Having sacrificed my soul to the Great Horned Rat many years ago, obviously I had to complement my collection of Blood Bowl Skaven with the most recent box of Skaven miniatures. And boy does Games Workshop deliver - I find the miniatures absolutely stunning !
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| The new Games Workshop Skaven miniatures from 4th Ed Blood Bowl 2016 |
The new box contains 2 identical sprues each carrying 3 different linemen, 1 thrower, 1 gutter runner, 1 storm vermin, 3 Skaven balls, a Skaven coin and a Skaven artefact to be used as a counter. Included are also 12 x 32mm slotta-bases, a full sheet of decal transfers allowing for many choices and a "ready-to-play" 1.000k team roster including all 12 miniatures for beginning Blood Bowl coaches. @ 25 € I believe this box to be excellent value-for-money.
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| 4 editions of Skaven Storm Vermin 1987 - 1989 - 1994 - 2016 |
The technical quality of the miniatures is of the highest level, above my expectations. The plastic material of which the models are composed is very hard, not the soft stuff used in the 90s. This seems to allow for more crisp details in plastic figurines. I did not find a single mold line on any of the 6 models I assembled. All figures are multi-component (3 pieces + base) and require some careful assembly. They snap-fit, but obviously I applied plastic glue. I found these miniatures of the same technical quality as the incredible Space Hulk 4th Edition Blood Angel Terminator and Genestealer models - Games Workshop truly masters the craft of producing top-level plastic figures.
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| The lowly Skaven Linemen 1989 - 1994 - 2016 |
Compared to their historical counterparts, the design of the new Skaven miniatures is a huge leap forward. The poses of the different Skaven are very dynamic, the miniatures look like 3D pictures of the players in mid-action. Gone are the days of "clenched fists" all over and "one fist up, one fist down" poses (just take a closer look at the older models in these pictures and you'll see what I mean), the new figures actually show spread hands and individual fingers on anatomically correct limbs in mid-motion ! The model designers succeeded in giving the miniatures a realistic, agressive and menacing touch, very much fitting to what is supposed to be a race of mutated humanoid rats with evil and cunning minds. I only play tabletop, but from what I've seen in screenshots I guess the miniatures are inspired by the Cyanide Blood Bowl computer game.
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| Skaven Throwers 1989 - 1994 - 2016 |
The miniatures are bigger compared to the 2nd and 3rd edition figures - a positive evolution. Especially some of the 2nd edition linemen were very small, even next to other 2nd edition Blood Bowl teams. The dynamic poses make much better use of all 3 dimensions, in contrast to the classic "flat" poses by older models (I guess a limitation of the old molding process). This causes the new miniatures to take up more space, without becoming much taller. The only (small) point of critic are the long Skaven tails. While they do add to the visual spectacle offered by the miniatures, I wonder how long it will take before the first tail snaps off during play ? Also safe transport is worrying me. Possibly a better balance should have been looked for between visual design and playability.
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| Skaven Catcher / Gutter Runners 1989 - 1994 - 2016 |
This excellent set with outstanding new Skaven miniatures does not dissappoint - I'm truly impressed. This makes me look forward to what is to come before I will assemble my final 4th edition Skaven team, preferably with some variation options for the different positionals - the 2nd edition team counted no less than 17 different miniatures ! I do hope for some variations in body parts, possibly even some mutations and of course - the vicious Rat Ogre ! Wait and see what Games Workshop will offer the hordes of the Great Horned Rat ?
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