Krom Dragongaze

Krom Dragongaze, from the Sanctus Reach Stormclaw boxset, available now on ebay.

I decided I would try my luck with a painted figure, sometimes they sell well, sometimes they crash and burn. I originally bought the boxset thinking that I would paint up both characters for an ebay head to head bidding war, but I like the ork too much and have added him to Mount Unpainted. And the other orks too - not quite sure why as I have not played 40k since 5th edition, but I might be able to persuade my mate to give it another try.

The quality of the plastic sculpts is quite mind blowing when you look at this shot. They have come a long, long way since the single poses of the 1990's. Well of course they have, you might be saying, they would do wouldn't they as technologies improve and sculptors learn more? But having spent a couple of years browsing and sometimes buying historical figures, I can see a massive difference in sculpt and casting quality. Some of the manufacturers have stood still in time, yet they seem to have a big fanbase and just keep chugging along. Even looking through some old White Dwarfs I was shocked at just how poor some of the old stuff was. It was pure enjoyment to assemble and paint this beauty I can tell you!

The whole Stormclaw boxset is similarly top quality stuff. When GW put out a product like this, I love them again. All the sprues are straight from the main range, they are not simple snap together figures like in other starter sets. So effectively they are selling main range figures at about half price. Add in two characters, a mini rulebook and a high quality scenario booklet and it really is excellent value for money. Credit when credit is due, I can't think of many other sets that come anywhere near in terms of quality. If only they did a similar thing for vikings and saxons!