by Ed Fortune
It’s almost a tradition now that when Wizards of the Coast launched a new thing, Wizkids does some tie-in minis. Heck, even the new D&D movie, Honor Among Thieves, has its own blister pack of minis. So obviously, now that the Dragonlance Shadow Of The Dragon Queen adventure book is out, we’re getting a set of Icons of The Realms blind boxes to tie in.
These are boxes that feature four pre-painted models based on the world of Dragonlance, typically inspired by illustrations in the book. The models vary in size, typically, if you get something hobbit-sized, you also get something horse-sized. They’re all in the standard scale for D&D models.
They’ve done something a little different this time around by introducing Super Boosters, which means you get two larger models. In this range, this means a dragon and maybe something dragon-like as well. To our delight, we discovered that the Young Black Dragon in this range has a detachable saddle and comes with a rider. This means you can either have the rider as a standalone model or on the back of his dragon buddy. Though be aware that if you do put the dude on the back of the dragon, you’re left with a mini that is just a pair of legs as the piece detaches at the waist to attach the saddle. (There are a few of these saddle swap minis in the range, and sad to say, they’re all specific to their mini, which makes sense as it means they all fit their model snuggly, but is a little disappointing from a toyetic sensibility.)
The regular minis are varied and quite fun. We get, for example, a Gnome Flinger – a siege piece that is basically a siege catapult. It has no working parts, but the ‘flinging’ bit is large enough for you to put a gnome min on it. We also get a little silver dragon egg in a chest; this is actually a nice objective marker or quest item (and underlines the fact that these models are for roleplay rather than skirmish games). There’s a Skeletal Knight Rider, which is an undead knight on the back of a not-skeletal horse and a rider-less warhorse, which seemed odd at first, but when you realise that Dragonlance Shadow Of The Dragon Queen is set in various war zones, makes sense.
There are some ‘chase’ promo models. Two very domestic-looking Kender (who are basically cheekier versions of hobbits), a really nice version of D&D’s own dark knight, Lord Soth and a surprisingly Goth version of the Dragon Queen herself, in mortal rather than dragon form.
There are also some nice character pieces; Dalamar is an evil wizard who plays an important role in the Dragonlance series, and his model here has him casting a spell and looking stern. Mostly the range Is complemented by citizens of Ansalon, the world of Dragonlance, looking stern. It’s a great set and a great addition to your collection.
