Down with tactical rocks
A PC Gamer critique of an escalating trend in Warhammer miniature design where models are increasingly mounted on elaborate “tactical rocks” and terrain bases to create more dynamic poses and artificially inflate character height. What began as a reasonable design choice—an orc with one foot on a helmet or a dragon perched on a rocky outcrop suggesting flight—has devolved into absurdity. The article highlights particularly egregious examples, including a dwarf (a species traditionally defined by their diminutive stature) awkwardly balanced mid-leap off the head of a fallen statue, and Maugan Ra, a Dark Reapers Phoenix Lord, straddling two separate rocks in an exaggerated power pose. The author argues this trend represents a loss of design restraint, with miniature designers abandoning practical base construction in favor of increasingly impractical terrain elements that undermine character integrity and complicate physical display of the models.