Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Thuderwolf Alternative Product review (with video): Mr Dandy's Battle Wolves!

Old School here with a look at Mr Dandy's Battle Wolves. These minis work great for thunderwolf cavalry and even come with a set of legs that would fit a space wolf quite nicely. Once I got these in, I went straight to the FLGS, where we opened the box, shot some video of our reactions and took some photos. Hopefully the video and the photo walkthrough will help you make up your own mind on these minis, enjoy:
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Alright, so from the video, you can see we had some mixed, but mostly very positive reaction to the sculpts, but the overall opinion from not only the folks in the video, but everyone else who saw them was that these are very high quality, nice-looking models.
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If, you coundn't see it or didn't want to watch the video, I have also provided a photo walkthrough. The first wolf we are going to cover is wolf B or the baying wolf. This is probably my personal favorite out of the five wolves because I like the baying pose, the armour and way it just seems to embody that Space Wolves kind of theme.

One of the things I really liked about wolf B was the scar above its eye - afterall, even giant, enhanced alien wolves can't go through combat unscathed!

Here is the full image of the resin for wolf B as it came out of the packaging: If you didn't catch it in the video, the jaws come seperate on many of these wolves and can just be glues into place. It was also pretty nice that they included a base!

Next up is Wolf S, which Farseer Re-rolls calls "S for Sled-dog" due to the helmet. The real name is "Sentry" and though the helmet makes it look funny, the wolf overall looks very nice.


... and here is a look at the resin as it came out of the package. You can see that we have left the flash on it. This is so you can see that Mr. Dandy has a pretty high quality casting process - no bubbles, no rough patches and barely any flash what-so-ever! Wolf S also comes with a cybernetic tail, which I will either leave with him when I build him, or would add to Wolf T to make a full-out Iron Priest mount.

Next is Wolf R or the Rearing wolf, which we all agreed was pretty cool. Though none of us were fans of the shields on its arms at first, we all agreed that it is a perfect spot to put a space wolf bit from either the drop pod kit or a wolf skull from the Pack box to make this wolf look like it belongs to the Space Wolves.

A view of the resin. Since this model was meant to be rearing up on its base, it also came with a clear stick, which seems long enough to cut and have an extra if you make any mistakes. If you haven't noticed already, each wolf come with a set of armoured legs which work very well for a Space Marine and should save you a lot of time not cutting and converting rider legs.


Next is Wolf T or the Tracking Wolf. We really liked this model and it was the favorite of most of the guys in the video. We all agreed that it would be perfect for an iron priest due to all the enhancements on it. It has an aumetic eyes and exposed hydraulic machine parts on its rear legs. It also has the best armour plates of the whole group.

Here is the way it looked as I saw it come out of the package. This is the modle that came with the most flash and as you can see, it really isn't bad at all.

The last wolf in this review is Wolf L or the Lunging wolf. This wolf is meant to appear flying over its base as if it is about to dive onto an enemy. The wolf also sports a metallic jaw (or an iron gobbo).
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At first I wasn't too sure about this wolf, but after handling it some more, I really like it and I like the potential for action that it has. I also am starting a 13th company themed wolf army, so the iron jaw works pretty well for me.

Here is a look at it as it was unpacked. As you can see the front legs come out straight and if you were not careful considering the pose when you base this model, you could end you making it look like frankenstien, but overall, it looks really good and I think it can be one of the most dynamic of the group given the pose. It also came with a clear basing stick!
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Well that is it folks, hopefully you took something away from the review. We all really liked the wolves overall and I look forward to fielding them. If you have any comments or feedback, sound off! If you want to see more of Mr Dandy's work, visit: http://www.mrdandy.com/

3 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed that video guys, it was really good to see the wolves from different angles as well hearing your opinions on them.

    I'm glad you've gone the film and write up route for the blog, it means I can read the review when I've got a few minutes then watch the video later when I've the time for it. Keep up the good work!

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  2. Thanks. I think it really works well for reviews when we can show you the angles and get the opinions of 5 dudes who all play different armies. Once again, we went to the readership and asked how you all would like video done and it seems the write-up was the winner, so thats the route we have decided to take!

    I am glad you like it!

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  3. I had the pleasure of playing against a nicely painted unit of these guys last month and I was floored by the quality and sculpts. I wish more 3rd party sculptors were that talented. They are a nice addition to a Space Wolves army from what I have seen.

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