Mini of the Year 2023

[Noserenda]

Im not sure Fulgrim would have, i dont think he even got mentioned until page two of this thread? 

Hes a great model no doubt, but i think seeing models in person makes a big impression, and i dont think hes had anywhere near the IRL exposure of some of the plastic kits.

Having a FW/Resin league makes as much sense as splitting centrepieces away from grunts though.

[01RTB01]

1 hour ago, Scribe said:

 

I think this is actually true. It should have been on the list, and it would have won.

Yup. I've no doubt that he'd have won.

 

I've voted for the manticore as it's the only other thing that I vaguely 'wowed' at this year. 

 

Angron and the Lion are decent but they didn't 'blow my socks off' like Fulgrim did and still does.

1 hour ago, Noserenda said:

Im not sure Fulgrim would have, i dont think he even got mentioned until page two of this thread? 

Hes a great model no doubt, but i think seeing models in person makes a big impression, and i dont think hes had anywhere near the IRL exposure of some of the plastic kits.

Having a FW/Resin league makes as much sense as splitting centrepieces away from grunts though.

I was on page 1... I may have mentioned it on p2 and it's definitely on p3.

 

I don't understand why they don't allow FW minis in it. Crazy.

 

[irlLordy]

1 hour ago, TheArtilleryman said:

Be’lakor was a refresh too

 

Hah, thats right, as was the Herald now that I think of it, which does undercut my argument somewhat. However, I guess theres a much bigger (and impressive) difference between the two versions of Be'lakor, than there are between say the new and old terminators. New terminators are basically old terminators resized, whereas new Be'lakor got a complete redesign.

[Wispy]

2 hours ago, tzeentch9 said:

Fusil on an ogre. It had to be one of the cities of sigmar minis, think they just nudge it in the net

that new Cities of Sigmar line is pretty incredible across the board. I didn't know AoS Imperial Guard was something I wanted. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Wispy

[TheMawr]

So from the sound of it my likely vote will actually not go with the B&C majority after all.

 

Im still torn between the Lion and the Lioness... the latter, that manticore is perfection, like @Noserenda says if it was just the manticore it wouldnt even be a hard choice ( or even better the manticore being ridden by a croneworld born ynnari generic character as it will be soon :p ).. the rider etc. isnt even bad.. but the very square elements break the silhouette for me.

 

But the Lion actually wowed me.. massively so. Perhaps it has less to do with just the miniature and more that usually Im not a big fan of spacemarines, or knights for that matters, increasing that wow feeling by its complete unexpectedness. But there is not a single thing Id want to change/convert.. and thats rare for me. So I think I should vote there.

 

 

 

 

[Wispy]

Re: No Forge World models, this isn't an actual competition but the studio guys beating their own drum celebrating their studios output. Forge World is a different studio down the hall.

[Ming the Merciless]

No Fulgrim?

 

Angron then,

 

honourable mention for Farsight.

[Orion]

Probably Fulgrim

or Terminators.

Good for different reasons.

[Indy Techwisp]

My vote here goes to Farsight.
Nothing for an army I actually play is on the list this year, so I might as well rep the Mini for the faction that's been my (and seeming nearly every TSons Player's if the Reddit and Tourney battle reports are accurate) main opponent for the year.

[crimsondave]

Lion for me.  My favorite miniature of all time, and I’ve been buying them since the early 90’s.

[MegaVolt87]

Invalid contest, can't vote for Fulgrim, EC praetor or SW praetor. 

[DuskRaider]

I choose the Imperialis Marine that everyone hates. 

[WrathOfTheLion]

I voted for the Lion, but both Angron and the Harbinger of Decay are also fantastic sculpts. Fulgrim should've been an option, though.

 

Farsight is also great. A lot of things I would be quite fine with if they win.

Edited December 7, 2023 by WrathOfTheLion

[Captain Idaho]

Legions Imperialis Kratos. It's small, cute and detailed. 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Captain Idaho

[Orion]

So weird that they banned Forge World stuff.

Then have the audacity to put a Cerastus in.

 

They don't even say that they've omitted FW stuff, or why.

What a circle jerk

 

[Noserenda]

Its really not weird, theyve never included FW before and almost certainly never will in direct competition with plastics. Like it or not Plastic is their main business and Resin a side hustle, mini of the year isnt just a fluff piece, its marketing so they are going to keep that focus on their main lines, which regardless of system is plastic minis, the best plastic minis in the world according to their own reports/statements.

As i mentioned earlier id like to so it broadened and split down a bit, we might see resin or squads in their own categories, and i can see the benefits to doing that for them, but i doubt they would ever let a forgeworld mini win the overall gong.

[Tokugawa]

Center piece big bosses had won this award more times. Angron is not as impactful as his brothers but I guess he will win it this year.

[Orion]

21 minutes ago, Noserenda said:

i doubt they would ever let a forgeworld mini win the overall gong.

I mean if Resin is so bad and such a side hustle, where's the concern that it ever would win?

Like that's the part I don't get. There are barely any resin releases, apparently they're not popular, and bad, 

but apparently actively worthy of omission. 

 

Sounds like some internal politics BS.

Probably after that fight in the carpark at Warhammer World. 

[Wispy]

It's not an actual competition, it's the design studios own event to celebrate their releases. There's no conspiracy. Forgeworld should do their own mini of the year event for their studios output.

[MithrilForge]

My vote's for Angron ...   

[Marshal Rohr]

30 minutes ago, Wispy said:

It's not an actual competition, it's the design studios own event to celebrate their releases. There's no conspiracy. Forgeworld should do their own mini of the year event for their studios output.

Who do you think designs the Heresy and Necromunda plastics included in this competition?

Edited December 7, 2023 by Marshal Rohr

[Orion]

11 minutes ago, Marshal Rohr said:

Who do you think designs the Heresy and Necromunda plastics included in this competition?

 

Or, I dunno, the Cerastus? ahaha

 

Like I get none of this matters, but it's still entertaining to poke fun and how stupid and arbitrary the whole thing is. 

[Magos Takatus]

Right, my vote for the year goes to the Cerastus Knights, Specifically the Castigator. The only thing that prevented me from buying one was because I already have the resin version. That ammunition feed may not have the "wow" factor but I am delighted the solved it and it elevates the kit into a whole new level of pose ability beyond that of using a hair dryer to manipulate parts. Sadly being split between three sculpts and not being a brand new design I think it has almost no chance of winning. I'm planning on rounding out my Knight army with a Cerastus Lancer in plastic, I like the main chassis that much.

 

Normally I find the "big daemon with wings" vote to be a bit tasteless and I am skipping Angron but Vashtorr the Arkifane is a model I painted up this year and it was glorious. A winged monster built from meat, pistons and scythe blades. It wouldn't look that out of place in the Doom series of games but it has that spark of malign intelligence to it that in my opinion pushes it past the "big angy daemon with wings" that most of the Chaos Primarchs are to me.

 

My third place is a real struggle. Lion El'Jonson is a pretty interesting sculpt and his age-up was certainly surprising but sensible. Farsight looks like a lovely rework, I will need to paint one up for my nephew as he used to collect T'au and the Farsight Enclave was his jam. I also really like the AoS Manticore. I think that all gets devoured by the entire Seraphon Rework, more specifically the Saurus cavalry character. The previous Saurus cavalry mounts were let down with such an idiotic dazed and confused expression and these new ones look fierce, with the characterone roaring fiercely.

 

 I agree with the sentiment that Age of Sigmar has been on fire with quality sculpts this year, my bias for 40k models has steered my votes though. The Leviathan box was awesome but like the starter before it I couldn't justify buying it, so I've not looked closely enough to see whether I'd put the Neurotyrant in there or not. I turned down the Terminators because they are pretty much a rescaling or existing models (Yet puzzlingly the Cerastus Knights are in my top slot, my vote, my rules. )

[Nephaston]

One reason I can think of in regards to disallowing resin fulgrim is to prevent fulgrim winning twice. Once in 2023 with 30k and then again in 2024 with the inevitable plastic release. Double dipping like that could otherwise be considered.... excessive.

[Wispy]

1 hour ago, Marshal Rohr said:

Who do you think designs the Heresy and Necromunda plastics included in this competition?

Do you think it's Forgeworld? Because it isn't. Logistically, all the plastics are through the arm of the main design studio. The big foundational plastic kits that underpin Forgeworld's business are designed by the departments with the decades of experience for doing injection mold kits like that. What Forgeworld does is the game design and supports them with supplemental resin miniatures.

 

(Me and my co workers have been on a full tour of their Nottingham facilities while working on several licensed projects over their years)

Edited December 7, 2023 by Wispy