Michael J. Tresca reviewed:
Gnoll Warrior - Dark Heaven Bones MiniatureThis review is from: Gnoll Warrior - Dark Heaven Bones Miniature (Toy)
When my campaign needed a lot of gnolls I quickly realized that I wasn't going to have enough gnolls to fill out a group of 12. Fortunately I hadn't yet opened my Kickstarter box of Reaper Bones II and it turned out there were no less than eight gnolls included in the set. This review covers the four gnoll warriors.
To begin with, there seems to be some disagreement as to what a gnoll is. This is a problem that has plagued Dungeons & Dragons since the introduction of the gnoll. Originally, gnolls were inspired by the gnole from Lord Dunsany's The Book of wonder: How Nuth Would Have Practised His Art upon the Gnoles. The accompanying artwork makes them look like little hairy black beasts. The Original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set characterized them as a cross between gnomes and trolls who are "otherwise similar to hobgoblins." Advanced Dungeons & Dragons described them as hyena-men.
Now, there's a lot of misunderstanding as to what a hyena is, and this has led to confusion on what a gnoll is. Hyenas are not, in fact, related to wolves. They actually have more in common with cats. They're fascinating weird creatures who could perhaps be best described as cats that pretend to be dogs. As a result, nobody's entirely sure how to sculpt a gnoll, which started out as diminutive hyena monsters and have since transformed into hulking werewolf types.
Tre Manor's gnoll warriors are the pinnacle of their evolution into huge killing machines. They wield a spike flail in one hand, a spiked shield in another, with a spiked gauntlet on the flail-wielding hand. Did I mention they're fond of spikes? The gnoll warrior also sports a fearsome-looking sagittal crest common to striped hyenas. The tail is bushy, also like a striped hyena.
I wanted these gnolls to stand out as a group but also wanted them to have enough in common with the other gnoll miniatures I have (which all seem to be colored a brownish-red), so I painted them a muddy yellow common to the spotted hyena and then gave them a brown wash over everything. Gnolls, I assume, are dirty, and their equipment should reflect that.
The wide stance of all of the gnoll sculpts may be an issue for some. These sculpts are big; too big to fit on a one-inch round base. They do fit diagonally in a one-inch square however. Also, the spiked flail is usually associated with priests of Yeenoghua specifically, so their inclusion in nearly every gnoll sculpt may also make them unsuitable as regular troops. That said, this is a handsome sculpt that worked out well for my gnoll horde.
To begin with, there seems to be some disagreement as to what a gnoll is. This is a problem that has plagued Dungeons & Dragons since the introduction of the gnoll. Originally, gnolls were inspired by the gnole from Lord Dunsany's The Book of wonder: How Nuth Would Have Practised His Art upon the Gnoles. The accompanying artwork makes them look like little hairy black beasts. The Original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set characterized them as a cross between gnomes and trolls who are "otherwise similar to hobgoblins." Advanced Dungeons & Dragons described them as hyena-men.
Now, there's a lot of misunderstanding as to what a hyena is, and this has led to confusion on what a gnoll is. Hyenas are not, in fact, related to wolves. They actually have more in common with cats. They're fascinating weird creatures who could perhaps be best described as cats that pretend to be dogs. As a result, nobody's entirely sure how to sculpt a gnoll, which started out as diminutive hyena monsters and have since transformed into hulking werewolf types.
Tre Manor's gnoll warriors are the pinnacle of their evolution into huge killing machines. They wield a spike flail in one hand, a spiked shield in another, with a spiked gauntlet on the flail-wielding hand. Did I mention they're fond of spikes? The gnoll warrior also sports a fearsome-looking sagittal crest common to striped hyenas. The tail is bushy, also like a striped hyena.
I wanted these gnolls to stand out as a group but also wanted them to have enough in common with the other gnoll miniatures I have (which all seem to be colored a brownish-red), so I painted them a muddy yellow common to the spotted hyena and then gave them a brown wash over everything. Gnolls, I assume, are dirty, and their equipment should reflect that.
The wide stance of all of the gnoll sculpts may be an issue for some. These sculpts are big; too big to fit on a one-inch round base. They do fit diagonally in a one-inch square however. Also, the spiked flail is usually associated with priests of Yeenoghua specifically, so their inclusion in nearly every gnoll sculpt may also make them unsuitable as regular troops. That said, this is a handsome sculpt that worked out well for my gnoll horde.
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