This week’s Hero Forge Miniature Masterpiece Countdown begins with an innovative mini that exploits loopholes in the Hero Forge system. The hovering ball, frankly, took me longer than it should have to figure out. It’s a bug in the system that renders the mini unprintable but is still useful for illustrative of purposes. This isn’t something that one stumbles upon by accident either. This technique requires the designer looking up the procedure or experimenting until they figure it out. Either way, this miniature masterpiece is an example of dedication to the work.

Our number 6 spot is filled with an angel whose radiance is only matched by their rage. Radiant Soul Aasimar by Brett made it onto this week’s Miniature Masterpiece countdown because of its utilization of the color palette. Those wings are illuminated and glowing because of the designers painstaking and tedious work. They manipulated the colors with the transparent plastic effect giving it an ethereal presence. This illuminating work exemplifies the flexibility of the Hero Forge coloring system.

The Wendigo is a Native American legend about a horrifying man-eating monster. It has recently made it into popular culture and fiction, but no matter the source, it is a truly terrible nightmare.

The twisted and unnatural presence described in these legends was captured in this week’s number 5 Miniature Masterpiece. The technical skill required to craft the horns and the face (particularly the tongue) is exceptional, but what really made this miniature standout to me was its ability to capture the spirit of the subject. This particular creature is unsettling just like the stories of the Wendigo, and the designer’s ability to mirror the spirit of the subject matter is why it’s on this week’s countdown.

You don’t see centaurs in the Hero Forge public library very often. Unfortunately, poses are not at a surplus for quadriplegic figurines. Even mounted figures offer few design choices.

This week’s number 4 spot, however, represents utilizing and maximizing the tools at your disposal within the Hero Forge platform. The figure, clearly in motion, carrying a banner and running in a suit of armor is nothing less than striking.

My eye was immediately drawn to this Miniature Masterpiece, and given how infrequently centaurs get used, I couldn’t help but place this stunning figure on the countdown.

This magnificent Hero Forge Miniature Masterpiece was crafted by the talented designer going by the pen name Adventure Wonder Works.

This striking figure exemplifies all 3 of the criteria that I use when determining which figures will make the countdown. This character clearly comes from an otherworldly plane of existence. Its power and radiance demonstrates the designer’s ability to express a theme in their work. This isn’t simply a heavenly angel. It’s an angel of war and power.

The rich gold of the wings and the transparent coloration of the twin crescent moon halo can only be achieved through time-consuming and deliberate manipulation of the color palette. This designer didn’t just drop some colors in, they CHOSE the colors. And they chose well!

And finally, Adventure Wonder Works demonstrates their ability to think outside the box when manipulating a pair of sword assets (the crescent moon swords) to create an otherworldly and ethereal halo. The crescent moons weren’t meant to be used in this manner, but they were used well.

All three of these factors are why “Celestial” made it onto this week’s Hero Forge Miniature Masterpiece Countdown.

The number two figure on this week’s Hero Forge Miniature Masterpiece Countdown offers several examples of what innovative work looks like. Obviously, the hovering dice is a manipulation of the tools in order to achieve an effect outside of what the platform is initially designed for. This is an example of thinking outside the box.

However, in addition to pushing the boundaries of what can be done with the tools at hand, KGeesus employs a typically underutilized effect to its maximum potential. Within the Hero Forge public library, you rarely see the lighting tool employed.

To give the dice and the figure a magical aura, KGeesus masterfully situated a point of light colored to match the runes on the dice. This small detail produces a large effect on the overall quality of the figure. That’s why Jhosh made it into the number 2 spot on this week’s countdown.

This week’s number 1 Hero Forge Miniature Masterpiece demonstrates the use of a technique I saw trending when I selected these minis. The item hovering above the miniature’s hand was used quite a bit recently, and it’s not an easy design choice to employ.

This designer, going under the pen name “somcleverusername”, obviously saves his innovative juices for his minis. In order to surround black hole with 2 event horizons, this figure needed 3 arms on its right side. Those arms were layered over each other. He then exploited the hovering item bug with all 3 hands; one “held” the black hole, and the other 2 “held” the chakram.

This innovative technique was on point, but maximizing and exploiting this bug wasn’t the only reason Gravity Mage made it into the number 1 spot. This designer also employed lighting and coloring to make the most of the work he had already done.

He push the boundaries and did something really interesting, but he didn’t stop there. He made sure that everything about this miniature looked just right. It also clearly represents its intended subject. This truly is a Gravity Mage.

Somcleverusername checked all of my boxes. This mini is innovative, an example of skill with the Hero Forge platform, and expresses its theme. That’s why it’s number 1 on this week’s Hero Forge Miniature Masterpiece Countdown.