Spartan Games: Industrial set - Dystopian wars

Almost two years ago a number of local plays brought Dystopian Wars miniatures from Spartan games and gave it a go. Despite the fact that the games were quite fun, for some reason the game failed to catch on. It may have been something as simple as the messy way the first edition rules were arranged within the book.

Now that some time has passed, a number of players have painted up their fleets and we are prepared to give the game another chance. We thought we would start with a few simple games with the standard fleet and then move up from there.

To support the effort, I have invested in some scenery items. The figures on this page are the contents of the Industrial set. Now it is important to remember that these are at 1:1200 scale, so are quite tiny. For example, the doors are around 1.5mm high! 

Finally, I was asked by Joe for a comparison shot between a Kingdom Death figure and figures from another manufacturer. I have included a photo here with two GW empire figures. I have raised up the GW figures so the bottom of shoe height is roughly the same. You will see that there is a massive difference between a 28mm GW model and the 32mm KD figure...

Kingdom Death: Pinup twilight knight

Unless you have spent the last year living under a rock, you will know about the phenomenon that is "kickstarter". It the current hot thing on kickstarter is a campaign to produce a boardgame called "Monster". This is a boardgame that is based around roleplay character type development similar to that you will find in D&D etc, but with a clever card based AI system for the monsters.

The campaign features 35mm models produced for the KingdomDeath company by a number of the worlds best sculptors. I decided to try before I brought and sampled two of their products. I showcased the "twilight knight" in yesterdays post and tonight I present for your viewing pleasure the female version the "Pinup twilight knight".

The company appear to enjoy producing definitely non-pc figures and this poor girls fits with this approach. Once I got over the fact that she is mostly naked, this model is an absolute pleasure to paint. The cast holds the detail well and was significantly flash free.

I hope you enjoy and if you feel inspired, then get a move on you only have around 5 hours left to invest...

Kingdom Death: Twilight knight painted

Like your typical toy solder voyeur, I have watch some companies ranges grow from a distance, always with the idea that I will buy one of their figures sooner or later. My relationship with KingdomDeath has always remained exactly as that, a love from a distance.

That was until they launched a kickstarter campaign. That was all I needed to encourage me to break my silence and make a commitment. However, before I splashed the cash I wanted to see just what the figures were like. So I ordered two.

With 24 hours of the kickstarter left, I have finished the first of the two and I thought I would share...

This model is known as a twilight knight and was part of a limited run. For what it is worth this is model 137 of 450 in a collectors edition. However, Adam Poots (the owner of the company) has announced that everyone who bids at survivor level will get a model as a Christmas gift.

The model is normally carrying a severed head; however the head was from a beast with many eyes and would not fit into lots of other settings, so I opted to omit it.

The models are crafted to 35mm which is noticeably bigger than 28mm. I do not believe that you can comfortably mix the two scales without noticing the difference.

The model is great and after painting I am very ready to invest in the campaign. If you intend to join me, then you had better be quick. The clock is ticking...

Kingdom of Death: Trial figures

I have watched the developments over at Kingdom of Death with some interest. They are a small American company run by Adam Poots, who have been developing a nice, if occasionally bizarre collection of figures for some time. I have held off ordering anything from them for two main reasons.
They encourage use of UPS recorded delivery, which to the UK is a very, very expensive postage cost.
They used to operate short runs on figures, so I was always too late to order.

They have now launched themselves into a gorgeous kickstarter campaign which has got me very tempted. But first things first, before throwing myself head-first into the project, I wanted to look at what the figures looked like. I therefore ordered two. I elected to order a twilight knight and a Pin-up Twilight knight.

After a short wait the figures have arrived, so I have had the opportunity to put them together.

The figures are excellently sculpted and moulded. The plastic is relatively defect and flash free. The initial thoughts are at 35mm, they are quite a bit taller than my traditional 28mm figures. I have not based yet so I don't know if I would consider using within a army. The other initial thought is that the limbs, whilst realistically proportioned are very thin when compared with other figure manufacturers. For those older gamers out there, they remind me very much of the confrontation figures. This made pining and gluing joints quite challenging. This makes me think these are more suited to display figures than gaming pieces.

Having said all that, they are really very beautiful pieces and handling them was enough to encourage me to splash the cash on the kickstarter campaign... I will throw some paint at the figures and see if I can do them justice!