Black Scorpion Old West Terrors 02

When Black Scorpion ran their Tombstone Kickstarter, I was pleased to see that one of the seven factions was the Undead faction. As you should know I'm a sucker for Undead figures. The faction included the four Tombstone Terrors that I reviewed here . In this post and the next I'm going to review the new figures for this faction, starting with the skeleton gunfighters.

I start with the leader of the faction, a gunfighter armed with a .45 Colt Army revolver and a double-barrelled sawn-off shotgun.

There is also a mounted version of him, which I received as part of my Kickstarter package. I thought he might be riding an Undead horse but he isn't.

The next set of skeleton gunfighters has four figures who are similarly dressed and armed with a pair of .45 Colt Army revolvers. The exception is the one second from the right who has replaced his Stetson with a bowler hat and who is armed with a double-barrelled shotgun.

I think these are terrific figures. It is very rare to see skeleton gunfighters. Zombie gunfighters are much more common. The Tombstone rulebook does have stats for skeletons and zombies but I'm not a big fan of the rulebook. My two preferred Weird West rules are High Moon by Two Hour Wargames and Shadows of Brimstone by Flying Frog Productions. I will most likely just use their rules for zombies when I use these figures in a game.
The leader figure costs £4.50 for the foot figure and £9.60 for the mounted version. The four gunfighters cost £9.60 for all four.

Castle Ravenloft Skeletons

In the Castle Ravenloft board-game for 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons, there are two types of skeletons your Heroes can encounter - Blazing Skeletons and normal Skeletons. You get three figures of each type.

Just like the Wraiths, which I reviewed last time, the Blazing Skeletons are made of translucent blue plastic. Once again, I was faced with the dilemma of leaving their flame effects transparent blue (to denote magical fire) and paint the actual skeleton in shades of bone, or going totally different. Well, you can see from my photos that I went totally different. The fact that the flame is literally white hot close into the skeleton added to the fact that I decided to paint the bones black, denoting a charring effect provides a stunning contrast. I'm delighted at how they have turned out.
The stats for a Blazing Skeleton are AC13 and 2HP. Killing one earns your Hero 2 Experience Points.

A Blazing Skeleton's tactics are -
If the Blazing Skeleton is within 1 tile of a Hero, it attacks each Hero on the closest Hero's tile with a Ball of Fire.
Otherwise, the Blazing Skeleton moves 1 tile toward the closest Hero.
A Ball of Fire attack gives a +7 bonus to hit and causes 2 damage if it hits or 1 damage if it misses.

The Skeletons shown above and below are most likely what most people imagine a fantasy skeleton to look like. Their swords are rusty, which was a deliberate decision of mine.
The stats for a Skeleton are AC16 (very high for a monster) and 1HP. Killing one earns a Hero 2 Experience Points.

A Skeleton's tactics are -
If the Skeleton is adjacent to a Hero, it attacks with a Scimitar.
If the Skeleton is within 1 tile of a Hero, it moves adjacent to the closest Hero and attacks that Hero with a charging Slice.
Otherwise, the Skeleton moves 1 tile towards the closest Hero.
A Scimitar attacks gives a +7 bonus to hit and causes 1 damage.
A Slice attack gives a +9 bonus to hit and causes 2 damage.
Two great sets of figures that I like a lot.

Impact Chibi Skeletons and Zombies

Impact Miniatures are a company who make 28mm scale resin figures, including a range of Chibi Adventurers who are very compatible with the figures used in Super Dungeon Explore. You can find them here - http://www.impactminiatures.com/index.php?option=chibi

The skeleton is listed as CA-SKEL Chibi Skeleton on the Impact Minis website and costs £3.49. I bought four of them to help supplement my SDE Skeletons.

He is very lightly armoured with just a helmet and shoulder guards, which I have painted rusty and ancient looking.

He is armed with only a rusty sword.

I have no game stats for him yet. A rulebook for using these figures called Chibi World will be coming out later this year. I can't wait to get my hands on it as I know the author, Steve Gilbert, very well and I know that writing it has been a labour of love for him. You could use this figure as a Bonehead or Rattle Bone in SDE.

The zombie is listed as CA-ZOMB Chibi Zombie on the Impact Minis website and he also costs £3.49. Once again, I bought four of them.

The zombies are unarmoured and carry a wooden club. I have deliberately kept my gore effects to a minimum on these figures.

As yet there no game stats for zombies in SDE but they will be making an appearance as an expansion set for The Forgotten King, which is available now.

Given my love of all things undead I simply had to add these delightfully cute figures to my collection. I never thought I'd ever describe a skeleton or a zombie as being cute!

SDE Monsters 10 - Captain R and Succubus Vandella

I haven't quite finished reviewing my SDE Undead figures. Here are two limited edition figures that I bought from e-Bay - Captain R and Succubus Vandella. Both are Mini Bosses and both would make suitable replacements for the Death Spectre in Von Drakk's Manor.

ARRRR! The Drowned Isles be a constant headache for sailors an' ships of tha Clockwork Cove. Tha dreaded land mass be swarmin' wit cutthroats an' scallywags to spare an' none be as successful as the courageous Cap'n R. They say 'ees plied tha seas fer a hundred years an' sent just as many ships to tha deep. Riches will flow fer tha Hero who finally gets tha best of 'im because he who gets tha Cap'n gets 'is gold.
Captain R is an Undead Skeleton Pirate Mini Boss and a very interesting villain. He has a decent set of stats but not too powerful. Movement: 6, Wounds: 5, Actions: 3, Attack: 1 blue die and 2 red dice, Armour: 2 blue dice and 1 red die, Will: 1 blue die and 1 red die and Dex: 1 blue die and 1 red die.

Captain R has 1 ability - Pirate Hoard. This model may equip Loot and Treasure cards. When spawned, draw one Treasure card and equip it on this model. When defeated, Heroes gain all Loot and Treasure cards this model has equipped. That's pretty darned cool!
He has 1 Special Ability - X Marks  the Spot. If he spends 2 Action points he may draw and equip himself with 1 Loot card.
He also has 2 Special Attacks - Flintlock and Deep One Attack. Flintlock is a Missile attack with a range of 6 squares and adds a bonus +1 red die to his Dexterity. It costs 1 Action point to use. Deep One Attack is a Magic attack with Cross:5 (it forms a cross of 5 squares in four directions centred on him) and adds +1 red die to his Willpower. It costs 2 Action points to use.

The Dark Tower's shadow stretches across the whole of Crystalia and is a bleak reminder of the Consul's strength and power. Succubus Vandella represents a more subtle aspect of the Consul's power, the power to corrupt and beguile. She delights in tormenting her prey and sowing chaos within even the most steadfast Hero's heart.
Succubus Vandella is a Demon Mini Boss who should not be underestimated. She only has 4 Wounds but she is cheaper to activate than most other Mini Bosses, costing just 3 Skulls instead of 4. However, she has improved Movement and Action points with scores of 7 and 4 respectively.  Her attack is above average with 1 blue die and 1 red die. Her Armour is a very average 2 blue die. Her Will is much better with 3 blue dice and 1 red die and her Dexterity is best of all with 3 red dice.

She has 4 Abilities - Dodge, Fly, Magic:4 and Pacify. A model with Dodge may use their Dexterity when making defence rolls unless they are suffering from Immune, Knockdown or Slow. Fly is self-explanatory. Magic:4 allows her to cast spells up to 4 squares away and if successful will  also pacify the target. Pacify prevents a target from using any Special Attacks.
She has one  Special Ability - Come Hither, which costs 2 Action points. It has Wave: 3 and Compel:3 so any target within 3 squares of her may be moved 3 squares in any direction. Very useful for pushing enemies away or drawing them next to her.
Her one Special Attack, Alluring, also costs 2 action points to use. This Magic attack adds +1 red die to her Will and if the attack is successful she immediately heals one Wound.
These two figures were on my want list for quite some time and so I was pleased to be able to buy them on e-Bay. I love it when sellers include the Buy Now option! Captain R is a great figure. Who doesn't like undead pirates? His ability to collect Treasure and Loot like a Hero makes him unique amongst the villains.
I love the figure of Succubus Vandella. I love the way she is blowing a kiss with one eye opened and one eye closed. I've used her once in a game and she was a tough opponent to kill due to her ability to heal wounds. She is not Vampirella but she is the closest representation of my favourite vampire in SDE so naturally I have a deep affection for her.
These figures are currently out of production although they sometimes appear on e-Bay. However, they will be re-released with new stat cards once The Forgotten King goes on sale. I was delighted to see that the new stat cards will allow Vandella to be played as a villain or as a Hero. That just made my day!

SDE Monsters 07 - Bone Heads and Dread Knights

Today I'm reviewing two more types of skeletons from the SDE Von Drakk Manor expansion set - Bone Heads and Dread Knights.

Bone Heads make up the ranks of Von Drakk's and the Dark Consul's undead legions. Drawn from the lucky few Rattle Bones who survive their first engagement with heroic adventurers, they are clad in the rusty and battered armour of those who have fallen before them, to hopefully survive their second.

Bone Heads are Undead Skeleton Minions with very average stats, 1 Wound and 1 Action per Turn. They have an Armour stat of 1. This is a fixed value. Their Attack stat of 3 blue dice is above average.

They have only one Ability, which is Bone Pile. When this model is destroyed leave a Bone Pile counter in the same square it occupied. This counter is ignored for purposes of Movement and Line of Sight. A model may spend 2 points of Movement to stomp on a Bone Pile's counter to remove it from play.

Bone Heads have no Special Abilities or Special Attacks.

In life Dread Knights were vaunted warriors, serving their lords with steadfast devotion. Their loyalty continues even into death and they remain highly prized as some of the Dark Consul's deadliest minions.

Dread Knights are Undead Skeleton Minions and are considered the elite of the skeleton warriors. They cost 2 Skulls to spawn, have 2 Hearts and 2 Actions per Turn. They have an Armour stat of 1 and an Attack stat of 1 blue die and 1 red die.

They have two Abilities - Bone Pile (see above) and Cold. Any Wound caused by the Dread Knight also inflicts Cold. A model suffering from Cold discards the highest result rolled anytime it makes a roll using the Dexterity attribute.

Dread Knights have one Special Attack, Cursed Blade, which costs 2 Actions to use. It grants a +1 red die to hit and in addition to causing 1 Wound it inflicts Fragile on the target model. A model suffering Fragile discards the highest result rolled anytime it makes a  roll using its Armour attribute.
I like these figures a lot. I've always been a fan of skeleton warriors. The rust effect on their armour and swords was achieved by a heavy wash of Citadel Seraphim Sepia. The Bone Heads are the most numerous of the skeletons in this set, with a total of six. There are only two Dread Knights in the set. All of my skeletons in SDE have glowing green eyes to indicate that some supernatural power is animating them.

SDE Monsters 06 - Dust Mages, Rattle Bones and Skullbats

This will be the first of my reviews of the undead in Super Dungeon Explore. I'm looking at three types of skeletons - Dust Mages, Rattle Bones and Skullbats.

The death of a Dust Coven Necromancer does not mean an end to them entirely. The dark magic of necromancy clings to their bones like bitter frost. They are reborn as the cruel Dust Mages, cursed to be bound to another necromancer's evil desires.

Dust Mages are Undead Skeleton Minions. They are very weak opponents with a poor set of stats. Their Armour stat of 0 and only 1 wound makes them very easy to kill. It only costs 1 Skull to spawn one of them.

Dust Mages have three abilities - Bind, Bone Pile and Magic:8. Bind prevents the target model from using any Special Actions. Bone Pile is interesting. When a model with this ability is destroyed leave a Bone Pile counter in the same square it occupied. This counter is ignored for purposes of Movement and Line of Sight. A model may spend two points of Movement to stomp on a Bone Pile counter in their square to remove it from play.

The Dust Mage has one Special Ability - Mend Bones. This has a range of 6 squares and uses the Raise ability. This allows the Mage to replace a target Bone Pile with a model with the Risen ability (see Rattle Bones below). The counter is then removed from play. If a model is in the same square as a target counter Raise has no effect.

Rattle Bones are the plague of the moorlands and the favourite trick of up-and-coming necromancers. Easy to raise, easy to destroy and easy to raise again. They are an unceasing nuisance to even the most powerful of Heroes. The only true way to keep them down is to stomp their bones to dust.

A Rattle Bone is an Undead Skeleton Minion. These are also incredibly weak with an Armour stat of 0 and only 1 Wound. Rattle Bones cannot be spawned. They must be Raised from a Bone Pile.

Rattle Bones have three abilities - Bone Pile, Mob and Risen. Bone Pile is described above. Mob adds +1 blue die to this model's melee attacks for every other model with Mob ability in melee with the same target up to +3 blue dice. Kobolds have this ability and seeing as Rattle Bones have an Attack stat of 3 blue dice, this can potentially add up to 6 blue dice. Nasty! Finally, Risen allows the model to enter play as a result of the Raise ability.

Rattle Bones have no Special Abilities or Special Attacks.

When one dies in the moorlands it is customary to bury them head first. Failing that, it is practical to secure a good solid helmet on the deceased's head. One wouldn't want it to sprout wings and fly away after all!

Skull Bats are Undead Bat Denizens and are by far the weakest of all the Undead creatures. They have a pitiful Attack stat of 1 blue die, an Armour stat of 0 and only 1 wound. Their Will stat is 2 blue dice and seeing as they are Magic Users this is the stat they will use for most (all?) attacks.

They have 4 abilities - Host, Fly, Magic:4 and Insignificant. Fly and Magic:4 are self explanatory. Host is used when this model is spawned (from the Pumpkin Patch). The Consul may immediately place an additional model with Host in an empty adjacent square. You may activate two models with Host for every Skull value. Each model must complete its activation before the second is activated. As for Insignificant, when a model with this ability suffers a Wound in melee, the model that inflicted the Wound may immediately make a free melee attack. Inflicting a Wound on an insignificant model does not advance the Power Gauge but the Loot-o-meter will advance as normal.

Skullbats have one Special Ability called Juxtapose. This uses Will vs Will. If successful, the target model suffers Vulnerable to Magic. The Skullbat is destroyed after using this ability, even if the action was  unsuccessful.
These three types of Skeletons are very easy to kill and at first glance they appear to be of little threat to the Heroes. But as I learnt the hard way, they are very good at slowing down Heroes. Kill a Dust Mage or a Rattle Bone and it becomes a Bone Pile. But here's the dilemma if you're the Hero. Do you  take time to stomp on the Bone Pile to destroy it? Do this and you are slowed down. Or do you just ignore the Bone Pile and carry on? This option is also good and bad. Good in that you can advance into the dungeon but bad in that someone with Raise ability can create a Rattle Bone from that Bone Pile counter. In my first game with the Von Drakk Manor figures, I took the time to stomp out every Bone Pile counter that was created. This slowed me down so much that by the time Von Drakk appeared there were till two of three Spawning Points left. Suffice to say, Von Drakk slaughtered the Heroes. The quote from the Rattle Bones' background "easy to raise, easy to destroy and easy to raise again" is so true. Skeletons make great speed bumps. Oh, and before I go, I must tell you that in that game I mentioned above, a group of Rattle Bones ganged up on Von Wilder the werewolf and killed him. Ignore them at your peril!

Foundry Figures Victorian Monsters

At the start of the year I promised more figure reviews of undead types other than zombies. During the Christmas holidays of 2009 I ordered this set - BCVIN6 Monsters & Mistresses - from Foundry Figures. The set comprises of eight figures, all approximately 35mm in height, which may be too tall for some collectors but not me.

I'm sure that regular viewers will have noticed that the backdrop that I have used for photographing these figures has changed from the usual grafitti covered concrete wall, pavement and tarmac road. I did not think it was appropriate for Victorian era monsters so I built this little set from the WWG Streets and Sewers of Himmelveil TerrainLinx sets. The cobblestone ground tile came from the Sewers set, whilst the walls are from the Streets set and the Sewers expansion set. I'll use this backdrop for any figures from bygone days or a fantasy setting.

The first two photos above show the bride of Frankenstein and Frankenstein's monster. They come as individual figures and as a vignette featuring them both together. The sculptor has clearly been influenced by the 1930's look with Boris Karloff's portrayal of Frankenstein's monster and Elsa Lanchester as the bride.  I think it's a good decision as theirs is the look that most people associate with these two characters.

The figure of the bride is very static but that is probably a good thing as it suits the character. She is not as tall as some of the other figures in this set but hair-do does make her appear taller than she really is.

The bride and monster combo is a delightful sculpt. The two figures are essentially the same as their individual versions but with a few subtle differences. I love the way that their heads have been slightly tilted so they lean in to each other and the monster appears to be smiling. How sweet! The monster has draped his arm across the bride's shoulders as if to say, she's mine! However, note the bride is holding a large carving knife behind her back. Does she fully love the monster and trust him?

The individual figure of the monster has him shambling forward. The musculature on his chest is well sculpted and he has a feeling of great strength about him. The bolts in his neck are prominent. If I was to be picky, I'd have to say that his head and hands are slightly too big and his legs appear to be too short.

These next two photos show two more figures from the set - the mummy and the female vampire. I ordered the skeletal Santa separately.

The mummy is not an an exceptionally great figure although he is well sculpted. As you would expect he is covered in bandages from head to foot with only his face exposed. I wanted his face to look like dark dried leather so I painted it with Citadel Bestial Brown then gave it two separate ink washes, first with Citadel Devlan Mud, then with Citadel Badab Black. I painted the teeth with Citadel Bleached Bone and dotted the eyes with Citadel Skull White. I did contemplate giving him a sand covered base painted to fit in a desert setting but opted for my usual urban rubble base instead.

I bought the skeletal Santa because I wanted a zombie Santa for my horde. He was the closest I could find to fit the bill. How was I to know that a couple of weeks later Studio Miniatures were going to release their Christmas zombies set? Skeletal Santa still makes a good zombie as there are so few bones on display. I've painted his bones in my usual pallid grey flesh tones that I use for the majority of my zeds, rather than paint them as bone. When you see him close up you can't tell the difference. Either technique works well. It just depends if you want to use him as a skeleton or a zombie. I love the way he has been sculpted. His base was a separate component and the section of roof and chimney stack is a great touch. On my base it is just a piece of rubble that has fallen to the ground. Note the toys in his sack and left hand. They are all scary monsters like ghosts and demons. This is a superb figure that I rate very highly.

The female vampire was instantly recognisable to me as I know she is based on a painting by Chris Achilleos. I have the book of artwork she appears in. She appears to be rising from the ground, as her feet are not visible. Her flesh tones are almost white. There is a hint of blue there from the Citadel Asurmen Blue ink wash but it is quite subtle. Her unfettered breasts stand tall and proud. She certainly has a nice rack! I particularly like the way her long black hair is blowing in the wind. It should come as no surprise that I like this figure a lot.

Finally, we come to the three humans in the set. I could have kept my Himmelveil backdrop for the dominatrices but not for the monster hunter with the flame thrower. She had to be photographed in a contemporary setting. Actually, this gives you a chance to compare the two backdrops without having to flip back to previous posts.
The way the two dominatrices are attired is just how you'd expect to see them dressed. I always say, if it ain't broken don't fix it. The lady on the far left is unnamed and is just called the Dominatrix on the Foundry website. Her cat-o'-nine-tails whip looks particularly nasty with its studded metal barbs. One lash of that will certainly strip flesh from the body. Like the bride above, she looks a lot taller than she is because of the way she has styled her hair. Her pose suggests she is in a contemplative frame of mind.
The other dominatrix is called Sadie Stern on the Foundry website. It would be hard to come up with a more appropriate name for her - Sadie reminds you of sadist and Stern tells you just what kind of demeanour she possesses. She could be the twin sister of the other dominatrix or they could be the same person but dressed slightly differently. At first glance they do appear to be identical but note that Sadie's boots are only knee-high not thigh-high. Also, Sadie's basque has shoulder straps, whilst the other one hasn't. The Dominatrix is wearing ear-rings but Sadie isn't. Finally, Sadie is armed with a small dagger as well as her cat-o'-nine-tails. Her right foot is resting atop a small circular box.
The vampire slayer called Hot Wax by Foundry is well equipped to take out a whole nest of bloodsuckers. You don't see many contemporary figures armed with flamethrowers and even less females so armed. The small bottle she is holding in her right hand will, no doubt, be filled with holy water. Of course a flamethrower is an ideal weapon to dispose of any undead threat. I could see her working well with a group of like-minded slayers. All three females are great figures and I wouldn't want to cross any of them!
Set BCVIN6 Monsters & Mistresses costs £40.00 for all eight figures. However, they can be bought separately for £5.00 each or £11.00 for the Frankenstein bride and monster combo. Skeletal Santa also costs £5.00. I scored by ordering them when I did as Foundry were offering a 20% discount on all of their figures as a Christmas gift incentive. I'd been after this set for a long time so I was glad that I waited. All of the figures are very well sculpted. As with all Foundry figures they come with integral metal bases but more often than not, these are far too small, so I ended up sticking them onto slottabases anyway. Apart from anything else, it helps tie them in with the rest of my figure collection. I think the two things that might put some people off buying them is their price (too expensive?) and their height (too big?). As a fan of all things undead, I thought this was a great set to buy and Skeletal Santa is a cracking good figure.