Dragonnettes, Magnus Dragonnels, Aquatic Dragonnels

[GRWelsh]

Mar 19, 2018 9:50:20 GMT -5 geneweigel said:

It has whale skeleton "hands" so this is a convergent evolution of some kind if you want to look at it pseudo-scientifically in a Gary way.

All they need now are Latin binomials or trinomials for their taxonomy... You know, similar to "Draco Conflagratio Horribilis"!

[geneweigel]

Mar 19, 2018 9:19:24 GMT -5 Scott said:

Wow Gene, that’s some Magister Setne Inhetep level sleuthing. I’ll have to use these guys in the near future.

I wrote out a methodology for each adjustment and the forum post glitched out with insert file and wiped everything. OUCH! Anyway direct pteranodon to giant pteranodon ratio for the HD wasn't working so I just matched pterano damage to HD and got it around a little better than fire lizard (10 HD) but less than big dragon which seems reasonable:

MAGNUS DRAGONNEL


FREQUENCY Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVE: 12"/14" (MC:C unmounted;D mounted)
HIT DICE: 11+8
%IN LAIR: 10%
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-8/2-8/9-21
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE:Semi-intelligent
ALIGNMENT: Neutral (evil)
SIZE: L (32'+ long)
PSlONlC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes:
Nil/nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE:
VII/1300+16/hp

[geneweigel]

Mar 19, 2018 10:50:13 GMT -5 GRWelsh said:

Mar 19, 2018 9:50:20 GMT -5 geneweigel said:

It has whale skeleton "hands" so this is a convergent evolution of some kind if you want to look at it pseudo-scientifically in a Gary way.

All they need now are Latin binomials or trinomials for their taxonomy... You know, similar to "Draco Conflagratio Horribilis"!

Draco-bec for "dragon beak"

[geneweigel]

For the aquatic , I would rate it as a small carnivorous whale for move, HD and damage: move 18"/HD 12/ Bite 5-20

The armor I'd say likely comparable with some sort of crustacean crabs have 3 and crayfish have 4, crabs don't have maneuvering problems like the crayfish so for these guys I'd at least 3 AC.

AQUATIC DRAGONNEL

FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVE: ///18"
HIT DICE: 12
% IN LAIR: 0%
TREASURE TYPE: See below
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 5-20
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Low
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: L
PSlONlC ABILITY: Nil
AttackIDefense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE:
VIII/1300+16/hp

[geneweigel]

I'm just going to blog all this so its more easier to digest.

[geneweigel]

I didn't replicate too much just made it short and sweet with a link to here:

AUTUMN MIST FROLICKING - PART ONE: Greater Dragonnels

[geneweigel]

Just added the size comparison as it didn't seem clear

[GRWelsh]

Yeah, I think you're right and the aquatic dragonnel looks broken or incomplete. Just going by head size it looks like there should be another 12 feet or so of tail.

So, who rides these things? Evil men of the Pomarj who lord it over the humanoid tribes?

[geneweigel]

I've seen sculptors/artists create skeletons then add to it so maybe but I don't know what the process was. I know what it was later in 1990s its one of those things that I never got around to finishing and too much effort/not enough reward to sculpt a miniatures.

The Pomarj angle for the dragonnel was adopted almost as soon as we adopted GH as the official replacement "world" in late 85 early 86. I think if anyone even looked in the direction of the Pomarj a dragonnel rider would appear.

[Scott]

The MM II entry about several score dragonnel mounted raiders recently being spotted along the Wild Coast was interesting. It's another one of those things, you wonder if EGG had something in mind when he added that, or it was just flavor fluff.

[geneweigel]

Maybe they're part of the Pomarj berserker mercenaries with swords, spears and javelins that are apparently just as common in the Wild Coast?

From the description of the ragnarok things happening in the Gord series the Pomarj seemed to be the only place with an unending supply of humanoids.

Its the total asshole side of the Wild Coast. That should be the sign upon entering the Wild Coast: "AT LEAST WE'RE NOT THE POMARJ!"

[GRWelsh]

One edition to rule them all.
One edition to find them.
One edition to play for all, the only one with decent binding!
In Pomarj where the assholes are!

[Merkholz]

Ha, ha, perfect!

[Zenopus]

Great thread! I just started looking at this stuff again because Allan posted a scan of the WOG Minifigs ad over at K&KA:
knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=12386

The Armory's Buyers Guide to Fantasy Miniatures (© 1983) has some drawings of the WOG Minifigs line. Unfortunately, many are covered up with rectangles saying "Out of Production". But some that were still in stock are not, like the Aquatic Dragonnel:



As Gene wrote, the figure is recycled from an earlier Minifig, Monster Fishtoid:

miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Monsters_%28Aureola_Rococo%29






One wouldn't expect the Aquatic Dragonnel to look so skeletal/undead, but perhaps with the original Fishtoid figure they were going for a prehistoric armored fish look like: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poraspis

Such is what happens when figures are recycled from one line to the next.

[geneweigel]

I'm not sure if it was originally a "monster fishtoid", I only found that name in the catalog after they were repurposed for the Aureola Rococo line.

I haven't been on KNIGHTS & KNAVES ALEHOUSE forum for a long time though thanks for the link. I need to keep posted there as well even if just cursorily.

[Zenopus]

Gene, I was thinking the Aureola Rococo line preceded the WOG line, because someone on the Acaeum had said that the WOG line used the AR figures, but after reading your comment here and searching a bit I'm not sure and think it may be the reverse as you indicate.

The only in-print reference I can find to the line, the full title of which is actually "The World of Aureola Rococo", is in a Minifigs catalog scan I found on-line. It has a "May 1985" price list, so was definitely being sold after they discontinued the WOG line. 

So you think the WOG line was first, and then re-purposed as AR after they lost the license?

Another thing is, I can't find a single example of AR packaging. I wonder if Minifigs was selling off the WOG line remainders via catalog under the AR name, and just mailing out loose figures to buyers without packaging.

[geneweigel]

I've eyeballed packaging that I never saw again that was Grenadier like the AD&D bags of 30 or more fantasy troops. They had a cardboard top with yellow AD&D logo and wizard like the blister packs that were displayed right next to them but it was a chalky bag with figures piled on top of each other. Thats why I didn't buy them. This was around 1981. Never seen it again.

[geneweigel]

I had ordered a massive order from the DUNGEON HOBBY SHOP in late 1982 but then I started ordering direct in 83. I stopped doing mail order because a Ral Partha of miniatures got lost in the mail in 1988. I threw out about ten years worth of catalogs too around that time because they were sending me older catalogs with sheets tucked in. Some of those catalogs were photos on glossy paper.

[Zenopus]

Thanks. One thing I noticed is the WOG line figures have the AR code on the minis. You can see it in these two photos. The WOG figures in the packaging in the first photo have the ARKC2 and ARKC3 codes on the minis (ARKC = Aureola Rococo Knight Cavalry?). The other figure is ARKC2 Knight with Sword from the separate AR line. So I really have no idea which line came first.

[geneweigel]

Well, that is strange. Unless they invented the replacement name based on the coding?