table either alongside the ship or separately. 

The unpainted version can readily be given a nice paintjob in any design you like, but be prepared to have enough of your chosen colors on hand because this thing is big, was that already mentioned? Like all of the Nolzur's miniatures it comes pre-primed making it paintable directly out of the box, but you may want to dust it off anyway before starting.

Paints made for painting miniatures often come in half ounce bottles or those very spillable pots (we're looking at you Nuln Oil) and can get costly. A less costly alternative might be the inexpensive acrylic craft paints from certain big box stores, but be sure to thin them with water and/or some kind of flow improver so that you preserve the details.

Both the unpainted and painted versions are fine for play as-is if you don't wish to paint them.

The sails are actually cloth bundled up. It is not recommended to unfurl the sails because they may not be designed to function that way.

This beast is (per the online store) 17. 2" Tall, 33" Long, and 6. 4" Wide (12. 6" Wide at the masts!).

Falling Star (give it whatever name you want) will make for an impressive encounter site on your game table. 

A drawback is the price. Typically the unpainted version runs about $150 while the painted version is approximately $250. Why so expensive? While not privy to the costs involved, it seems the price could easily be half that much and profits would still be generous.

Painted version.