Review Category: Merch

If you like to play games on a table rather than via a games console, you’re probably familiar with the basic problem of physically getting your stuff to the table. Sometimes it can be an adventure, especially if the table is eight miles away in someone else’s house. This can be especially bothersome if you have something like beautifully painted Citadel miniatures; you don’t want hours of work ruined simply because you couldn’t pack your team of Ork Squighog Boyz properly.

Over the years, Games Workshop have produced many solutions to this conundrum, mostly in the form of big heavy black boxes filled with foam. The Stormvault Skirmish Case is a more elegant idea. It’s a lunchbox-sized storage solution filled with long and thick rubber bristles. The idea is that these flexible tendrils hold your models in place while they bounce about in your bag.

The box is big enough to hold a small squad, so is suitable for games such as Kill Team, War Cry, Marvel Crisis Protocol or Necromunda. The idea here is to keep just the basic models secure so you can have these toys on your person as part of your day-to-day kit. Games like Warhammer Underworlds can be played in a lunch break with a handful of models in under an hour.

When a sample of this product arrived at STARBURST Towers, we decided to fill the case with some enthusiastically painted Gellerpox Infected and popped it into the bag we use every day. The infected are fairly intricate, if gruesome, models for Kill Team, with plenty of spiky bits and tricky-to-paint parts. The models were not harmed at all, despite being thrown around in a reporter’s messenger bag for about a month.

The little silicon prongs hold the models quite well, though you have to be careful not to overload the box; it’s intended for small unit games, not armies. We tried it with heavier models (resin and metal) with similar results: no breakages, and the pieces presented in good order. The box latches closed with a satisfying click and opens with just enough force to keep the models secure.

This is a good addition to a gamer’s arsenal and a considerate gift for the gamer in your life. A useful, if odd, addition to the tabletop gaming hobby.

One of the major monsters / villains in Critical Role’s Mighty Nein campaign is Uk’otoa, a sea-serpent like leviathan demi-god that drives a forward a lot of the narrative. In addition to being a nebulous, god-like being, it’s also a massive aquatic snake with blade-like fins, tentacle-like protrusions and a great many eyes sprouting from its body.

The Critical Role: Pre-painted Miniature Uk’otoa Boxed Set is a three-part pre-painted model. We get a huge head, fangs bared, rising out of the water, a mid-section covered in eyes, scales and, tentacle like protuberances and a long swirly end of tale that looks like it would sink any ship that would come near it.

This is a very nicely painted piece. Though an unpainted version is available, the model is so detailed and dynamic that we’d suspected painting this up would be a project for a skilled hobbyist. The biggest flaw of this piece is that three pieces just don’t seem quite enough. This is meant to represent an incredibly powerful, malevolent force and evokes Cthulhu-like vibes in both its narrative and model design. We only get three pieces here, a hand full of tentacles and other similar hazards to use would have been appreciated.

Mostly, we suspect, the Critical Role: Pre-painted Miniature Uk’otoa Boxed Set is going to sit on a Critter’s bookshelf, probably guarding the numerous  Critical Role Merch that’s out there. It’s a fun piece and full of character, though very, very specific for what it is. An absolute must for those after a scale model of an eldritch sea serpent. 

Wizkid’s range of Unpainted TTRPG miniatures is an easy and interesting way to build a collection of models for tabletop gaming. Typically, all of these models are available in a pre-painted form, and it’s quite interesting to look at the commercial paint jobs and see how your skills compare.

The latest wave of these toys for the Critical Role range is a mix of monsters, heroes and villains. All of them are at a scale suitable for playing Dungeons & Dragons and most fantasy table-top miniatures games, and they all come ‘pre-primed’, which means there’s a (very thin) layer of grey paint on each model to make them easier to paint. They’re all fixed-pose, which means that if you have multiples of each model, you may want to give each one a different paint job. 

First up in this wave is the Cobalt Golem, which is the large robot-like monster that Grog kicks out the window in the Vox Machina. It’s quite a simple model, essentially being a vaguely knight-shaped robot with a huge sword. Its ‘skin’ is detailed in a rippled and cracked way (much like the finish you get on worked cobalt). It’s a nicely done piece with enough detail to be fun for anyone looking for a painting project without too much of a challenge.

Another golem is the Halas Flesh Golem, a nightmarish melding of corpses that the Mighty Nein faced while journeying through the ancient arcane labs in the Folding Halls of Halas. It’s a very nicely done abomination of the sort that will delight collectors of horror-themed miniatures and looks corrupt and terrifying. Limbs and faces just out of a muscular form. The build is perhaps the one that will require the most work in terms of cleaning and painting, simply because of the nature of the sculpt.

Sticking with the monsters, the Naga Abomination is a large six-headed snake monster, with each head having a slightly different sculpt, giving it quite a lot of personality for what is essentially a giant snake monster. The central head has a cobra’s hood, and the other two have some sort of hair. You could also paint this in multiple colours to make it a little bit Tiamat-like. The Naga Abomination is a callback to the first aired episode of Critical Role, and it’s a fun and straightforward project. You may want to add some sort of filler to smooth the areas where the serpentine heads connect, but beyond that, it’s a pretty simple build. 

The wave includes one blister with a Xhorhasian mage and a prowler. Xhorhas is mostly full of drow elves, and these models reflect that. They are dressed in functional finery. The prowler is posed as if they are about to attack someone sneakily. The mage looks austere and angry. Nice, if delicate, models.

The next blister features Lucien Tavalle & Cree Deeproots. Lucien is a major villain from the Mighty Nein Campaign and is posed in a conciliatory way, open-handed and about to deliver a monologue. His companion, the cat-person blood-priest Cree, is posed casting a spell. The spell effect takes up the model’s right hand and is made of translucent plastic. These are well-sculpted plastic pieces.

Finally, we have one blister pack for two terrible siblings: Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III & Cassandra de Rolo. The former is the gun-slinging hero from Vox Machina, and he’s posed donning his plague mask and holding a pistol. His sister is posed with crossed arms, looking very much the diplomat. Both pieces are well made and paint well.

Wave Five is a solid mix of useful monsters and character pieces and a fun project for any Critter.

The Crown Keepers are a team of adventurers from Critical Role’s Exandria Unlimited spin-off series, which uses dungeon masters and players outside the core cast. The Crown Keepers are interesting because about half of them then feature in Campaign Three as part of Bells Hells. 

The Critical Role: Exandria Unlimited – The Crown Keepers Boxed Set is a box of six pre-painted minis and does not include Fearne or Orym, who can instead be found in the Bells Hells box. 

First off, we get Dorian Storm, who guested in Campaign Three as well. A version of this character can be found in the Bells Hells box, but this version of Darian wears a finer cloak and is wielding a lute and a smile. It’s a more vibrant take on the hero than we see in the other box, but its inclusion in this set reduces the overall utility; you don’t need many Air Genasi bards in any collection. It’s a nice piece, though.

Next up is Morrighan Ferus, a lagomore rogue, or, to put it another way, a leather-clad thief with bunny ears. This is a very nicely sculpted model and a great-looking rogue, though the rabbit ears do make it stand out.  

Opal is arguably the main character when it comes to the Crown Keepers, as they are the one who literally keeps the crown. This version of the character is Opal as we first meet her, garbed in a purple and pink outfit with paired knives, rather than the slightly more corrupted hero we encounter later on in the show. 

Fy’ra Rai is a powerful monk from the plane of fire, and the character model is appropriately impressive. This is perhaps the nicest model in the set, and you’ll absolutely find a use for it if you’re a dungeon master. The model for Dariax Zaveon is also nicely done; the gutter dwarf looks almost heroic and is very well sculpted.

Finally, Dungeon Master Aabria Iyengar gets their own model in this set. At a pinch, you could use this well-sculpted model of a lady in a nice dress as a sorcerer or wizard, but mostly, it’s nice to have.

Critical Role: Exandria Unlimited – The Crown Keepers Boxed Set is a good addition to a Critical Role fans collection and a fairly handy mix of cool models for the D&D/TTRPG table.

In Critical Role’s fantasy setting of Exandria, Cyclops are reimagined as magically powerful giants who reign over smaller giants. Those that rule the Cyclops are Stormcallers, who, as the name suggests, have lightning and thunder-themed magical powers. These monsters and their kin serve as mid-level monsters for a Tal’Dorei campaign.

Frameworks Cyclops Stormcaller is a two-sprue plastic kit from Wizkids. You assemble and paint it yourself; that’s part of the fun, and if you don’t like painting and glueing things, then this is not for you. It’s a pretty straightforward kit. The pieces clip out of the frame quite easily, and the high-impact polystyrene parts are easy to glue together. One frame is grey, and the other is translucent. The latter frame contains ‘magical’ effects, so your Cyclops can be assembled in that act of summoning lightning or turning his arms into terrifying ice claws. 

We get plenty of extra bits for various modelling options, and these work well with other miniatures (especially other Frameworks Monsters), and it’s charmingly angry no matter how you put it together. (At best, you could paint it so it looked surprised rather than angry).   

The Cyclops Stormcaller is part of the Gilmore’s Fantastic Fabrications range, which is the brand for Exandria/Critical Role pieces, but honestly, this is a kit build for a really cool Cyclops model and will work well in most fantasy games. The design fits in with most heroic scale miniatures and would fit well with Mantic’s Kings of War models or in a game of Onslaught. 

This is a fun kit, suitable for most levels of skill, and it’s just detailed enough to be interesting but not so detailed that it can only ever be one thing. It’s the sort of model that’s designed to be modified, so if you’re looking for a ‘big humanoid monster’ for your table, check this one out.

by Ed Fortune

Warhammer 40,000 is now in its tenth edition, which means that Games Workshop will be doing everything it can to get people to play their new game. One way to do this is to make the game itself easy to get into by providing a starter set with just enough cool stuff to get you hooked. 

The lovely folk at Games Workshop sent the Warhammer 40,000 Introductory Set to the Secret STARBURST Gaming Thunderdome for examination, and upon opening it, we wanted to play a game of Warhammer 40,000, so that’s pretty effective. This is an entry-level box filled with models designed to get someone into the game. The recently released mega set Leviathan was aimed at existing players; this set is for those new (or returning) to Warhammer.  

Inside the box, we get 16 Citadel miniatures, all of which come on a sprue, so you’ll have to clip them out. You also get a pair of clippers to do exactly that, five points, six dice, a range ruler, a double-sided playing mat and a basic 48-page handbook. This is everything you need to start.

The play mat is a large poster. One side is a detailed industrial complex; the other is an alien desert. This is nice, though it’s not something that’s going on your wall. The dice are small and straightforward; there’s nothing that exciting about them. Given that fancy dice are a thing in most games now, that’s a bit of a shame, but dice are dice. The range ruler is also quite simple, being the size of a large bookmark. (In fact, it fits nicely in a hardcover Warhammer book.) We don’t get any counters or scenery for the play mat. Part of the box has counters and scenery printed onto it, but this feels like an afterthought. The Recruit Edition Starter Set from the previous edition was a little bit more creative with the packaging, allowing for a little bit more scenery, and it feels a bit of a let-down that we don’t get that here. 

We get an assembly and painting guide and five Citadel Colour paints; these are straightforward paints for new hobbyists, so no shade, contrast or technical paints. We get a simple black paint, a gold, a bone white, a dark magenta, and a bright blue, which is enough to be getting on with and fun to mix. The clippers are pretty solid and will last a long time. You get a basic brush, which is all you need to get started. 

The miniatures are the main draw here, and they are splendid. The set is divided between Space Marines and Tyranids. Namely, the new Infernus Primaris marines, big, long-legged space soldiers with cool-looking flame-thrower rifle things. On the other side, we get 10 Termangant Tyranids and a ripper swarm. The latter are basically fast-moving armoured snake things with teeth, and the termagants are a messed up cross between a velociraptor, a spider, and an infantryman. It wields a wicked grin and a messed up-looking organic rifle. These models are finely detailed and appropriately weird for the world of Warhammer 40,000. Gorgeous stuff and fun to assemble and paint. They click together and need no glue; this makes sense, as it’s a starter set intended for 12+.

The book also has the rules of the game, walking you through your first game as a small band of heavily armoured super-soldiers take on a horde of monsters. It’s quite replayable, and though not very deep, it’s still fun. There’s some setting material, just enough to get you interested.

Broadly, this is a good starter set; Games Workshop do more expensive starter sets with more models, but this box is budget-friendly and absolutely aimed at new gamers. Worth adding to the gift list. 

by Ed Fortune

The tenth edition of Warhammer 40,000 is finally here. A big box of Warhammer models to herald the arrival of a new version of the game has been a thing since the classic second edition Orks vs Space Marines box in 1993. The aptly named Leviathan is the largest set of its kind we’ve seen, and demand for this new set has been so great that Games Workshop has apparently paused everything else in order to get copies of Leviathan into the hands of all the Warhammer fans. So we were quite excited when a copy turned up at STARBURST Towers for review.

Is it worth the fuss? The short answer is yes. It’s filled with 72 very cool models that you won’t find in older Games Workshop sets, 66 new mission cards, and a massive book filled with rules and setting material. We also get an invitation to take part in the Battle For Oghram, a sort of online vote that lets players around the world contribute to Warhammer 40k‘s story. (You don’t get scenery, dice, measuring tools or similar gaming aids; it’s assumed most of us already have those or something similar. )

Much like the previous set, Indomitus (which launched the ninth edition), Leviathan refocuses the ongoing Warhammer 40,000 setting. This ‘dark ages in space’ grim-dark setting is one of constant warfare. Mankind, despite being widespread across the galaxy, is on the brink of annihilation through a combination of its own wilful ignorance and hubris, as well as its many, many enemies. This time the monsters at the gate are Tyranids, alien monsters that are a mix of dinosaurs, insects and Lovecraftian nightmares. A massive ‘Hive Fleet’ of these all-consuming beasties are headed, inexorably, toward Terra and the heart of humanity itself. It’s got some way to go, and luckily, the Space Marines are in the way.

We 47 Tyranid models, ranging from the skittering termagant foot-soldiers to much larger horrors such as the ‘screamer-killer’, ‘Pyschophage’ and ‘Winged Tyranid Prime’. These kits are easy to put together (we recommend you use modelling tools and glue) and are very clearly and strikingly thought through. They present some very clear and welcome design choices for the Tyranid range. We especially enjoyed assembling the Screamer-Killer, which has come a long way since the days these things were made in metal. (All the models are hard plastic, and that’s a very good thing.)

Space Marines are the elite super-soldiers of the Imperium of Man. They’re big fleshy lumps of human-shaped violence, clad in armour that is a mix of medieval and futuristic styles. We get 25 Space Marines, with transfers to go on the models, so you can mark out units easily. Most striking is the Ballistus Dreadnought, a giant robot coffin thing equipped with many guns. We also have Terminators, which are Space Marines in big scary armour as well as a collection of command and support troops. This is a good mix of types and designs of Space Marine, and they’ve gone all in with the gothic, heavily ornamental look.

The assembly instructions are clear, and the rules for each unit are well laid out. The models are detailed without being fiddly. You’ll need a bit of skill and a sharp knife if you want to convert them into something different, but the designs are such that hobbyists who like doing that will find it hard to resist the urge not to. For the rest of us, the models look great as they are once assembled.
As we’ve come to expect, the hardback rulebook is a gorgeous thing. 300 odd pages of art, photographs and storytelling detailing a cosmos of horrors as well as how to actually play the game. The book is credited to the Warhammer Design Studio. Though we appreciate that the world of Warhammer 40,000 is a collaborative effort of artists, writers, games designers and many others over the decades, we do hope Games Workshop produce some profiles of these folk in future; it’s nice to put a name to a face.

It’s a weighty and well-bound tome, designed to be lugged around in a gaming bag for a good few years, though all of the rules are online, and your phone is lighter. It’s a solid source of inspiration for anyone wanting to create art set in the Warhammer 40,000 setting, be that campaign narratives, painting models, fan art, fiction, or what have you.

The Mission Deck is a box of tarot-sized cards with gate-fold instructions on how to set up a balanced and fun game. (Despite the Tyranids having more models in the box, the forces are fairly evenly matched, as the Space Marines have bigger guns.)

Rules-wise, it’s very much a refinement of the more recent versions of the game, especially the ninth. It’s easier to create armies, and officer/hero-style units are now free-standing. The game is still broken down into steps called phases, but these are simplified. The magic/psychic phase and morale phases have been absorbed into other elements of the game, meaning that special powers are now easier and more obvious to use. Units can still run away if you hit them hard enough; it’s just now part of the command phase. They are other changes (and this edition is very new, so it’s hard to say how serious they are), but essentially the only thing that has changed is that it’s easier to field the models you want to in any given game.

The Leviathan box is a good deal – two full ‘combat patrols’ of models, a heavy rule book and mission cards. Though the characters in the world of Warhammer 40,000 may be doomed, the future of the game is very bright indeed. The best edition of Warhammer 40,000 we’ve ever seen.