Post by Aaron on Feb 21, 2006 9:32:12 GMT 12
Ok well I finally succumb to temptation and bought myself a box of the new plastic Plague Monks. Seeing as it was a bit of a roller coaster of pleasure and pain I thought Id share my initial observations.
First thing I noticed when I opened the box was that they’ve gone back to single pose figures. The older clan rats are legs, torso, arms, tails, heads the Plague monks are just bodies, heads & arms. A bit limited for variety but I soon realized how much quicker it will be to build a regiment & how much sturdier it will make the unit on the table top (about 1/3 of my clan rats are missing tails). The models themselves have a disappointingly large amount of flash on them. Everyone single part required quite extensive cleaning up and in the process I noticed how little detail is on the bodies. I guess this is partly because the figures are robed but really, it almost seems like a step backwards in terms of what we have previously seen for Skaven from GW.
On the plus side they have arranged the sprues in a rather different manner which results in plenty of pieces to add to the Bits Box. In stead of the usual regiment sprues + command sprue they have included 8 sprues broken into 2 sprues per 5 figures and each set of 2 sprues includes 5 bodies, 10 heads, 10 sword/dagger arms (left and right), 5 staff arms (left). But also on these 2 sprues is included 2 banners, 2 musician options, 3 banner pole tops, a couple of different weapon arms/musician arms , 8 small rats & misc bits to hang on the figures.
If you cant be bothered doing the math that means when I have finished this regiment including the traditional 1 standard bearer I’ll have 7 spare banners?!?!
Really that’s just stupid. That’s enough to do an entire army. I guess it must be cheaper to waste tonnes of plastic than make 1 more mold. (no sarcasm intended here)
The quality of the detail on the extra pieces & the faces is excellent & to some degree that’ll make up for the plainness of the basic trooper. Also with some careful cunning it will make the unit quicker to construct & paint as you can add details to the troopers that will be seen (front/sides/rear) and leave the figures in the centre plain.
The construction phase led to a few more disappointments. They have made an excellent job of making the shoulder joints smaller, (I don’t know if people have noticed but the other skaven plastics have abnormally large feet & shoulders) the new figures have excellent looking mousie feet and thin arms giving an excellent feeling that these are lean and wasted Skaven. However the problem with this is that the figures don’t naturally balance and require more attention (ie holding) before you can set them down and move on to the next figure. Im also slightly concerned that I should have pinned the shoulders but I’ll have to wait for the rigueur of a game to find out.
I think the overall look of the regiment will be good, I’ve gone with the 2 hand weapon option (whats the point of frothing lunatic Rats with 1 weapon?!) and will sprinkle through a few staves to make them look more “monk”ish & possibly a few of those spare banner tops. Obviously 90% of the look of any regiment is the painting and Im not particularly looking forward to that, Im concerned my eternal nemesis (zombie skin) has returned in a new guise as monk robes…
One thing I have decided is that with the excellent extras included (including a paw holding a scroll & a paw holding an open book) + a number of maces that look exactly like a plague censor I should be able to buy a second box to push up my regiment to 30, modify up some censor bearers and have enough pieces to make a Plague Priest. Saving me having to buy the even more expensive metal figures.
Overall Im not as blown away by them as I was the Brettonian men-at-arms (the previous GW regiment I bought) but the figures are good & the regiment should look very good when all put together. As a gamer at heart I find them much preferable to the previous option of having to buy metal figures & the sheer quantity of extra goodies is incredible. A must have for any Skaven Warlord.
First thing I noticed when I opened the box was that they’ve gone back to single pose figures. The older clan rats are legs, torso, arms, tails, heads the Plague monks are just bodies, heads & arms. A bit limited for variety but I soon realized how much quicker it will be to build a regiment & how much sturdier it will make the unit on the table top (about 1/3 of my clan rats are missing tails). The models themselves have a disappointingly large amount of flash on them. Everyone single part required quite extensive cleaning up and in the process I noticed how little detail is on the bodies. I guess this is partly because the figures are robed but really, it almost seems like a step backwards in terms of what we have previously seen for Skaven from GW.
On the plus side they have arranged the sprues in a rather different manner which results in plenty of pieces to add to the Bits Box. In stead of the usual regiment sprues + command sprue they have included 8 sprues broken into 2 sprues per 5 figures and each set of 2 sprues includes 5 bodies, 10 heads, 10 sword/dagger arms (left and right), 5 staff arms (left). But also on these 2 sprues is included 2 banners, 2 musician options, 3 banner pole tops, a couple of different weapon arms/musician arms , 8 small rats & misc bits to hang on the figures.
If you cant be bothered doing the math that means when I have finished this regiment including the traditional 1 standard bearer I’ll have 7 spare banners?!?!
Really that’s just stupid. That’s enough to do an entire army. I guess it must be cheaper to waste tonnes of plastic than make 1 more mold. (no sarcasm intended here)
The quality of the detail on the extra pieces & the faces is excellent & to some degree that’ll make up for the plainness of the basic trooper. Also with some careful cunning it will make the unit quicker to construct & paint as you can add details to the troopers that will be seen (front/sides/rear) and leave the figures in the centre plain.
The construction phase led to a few more disappointments. They have made an excellent job of making the shoulder joints smaller, (I don’t know if people have noticed but the other skaven plastics have abnormally large feet & shoulders) the new figures have excellent looking mousie feet and thin arms giving an excellent feeling that these are lean and wasted Skaven. However the problem with this is that the figures don’t naturally balance and require more attention (ie holding) before you can set them down and move on to the next figure. Im also slightly concerned that I should have pinned the shoulders but I’ll have to wait for the rigueur of a game to find out.
I think the overall look of the regiment will be good, I’ve gone with the 2 hand weapon option (whats the point of frothing lunatic Rats with 1 weapon?!) and will sprinkle through a few staves to make them look more “monk”ish & possibly a few of those spare banner tops. Obviously 90% of the look of any regiment is the painting and Im not particularly looking forward to that, Im concerned my eternal nemesis (zombie skin) has returned in a new guise as monk robes…
One thing I have decided is that with the excellent extras included (including a paw holding a scroll & a paw holding an open book) + a number of maces that look exactly like a plague censor I should be able to buy a second box to push up my regiment to 30, modify up some censor bearers and have enough pieces to make a Plague Priest. Saving me having to buy the even more expensive metal figures.
Overall Im not as blown away by them as I was the Brettonian men-at-arms (the previous GW regiment I bought) but the figures are good & the regiment should look very good when all put together. As a gamer at heart I find them much preferable to the previous option of having to buy metal figures & the sheer quantity of extra goodies is incredible. A must have for any Skaven Warlord.
