Warlord Games Cybermen part 02

To accompany the Cybermen from the Exterminate! skirmish game and the Missy and the Cybermen expansion set, Warlord Games released the Nightmares in Silver boxed set, featuring 10 metal Cybermen variants from the Doctor Who TV series from 1966 to 2013. The Cybermen - originally humanoids from Earth's twin planet, Mondas - have been constant adversaries of the Doctor from his first incarnation to the present day. The Mondasians replaced parts of their dying bodies with cybernetic parts and thus were born the first Cybermen. Eventually, they added emotional inhibitor chips to suppress all feelings. Logical and resourceful, no other Doctor Who villain has changed appearance so often as the ever upgrading Cybermen. From their inaugural appearance in 1966 to their current form, they have evolved to reduce their weaknesses and enhance their strengths. The Cybermen are a formidable and persistent foe.

These four Cybermen variants all appeared on Doctor Who during the 1960's. At the far left is what I have termed the Mk.1 Cyberman, and he debuted in a 1966 episode called The Tenth Planet. Although the Doctor defeated them, in doing so he triggered his first regeneration.
A year later, the Cybermen returned to face the Second Doctor and his companions, Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield, in an episode called The Tomb of the Cybermen set on the planet Telos, where an archaeological team uncover the resting place of an army of Cybermen.

In the 1968 episode, The Wheel in Space, the Second Doctor and Jamie battle the Mk.3 Cybermen on a space station shaped like a wheel. The Doctor uses an X-ray laser to destroy the Cybermen's ship.
Later that year, in The Invasion, the Mk.4 Cybermen unleash a hypnotic beam that paralyses most of the Earth's population. The Second Doctor, with help from UNIT, the RAF and the Russians, destroys the Cybermen spaceship, thus preventing their invasion.

In 1975, in Revenge of the Cybermen, the Fourth Doctor and his companions, Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan, arrive on Space Station Nerva orbiting Jupiter, where the Mk.5 Cybermen plan to destroy a new planet called Voga, which is nearby. Voga is rich in gold, which is harmful to Cybermen as it damages their breathing apparatus.
After a long absence, the Mk.6 Cybermen appeared in a 1982 episode called Earthshock, to destroy a peace conference on 26th Century Earth. In stopping them, the Fifth Doctor's boy genius companion, Adric, sacrifices himself.

Arriving in England in 1988 in the Silver Nemesis episode, the Seventh Doctor and Ace found the Mk.7 Cybermen, a 17th Century sorceress and the Nazis vying for control of a statue created by Rassilon. The Doctor tricked the Cybermen into thinking they had the artefact, but it was actually a bomb which destroyed their fleet.
Fast forward to 2006, and the Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith are trapped on a parallel Earth in a two part episode, called Rise of the Cybermen and Age of Steel. A mega-corporation called Cybus Industries, led by megalomaniac John Lumic, plans to convert the population of London into Mk.8 Cybermen with the help of emotional inhibitor sensors.

At the far left is a Mk.2 Cyber Controller, made by Black Tree Designs and gifted to me by Blaxkleric a good while ago. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to showcase him. Being 28mm scale he is clearly smaller than the Warlord Games figures, but that doesn't bother me in the least. Note how his head is very different to the normal Mk. 2 Cyberman. The "helmet" indicates his leadership status.
Next to him is another non-Warlord Games Cyberman. This Cyber Leader is an old plastic 30mm scale figure from the 2007 Doctor Who Micro Universe range of collectable miniatures produced by Character Options. The "C" on his chest identifies him as belonging the Cybus Industries and the black trim on his head indicates he is a Cyber Leader.

Returning back to the Warlord Games Nightmares in Silver set, second from the right is a Mk.9 Cyber Leader from the 2011 episode, Closing Time, in which the Eleventh Doctor and his companion Craig work together to repel another Cybermen invasion of Earth.
Finally, is the Mk.10 Cyber Leader from the appropriately named 2013 episode, Nightmare in Silver.
The Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald discover a whole new Cyber upgrade (a cross between the Cybus Industries Cybermen and the Mondas evolved Cybermen) on a military-controlled extraterrestrial theme park, Hedgewick's World of Wonders. It is this variant of Cybermen that appear in Warlord Games' Exterminate! skirmish game. That is why I have painted this figure as a Cyber Leader as denoted by the black trim on the sides and top of his head. And, no, it does not bother me that he appears to be running. You can see he has clearly been modelled on the Cyberman in this poster for the episode.

These highly detailed metal sculpts are a worthy addition to the plastic Cybermen made by Warlord Games. Whether you prefer old-style Doctor Who to the recent reincarnations, you're sure to find something in this set to suit your tastes. I make no apologies in stating that I much prefer the new series, but each to their own.

Warlord Games Cybermen part 01

I mentioned a couple of months ago that I had bought the Exterminate! skirmish game by Warlord Games along with the "Missy and the Cybermen" and the "Davros and the Daleks" boxed sets to go with it. The Exterminate! games contains 12 plastic 32mm scale Cybermen and 12 plastic 32mm scale Daleks, as multi-part models, that can be snapped together or glued. Mine are all glued. The two expansion sets contain a further 12 Cybermen and Daleks along with their respective leaders, Davros and Missy, who are sculpted in metal. There have been numerous versions of the Cybermen over the years as they have evolved into more efficient machines. These models are the latest version, which first appeared in the 2013 episode of Doctor Who called Nightmares in Silver. The sculpting of them is top notch. I have really taken to the Warlord Games Doctor Who miniatures range and the Exterminate! game is a great little sci-fi skirmish game.

The sprue that the plastic Cybermen comes on contains six Cybermen bodies (two standing still, two advancing with right leg leading and two advancing with left leg leading), six right arms in three different poses, and seven tiny Cybermats (four on bases, three unbased). This gives you a lot of variety in the way you can pose them. On some of mine, I cut off their left arms and repositioned them to add even more variety to my horde.

Painting them was so simple and I was able to paint them all in just over a week. I first covered them with Foundry Gunmetal Light 104C, followed by a Citadel Nuln Oil ink-wash. Then I dry-brushed them with Foundry Gunmetal Light 104C and a second dry-brushing with Foundry Spearpoint 35C for that shiny silvery look. Eyes, mouths and joints were picked out with Foundry Black Shade 34A and the light in the centre of their chests was painted with Foundry Vivid Blue 22B.

Here is my horde of Cybermen and Cybermats. Please note that the Cyber Leader at the centre front is an old plastic 30mm scale figure from the 2007 Doctor Who Micro Universe range of collectable miniatures produced by Character Options. I cut him off his integral base and glued him to a 25mm diameter slottabase. He fits in so well with the Warlord Games figures that I decided to include him as my Cyber Leader.

For those who keep count of such things, there should be four more Cybermats in these two horde photos but I deliberately omitted them, because this formation looks aesthetically pleasing without them to me. If it bothers you, please don't come complaining to me!
I'll be posting my review of Missy in a separate post as well as reviewing the Warlord Games Nightmares in Silver boxed set of 10 versions of Cybermen through the ages. But next time, the spotlight will shine on the Daleks.