Thursday 4 June 2015

"Guild Ball" - WIP - Part One

Avarisse & Greede WIPs - A second version of Greede can be attached to Avarisse's belly magnet
This assortment of Guild Ball miniatures by “Steamforged Games Ltd” were something of an impulse purchase just after Salute 2015. Indeed up until this point I had absolutely no intention of playing the “mob football” game. But there was something about the Union Starter Set and its accompanying blisters featuring Fangtooth and Rage which I thought I could do something with…

Many of these metal models are though a little too fiddly for my liking, especially the diminutive Greede whose miniscule separate arms and legs proved extremely troublesome to attach onto his torso. I’m not sure what makes a manufacturer think the tiniest of nodules on the end of a thin limb will be sufficient to create a solid bond because they simply don’t in my experience.
Fangtooth & Blackheart WIPs - The fat fiend is a single casting, whilst his captain comes in four pieces
In the end, as many of the joins were too small to drill, I’ve used a lot of superglue and grey-stuff in order to try and ensure as much of each limb as possible is in contact with the figure’s main body. Rage’s hands are a good example of this, where I’ve tilted them slightly in order to ensure that his weapons are also touching (and thus glued) to his thighs. Once dry he’ll now need some additional grey-stuff to fill in the gaps but he should be a far sturdier model when finished.

The ‘official’ colour scheme of this “mismatched bunch o’ mercenaries, scum and criminals” is predominantly red and purple. But though I plan to stick to using plenty of dark red, I plan to forgo the purple for black and browns. I’ve also gone with green instead of purple for the colour of the team’s mascot, the “horrific serpent” Coin.
Rage & Coin WIPs - Just waiting for the glue and grey-stuff to dry
 So far I’ve only managed to give most of the models an initial undercoat of “Vallejo” Heavy Red already, to start bringing out each sculpts’ detail. But as I have a game planned for next week (and I only like to play with painted models) I hope to progress at least the captain, Blackheart the Pirate King, Fangtooth and one other within the next few days.

18 comments:

  1. Seeing as I had never heard of this range I had to do a Google search to find out more about them. They certainly are superbly sculpted figures and most are just the kind of figure I'd like to collect. However, one thing you never mentioned in your review is just how expensive they are. They seem to be averaging about £10 per figure. £27.95 for the starter set of Avarisse, Greed and Coin, £8.95 for Rage and £13.45 (!) for Fangtooth. These seem to me, to be vastly overpriced. I like them, Simon. I like them a lot. But at those prices this is a range I will not be collecting. Sorry.

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    1. To be honest Bryan, I didn't mention those outrageous prices because I got them at a discount during a sale on "The Dice Shop Online" so I never saw the normal price. However the Union Starter set contains five miniatures, not just three, with Blackheart, Avarisse, Coin and two models of Greede (one on its own base and another which can be carried by 'the big fella'. But having done the maths including P&P I realise I've still forked out around the £7 mark per mini - which for something like Avarisse is arguably a bargain. But for Greede or Coin is admittedly rather a lot - though this probably ends my investment in the game.

      I was actually thinking of buying a few Fangtooth's to use as Fatties for "Zombicide" (as he's my fave mini by far) but I guess I won't now if that's what is being asked. They are slowly starting to make their way onto Ebay second-hand. But if I spot another sale I'll ping you an email to let you know.

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    2. Good for you for getting them at a discount, Simon. That would certainly soften the blow so to speak. I think Fangtooth would make an excellent zombie Fatty but at £13.45 would you seriously want another copy of him to convert?

      If any of them are going cheap on eBay please do e-mail me. Many thanks, mate.

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    3. I certainly wouldn't be happy paying £13.45 for Fangtooth, Bryan, especially if I wanted a few of him for Fatties. At least not unless you're paying the bill ;-) As a one-off though I was happy(ish) to pay what I paid and hopefully when the group shot of my team is posted you'll be drooling with envy :-)

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  2. Trying not to look... can't get drawn into another game.. must resist... RESISTANCE IS FUTILE... Arhhh balls!

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    1. These are very nice, if rather expensive minis Chico. But most of them will feature in my "Zombicide" BatReps at some point too I'm sure :-)

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  3. Lovely models Bk, but those are crazy prices, something akin to the evil corp GW.
    I have seen this and although interested I already have BloodBowl and Dreadball gathering dust in the cosmic cupboard.

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    1. I suppose the discount and the fact I needed a team to game with, somewhat blinded me to their cost Bob. As I was saying to Bryan, I actually fancied a few of the Fangtooth models for "Zombicide" Fatties. I'm rather hoping I might be use them as well as survivors for "Black Plague" ;-)

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    2. You could definitely use them as survivors in Black Plague, Simon. I could see them fitting in very well, especially Blackheart.

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    3. My thoughts exactly Bryan :-)

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  4. This is a new one on me as well, they are nice models but even at £7.00 a fig are a little on the rice side for me (you know what a tight bum I am after all). You'll have to do a good paintjob on them now to justify the price.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. No pressure then Roger ;-) Hopefully once finished you'll be happy with them.

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  5. They do look wonderful, but I need to resist yet another diversion.

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    1. I was very much the same at Salute Michael, and then I saw them on sale... :-)

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  6. More minis I was blissfully unaware of. Looks promising, BK.

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    1. Thanks Finch. I'm a sucker for anything a bit out of the ordinary. And these Guild Ball beauties most certainly are that.

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  7. They really did a nice job on those sculpts. Just a shame they are so expensive. Just don't understand those kind of prices in this hobby.

    Good work sir.

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    1. Cheers Dai. Not sure why these are so expensive either - except perhaps because you'll only ever need the one, they inflate the price? They are very nice sculpts.

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