I'll put up a picture of each of the different sculpts and give you my quick thoughts on the models. I won't be going into the game play or rules for each, as I've only had a chance to play the game once. That game was played using the first edition rules, not the new rules that were released by Studio McVey some time last week.
The Strain
The fat hunchbacked phase 1 revenants are decent looking figures and were simple to put together. Due to the way they're posed however, there wasn't much opportunity to repose them without significant effort. Effort I wasn't interested in putting in.
More fat phase 1 revenants. I prefer this more upright pose of these over the hunchbacked guys. Again they're pretty beefy so the only posing opportunities available were in bending the right 'arm' around a bit. I may have done this on one or two of them.
These are also phase 1 revenants (I think they're all the same in game terms / abilities). They are definitely the most zombie-like in appearance and are probably my favorite strain figures. Being a little thinner I was able to make some slight twists and bends in the poses, but any real differentiation between the figures will have to come from the paint I apply to them.
Phase 2 Stalkers. These ones sort of remind me of some creature half-remembered out of one of the Dark Tower novels by Stephen King. They look vaguely bird-like to me, and I was able to bend them around a little bit for a touch of variety.
Phase 3 Quasimodos. Nice and hefty support for the strain side, but the way the left arm is sculpted directly into the body and the other hand on the ground means it's impossible to repose them. I saw an excellent customization on the forums with a fully sculpted left arm, but again, way more effort than I'm willing to put into my game models.
The phase 4 Scythe Witches are a close runner-up for 'cool factor' after the zombie phase 1 figures. She was also the easiest figure in the box to give different poses to. The one did sort of end up looking like a demonic fencer but I'm alright with that. I think these ones will look very cool with some paint, but the long pointy claw thing will likely cause some nightmares on the table due to invading other figure's spaces.
The brimstones model is tied for my least favorite strain figure sculpt. They simply look like big spiky dogs with cannons growing out of their chests. I also think the pose it a little static and, now that I look at the photos, rather like they're squatting for a shit.
The grendlr and chtonian models are constructed but I haven't attached them to bases yet because it will make them more difficult to paint. I actually think the cthonian figure looks rather spindly to be the biggest, scariest monster in the game in terms of cards/abilities. It was also extremely difficult to pose without looking like a cardboard cutout. I think one of the cthonians will turn out ok, but I'm concerned that the other will look like it is tipping over drunk when I finally do attach it to the base.
The Vanguard
The Samaritan troopers are definitely the core of the Vanguard forces in the game. They come in three different varieties, the most numerous being the standard male trooper. I built these first and in retrospect wish I had spent a little bit of time trying to re-position some of their legs. By altering the way I glued their feet down I did get a little variety, but it's still nine of the exact same figure.
More Samaritan troopers, but these girls are going without their helmets. The pose is a little better than the male trooper, and I like them a little better because of it. However I do question going into battle without a helmet! Maybe they're just trying to prove how tough they are.
With another five female Samaritans, the basic male troopers are actually outnumbered eleven to nine. This pose is very similar to the other female pose, but is a little more static. I had to spend some time scraping mold lines off of all the troopers where it passed over visors or smooth plates in the armor. Rather than risk cutting detail off in other places, I left the lines in most spots where it went across details. Some figures were worse than others, but after some paint I'm pretty sure it won't really make much of a difference.
One note about the core troopers is that they all came in two pieces. The guns were a pain to glue on as the joint at the right shoulder didn't match up smoothly on almost any of them. I did some trimming where I could, but most of them should probably be touched up with some green stuff. I'll likely not be doing that for mine.
The glue I was using wasn't helpful either, as it's the quick drying liquid superglue and it tended to run off of the contact points before I lined up the parts. I'm a little concerned that the glue will obscure some of the detail after I start painting, but sadly there's nothing I can do about it now.
Samaritan Grenadiers are the same as the female trooper bodies but with different guns. One of mine is helmet-less, which makes them different without any reposing at all.
I quite like the guns on the Samaritan Lancers. They look like miniature flamethrowers...but if that's the case they should probably all be wearing helmets. Oops.
The Samaritan Reavers are the heavy gunners among the regular troops. These are a different body from the male troopers, and are the only male troops not wearing helmets. I really dig the gun sculpt, but I'm very glad I'm not the one who has to haul it around. Damn thing looks heavy!
Not much to say about the Hurley robots. They're not bad looking, if a little generic sci-fi. They should be really quick and easy to paint.
The special resin cast Kara model is the only Vanguard figure I haven't put together yet. Barker is complete except for his weapon. I'm trying to decide if I should glue one of the weapons on permanently or not. They both fit tightly enough that I think I could paint them both separately and just push the one that I want to use on for the game. It is rather odd that his knee pad was a completely separate component...
And finally that gets us to the hero models. Akosha, Morgan and Kara were all very easy to put together and I didn't have to worry too much about mold lines. I did get a little too much glue on Kara and I'm hoping that she'll still turn out alright despite that.
Overall Thoughts
I think the figures are great in terms of detail and cast quality, and there ARE a lot of them. The sculpted bases are also a nice touch. The sheer number of figures I received was also a good deal, but for the game is probably overkill. An instruction sheet or guide for how to put them together (ie: which part goes with which figure) should definitely have been included in the box. I do wish that there were more variety in the strain and samaritan troops but I do understand why they didn't include them.
Now that everything is put together I'll be trying out a few games, but I'll be using the original rules until my second shipment arrives. While I do have the new rule book I don't yet have the updated cards, which are to be included with the second wave of stuff.
I'm in no rush to paint this game but I'm sure I will some day. Again...there's supposed to be a painting DVD included with the second shipment and I want to watch that first. I'm sure I could do a decent job without it, but since it's part of the whole package I might as well make use of it.
What About Storage?
You'd think with all those models that there is no way to get them all back in the box after they're put together. That's what I thought too, but we were both wrong.
If you take the black insert out of the box you'll find two white, cardboard supports underneath. I removed those and cut along the seam where they were glued together. By adding a little bit of cardboard on the ends of them (scissors, tape and 10 minutes of time) I was able to create two storage boxes for all of the figures. A rubber band on each end to hold them closed and I was all finished. The models will rattle around a little bit if you don't add some dividers, but I'll leave that for you to decide.
In order to access the boxes more easily I cut away some of the black insert so that it just lies on top of the boxes. It still looks the same as before, with the added bonus of all the components fitting in the box with no problem. There is still plenty of room in the center of the box, and I'm hopeful that the terrain pack will fit nicely there.
What About Storage?
You'd think with all those models that there is no way to get them all back in the box after they're put together. That's what I thought too, but we were both wrong.
If you take the black insert out of the box you'll find two white, cardboard supports underneath. I removed those and cut along the seam where they were glued together. By adding a little bit of cardboard on the ends of them (scissors, tape and 10 minutes of time) I was able to create two storage boxes for all of the figures. A rubber band on each end to hold them closed and I was all finished. The models will rattle around a little bit if you don't add some dividers, but I'll leave that for you to decide.
In order to access the boxes more easily I cut away some of the black insert so that it just lies on top of the boxes. It still looks the same as before, with the added bonus of all the components fitting in the box with no problem. There is still plenty of room in the center of the box, and I'm hopeful that the terrain pack will fit nicely there.
