Chicago Skirmish Wargames

For the cheapskate gamer, boardgames can sometimes be an excellent, if under-appreciated, source of miniatures. This has been the case for many years (there are a lot of 1990s Battle Masters figures in my Chaos/Varangur army), but as production values increase, boardgame figures are being produced that rival some contemporary wargaming miniatures. Such is the case with "Journey Wrath of Demons". It didn't exactly take the boardgaming world by storm, but it did produce some very nice hard plastic figures. The core game comes with Minotaurs of several types, Centaurs, a minotaur lord and a Demon Dragon which will be reviewed here as well as some characters and a smaller demon that I did not purchase.

A few years back the game was apparently on sale for around 25 bucks. With a bit of searching you can sometimes find it for near that price today, but if you just want to jump right to the figures -or to get extra of specific figures, then Tritex Games has what you are looking for. Thanks to a post on the Lead Adventure forum I purchased their "Mega Deal" of 14 figures for 20gbp

It's an incredible value, even more so when you see the quality and size of the figures in the review below. Tritex has also broken up sets and so I was able to purchase several additional Centaurs individually. I was also very impressed by Tritex's cheap shipping from the UK which was only 5 GBP and the figures arrived in about a week.

I. Miniature Review

I will list the game's name for each miniature as well as what Tritex are calling them. Height/Scale Comparisons are further down in part II.

1) Berrok Bull Warriors (JD Minotaur Club Warriors)

This is a nice standard Minotaur figure. These might be used for a unit of "The Fallen", a unit in the Kings of War Varangur army list that currently has no art or miniatures. The most numerous figure in the set, some weapon swaps and maybe a bit of arm repositioning would go a long way towards differentiating them from each other. Some obvious mold lines are present, but nothing too bad.

2) Bharhaz Bull Archers (JD Minotaur Archers)

Though it maintains the same high quality sculpting as the rest, this is perhaps the weakest of the reviewed figures. The part joins are fairly obvious, the sculpt seems a bit awkward and the drawing-an-arrow is less desirable for a figure that is repeated. I plan to see if one or two of these can be converted to holding hand weapons.

3) Borrak Bull Generals (JD Minotaur Oni General)

A very impressive minotaur warrior with a great headdress. Some of the best minimization of mold lines and parts joins as well. The primitive knife strapped to the back of his belt is a nice touch.

4) Boof Bullzerkers (Minotaur Bull Centaurs)

These are the figures I was most interested in. I plan to use them as "Frostfang Cavalry" in my Kings of War Varangur army. In addition to the two in the army pack, I purchased 4 more for a full "Horde" of 6. This has good sculpting and almost as good mold line minimization as the Oni shown earlier. I'm not sure whether the long lateral join at the lower chest will require some filling or will be adequately hidden by paint.

Note that the shields (comes with one on each wrist) are only attached at the wristbands. As seen above I have removed the one from the right arm and it does not mar the sculpting of the arms or hands at all. Will be pulling one shield off of each figure and putting a large hand weapon in it's place. (Anybody got some big weapons to trade....?)

5) Koorogg the Bull Demon King (JD Koorogg Minotaur Lord)

I'm not sure exactly what he will be (maybe a giant), but I want this figure in my army. The detail is fantastic and he's the sort of figure that one might expect to pay a considerable price for if it wasn't a board game figure. A real centerpiece and yet -as will be seen below- it's compact enough to be based up for the battlefield. Does have some prominent mold lines though, especially on the outer arms and there is a notable joint on the back of the model that will need a bit of filler.

6) Kei Lun Heavenly Creature (JD Celestial Bull Demon)

Very cool sculpt. A lot of great detail on this one. Nice scenic base as well. I should point out that this is the figure most reflecting the Asian theme of the game so it might not slide as easily as the other figures into a traditional Chaos and/or Beastman army. Also, the strong sideways-looking pose would make it look a bit odd in a rank-and-flank game as it would probably be positioned on a base such that it would not be facing forward.

Like the Demon King, this is another large and impressive figure that one would expect would cost much more in another venue.

2. Scale Comparisons

For all Scale Comparisons:

-The Model is placed on top of a 50mm black square.

-Hight measurements are taken from the bottom of the Sole/Foot/Hoof to the eyeline.

-Width measurements are approximate and from furthest extended limbs, not including weapons.

-Space Marine is 27.5mm tall and Paladin is 32.5mm to the eyeline.

Note that the Integral bases are 6mm thick compared to 3mm for a standard slotta. They seem to be mostly standardized in footprint dimensions comprised of 1, 2 or 4 squares of aproximately 32mm. I assume the board squares in the original game were probably around this size.

1) Berrok Bull Warriors (JD Minotaur Club Warriors)

33mm Tall, 43mm Wide, on a 32mm Square Base

2) Bharhaz Bull Archers (JD Minotaur Archers)

43mm Tall, 39mm Wide, on a 32mm Square Base

3) Borrak Bull Generals (JD Minotaur Oni General)

49mm Tall, 38mm Wide, on a 32mm Base

4) Boof Bullzerkers (Minotaur Bull Centaurs)

54mm Tall, 45mm Wide (not counting shields) 47mm Long, on a 32x62mm Base

5) Koorogg the Bull Demon King (JD Koorogg Minotaur Lord)

68mm Tall, 48mm Wide, on a 62x32mm Base

6) Kei Lun Heavenly Creature (JD Celestial Bull Demon)

72mm Tall, 75mm Wide, on a 62mm Square Base

Scenic elements on base add about 22mm of height.

Height Comparison for all of them.

III.  Material, Design and Final Review

Though the game apparently has a very strong Asian theme and some of that is reflected in the sculpts (especially Kei Lun), these are generally genre neutral figures that would fit fine into any Chaos or Beastman army. Even some of the iconography looks quite Chaos appropriate. I'd like to note that there's something really cool about their expressions that is hard to explain exactly, but these aren't the exaggeratedly aggressive chaos beasts you see elsewhere. These are grim monsters to be sure, but there's a world-weary somber sadness in most of their faces that gives them a welcome bit of pathos. One gets the impression that the life of a beast is not always a happy one.

If it wasn't clear already, I'm very impressed with these figures. The quality is better than almost any board game figures I've ever seen and seems generally on par with wargaming/RPG figures. The figures really are as good or better than much of what is being released from Reaper Bones, Wiz Kids Deep Cuts and Mantic (and cheaper than any of those) and they're nipping close at the heels of some of the better brands as well. I don't know how long Tritex stock will last or cheap used examples of the game will be available, but if you need -or think you might need- figures like these I unreservedly recommend getting them ASAP. The plastic is easy to work with, the designs are fantastic, and the price is miniscule, making this easily the best retail figure bargain I've come across in 2022.

Happy (Cheap) Gaming,

Karl