Sunday 24 January 2010

Horrorclix Zombies 02


Following on from my last review, here as promised, are the rest of my Horrorclix zombies. No waffle this time, it's straight on with the review. The five figures shown above come from the expansion set called Freakshow, which contains a terrific collection of freaks and monsters from the Circus from Hell. First up is Herculon the zombie strongman, who is extremely tall (40mm from sole of feet to top of head) and muscular. His skin is pitted in many places and he has three nasty wounds. First up and most obvious, is a massive wound to his stomach, from which his internal organs are threatening to spill out but are kept in place by the coils of chain that circle his torso. Presumably, snapping those chains were part of his act but now they serve a different purpose. He also has two deep bite wounds to his left arm and lower right leg. The leg wound is so deep that you can see bone showing through. He holds a male victim in his right hand, who has been torn in half and had his left arm ripped off. Herculon is an extremely gory figure and I like him a lot!
Next in line is Hungry Bertha (as the rookie and experienced versions are called) or Big Big Bertha (as the veteran version is called). She is not classed as a zombie but as a psycopathic cannibal. It was the fact that she is a cannibal that prompted me to paint her up as a zombie. This grossly overweight figure is totally nude, with just a bib to cover her pendulous breasts. Painting her was a lot of fun and I did something different to her to my other zombies. I painted in bruises to show where the blood had pooled when she died. These were done with Citadel Leviathan Purple inkwash and a few others with Citadel Thraka Green inkwash. The trick is to water down the washes and to not overdo them. I'm happy with the results. On the original figure the blood on her bib was far more muted. I've really emphasised it with TCR. Note how it dribbles from her mouth and how her meat cleaver is stained. I like the way a lollipop has stuck to one of her bum cheeks! There were also pieces of salad stuck to her bib and left thigh but these got repainted as pieces of flesh. A truly gross figure but I mean that as a compliment.
In the centre of the group are Morty and Chuckles, the zombie ventriloquist and his dummy. Morty's clothes are full of holes but he does not appear to be suffering from any obvious wounds. He is a well sculpted figure and I particularly like Morty's sadly expressive face. If Morty's vocal chords still allow him to speak rather than moan I wonder if he gets Chuckles to shout, "Graaaaaaaaaaaaaains!"
Next in line is Southpaw, the zombie vendor offering liquid refreshment. But look closer and you'll see a severed hnd amongst the bottles on his tray! Apart from a few holes in his trousers he too, appears to be unwounded. I must admit to liking him the least out of this collection. There is nothing obviously wrong with him, it's just that I think the other four figures are much better.
The final figure out of this group is Johnny Dead, one of the twelve unique figures in the set. This former officer keeps a tight grip on the flag of the Confederate States of America. If he is from the American Civil War, he has aged well. Personally, I think he is a contemporary chap from an ACW re-enactment society, which makes more sense. He has suffered from an extremely debilitating wound, namely, he has been cut in two. When I got this figure, his flag was badly bent out of position. It is a problem that is quite common to Horrorclix figures due to the plastic they are made of. I recommend reading my reply to Rogzombie's comment in my last post to see how I fixed this problem.

This next batch of figures consist of one from the basic starter set (the skeletal biker) and four from the Lab expansion set. Technically speaking, the skeletal biker is not a zombie but I like him so much I had to include him with my other zeds. Perhaps the body parts covered by his clothes still retain flesh. What I particularly like about him is the way his clothes have been sculpted. The way they hang from his body is great. Also, check out the badge on the back of his leather jacket. No, I didn't paint that - that is how the figure comes in the box. It must be a decal, but it sure does look cool!
The pod zombie is one of my least favourite figures from the Lab expansion set. The idea of a zombie being reanimated by vegetation does not float my boat. His left lower leg has turned to bark, two stumps of wood protrude from his shoulder blades and vines twist all around him. There is nothing wrong with the sculpting of the figure, it is simply the concept of him that I question. Nonetheless, he is a zombie and so he's in my horde.
The irradiated zombie is interesting in that he has been sculpted out of transparent, luminous green plastic. It is an effect that Wizkids use on a few of their more unusual Horrorclix figures and it works well. His boots, belt, trousers and goggles have been painted normally. I gave his flesh tones a drybrushing of Citadel Scorpion Green just to make the details stand out more. Whatever he was working on in the lab has gone drastically wrong!
The evil cosmonaut is another figure that strictly speaking should be a skeleton but in this case, who's to say he isn't a zombie? Sure, he has a bony skull but that just shows that the flesh eating zeds were only able to feast on the one part of his body that was exposed! He is a very tall figure and although he is very nicely sculpted I do wonder what type of scenario is going to need a zombie cosmonaut? Incidentally, Wizkids had a promotion in which you could send away for a zombie astronaut. I did and when I received him I noticed the only difference between him and the cosmonaut was the paint scheme!
The final figure out of this group is called a frothweiler. I've included it in my collection for those who like zombie dogs and for those of you who are fans of Resident Evil. All the flesh is supposed to have been stripped from its body, leaving its muscles and sinews on display. Giving it a coat of TCR makes it look extremely wet and much more disgusting than its original matt red paint scheme. You can see from its size that this is one mean and nasty doggie! Down, boy!
In my previous review of my Horrorclix zombies I said that there were no bad sculpts amongst them. That is clearly not the case with this batch. The zombie vendor is just average and whilst the sculpting of the pod zombie is good, I just don't like the figure. Rogzombie mentioned in his comments for my previous review that you can buy Horrorclix zombies for as cheap as 25 cents each from the likes of E-bay. As I said before, look around and you can pick yourself some real bargains. I like the Horrorclix range of figures and I do hope that Wizkids bring the range back from the dead.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review. I've often wondered if these were worth trying.

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  2. If you just want to use them in games of ATZ then it is worth seeking out the rookie and/or common figures. They are definitely worth seeking out and are a cheap way to bolster your horde. Plus, they come ready painted - what's not to like?

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