The War of the Rohirrim boxed set is about to ship with brand new sculpts of the Warriors of Rohan and Wildmen of Dunland which are noticeably larger than their previous iterations. So let’s talk about scale creep a bit.
Succinctly, “scale creep” refers to the phenomenon of a manufacturer slightly increasing the scale of their miniatures over time. Newer miniatures are slightly bigger or taller, even though they are portraying soldiers that should be the same size as previously released models. There are a variety of reasons this can happen, from accidental, to incidental and purposeful. Let’s take a quick look at all three.
Sculpting miniatures is an art form, and every sculptor will develop their own methods and style. Miniatures sculpted by hand are usually built on “dollies” that might be made out of nothing more than wire or a paperclip twisted into the shape of a stick figure with sculpting putty packed onto it. Though it sounds imperfect, dollies such as these can be easily reproduced with accurate proportions by someone with enough practice. However, it’s still possible to get it wrong, giving us accidental scale creep. Make your dolly slightly too big, and your model will be, too.
These days, many miniatures are created digitally, making it much harder to get different proportions by accident (though it can still happen). Instead, the complexity of a model might necessitate a bit of scale creep to get the detail to come out right. Remember that plastic injection molding is unforgiving towards detail facing the sprue itself, but detail facing away from the sprue frame, either forwards or backwards, should come out fine. This is why plastic kits always look a little wonky on the sides where the mold lines are. If you want your plastic mini to look good on all sides, you need to cut it into more pieces that can all be faced “outwards.” This will make the kit more complicated to put together, and it isn’t unreasonable to bulk them up slightly to make them a bit easier to manage. I think this is what happened with the WotR minis (more on this later).
So what about purposeful scale creep? Well, this is exactly what it sounds like: increasing a miniature’s size on purpose. Primaris Marines and the MkVI marines for Horus Heresy are good examples of this. Space Marines, as everyone knows, are said to be 8 foot tall monsters, yet the reality on the tabletop was quite different. Primaris Marines are supposedly even larger, so it was a conscious decision to make them tower over the models that came before. Technically these are not new sculpts of the same model, Primaris Marines are a lot closer to what fans have long referred to as “true scale” marines, and are perhaps larger than they should be in comparison to normal marines for that reason. The new beakie sculpts are a better comparison because they are just space marines, and yet they too were consciously made more “true scale” and thus larger than pervious iterations.
But why do people care? Well, there are a number of reasons. Sets that are different scales are less compatible for kitbashing. The new minis might not look right mixed in with the old ones, either in the same unit, perhaps the same army or, even worse, against other armies. This is my primary concern with the War of the Rohirrim box. The new Rohirrim are noticeably larger, which will make them stand out against the older models. I haven’t seen one next to one of the older riders, but I suspect it will look funny. Now this doesn’t matter at all in terms of actual game terms, as everyone is on the same base, but it is a subtle way to encourage more people to ditch their old armies in favor of the new minis. And that doesn’t just go for Rohan and Dunland players. What happens when those new Warriors of Rohan go up against their first Isengard army, only for them to tower over the Uruk Hai? That is going to be a heavy blow to my immersion.
But maybe there is an upside. Perhaps, as some people are predicting, this could be the start of a wider range refresh for MESBG. It seems like a given that we will get new riders as well and probably some more units for Dunland. It would be a shame not to update Isengard and have miniature Uruk Hai fighting giant Riders of Rohan, alongside enormous wildmen. Personally I will be surprised if it goes beyond the scope of the new movie, but I have been surprised before! The Cadian range refresh was a delight, from a modeling standard, giving us realistic proportions with minimal scale creep, keeping the new marines at the appropriate comparative size.
What do you think? Do you care about scale creep? Is it an issue in any of the games you play? Sound off in the comments!
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