Ogre proxy follow-up: Dracoline kitbash

“I’ll be trying that little kitbash shortly I think.”

Well, “shortly” turned out to be immediately after writing those words a few days ago: I sat straight down at my hobby table and began work.

Although I only planned minor changes, rather than work from the already-assembled copy that had arrived I began snipping the fresh-on-sprue version to give myself maximum flexibility.

I already knew the Evocator legs were part of the sculpt of the dracoline but I did harbour thoughts of possibly swapping out the body. By the time the dracoline came together though, so much of the Evocator is fundamental to that main build that I didn’t want the distraction of a major kitbash. 

The Evocator is in a good pose anyway.

I stole a ‘hand holding a ball’ piece from an Imperial Nobility player and then very carefully cut out the wrist and hand part of the gauntlet on the Evocator model that would normally be holding a staff. Some liberal sprue-goo to fill the gap and I had the ball-holding hand positioned nicely as if he’s taunting the opposition with it.

To help with that effect, I swapped out the helmeted head for another Stormcast head I had in my bits box: an un-helmeted head that looked more like it was bellowing out a challenge. You might notice in the photo above, there’s a Space Wolf head on the table beside the finished model. I did try that first but stuck with the Stormcast head in the end as the Space Wolf’s ponytail stopped me positioning it as I wanted.

The key part of this conversion though, was of course getting the dracoline reared up on it’s hind legs in a more vertical/upright posture and having that actually balance out so that the mini doesn’t just constantly topple over.

Luckily, this worked out without too much effort. I spent some time positioning the assembled dracoline on the base with some blu-tac to test both physical as well as visual balance before drilling a small hole in one standing foot/paw of the dracoline and the base, then pushing a paperclip through from the bottom of the base and then bending it under the base to create a bit more strength before super-gluing in place.

With the superglue set, I also applied some sprue goo in and around the feet, then used the pieces of the staff to wedge under the claws for extra support and added sprue-goo to hold it all in place. I’ll be building the base up with texture paint anyway, so all this mess should disappear in the finished piece.

What a difference

I’m really pleased with how well these simple changes have worked to differentiate from the original Evocator on Dracoline model:

Even aside from having somehow managed to fit this thing on a 40mm base, the whole posture of the model looks different and in my opinion works really well. Although I only changed the head and the right hand of the rider, his whole demeanour feels different and works with the new angle of the dracoline.

But will it work on the tabletop?

The big question. For all that I like the look of this kitbash, does it in any way seem practical to use in a game of Blood Bowl?

The overall model is huge, as demonstrated in the comparison image below:

Adding a few more minis into the mix, the dracoline doesn’t get any smaller but it also doesn’t necessarily look out of scale: it’s just that someone’s let a really huge beast onto the pitch! (I mean, who’s to stop it?)

Tight spaces

So, I can rationalise the vertical scale of this thing (to myself at least) but will it fit in the grid when playing an actual game?

Grabbing a few minis and setting them lined up against each other, it again doesn’t look too bad.

The only problem here is the dracoline’s tail, which is sticking out into the grid square behind it. In actual play, the dracoline could just be turned 30–45 degrees to accomodate another base in behind it as needed.

The dracoline’s sheer height really helps in placement on the board, as most other players fit underneath its outstretched claws.

Will I use it?

Yeah.

Although this Stormcast team was never initially intended for actual play — or, indeed, to be a whole team: I just began with an idea to try adapting an Averon Stormsire mini for fun — when I do get around to playing some more Blood Bowl with my sons, I’ll use these Stormcast minis to represent my human team and the dracoline can take its place as the ogre.