The first victims of the Great Dinosaur Downsizing Program have now emerged from the painting table, and I am pleased to report that an Allosaurus, Stegosaurus and Apatosaurus have successfully survived the process. They are considerably smaller than their predecessors, although I suspect none of them are particularly happy about it. Millions of years of evolution spent becoming enormous, terrifying and generally inconvenient, only to be reduced to something that can hide behind a 25mm hex.

Apatosaurus

The photograph rather cruelly demonstrates just how far the mighty have fallen. Beside the new tiny dinosaurs are some of their considerably larger ancestors from my original games, including one of the dead dinosaurs. Nothing demonstrates progress quite like placing a freshly painted miniature beside the enormous corpse of its predecessor.

The little Allosaurus appears to be contemplating whether this represents its own future, while the Stegosaurus seems to have decided that keeping quiet and looking heavily armoured is probably the safest option. The Apatosaurus, meanwhile, has the expression of a dinosaur that has just discovered someone has reduced not only the terrain but also the catering budget.

Allosaurus

The difference in scale is quite remarkable. The old dinosaurs inhabited a world of 100mm hexes where they could thunder majestically across the table, scatter explorers and consume the occasional unfortunate human. Their tiny descendants must now accomplish exactly the same things on 25mm hexes while attempting to retain some degree of prehistoric dignity. This is less Jurassic Park and more Jurassic Parking Space.

Stegosaurus

Still, the experiment is working. Three dinosaurs are now ready to terrorise the new miniature landscape, and more are on the way.

There cannot be a winner without a loser or eight of them to be exact (important for game play).

The age of the giant dinosaur may be over, at least temporarily, but the age of the tiny angry dinosaur has begun. Looking at the size comparison, I am increasingly convinced that they are not merely smaller.They are annoyed.