Games Workshop: 5 Oddball Miniature Designs
Sometimes you just got to try something new. Sometimes it even works out. Check out these 5 Oddballs miniatures from Games Workshop.
Games Workshop has made a LOT of miniatures and today we’re looking at a few that were odd design choices. These miniatures aren’t necessarily bad – they were just very, very different when they were released. Hey, I got to give them credit for trying something new. You don’t get to where they are at by playing it safe all the time!
Logan Grimnar on Stormrider
So, we get it. They are Space Vikings. But this whole “hover-sled pulled by wolves” thing is just a tad much. The sad thing is individually, the sculpts are really nice and detailed. The filigree on the hover-sled is actually very impressive stuff. Logan is also kind of badass looking! Even the wolves have cool techo-harnesses. But when you put them all together. Yeah…It’s just kinda odd.
Ravenwing Darkshroud
The Dark Angel’s Ravenwing Darkshroud is another one of those models that, when you see it, you think “yeah, I see where they were going but that was just too far.” This one is just over designed and has too much going on. “It’s a Land Speeder on steroids!” Yeah. That’s the problem. Again, if you look at the bits individually they are fine: We’ve got a pilot, a gunner, and a guy manning the DJ Booth. Then there is another set of jets and a trio of relics on top? When you put them altogether it just doesn’t work as well as what they were going for.
Brokk Grungsson, Lord-Magnate of Barak-Nar
Oh did you think AoS miniatures were immune? Think again! Brokk here has a lot of things right. He’s got the Kharadron Overlords vibe for sure. Lots of details, the floating ball thing is cool, and the guns! …But then they went and gave him a top-hat and monocle.
We get it. He’s the fancy-pants leader. However, as a total package, it comes across as Baron Harkonnen mixed with the Monopoly Guy. And if that was the look they were going for, well, they nailed it!
Lotann, Warden of the Soul Ledgers
Here’s an example of a miniature that is really odd, but totally works! When you see the entire Idoneth Deepkin line, you get the sea-creature vibe they were going for. And Sea-creature mounts totally make sense. But then we get a look at Lotann here and just …wow. Having the Octopod helper floating behind him could have got the other way entirely and this could have been a terrible miniature. But somehow it works! As a total package, the miniature looks like these two are in some kind of strange harmony.
Necron Flayed Ones
Here’s an example of an Oddball unit that just doesn’t make sense to me. For starters, the Flayed Ones were always a weird unit from the lore. They were introduced as a stealth unit that could scout ahead back in the day. The “Wore the flesh of their enemies” so they could sneak-up on them. However, as you can clearly see, they aren’t fooling anyone. Maybe the designers got a prompt that was a little to close to The Terminators “they are infiltration bots that wear living tissue” and decided, “nah, I don’t want to get us sued.” They have since been ret-conned and now can start the game in a “pocket dimension” and can deploy via that – so they are still “sneaky” bots.
So here’s the rub – as far as the models go, they aren’t bad! They just don’t make sense. Why are Necrons playing with peoples skin, organs, and skeletons? Did they get some wires crossed? Did they hang out with Khorne while they were sleeping for untold aeons? The Flayed Ones just don’t fit with the rest of the army. They are true Oddballs, both from the lore (retcon or not) and from an aesthetic perspective.
What do you think? What other miniatures are just plain Odd, Weird, or Unusual from Games Workshop?
