Having not found a review of ShieldWolf's counts-as Grave Guard Heavy Skeleton Infantry I decided to take a chance and order forty, with a view to sharing what fate may deal me.
First thing to say: They're not bloody skeletons!
That would seem like a significant problem for a kit with the word 'skeleton' built right into its name.
For my part, I can live with it. It works with my fluff, but it's very much something I deem worth mentioning.
The minis are... Well, they're not skeletons, but not really zombie-like either. I think some sort of dried-out mummy feeling is the closest I can get. No bandages or anything, they just feel like one of those corpses you see that's been dried out in sand or something. Desicated and mummified by the elements.
Perhaps the sculptor was shooting for something reminiscent of Skyrim Draugr or Dark Souls?
Including postage I paid a hair over £50 for forty minis. That's £30 less than Weyland would have charged me for forty GW Grave Guard.
I tell you this, though - Weyland seem to regard actually posting minis as a huge hassle that they will get to eventually, but certainly no hurry. They will and have kept me waiting weeks before posting even small orders.
Shieldwolf do not mess around! I ordered them late Sunday night and got them (all the way from Greece) this morning. All for about £4 postage. That's pretty damned good in my book.
In addition, the parts came, already clipped from the sprue in solid plastic boxes. I count that as another huge plus to ShieldWolf. A box like that alone would cost you £2-£4 a throw in a shop. I got two boxes like that, each with 20 minis and 20 square bases.
Looking through the minis... They've been clipped from the sprue, but quickly and without a lot of care. That's okay, that's fine. I'll still have to do a lot of clean-up and trimming, but that's fair.
The actual detail on the minis is... Acceptable. It'll do. No more. A lot of pieces have owl-themed designs on them, wings and whatnot. It's competantly done, but you could remove it with a knife and some patience. There are skulls and spikes in evidence too.
There's a good mix of different designs for heads and torsos (I didn't count), and a fair mix of weapons and shields, too. In addition to the legs, torsos and heads you get options for HW+Shield or Great Weapons. You also get options for full command. Great Weapons are axes, hammers and maces.
I won't be using the supplied banners because I can tell they will disintegrate the first time I look at them hard. I'm not wild about the banner pole either. I'll use one from my Bitz Box, I think.
I am wild about the owl. The Champion can have an owl sitting on his wrist. It's ace.
My phone didn't want to take good photographs of white resin. I couldn't get the contrast to work right. That shows you the sort of bitz you get, though.
The resin seems hard enough. I've seen harder, but it's serviceable. It flexes enough to withstand a little abuse, but is stiff enough to actually hold its shape.
In the name of SCIENCE! I deliberately snapped one of my two banner poles. It bent about 120 degrees before snapping.
I found no mould errors, air-bubbles or unreasonable flash/mould lines in my first examination.
Preliminary thoughts:
I think I got exactly what I paid for, but not a bit more.
Mantic Revenants are a bit cheaper, but they do not have Great Weapon options and they do not really stand out next to Mantic Skeletons (in fact, the two units use a great deal of the same parts).
Games Workshop Grave Guard are still the best there is, detailed, plastic, great options, a class-act. But so very expensive.
ShieldWolf's models have the full range of options, they are certainly going to stand out next to your Skeletons (y'know, since they aren't skeletons, for one thing). Their armour makes them seem bulkier, too. They do look like they are wearing Heavy Armour compared to GW or Mantic skeletons.
The detail on ShieldWolf's minis is not so crisp as GW, or even Mantic, though.
Pro-
Cheaper than GW.
Great packaging - free Bitz box with every kit.
Full Range of Options.
Super-Fast and cheap Delivery.
Owl.
Con-
More Expensive than Mantic.
So-So detail.
Resin, not Plastic.
Not Actually Skeletons!
I will add another post later, when I have built them and painted a few, but in the mean time, any comments, questions or input welcome.
First thing to say: They're not bloody skeletons!
That would seem like a significant problem for a kit with the word 'skeleton' built right into its name.
For my part, I can live with it. It works with my fluff, but it's very much something I deem worth mentioning.
The minis are... Well, they're not skeletons, but not really zombie-like either. I think some sort of dried-out mummy feeling is the closest I can get. No bandages or anything, they just feel like one of those corpses you see that's been dried out in sand or something. Desicated and mummified by the elements.
Perhaps the sculptor was shooting for something reminiscent of Skyrim Draugr or Dark Souls?
Including postage I paid a hair over £50 for forty minis. That's £30 less than Weyland would have charged me for forty GW Grave Guard.
I tell you this, though - Weyland seem to regard actually posting minis as a huge hassle that they will get to eventually, but certainly no hurry. They will and have kept me waiting weeks before posting even small orders.
Shieldwolf do not mess around! I ordered them late Sunday night and got them (all the way from Greece) this morning. All for about £4 postage. That's pretty damned good in my book.
In addition, the parts came, already clipped from the sprue in solid plastic boxes. I count that as another huge plus to ShieldWolf. A box like that alone would cost you £2-£4 a throw in a shop. I got two boxes like that, each with 20 minis and 20 square bases.
Looking through the minis... They've been clipped from the sprue, but quickly and without a lot of care. That's okay, that's fine. I'll still have to do a lot of clean-up and trimming, but that's fair.
The actual detail on the minis is... Acceptable. It'll do. No more. A lot of pieces have owl-themed designs on them, wings and whatnot. It's competantly done, but you could remove it with a knife and some patience. There are skulls and spikes in evidence too.
There's a good mix of different designs for heads and torsos (I didn't count), and a fair mix of weapons and shields, too. In addition to the legs, torsos and heads you get options for HW+Shield or Great Weapons. You also get options for full command. Great Weapons are axes, hammers and maces.
I won't be using the supplied banners because I can tell they will disintegrate the first time I look at them hard. I'm not wild about the banner pole either. I'll use one from my Bitz Box, I think.
I am wild about the owl. The Champion can have an owl sitting on his wrist. It's ace.
My phone didn't want to take good photographs of white resin. I couldn't get the contrast to work right. That shows you the sort of bitz you get, though.
The resin seems hard enough. I've seen harder, but it's serviceable. It flexes enough to withstand a little abuse, but is stiff enough to actually hold its shape.
In the name of SCIENCE! I deliberately snapped one of my two banner poles. It bent about 120 degrees before snapping.
I found no mould errors, air-bubbles or unreasonable flash/mould lines in my first examination.
Preliminary thoughts:
I think I got exactly what I paid for, but not a bit more.
Mantic Revenants are a bit cheaper, but they do not have Great Weapon options and they do not really stand out next to Mantic Skeletons (in fact, the two units use a great deal of the same parts).
Games Workshop Grave Guard are still the best there is, detailed, plastic, great options, a class-act. But so very expensive.
ShieldWolf's models have the full range of options, they are certainly going to stand out next to your Skeletons (y'know, since they aren't skeletons, for one thing). Their armour makes them seem bulkier, too. They do look like they are wearing Heavy Armour compared to GW or Mantic skeletons.
The detail on ShieldWolf's minis is not so crisp as GW, or even Mantic, though.
Pro-
Cheaper than GW.
Great packaging - free Bitz box with every kit.
Full Range of Options.
Super-Fast and cheap Delivery.
Owl.
Con-
More Expensive than Mantic.
So-So detail.
Resin, not Plastic.
Not Actually Skeletons!
I will add another post later, when I have built them and painted a few, but in the mean time, any comments, questions or input welcome.
