Review: Lady Justice and the Death Marshals Crew by Wyrd Miniatures
I’ve been an aficionado of the Old West for a long time. My longest running RPG campaign used Pinnacle’s horror/steampunk/western Deadlands game. I’ve seen The Magnificent Seven like a dozen times. So when I discovered that there was a western-themed faction for Wyrd Miniatures’ hot new Malifaux game, there was never much doubt as to who I would be playing.
I need to say a word about bases. Despite the box’s somewhat ambiguous mention of the figs coming with “premium round bases” what comes in the box are plain 30mm round plastic slottabases, without the cool detailed scenics one sees in the studio shots on the box. Those are evidently metal add-ons available separately from Wyrd. I don’t think for a minute that Wyrd was intentionally trying to be deceptive with the pics and wording on the box sets, but judging from the booth chatter I heard at Gen Con I wasn’t the only one surprised that the sets didn’t contain the scenic bases.
The minis in my review pics are not mounted on the bases that came in the box, but on resin scenic bases supplied by Dragon Forge Design. Look for a full review of these bases soon, but in a nutshell they seriously rock, and are available in a wide variety to suit any crew.
No disrespect to the Judge or Lady Justice herself, but the Death Marshals are the figs that sold me this set. Looking rather ghoulish themselves, they almost form little dioramas with their coffins. I especially love the tableau of the marshal with his box half-open, disgorging evil spirit energy or some such. His weapon is at the ready, and he’s clearly about to deal with whatever the threat might be. Individual slats on all the coffins have beautiful woodgrain details and sport nail heads in all the proper places. Even the locks have tiny keyholes. Clearly no detail was overlooked in sculpting these lads, and it really shows. They all seem grimly determined to put their foes back in the ground.
Not that the Lady herself is less than stunning. Her sweeping head of hair is one of the most intricate I’ve ever seen, and I’m only sorry my rudimentary skill at blending and highlighting didn’t really do it justice. The way her tempestuous locks swirl around her arms and sword is very natural and impressive, but nearly drove me to distraction trying to pick out and paint some of the strands. I don’t think I could have done a proper job without my magnifier. Most importantly, her pose just oozes self-confidence. I get the distinct impression that she’s about two seconds away from whipping out that big sword of hers and doing some serious damage.
The Judge is probably the weakest of the models in the set, but only because the others are so strong. Like his boss he rocks a cool haircut (accessorized in his case with a mystery-man bandanna and strange nerd glasses). I love the fine detail on his strange magic/tech blade, but his pose perplexes me. Is he in the midst of the most exaggerated anime-style sword draw ever? Is he threatening hari-kari? It’s a very dynamic pose, but I just can’t figure out what he’s supposed to be doing, which detracts a bit from his impact.
The Death Marshals and their coffins were a bit of a job to get assembled and mounted on their bases. The marshal perched on the end of his pine box seemed have a peg on his bottom, but no matching hole in the coffin, and the coffin itself lacks a slot to fit into the base (as does the coffin that lies flat with the marshal jumping over it). I was forced to just slap them on the bases and epoxy them in place the best I could. This is a particular problem with the slottabases that come with the minis, since the flat coffin can’t even really be pinned (it’s a hollow cast), so it just sits on the raised lip of the base.
Even the remaining marshal (with the half-open coffin) was a bit of a trial thanks to his VERY widely spread legs, which meant that the tab needed to be trimmed a bit to even fit in the slottabases. When I switched to the resin bases it was quite a job to get both feet on the base. I’m all in favor of dramatic posing, but moving his feet away from the edge by just a couple of millimeters would have made the mini a heck of a lot easier to work with.
Minor assembly quibble aside, these are amazing minis. Just block out plenty of time to paint them, because there are a TON of details available that really reward a careful painter. Your extra effort will be pay handsome dividends on the tabletop, I assure you.
Pros: Amazing detail, Unique and dynamic poses
Cons: Mildly troublesome assembly of the marshals
Final Verdict: 4.5/5
MSRP: $30/00
Source: Wyrd Miniatures
Popularity: 36% [?]
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