Tag Archives: legion builders

May 22 2024

Mythic Legions: Dark Templar Legion Builder by The Four Horsemen

When it comes to Mythic Legions, I’ve mostly been pushing through the most recent Poxxus Wave, but I was doing some organizing last weekend and found a box filled with more unopened figures from previous waves. So, I thought I’d mix things up and check out one of those before getting back to Poxxus! I’m not exactly sure which assortment today’s release belongs to, but we’re going to have a look at The Dark Templar Legion Builder!

As a Legion Builder, this figure does not represent a specific character, but rather a way to bolster your armies as nameless battle fodder. And that means no bio either. These Legion Builders also tend to be priced a bit less than the regular releases and have less paint applications, allowing customizers to do their thang. But, alas, I have no such skills, and the figures are still finished enough to display fine on their own. I will note, that this guy is classified as a Deluxe, which confused me, because I thought the Deluxe Legion Builders came in the extra large trays with a lot more extras. Nope, he comes in the regular sized card and bubble and a price that reflects a normal Legion Builder. I’ll have a bit more to say on that at the end when we do a comparison with the regular Templar Legion Builder that I checked out way back in 2018! It’s no secret that the Templars have been among my favorite Knights in this entire line, so I was intrigued to get an EVIL version. Let’s check him out!

Straightaway, this figure leans more toward the old than the new, with most of the body lifted directly from the regular Templar LB and most of the parts being even older than that! From the neck down, the only differences are the belt and hip armor, the shoulder armor, and the lack of any kind of neck armor. All of the armor is painted in a dark charcoal, which looks very nice, especially when coupled with the pitch black tabard and white cross. As mentioned earlier, the figure lacks all the lovely little paint flourishes found on the regular figures, so there are no silver paint hits to the rivets or buckles, giving the figure a very utilitarian appearance. Still, the detail in the sculpt still manages to shine through even without the premium paint job. These early figures can come across as a bit chunky when compared to the more slender offerings that have come since, but I think these old bodies still look great.

The helmet is the same basic Great Helm design we saw on the regular Templar, but the reinforced plating around the visor is slightly different as is the pattern of the breathing holes. And the biggest difference is the removal of the top socket, which allowed for an adornment or spike, in place of side sockets, which in this case are populated with black pointed horns and segmented fins, almost forming a full circular. The horns are painted in glossy black with the fins matching the armor’s charcoal. The whole thing makes for a distinctive and delightfully sinister presence.

I believe the sword debuted a couple years back in the Arethyr Wave. I’ve only seen it a few times, most recently with Hadirana. This was a big deal to me as it introduced scabbards instead of just thrusting the sword’s naked blade through the belt. Sure, that works fine, but adding a scabbard is just neat! The scabbard and hilt are cast in the same dark charcoal as the armor and the blade is painted silver. You get a standard issue brown sword belt to hook the scabbard onto. The only downside here is that T4H seem to have only designed one sword so far to work with the scabbard, as the blade has to be thinner. They did, however, take the opportunity to add a central fuller to the blade rather than just the usual diamond cross-section found on the standard sword. I do like the hilt, and since this one is left unpainted it isn’t completely obvious that it’s the same as Hadirana’s brightly painted version.

The shield is super old school, dating all the way back to that first figure assortment where just about everyone had one of these. The face is painted black with a white cross to match the tabard and the rim is painted in silver. It has the standard 90-degree angled grip that pegs into the back and allows for a lot of adjustment to orientate the shield while posing the figure.

And finally, you get the same poleaxe that was included with the regular Templar Legion Builder. Here it’s painted all silver, while his predecessor had a gold shaft and silver blade. As usual, the blade is a separate piece from the pole and can be removed.

I like this figure a lot, but there’s a definite discrepancy between what the regular Templar Legion Builder came with and this guy’s inventory, namely the large standard flag. Maybe TFH felt the new sword and scabbard was the equivalent, but the accessories here still feel wanting for what is called a Deluxe. They could have at least tossed in the two optional neck armor pieces. On the other hand, it was a real treat to play around with a new figure based on the older style bodies. These guys feel so good in hand, with smoother joints and just a satisfying chonkiness to them. That’s not to disparage the newer figures, but there’s just something that feels simple and streamlined about these earlier style releases. Next time, we’ll turn back to one of the newer figures from the Poxxus Wave!

May 23 2022

Mythic Legions (Advent of Decay): Goblin Legion Builder by The Four Horsemen

I haven’t done a count recently, but I know that I’m close to being all caught up on reviews of my current Mythic Legions figures. Today, for example, I’m having a look at the very last Goblin in my collection, but don’t worry… there will be more! This time, we aren’t looking at a specific Goblin character, but rather the Legion Builders, which are meant to be generic troops to strengthen your army. I bought a pair of these, and opened them a while ago, so I don’t have an in-package shot to share, so let’s just jump right in and check out these little green bastards!

Unlike last week’s figure, Gonxx, these Goblins return to the slighter build, which has been the norm. Gobbie is decked out in full armor, colored in a deep, dark shade of iron gray, with all the pitting and scrapes that make these sculpts look so damn convincing. This is armor that’s seen its share of battles, and probably saved the wearer’s life on many occasions. Either that, or another Gobbie got killed and this one just claimed his suit. As is often the case with these Legion Builders, there are no additional paint operations on the body, so you won’t see any painted rivets or belts, but I don’t mind. I love the slight upturn at the toes of the long boots, and the angular shoulders are the perfect marrying of style and practical crudeness. He also dons a collar with upward spikes, no doubt protecting the neck from a lucky decapitating swipe of some do-gooder’s blade. The collar, is the only nitpick I have here. It looks great, but it pegs in in the back and that pushes it forward. It doesn’t take much to push the tab out of the back when handling him.

You get two heads to help customize the Legion Builder into multiple troopers. The default comes sans helmet, and lets all his ugly hang out in the open. But generic soldier or no, the portrait is still outstanding. His bulbous wrinkled nose, deep set yellow eyes, bald pate, and pointy Yoda-ears all look great. And yet it’s the mouth that really makes this portrait shine. The wide mouth is packed with a brace of nasty teeth, framed by two upward jutting fangs, likening him to be a lesser cousin to the Orcs of Mythos. I could easily imagine these fiendish chompers biting chunks out of heroes in battle.

The other head may look familiar, as it’s the same sculpt we saw with Gonxx, and it’s still every bit as glorious a noggin. The paint here lacks the detail and rusty patina that came on the named figure, and in its place is just more of that deep iron finish to match the rest of his armor. You do, however, get some great paintwork visible inside the eye holes, showing off those beady eyes. The sculpt and paint are so good, that if I didn’t know better I’d swear the mask could be removed to show a full face sculpt beneath it. It’s worth noting, that this head works best with the spiked collar removed. OK… Let’s check out his weapons!

For starters, he comes with the Orc scimitar that we’ve seen on a few occasions in the past. As with each of these weapons, the entire piece is painted over in silver, with no flourishes of color on the hilt. It still works well, and the finish does manage to bring out all the scrapes and nicks in the blade. Previous paint work on this sword make it look like the hilt is made of bones or even teeth, but here it just looks like it’s all metal but designed to mimic actual bone, which I suppose is pretty cool too. The blade is a bit long for the slighter Goblin frame, but I think it still works for him, and he can wear it on his belt without much trouble.

Next up is the silver one-handed axe, which accidently made it into a few shots last week with Gonxx. And while there are once again, no additional paint operations on the weapon, it does come with a great looking skull, which can be skewered through the tip of the axe handle, adding a ton of personality to the weapon. It’s great that this adornment got added to a lowly Legion Builder!

And finally, you get a standard silver spear, which is the same type we’ve seen over and over (and over!) again since the original Kickstarter figures. These spears are pretty long even for the human-sized figures, so it might be a bit of a reach for these half-pints to wield it. It wouldn’t have been my first choice for these little guys, but it’ll do in a pinch!

And that’s the Goblin Legion Builder! It took restraint (and a tight budget) to limit myself to just a pair of these guys, but in a perfect world, I’d have a half-dozen. I dream of some day TFH actually stocking their store with Legion Builders all the time, but that could be dangerous to my finances, so maybe it’s better if they don’t! I should note that there is a Deluxe Goblin Legion Builder coming soon and I’m really looking forward to adding him to my army of little green meanies!

Nov 28 2018

Mythic Legions (Advent of Decay): Vampire Legion Builder by The Four Horsemen

On Monday, T4H put up their remaining stock of Advent of Decay figures, and as usual it was like feeding time at the zoo. The site sputtered, I crossed my fingers and bit my lip, but in the end I got what I was looking for. Granted, I was only after two figures, and both were doubles of ones I already have. And one of those, I’m checking out today! I already have the packages for these in storage and since she’s a Legion Builder, she doesn’t have a bio card, so let’s just jump right in and check out the Vampire Legion Builder!

As far as the figure itself goes, there’s very little here that we haven’t seen before, but that doesn’t make me love this bloodsucking femme-fatale any less. From the neck down, this is the same armored female sculpt we saw on both Gwen Heavensbrand and Lucretia. The sculpt is as gorgeous as ever with all the tiny rivets, overlapping plates, sculpted straps, and chainmail that I love to gush on and on about. Her shoulder armor consists of the less ornate, segmented pieces, which are perfect for rank-and-file soldiers, and as always these are totally optional. And because this is a Legion Builder, there are no additional paint apps on the body, just a glorious coat of slick, high-gloss black. While I’m curious to see how she would look with the chainmail colored in gray or silver, I have to admit the totally black makes for quite a foreboding and sinister look. The ensemble is finished off with the ubiquitous brown sword belt, which can be worn around the waist or over the shoulder.

You get two different heads with this Legion Builder. The first is the unmasked portrait and it’s pretty cool. She has the same ashen skin tone as the other Vampires in the line and the same exaggerated pointed ears, which are similar to the Mythic Legions elves. I like it the head sculpt, but I don’t think it’s some of their best work in the line. Her right eye is bigger than her left, and I’m not sure if she’s supposed to be popping one eye like Deadpool or if it’s just how the sculpt came out. My bet is that it was the later and not intentional. The yellow fangs are also a bit lopsided, when I get in really close. I don’t want to pick on it too badly, but there are definitely some nitpicks to be had here. Her face is framed in a tight fitting black helmet with a magnificent purple plume spilling out the back. The plume is also removable, if you’d rather not have it.

The alternate head is fully enclosed in the helmet, except for the ears. And yes, I’ll admit it seems really impractical to expose your ears, especially when they’re that big, but I think it looks great. If the enclosed helmet looks familiar, it is indeed a straight repaint of the one that was included with the Elf Legion Builder and I’m certainly cool with that. I like to think that these Vampires might be some kind of kin to the Elves in this Universe. Let’s move on to the weapons!

For starters, you get the classic two-handed fantasy-style sword that we’ve seen over and over again in this line. As always, I love the design of this weapon, and it’s nice to see the blade painted silver and the hilt painted black to match the armor. Some Legion Builders don’t have paint applications on their weapons, so this was a nice surprise. She also comes with a circular shield, and while this is not the first time I’m seeing this particular shield, it was the less commonly used shield from the previous lines, which makes it most welcome. This piece is painted all in black and mine has a few scratches on the surface, which is certainly not intentional, but I’m OK with it because it looks like normal wear-and-tear. This shield also features the new hand grip that pegs into the back. The more I play around with these new grips, the more I wish they had kept with the clips.

Next up, Lady Vampire comes with a standard shield spear and boy do I have a lot of these now! It feels like T4H pack this one in with every other figure. Once again, I’m happy to see that T4H splurged on some paint applications, as the shaft is black and the tip is painted silver. It’s definitely one of my favorite examples of this particular weapon and she looks great wielding it.

And that brings us to the final two accessories, these amazingly bad-ass twin swords. These remind me of the sickle-swords often associated with  Ancient Assyria and they are absolutely fantastic. The elongated black handles have sculpted grips and those sexy curved blades are kissed with some brilliant silver paint. I’m tempted to give her another belt and strap them both around her shoulders so she can wear these crisscrossed on her back.

Oh yeah, and they can also be tabbed together to create one long double-bladed weapon. Holy shit this is a cool and versatile set of weapons!

This Vampire is just another great example of how much fun these Legion Builders can be and it still amazes me that this is an example of one of the budget figures in the line, originally priced at about $22. And while she may not have the extra bits of flourish painted onto her armor, with a wonderful little arsenal of weapons and two different heads to choose from, there are plenty of display options to be had. And T4H sure know what they’re doing, because I simply had to have a pair of these to pose as bodyguards behind Lady Lucretia or Baron Volligar. l really enjoy the Vampires as a faction in this line and I still have the regular Vampire Knight to open, plus the original Vampire, Carpathias will be on his way once T4H start shipping out the All-Stars Pre-Orders!