A Thorough Review and Critique - Forgeworld Lord of Change

[mountaincycle661]

This is a fan review of the Lord of Change model from forgeworld.

Like a lot of you, I was skeptical and slightly let down when forgeworld FINALLY produced the Lord of Change model. It just seemed lackluster next to the bloodthirster and the oh-so-god-damn popular great unclean one (seriously, how many times has that thing won a forgeworld best of show?!). As a long time tzeentch worshipper, the wind was taken out of my sails a little bit when i saw the photos up on their site.

Then my girlfriend bought me the damn thing for christmas. Oh boy did my opinions change REAL quick.

The model is simply amazing. I am now thoroughly convinced that the reason it looks so "meh" on the website is because the guy painting it clearly did not put in his fair share of effort to really dress it up. Its almost as if they rushed him to get it done so they could have it ready for sale by christmas (the likely scenario). In so doing, many of the greatest features about the model have slipped under the radar. Ill address some of the greatest concerns I heard a few months ago.

"The wings look terrible!" - Ok, so they're not spread out in dramatic fashion like the GW model. Ok, so they're folded back behind the model in a position that says "yeah, i think ill just walk all over your army rather than fly". I agree that the posing could have been a bit more...well, it could have a little more pizzaz to it. But honestly, the wings are freaking HUGE. Ive held actual BIRDS with wings smaller than the pieces I got in that kit. If you were to take those same sized wings and fan them out in some other position, the model would take up WAY too much room and the pinning and gluing would be a nightmare. Also, most people argued that they didnt look detailed at all. Quite the opposite. This is a prime example of the less-than-stellar paintjob provided on the website. The photos on the website show that the painter applied VERY little highlights to ANY part of the wings. So they just look like big purple...well...shapes. The wings are incredibly detailed. Every individual feather is unqiue next to its neighbor. The feather's fibers bend, fold, and curl just like the real thing. I know forgeworld is known for incredibly lifelike detail, but these wings truly take the cake. I was floored!

"It just looks like a bigger version of the GW model. Whats the big deal?" - Forgeworld produced a Keeper of Secrets model that looked totally different than the GW model because...well...the GW model is just god-awful. They HAD to make it brand new from the ground up. They did the same thing with the Great Unclean One. Again, GWs blood thirster model is a running JOKE in some gaming circles. So forgeworld took it upon themselves to make something truly unique and awesome. With the Lord of Change, they didnt really have to change a whole lot. To me, GW's concept of the lord of change is fine...It was just poorly executed. The GW model is out of proportion, goofy and is definitly showing its age. But the concept is great! Super magic vulture of doom with a big *** staff of death? Sure! Why not? All forgeworld did was correct all of those mistakes present in the GW model. They dressed it up, added some cool details and made it look believable.

"It just doesnt have enough chaos on it" - Its unfortunate that people say this about the Lord of Change model. This is another example of many cool details being lost in translation due to a rushed paint job. What you CANT tell from the photos is that every trinket, every talisman and every square inch of this guys staff is covered in awesome detail. The painter chose a very limited pallet. He used a lot of gold almost exclusively and all the neat mutation bits are lost by such limitations. The tentacles and slimy tounges wrapped around the staff could have been so much better if he used at least 2 or 3 colors. And the gold crescent above the staff is something straight out of the tzeentchian concept art from Warhammer Online - just covered in teeth, tounges, eyes and leering faces (also lost because of his "im gunna paint it all monochromatic gold and ink wash it once and call it done!" attitude). And the horrors coming up out of his hand?!?! God DAMN are they cool! He painted them so plainly! The horror "bit" is a painting challenge in and of itself! Personally, I paint my horrors all different kinds of colors, not just pink and blue. So Im going to have a field day with this guy.

Also, as a side note, it should be mentioned that the model is very well designed from a construction point of view. Very little mold lines, not a whole lot of flash (by forgeworld standards!), and ease of construction make this a very practical model to put together. The only hang up here is the neck spines and toenails which are tiny and difficult to get into place (and stay there!). Other than that, very few gaps needed to be plugged, and even then the gaps that were there were easily filled in with green stuff.

All in all, this is a great model and I am thoroughly pleased with it. Im glad Tzeentch players FINALLY got some love (move over khorne and nurgle, you and and your 31 kits and models! grrrr!). If you were hesitant to buy him before because you werent sure you would be happy with him, put those worries to rest. He's great, and would make a fantastic center piece to any thousand sons or tzeentch demons army.

[Subject Keyword]

Dude, I never would have complained about the thing.
I thought it looked gorgeous the first time I saw it.
I don't like the ridiculous size difference between the Four greater Daemons, though.
The Great unclean one and Keeper of Secrets just look so tiny!

[Melissia]

Yeah, that's kinda silly. They should all be the same size, roughly.

[snikrot]

i assume the keeper of secrets would rely on speed and agility rather than strength so size wouldn't matter so much

[vril]

"It just looks like a bigger version of the GW model. Whats the big deal?"

Oh, I wish that'd be true! The GW model is still a beautyful miniature unlike his badly proportioned brothers.

If they did the wings right, I would've bought one. It's not a lack of detail or the fact that they're static (I like static miniatures). It's the kind of wings that the scultptor chose. The GW model has birdlike wings because greater daemons of Tzeentch ARE birds, so why did the sculptor give the FW version such inappropriate angelic wings?
I really hate him for that. Tzeentch has always been my favorite chaos god and I waited many years for the FW LoC. You can't imagine my disappointment. It's one of the, if not the worst model that FW has ever realeased.

[DarkLink]

The GW model has birdlike wings because greater daemons of Tzeentch ARE birds, so why did the sculptor give the FW version such inappropriate angelic wings?

Summs up my feeling on the wings. I could never quite place why I didn't like them until I saw the angelic comment here.

Aside from that, I think the model looks fantastic. If they only stuck a claw at the top of each wing or something it'd be perfect.

[mountaincycle661]

wait...so you're problem is the wings are angelic and not birdlike? I was under the impression that they are one and the same. As i held the wing pieces i remember just thinking "jesus freakin christ...these look like REAL bird wings!". I agree that maybe a claw at the top would have been a nice touch, but still....The wings are incredibly detailed and cool looking.

[DarkLink]

wait...so you're problem is the wings are angelic and not birdlike? I was under the impression that they are one and the same. As i held the wing pieces i remember just thinking "jesus freakin christ...these look like REAL bird wings!". I agree that maybe a claw at the top would have been a nice touch, but still....The wings are incredibly detailed and cool looking.

My first though on the wings was "those look kinda fluffy for a vile greater daemon of Tzeentch". Fluffy as in cute, cuddly little kitty fluffy, not fluffy as in fits the back story well fluffy. Angelic is just a better way of describing it. They just don't look evil.

[FirstLegion]

I think the model is absolutely AMAZING! I have too much on my plate right now to fit in a super-demon, but after Adepticon, I will be buying one.

My problem is the rules. I got my copy of Imperial Armour Apocalypse II about a week ago, mostly so I could get his official rules. Though it was no unexpected, I was disappointed. For 999 points, he should about the biggest bad *** on the block. He just isn't. Though his rules are interesting, they are just not as good as they could have been and are certainly not worth 1000 points.

He can do some damage and is nearly imposable to kill, but in most games I'd rather have Ang'grath.