Here is the third of the factions from the
Dracula's America: Shadows of the West skirmish war-game - the Crossroads Cult. A Crossroads Cult posse serves diabolical masters, masquerading as wealthy rail barons back east, and can call upon unnatural Abyssal Entities in battle. Native American posses can never join this faction.
At the far left is Maximillian Underwood, a Harbinger of the Abyss. He is the true diabolical power behind the throne of this faction. A Harbinger is Flying, Supernatural and automatically knows the Summon Arcane Power, but does not count as an Arcanist. If he is not Downed and is within 6" of their posse's Magister, then the Magister gets a +1 Die modifier on all of their Casting tests.
Next in line is Brother Zebulon, the Magister and boss of this posse. He automatically becomes an Arcanist for free. One of his three chosen Powers must be Summon.
The other two figures are both unique Abyssal Entities who must be Summoned. All Summoned models disappear at the end of a game - they do not increase a posse's Infamy and they cannot Advance or suffer Injuries. The monstrous, four-armed Abyssal Entity whose eyeless skull is crowned by four curling horns is a Major Entity called a Behemoth. Its Special Abilities are Fearsome and Flying.
At the far right is a Hell Hound, a Lesser Entity with the Fearsome Special Ability. The Behemoth and the Hell Hound can only be Summoned by the Crossroads Cult, which is why I have included them here.
These figures are all official
Dracula's America sculpts produced by North Star. Set DRAC112 - Crossroads Cult contains the Harbinger, Magister and Hell Hound and costs £7.50 from the North Star webstore -
http://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=10762
The Behemoth can be bought separately as set DRAC108 - Abyssal Behemoth. This multi-part figure costs £6.00 from the same webstore -
http://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=10758
To complete this faction I need to add some standard Cultists. There are a number of companies who make Cultist figures. At the moment I'm favouring the male and female Cultist sets sold by Crooked Dice Games to use with this faction.
What an interesting mix of magic and monsters this faction appears to consist of Bryan. Maximillian Underwood is probably my fave, but they all look so decidedly different form one another, its actually hard to chose.
ReplyDeleteI was initially surprised at your last paragraph that "Dracula's America" doesn't provide the cultists necessary to complete the faction. But then thought of the zombie gunslingers I'm painting by "Wargames Foundry". I own the "Crooked Dice" male Cultists as was actually a little disappointed by a couple of their sculpts. However I also have (and have painted/based) the "Pulp Figures" ones, and would definitely recommend them. To each his own though :-)
Thank you kindly, Simon. The thing with the official range of "Dracula's America" figures is that you are not provided with full sets. I guess you're meant to make up the numbers with figures from other ranges. The Crossroads Cult is badly served with just two posse members but the Skinwalkers Tribe is even worse - just one official figure for it!
DeleteI haven't made a firm decision on what Cultists I plan using here, so your suggestion of looking at the "Pulp Figures" range will get serious consideration. Thanks. :-)
"the Skinwalkers Tribe is even worse - just one official figure for it!" - Oh dear... that does seem a little odd for a company producing a range of miniatures which supposedly support a rule-set. Are they planning on filling these gaps or simply expecting people like yourself to seek out alternatives.
DeleteI must confess I went with "Wargames Foundry" for my Zombie cowboys as I felt Mark Copplestone had sculpted the majority and thus they'd fit in well with the "Dracula's America" models. I see that the same could probably be said for native Americans and Union soldiers. I presume "North Star Military Figures" were hoping you'd turn to their 'partner' "Artizan Designs" for the missing minis, but as I say I like my minis for a game to all be sculpted similarly if I can, hence Mark Copplestone & "Wargames Foundry" being the obvious alternative.
I suspect you're right regarding "Artizan Designs" for the missing minis, Simon. I do know that there are more figures planned for the official range but at present, I have no idea who or what they might be.
DeleteI saw you had left a comment on "The Lead Mountaineer" blog about his Skinwalker tribe. He is the author of "Dracula's America" and I noticed he didn't even include the one official Skinwalker in his posse!
At present, it would seem that we must seek out alternative figures to fill the missing gaps. Given the proliferation of Wild West figures currently available that's not a major obstacle. I can certainly see the sense of sticking with figures sculpted by Mark Copplestone, the official "Dracula's America" sculptor. His sculpts are gorgeous anyway, so that's no bad thing.
Yet another great looking faction Bryan and "beautifully" painted!
ReplyDeleteInteresting comments about the 'incomplete' mini rosters, but as you've said, there's no shortage of alternatives available, so this should ensure a nice variety among different gamers factions :-)
Thanks, Greg. I must admit that I'm not too bothered that some of the factions are incomplete. Actually, it's only this faction and the Skinwalkers Tribe that are missing figures and they can easily be filled in with figures from other companies.
DeleteDemons, Devils, demon dogs and cultists. not my cup of tea in real life but splendid in a game. Quite literally something to get its teeth into you!
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you, Clint. There is much variety in this faction.
DeleteAnother great looking faction Bryan, shame they don't currently do the whole set, but as you say plenty of other great looking models available
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely right, Dave. Maybe North Star will fill the missing gaps when they release the new figures.
DeleteCould well be a timing issue getting enough sculpts done for release, with plans to add when sculptors are available after. plus budget can always be a factor as well
DeleteThat's a very good point, Dave. Thanks for that insider insight.
Deleteno problem
DeleteThese look rather cool love Demon hound. Could be useful for some Scooby shenanigans
ReplyDeleteThanks, Simon. That's not a bad idea about pitting the Hell Hound against Scooby Doo.
DeleteOoooh I do like the cultist
ReplyDeleteThanks, Phil.
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ReplyDelete