We played this with an apl 3.x with the 4 player adjustment. The party was not well suited for this adventure: we had to rely on a Thunder & Klar Slayer for damage in the first combat encounter but using great team tactics with flanking and aid another etc. we managed to scrape It though a couple of CLW wands took a beating. Rather than conclude that it was too hard it reminded me that it is a false economy to hoard money for the first few levels in the hope of getting cool mid level toys a little sooner. I had actually debated buying the kit we regretted not having, before starting but decided to put it off.
The rest of the adventure was easier but still challenging and fun requiring creative use of spells, skills, tactics and some good of fashioned risk taking from all concerned. The finale was eventually bloodless but in no way an anti climax.
If you expect to steam roller this with the same party that made light work of the Penumbral Accords or Mist of Mwangi you could well be in for an unpleasant surprise but the sense of achievement in defeating the combat encounters and dealing with the NPCs in non combat situations was terrific.
This is not really an unbiased review as I want this range of PPM to be a success! What though makes a PPM a good mini? How do these four measure up?
Well for me a good PPM like any figure is made up of the design and the paint job. The design must be attractive and done with the limitations of the production in mind so the result is a clean, detailed sculpt. The paint job must make sure that the right colours are on the right bits and ideally should come with a wash and a little dry brushing.
These figures are good clean sculpts, the tech does not allow plastics to compete with metal but the results here are good though the faces are a little weak.
The paint process ranges from very good (The embroidery on Kyra's robe) to very ordinary (Valero's face). The lack of a wash is a shame but it is an issue apparently addressed in the first full set of randomised figures due soon.
Equally a little highlighting with a dry brush would help bring up the detail that is there but hidden in the base coat.
Still the figures are a decent start and well worth the entry fee.
W
P.S. if you are so inclined a few minutes with a tin of dip and a little basing sand does not hurt at all.
