A long (long) time ago, I wrote a short blog post about Raging Heroes Sci-Fi Blood Vestals. From the legion of miniatures companies cutting their teeth in the not-Games Workshops niche of the business, the sculpts from Raging Heroes stood out thanks to their quality and (admittedly judging only from the pictures of the masters) high production value.
The Lure of Kickstarter Resin and the Trials of Discount E-tailers
Since then, a few things happened:
- My infatuation with Kingdom Death got me hooked on nice (female) resin sculpts
- Raging Heroes started selling limited numbers of resin versions for their miniatures
- Raging Heroes themselves announced plans to launch a Kickstarter-campaign
More than enough reasons for me to try getting hold of a Raging Miniatures resin miniature. I shopped around a UK E-tailer stocking Raging Heroes (Wayland Games unfortunately does not) and found one listing a resin-version of the Anniversary Edition of Heroic Ashara for sale. Bought!
A few days later the box arrived and – to my disappointment – contained “only” a white-metal mini.
Oh well. Not what I expected (though certainly not Raging Heroes’ fault). Still, I thought I might still make the best of it and give you an idea of what’s in the box.
#1 – Ashara Heroic – The Packaging
Raging Heroes Heroic Ashara Box
The miniature come in this box. A fairly generic (slightly crumpled) box filled with Styrofoam filler and the actual miniature. There’s a wrap around it with showing a shot of the painted miniature, the Raging Heroes logo and some art. Whether it’s the E-tailer or Raging Heroes, the box certainly looked like it’s been trough some hard travelling.
Of course, the lovingly hand-stamped boxes from Kingdom Death might be setting the bar very high. This one wasn’t a winner. On the other hand, it’s only the box, so who cares, right?
#2 – Ashara Heroic – Contents of the Box
Raging Heroes Heroic Ashara – Box Contents
There is a lot of stuff in the box for a single miniature. A lot nicer than the box itself too. On the top, there are three head-options. I particularly like the two-part ‘not-chaos’ head made from the horned helmet and the tiara. There are also two hair-do versions, including the one with a very long mane!
There are also variant weapons, including sword & shield, a spear and a book. The final part in the lower-right corner is her left leg (which I placed up-side-down for this pic for some stupid reason). It fits in nicely under her flowing skirts. As far as matching up the pieces goes, the miniature appears flawless (though I didn’t actually glue her together, hoping I might trade yet her for a resin version).
She also comes with a square base that’ll put her straight into your Warhammer game.
#3 – Ashara Heroic – Metal to Metal Comparison
Privateer Press vs. Raging Heroes
The only other metal miniature I (knowingly) own is the Druid Gone Wilder I won last year from Disobedient Donkey (still unpainted, I know, lazy me).
The Druid Gone Wilder is a mighty fine miniature. Raging Heroes’ Ashara doesn’t have to fear the comparison with a big company like Privateer Press. Its details are as sharp, if not more so. The flowing robes and the staff/weapon actually seem better done for Ashara Heroic.
#4 – Ashara Heroic – Resin to Metal Comparison
Kingdom Death vs. Raging Heroes
This is the comparison I was hoping to make. No metal miniature is likely able to compete on this one. The superiour detail and texture of those amazing Kingdom Death miniatures really stands out in this contrast: the Kingdom Death Twilight Knight Pin-up and Raging Heroes’s Ashara Heroic side-by-side.
Admittedly, the Raging Heroes resin stuff might well be just as good. I simply cannot tell from that metal one. I sincerely hope their Kickstarter has some collector’s resin options. Clearly, the metal miniature is promising enough, I think, to allow a second look at their products for resin.
As a white-metal miniature itself, Ashara heroic would no doubt make a fine addition to, for example, a Warhammer Dark Elves or Chaos army as a Sorceress. Since I don’t really play those games, I’ll have to leave this judgement to others, however.
Let me know what you think and leave a comment!
Z.