Rats! Infest the Pitch.

Impact! Miniatures just released three new sculpts for the Ratmen line for Elf Ball and Fantasy Football in general.

To keep them all the same I painted one of each in the line, including the three new sculpts.

Here is the set:

If I can rope a local or few into trying Elfball this is the team I'd want to play.  

I have to admit, I had my doubts about the line originally. I think a lot of that had to do with the photos. 

These are very dynamic miniatures.  As such, they can be hard to photo, since just the slight wrong angle of the camera can 'flatten' the impression of the mini and make it look awkward, something that the human eye seems to have no such deficiency.  So when the miniatures arrived my opinion immediately started changing.  

These are Cool miniatures.  

By way of review, be prepared to spend a lot of time in the assembly phase.  Metal minis tend to be quicker to assemble than plastic kits, but not these.  There are a lot of spikes, and those always take time to clean up properly.  When I deal with spikes, I file them a bit, rounding the points, because that's the first spot that paint will chip or wear through. 

Some of them are a bit fiddly to assemble too. They are gracile, dynamic, and of course have separate tails. So take your time, it's well worth it. The thrower wasn't intuitive to me on how to assemble him, the upper and lower body look like they'll fold together too much, until you get the right angle then I had an 'ah ha' moment and really appreciated the design.  

So let's take a closer look at each of them:

Hands down I think this is the best fantasy football intended 'Big Rat' I have ever seen.  There are a few from various companies out there and without bias I can say this is my favorite. The foot he's resting on is the only weak area of the sculpt- but it's still decent. He's got a great pose, and his bulk is undeniable, even while crouching down. He has an old battle scar across one eye: nice touch. 

This guy is easily one of my favorites in the line, probably tied for top favorite.  

He'd make an excellent Blitzer.

I picked different poses than the group shot- he looks good from every angle.

The thrower is nearly as dynamic.  Nice detail that he's got a mechanical arm. 

The female rat.  Not many female ratman sculpts out there.  This is tied with my favorite in the line.  Great pose and a lot of potential.  I have some conversion ideas in mind for this mini. 

Another of the new sculpts.  This one has 3 little rats with him.  Very fun sculpt.

Your basic half-timid linerat.  I really like the variety of armor pieces, that they have a similar style, but it isn't a uniform uniform if you know what I mean. Seems right for rats. 

A speedy rat.  This would make a good runner position, but with that claw, I could see him as a dynamic blitzer too.  This would make a nice set to base the Skaven for an Underworld team from. 

For Underworld, this one and the Blitzer would make the ideal Storm Vermin. 

Catcher. Doesn't get much more dynamic than that. 

Lastly the coach. Nice to have a staff mini.  Have to admit it's my least favorite of the set.  The head is great: quality & character like the rest, but the body seems too thin to me and stands too stiff & straight in the legs.  

That said, it is just the coach, so if there has to be a weaker sculpt it's nice that it isn't a player on the team.  The hook is a nice touch, and I've certainly seen worse. If you have some moderate sculpting skills it wouldn't be hard to bulk out the thigh area to give him a more rat-haunches look. 

All in all this is a very nice solid team set in my opinion.  For a full Blood Bowl team you'll have some duplicates- but that's pretty common for most metal teams, and for the skaven portion of Underworld, Blood Bowl 7's, Street Ball or Elf Ball you might not have a single duplicate.  

Using my Review system:

Rating:

Casting: 10/10

Cleverness of Design: 9/10

Aesthetics: 10/10

Just think what you can accomplish with some rats...

Enjoy!

Warning: Film Clip not appropriate for non-violent viewing or those with phobia of rats.