Games Workshop have just posted the new 2nd wave of Skaven miniatures for advance order for 2011.
Having said that I hope to give a unbiased brief review of the models and other Skaven products on offer.
So, here goes...
There are 6 new Skaven models on sale, a 13 card deck of Skaven magic cards and a book on Skaven heraldry and uniforms (heraldry ? it just doesn't seem right !)
The new miniatures are of excellent quality. There is probably as much if not more detail on these models than any previously released. Not only are the models superbly sculpted in terms of detail but they all look very Skaveny. The character poses are superb and the machineries of war look exactly as you would expect to see from a bunch of verminous, pestilent ridden critters :D
The catapult can also be made as a warp lightning cannon which should mean there are plenty of bitz you can hold onto to customize units or even scratch build a new Clan Skryre machination.
There are two completely new models for the weapon teams that you wouldn't have been able to deploy before (with the appropriate model). They are the Warp Grinder and the Doom Flayer, both models are superb. The same goes for Ikit Claw (a Lord level 3 wizard) and Tretch Craventail [pictured above] (a useful utility hero level unit leader, for flank and rear attacks, who has a handy 4+ ward save and a 1 dice reroll).
I'm not so fond of the Abomination although it certainly is an abomination ! It looks like a pain to paint but good fun to assemble (hopefully, there are lots of spare parts and choices). Games Workshop have kindly included sprue shots of the new miniatures (I reckon they followed my lead when they saw the good feedback after I posted ones of the new Vampire Counts models many moons ago !) Anyway, it's nice to have a good zoom in view of the sprues.
The new Skaven models definitely have an evolving "Steam-Punkish" look to them. Personally I like it although I suspect it will not appeal to some of the Skaven vets (I mean veterans !) out there.
I can't tell you a lot about the heraldry book other than what you can see in the pics. It seems a bit strange to call it heraldry which I would really only associate with Bretonnians and maybe The Empire. Still, the fluff always goes down well with the devoted ratty hobbyist so I guess it will be received well.
The Skaven Magic cards look cool and I'd definitely add them to my wish list if I were a Skaven man (errr... I mean rat). Overall, a great release of miniatures, the plastic miniatures have come on massively over the past few years. Let me know what you think of them.
I think if I were to start Warhammer from the very beginning that Skaven would be in my top 3 if I were choosing an "evil" army - I actually consider Skaven to be more of a mischievous pain in the backside than "evil" which I would have to reserve for Daemons... and Dwarfs of course :) Skaven certainly have an enviable choice of models now and a broader range of tactical options than they had in the 7th edition.
Here's the GW advance orders link where you'll find loads more pics, prices and details :-
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/armySubUnitCats.jsp?catId=cat440004a
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