Fantasy Heroes
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I love the villagers and guards sprues a lot, but what could be really cool is a sprue like them but designed for RPG miniatures, like dnd characters.
A lot of sprues have pieces that could work but they lack some of the diversity players love, both in gender (more female kits would be amazing) and insmall customisation bits! I think it would be best to keep it all human with maybe some heads that are a little less human, like maybe orc tusks, demon horns, etc on a couple heads.
Gear could focus on a mix of classic weapons (swords, axes, bows, etc), magic items (staves, spell books, magic effects etc). and accessories like bags, cloaks, maybe some smaller stuff like the necklace in the villagers set.
Having it all designed to mesh well with the villagers (normal and elves/dwarves) and guards would make it even more versatile upping the value.
I'd avoid any sceneray/basing stuff that isn't super generic (like the bucket and geese in other sets) as with my copy of the elf and dwarf villagers sprue the multiple anvils feel like a bit of a waste.
TLDR: Male and female fantasy adventurers with a wide variety of heads and accessories to allow for customisation of heroes, leader, and RPG style player characters, effectively a hero building sprue instead of an army builder.
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I love this discussion!
I think being more specific is good,The fantasy guards gover the breastplate and stuff but I think characters in robes, leather/fabric armour, and more fantasy gear like a mix of maille and plate. Kind of feeling the gaps between the guards, villages, knights, men at arms, and peasant rabble. Some specific gear I would love to see: Full length robes (WE NEED NO FEET), those strap covered/many belted leather cuirasses, Maille under a plate cuirass (maybe with other plates).
Spell casters 100% I have a bunch of frostgrave and wargames atlantic minis and the frostgrave wizards look weirdly bulky next to the wargames atlantic guards and villages, why are my wizards more buff than the knights? So some spell casting arms and wizard bodies would be great.
I'd say fighters, barbarians, bards, and rogues can be done pretty well with the villagers 1&2 and the blood oath range as well as the decline and fall (also barons war if you want more maille etc). However clerics, wizards, witches, etc are pretty hard to make well! If you have a female barbarian it's also gonna be tough to make a good mini. I think some bits that would be especially good to make these (aside from the robes mentioned earlier) are a censer, wizard/witch hat heads, another magic staff option or two, a cat familiar or raven, some accessories like spell effects (flames, spikes, etc).
I'd be really happy with a female warriors kit for any range as well, like shieldmaidens or something (please give me plaits and braids and actually sensible hairstyles for longer hair in battle, no flowing locks that stuff should be tied up tight!).
I've gone through some of the models on the site for examples of what I can find, I was surprised by some but I think that all these sets could have their value improved by a gap filling set, especially one of women. Honestly a female adventures set would be my first wish but I don't know how much demand there is for that outside of myself.
I also love the new Baron's war monks and would love some nuns, but I think that's mainly because my curse of strahd campaign's cleric is nun and I love her so much, maybe a nun head that with a wimple that could be used on other heads.
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YMMV, and a unique new kit is always welcome, but from Wargames Atlantic's current inventory, it's hard to beat any/all of the following as a starting place for gritty, low-level "old school renaissance" adventurers (or their NPC equivalents):
(Late Roman Legionaries for warriors, fighters, merchant guards, mercenaries, paladins, etc.; lightly armored in chain shirts and helms, with basic swords, shields and spears.)
(Foot Sergeants for relatively low-rent warriors, fighters, mercenaries, guards, militia, etc. The armor is relatively light with chain shirts and sturdy caps, and this is the set to look for for crossbowmen, backed with a fair selection of different melee weapons.)
(Peasant Levy are great for rogues, thieves, rangers, bandits, cultists.... Peasant clothing and simple weapons like bows, daggers, clubs, and improvised weapons.)
(Goth Warriors for miscellaneous guards, villagers, militia, henchmen, "Level 0" heroes, etc.; with just cloth armor and simple weapons and caps.)
(Foot Knights make great, well-rounded, and well-funded fighters, warriors, knights, cavaliers, blackguards, paladins, etc. in full chainmail and tabards. This set probably has one of the better selections of generic fantasy melee weapons like maces, hammers, swords, battleaxes, etc, and is surely THE go-to set for full helms.)
(Classic Fantasy Guards of course make good guards, fighters, warriors, paladins, etc. in plate mail; there are bits for female characters in this set.)
(The Conquistadors have some rather flamboyant costumes under sturdy breastplates and helms, and are a great source of halberds, rapiers, two-handed swords, heavy crossbows, and even early guns. These guys would make an interesting starting place for bards, fighters, royal guards....)
(Classic Fantasy Villagers make great villagers, of course, but also great plucky adventurers with humble origins, bards, rogues, spellcasters, and more. Includes bits for unarmored female characters.)
(Classic Fantasy Villagers II supplies some elf heads that will likely work with most of the other kits here for elf characters, and also dwarf bits, and more bits for bards, spellcasters, rogues, and other eccentric characters. Includes bits for unarmored female characters.)
(One of WGA's first kits and still one of the best available for halfling fighters, warriors, rogues, rangers, clerics, and "burglars". There's a complimentary digital-only set of Halfling villagers, too, that might be of interest for halfling and gnome characters.)
(Dark Age Irish Warriors are great for barbarians, druids, etc.)
(The Afghan Warriors adds a nice "Arabian Nights" flavor for adventurer rogues, monks, spellcasters, rangers, villagers, bandits, cultists, assassins, etc., with scimitars, bucklers, turbans, daggers....)
(Much like the Afghans, the Sepoy Mutineers adds an "exotic" flavor of turbans, fezes, sabres, daggers, bucklers, and the like for rogues, bandits, cultists, assassins, villagers, and the like.)
(The Boxers are another nice choice for an exotic "Big Trouble in Little China"/"Kung-Fu Theatre" flavor on your villagers, assassins, etc., and this is surely a fine go-to set for fantasy monks.)
(Warring States Armored Infantry make for some unusual but fine warriors, mercenaries, guards, etc. in scale mail)
(And the Persian Infantry also make some unusual but ferfectly good warriors, guards, mercenaries, etc. in padded armor.)
(The Damned Female Infantry - certainly not an obvious option for traditional sword-and-sorcery fantasy by default, but this is a fine source of female bodies in breastplates, jackets,trousers, and sturdy boots, with some solid female head options, and even a couple melee weapon arms; you can use arms from any other kit to finish that foundation up as female warriors, fighters, paladins, clerics, rogues, and the like.)
(The Baron's War Retinue is a somewhat pricey investment, but supplies sprues from most of the Baron's War sets already mentioned, including the Knights, Sergeants, and Peasant's Levy, as well as a command sprue that adds bits for building a crowned king/nobleman, mitered bishop, standard-bearer, and trumpeter, and even includes the bits for a handful of mounted knights. A great way to cover a number of rank-and-file warrior types at once!)
(Militant Monks would make superb old-school clerics, druids, and wizards, as well as cultists, in robes (with or without hoods) and armed with staves and daggers - you'll want to source maces for old-school clerics from elsewhere, or craft them with a little creativity, and some Sorcerer's Spoils will supply bits for wizards and other arcane spellcasters.)That's a LOT of great fantasy and fantasy-adjacent sets, and the Digital Atlantic option provides even more options for those of us with 3D printers, while I suspect that most players are probably better off turning to e.g. Reaper, 3D-printed STLs, or something like HeroForge to choose or create dedicated adventurer models. (These boxed hard-plastic sets shine, I thnk, when they're used for putting dozens of rank-and-file mooks like monsters, guards, mercenaries, bandits, cultists, henchmen, etc. on the table, with leftover bits for creating inventive villains, but maybe aren't the best option for building adventurers with.)
Still, between WGA's Militant Monks and the Baron's War Retinue alone, I'd say you'd have a lot of ground covered for a virtual lifetime supply of classic fantasy adventurers - just add Sorcerer's Spoils for spellcasters' spellbooks, potion bottles, scrolls, and other paraphenalia!
From there, the halfling militia and the two fantasy villager kits add "meta-human" characters, and hard plastic kits from competitor brands like Frostgrave (cultists, soldiers, knights, and wizards), Stargrave (for the alien heads), and Oathmark (I really like the light infantry dwarves, elves, humans, and goblins) add even more variety. Everything else is listed above is just gravy.
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