Castle Ravenloft Gargoyles and Wraiths

This is the first of many reviews of the monsters found in the Dungeons and Dragons board-game of Castle Ravenloft. Gargoyles and Wraiths are the two most powerful types of monster you can encounter in Castle Ravenloft. For each type of monster, you get three figures, all identically sculpted.

The Gargoyles look suitably menacing and are quite tall. Their stats are AC16 and 2HP. Killing one grants your character 3 Experience Points.

A Gargoyle's tactics are -
If the Gargoyle is within 1 tile of a Hero, it moves to the closest hero's tile and attacks each Hero on the tile with a whirlwind of Claws.
Otherwise, it does nothing.
A Claws attack has a +8 bonus to hit and causes 2 damage plus inflicts Slowed status on the victim. If the attack misses, it still causes 1 damage. Slowed reduces a hero's Speed rating to 2.

You can't tell from my paint-work that the Wraith figures were made of translucent blue plastic. I gave them a wash of Citadel Drakenhof Nightshade (dark blue) and painted the inside of the Wraiths' robes in black. The skull and hands were painted with Foundry Canvas 8B and highlighted with Foundry Canvas 8C.
Wraiths are classed as Undead and they are fearsome opponents. Their stats are AC15 and 2HP. Killing one grants your Hero 3 Experience Points.

A Wraith's tactics are -
If the Wraith is within 1 tile of a Hero, it moves adjacent to the closest Hero and attacks that Hero with a life-draining Claw.
Otherwise, the Wraith moves 1 tile toward the closest Hero.
A Claw attack gives a +6 bonus to attack and causes 3 damage if it hits or 1 damage if it misses.
Wraiths have a Special Ability - Death Shriek. When this monster is destroyed each Hero on its tile takes 1 damage.
These are the only two monsters in the game to grant a Hero 3 Experience Points for killing one. They are tough opponents - the Wraith, in particular can cause a lot of damage. Gargoyles are nasty if your Hero is within 1 tile of it. Move further away and they are no threat whatsoever.
I like how they have been sculpted and I very nearly left the the Wraith in its translucent blue colour for its robes but in the end I went with a much darker colour scheme. It's more in keeping with my own ideas of what a Wraith should look like.

Vampifan's Views 60 - Monthly Musings 38

Miss Vampirella January 2015 - Alisa Kiss

Every time I post one of my Monthly Musings I always start off with a picture of my favourite vampire - Vampirella. This year, I have decided to do something slightly different and show you 12 of my favourite real life Vampirella models - one per month. I am showing them in alphabetical order by Christian name. I have my favourites as some I like more than others but all 12 have something going for them that I like. Some of the ladies are professional models posing as Vampi and some were official models when Vampirella was published by Harris Comics. Some, like Alisa here, are cosplayers. Alisa is certainly one of my favourites. She has such a cute smile and a great body that is very close to that of the comic heroine, i.e. well proportioned without being too busty.
What I found interesting when I was building up this collection was noting how Vampi's costume changes depending on who is wearing it. It seems the ladies all have their own ideas on how this iconic costume should look like. Most get it right. Alisa's version is near perfect. However, as I'll show, some don't quite get it right. One model does something I wouldn't have thought possible. She takes Vampi's skimpy costume and makes it a lot more skimpier! Sorry, guys, but you'll have to wait until August to see it. Yeah, I know, I'm such a tease! Anyway, in the meantime you have plenty of lovely eye candy to look forward to.

Moving on to hobby news, it has been another busy month for me, with most of my spare time taken up with Super Dungeon Explore. On the painting front I have finished painting all the figures from the Von Drakk Manor expansion set and all are worthy of a place on this blog, which is after all, dedicated to all things undead. I have made a start on painting the figures from my second SDE expansion set, Caverns of Roxor. In addition, I have painted all the individual SDE figures I was able to buy from Amazon UK and eBay. These were all rare figures and I'm thrilled to have been able to purchase so many of them. My collection of SDE figures is not complete but I do have all the figures I want, so I feel lucky in that respect.

My collection of Impact Miniatures Chibi Adventurers and Monsters

Towards the back end of last year I discovered a figure company called Impact Miniatures who made a range of 28mm scale Chibi Adventurers. These perfectly complemented the official SDE figures. They do a large range of Chibi figures and so I decided to send them an order. The photo above shows you what figures I received. Not shown are a load of dungeon tile bases that I ordered. They are a close match to the sculpted bases used in SDE. The figures I ordered were mainly bought to supplement my monsters from Von Drakk Manor. From left to right are four giant Pumpkins, two Pumpkinheads and a Pumpkinhead General. The reason I bought these is because one of the Von Drakk Manor Spawning Points depicts a spooky tree holding a large Halloween Pumpkin. So they were an obvious tie-in. Next up are four Skeletons and four Zombies. They were "must have" figures for me. The four individuals are a Pit Lord Demon, a Fire Mage, a Mummy and Red the Barbarian Warrior. The Pit Lord and Fire Mage will be alternative Dungeon Boss and Mini Boss to replace Starfire and Rex respectively from the basic boxed set of SDE. The Mummy is yet another undead type, who could either be used as a Mini-Boss for Von Drakk or held over for when the Desertlands expansion set is released. Red is an even closer match to Red Sonja than the Claw Tribe Barbarian I showed you last week. Heck, Impact even called her Red, so she has to be Red Sonja. Finally, are a pair of Gargoyles, who won't look out of place in Von Drakk Manor. These figures are all resin-cast and can be rather fragile if not handled with care and respect. I'm not a big fan of resin figures and would have preferred to see these in metal or plastic. I'll be reviewing these later but for now here's a sneak preview of the two Gargoyles.

Impact Miniatures Chibi Gargoyles.

I said in my last Monthly Musings post that my New Year's resolution was to play more games in 2015. Well, I'm off to a good start, having played two games of SDE already. The first was a simple 8-Bit game played on two boards with two Heroes (Ember Mage and Riftling Rogue) against Rex the Kobold Ogre Mini-Boss and a few Kobold Minions. It was a very one-sided fight which the Heroes won easily in less than half an hour. Still, it did what it was meant to do, which was to give me a flavour of the rules and how the game is meant to be played.
Then I played a 16-Bit game played on three boards with three heroes against Starfire the Dungeon Boss, Rex the Mini Boss and a lot more Denizens and Minions. This was a much tougher fight and took a lot longer to play but was also a lot more fun. The Heroes I chose were what I thought were a good mix - the Deeproot Druid (who is a Healer and can transform into Angry Bear), the Glimmerdusk Ranger (an elf archer with good ranged attack ability) and the Hearthsworn Fighter (a dwarven fighter specialising in melee attacks). I felt I'd covered all bases and was confident they'd do well. They didn't, despite getting off to a good start by destroying two Spawning Points very quickly.
But a horde of Kobolds Mob attacked the Ranger and swiftly killed her. When Rex the Kobold Ogre Mini Boss arrived he cleverly positioned himself at the entrance to the third board. That meant if the Heroes wanted to destroy the third Spawning Point, they'd have to go through him. Destroying ALL the Spawning Points before the Dungeon Boss arrives is the key to winning the game if you're playing the Heroes. Angry Bear tried his hardest to defeat Rex but he proved to be too tough. In the turn after Rex appeared, Starfire the Dragon arrived. Because there was still one Spawning Point left, it meant that Starfire could activate twice per Turn. Believe me, you do not want any Dungeon Boss activating twice per turn! The Heroes stood no chance against him and he killed them both. I knew that Starfire was tough (he really is rock hard!) but until I saw him in action I never knew just how powerful he actually was. Despite the Heroes losing I thoroughly enjoyed playing this fun game. Because I have so many expansion sets and extra figures for it, its replay value is incredibly high. I can't wait to play it again.
In my next post I'll review the Glimmerdusk Ranger, Deeproot Druid and Angry Bear but for now here's another sneak preview just to whet your appetite.