Church of the Acarid Miniatures Release: What Painters Need
Bestiarum Games has announced a January 2026 release for the Church of the Acarid line, expanding the Infested faction with new sculpts, a novel caste of Acaridians, themed scatter terrain, and a supportive Faction Pack. Read on to learn exactly what’s included, how you can use the models and resources at the table and in displays, and how to plug into the community through subscriptions and monthly painting contests.
1. Release timing and publication details
Bestiarum Games announced the Church of the Acarid release with a post dated December 31, 2025, and set the launch for January 2026. That timing means you can expect wider availability this month, so plan your painting queue and display concepts accordingly, new releases tend to sell quickly and pop up in community streams and galleries fast.
2. New miniatures collection overview
The collection introduces a suite of new character sculpts that broaden the visual and narrative range of the Infested faction. These sculpts offer fresh posing, texture, and kit-bash potential, giving you more options for centerpiece models and cohesion across an army or diorama.
3. Expansion of the Infested faction with fresh sculpts
The release explicitly expands the Infested faction, supplying characters that fit into existing forces while providing new focal points for conversions and paint schemes. For players and painters, that means immediate synergy with custom armies and campaign tables, models you pick up can be slotted into skirmishes, display boards, and showcase pieces without extensive rework.
4. Introduction of a new caste of Acaridians
A new caste of Acaridians arrives with the line, described as insectile/human ascended creatures that blur the line between bug and worshipper. The hybrid anatomy and distinctive silhouettes give painters an exciting palette for experimenting with chitin textures, flesh tones, and hybrid weathering techniques that read well at tabletop scale.
5. Themed scatter terrain included in the release
The release isn’t just figures, Bestiarum includes themed scatter terrain like infested pews, bowls, a statue of the Sainted Mother, and stone altars. These pieces are practical for gaming and photography: they dress a board quickly, provide narrative set-dressing for scenarios involving the Church, and offer small-scale painting projects that tie color and story to your miniatures.
6. Faction Pack: plug-and-play mechanics and lore tools
The Faction Pack is designed to be a ready-made toolkit for both GMs and painters, including plug-and-play 5e statblocks, extended lore, random tables, and concept art. You can drop the statblocks straight into a campaign, use the random tables to generate encounters and environmental details, and lean on concept art to guide consistent paint schemes and basing across multiple models.
7. Practical value of concept art and lore for painters
The included concept art and extended lore aren’t just flavor, they act as a paint guide and display brief, helping you align palette, iconography, and basing motifs across a roster. Use the concept art to create a unified gallery piece or to iterate variations on a theme, and pull specific story beats from the lore to stage dioramas or campaign props.
8. Distribution: physical kits and STL files
Bestiarum will offer both physical models and STL distribution for the Church of the Acarid line, so you can choose between boxed figures or digital files to print at home or through a service. Physically produced models remain the easiest route for quick builds and consistent parts, while STLs give you flexibility for immediate access, scaling options, or additional printing runs for conversions.
9. Monthly STL subscription option
To streamline access, Bestiarum offers a monthly STL subscription that delivers digital files on a recurring schedule. Subscribing can be cost-effective if you plan to print multiple releases or want guaranteed early access to digital models; it also feeds into your monthly painting rhythm with a steady stream of new subjects.
10. Community engagement: monthly painting competition on Discord
Bestiarum runs a monthly painting competition hosted on their community Discord, which is an excellent way to show off Church of the Acarid builds, get feedback, and win profile recognition. Competitions like this matter for visibility: they push you to finish projects, encourage creative approaches to the new sculpts and terrain, and help you connect with other painters who may share painting tips, basing recipes, or conversion ideas.
11. How to integrate the release into your projects
Use the faction’s statblocks and random tables to create one-shot encounters for players, then stage those encounters with the new scatter terrain and painted models for evocative tabletop gaming. For display or contest entries, match the statue and altar motifs in basing elements and color choices to create consistent storytelling across figures and scenery.
12. Why this release matters to the miniature painting community
This launch combines strong sculpts, thematic terrain, practical game support, and active community hooks in one package, giving you both craft challenges and display-ready material. Whether you’re competing in the monthly Discord contest, expanding an Infested army, or building a chapel diorama centered on the Sainted Mother, the Church of the Acarid release supplies the raw materials and the social structures to make your next project meaningful and visible.
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