Wednesday 4 November 2015

Castle Ravenloft Rats & Spiders

It's a new month but I still haven't finished reviewing the figures from the Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition board-game, Castle Ravenloft. So, here I present the Rat Swarm and Spiders.
The Rat Swarms come on 25mm diameter bases and I've painted each Swarm differently - from left to right are black rats, dark grey rats and dark brown rats. I painted their ears and tails with Foundry Flesh 5B.
The stats for a Rat Swarm are AC12 and 1HP. Killing one earns a Hero 1 Experience Point.
A Rat Swarm's tactics are -
If the Rat Swarm is within 1 tile of a Hero, it moves to the closest Hero's tile and attacks each hero with a multitude of Bites.
Otherwise, the Rat Swarm moves 1 tile toward the closest Hero.
A Bites attack gives a +7 bonus to hit and causes 1 damage.
I'm not sure why these monsters are described as Spiders instead of Giant Spiders. They are as a big as a human and that's just downright unnatural! Anyway, let's not split hairs - they're still great figures.
The stats for a Spider are AC15 and 1HP. Killing one earns a Hero 2 Experience Points.
A Spider's tactics are -
If the Spider is adjacent to a Hero, it attacks that Hero with a venomous Bite.
If the Spider is within 1 tile of a Hero, it attacks the closest Hero with an acidic Web.
Otherwise, the Spider moves 2 tiles (they're fast!) toward the closest Hero. 
A Bite attack gives a +6 bonus to hit and causes 2 damage if it hits or 1 damage if it misses.
A Web attack gives a whopping big +11 bonus to hit (the highest of any Monster or Villain in the game) and causes 1 damage plus Slowed (a Hero' Speed is reduced to 2). In addition, place the Spider adjacent to the Hero.
The Rat Swarms are great sculpts. They do look very flat, which is why I photographed them from above. They are more a nuisance than a serious threat in the game. The Spiders, however, are fearsome opponents, fast moving, hard to hit and they deal out some nasty damage.

24 comments:

  1. Certainly wouldn't want to meet these in a dark alley!! Nice work Bryan!

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    1. Nor would I want to meet them, Ray... in a dark alley or anywhere!

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  2. Nice work Bryan as always. The spider sculpts are lovely, I like the rearing pose! I like the swarm as well, it looks like the rats are teaming over each other as opposed to the swarms bases for WHFB which just had individual figs on a big base diluting the effect somewhat

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    1. I agree, Andy. Plus, have you noticed that they're not all facing in the same direction?

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    2. Yes mate, it just looks like they are boiling over each other to get at a hapless adventurer

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  3. The rat swarms are particularly nice, thy capture that scurrying movement.

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  4. Very nice, and impressive...love the rats!

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  5. Certainly some of the better Ravenloft sculpts you've so far paraded for our pleasure, Bryan... and some very nice paint-jobs to boot. I particularly like the different colours you've chosen for the rat swarms. Though those giant spiders are wonderfully done too and rather intimidating!!

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    1. I certainly think they amongst the better Castle Ravenloft sculpts as well, Simon.

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  6. Sweet work on them all and there different shades. Love those spiders poses perhaps Giant spiders require to be horse sized :)

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    1. Thanks, Simon. I guess "giant" is a subjective term, huh?

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  7. Nice work Bryan! The subtle variations so on your rat swarms is more noticeable closer up. Although I did get a craving for liquorice from looking at them... And the spiders are cool too. Imagine them next to 6mm troops and you got a pocket B-Movie!
    Regards Jez

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    1. Cheers, Jez. Both the rats and spiders would work in a 6mm game. I'm not a fan of liquorice so you can have my share! :-)

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    2. I find the pose of the Spider amusing - that is a classic threat display, as the spider tries to make itself look bigger.

      In general a threat display means that the critter really doesn't want to fight - and would much prefer it if you just left.

      Reaper has a Huge spider in that pose - the idea of a spider with a 15' leg span not wanting a fight led to an encounter in one of my games - as the PCs sidled sideways to avoid the enormous spider... and the enormous spider edged sideways to avoid the scary, scary adventiurers.

      The Auld Grump

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    3. That's VERY insightful, Dennis. Thanks for sharing your knowledge of spiders. Nice gaming anecdote as well. :-)

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  8. Nice critters - if that can ever be said of vermin :-) .

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  9. My wife has a long suffering hatred is with spiders. She'd hate these being on the desk.

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  10. Great job Bryan! I like the different colours you've used on the rats and the spiders are outstanding Dude!

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