From the release post

Focus on Tuatha de Danann and Highlanders

In this one, we focus mostly on the Tuatha de Danann, which would be similar to Sylvan Elves, and on Highlander human characters on the side of good in opposition to the darker humans of the first release.
 

The Wild and Unpredictable Sylvan Elves

I wanted to give the Sylvan Elves a very wild feel. 

I've been collecting miniatures myself for decades now, and I always felt that Sylvan Elves tended to be represented as a more gentle group of people, but when you read a little bit about the Celt legends and you talk about characters like Cerunos and wild creatures of the forest like that, you are in for something that is very wild and dangerous and unpredictable.

The Intensity of the Characters

These characters are not evil by any means. 

But they are intense.
They are wild.
They are coming out of this forest, charging at you, screaming! 

That’s what I wanted to channel. We’ve given those elves a very unique vibe that is more intense than what is usually presented, especially for the Troopers and some of the Heroes. Of course we wanted to have a King and a Queen who would be more noble and refined, but we just had to have wild, unstoppable Heroes and Heroines and very raw characters.

And for the Highlanders, I wanted to have characters that would remind you a little bit of Braveheart or Highlander, but also something a bit more fantasy-like. So it's kind of a mix of all this.

Character Spotlights: Fionn mac Cumhaill and Alastair Stonecrusher

Fionn mac Cumhaill, the leader of the Fianna, who is very much an example of the Warrior for good, some kind of Paladin, but wearing traditional Highland type of clothes rather than heavy armor.

And then I wanted to have a kind of character that we’ve never done before: Alastair Stonecrusher, the giant of the tribe. He’s the guy who towers above everybody else, so strong and so powerful and at the same time, he’s that nice guy that everybody loves.

When I work on a new release, I'm always thinking about how we can inject a little bit of storytelling in there. So I thought this guy is everybody's friend and he's very relaxed. He is so strong that he doesn't have any fear of anyone. And he doesn't have enemies. He's a playful guy, a fun guy, and hey, you know, he's probably a guy that a lot of girls like a lot.

Character Spotlights: Aislinn Ironwill and Taliesin

And then you got Aislinn Ironwill, a character that I again designed to be something different than usual, being younger than most of our other characters. She’s a very stubborn young girl. She wants to do her thing and her rebellious personality is sure to shake things up in her tribe. But she will fight for what's right and for her clan. 

She's the kind of girl who is unmoved by boys trying to put her down or maybe joking around, saying things like “She's a girl, she's gonna fight like a girl…”. Well, just fight her and you'll see what you get! 

I also wanted to have a different kind of mage than usual. And this is how Taliesin came to life. We often get requests from our female subscribers saying, “Hey, you're making a lot of good-looking female characters, and we would like to have more good-looking males”. 

So I thought, why don't we have a young and handsome bearded mage? A young, good-looking, fiery character with red hair and an intense gaze. Not the usual old mage. Something else. 

And I like him a lot. I like his silhouette a lot, and how he's dancing on these stones and nearly levitating with magical energy. He's a great, beautiful character.

The Elves Revisited: Design & Aesthetics + Character Spotlights

Now, about the Tuatha de Danann, about the elves…

Many months ago, we did two Fairies releases, the Winter Fairies and the Summer Fairies. We had a fantastic Queens and Kings for those releases. But one of the complaints we had on occasion was that these miniatures were fantastic, but they were so big that they were hard to use on the gaming table. 

So I thought: Why don't we revisit this and have an Elf Queen who would be half a butterfly and who would be a very powerful sorceress of the woodland and of the fairy realm? And so that's how Aine came to life. Aine the Midsummer Goddess. Her design is inspired by a Lunar Moth because when I was very very young, I was simply fascinated by butterflies and moths, and one of my favorites was that one.

I wanted Nuada, the King of the Tuatha de Danann to be a mix of wildness and sophistication. So he has a very elegant attitude but at the same time his torso is bare, he's got wild red hair and heavy furs on his shoulders, and you can see the wind whipping his cape. He's someone you should definitely not mess with. He comes across as a very dignified and composed character but you can feel the power in him.

Scathach, the Isle of Shadows Champion, is exactly what I wanted to do with those elves. With a wild, nearly berserk attitude. She looks like an explosion. And I've been drumming that into the sculptors during the entire sculpting process: “Make them look like an explosion!” This is really what I wanted. I wanted to have that spikiness all around. That spiky silhouette and that wild animal pose turn that girl into a fantastic sculpt.

It's the same thing for Flidais, the Wild Huntress. She may look calm and composed, but you can feel the wildness and the energy boiling inside of her. That woman exudes power!

I used a similar inspiration for Ogma, the Skilled One. I wanted that whirlwind of energy, and that sensation of someone ready to jump on enemies or preys. And Ogma, in the Celt legend, was a very skilled warrior, but he was also someone who invented poetry and writing. So I thought it would fit that guy very well:  you can feel his wildness and his energy and, at the same time, his intensity and his smarts… 

You can almost feel his brain working, in my opinion. This is a beautiful, very energetic character.

Monster Design: Duir the Oak Spirit and a Fae Dragon

It also made sense to have a beautiful Tree Man in that release, and is how Duir, the Oak Spirit, came to life. I wanted this release to have a woodland / fae kind of monster.

That's also why, on top of a Tree Man, I went for a large fairy dragon for the second monster. 

I especially love the version with the dragon hugging the Elf Goddess. You can feel how they work together and how he is supporting her and protecting her. I love staging the relationship of a humanoid character and her animal friend.

Troops and Followers: Guardians, Archers, and Fianna Warriors

As for the troops, we needed badass looking followers and bodyguards for our main characters. So here goes:

The Nuada's Glade Guardians are very explosive, very intense Sylvan Elves, nearly naked on the battlefields. Very, very raw and aggressive. And their mounted version, of course, is in the same spirit. 

For the Saighead Shadows, the Archers, I wanted to keep that hood that we often see on Sylvan Elves, but at the same time, infuse them with that wild vibe that the lancers have.

And the human Fianna Warriors are Braveheart / Highlander types of characters. I really like how they are fierce and full of energy that matches the Elves warriors’ energy. And they look very, very cool and very intense.

A Rich World Awaiting Exploration

So I really hope that you will like this release. It was absolutely great to take another deep dive in the Celts’ world and bring to life all these new characters. I hope you really will love them and have a lot of fun with them. 

Of course, if you haven't seen our previous Celt release, you should definitely get it. We also made an Orc release that was intended to go with the Orcs created for that first Celt release. And with all of that, you got a fantastic treasure trove to dive in and build a fantastic adventurous setting or some fantastic armies. You should also check our Winter Faes and Summer Faes releases. They go perfectly with those two Celt releases and with that, you've got an even bigger range of characters to choose from and you can really build a fantastic world, there is so much characters and troops and monsters to use, you can build a full campaign with this or you can build a set of armies that are themed to work together. So many possibilities…

Again, I hope you'll have fun with this release. I hope you'll like them as much as we do. Of course as always you have fantastic scenery to go with this and build some really cool wargame tables or dungeon type scenery. This is a fantastic set once again that has so much value in it, it's just insane. 

As always, we absolutely need you to tell us which are your favorite characters and how you will be using them. Please let us know, we are dying to know what you've enjoyed the most in that release.

Have a great day, have a lot of fun, have a great game and talk to you soon. Bye bye!