Today we will take a closer look at the Wargames Atlantic Giant Spiders! These 28mm hard-plastic multi-part creatures are the third set of their Classic Fantasy miniature range although this particular set also includes sufficient parts to create cool space spiders armed with lethal weapons and technological upgrades. About their Classic Fantasy range: As a company of mostly "Old School" wargamers, many of our first loves was Classic Fantasy. Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Goblins, Trolls, Necromancers, Hobgoblins, Dragons are all part of our fondest hobby memories. This ever-growing range is our tribute to these iconic tropes.
"Infesting the land in the places the sun rarely touches: mountain caves, the darkest forests, lonely ruins from the folk that came before, this race of giant spiders is an ever-present threat to the free peoples. Solitary spiders will lie in wait for weary travelers while larger clutters will be so bold to attack villages en masse. Mountain goblins have even been known to ally with the beasts to ride their enemies down. The local militias stand wary and sometimes the High Queen herself organizes hunts to winnow their putrid numbers."
This most useful boxed set contains enough hard-plastic parts to create 24 ferocious spiders. These miniatures are supplied on 6 identical sprues each containing enough parts to create two large multi-part spiders and two small spiders along with some of their poor prey. Also, when paired with WAACF004 Goblin Warband (coming later this year) the giant spiders can work as cavalry. The miniatures are supplied in a nicely illustrated box with artwork by the talented Peter Dennis and pictures of the painted miniatures by Matthew Leahy which is a great painting reference. The miniatures were digitally sculpted by Thieu Duong and are tooled and manufactured in China.
As mentionned before each of the sprues contains enough parts to create two multi-part large spiders, two single piece small spiders and both Human and Halfling wrapped casualties. The design of these ferocious creatures is excellent, their appearances also make them most suitable to be used as fantasy or science fiction spiders or even other lethal arachnid like alien bugs. The casting quality of these models is also very good with minimal thin mouldlines which can easily be removed before assembly.
The most impressive creatures supplied in this boxed set are the huge giant spiders which come as multi-part models with a large amount of different spider legs in all sorts of cool and menacing poses. These creatures are supplied in no less than twelve parts including the head and body section of the spider and then eight legs and two small fangs. We will take a closer look at the assembly of these creatures in the following assembly section.
These large spiders can also be upgraded with laser weapons and other technological upgrades such as head pieces and mechanically enhanced spider legs. These upgrades allow you to use your spiders in science fiction settings pitching these vile creatures against your brave and daring Wargames Atlantic Death Fields soldiers on far away planets and in desolate space hulks.
The small spiders included are excellent in design and sculpting quality although they are only supplied as single piece figures making them repetitive especially in larger hordes. This issue can however easily be solved by repositioning the spider legs by bending or slightly cutting the legs to create new and more interesting unique poses. The inclusion of these smaller spiders is very useful as they can be used as smaller juvenile spiders, an entire different species or adversaries on the tabletop.
The inclusion of the wrapped spider casualties is a great touch as the Halfling victim links the Giant Spiders to the Halfling Infantry as mortal enemies. Although interesting, I would have personally prefered the inclusion of only one casualty as with six identical sprues you quickly have a surplus of wrapped bodies. Once again nothing to really complain about but even more spiders or other parts would have been more useful in my opinion.
Assembling your Giant Spiders
As mentionned previously the large spiders are assembled out of twelve individual parts with the bulk of these parts being the numerous spider legs. As it can be quite daunting to assemble these creatures without the inclusion of an assembly manual, Wargames Atlantic released the following image which can clarify the assembly phase.
The assembly is quite straight-forward especially when using the below assembly image. A quick overview on how I assemble the spiders, first of all I clipped and cleaned all the parts from the sprue and kept them in small part piles per individual spider taking into account the many legs which were grouped in suitable pairs per spider for ease of further identification. Then I glued on the legs with the square pegs and from there worked my way through the other legs by first testing different combinations before finally glueing (revell plastic glue) them into place.
The hardest part of the entire assembly is clipping and cleaning the pieces, the actual assembly is quite fun as you have loads of cool spider legs, allowing you to create numerous cool and dynamic poses as you see fit. In the pictures below you can see some of the assembled spiders in both fantasy and science fiction poses.
The Scale Comparison
Below you can find some pictures of the spiders alongside other miniatures to give you an idea of the size of these new plastic Wargames Atlantic models. As you can see the large spiders are quite impressive compared with standard 28mm scaled miniatures which is great, certainly considering that you receive no less than twelve of the menacing beasts in this boxed set along with twelve smaller spiders. Check the pictures below to judge the scale of these new fantasy miniatures yourself.
The Conclusion
This third model kit for the popular Classic Fantasy miniature range is most certainly very useful when you need loads of spiders for your tabletop wargames and miniature roleplaying sessions as these miniatures are both very affordable and good quality with plenty of options for either fantasy or science fiction games. The inclusion of the science fiction parts in my opinion is also great as these savage creatures can now also be used to create deadly alien opponents for the large and still further developing Wargames Atlantic Death Fields science fiction range. Next to this these large spiders will also be compatible with the upcoming goblin boxed set allowing you to create nasty goblin spider riders! Although sold as 28mm miniatures, these spiders could also be useful for other wargaming scales like large towering spiders with maybe a howdah for 15mm wargames to give an example to make the point.
The boxed set contains everything you need to assemble a sizable spider swarm even including some Human and Halfling wrapped casualties which can prove useful when decorating your spider bases or themed scenery and to be used as objectives in mission driven tabletop wargames or miniature roleplaying games. The quality and price of these miniatures is excellent, with one boxed set containing no less than 24 spiders and poor wrapped victims (12 large spiders, 12 smaller spiders and 12 casualties) retailing for £25.00 with further discounts for larger amounts of boxed sets. You can buy these very useful miniatures now directly from Wargames Atlantic or from other distributors and retailers worldwide. Picture of the painted miniatures below taken from Wargames Atlantic.
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Disclaimer - We received these miniatures from Wargames Atlantic for reviewing purposes. Please note that this doesn't influence our review as we always strive to supply you with our own independent and honest opinion about the wargame products reviewed.
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