Flatpack Forces – full colour MDF miniatures

This week we received a parcel from Flatpack Forces, a UK company that produces laser-cut MDF minatures fully printed (I guess this is a better term than painted). The parcel had samples of minis (Adventurers and Golbins).

The Juniper Green Board-Gamers originated from a kids club at 6s2Hit in Edinburgh. On Sundays, we used to teach kids to paint miniatures, create scenery and play wargames and boardgames. And this is where Flatpack Forces comes in handy: take out the daunting part of painting a whole set of miniature and start with just enjoying playing.
For grown ups, it might not be a big deal, but for 8-12yo, it really is! What they want is fun, and they have a much better imagination than grown-up, they want to roll them dice and have an adventure, killing some baddies and monsters in the process.

Initial thoughts

I punched the wizard out of the tray to see how it went, and zero issue, it did need a little pressure to pop out, and I used a pen cap to press the wand and staff gently out as I wasn’t sure how fragile it could be, but really, I was overly worried. The MDF is solid, the art feels like heat transferred satin wood paint (i.e. very chip resistant). So very impressed so far.

I clipped it on the base, again, perfect tight fit, and I could take it out and back in… I am in no illusion that it would wear with time (it’s MDF, not adamentium), but really, this feels really nice in hand, and the artwork is of very high standard with shading and highlights, really nice stuff!

Many games like Gloomhaven come with cardboard standees, these are next level stuff! If I had Gloomhaven (I sadly do not…. yet) these would be number one upgrade for the game… off with the card standee and on with the MDF funky minis!

I really love those! but it’s not all about me! It is now time to see what others think of them…

Release the Kids!

Sometime you hear that the best way to learn is to jump in the deep end… well, after having popped out the wizard mini, I simply handed the 2 trays to my 2 children (twins), Olivia and Matthew.

The idea was: if the minis can be handled and assembled by kids with little to no explanations, then they are fit for purpose. Then we’ll see what the kids think of them.

SUCCESS! not a single broken part. For full disclosure, my kids have handled minis before, they are experienced gamers, and Matthew has painted minis on multiple occasions. But Olivia is on the ASD spectrum and does not have the fine motor skills of her twin, and she managed well.

Here are comments from them:
“The minis are really nice, they look 3D with the colours and they have so many bits and stuff; like the wizard has stuff on his belt, the ranger also, and all the goblins are different. Can we use them instead of meeples or token, would be so much better”

DM Annette & her Players

Annette runs a D&D campaign at the club, she often let newcomers join in the Party of regular players or play for one of the player if missing. She is an experienced and talented DM.
On Friday 16th August, we handed her the 2 trays, at the great delight of the payers (Lisa in particular thought it was a perfect match for her character… see pic bellow). here is what she had to say:

After getting home and having a good look at the figures, I was really impressed. The artwork is very good and clear and the way the figures are cut means that they can be pressed back into the boards like pieces of a jigsaw making for very easy to store and very easy to take out and about. I have been looking for alternative figures for my Dungeon and Dragons games that are way less bulky than lead or plastic and these definitely tick the boxes