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Post by sedge on Jun 4, 2018 8:28:00 GMT
I figured it'd be worth having a thread on the rather infrequent AoW new releases, as while they're now focused on the 9th age, most of their models remain very much usable for WFB 9th edition. I'll do stuff from the start of this year: JanuaryWitch Doctor/Barbarian Shaman kit Model looks okay, though the painting style is overdone. Limited use in WFB, as it's too under-armoured to fit as a WoC Sorcerer, not bestial enough for Beastmen, and a bit too feral even for an Empire Amber wizard. Could be a Truthsayer for Storm of Magic. The feather headdress looks like it's been stolen from a forest goblin. Highborn Elf Princess / BSB kit Looks good, and the weapon options are useful. Could be used as a Handmaiden of the Everqueen (with the addition of a bow) or just a Prince(ss)/Noble. See Sunna at the bottom of this post for the same model with a flaming sword. Female Dwarf Dragon / Vengeance Seeker kit Ugly as sin, but then that's fitting for a Dwarf female - at least they didn't put a beard on her. The whirling chains are very AoS-ish. Its usefulness depends very much on how you feel about having female models in a dwarf army, as it's very unfluffy for warhammer. Marchwww.avatars-of-war.com/eng/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&prodcode=101&prodname=Vampire+Count+(kit)&id=118&Itemid=53 I quite like this one, particularly the Blood Dragon helmeted head. The sword blade is a let-down - it's far too short; not sure what they were thinking with that. Finally, a (non-special character) vampire character on foot who fits the 8th edition aesthetic, and doesn't have a silly wing instead of one arm. Alpha Sabretooth Tiger Butt ugly as far as I'm concerned. The use is obviously for Ogre Kingdom armies, but then you'd end up with one Sabretooth that is in a completely different style to the rest. MayWarrior Priestess A very nice model. Not sure it works as an Empire Warrior Priest of Sigmar, given the gender, but I'd be tempted to use it as one regardless. Sunna of Sonnstahl Sunna is apparently the Sigmar of the 9th age's Empire. Nice model, it's the same as the High Elf princess above but with a different sword. Same usefulness as that. |
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Post by mottdon on Jun 4, 2018 11:49:56 GMT
I've checked these out as well. I am VERY tempted by some of these. Witch Doctor:Probably my least favorite of this set, but that's only because of the limited use in 8th. If you did a slight amount of green stuff modification to the middle image, I bet he could pass for a Savage Orc Shaman. Just imaging that one with green skin. HE Priestess / Sunna (Warrior Priest? - Not sure what role she's supposed to fill):This is another lovely model, particularly the head. I really like that there are so many customizable weapons for her, though that probably means that they won't be making another like this for quite some time. I just don't really have a reason to get this model. Female Dwarf Slayer:I'm kinda divided on this one. She's butt ugly, as you said sedge, but...female Dwarf. The real reason I nearly bought one (I had it in my cart) was because of the "Deathseeker" version. I've always wanted to add a couple of these to fill out a Slayer army (because what's a Slayer army without a couple of Deathseekers?) but....it just felt....weird. Vampire:Love this model. Particularly the middle one. Looks iconic "Vampire". I don't collect VC, but sent an image to my friend who does, and he got so excited over it. He'll probably pick one up. Sabertusk:This was the first one to go into my cart. I LOVE it. I'm usually a sucker for very dynamic poses, and this one has it all. The "I'm gonna KILL you!!!" pose, the muscular body, the snarling expression....love it. The problem is that there is only 1. Most Ogre armies will run 2-4 of those guys, and like sedge pointed out, they don't match the GW versions in the least little bit. I will still probably get some eventually, especially if they came out with a second alternate. Warrior Priestess:I like the model, but again, been there, done that. Just how many versions of a Warrior Priest are there out there? I know in my Empire army, I have 9 versions (all different) and I wasn't even trying to collect that many. I only ever wind up using 3 max. Maybe if their rules were a little closer to the 7th edition Empire book, but as they are in 8th, not much. As for it being a girl, I'm cool with that. No problem there. I just keep picturing her as a cheerleader. (Imagine her with Pom-poms instead of a Warhammer.  Lol!) Overall,I like where AoW is headed and that they are still moving forward (albeit with 9th age in mind) with square based models instead of caving to GW's round base decision. I prefer my hordes of models ranked up, thank you. |
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Post by sedge on Jun 4, 2018 12:33:35 GMT
AoW's problem is that they've got no business sense. They have a great sculptor, but the company seems to be run awfully. Their delivery times are atrocious, they seem useless at getting their products into independent stores, and their marketing is virtually non-existent these days. They used to make an effort - back when their slayers were released, they sent sample sets to various bloggers to get them reviewed, and that kit has clearly been a success for them.
I know the market for ranked fantasy wargaming isn't what it used to be since AoS, but if they put some work in, they could be the leading replacement (in terms of models at least) as GW slowly phases out old kits. The ongoing saga of their Dwarf Bronzeshields/Ironshields (warriors and longbeards) plus Crossbow/Handgun units in proper plastic (multipart hard-plastic sprues, like the slayers) epitomises this - they should have got them out years ago, and the longer they delay it, the more of a struggle it could be to sell them. They won't even do them in the old "restic" material that, while annoying to work with, is better than nothing. Why make such great models if you're not going to sell them?
It's a pity, as I'd be picking up several boxes from them if they could just get those models released. Instead, it's just a handful of characters from them on my wish-list.
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Post by mottdon on Jun 4, 2018 12:48:59 GMT
I agree. I've actually never ordered anything from them directly, instead choosing to go through eBay, because of all the horror stories about delivery times. I've seriously wondered about there release schedule. Seems so erratic. Do you think that it's a small operation that someone is working out of their "garage"? That has been my impression since even a moderately sized company will have a business manager, designer, marketing specialist, as well as production and shipping departments. Those seem to be almost non-existent.
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Post by gjnoronh on Jun 4, 2018 12:51:34 GMT
Agree with most of your aesthetics comments. The Axes on chains thing is an old WFB Doomseeker model clone from Storm of Chaos Slayer list. It's not as nicely done as the GW version though.
I think the fluff isn't particularly male centric in WFB so not sure I think anything contradicts having female dwarven slayers, warrior priests etc. A lot of the fluff was written 30 years ago so had a lot of male protagonists but intrinsically nothing in the fluff says women can't be warriors etc. Ulrika, Genevieve and Countess of Nuln being key players in the lore of WFB/Black Library over the years.
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Post by mottdon on Jun 4, 2018 12:56:24 GMT
Very true. Even the other areas like wizardry, have female characters like Elspeth von Draken. I don't think that it was necessarily an intentional "no girls allowed" thing, it's just the way it happened.
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Post by sedge on Jun 4, 2018 13:38:56 GMT
Fair point on the female models., though I think there's a fair bit of misogyny towards female characters in the books, particularly if they're trying to get involved in fighting (except for elves).
As for the company, they took 2.5 months to get a miscast model replaced for me, which was ridiculous. They're not just a one-man band though - the person I dealt with was a woman billed as "management", and they've had some relatively high profile collaborators in the past (Wayne England, Gary Morley).
They've also been around a decade, so hopefully aren't about to disappear.
They're a company I really want to succeed, but the way they keep shooting themselves in the foot is really frustrating.
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Post by mottdon on Jun 4, 2018 14:03:41 GMT
I can see that about female warriors. I read a book a couple of years ago, that followed a young girl and a witch hunter, with the girl eventually becoming a Warrior Priestess (or equivalent - since they never actually called her that) and the Witch Hunter was watching her REAL closely. I forget what the name of the book was. I'll try to look it up over my lunch break.
There was another Dwarf book "Doom of Dragonback" that somewhat followed a female Dwarf who wanted to be a warrior instead of the typical kitchen attendant role. That was just one in several intertwining story arcs in the book. I really enjoyed them though.
As for AoW, I wonder if there is a way that we, as fans, could help? It seems like they simply need to streamline their processes.
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Post by grandmasterwang on Jun 4, 2018 15:18:28 GMT
I like the witch doctor a lot. It could even be a ghoulish kind of necromancer.
I think it works well enough as a beastial Human wizard (lore of beasts or shadow or something)or as a human beastial shaman. I'd never use it as a 'Greater' Bray shaman but imo the model is beastial enough to pass as a lesser shaman (apprentice to the Greater Bray Shaman). The old Beastmen lore had them being joined by outcast humans who identified as being 'inhuman' so I could see a weird kooky thripper like that shaman fitting in.
Like the Sabretusk but obviously needs a twin model to go with it.
Hate the female dwarf slayer...not because of its gender but don't like the sculpt. Give me the new fyreslayers or oop Doomseekers over that.
I like the vampire and humans.
Anecdote about Avatars of War.... A client of mine used to stock some of their stuff but due to being jerked around with orders (some came incomplete) he no longer sells their range in his miniatures/games store due to the issues dealing with them so make that another mark against their professionalism.
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Post by mottdon on Jun 4, 2018 15:26:09 GMT
So it sounds like their main problem is with their shipping department. Just not getting their sales to people in complete, efficient time frames. If they could do that (firstly), market their products better, and start churning out the new molds, then they'd hit the big time. I think there are a LOT of people, like us, out there who would love to support them and buy their minis.
- And I could see the Witch Doctor working as a Lore of Beast wizard, if he had something like a feather cloak over his shoulders. That would look cool. Right now, the GW Beast Wizard is working good though.
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Post by sedge on Jun 8, 2018 18:18:29 GMT
AoW quite often have offers on, and it looks like they've got 20% off plastic boxed regiments this weekend, which is decent, so long as you don't mind waiting a few weeks for your order to arrive.
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Post by sedge on Jun 26, 2018 20:56:55 GMT
June's releases: Beastman Shaman Vermin Plague Prophet I don't think the paint jobs do either any favours, but regardless they look butt ugly to me. They're like the goofy bad characters GW was putting out 15-20 years ago; nowhere close to the usual AoW standard. |
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Post by mottdon on Jun 26, 2018 21:46:33 GMT
Again, not bad, but I just have no need for them at this point. It really feels like most of their releases are very average and situational. I don't understand why they don't go for some of those long-ignored units like Slayers. Those were hugely popular and far superior to GW's version. Why not update some Brettonians? Tomb Kings? Kroxigor? You know people would gobble that stuff up. Plague Priest? Meh. GW already has a good one out there. And I think I could see that Beastman being more useful as a BSB than Shaman.
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Post by NIGHTBRINGER on Jun 27, 2018 3:45:04 GMT
Again, not bad, but I just have no need for them at this point. It really feels like most of their releases are very average and situational. I don't understand why they don't go for some of those long-ignored units like Slayers. Those were hugely popular and far superior to GW's version. Why not update some Brettonians? Tomb Kings? Kroxigor? You know people would gobble that stuff up. Plague Priest? Meh. GW already has a good one out there. And I think I could see that Beastman being more useful as a BSB than Shaman. The current Kroxigor models are really nice. |
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Post by mottdon on Jun 27, 2018 11:38:40 GMT
The GW ones? I really can't stand them. I only have 3 Kroxigor (woogity's) and that's a huge travesty for me since I have such large armies. That's how much I despise the GW ones. I've been waiting for new ones to come out for a long time, but they won't update those models for whatever reason. I wish I had ordered more of woogity's when he was making them, but too late I suppose.
There is so much potential with that creature, but I feel as though they got a quick model out to fill the spot and then left it. It is badly in need of an update. And the perfect example of people wanting updated models is woogity's Kroxigor. Those sold like hotcakes, and he couldn't keep up. Sucks that his job made him stop. (For those of you who don't know, he works for Total War 2 and has designed a bunch of the characters in it, including the Kroxigor.)
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Lol!)
