15-05-2025
Oh Dear, Wizkids' Baldur's Gate 3 Miniatures Rolled a Natural 1
As Larian winds down its extensive post-launch support plans for Baldur's Gate 3, Hasbro has been keen to remind Baldur's Gate 3 fans that they have That Game You Like, Too as often as possible. Karlach and Astarion became the big digital faces of D&D's ambitiously gamified virtual tabletop Project Sigil, before it was effectively scrapped earlier this year. Not to worry though, Wizkids were getting ready to offer a Baldur's Gate 3 experience for the physical tabletop. Things should be good, right?
… right?
Last year Wizkids unveiled a series of pre-painted miniatures inspired by the character designs of Baldur's Gate 3, set to release this year. The 40-miniature-strong collection, alongside a box of just the main characters of the game, was set to bring a veritable host of both named characters and generic minions and creatures from Larian's vision of Faerun to your desk or your next gaming night for everyone who wanted to drag themselves away from their PC or console and imagine if the game behind Baldur's Gate 3 was real. What a concept!
But now those miniatures have started getting in people's hands and, oh no. Alarm was sparked this week by, funnily enough, a Larian employee, when Baldur's Gate 3 senior cinematic artist Elodie Ceselli shared pictures of the horrifying paint applications on the final minis they received.
Shadowheart has seen things not even Shar would have put her through. Withers is more withered than usual. Gale looks like he's about to tell someone they're the most devious bahstard in nyew waterdeep citaaaaaay. Frustrated gamers likewise chimed in Ceselli's thread with their own examples of dodgy paint apps and damaged minis. Not even samples sent out to press are faring better–GamesRadar's gallery of miniature mishaps is just as worthy of a Vicious Mockery or two, as well.
To be fair to Wizkids, mass-marked pre-painted miniatures are not going to exactly be at the standard of seasoned miniature painters. $50 for a box of seven miniatures is a hefty price tag, but experienced hobbyists would know that that kind of money pales in comparison to what someone spending dozens of hours hand-painting their own models might spend in supplies or labor, or what you might pay getting a custom miniature made of your character. But that's a tough argument to make especially when what's getting out to gamers in-hand doesn't even match up with the samples being used to promote these miniatures–which themselves are a significant downgrade from the early renders shown to announce the miniatures last September.
Baldur's Gate 3 is going out on a high note as a video game with its last patch bringing a ton of new subclasses and enhancements, but it seems like Hasbro's own handling of the franchise needed to make some better perception checks so far.
