Wrath of Kings: Hands On First Impression
The wait is finally over, and I couldn't be more excited! Last night I received my Wrath of Kings Ancient King pledge, which consists of 220 models, many of which were crafted by some of my favorite sculptors in the world. The big question is, "does it live up to the hype?"
The Box
First, I was surprised by how small the box was, I was imagining 220 miniatures being a truckload, at least in a box the size of a coffin. Opening it up however revealed all that I was promised: 5 starter sets, 5 bonus boxes, 2 exclusive minis, a big book and a little dice bag. It was all packed in there efficiently, nothing was bouncing around or getting hurt. A+
The Book
It only took a minute before I dove head first into the book. Having already read the rules available online, I didn't spend much time pouring over them, and instead went straight for the faction sections and story. Each unit type gets a full 2-page spread in the book, with a large piece of art and a bit of story. It's a full color book with a very solid cover and binding, the bit of fluff that I read seemed interesting and compelling. If I could use one word to describe the art in the book, it would be "inconsistent." Overall the book art is quite nice, though some of it wasn't really done at a high enough resolution to get a perfect quality print, but on the other hand, some of the art in the book is really fantastic. Overall, I'd give it a B.
The Miniatures
Now for the good stuff! I started by kicking open my favorite faction, the Nasier, with their chubby chicks swinging katanas and clad with bunny masks and tape, what's not to love? The minis are cast very similarly to Warmahordes plastics, though the plastic used by Wrath of Kings seems to feel less rubbery than what I remember WMH plastics feeling like, also unlike my experience with WMH plastics, these plastics are incredibly well cast, almost entirely devoid of mold lines. The detail seems pretty sharp, and the quality of the plastic really makes each model feel very solid, even some of the thinner pieces like swords. I only went through about 12 or so models, but I didn't find a single one with any form of miscast, warped, or bent pieces, despite them being very well stuffed into the box. Solid A quality here.
Overall Opinion
I'm extremely pleased with the quality of the product I got. The rules of the game seem like they've done a good job play testing, writing a very clear and concise rule set, which only actually takes up the first 18 pages of the book. I can't wait to play some games and report on how it plays!