I’m a sucker for a great army theme. When a force is unified by a centralized aesthetic, it really gets my blood pumping. In this new article series called “Miniature Highlight,” I’ll be reviewing miniature lines and showing how they can be used for Kings of War.
For my first installment, how could I not talk about one of Mantic’s own lines? I often hear people complain that Mantic doesn’t make miniatures for all of their units or even armies. I think that with a little creativity, you can use some different models that what you might think of. Ever taken a look at the Deadzone line from Mantic Games? Their Veer-myn models are absolutely incredible. So this time, I’ll be taking a deep dive into the Veer-myn, and how one might make an awesome Ratkin army for Kings of War.
I’ll start with the staples of any good Ratkin army: the infantry. The Veer-Myn Night Crawler models are hard plastic and full of awesome detail. Now some might think that they’re a little too science fiction, but with a few conversions and an appropriate paint job, I think they’ll do just fine.
So many bits!
Tunnel Slaves: Tunnel Slaves would require the least amount of conversion. I’d simply equip them with the knives that come with the Night Crawler sprue, possibly cutting off any guns. Voila! Tunnel Slaves aren’t going to be particularly well equipped, so an extra rusty paint job might just do the trick.
Warriors/Spear Warriors: Mantic also produces a pretty rockin’ line of goblins and they now sell the rabble and sharpstick bits separately. These would fit really well onto the bodies of the Night Crawlers and give you options for both sword and board as well as spears.
The Goblin Rabble and Sharpstick arm sets would work perfectly for your Ratkin warriors!
Shock Troops: Everyone’s favorite Ratkin unit! These guys could also be done pretty easily with the Night Crawler plastics and some spare Orc arms. Yup, Orc arms. The orc plastics from mantic are awesome and would be a great way to show that these are your elite troops. You could use the standard Orc Ax arms, or go a little further and use the axes from the Greatax kit.
Blight: Now I’ll admit, Blight would be a bit of a stretch. These were created as a way for old Skaven players to use their Plague Monks. Fortunately, the Night Crawler kit all has them wearing gas masks, which could work to your advantage. With minimal green stuff conversions, you could add some robes or cloaks to the minis. Alternatively, this could be where different paint schemes could come into play.
Clawshots: Clawshots are another easy one. You could simply get away with using the cool guns from the Night Crawler kit, possibly with a barrel extension via a coffee straw.
The large infantry entries are a super easy fit. With Clash of Kings 2019, Nightmares were introduced, which are similar to Ogre Boomers. It’s no coincidence that the hard plastic Nightmare kit for the Veer-myn is perfect at representing this unit.
Nightmares: Use Nightmares. Duh. For this unit, just make sure you give them the gun options to represent their shooting ability.
Brutes: For Brutes, I’d just use the Nightmares kit as well. They come with a variety of particularly nasty looking drill melee weapons. Just slap those guys on there! Maybe even use some of the less armored heads for the Brutes.
Tunnel Runners: Yet another direct carry-over from Deadzone is the Tunnel Runner. The Tunnel Runner plastic kit is perfect for representing this large cavalry entry.
I love this kit so much! It’s packed with deadly detail!
Now most of these have been pretty simple arm swaps, right? I know there are so many people chomping at the bit to have Hackpaws, right? Doesn’t everyone use them? Well, This conversion is also super simple. Using Mantic’s own Goblin Fleabag Riders, you can easily make some Ratkin Hackpaws!
Hackpaws: Since the Fleabags already have the rider’s legs and waist attached and since the Night Crawlers have separate torsos, this is a super easy swap. You could even use the goblin spear arms from the Fleabag kit to give your Hackpaws some great cavalry weapons. The shields in this kit are a separate piece, so you could easily attach them to the arms that the Night Crawlers already come with.
Now a lot of the remaining units can easily be made from the rest of the Veer-myn line.
Weapon Team: Using either extra Night Crawlers or the Progenitors, you could easily make a small two-rat team of flamethrower-wielding rodents.
Aren’t these guys cool!? Hook some hoses up to that flamethrower and call it a day.
Shredder/Artillery: Fortunately, Mantic has made an awesome artillery platform for their Veer-myn. I love this kit, and it comes with two options! So if you’re dying for an awesome piece of artillery, look no further than the Veer-myn Rumbler!
Mutant Rat Fiend: There are a few great options direct from the Veer-myn line that would fit perfectly with this monster. Both the Night Terror and the Brood Mother would make great melee focused monstrosities. Really, it’s all a matter of which one you think looks cooler!
Death Engine: Everyone’s favorite “Take Three of These” monster from the Ratkin list! Now, I might be crazy, but I think the Tunneler from the Veer-myn line would be the best Death Engine. It’s a giant drilling tank machine! Plus, Mantic sells a set of three: perfect for the powergamer in you. Alternatively, if you don’t plan on taking any of the war engines (Whaaaaaat???), you could use the Rumbler for this role.
Vermintide: Lots of places have rat swarm minis, but if you’re trying for the “Full Mantic” thing (looking at you, Adepticon attendees!) these would work well. The only downside is that they’re only available for 25 Mantic points. However, after getting a hold of all of these other minis, you should have plenty. Plus, The Piper would make a great hero!
Characters: Really, any of the Veer-myn would work just fine. There are a great number of commander models for Deadzone and they’d all fit pretty well in a Ratkin army. I particularly like Hacker Half-tail for a Blight Lord.
You could even substitute his gun for a suitable melee weapon if you wanted.
Demonspawn: The Demonspawn is one of the best monsters in the entire game. Ratkin players almost always take one, and I’m sure they’d take 3 if they could. He’s that good. For this unit, Mantic already makes a big, flying demon. And it’s amazing.
That’s right, I’m talking about the Archfiend of the Abyss. This is a seriously awesome resin kit. The wings are removable and the head is a separate piece. This means that if you want to take an extra rat-like head you’ve got left over (possibly from a Night Terror), you can slap that bad boy right on there with a little fur sculpted on to hide the joint. Even if you leave him vanilla, I think it’s such a rockin’ model that nobody would say a thing. Given the Ratkin’s connection to the Abyss, it works perfectly.
I hope somebody sees this and gets inspired to start a new army. If you’ve been on the fence about starting Ratkin, but have thought that there weren’t enough fantasy rat-people, look no further. Affordable, plastic Ratkin are just a few clicks away at Manticgames.com!
