FUS ROH DAH!


Long ago, when the entire quarantine fiasco was getting started, I decided to preorder the new Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms skirmish game from Modiphius.  I found a discount retailer Game Nerdz , that was doing a pre-order of the base game and first three model sets for $89 USD including shipping.  It was about $60 less than retail, and both my son and I enjoyed the video game, so I opted to go for it.  

The game itself I would classify as a 'boutique' skirmish game.  It only requires about 3-8 figures per side and depends on cards, special abilities, specialty dice, etc. to provide the tactical variability.  The rules are designed to support both head to head and collaborative play, as well as a very basic campaign system.  It was the collaborative piece that was the most appealing to me as I knew I was in the for the long haul with only my son to wargame with for the foreseeable future.  
Events would overtake my plan, of course.  The release kept getting pushed back and did not actually arrive until the beginning of July! By this point I had already played several games of Rangers of Shadowdeep, and even opted to try Modiphius' other skirmish game focused on the post-apocalyptic Fallout franchise from the same studio as Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.  Strangely enough, my Fallout order also got delayed and ended up arriving only a few days before the Elder Scrolls game.  Thus I have spent a lot of time painting, but not as much playing these two games.   
Pictured on this update are the figures from the "Bleak Falls Barrow Delve" set.  These were the first models I painted up, so Mason and I could try out the collaborative scenarios.  I also opted to buy a few figures from Brother Vinni's as they seemed to be rather good quality, resin figures for a much lower price.

The models in the pre-order bundle are all hard plastic that come on 1-2 sprues.  The quality is fine, although I think I get as good of quality elsewhere for substantially cheaper.  The discounted bundle seemed a little steep to me, and I would not be happy if I paid $35 for eight plastic models on a single sprue.  What left me baffled with these figures is the sheer number of components.  Anywhere from 6-12 pieces per figure.  In some cases the face was a separate piece from the rest of the head, the Overlord's feet were individual pieces...

Pictured above are the undead figures from the set.  3 Draugr with greatswords, 3 skeleton Archers, and the 'big bad' Drauger Overlord.  I opted to go with a winter motif, and used two part epoxy to make my bases.  The resin models Modiphius does come with resin bases, but those are currently only available through their website.  


The set comes with one 'heroic' figure in the form of the Female version of the 'Dragonborn' from Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.  She was comprised of about 13 pieces all-told, and inspired me to start using a brush primer as I did not want a spray-primer malfunction causing me to have to repeat the assembly process!


The figure is fairly well detailed, and I believe the resin version has even better detail.  As mentioned, I also order a 'not-Dragonborn' from Brother Vinni's website for about $7 USD.  This is also a resin mini, comes in four pieces, and has outstanding detail.  
I also ordered a few other figures from Brother Vinni (mostly vikings), and opted to include his well detailed 'not the Witcher.' from another game I enjoyed in the past. 

I will post the Imperial and Storm Cloak factions eventually, but for now here are few pictures of the game in action.  Above is a prison break scenario we came up with using the modular dungeon terrain I got my son at Christmas.  (nothing like the quarantine to actually get us to sit down and assemble it together.)  

Below is a dungeon delve we put together using my Frostgrave terrain and a Star Wars battlemat I found on discount.  (Works well if you ignore the AT-AT footprints going down the center.)

The game is fairly well put together, with alternating activation and some non-combat mechanics to drive the scenarios.  The random activation for the AI, paired with a novel AI reponse table makes for some fairly interesting games.  I find the AI mechanic to be more interesting than the opponents in games like Rangers of Shadowdeep, and the game is also more 'crunchy' in terms of options/abilities.  The downside is it does not lend itself as well to campaign play, and long term development of your 'heroes' like Rangers does.  Overall, it is a fun diversion to allow you to play together with a friend or child with only a few figures required.  

Comments

  1. Are the figures 28 mm? All those parts and assembly, yikes! Unless they are really going to sell a lot of product (possible with the computer game tie in, I suppose), why didn't they just go with metal?

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    Replies
    1. They are 32mm. They seem to be focusing on Resin. I think many new companies are switching away from metal now. End of an era I suppose.

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