Wizkids Wild Beyond The Witchlight Minis Review

When WizKids releases a new batch of minis in their Dungeons & Dragons: Icons of the Realms series, we stand up and take notice. And this month, a whole new series releases to tie into this fall's D&D adventure The Wild Beyond The Witchlight (psst... check out our review of that book, here). Set in the enchanting and dangerous Feywild, this adventure setting focuses around The Witchlight Carnival. WizKids was kind enough to send us a bunch of miniatures from the new set Dungeons & Dragons: Icons of the Realm The Wild Beyond The Witchlight, so let's take a look at them in detail.

WizKids Wild Beyond The Witchlight Boxed Sets

First up is a boxed set of miniatures based directly on the Witchlight Carnival itself. These come in a box with a show window, so you know exactly what you're going to get (unlike the blind boxes, which we'll get to later). Full of creepy clowns and performers of all stripes, this is an absolutely vivid set of nine miniatures featuring key characters from the adventure. There's the creepy Mister Witch in his top hat, Mister Light in a Candy Cane colored outfit, and, most impressively, the merfolk Palasha and Palasha's Tank, which are two separate miniature pieces that fit together nicely.

Look at how Palasha seems to be floating in this tank! In my opinion, this is one of the most stunning miniatures on display in these sets, and an absolute triumph of miniature design. Along with being useful in a game featuring Palasha, I could see this sitting proud on a desk as a showpiece. With an MSRP of USD $79.99, this is no small investment, but the quality of the miniatures on display here are truly something to behold.

The heroes of Valor's Call have set out to track down the League of Malevolence through the Feywild, and whether you're playing the adventure or just need a few new heroic miniatures, there's a lot to like about this new set. Also boxed in a show window to eliminate any surprises, this set features Strongheart the Paladin, the magical Ringlerun, and more. Of all the models in this set, the Ringlerun model -- with his white and red robes and long flowing beard, is the one I'm most excited about. When I play a magic user, I always want to play a wise, old wizard (sorry hip, young sorcerer and moody warlock players!) and Ringlerun would be a great representation of that on the table.

Founded by the evil sorcerer Kelek (that's the bald dude in the back), the League of Malevolence is a power hungry group of nasty individuals. Of these models, I'm most drawn to the helmeted and menacing Warduke, and Skylla, the magic user crackling with purple arcane energy. Again displayed in a show box so there's no guessing, this set will find a lot of use in my home game, even though it's not set in the Feywild. Let's just say that Warduke miniature will fit in perfectly where our game takes place (in Avernus, the first layer of hell). This set and the Valor's Call set each have an MSRP of USD $29.99, which feels like the right price for these detailed minis.

The true showstopper of this set has to be the Swamp Gas Balloon, which towers tall on the table, eclipsing my Dungeon Master's Screen as you can see in the above picture. The basket itself can hold at least four miniatures, and is the perfect way to float your gaming group through all sorts of environs. With an MSRP of USD $79.99, this is no small purchase, but it's hard to argue the presence it will have at the table.

WizKids Wild Beyond The Witchlight Blind Booster Boxes

Finally, we were provided with four blind booster boxes from WizKids, and were quite pleased with a number of them. Overall, the miniatures we pulled (no duplicates!) felt very evocative for this feywild set. From the creepy ballerina named Glister to a Haregnon (aka Rabbit-person) Brigand, these minis really fold well into the Feywild/Carnival setting. Though not as finely detailed as the miniatures in the previously listed showcase sets, these tabletop minis still totally capture the creepy charm of Witchlight. Some of our favorites were:

Don't mind me, I'm just over here completely freaking out over these three tiny dudes. I especially love the happy-go-lucky Campestri mushrooms, and Squirt the Oilcan, the chaotic neutral sentient oilcan with a serious lazy streak and a hunger for partying. 

Look at this Frog Prince (okay, okay, he's a newly minted Bullywug King... close enough) and a Bullywug Royal and Bullywug Knight. While the sculpts of these are great, what I absolutely love is the muted color palettes on each of their royal costumes. No matter what adventure I'm running, I manage to find a way to squeeze Bullywugs into the story, so these are now prized possessions in my household. Each booster box comes with 1 Huge or Large random figure and 3 Medium or Small random figures, and each box has an MSRP of USD $19.99.

The Bottom Line

From the pre-designed sets to random booster boxes and showpiece miniatures, WizKids The Wilds Beyond The Witchlight miniature line is absolutely show-stopping and completely astounding. I love how evocative these miniatures are, and they look as though they've been plucked directly from the pages of the adventure. While some of the prices on these sets may be prohibitive for some gaming groups, and the detail on these models drops slightly when moving to the booster boxes, I am so thrilled with how this line has turned out and highly recommend it for any gaming group who dares to tread into the feywild.

Get These Minis If...

• You're playing the D&D adventure The Wild Beyond The Witchlight
• Your gaming campaign takes place in a world like the Faewild
• You like highly detailed, showpiece miniatures

Avoid These Minis If...

• You're on a budget, as some of these sets (barring the blind boxes) are more expensive
• You don't like a carnival or Faewild theme

The miniatures used in this review were provided by WizKids.