Verge of War is in beta currently and soon to launch their Kickstarter. However, it was their models that first directed my attention their way. Their Raptor miniatures looked just amazing and they were my first look at what they had going on over at Integrity First Games.
Never heard of them... I hadn't either... Here is your introduction
Verge of War
http://www.vergeofwar.com/shop/
Integrity First Games invites you to participate in the beta-testing of our new Sci-Fi miniatures wargame, VergeOfWar. Summary VergeOfWar is a Sci-fi universe, where stellar civilizations clash in a conflict of epic scale. Godlike Asgar lords, Seit, the powerful psionics, ambitious Scrags, greedy Eltofa, cunning Kja, ruthless Pirates and many other factions fight for…
I spend a lot of time digging online and when I came across these Raptors I knew I would be ordering some. Getting Reptilian miniatures is a rather difficult thing across the board and these Dinosaurs looked top notch from the images I saw.
Of course I shot them an email as I had seen that the miniatures I was interested in were already up on their store and I wanted to make certain they were available. So I ordered a couple boxes of them and they sent along with my order another miniature for review... the Free Pose Shork Tribal Warrior. I had seen a video of the Shork Tribal Warrior miniature and it had peaked my interest on exactly what they were doing with their Free Pose version of the model.
Here is what came in the box.
It comes with 3 miniatures... sitting at 19.99
These guys are large miniatures and sit on a 40mm base.
The Raptors were a little larger than I had first thought they would be, but I can see lots of uses for these whether for Verge of War, Mounts or other game miniatures you decide you want to use them for. As for the parts, they were very straight forward on what was what and the resin easy to work with. I did a quick test to see how much of a wash I needed with a single model, and I ended up just doing a quick soak in warm soapy water. I don't think they require much cleaning with their resin, definitely decent quality. There is a little bend to it on thin parts, cleans up easy.
Here are the parts, and a look at the different heads that came in my two sets.
It should be noted that you can easily mix and match the parts to keep your raptors poses looking unique. The ankles were the weakest point of the miniature and with those long talons I was concerned that the miniature might not have much a solid base. They worked out quite well and I don't fear them being very fragile after completion. If you take a look, the feet slide right into holes on the ankles for a more solid hold.
Overall putting these together was rather quick and intuitive and I really like the miniature. Getting some paint on these in the upcoming weekend will be part of my weekend goals. (so you might see them in an up coming What's on Your Table).
Here are some of the finished miniatures (painting and basing to come). Its also worth noting that the resin really held a nice firm bond using super glue. One of the miniatures ended up with one leg in the air and once dried, the model is very firmly on the base... yes I dropped it sending it banging across the floor. (accidents happen, but only to the models you feel least comfortable hitting the floor)
These guys were exactly what I was looking for and I will be ordering another box in the next couple weeks of the hatchlings to go alongside these guys. I wish I would of ordered a box to the first time around.
Free Pose Shork Tribal Warrior
This miniature was sent for review.
Now...... The Shork Tribal Warrior is an interesting model. They have one that you can purchase that comes with less parts for $19.99. The miniature comes with a 50mm base. This is it below.
Now the Free Pose Tribal Warrior comes with considerably more parts, and a lot more flexibility on how you want him to look. Here is what I had arrive in the box. It costs a little more, but comes with a lot of flexibility.
The Free Pose version is not for your 11-12 year old to put together. In fact I was a little overwhelmed as well and spent the time to lay out the miniature and reorganize the parts.
With a good idea of what I had to do I then watched the video (slowed down and paused here and there) to make certain I was on the right road.
Here is the video......
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| Once you get moving, it all comes together well. Ball Joints, yea! |
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| A Lot of Detailed parts go into this |
This is a rather large miniature with a great selection of weapons. It must be said that I have not delved into looking at the game yet, but it is going to Kickstarter very soon.
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| a good look at the detail and weapon options |
I did have a little bit of a hassle with the fingers.... one decided to shoot across the room and I had a hard time finding it. At first I was questioning the wisdom of having all the fingers be separately placed on the miniature. With a little work and tweezers I was able to get the fingers in place.
And yes... I went with the kama-like weapons and had him holding them as such. While I am reasonably proficient with them myself, I had to grin a little to see this large guy spinning and slashing around with these large military style kamas. They are brutal weapons in the right hands.
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| That Guardsman is Toast. |
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| Well designed , and the Ball Joints disappear into the Miniature |
Ive grown to like this miniature, and I think it took the better part of an hour or so to clean it up and put it together. (minus the time spent looking for a finger, although extras were included).
The Shork Tribal Warrior is a solid miniature, and one I enjoyed putting together. Is a fun miniature that you can really set your pose up how you want to, and if I was to do it again, the pose would be much more dynamic. There really is an amazing amount of poses you could produce with the free pose version. If your picking up this miniature for yourself..... definitely get it. If your questioning your miniature skills, its still worth the extra effort where the budget allows.
With the game getting ready to hit Kickstarter and showing up at events (you can see on their facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/VERGEbyIFG/) I will be looking further into this game as it gets moving through it's beta and ready to release through Kickstarter.
You can see more about Verge of War who is constantly updating their Facebook page.
http://www.vergeofwar.com/
https://www.facebook.com/VERGEbyIFG/