Even though Mantica has been saved from the Edge of the Abyss, the Eye of the Abyss is still looming. Who is ready to face this challenge?
As I mentioned previously, the first non-kickstarted (which makes it a retailer exclusive!) Dungeon Saga expansion, the Eye of the Abyss is now up for pre-order and scheduled to start shipping on October 20th. However they snuck one in on me (like that is hard to do since nearly all my sources have dried up (meaning that I'm getting the majority of my information off of Facebook posts, just like the rest of you)) and they have added one more release - the Eye of the Abyss Bundle.
This bundle (which saves you $20 off of buying everything separately) consists of the original Dungeon Saga base game, Dwarf King's Quest, the Infernal Crypts expansion and the Eye of the Abyss expansion.
Since this is on their web site with more pictures, I feel I can now safely answer that burning question (no, not that one - go see your doctor about that), are the resin heroes the same as those previously released.
No, they are not. They appear to be very similar, but with at least two of them you can see the differences. Some have more than others.
(For all of these, the first picture (with the black background) is of the Kings of War multi-piece resin model, and the second (with the white background) is of the Dungeon Saga single-piece resin model)).
First off is Artakl, Ghekkotah Clutch Warden. This one seems to be identical - however I do have to wonder is the new one holding the knife in his left hand or is it empty? I can't see the blade because of the angle, and am not sure if the haft is sticking out of the hand or not. Even if he has the blade - it might be molded against the body instead of sticking out.
Then there is Eckter, Placoderm Defender. I actually played against this guy, and he is tough as nails and hard to crack. De 6+ and Ensnare make for a nasty combination (and even worse, normal Placoderms now also have Phalanx!). So long as he could face the oncoming units, I wasn't able to budge him. Once again I don't see many changes here - most likely is that I would assume the right arm is a separate piece in the original, but not in the new one.
Then we have Jarvis, Ophidian Obsessed Academic. Again this seems nearly identical, with no obvious changes.
The final hero is Magnilde, Varangur Demon Hunter. And this one is where you can start to see some of the differences.
First thing I noticed is the knife in her left hand - while the arm and blade stick out in the original, in the new version they are both molded next to her body (which I don't see as a bad thing - a little less dynamic maybe, but also much less chance of it breaking off in use). On her right hand side, the sword hilt is missing - I wonder if they removed this entirely. The whip also appears to be slightly thicker (and I've heard the whips were some of the most difficult parts to work with on the originals).
The final model is the villain, Mau'Ti-Bu-Su, Abyssal Temptress. This is also the one with the most obvious changes. First is the whip - changed to be much closer to her body, and most likely with several more attachment points on it. Her tail also appears to be thicker.
The wings are the most obvious change. They have moved up instead of being out from her body. I can see this making it much easier to cast in a single piece, as well as fitting onto the base better (i.e. sticks out less). The right wing, from this picture, looks a bit awkward to me, but that could just be the angle, you can't really tell until you can see the actual model. The picture makes it look like the edge of the wing is bent backward from what it should be - when I believe it is actually curved toward the front, thus not being warped.
I still haven't gotten in my Edge of the Abyss heroes from working Gencon, so all I have to go on is these pictures (and can't say when I'll actually have my hands on this expansion as well), but these do look to be new sculpts.
Which do you prefer? Are you a rabid completest and must have both? Do you not want to use Dungeon Saga minis in your Kings of War games? (and these are all on 25mm bases, not the 20mm they need to Kings of War)
The pictures seem to show the same quality in the DS versions as the KoW ones have, so it really comes down to if you want the Dungeon Saga expansion, which has them all, or just to buy the multi-part model you want. (Of course if you want 3 or more, then the DS versions start to save your money).
Because it is all fun and games . . .
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| Dungeon Saga: Eye of the Abyss Bundle |
This bundle (which saves you $20 off of buying everything separately) consists of the original Dungeon Saga base game, Dwarf King's Quest, the Infernal Crypts expansion and the Eye of the Abyss expansion.
Since this is on their web site with more pictures, I feel I can now safely answer that burning question (no, not that one - go see your doctor about that), are the resin heroes the same as those previously released.
No, they are not. They appear to be very similar, but with at least two of them you can see the differences. Some have more than others.
(For all of these, the first picture (with the black background) is of the Kings of War multi-piece resin model, and the second (with the white background) is of the Dungeon Saga single-piece resin model)).
First off is Artakl, Ghekkotah Clutch Warden. This one seems to be identical - however I do have to wonder is the new one holding the knife in his left hand or is it empty? I can't see the blade because of the angle, and am not sure if the haft is sticking out of the hand or not. Even if he has the blade - it might be molded against the body instead of sticking out.
Then there is Eckter, Placoderm Defender. I actually played against this guy, and he is tough as nails and hard to crack. De 6+ and Ensnare make for a nasty combination (and even worse, normal Placoderms now also have Phalanx!). So long as he could face the oncoming units, I wasn't able to budge him. Once again I don't see many changes here - most likely is that I would assume the right arm is a separate piece in the original, but not in the new one.
Then we have Jarvis, Ophidian Obsessed Academic. Again this seems nearly identical, with no obvious changes.
The final hero is Magnilde, Varangur Demon Hunter. And this one is where you can start to see some of the differences.
First thing I noticed is the knife in her left hand - while the arm and blade stick out in the original, in the new version they are both molded next to her body (which I don't see as a bad thing - a little less dynamic maybe, but also much less chance of it breaking off in use). On her right hand side, the sword hilt is missing - I wonder if they removed this entirely. The whip also appears to be slightly thicker (and I've heard the whips were some of the most difficult parts to work with on the originals).
The final model is the villain, Mau'Ti-Bu-Su, Abyssal Temptress. This is also the one with the most obvious changes. First is the whip - changed to be much closer to her body, and most likely with several more attachment points on it. Her tail also appears to be thicker.
The wings are the most obvious change. They have moved up instead of being out from her body. I can see this making it much easier to cast in a single piece, as well as fitting onto the base better (i.e. sticks out less). The right wing, from this picture, looks a bit awkward to me, but that could just be the angle, you can't really tell until you can see the actual model. The picture makes it look like the edge of the wing is bent backward from what it should be - when I believe it is actually curved toward the front, thus not being warped.
Which do you prefer? Are you a rabid completest and must have both? Do you not want to use Dungeon Saga minis in your Kings of War games? (and these are all on 25mm bases, not the 20mm they need to Kings of War)
The pictures seem to show the same quality in the DS versions as the KoW ones have, so it really comes down to if you want the Dungeon Saga expansion, which has them all, or just to buy the multi-part model you want. (Of course if you want 3 or more, then the DS versions start to save your money).
Because it is all fun and games . . .
The Dungeon Saga (EYE of the Abyss) models are all one-piece. This keeps them in line with the Dungeon Saga range.
ReplyDeleteThe Kings of War (EDGE of the Abyss) models are multi-part.
All of them are lovely!