T&H Miniature Review No.4

T&H Miniature Review
So it's been a while since I did a miniature review, but thankfully there hasn't been many Warhammer releases since I started... So here we go, hopefully there will be more to come in the coming weeks!

Treeman, Treeman Ancient & Durthu
Warhammer Armies: Wood Elves - Plastic Box - £37.00
This kit was released at the beginning of May, three months ago, and it is a real treat for Wood Elf players. The kit itself makes 3 different variations of the Treemen, one being the standard version alongside an Ancient and the Wood Elf special character Durthu. Not the kit is completely customisable so you can mix and match different arm elements to give you multiple versions from the same kit.

Overall the miniature is stunning, it's a hard thing trying to imagine what a living tree looks like, and I guess Games Workshop will have struggled to get Treebeard and all of the Ents out of their head. In the end they've tried to go with a Dryad inspired look for their Treemen which I believe is the correct route. The amount of detail is superfluous and I would watch a painting video by the GW youtube team if you want to truly see the model in its full glory. GW - Painting Durthu

Some of the elements aren't so good, I think the Strangleroots look a bit too Tyranid too me, however the Ancient with the staff and the Durthu's sword are fantastic additions. Overall I think this kit will be a lot of fun to paint and can be a beautiful centrepiece to any Wood Elf army, although I don't imagine you'll see too many in competitive games.

T&H Score (9/10)

Araloth
Warhammer Armies: Wood Elves - Plastic Hero Clampack - £13.50
Another release that coincided with the larger Treeman kit was the Araloth special character which is another clampack release that we're becoming accustomed too. This model has a lot of movement included into it but has an exceptional amount of height and strength that other hero Elf models do not have.

He's not overly detailed however, but he's been kept simple and pure which really works, it could have been too easy for Games Workshop to cover him up in nymphs and leaves to try to make him look Wood Elf'ish. Instead they seem to have designed a new look for the Wood Elves which is distinguishable from the Dark and High Elves and is made their own by the new Eternal Guard (but we'll look at them next week).

I can see every Wood Elf army having an Araloth miniature included, either as a standard Hero or Lord or perhaps converted into a BSB which wouldn't be too hard as he'd holding his spear in a great convertible position. The only bugbear I have with him is the lack of customisability, although he's a Special Character like Grimm it would have been great to have a different head or shield so that the kit offers up a bit of variation. Although overall this model is another great character kit from GW and hopefully they'll continue to churn them out in the future.

T&H Score (8/10)

 

Warhammer Questionnaire - Warriors of Chaos & Wood Elves

Warhammer Questionnaire - Warriors of Chaos & Wood Elves

 

Rumours & Speculation - Any New Leads?

Rumours?
So there's not been a lot going on the rumour and speculation front however we're getting to the point now where there's only a handful of options for GW to release.

The Wood Elves, Bretonnians, Beastmen & Skaven are still in the pipeline for an 8th edition book. So who's next? Well there's a few indicators, as well as a few grumblings about what to expect. But I'm not sure whether we're going to like it. 

The Dilution of Warhammer Fantasy
It's been coming, but I think Warhammer has truly become GW's lowly secondary system. It's been a sudden change, and in all respects, Warhammer has played second fiddle to 40k for a very long time - however it seems that GW are wholly focused on the distant future at this current time. This is evident from the 4 White Dwarfs that were released this month as GW is pushing the Imperial Knights like crazy alongside a new Codex which seems to be a 'side' addition to the game. (A lot of effort for one massive kit!) Warhammer has always got a lot of love besides 40k and I hope that this continues, but with the weight of 40k releases every month it seems like the Fantasy stuff appears like islands in a sea of sci-fi - sad times indeed.

So what does this mean for the armies that are waiting in the wings?

Wood Elves
Now allegedly the Wood Elves were developed at the same time as the High/Dark Elf books which is a great idea as it means they're all balanced beside one another. However in terms of releases I don't know what we'll see, most likely there will be a range of new kits, however I don't think we'll see a release as big as the Dark Elves, and in my opinion I don't think we'll see a release on that scale ever* again... Everything is pointing towards the Wood Elves next, so watch this space people!

*Ever - unless the Bretonnians happen, see below.

Skaven / Beastmen
I've recently talked about my views on the Beastmen, as I think they'll get the Dwarf treatment, however I've got a funny feeling the Skaven will get the same 'push out the door' approach. When you consider that the rats had a lot of releases early on, I think that they won't get a huge amount of treatment when there book is scheduled for release. The High Elves got 3 kits, so I'd expect them to get the same, and to be honest they're long overdue as I think any army which is in the starter set should have an army book within 6 months. That's not to say their 7th book is outdated however, it's just a bit of a strange business decision in my eyes...

Bretonnia
Here we go, now these guys deserve a book the most, they've been waiting the longest, their range has been decimated on the webstore and it's impossible for a new player to start an army.

What is going on?

1. The Bretonnian's are being squatted or being merged into the Empire. (Lets hope this doesn't happen)

2. Their future is bright... Okay so what? Well what sells models in 40k? It's the Space Marines right? Well what would sell a lot of models in Warhammer? Knights right? Well you'd think so, but the Bretonnian's just don't seem to cut it in their current guise, and why would they? The range is dated and old...

So lets say GW undergo the biggest re-brand of 8th edition, they literally take the Bretonnians and do such a good job on them that they become the Space Marines of Warhammer... Now that's a bit better than scrapping them, and I've got an incline the Brets are going to blow our minds.

Watch. This. Space