Up now is an odd, quick addition to a Pathfinding army, an Ice Queen for the Northern Alliance!
I have run demo days here and there, but the club still hasn't quite found our collective footing since the closing of our main shop back in May. Since then, the Free Dwarfs have mustered for me, and replaced the Imperial Dwarfs in my demo box. Now with Fracture released as well, I was looking at the Forces of the Abyss, and redoing their demo list too, swapping in Nagarri to make the list a little cleaner. While I was at it, I picked up some second-hand minis, among which was a Mantic Ice Queen, so we could give the Northern Alliance a more streamlined list too. Only the Undead are untouched,
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| The ice has neat colors, but I overdid the gloss. It is thick and bubbly, but looks fie on the table. |
My previous approach to demos was to have multiple lists around, switching the units up depending on the choice of Champion. Champions can be very determinative in lists now, and while that is a neat approach, it also gets a bit messy, with lost of extra units to transport, and lots of paper lists floating around. For the next stretch of demos, we'll try more static lists, just focusing on a single Champion.
The Ice Queen was second hand, picked up from my local Noble Knight Games. They continue to be an amazing shop and shopping resource! The mini was weird, with the previous owner having taken one of the cloaks from the NA Elves and glued it a bit awkwardly onto the mini. I didn't like the orientation of the cloak, but did like the idea, so I carefully broke the cloak off, attached it to the model in an orientation I liked better, and then I tried some quick green stuff hair to strengthen the join. It works well enough! The original ice wall was neat, and I liked it to remind me about Ensnare, but I didn't like the look of it on the larger 40mm base. Instead I took a thin 20mm square base (from Fireforge, I think?) and just started carving it up. I used the straight edges to guide the glue, and then affixed a bunch of shards to the base for a quick and dirty facsimile of the original idea. Everything got some quick paint, and we're good to go!
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| The cape, and green stuff hair join. Not bad! |
I am fond of Inspiring, Spellcasting Champions in 4E. With very limited slots, I think you need your heroes to be doing more than ever now. Combat heroes, even if they are not individuals seem risky, and running your Champions in a supporting role seems wise if your like your Command Orders. The Orders for the Northern Alliance are meh, but the Ice Queen can grab Heal and Bane chant for cheap, and has Elite on the spells, making her very potent and useful in this supporting role.
Despite the Varangur being in a very weird spot, I quite like her there, and think she'll do great in the demo list as well, showcasing the larger roster with my Dwarf Clansmen and Elf Berserkers. This was an unexpected little hobbying tangent, but was a nice way to spend an evening, and it's good to have around and done now!