Monsterpocalypse: Rastaban, First of the Space Dragons
Earth’s newest Protectors, the Draken Aramada, have arrived ready to battle it out for the fate of the Earth. Let’s unbox the first space dragon, Rastaban!
Out of the Box
Rastaban is a mix of resin and metal, with 10 pieces total plus a clear base. The body and wings are resin and have some flash that needs cleaning, but nothing too bad. While the flash on the wings is noticeable in the picture below, it came off quickly and easily with a hobby knife. The flash that needs removing on the body is located in spots where once assembled are pretty well hidden. The arms, legs, head and tip of the tail are all metal and didn’t need much/any cleaning up.
Alpha Form
Rastaban has a solid stat line all around, 11 Health, Speed 6 and Defense 8 are all good – but nothing crazy. With rules like Motivator and Power Swell, Rastaban is doing a lot of great support for his units in the early game. Rastaban’s blast attack has the Strafe rule, further playing into the supporting role – while your units are up brawling and getting extra Power Dice thanks to Power Swell, Rastaban is taking out two models a turn from relatively far away. Keep in mind that Strafe also works as a pseudo range extender, as you can shoot another 2 spaces beyond your initial target.
Hyper Form
In Hyper form Rastaban stops supporting units and gets a bit more aggressive. A jump in stats to Defense 9 and Speed 7 is always welcome. Power Sink is a rule I really like, gaining you passive Power Dice each turn. Terrify will prevent all enemy units from rolling ANY boost dice if they are adjacent to Rastaban – situational, but potentially very powerful. All of Rastaban’s attacks get the Power Gorge rule, making his Blast attack even better and just keeping the Power dice flowing.
Wrap Up
Overall Rastaban is a solid first monster for the Draken Armada. Solidly filling a supporting role, but with a good stat line so you don’t need to be afraid to mix it up a bit. The model itself is gorgeous and the Draken Armada may be on their way to beating on Empire of the Apes as my favorite looking faction in game.
What do you think of Rastaban? Excited to get the Draken Aramada on the table?
