At PAX, I got to visit the Privateer Press booth. I spoke with some of the developers, one of them told me that they have all of the Monsteropocalypse sets built up through set nine, (although sets seven through nine are still subject to some change). No one let slip too much about things that aren’t announced, so I didn’t get any really terrific scoops.
I did get some pretty good photos of the Monsterpocalypse NOW miniatures.
The new Protectors:
The Elemental Champions still strike me as an odd concept. It seems like they summon a giant superhero to fight for them (Captain Planet style). It is a sort of cheesy concept, but Monsterpocalypse has a dozen cheesy concepts in it, so they should fit right in.
Also, they did a very good job on the minis.
The new Devourers:
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the 50’s giant bug faction. The cockroach that ate Cincinatti seems like he’d be right at home here. But no radioactive ants are comming. Instead, we’ve got a giant Rhinoceros Beatle and a praying mantis that reminds me just a little of a monster from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The new Invaders:
I was skeptical of the fish people. I really thought that they would be the worst faction of the bunch. But looking at them from here, I think they look fantastic. They have some very nice minis coupled with strong paintjobs on them. The second one does have a little Dagon flavor to him (but just a little) and you can see a few references to both Creature from the Black Lagoon and 20,000 leagues under the sea. I think these guys will be far more popular than I had anticipated.
The new Fiends:
This seems to be a cyper-moleman faction. Maybe they come from some films that I’m less familiar with, but they look the most original to me. The sculpts impress me quite a bit, the musculature is wonderful. I’m not really thrilled with their painting on these guys, but I can fix that myself.
I wonder if these guys are experiments gone awry or if they’re some kind of invading force.
The new Collaborators:
Ok, these guys have the very best concept out there. They are the Mecha Godzilla faction, and that’s just cool. So, we’ll be seeing mecha versions of alot of our favorite monsters coming up. I can’t wait for some kind of Mecha-Cthugrosh or even a mecha giant insect.
I’m not personally fond of their coloring, but since I’d repaint them anyway, that doesn’t matter.
The new Radicals:
Giant Gorrillas. Yes, the film that started the genre needs some recognition here. So we have two King Kongs (I suppose one of them might be “son of Kong”). The sculpts are nice, their colorings are strong, and I guess that Green Fury has started developing weapons and equipment for the giant apes to use.
These two monsters don’t look very different from one another. I wonder how much the giant ape concept is going to grow, because it is fine to have two giant gorillas with different poses, but by set 6 I want to see something very different.
This hyper is the only one that was featured in the case. I don’t know if he’s the ultra or if he’s one of the event and prize hyper forms, but he looks very nice. I think he’s clearly one of the best hypers we’ve seen.
Andrew
According to the guys at PP's GenCon booth, the purple is an example of the new Quantum Form. The first six factions will be getting these too, apparently.
Though, with the purple and the gold, I think I'll be referring to this as the Pimp Form :p
Anonymous
Actually… this is the only Quantum form in this set… maybe they will release more in the future though.
Drew Olds
What I've heard about Quantum Forms is that not every monster will have one, and not every faction will have one.
I know that some of the first six factions will have a quantum form comming, but I don't remember if I was told which ones would have a quantum.
But you have a point. This is definitely the pimp form.