From NoelW: Graveyard Beach: (75 points)

The beach is deserted. A cold wind blows across it. On the horizon is the most distant of sails, and that’s all that can be seen.

“How disappointing,” says Getrude. “They’ve left. I thought we were about to witness another famous victory.”

The wind lifts wisps of sand, like wraiths of white dust.

“You are,” says the wind.

The grains of sand pull themselves together, as if they’ve been having a bad time of it.

“Who said that?”

“We said it. We, the voice of Challenge Island.”

Whispers of sand whirl madly, spiralling, clustering into a wreath of weaving bodies.

“We are the Dead Sergeants of Challenge Island. A year ago, we ventured upon that island. Where we died (due to unfortunate miscalculations and mismanagement, but let’s not dwell upon that). And now we are here to reap our reward. And exact our revenge on all that lives – or tries to.”

“Do you need to be quite so exact?” asks Titchy, looking around, as bony creatures rise from the waves and the sand. “Why don’t you, you know, live and let live?”

“We do not live.”

“We do not let live.”

Scruff leaps at the nearest skeleton. With a grin (what else?) it thrusts him to the ground, burying him deep in the sand. Elfbow swipes at them with the Spear of Density. The sandy bones simply part and the spear passes through without touching.

“Right then, Clerihew. Time to prove your worth. Let’s see a little ‘Turning Undead,’ please,” says Getrude.

“Er, well actually, I’m not entirely capable of doing that. To be honest, I’m only really able to Turn Away from Undead.”

“It speaks!” exclaims Elfbow. “It speaks! And exactly at the wrong moment. All you’re doing is attracting the attention of more of them. Time to cast a charm. Time to repel revenants.”

“What you talkin’ bout, Cleric?” says Titchy.

“’S a funny story, actually,” says Clerihew, waving his hands wildly in the direction of the advancing undead, on the offchance, “You might call it a clerical error.” He grins ineffectually. “I’m actually a clerk, not a cleric. I thought this was an admin job. And then – well – that door slammed on us, and we were trapped and I thought, ‘what’ve I got to lose?’”

“I would say, on a rough estimate,” estimates Elfbow eyeing the grinning bone warriors, “at the very least your spleen, kidneys and sundry intestinal components you’d probably rather hang on to.”

“Gerald has a good idea,” says Getrude.

“What’s that, Gerald?” Elfbow asks the staff.

“Run away!” shouts Getrude.

Scruff struggles out of the sand, spraying it everywhere.

“Woofity woof woof!!”

***

The rather dramatic heap of rising skeletons is another Reaper Bones piece. I do like the imaginative animation they give to some of their pieces, though this one is a bit flexible for “bone”. I’ve no idea how to score it, as it consists of about 8 figures, stands about 40mm high, but is 28mm scale! Call it just 5 points, I guess, ‘cos the painting is easy.

The regular skellies are Northstar’s new(ish) models. These are really nice, delicate models, and paint up very well, although there are a couple of points where it’s hard to make out if bone or material is intended. (Just paint it how you like!) Although the compnents are a little fiddly, they assemble very easily. I like the Jason and the Argonauts feel (though they’re early bronze age, really, I guess) and I think the pieces offer some interesting possibilities for kitbashing. My only critiques are the size – they stand more like “true 25mm” than 28mm, so don’t match up well with the rest of Northstar’s offerings. And it’d be nice if the armour pieces were separate, rather than integral, so more variation was possible. Still, if you’re into undead, I’d recommend these, especially if you want to do a little experimentation.

Scoring: 11 x 28mm undead pieces: 55 pts

Graveyard Beach: 20 pts

Total: 75 points

This’ll give me one more Squirrel point, too.

Labels: Graveyard Beach, NoelW, Northstar, Reaper Bones