Tuesday 31 December 2019

Model Review: Alexia the Undying


As a lot of you might be aware I have a soft spot for Alexia. She is my favourite character in the setting and getting a new version of her is something I have wanted for a long time.
I was sent this mini to review and paint by Privateer Press so big thanks to them.


The mini comes in two parts, the body and then the sword with attached forearms.


Her face is nicely detailed with deep sculpt into the recesses of the hood.


I like how they kept her armour the same as her previous two incarnations but with a new cloak. Her old one was rather worn and torn, where as this one looks new. 


Lots of deep folds which will be a great opportunity to practice painting shades of cloth.



This is the first time Alexia has been posed holding the Witchfire (that's the name of the sword) in both hands. This part has two attachment points and connected really well. I was wondering if I would have to pin it but it turned out not to be necessary. 



Here she is assembled, she has a great combative pose. 






This is my collection of Alexia's. I managed to get hold of the Minicrate VIP one from Dragonpup on discord. Huge thanks to them for selling her to me! 


This model is scaled a little smaller than the other versions of Alexia, though it doesn't ever really matter as they will never be on the table at the same time. 



Alexia3 actually has the longest sword, with Alexia2 having the smallest.

The quality of the sculpt was excellent, practically no mold lines and the assembly was really easy.

I'm excited to try her out in a list with a couple of units of the Legion of lost souls which release at the end of January. I think the caster I will use her with first is likely Stryker2.

I hope you found this interesting, if you have any feedback feel free to drop it in a comment below or a message on any of the socials.

If you want to get this model for yourself she is available now. If you are in the UK/EU you can get her here via my affiliate link from The Outpost (A UK webstore)


Wednesday 18 December 2019

Model Review: Order of Illumination Vigilants


Today we will take a look at the Order of Illumination Vigilants. I was sent these to review and paint by Privateer Press.

When they were announced and the concept art was shared I was on the fence about these guys. I thought the crossbows looked oversized and wasn't sure they would have a clear enough visual identity. So I went into this review with that on my mind, but tried to keep an open mind.


I started by looking at one of the grunts with a cool hat, because - cool hat.
He does have a strong Guy Fawkes look to him, with his long hair and pointy beard along with the hat. He is posed using his crossbow.




Lovely flowing cloak with great natural folds which are shaped around his gear such as the sword. You can just see the end of the scabbard poking out from the bottom of the cape.


Interestingly the sword, which is in its scabbard is missing the hilt. This is attached to the crossbow piece. This was a really interesting choice which allowed the sculptor to position it so that the sword is at a diagonal angle to the models shoulders. 


The second grunt sculpt has its hood up. The armour is nearly identical to the first guy, but with small differences such as not having Morrowan radiances on his vambraces (forearm armour). This one is also posed using his crossbow, his sword is a separate piece which attaches on his back.



The rectangle hole is where the sword will attach.



Again great flowing cloak which gives the illusion of motion in an otherwise static pose.


The leader model has one of the strangest attachment points I have seen on a non character model. The join is interesting though as it allows the pose to have a cross section which would not be possible without making the model into a lot more parts.



As this model is armed with its sword drawn the square hole for this one is where the crossbow attaches.




Long flowing hair and detailed sword with some sort of runes carved into it. I will likely be painting these glowing blue.


The face has great detail, I will struggle with the eyes though as I'm just not that good a painter!




The three different styles of crossbows, left to right you can see the leaders one, the hooded Vigilants then finally the one for the guy with a hat. The last one has the handle for the sword attached to it as I mentioned earlier.



The Sword and bed roll of the hooded Vigilant, I'm not sure why the others don't have bed rolls. Typically if a unit has them on the model, they are on them all. No big deal though.



Here are both units fully assembled. They went together really easily and I didn't need to pin anything. Though I always could if they ever break in the future.


The leader model is really nicely posed, such a dynamic model. I'm in two minds about putting a little green stuff in the join between the shoulders and the lower body. I'm going to give it some thought.










The Vigilants impressed me, I wasn't sold on them before I had them in my hands but now I'm excited to paint them and give them a go on the table.
Quality wise they are fantastic, very little clean up at all and they assemble really easily.
I'm thinking of trying them out with Stryker2 first.

I do have a slight dilemma with painting them though. My Precursor knights all have white cloth but I'm thinking these guys should be a little more covert looking. Currently I'm leaning towards either brown or grey capes. What are your thoughts on colour schemes for them?