Warhammer: The Old World – The Necrolith Bone Dragon Up Close
The Tomb Kings are back and they have an amazing new miniature. Actually, it might be a little too amazing for the Tomb Kings.
So Games Workshop sent us the Warhammer: The Old World starter boxes. We busted out the Tomb Kings and took a look at the contents. I also built the new Necrolith Bone Dragon. I’ve got some thoughts on both the new set and the new miniature.
The New Tomb Kings Boxed Set
Let’s start with the basics. There’s 93 miniatures in this box:
1x Liche Priest on Necrolith Bone Dragon
1x Tomb King
40x Skeleton Warriors
32x Skeleton Archers
16x Skeleton Horsemen
3x Skeleton Chariots
You can swap the Tomb King for the Liche Priest so that one is the rider and the other is on foot. Those are the only new miniatures in this box. As for the rest of the miniature in the box, they are indeed the old miniatures. Those sprues have copyright dates on from 2002. That means they are old enough to drink legally in the US. That’s saying something!
As for the rest of the contents, well, it’s everything you need to play the army. There’s even a pre-built 1250 point list ready to go. So that’s nice! I won’t get into all the nitty gritty here but we will have a longer review of the core rule book later. We’ve also got the Bretonnian box, too — it’s coming.
So let’s get to the real meat of the matter: The Necrolith Bone Dragon!
Necrolith Bone Dragon
This miniature is really impressive. Having built it, the kit goes together wonderfully and it was about as straightforward to build as any modern large GW kit. The cuts on the bits help to hide any seam lines and it’s wonderfully detailed.
We opted for the Liche on top because, well, that’s what the box said and it also fit with the 1250 point army. And, while these pictures are extreme close-ups, you can see the amount of details on this model. It’s kind of nuts.
The vulture/spell the liche is casting has some crazy details alone — it’s like an endless spell. There’s a lot to take in with this model! But, as I was building it, something felt slightly off.
That’s when it hit me. Look at that crest. Notice the fractures on the bone? All those pox marks and details? It reminded me of something…
Too Detailed For A Tomb King?
Once I saw it, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this Necrolith Bone Dragon didn’t belong with the Tomb Kings. It’s too detailed of a miniature. It belongs in the Ossiarch Bonereaper army. Frankly, it feels like it has more details on it than the rest of the box combined. The chariots and skeletal ranks just don’t stand up.
You’re telling me that this chariot is in the same army as this Bone Dragon?
If it weren’t for the paint scheme and square bases, I think these were from two different game systems. And look, I’m not trying to dunk on the old miniatures. And I’m certainly not bashing the new miniature either. But these are very clearly generations (plural) apart in miniature technology and design. Functionally, they will both work with the rules just fine. But visually, I think it’s a little jarring. It’s one thing to have a centerpiece model. It’s another to have one that so vastly outclasses the rest of the army.
Personally, if I was going to make a Tomb Kings army for the Old World, I’d probably opt to just convert a bunch of Ossiarch Bonereaper models. I know there are some old vets that love the old miniature range more. That’s fine. You can keep playing with those. No one is coming for your old Tomb King models. But, if you want to add the new stuff to your old Tomb Kings, the new stuff is going to stick out. Especially if you built and painted those models 20 years ago.
You’ve probably gotten a lot better building and painting models in that time. You’ll probably do an even better job now vs your old models. Or you’ll just use contrast paint and have “the same if not better” results. And that’s kind of my point. The technology has improved and the new stuff, especially in the Tomb King range, stands apart from the old stuff.
Bring On The New(er) Kits
The leap from the old models to the Necrosphinx was a big leap. The leap from the old Tomb Kings to the Necrolith Bone Dragon though? That might be a leap too far. It would be great if GW updated those old skeleton models to be more detailed like the Tomb Guard…
I honestly think that’s what you’re going to want to do if you play Tomb Kings in the Old World. You’re going to want to mix in some of the newer kits to help bridge that chasm in model quality between the newest miniatures and the oldest miniatures. Either that or do a whole lot of conversions. Either way, good luck on your hobby journey!
The Tomb Kings Core Set box is out for Pre-Order right now.
Do you think the Bone Dragon fits in with the rest of the Old World army?
Product Provided by Games Workshop, PLC.
