Castle Ravenloft Werewolf and Wolves

Werewolves and Wolves are the theme for this review of the 28mm scale figures from the Castle Ravenloft board-game for 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons.

Rather unusually, the werewolf is female - a decision I wholeheartedly applaud. She is a Level 5 Villain and activates at the start of each Villain Phase. Her stats are AC15 and 5HP.
The Werewolf's tactics are -
If the Werewolf is adjacent to a Hero, it regains 1HP and attacks an adjacent Hero with a frenzied Swipe.
If the Werewolf is within 2 tiles of a Hero, it regains 1HP, moves adjacent to the closest Hero and attacks that Hero with a Bite.
Otherwise, the Werewolf regains 1HP and moves 2 tiles toward the closest Hero.
A Swipe attacks gives a +7 bonus to hit and causes 3 Damage, as well as placing the Hero 2 tiles away from his or her tile.
A Bite attack also gives a +7 bonus to hit but only causes 1 Damage.

I painted my three Wolves differently, using colour schemes I found on Google Images.
The stats for a Wolf are AC14 and 1HP. Killing one earns a Hero 1 Experience Point.
The Wolf's tactics are -
If the Wolf is adjacent to a Hero, it attacks that Hero with a Bite.
If the Wolf is within 2 tiles of a Hero, it moves adjacent to the closest Hero and attacks that Hero with a Pounce. 
Otherwise, the Wolf moves 2 tiles towards the closest Hero. 
A Bite attack gives a +9 bonus to hit and causes 2 Damage.
A Pounce attack gives a +7 bonus to hit and causes 1 Damage as well as causing the Hero to be Slowed. 
I have to admit to having mixed feelings about these sculpts. I'm delighted that the Werewolf is so obviously female but her pose does not seem natural. I dunno, it just looks off to me. It's almost like she's striking a pose. The Wolves are nicely sculpted but they have short, stocky legs, which is just wrong.

Vampifan's Views 71 - I'm back

Yes, I'm back after ten long days in hospital. Without going into too many details I was dehydrated, which led to me feeling tired, breathless and lacking in appetite and energy. I was rushed to hospital and placed in a new wing (just opened in February of this year) where I had my own room with en suite facilities, TV and phone. It was like being in a hotel, not a hospital! I was put on a drip for the whole duration and I'm now back to normal.
I have left personal comments to everyone who wished me well on my previous post. Do check them out if you were one of them. I'd just like to thank you all for your well wishes and messages of support. They were fully appreciated.
I'll be spending today catching up on e-mails (155 of them!) and more importantly, checking up on your blogs. Normal Vampifan service should be resumed on Sunday.
Once again, thank you all.

Bryan.

Vampifan's Views 70 - Going Offline

Alas, I have to go to hospital, so will be offline for a while... but hopefully not too long.

Zombicide Ultimate Survivors 2 Announcement

I interrupt my Castle Ravenloft figures reviews to give an announcement to highlight the new boxed set of 8 Survivors for Zombicide. "Fighting zombies isn't easy. There seems to be a never-ending wave of them and eventually you're gonna run out of bullets. Fighting them makes one tough. And the heroes from the first Zombicide game have been fighting zombies for quite some time now. As such, they've levelled-up (besides, you know, levelling up in the game as you play, that is). CoolMiniOrNot is now taking pre-orders for Zombicide Ultimate Survivors #2."

Included in the Ultimate Survivors #2 box are:

• 8 Survivor miniatures
• 8 ID Cards
• 8 Experience trackers

This exclusive pre-order will be open until November 15th 2015. CMoN will produce enough quantity to satisfy the orders, plus a little extra for promotions and conventions. Ultimate Survivors #2 will not be sold at retail, and it’s a limited edition! Each box of Ultimate Survivors #2 is priced at $40, but if you backed Zombicide Season 1, 2, 3 or Black Plague you get a $10 discount per box!
Go here to pre-order Ultimate Survivors #2. To get your discount, please use the same email address you used on the previous Zombicide Kickstarter Campaigns and your discount will be automatically applied. After hitting submit and you’ll get an email in a few minutes with instructions to specify how many additional boxes you might want, to insert your shipping address and to make payment.

Estimated shipment date Jan/Feb 2016.

Please note there is a hidden charge of about $16 for post and packing. I desperately want this set and have already placed my order. The sculpts of the figures are just superb. These characters are based on the add-on or stretch goal characters from Zombicide Season 1 - Chaz, Claudia, Dave, El Cholo, Ivy, Marvin, Nick and Troy. I missed out on buying them first time, which is the main reason I am so keen to get them now.

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.