Cybermen leaders have always lacked something when it comes to charisma. Cybermen are, after all, cold emotionless killing machines and aren’t that well known for cracking jokes. This means that Doctor Who tends to cast monsters with some sort of mouth-piece, and it’s not unusual to see the Master in charge of the silver killing machines.
The Missy and the Cybermen set from Warlord Games is an expansion for the Doctor Who Into The Time Vortex game. It adds 12 plastic ‘Cyber-Legion’ Cybermen and a model of Missy, the most recent incarnation of the master.
The Cybermen are exactly the same snap together plastic pieces that you get in the ‘Exterminate’ starter set. They’re quite easy to put together and it’s silver plastic so if you can’t be bothered to paint them they look okay just as. You also get 14 cybermats; these adorable little horrors come in two types; with their own integral base or as a ‘swarm’ (which will need gluing to base). These are perfectly cromulent and work well for the game. They can’t be easily posed, but then when you’re building a faceless army of cyborg zombies, uniformity is a good thing.
Missy, on the other hand, is full of character. With a hat, umbrella and severe looking outfit, the sculpt defines Missy perfectly. It looks good unpainted and springs to life when a dab of colour is applied. Warlord provide all their pieces unpainted, which is great for model hobbyists and a temptation for even the most ham-fisted of artists. It doesn’t need gluing so you can use it straight away if you want.
The element that excites most gamers though are the expansion cards. We get 10 Recruitment cards and 8 Adventure cards in the box. So they are enough cards to field Missy and various variations of the cyber army in a standard game, including a load of cybermats if you fancy it. The recruitment cards give you enough options to mix up your cyberman game, and Missy herself is rather formidable.
Of the 8 adventure cards, several of these are automatic buffs for Missy. Her most interesting ability is the power to stop time; or in others words make a unit miss a go. As this is an objective based battle game, a lack of mobility is rather deadly. The other options are equally charming and appropriate to the setting. Overall, another great expansion from Warlord.
INTO THE VORTEX: DOCTOR WHO EXTERMINATE! THE MINIATURES GAME – MISSY AND THE CYBERMEN EXPANSION SET / PUBLISHER: WARLORD GAMES / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW