F is for Finecast

Finecast is Citadel Miniatures' wonder material that is finer than metal and holds detail better, cooks your dinner and- no, wait, maybe not.
I have purchased resin miniatures before and been very impressed with them. Not so with Finecast.


Finecast is sort of a plastic/resin hybrid and (in the best cases) holds detail very well (like modern plastic minatures can). Its surface texture seems to take paint better than plastic, but it also seems to be quite grainy and often very pitted. In the worst cases (an Incubi boxed set I picked up recently) the molding seems not to have taken at all in some areas, leaving them rough and half-finished, with a tenacious pink goo on them. Bizarre.

I had really high hopes for Finecast, and when it works, it works well, but in the majority of my experience, it is an astoundingly poor product. I don't want this to be an attack on Games Workshop, but it is disappointing that one of the world's leading toy soldier companies has dropped the ball so badly.

Decisions, decisions...

It's the time of year when a young man's thoughts turn to a far future in which there is only war. For a while now, I've been contemplating collecting an army for Warhammer. I know, I know... that way lies madness, but it's been something I've wanted to do for years, ever since reading the mighty tome that is the Warhammer Fantasy Battle 3rd Edition rulebook. I already have the basis for a wood elf army with a unit painted up and several characters in various stages of prep, but I'm also drawn to high elves and the knights of Bretonnia. But why the far future? Well, the local games club seems to be all fired up with the release of 40K 6th Ed. Photos of wonderfully painted armies clashing across the coffee shop's tables have been very inspiring. The largest force I've ever collected for 40K was 2 Necromunda gangs, so I'd have a steep learning curve in regards to painting in bulk. Mind you the first and last time I painted a unit of anything was in preparation for Salute, where I took 4 days to paint 20 Wood Elves. A way to go, methinks.

Am I insane? I really want to get back into playing some sort of rpg or wargame regularly, and 40K is the only game in town really. Although, I have garnered a lot of interest in the Dungeons and Dragons board game (the one released by Parker Bros) and Kill Doctor Lucky, so who knows? Maybe I can try out Song of Blades and Heroes or somesuch with the club.

Zoat - Guardians of the Woods

Image from Here Lives Goblins

The elves speak of a race that was old when they themselves were but new arrivals to the forests of creation. These wise reptilians resembled centauroid lizards, but had a charisma that far outweighed their deceptively lumbering form. Known as zoats or so-uts, the ancient ones may also have been the founders of the druidical faith, as they held a reverance and respect for the natural world and displayed great supernatural affinity with it.

It is said that some of the zoat race still linger in the primeval forests, slow to wrath but fearsome in battle.


Labyrinth Lord stats

No. Enc.: 1 (1d4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armor Class: 3
Hit Dice: 7
Attacks: 1 (weapon or trample)
Damage: by weapon or 2d8)
Save: Druid 7
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: VIII
XP: 1,400

Zoats cast spells as a Druid of 7th Level. Ones with greater spell-casting ability undoubtedly exist. A zoat's great size (bigger than a rhino) allows it to wield two-handed weapons in one hand. Zoats deal double damage after a charge.