Disappointed in miniatures quality in Starter box

[spiralingcadaver]

Pretty sure the multiple resin types are just because they're bad at getting the ratios right. I've gotten multiple casts of the same pieces which were dramatically different colors/hardness.

On the starters, they're not that hard except it would be good if they told you that plastic cement doesn't work on PVC and that filing/scraping doesn't clean it, and at least one has (or had, if they fixed it) a model incorrectly assembled in the box art (or that might be a unit box or something... I forget what). The old (very old) boxes did actually come with a very generic universal set of instructions ("this is how you build lights, this is how you build bonejacks, this is how you build heavies..."), but that got scrapped for some reason or other.

On Infinity, some of the rolling is counterintuitive (it makes sense regarding probability of success, but is still weird), but the game's quite solid and I very much enjoy what I've played (still a relative newb).

[Erik Setzer]

Well, the models weren't that bad, but I did have one of Sorscha's arms falls out, and used super glue to reattach it... so lesson learned.

On a side note, but still Warmachine-related, a friend and I tried out a game using the starter box forces, and even though I'm sure we got one or two things not quite right and didn't use some of the more advanced rules, it was pretty fun. Almost every attack felt like it hit hard, especially with the warjacks, and it was a brutal slugfest that ended with him winning by having Kreoss come after Sorscha and blast her repeatedly with spells, even hitting her with an AOE when he was right beside her (hurt him a bit, but hurt her more). At the end of it, he had Kreoss on his last legs, and one barely functional trashed 'jack that was one hit away from falling apart.

[Aaron LeClair]

Well, the models weren't that bad, but I did have one of Sorscha's arms falls out, and used super glue to reattach it... so lesson learned.

On a side note, but still Warmachine-related, a friend and I tried out a game using the starter box forces, and even though I'm sure we got one or two things not quite right and didn't use some of the more advanced rules, it was pretty fun. Almost every attack felt like it hit hard, especially with the warjacks, and it was a brutal slugfest that ended with him winning by having Kreoss come after Sorscha and blast her repeatedly with spells, even hitting her with an AOE when he was right beside her (hurt him a bit, but hurt her more). At the end of it, he had Kreoss on his last legs, and one barely functional trashed 'jack that was one hit away from falling apart.

In case you didn't know warcasters can spend 1 focus to buy and extra attack, 1 more focus to boost the attack roll, and 1 more to boost damage and yes the game is a ton of fun. I play Menoth and have a small amount of Mercs that will work with Menoth also.

When you get a chance I recommend getting Grand Exemplar Kreoss(his first epic upgrade, also called Keross2), once I got him I never used Keross1 again beside in games vrs new players.

[CoffeeGrunt]

I got the Legion of Everblight starter set and wasn't very impressed with it. I've probably been a bit spoiled by GW and Warlord Games, but the lack of spare parts was a little disappointing, though looking at PP's other kits, that's just how they roll. The parts were simply sealed in small bags, but for some reason they were randomly mixed, so one bag would have two Shredder arms, Lilith's torso, and a Carnivean's arm, the other parts scattered between the other bags, which felt a bit lazy. Some players locally had parts missing, but PP replaced them within a couple of weeks.

The material is unpleasant to work with as others have noted, I blunted my knife scraping mould lines and flash so that the Carnivean looked a bit presentable. Even then it took a bit of green stuff to tidy up gaps, especially on the Carnivean's limbs, and the head needed a hefty pin as the contact surface was so badly shaped.

There's not even any real ability to pose the models, which tbh puts PP behind even small startup companies in terms of hobby, IMO. Sure, the minis were nice. I painted them up then sold them on after the game just didn't click with me. They just felt like a couple of steps behind GW, Warlord and, to be honest, most of the likes of Kromlech, Puppetswar, Victoria and Anvil that I've ordered from. Surely the second-biggest and arguably fastest-growing company in the industry could do better?

Also why not include the token pack in the starter boxes? Everyone guys one anyway, as it's the only real way to track Focus and spell effects...

[Erik Setzer]

In case you didn't know warcasters can spend 1 focus to buy and extra attack, 1 more focus to boost the attack roll, and 1 more to boost damage and yes the game is a ton of fun. I play Menoth and have a small amount of Mercs that will work with Menoth also.

Yeah, I actually didn't expect him to come after me and was trying to use my focus to get my last remaining jack to clear the bodies around him and get to me. And then on one boosted damage roll I rolled a 1, 2, 2... not going to do much damage that way. The biggest problem was I couldn't hit him, Kreoss has a pretty solid DEF, and Sorscha's Focus is only 6. I probably should have just charged at him and smacked him with the axe.

- - - Updated - - -

I got the Legion of Everblight starter set and wasn't very impressed with it. I've probably been a bit spoiled by GW and Warlord Games, but the lack of spare parts was a little disappointing, though looking at PP's other kits, that's just how they roll. The parts were simply sealed in small bags, but for some reason they were randomly mixed, so one bag would have two Shredder arms, Lilith's torso, and a Carnivean's arm, the other parts scattered between the other bags, which felt a bit lazy. Some players locally had parts missing, but PP replaced them within a couple of weeks.

The material is unpleasant to work with as others have noted, I blunted my knife scraping mould lines and flash so that the Carnivean looked a bit presentable. Even then it took a bit of green stuff to tidy up gaps, especially on the Carnivean's limbs, and the head needed a hefty pin as the contact surface was so badly shaped.

There's not even any real ability to pose the models, which tbh puts PP behind even small startup companies in terms of hobby, IMO. Sure, the minis were nice. I painted them up then sold them on after the game just didn't click with me. They just felt like a couple of steps behind GW, Warlord and, to be honest, most of the likes of Kromlech, Puppetswar, Victoria and Anvil that I've ordered from. Surely the second-biggest and arguably fastest-growing company in the industry could do better?

Also why not include the token pack in the starter boxes? Everyone guys one anyway, as it's the only real way to track Focus and spell effects...

I get all of these concerns... It's why I like to play a mix of games (and why an indy store is better than a GW store for me, honestly). The Warmachine match felt a lot more fun than the 30K match I had with the same player just before it, and it was mainly because everything we did felt like it had an effect, which was pretty fun. But the models, while I do like the look of a lot of them, aren't as customizable.

On the plus side, for someone like me this means I can take the time I'm not working on modeling those guys and put it to modeling new Orks.

X-Wing and Star Wars Armada are even lowed on the model customization scale... though you can definitely do it (there's a Facebook group dedicated to repaints, but people also show modifications). But I wouldn't count that as a mark against the game.

[Mike X]

Infinity and Dropzone Commander are the two bug names I have yet to try. I have never hard anything bad said about Infinity.

DzC has amazing sculpts, but I've had a bend in the PHR Ares's tailgun. Also, sometimes there's chunks of resin left behind that can seriously damage the details of model during removal if you're not careful. Most of the pieces are on ball-joints, which is cool for posing, but won't hold together without superglue.

[BeardMonk]

I THINK the two person Warmachine starter set contains older (almost first gen) plastic sculpts which, are fairly poor in terms of detail. PP is/has releasing new sculpts for pretty much everything which are at a greater level of detail. And they are slowly moving to multi part kits where they can. However you do still need to do a fair amount of rounding off mould lines etc. it just depends on how much that bothers you.

Most things that has been released in the last 18 months I would say is on a par with the general GW product lines. Its more the aesthetic/style of the world that some people don't like.

[spiralingcadaver]

I've heard horror stories about the cyriss sets.

And if they really wanted multipart kits, they'd have made all the lights universal kits too. It's not like PVC costs much.

I like a ton of the setting's aesthetic (well, minus that guy they love who does a lot of the cartoony warcaster illustrations), it really is just the material that stops me from collecting more.

[Chris J]

I realize I'm a bit tardy in tossing in my two cents, but I'm mystified at the criticism being tossed at PP for the quality of the minis in the starter box. Maybe I lucked out and got the best box they ever produced, but everything in my set has been superb. (OK, OK, the ruler is stupid...) As for the models, one sword was slightly bent, but I have had this with almost every figure from every company I've ever bought over the past 50 years (!!!), regardless of the material used to make it. If what you got is really bad, why not contact PP about it? I'll bet they would be willing to make it right--any decent businessman knows losing customers is a very, very bad thing. At least give them a chance; if they don't respond, THEN sock it to 'em.

Like I said, just my two cents.

Chris Johnson

[HappyDad]

... why not contact PP about it? I'll bet they would be willing to make it right--any decent businessman knows losing customers is a very, very bad thing. At least give them a chance; if they don't respond, THEN sock it to 'em.
Chris Johnson

You make a good point Chris. I had actually wondered about sending it back to the supplier, but since I had opened a few of the bags and they were selling it at a great price, I would of felt bad. It came from a supplier of games and parts - so not an individual just selling it on.

I still have the set. Most days I get the rulebook out and have a little read. I really want to paint the models, play the game and buy more. But the horrible quality still keeps scaring me away ! Lol.

I will try contacting PP, and see what they say.