If you spend any time trawling miniatures gaming forums, it won’t be long before you find somebody talking about magnetizing their minis. Why do they do this? To give greater flexibility with the items and weapons their miniatures can hold. How do they do this? Most minis are plastic or pewter, neither of which are magnetic. To magnetize them you need a small drill, patience, and Neodymium magnets. A new Kickstarter in progress is set to take away the pain of drilling small holes in your expensive new toys. Let’s hear a round of applause for “Hand of Glory.”
Note: Hand of Glory is already well over its funding target, so the project is definitely going to go ahead. New to Kickstarter? Read our crowdfunding primer, and check out our curated page of projects we love.
What is Hand of Glory?
The problem with miniatures is, that once you’ve built and painted them, that’s how they are. Forever. Unless they don’t stick very well and bits keeping dropping off, but those frustrations are for another post.
If you use miniatures for your RPGs, your characters may evolve but their minis rarely do. There’s no easy or cost effective way to replicate the discovery of a new magic hammer, shield of valor, or losing your hand in a terrible alchemical debacle.
If you play skirmish games with people who insist that your miniatures must show the items you’ve equipped them with, there is no easy way to do to this. If you want to go WYSIWYG, you either have to choose equipment that matches the models you own or get your micro-drill out. .
Enter Hand of Glory, a set of fantasy miniatures (no SF ones, yet) with detachable hands and attachable weapons. Lose your sword, swap it out. Find a potion, hold it ready to quaff. Hiding in the shadows with a crossbow, make it so. Need to put the garbage out? Add a refuse sack. Sadly, that sort of fantasy domesticity is not represented, but there are spellbooks, polearms, and even beer steins on offer.
What can I get from the Kickstarter?
The miniatures are made from lead-free pewter, each with tiny Neodymium magnets (and a steel disc to stop concerns about magnet polarity). There are a number of different races and character classes on offer, with several different pledge levels.
The full breakdown is available on the Kickstarter itself, but at the basic level ($20) you can choose to buy one of the miniatures and the “Series 1” weapons, which will give you 15 interchangeable parts. $55 will bring you three minis of your choice and the Series 1 and Series 2 weapons. This is 45 interchangeable parts as Series 2 gives you an additional 30 weapons. The only way to get the Series 3 weapons (an additional 45 pieces) is to pledge at least $100. This will buy you all the basic miniatures and all the weapons.
What characters are available?
There are nine characters or hero figures available.
- Sorcerer
- Dwarf
- Knight
- Ranger
- Samurai
- Barbarian
- Elf
- Cleric
- Thief
There are also a number of other add-ons that have been unlocked (and will be unlocked as the campaign progresses). These include the Goblin and the Demon character and a number of additional accessories (I was sent a demon sample. It’s the model that appears in my photos.) All of the unlocked extras are available for those who pledge at the $140 “Legendary” level, but individual extras can be added a la carte.
Is there anything else I need to know?
The hands are slightly overlarge. This doesn’t notice too much on the hands holding weapons, but the empty hand I have is slightly out of proportion. If you look at the pictures on the Kickstarter page, you can see this is the case, but I would have to say with the miniatures I’ve been sent, the hands, though slightly on the large side, are in better proportion than the Kickstarter pictures suggest.
The models won’t come assembled. Backers of the Kickstarter will have to pack the magnets into the arms of miniatures and apply a steel plug into the hands. Almost everything you need is supplied including a handy magnet applicator tool, but they will be some assembly needed. You will need a dab of superglue on each magnet to hold it all in place.
The pewter is soft, so some of the weapons may arrive bent (a couple of my sample weapons were bent, but it was easy to gently bend them back into place.)
For those who like to paint in subassemblies, these are great. The hands will stick to a piece of wire or rod that has some steel in it. Allowing for easy holding and access for close up brush work.
Do I have to sing Jon Bon Jovi whenever I see this Kickstarter?
“Shot dooooown in a blaze of glory…” Well, you don’t have to but I challenge you not to now!
Hand of Glory is an excellent idea, well executed. It’s a fun way to deal with a common tabletop problem. The project is already well backed and will fund. The team promises further expansions all tailored to the same modular system, so there is absolutely no reason why your glorious Hand of Glory collection won’t grow and grow.
Disclaimer: I was sent two models to see Hand of Glory in action.
