Age of Sigmar: Skabbik’s Plaguepack Shows How Good Plague Monks Could Look
There’s a new Skaven Warband coming to Warhammer: Underworlds and it’s showing off how much cooler Plague Monks could look.
The Skaven have always been a bit of an outlier to me in Warhammer. In a lot of ways they took the randomness of the Orcs and Goblins of the Old World and took it a step further. Furthermore, they are perhaps the most “cartoonish” villains in the entire game. I’ve always liked that about them! They also have some of the oldest models in the range and could really use some love. That’s even more apparent after seeing the new Warband coming to Warhammer: Underworlds.
Skabbik’s Plaguepack Showing Off
This new Warband is a new spin on the classic Plague Monks. And just for comparison sake, here are the current Plague Monk models:
Here’s a better look at the new Warband:
The differences are pretty clear. The new models have more dynamic and characterful poses. They still capture the essence of the Plague Monks but they amp-up the themes and style — and they still are easily recognizable as the same “cartoonish” Skaven villains. There’s more details without being over designed. These are probably going to be slightly bigger than the Plague Monks as well. That’s just a guess based on how GW has been slowly upscaling models in Warhammer overtime.
Now, it’s not really a fair comparison. The Skabbik’s Warband here is a generational leap from the old Plague Monks. The technology is different, the materials are different, and the possibilities are just greater now vs when they were introduced. It’s also the difference between the mono-pose models and the multi-pose plastic kits of old. However, even if they were technically multi-pose, I’m seeing a lot of the exact same pose in those old Plague Monks…so I don’t know if I’d call that a huge difference.
The real point here is that there’s quite a few Skaven units that are still in service and they are starting to show their age. Many of them are your battleline options, too. They really stand out vs the new stuff — and not in a good way.
Skaven Deathmaster
Models like the Deathmaster, Verminlord, and even the Stormvermin really showcase how much more GW can squeeze of out the Skaven range. The update to the Screaming Bell (more than) a few years ago also raised the bar on the Skaven. And now, after the Seraphon got their range update, I’m really hoping the Skaven are next up to get their core units updated.
If GW can give the Saurus Warriors this much of a Glow-up just imagine what they could do with Plague Monks, Night Runners, and Clanrats!
The Skaven core units could use some love…which one would you want to see updated first?
