Games Workshop Blood Bowl Necromantic Horror Unboxing & Review
Hello, and welcome back,
Sleepy WhatsIt here with another
miniatures video for you.
In today’s video we’re
going to be taking a look at
the new Necromantic Horror Blood Bowl Team
from Games Workshop, the
Wolfenburg Crypt-Stealers.
(mysterious music)
GW’s release schedule for
Blood Bowl in 2020 got,
let’s say, a little bit messed up.
I can’t think of any reason
why that may have happened,
no global issues with shipping and such
that may have affected that.
This meant that, in theory,
we got a new starter
box set with two teams
and its various accoutrements,
a new Treeman model, and
a stand-alone new team
all at the same time.
I’ve already covered the box set
and the Treeman model in previous videos,
so now we’re going to take
a look at the new team,
the Necromantic Horror one.
Production on this team seems
to have been a bit tortured
since it went out of stock
almost immediately after it was available
and has been somewhat hard to get.
I’m not clear if this is due to low stock
or higher demand, but anyway,
I finally got my hands on
the team so we can review it.
This video is
my standard Blood Bowl review structure,
we’re going to do an unboxing,
go through the contents of the box
and then move on to discussing
the assembled models
and then some final thoughts on the kit
and basically whether or not
I think it’s worth buying.
Getting into the box here,
we have our standard lineup of villains,
bases, sprues,
instructions, and transfers.
All the models in this
team are on 32mm bases,
so that’s nice, no big
ones, no little ones.
The normal, one-page folded
assembly instructions,
which are generally good.
I’m not a fan of the assembly
of some of the models,
which we’ll discuss a bit later,
but that really isn’t
the instruction’s fault.
The instructions are clear.
Full set of transfers
in both black and white,
which is nice to see.
I was a little bit concerned
after the Second Season box set
that we would get minimal
transfers moving forward
but we’ve, that issue
seems to be a one-off thing
and then the sprues themselves,
two of the same sprue for your 14 models.
Having already built these models
when I’m doing this voice
over, I have to say,
I really do like the layout of the sprue.
All the parts for each model
are local to each other on the sprue
and sanely laid out, no like weird bits.
So, with the box unboxed,
let’s move over to looking at
some of the assembled models.
Going to lead off here
with the six zombie models
which are a mix of
traditional zombie aesthetic
with a bit of a scarecrow vibe.
There are three poses
with two different heads
so you can have six
unique models out the box.
If you don’t like a head you
can just double that one up,
like use two of the same.
The look and feel is very Halloween-y
and I think it fits in really well
with the rest of the
team and very autumnal.
These models use a construction
that I previously haven’t been huge fan of
where the back torso on the inside
has two notches and the
legs and the head both have
like a little stick that comes off
and that fits into those notches
and then you slap the front torso on.
Previously, I found this
construction to be really fiddly
and it tended to leave joints
that were very prone to breaking.
That said, I think they have improved that
in the design of these models.
The attachment point is
sculpted a little bit more
to have like a deep indent
to increase the surface area for adhesion
and the joint being
surrounded by the torso
means that you don’t have
to do a really clean join
so you can drop a bit of extra glue in
to make sure it’s really solid
because it’s hidden away.
This design is convenient
since it means that
with a relatively minimal
amount of modification
you should be able to
swap the heads and legs
between any of the torsos
when you’re building
so you can have a lot of variety
in your team if you want.
Now moving on to the ghouls,
there’s one pose with two heads
with a relatively sane construction plan.
Not super in love with either head
but I think they’re fine,
they’re solid ghouls.
The pose and general design
is similar to the Shambling Undead ghouls
so you can probably
swap bits back and forth
between those kits if
you want to vary it up.
The flesh golems are up next,
very Monster of Dr. Frankenstein inspired.
I like to look, building
them is very easy,
pretty much exactly what
I’d want for a flesh golem
and so I have no complaints there,
fits very well with the Halloween-y theme.
Here we have the two werewolves,
probably the easiest
models to assemble here
cause the body’s just two pieces
and then there’s the head
goes in a slightly odd angle
but it’s a three-piece model,
very easy put together.
So, I like the sculpts,
they look really nice.
One thing, watch out for the
spike on the head of that one.
I pressed my finger against it
when bonding the model together
and ended jabbing my finger hard enough
that I actually drew blood,
so that boy’s a bit sharp,
so watch out for that.
And finally onto the wights.
Again, I think they fit the
Halloween aesthetic very well
and I totally get what
they were going for.
Not a big fan of the construction, though.
There’s multiple joints
running across the top
and down the front,
basically in very high
visibility areas that combined
with they use a lot of
surface-mount type connections
instead of like ball-and-socket key joints
makes this model kit kind
of a pain to assemble.
You’re likely going to need
to do a bit of gap filling
on these models no matter
how well you assemble them.
I would have preferred a
slightly less kinetic design,
like with a little bit less flow
so they could have done
it as a single press
or two form mold and not
have to make me attach,
glue so much together
to avoid those seams.
With the models out of the
way let’s discuss my thoughts
and recommendations on this kit.
I liked the Halloween aesthetic as a team,
I think it fits really well.
It’s not a huge departure
from the Shambling Undead Team
so you could swap models between the two
or bits from both of them
but it still has its own
distinct feel from it,
so it’s not just an extension
of the Shambling Undead box.
I wish this kit had come out
in the beginning of October,
which I assume was the original plan
instead of late November
since it would have been
a fun Halloween project
but you know, c’est la vie,
last year was a bit of a dumpster fire.
I personally prefer playing Undead
over Necromantic Horror
but I think they’re both good teams
with the different play styles
and a good choice to release.
I think Undead is a
little bit more forgiving
for a newbie player since the werewolf,
which is a bit of a linchpin
to the Necromantic Horror play style,
tends to be a bit of a glass cannon
and very heavily targeted
but this is still a vastly
superior team we have
for a starting player to learn the game
than something like Halflings
or Khemri or something
or, like, Vampires, like
something really out there.
My only significant complaint
about the entire kit
is really how those wights assemble.
They’re not as bad as
the push-fit Stormcast
with their bloody seams running
right through the pauldron
but, honestly, they’re
kind of getting there
from a, “You’re going to have to fuse
those joints somehow.” Perspective.
I think for a new player
they’re going to be a bit of
a challenge to assemble well
but I think it’s totally manageable,
it’s just, you may have to spend some time
with some putty to get them finished off.
Overall, I’d recommend the kit.
It’s a solid team with all the
needed parts in a single box
which I really appreciate
and they look good and they
should play well on the table.
Thank you for watching,
I hope you found this video informative.
If you do, please get the video a like.
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on Blood Bowl miniatures
and things like that
please subscribe to the channel.
Other than that, I’ll look forward
to seeing you in the next one.
(mysterious music)
