Today I'm going to be looking at two recent releases from
Knight Models. One for Batman and one for Marvel. I know it's an odd combination, but they came out at the same time.
Swamp Thing and Loki!
Both of these models come in clear blisters. Swamp Thing in a large one and Loki in a small.
Both have the parts held in with foam and have a backing card showing a well painted finished model.
Inside these blisters are two 35mm scale, highly detailed, multi-part metal models.
Loki also has a 30mm base and Swamp thing has a 40mm base and stat card.
I know Loki isn't playable at the moment, but
Knight Models ARE working on a set of rules for the Marvel models in their own game.
Swamp Thing on the other hand is playable right now. In two different crews as well. Ivy as a Sidekick or Batman as a Free Agent. He also has Elite Boss: Plants so can lead an Ivy crew on his own if you wanted to use just him and some killer Plants.
Swampy comes in at a huge 150 Rep but his stats and Traits reflect that cost.
Willpower 8, Strength 2+ Attack 4 and Endurance 11 are impressive to start with with Scientific making his Special stat 4 instead of the usual 3. An Altered Limb with Blood, Stun and Reach plus some Short Range Spikes add some nice weapons.
His Basic Traits of Large and Tough Skin make him hard to take down but he really comes into his own when you look at his Special Traits.
Roots pin models near him, Natural Immunities to Blind, Poison and Steal help him stay at his best. Regeneration lets you remove Blood Damage. And Green Travel gives a once per game 40cm move.
There are a couple of negatives as well though. Swamp Thing is vunerable to Fire and can't enter Sewers.
Swampy is a big heavy chunk of a model in only 4 parts. Torso, Legs and Arms.
Loki is a much smaller and slimmer figure in 6 parts. Body, Cape, Staff, Head and Horns.
Again, I was so excited to receive these models and get building, I forgot my normal mould lines picture. It wouldn't have shown much though as both of these models were really clean and didn't take a lot to prepare for building.
Swamp Thing was a simple build. The parts went together fairly well but there are gaps around the arms and waist that will need filling before he can be painted.
The main part of the model is stunning. He looks really impressive. But, his is standing on a huge great log that is stuck to his feet. I'm not keen on that at all so may remove it.
Loki was a simple but fiddly build. With such a small and thin parts, they were a bit to a struggle to hold in my massive hands. They did go together really well though and will hardly need any work to be ready for paint.
Again, this model looks stunning apart from one part. His empty hand looks like he has stubby fingers and isn't half as nice and clean a sculpt as the rest of the model.
Both have again been mounted on city base toppers from
Fenris Games to match the rest of my collection.
He does look nice. I get the idea of the log and it might 'grow' on me but he does appear to be surfing on it.
As Swampy is the first Sidekick available for a Poison Ivy crew, I have put him in a test list.
Leader - Poison Ivy (Comic) - 83 Rep - $0
Sidekick - Swamp Thing - 150 Rep - $0
Henchman - Spore Plant - 20 Rep - $150
Henchman - Spore Plant - 20 Rep - $150
Henchman - Creeper Plant - 16 Rep - $0
Henchman - Plant - 10 Rep - $0
This comes to 299 Rep and $300. This 'leaves' you with $700 for other Plant upgrades.
This crew is really going to struggle with Objectives as they Plants can't take them and will rely on decent placement of the Plants. Going to be fun to try though.
On
Wayland Games, Swamp Thing is £16.40. For a model that size and that detailed as well as that good in the game, I'm not going to complain about the price at all.
Loki looks like pure trickery and evil to me. Love it!
In this picture you can see what I was saying about the hand though. It doesn't look right with the rest of the model.
No crew list for Loki until the Marvel rules that
Knight Models are working on arrive but I bet he will be more than a match for his brother and his so-called Avengers.
I'm soooooo excited about Marvel being playable!!!!!!!!!
Loki's price on
Wayland Games is £11.60. Not bad for someone who can take on the Avengers AND the throne of Asgard.
It may seem a little much for a single model but characters in other popular games are about the same. Plus it's a larger scale, high detail, licensed product.
I do like 90% of both of these model and the little bits I don't can be overlooked with the overall coolness factor of both of them.
Scores will be -
Swamp Thing - 8/10 Badger Points
Loki - 8/10 Badger Points
What do you think of these two?
- Hendybadger