Sprue Review and the Queue

I picked up the new Tomb Kings Reinforcements Box, so let's take a look at the sprues and see what I'm working on...

 

Chariot Sprues 

 

 

The new chariots look really nice. They share the same basic aesthetic as the classic Tomb Kings chariots, but with better realized detail. For example, the construction materials are clearly defined– The rattan framing and wicker floor. There are proper harnesses and reins for the horses (which has always been a pet peeve of mine). 

 
I'm curious how the chariots will be packaged for a stand-alone kit. The first sprue is a complete chariot with horses, and the second sprue has the command bits and five crew members. This box set has six chariots, and three crew sprues, for a total of 15 crewmen. Each chariot should have two crewmen, leaving three spares. If they pack the chariots in boxes of three, they would need to include two crew sprues. A full extra sprue when they only need one spare skeleton seems a bit wasteful, so maybe they'll sell them as a box of six? Either way, you would have plenty of spare bits for conversions. (I haven't yet checked to see if the chariot crew parts are interchangeable with the skeleton infantry. Everything looks key fitted and mono-pose, so I'm guessing not.)
 

The sprues also include some broken statuary to spruce up the bases:

 

 

The attachment points for the crew are very clever– There are breaks in the wicker floor...

 

 

...and corresponding shapes under the skeletons' feet, so they can plug into the floor. And if you change up the crew's position, the holes in the floor will simply look like natural breaks.

 

 

And then there's the increased base sizes. It's a pretty big bump; the base on the left is the original 50x100mm chariot base, and the one on the right is the new 60x 120mm chariot base.

 

 

Skeleton chariots are something I've been holding off on, and I'm glad I did.
 

Skeleton Warrior Sprues

 

 

Now we get to my only gripe with this box (and it's kind of a big one), which is the scale. The models' proportions are so dainty they almost look like they could be "true" 25mm scale. The skulls are in line with the current skeletons, but here's a spare skull from the Sepulchral Stalkers kit, side-by-side with the new skeleton heads, and the difference in scale difference is pretty obvious. What's more egregious is that the newly announced Battle March box includes Sepulchral Stalkers, so they're selling the big skulls and tiny skulls in the same set. (It's worth pointing out that only the skeleton warrior heads are molded as part of the bodies. Both the chariot crew and archers have separate heads.)

 

 

The skeletons are noticeable shorter, too:

 

 

Now, my painted skeleton in that image is a conversion, so its height could be expanded a bit from mixing parts, so here's a "stock" classic Tomb Kings skeleton. It's in a slightly crouched, lunging pose, and is about the same height as an upright skeleton.

 

 

The hands are tiny:

 

 

And, yes, that is an old "big hand" skeleton, but here's an arm from the previous Tomb Kings horsemen sprue which was more in line with the newer, less heroic scale, and the new hands still seem a little small by comparison. I feel like the entire model could be increased by just 1mm and it would be a massive improvement. 

 

 

I really appreciate that the horn is the same style as the original Tomb Kings horn. And this new one comes with a plain horn opening and one with a snake head, giving the instrument the appearance of a coiled snake. (That's going to pair well with my Serpent Brigade!)

 

 

There are also a nice mix of kopesh-style hand weapons with both straight and curved blades.

 

 

Skeleton Archer Sprues

 

 

These might be my favorite of the bunch. I was originally expecting the skeletons to be a dual kit, but having a unique kit for the archers allows for much more dynamic poses. There are some spare details on the archer sprues, as well (the warrior sprue didn't include any extra embellishments beyond the command upgrades).

 

 

The broken vase and bugs are great, although I wish the scorpion and beetle weren't on these little mounds of sand; it will be a little difficult to blend them into the basin sand without obscuring the bugs' legs.

 

 

A nice touch with the sculpting is the gap between the arm and leg bones. They also did a great job using the clothing, bandages, and weapons to reinforce the legs and arms in places. The bows are pretty thin, though; it's going to be a challenge to drill through them and add bow strings.

 

 

The transfer sheet has a great mix of large icons and small hieroglyphs. Perfect for adding detail to shields and banners.

 

 

Overall, this kit is a huge win. A much needed upgrade for aging kits. I only wish they had maintained a bit of the heroic proportions, or maybe split the difference like the previous iteration of Tomb Kings kits did. I'm really looking forward to personalizing these with some conversions to add them into my army!
 

My Tomb Kings Queue
 

I've been accumulating a handful of small projects that are in various stages of completion, some of which I was waiting for the release of this box before continuing. One such piece is my token to represent the Scroll of Righteous Smiting. The painting is mostly finished, but I was struggling to find a solution for glowing text on the scroll. I think I'll be able to use the new transfer sheet, painting the blue-green glow, and adding the transfer over top to be the white "core" of the glow.

 

 

In a recent game, I broke Tomb Prince Selketta's pointing finger. I tried to sculpt a replacement, but only ended up making it worse. So I decided to replace his whole hand. Fortunately, the standard bearer for the new chariots has his index finger pointed along the banner pole. With a sharp knife, I was able to carefully trim away the banner pole, and sculpted some wrappinga around the hand and wrist. Once it's painted, I'll trim the wire rod and pin it onto Selketta's wrist, and he'll be good as new.

 

 

My second skeleton regiment's banner has been languishing for months. I finally painted the red fabric and banner pole. I just need to paint the icon and the metal.

 

 

In the previous post, I was working on my Mortuary Cult battle standard bearer. The priest is primed, and I've started piecing together the banner. The top arch combines pieces from the new skeleton command. I'll have a dedicated post for this project.

 

 

I'm working on another character, a second Tomb Prince based on the character Axiris from my Warmaster army. Sculpting his skirt has slowed the project, but now that it's finished, I'll be able to finish him up in short order. So stay tuned...

 

 

'Til next time!