Post by ash on Feb 17, 2010 12:38:11 GMT 9.5
Verminion Heavy Infantry with Sword.
A Review of the first miniature in Black Knight Games New Verminion Range.
I have been lucky enough to get the chance to review the latest miniature from Black Knight Games new Fantasy Legend KITs Range, the Verminion Heavy Infantry with Sword. Before I get to the miniature itself I think it is worth having a quick talk about who Black Knight Games are.
Black Knight Games hail from the US and were established in 1997. Since that year Black Knight Games have strived to produce a range of games with balance and fun as its central driving force. Their major brands are the 3 games based on the Legend™ game system designed and developed by Bill Lorenz and Mike Katzenberger aka "Katz"; Fantasy Legend, Galactic Legend and Legend RPG. All three games have a set core of mechanics which make up the majority of the games rules. All these systems are playable at different scales; both miniature size and game size. Second edition Fantasy Legend and Galactic Legend will be released in 2010. BKG is hoping that Legend RPG will be released late in 2010, but it may be 2011.
Bill aka "BKG Actual" (Battlestar Galactica will better allow you to understand the moniker) has been busy working on the release of the second edition of Fantasy Legend and its fitting that he contracted the talents of a Mr J Wagnaar to revamp the Verminion Range. This revamping is immediately apparent when compared to the older products in the range and this new design approach has added another level of maturity to the product.
About the Verminion
The background storyline and race history has been completely re-worked. There are some special surprises on the way concerning the races of Faldor and the Galaxy of Fire (the fantasy world and the Galactic Legend universe) with tie-ins from each system to one another.
At the time of “the awakening”, the Verminion were organized into small tribes throughout the South Eastern corner of the Great Northern Continent. These tribes were led by chiefs who would fight with each other over land, mates, or any perceived insult or disrespect, real or imagined. Being a prolific race, the Verminion began to establish larger settlements and several of these became the city-states that exist in the present time. For the most part, the leaders of these city-states still bicker and fight with each other, but Scree the leader of Verma, the largest of the city-states has begun to unite the various tribes.
The united Verminion city-states pose a huge threat to the rest of the races of Faldor. Scree is bent on conquest and will stop at nothing to expand his control as far as he can. He has gone as far as forcing the governing body of Verma to declare him Emperor. The time for the Verminion Empire had come!
The Miniature Itself
Verminion are a rat-like race which are visually and to a lesser extent historically based loosely on ancient Rome. Their design is intended to offer the gamer a more generic model that will mesh nicely with the models they already own. This line and others will be expanded over time with a target of at least one new release every 60 days or so.
The Verminion Heavy Infantry with Sword
(miniature has been given a Citadel Gryphonne Sepia Wash to bring out detail)
At first glance it is apparent that this race of ‘Ratmen’ is unique amongst the other rat-like races developed by other companies. Now I will admit that all the information that I have on the actual background of the Verminion comes from about 10 paragraphs of ‘fluff’ located at the Black Knight Games Website the miniature I have before me does such a good job of conveying this individual Verminions back story and place in its society.
I mentioned earlier that the Verminion have a very Roman feel to them and this first model from the new range is a very good example of this. The helmet with its prominent crest and cheek guards does the best at portraying this inspirational source. The armor itself could be either leather or Iron and is fashioned in a series of strips which really hearkens back to the days of the lorica segmentata armour worn throughout most of the duration of the Roman Empire. Where this armour is slightly different from the roman style is that the leather straps linking the segments are mostly exposed or the rivets are visible. This is far from a complaint as it allows for a little detail on what would essentially be a series of smooth bare spaces.
This Verminions armament consists of a sword and round shield. Both of these have heavy Roman influences as well. The sword sits somewhere between the size of a Gladius or the longer sword more common to roman cavalry. The shield is perfectly rounded, has a metal face with nice sized boss and the wood grain is clearly visible on the back.
The miniature is crisply cast. The crest on the helmet has every clump of bristle pristinely cast and the wood grain on the shield is immaculate. Mould lines are just about non existent. The only place where a mould line is visible is across the shoulder plates but this was very easily removed with a scalpel and file. I was actually surprised that I could not find the join amongst the folds of cloth on the legs which is where I would normally expect to find one.
The miniature came in 5 pieces: the body, legs and tail as one piece with arms and heads separate. That’s right you get two separate heads. The second head is a bare Verminion head and allows you the flexibility to have your Verminion modeled up to represent either a hero or rank and file troop.
The parts are designed with a subtle ‘ball and socket’ finish allowing pieces to be joined with as much surface area for bonding as possible. Pinning should not be required for the model to stand up to general gaming usage but if you are a fanatic gamer who will be using the model quite frequently then pinning is always suggested.
The casting material is strong and the only part easy to bend was the sword. The arms take some force to reposition but it is possible with a little effort. With that said the poses possible are a little limited whilst trying to maintain a natural stance. However if you are adequate with putty and a sculpting tool it would not take too much to drastically change the pose and I am told that Black Knight Games will be releasing some load-outs for their KITs models. These load outs will feature different weapons, heads, shields and other accoutrements. It would seem that Black Knight Games is dedicated to allowing you to get maximum individuality amongst your forces.
The pose itself is where I have my one gripe with the model and it all lies with the tail. The tail itself is tucked down and actually attached to the ankle. It’s not a small attachment either. It will take a bit of work and some putty to reposition the tail in any meaningful way. It’s a pity that the tail is hidden away like this as it is quite nicely sculpted. However this tucking away of the tail serves to reinforce the fact that this particular Verminion is a trained and hardened warrior; A warrior would not want to have its tail waving about ready to be sliced by the advancing friendly soldier behind you or worse still trodden on!
Actually make those two gripes. My main gripe is that this is currently the only model in their new, revamped Verminion range at the time of writing. I will definitely keep my eyes open for more of this and future miniatures to come in the various Black Knight Games ranges.
Ashley Hall
Aka Gormath
17-2-10
A Review of the first miniature in Black Knight Games New Verminion Range.
I have been lucky enough to get the chance to review the latest miniature from Black Knight Games new Fantasy Legend KITs Range, the Verminion Heavy Infantry with Sword. Before I get to the miniature itself I think it is worth having a quick talk about who Black Knight Games are.
Black Knight Games hail from the US and were established in 1997. Since that year Black Knight Games have strived to produce a range of games with balance and fun as its central driving force. Their major brands are the 3 games based on the Legend™ game system designed and developed by Bill Lorenz and Mike Katzenberger aka "Katz"; Fantasy Legend, Galactic Legend and Legend RPG. All three games have a set core of mechanics which make up the majority of the games rules. All these systems are playable at different scales; both miniature size and game size. Second edition Fantasy Legend and Galactic Legend will be released in 2010. BKG is hoping that Legend RPG will be released late in 2010, but it may be 2011.
Bill aka "BKG Actual" (Battlestar Galactica will better allow you to understand the moniker) has been busy working on the release of the second edition of Fantasy Legend and its fitting that he contracted the talents of a Mr J Wagnaar to revamp the Verminion Range. This revamping is immediately apparent when compared to the older products in the range and this new design approach has added another level of maturity to the product.
About the Verminion
The background storyline and race history has been completely re-worked. There are some special surprises on the way concerning the races of Faldor and the Galaxy of Fire (the fantasy world and the Galactic Legend universe) with tie-ins from each system to one another.
At the time of “the awakening”, the Verminion were organized into small tribes throughout the South Eastern corner of the Great Northern Continent. These tribes were led by chiefs who would fight with each other over land, mates, or any perceived insult or disrespect, real or imagined. Being a prolific race, the Verminion began to establish larger settlements and several of these became the city-states that exist in the present time. For the most part, the leaders of these city-states still bicker and fight with each other, but Scree the leader of Verma, the largest of the city-states has begun to unite the various tribes.
The united Verminion city-states pose a huge threat to the rest of the races of Faldor. Scree is bent on conquest and will stop at nothing to expand his control as far as he can. He has gone as far as forcing the governing body of Verma to declare him Emperor. The time for the Verminion Empire had come!
The Miniature Itself
Verminion are a rat-like race which are visually and to a lesser extent historically based loosely on ancient Rome. Their design is intended to offer the gamer a more generic model that will mesh nicely with the models they already own. This line and others will be expanded over time with a target of at least one new release every 60 days or so.
The Verminion Heavy Infantry with Sword
(miniature has been given a Citadel Gryphonne Sepia Wash to bring out detail)
At first glance it is apparent that this race of ‘Ratmen’ is unique amongst the other rat-like races developed by other companies. Now I will admit that all the information that I have on the actual background of the Verminion comes from about 10 paragraphs of ‘fluff’ located at the Black Knight Games Website the miniature I have before me does such a good job of conveying this individual Verminions back story and place in its society.
I mentioned earlier that the Verminion have a very Roman feel to them and this first model from the new range is a very good example of this. The helmet with its prominent crest and cheek guards does the best at portraying this inspirational source. The armor itself could be either leather or Iron and is fashioned in a series of strips which really hearkens back to the days of the lorica segmentata armour worn throughout most of the duration of the Roman Empire. Where this armour is slightly different from the roman style is that the leather straps linking the segments are mostly exposed or the rivets are visible. This is far from a complaint as it allows for a little detail on what would essentially be a series of smooth bare spaces.
This Verminions armament consists of a sword and round shield. Both of these have heavy Roman influences as well. The sword sits somewhere between the size of a Gladius or the longer sword more common to roman cavalry. The shield is perfectly rounded, has a metal face with nice sized boss and the wood grain is clearly visible on the back.
The miniature is crisply cast. The crest on the helmet has every clump of bristle pristinely cast and the wood grain on the shield is immaculate. Mould lines are just about non existent. The only place where a mould line is visible is across the shoulder plates but this was very easily removed with a scalpel and file. I was actually surprised that I could not find the join amongst the folds of cloth on the legs which is where I would normally expect to find one.
The miniature came in 5 pieces: the body, legs and tail as one piece with arms and heads separate. That’s right you get two separate heads. The second head is a bare Verminion head and allows you the flexibility to have your Verminion modeled up to represent either a hero or rank and file troop.
The parts are designed with a subtle ‘ball and socket’ finish allowing pieces to be joined with as much surface area for bonding as possible. Pinning should not be required for the model to stand up to general gaming usage but if you are a fanatic gamer who will be using the model quite frequently then pinning is always suggested.
The casting material is strong and the only part easy to bend was the sword. The arms take some force to reposition but it is possible with a little effort. With that said the poses possible are a little limited whilst trying to maintain a natural stance. However if you are adequate with putty and a sculpting tool it would not take too much to drastically change the pose and I am told that Black Knight Games will be releasing some load-outs for their KITs models. These load outs will feature different weapons, heads, shields and other accoutrements. It would seem that Black Knight Games is dedicated to allowing you to get maximum individuality amongst your forces.
The pose itself is where I have my one gripe with the model and it all lies with the tail. The tail itself is tucked down and actually attached to the ankle. It’s not a small attachment either. It will take a bit of work and some putty to reposition the tail in any meaningful way. It’s a pity that the tail is hidden away like this as it is quite nicely sculpted. However this tucking away of the tail serves to reinforce the fact that this particular Verminion is a trained and hardened warrior; A warrior would not want to have its tail waving about ready to be sliced by the advancing friendly soldier behind you or worse still trodden on!
Actually make those two gripes. My main gripe is that this is currently the only model in their new, revamped Verminion range at the time of writing. I will definitely keep my eyes open for more of this and future miniatures to come in the various Black Knight Games ranges.
Ashley Hall
Aka Gormath
17-2-10
