Online Store: Star Hat Miniatures (https://starhatminiatures.com/).
Heroic scale fantasy miniatures, sculpted by hand and cast in metal, for your roleplaying and tabletop games.
Yesterday a small and unassuming parcel arrived from Macrocosm with some resin dungeon terrain for me to paint. I really enjoyed giving the Throne of Bones a quack paint job. This is probably my favourite terrain skull-pture to date - it has plenty of detail and took paint from the brush beautifully. I am sure you will think of some humerus puns while painting to tickle the funny bones of your players when you bring it to your gaming table.
By The Power of Greyduck!
Mordux on the Throne of Bones!
The metal Mordux sits comfortably on the resin throne of bones, but you could glue his butt to the seat if you like. I am leaving mine unglued for those times when Mordux is out and about.
Mordux was made available thanks to backers of the DuckQuest Kickstarter and is available for preorder (last week!) on Backerkit.
I asked Steve Crompton if I could share this with you. The impact Rick Loomis has had on the world of gaming can not be understated. -----------------------------
Rick Loomis at Gencon several years ago. He was a fixture at many conventions and people expected to see him year after year.
By Steve Crompton
Loss of our friend: By now many of you may have heard the sad news that Rick Loomis, President of Flying Buffalo and a gaming industry legend, passed away on Aug 23rd, just a few hours before his 72nd birthday. Rick created and ran Flying Buffalo for almost 50 years, and was also President of GAMA (Gaming Manufacturers of America) on several occasions. Rick's loss leaves a huge hole in our hearts and Flying Buffalo. Rick was our mentor, our friend (a brother for his sisters) and the intermediary between the high-flying goals of the creative team and the real world. He helped us stay on track and reminded us of the limits of our budgets. Rick also made sure that whatever we created would be something that players would want. And many, many times he made suggestions that made a game more playable or an adventure more usable. We will miss Rick every single day, and we plan to honor his wishes and hopes for the future of Flying Buffalo going forward. SoWhat Happens now?: While Rick was fighting cancer and was unable to attend to his work on processing the Kickstarter orders, he did manage to teach me how to do that, and I have been doing so since early July. (Rick did everything before then.) Rick's sisters and the entire Buffalo team are committed to continuing to process and ship out your Kickstarter orders. In fact just today I did another 25 orders and they are now in shipping, ready to be packaged up. And tomorrow we'll be taking 40 finished orders to the post office. As of now, we only have about MSPE 175 orders left to ship out of the original 675 we started with. And we will continue to ship out your orders until all of them have gone out. We have everything in from the printers and everything that Mike was supposed to sign has been signed, so its just a matter of continuing until we are done. Down the road there will also be new products for T&T, MSPE, Nuclear War, and Catalyst books like new Traps and Citybooks. They may not come as quickly as we'd like right now, as there is a lot to do in regards to taking care of Rick's estate and Flying Buffalo. But rest assured, we are soldiering onward. That's what Rick wanted us to do - and we plan to do just that. So you don't need to worry - your items will be shipped out. Please feel free to post you comments below and if you want to contribute to help with Rick's Medial bills, funeral arrangements and other outstanding bills that have accrued due to Rick's illness you can contribute to his Gofundme campaign.
Thank you all for your concern, your patience and your belief in Rick's dream - Flying Buffalo.
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In Memory of Rick Loomis
In January 2017 I sculpted a miniature for Rick Loomis. We never did get around to creating the whole Tunnels and Trolls miniatures box set but his gentle manner, advice and encouragement left a lasting impression on me. I would like to offer Buffalorick to all miniature pledge backers as a special gift in memory of Rick.
Rick Loomis (August 24, 1946 – August 23, 2019). *FREE to all miniature pledge backers.
Romilly Brown painted the miniature in the photo above. There are many details here; The Boojum Sword (named after the backyard Boojum tree that Rick was fond of), a cup of mountain dew, "as I am seldom seen around the office without a mug of mountain dew", The Carving Knife of Destiny - for carving out your destiny, Angelica the cat at his side and the wizard hat with "a wide brim like Gandalf." The horns were an unusual idea that hit me while I was running my dog. When I sculpted them, I almost chickened out. It seemed weird. I'd never seen buffalo horns on a wizard's hat before but it seemed too cool not to try. I am glad I kept them. Rick's response was, "I wondered why the horns. I didn't like them at first, but they seem to be growing on me. (Pun intended)." There is also a Bundle of Holding that features a great collection of Buffalo's Catalyst supplements that work with any fantasy RPG. Please check it out also.
Time to explore Duckwyrld... where four valiant Heroes of Quackmoor have been summoned by Mandrake, founder of the Guild of Delvers, to do battle with the nefarious Mordux and his evil minions. Seated upon the legendary Throne of Bones, the power of the Duck Lord grows with each passing night. You must boldly descend into the darkest dungeons of Castle Greyduck, defeat the Champions of Chaos and end the wicked rule of Mordux! What's this you ask? More ducks?! Yes!! My latest range of miniatures will now have their very own game. A couple of years ago I sculpted my first duck knight, Sir Drake. That diminutive miniature took me on the journey of a lifetime. A noble crested duck (and the small party that followed him) brought me to the attention of duck-loving gamers around the world. In particular, legendary (Hall of Fame) game designer and artist, Jennell Jaquays. Together we worked on Quack Keep and the small party of ducks grew to a village of quacky characters, Reedy Bend.
Yes, you can paint and play with these miniatures in your own quest games (and especially with settings like Quack Keep!) but after multiple messages asking for more information about Duckwyrld, Quackmoorand Greyduck... I have brought a personal project to this campaign.
It's the thought that came with that original duck knight. What if the ducks of a fantasy world were the main characters? It's what made Quack Keep unique. I called the original party of five "Duck Quest". Like the nursery rhyme; five little ducks went out one day, over the hills and far away. That's a quest, right? Unlike other games where ducks are relegated as side-kicks or comic relief, imagine they're the star players; the heroic explorers on an epic adventure.
It's an idea that didn't go away. The more I looked around, the more I noticed that ducks got a raw deal. Something had to be done. So combining the need for ducks to be represented in a better light and a lifelong dream of writing my own fantasy heartbreaker RPG. I took the plunge and dived in! This is the cover to DuckQuest, with gratitude to Jon Hodgeson for his stunning illustration and Rom Brown (Whippersnapper Artworkz) for the brilliant logo design and layout.
What will be beyond the cover? As much as we can pack into it! This is the opportunity to indulge in a world that takes nothing too seriously but delivers on high adventure and the occasional fowl pun. But wait, there's more...
Magic Mushrooms!
Mercenaries!
Minions!
Crows!
Turtle Warriors!
So what are you waiting for? Come join in the DuckQuest!
Here is a heavy piece of (resin) terrain for your next dungeon crawl. There are times in a sculptor’s life when they do something completely different. I blame Murray. Functions as a temple entrance (Dagon or Cthulhu?), or the throne room of a benthic king, or the janitor’s closet at Star Hat University, or as an inter-planetary gate. Travis loves the versatility.
“The Double Doors of Doom,” Nika whispered in hushed tones, “you open them.” Nanook stared up at the ornate doors with an uneasy feeling, “It’s your turn.” “What, again?” “Yeah, I opened the chest in the last room,” he said. Nika coughed abruptly, “chests don’t count.” “I think we’re being watched,” he said quietly, “and not in a good way…” “Is there ever a good way?” “It’s moving!”
This is my 5th Kickstarter and it's really exciting to have a couple of fantastic sculptors on board. Here are the giants from Anton Ducrot (Flytrap Factory):
Anton's Giants: Milton, Cecil with boar, and Kongeegenan!
Gary Hunt (Gary Hunt Miniatures and Weta) has also gifted his pet Black Dragon to the Law Vs Chaos campaign:
If you see anything you like, or just want to say hello, you're welcome. It only takes NZ$1 (about 50 UK pence or 66 US cents) to become a backer that can comment and be part of the journey.
Casting and shipping are from New Zealand (Regal Enterprises and Star Hat Miniatures), Ohio in the United States (Effin Cool Miniatures) and Gloucestershire (Macrocosm) in the United Kingdom.
My latest RPG rulebook. A plethora of random tables within!
What happens when you create two successful Kickstarters, sculpt a few dozen miniatures and launch a new hobby business? You get less time to share your hobby on the good old Hits To Kill blog, that's what! Lewis mentioned the lack of recent activity as I was enjoying a break from my Dungeon Master role last night. The regular Monday Night crew were put through a Dungeon Crawl Classics funnel that Lewis had written himself. It's a fantastic module that will most likely see it's own Kickstarter before Christmas. We were all having a ball,
So what do we play on Monday Nights? D&D, AD&D, DCC, Traveller, Wasteman, Road Wolf, Star Wars, Mordheim, Warhammer 40k, Epic, Bolt Action, Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, and many more commercial and homebrew tabletop RPGs and wargames. We have even played Adventure Time Munchkin! There are plenty of rulebooks (Tunnels & Trolls, Dragon Quest, Rune Quest, MERP, GURPS, etc.) on the shelves that don't come down but hey, I guess we will wait and see. In particular I would love to play Paranoia and Dragon Warriors sometime in the near future. Blair's Traveller campaign would morph into Paranoia easily enough. Although I could easily drop the AD&D characters into Alpha Complex!
I can tell you that for me, the game system doesn't matter. The players matter. Oh, yes, every one of them can referee like a boss (and they bring that mastery to the way they play). More importantly we compete, collaborate and create memorable experiences. I feel blessed to know them and share Monday nights in worlds beyond our own. Sound soppy? Well, it should. Sometimes Monday night is what gets me though the week!
So, here you go Lewis... an update! What's happened since the last post here at the end of February?
March rolled by with plenty of communication with Ian and Allan Farley at Regal Enterprises. They handle all my casting and the metal masters are the first step towards sharing my creations with gamers around the globe. Holding my creations in metal is almost as exciting as sculpting the originals out of putty.
Some of the Metal Masters.
I also tried unsuccessfully to get a license to sculpt characters from the DCC rulebooks. Alas Goodman Games weren't ready to let their characters go. They allowed me to keep Hugh for personal use though. I painted him and gave him to Lewis, I gave away the unpainted metal extras from the spin casting to the backers as a unexpected gift. He won't be available for sale.
An Unofficial Tribute to Hugh.
April saw the launch of a Star Hat Miniatures website. As a life-long gamer and collector/painter of classic metal fantasy miniatures, I now also enjoy sculpting miniatures for tabletop games. Star Hat Miniatures was born in 2016, after a successful Kickstarter campaign: Delvers Lost in the Dungeons of Doom! A second Kickstarter (Delvers Lost in the Dungeons of Doom! 2!!) launched early in 2017 expanded the initial range of figures to 30 odd weird and wonderful adventurers, ready for your gaming table.
I painted these for pledge backers of the Ken St. Andre Troll.
If you see anything you like, or are interested in having your own favourite fantasy character sculpted, please contact me via social media. Because I live in New Zealand (a stone throw from Hobbiton), and all miniatures are cast to order, it may take a few weeks for your order to get to you.
These miniatures are also available at Game Centre in Hamilton, New Zealand. Game Centre also stock a fine variety of brushes and paints for all your hobby requirements.
May was a fantastic month! The unpainted pledges from the 2nd Kickstarter were packed with care and sent to their new homes with help from the Box Trolls: Dave, Blair, and Greg. It was awesome to deliver on time! I also traveled to Taupo for Queen's Birthday Weekend to attend LexiCon - an opportunity to hang with some Sci-fi and Fantasy fanatics.
Lewis, John and I were part of a panel that talked about roleplaying games and miniatures. It was cool to see Lewis fill a table with his work so far. A massive dungeon filled with special terrain, trappings and miniatures.
Dungeon of Doom Kickstarter
June is here! A week ago a new Kickstarter launched that has me conflicted: Dungeon of Doom. However, I do believe this is the best terrain available in the US (or anywhere really) - Dwarven Forge is amazing and Stefan Pokorny is an inspiration!
So where is the feeling of conflict coming from? Shipping entire dungeons to New Zealand costs a Dwarven King's randsom! Long ago, Lewis came to me with this Kickstarter: Dwarven Forge's Game Tiles: Revolutionary Miniature Terrain. I said it looked great but since we live in New Zealand, it would cost a ton to get it here... hey, let's just make our own! The result?
We (er, by 'we' I mean 'ew', as in Lewis) make our own terrain (from wood, cardboard and goblin entrails) here and I think that's how it's going to stay unless a 3D printer magically appears one day in the Man Shed...
The Delvers Lost in the Dungeons of Doom! are not related to Stefan's Dungeon of Doom but I received this photo from a backer that showed how well they go together:
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How does our DWARVEN FORGERY™ compare? Here are some photos from last night's game:
Last night I was back in the DM chair after a long break as a player. Currently our gaming group has a few campaigns on the go, with different game systems/settings, including Traveller and Dungeon Crawl Classics. I didn't bring the players back to old characters from the D&D campaign, deciding instead to run the AD&D classic, Treasure Hunt (1986).
It wasn't until today that my good friend Stephen pointed out I had run the module, quite by coincidence, on the three-year anniversary of the author's death. Aaron Allston wrote modules, supplements and sourcebooks for various roleplaying games, and a slew of Star Wars novels.
Now, I am not new to Treasure Hunt. When it came out back in the 80's, I was in a group of a dozen players from High School (including Mr Holland the English teacher) that were at the mercy of another friend called Stephen (who usually ran Dragon Warriors but in this instance was our DM). How he wrangled us all, I barely recall. I would reckon it would have been like herding cats.
Aaron Allston
(December 8, 1960 – February 27, 2014)
Zero-level cats. I have mentioned before the similarity between Treasure Hunt and the Dungeon Crawl Classics funnel system. Back then, playing AD&D without choosing a class was kinda funky. Each player character began the game at negative 500 experience points, working our way up to 1st level. We were very free in our gameplay, often making spontaneous choices, which Stephen would take note of as they determined a character's eventual class, alignment, etc.
Fast forward thirty years and I am on the other side of the DM screen. How did our group of "experienced" forty-somethings cope? So far, so good. We are about half-way through the module and already the players are trying things they might not if they had a list of skills and special abilities on their character sheets. I also have a couple of new favourite NPCs. One has been tweaked slightly; A Half-Ogre instead of a Half-Orc. I'm not sure how he will fare next session but he could end up making a cameo.
May was a fantastic month! The unpainted pledges from the 2nd Kickstarter were packed with care and sent to their new homes with help from the Box Trolls: Dave, Blair, and Greg. It was awesome to deliver on time! I also traveled to Taupo for Queen's Birthday Weekend to attend LexiCon - an opportunity to hang with some Sci-fi and Fantasy fanatics.
May was a fantastic month! The unpainted pledges from the 2nd Kickstarter were packed with care and sent to their new homes with help from the Box Trolls: Dave, Blair, and Greg. It was awesome to deliver on time! I also traveled to Taupo for Queen's Birthday Weekend to attend LexiCon - an opportunity to hang with some Sci-fi and Fantasy fanatics. 
