Saturday, August 3, 2024

Hobby Update: Undead Wraith Regiment

Team Double came in Second-Place at the Interstate Doubles Tournament back in June (Game 1 here), winning some store credit. I opted to blow it (and a little extra) then and there, picking up some hobbying supplies, a new brick of dice, and some Spirit Hosts. I like to run multiples of stuff, and have had “more Wraiths” as a vague goal for the Undead, since I only have three troops. So up now is that victorious purchase, a new, full regiment of Wraiths.

The regiment, with my little light box unpacked.

The minis are super-cool, but I had forgotten just how painful they are to assemble! I used plastic cement this time, and that worked out nicely, as things weren't immediately sticking together as pieces were twisted around towards their final attachment points.

The box comes with 3 clusters, and ebay provided a random 4th since I didn’t want to go crazy and get a full second box. I am trying to be responsible with my hobbying funds these days! The unit was primed white, and then got a Hexwraith-based scheme similar to my other units. A simple white drybrush around the faces and hands and the minis were essentially done! My other units had multiple dry brush steps, and they look good, but I think they over-complicated this part. The gradient here is quite nice, and just one dry brush step staved a lot of time.

The base was hobbied up separately, with the grays for stone and browns for mud, and the Acrylic Glazing Medium for the muddy shine. The finished minis were then glued on, and then the last step was the Poly-Fil fog, pulling and tugging it around all the swirling bases. 

I did finally dig out my old little lightbox for the pictures. The difference in photo quality is immense! I don't have a good place to store it, but I will need to find one, as the quality is just so much better.

I am just starting to explore the Undead more nowadays, but the Wraiths are an odd unit. I think most generals run these as troops, aiming for surprisingly sturdy screens to stall your opponent up, or for tricky flying and/or Surge charges to crack open enemy lines. They have Defense 6, making them one of the most sturdy units (stat-wise) that the Undead can field... but at -/12 for a Troop any damage at all starts to put them in danger of fleeing. If you are trying to take advantage of Fly and their above-average speed, you may find them ahead of your line and ahead of your sources of Inspiring. There are probably some "best practice" tips for using the troops, but I am not familiar with anything yet that I can pass along. Staying close to your lines seems best, but there is a fine line between setting Shambling traps and tripping your own units up for me.

They don't unlock for you, but the irregular-unlocks should be easy to come by for the Undead. The regiment-size here gives them 4 extra Nerve, but only 2 extra attacks, so I think you take them as a regiment when you want to increase your staying power. The Wraiths have some similarities with the Mummies, so we'll try to explore and compare both in the future.

It was a great tournament, and a wonderful experience. While this unit doesn't really stand out relative to my existing Wraith units, this kind of positive reinforcement, using gaming rewards to fuel some hobbying, felt really nice. I'll try to get them on the table soon!

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