The Shadow Caste Join The Dragyri Of Dark Age [Updated]
August 6, 2016 by brennon
At Gen Con the minds behind Dark Age previewed some of the new models coming your way for the Shadow Caste.
Updated - The Shadow Caste & The Huntress!
The team have now sent through some awesome studio images of them for you to check out and we've mingled them in with what we saw from the event.
You may have already spied these as part of the Gen Con Live Blog but here's what we saw for the Shadow Caste the new sect of the Dragyri.
As you can see they are looking utterly fantastic. We have to focus in first on two of the bigger characters from this collection, namely the Huntress...
All of you guys loved the look of the Huntress. Everything about the posing is top notch and she looks like she's about to rip you apart.
That is possibly one of the coolest models that we've seen from the world of Dark Age, packed with detail and movement. Additionally there was also the Umbra.
A very creepy looking character that seems like it has wandered out of a nightmare. The colour palette for this faction also looks fantastic; I do like purple.
Updated - Eerie Troops & Sneaky Spiders
Of course there are more than just big models within this collection. Here we have (from top left) The Death's Device of Shadows, Havik, Vespa, Raaf, Strega, and Naedrae.
Both the Raaf and the Strega really caught our attentions as it was nice to see them explore more of the foot troops for the Shadow Caste.
Considering most of the models are wearing very little armour or indeed leather-like material it was ace to see a model with some beefier plate. The eerie purple glow across the model certainly adds to the creepy feeling you get from this faction.
We also have this collection here showing off the Keeper, Amabilla, and a Greater Spiderling Minion.
Delving deeper into the look of these Spiderlings and their mistress you can see Amabilla in more detail as she clutches the spider in her hands, ready to tell it who its next meal is no doubt.
Still on the smaller scale you can also see the Gatherer, Spirit Lord, and the Lesser Spiderling Minion.
The Spirit Lord was one of the characters we could only glimpse in the background but we've now got a better look at her. I like the powerful pose of the model, it's rather commanding. Almost as if she is about to dominate your mind!
Basically this could well become THE faction to check out for Dark Age.
What do you think?
"A very creepy looking character that seems like it has wandered out of a nightmare..."
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Two thumbs up here. They look great.
I love Dark Age’s miniatures, but I’m put off by having so far failed to find a reliable way of buying them in the UK and metal. I just don’t want to work with metal.
I can second the metal aspect. It’s what – and the only thing – putting me off Infinity. Despite all the assertions…. It’s irrational, I know. I’ve the bounty hunter model – it is amazing but there’s a tiny antenna bit…..
Metal is great as long as the miniatures are designed for it…I like the fact that it has weight, compared to other materials.
But metal must have no warpage during casting so the attach points fit snuggly and no tiny or thin bits that bend too easily or are impossible to assemble. Unfortunately I find that Infinity fails for the tiny bits part… they just need to make those antennas part of a larger piece when possible, but they dont 🙁
Oh, come on, it’s not that bad. And where is the good old hobby spirit gone to?
Sure, it’s not perfectly comfortable for conversions. But do you want to conert them at all? And even that wasn’t such a big deal to pull off back in the days of good old hobby articles about representing mutations on your champions and building chaos spawn.
And I won’t believe you are too clumsy just to build them.
Btw, soon there is to be a plastic starter box…
In my youth, back in the 1980s, I collected and painted a shed load of metal minis from Citadel, Ral Partha and others. Preparing metal minis was always a pain and once you’d spent an age painting them, there was always the danger of them getting chipped or bent.
These days I convert literally everything. I don’t own a single miniature that isn’t converted or kit bashed in some way. Plastic and resin are a joy to work with compared with metal and I’ve no intention of going back.
Sure, I do understand that. And I am foremost a converter myself. And I’ve been there in the nineties having only metal to work with. My conclusion however differs a bit. Anyway, I just find it sad when something as the material stands in the way of a great sculpt when it’s not about the actual casting quality. Also, even though I see a lot I’d have done differently or would love to alter I find many of these miniatures here fine enough I just want to have them. Which is rare. Like with some of the Rackham Drunes I… Read more »
All the spidery Yuuzhan Vong fetish going on left me a bit worrying about them not having a proper Dragyri feel anymore. But they are clearly showing their roots after all.
Concerning the THE faction thing: it was stated the Shadow Caste were focussing on subterfuge and taking over enemies gaming wise. Is there confirmation that they will be rather difficult to handle and won’t be well suited for beginners?
Yes, these are stunning models, truly beautiful yet getting hold of the game books seems nigh impossible. Are there any stockists in the UK?
I am in touch with their UK distributor and have been assured that they are working on making the full game line available in the UK in the near future. The Shadow Caste Dragyri are even better than the teasers suggested. I will be building an army for them along with the Brood and Cult of Metamorphosis Skarrd. My wife wants to play Salt Flat Nomads. There’s plenty of demand in the UK, we just need the supply to improve.
the spider creature looks like Rachnera Arachnera’s evil twin.
Those are so stunning.
@brennon Your stressing of the main guys’ smaller scale here – is that meant in relation to the two gigantic ones or is it some inside intel on the Shadow Caste being smaller than normal Dragyri? Since naturally they are towering over tiny human beings.
And the bulging purple hulk on the extreme right of the group shot, is that the shadow elemental?
@darnast – as a general rule of thumb, female Dragyri are smaller than their male counterparts, and each Caste has a varying proportions of the sexes in their warrior ranks. The Ice Caste males are the largest (at roughly 12′ tall) and there are very few females in their fighting ranks. The Fire Caste males are typically shorter (roughly 9-10′ tall) and they have closer to a 60/40 ratio of males to females. The Shadow Caste and Air Caste are almost exclusively females, and so will appear smaller than the hulking Ice Caste males, but they’re still in the 8-9′… Read more »
I love them all. They will be mine one day.
On the metal issue I actually prefer it to resin – especially for gaming. Sure it’s more work to put together but it’s nice and strong if done properly. I agree the Infinity minis suffered from some awkward joins early on but the newer minis are a joy.
love these sculpts! i dont play dark age, but am planning on picking them up to convert into a dark elf bloodbowl team 🙂
Interesting idea indeed. But be aware that Dragyri are supposed to be around 3m tall or so. (Also note the considerable size difference between the sexes.) So unless this subgroup is actually smaller you’d have to switch scale.
Wow!!
That’s absolutely outstanding.
Hi everyone, just wanted to let you all know that the bulk (if not all) of the Shadow Caste line will be in resin, so hopefully most of the concerns expressed will be alleviated : )
they look great, love the giant arachnid.
I do love a nice paint job safe in the knowledge that I will likely never be able to replicate it.