Special thanks to Para Bellum for providing the model in this review. If you want to get 10% off and support Goonhammer you can make your Conquest purchase by clicking here. You’ll also need to enter code “goonhammer” at checkout.
Saith the Lore: “Kern skirmishers form the backbone of most Weaver forces. Drawn from the extended kith-bands of the Weaver Courts these skilled warriors, equally deadly with the bow and blade, can take advantage of any opening in the opponent’s line, equally comfortable staying back and pelting the enemy with seed tipped arrows or rushing in to exploit the gaps created by the willy Weaver forces.”
Ea’s wood elves are fully compatible with its flora and fauna, and this shows even in their line infantry, the Kern Skirmishers, who wear plant-based clothing and boast various woody and buggy growths from their back. Their bows are improbable-looking chitinous or wooden assemblages. They shoot seed-tipped arrows that sprout in their enemies’ bodies and armour, conferring various advantages to other Weavers. Very willy indeed.
All in all, a bit different. We’re a long way from Mirkwood.
So how’s the kit? I haven’t had much experience with other Para Bellum infantry kits, so don’t have much of an internal frame of reference, but I can draw favourable parallels to Games Workshop kits. The limits of the injection molding technology available to Para Bellum are visible in some places on these models, particularly on the leafy parts, which become leafy smears. Otherwise the details are well-defined and take Contrast/Speedpaint-style paints very well, for which I am grateful as a presently time-poor painter!
The kit consists of multiple copies of two sprues, one small and one large, across which are spread all the bits you need to build four Skirmishers.
You can see lots of nice standard wood elfy design touches, but also the things that make them uniquely Weavery, like the chitinous and osseous elements of the armour and bows. You can sort of see parallels to some Spires models too, which is cool. It’s nice to see that connection represented in the models.
The weirdest thing about the Skirmishers is their back… things? Wings? There are four options for these per pair of sprues, so if you don’t like one of them you’re a bit stuffed. Personally I’m not a huge fan of the flappy ones. I’m not sure what they’re supposed to be. I guess you could choose not to attach them, and that would look fine.
The only thing that’s missing is the arrows. Where are they? Where are the quivers? I want to see the “seed-tipped arrows” these guys are shooting at people. It seems like such a glaring omission, but I also can’t see how they could have fit ammunition on the sprues without lowering customisability, so I guess a compromise was made.
The instructions are decent, starting by explaining that all the torsos are compatible with all the lower bodies, arms, heads and back-parts, before demonstrating four poses you could construct and then providing a QR code to a document showing more possibilities.
They might be a bit too dynamic. Ranking them up is a nuisance, and they look a bit silly once it’s done. A bunch of elves in tight formation jumping, running, and shooting in various different directions will always look a bit silly to me.
The themes of the Weaver Courts are well-reflected in the details and overall design of the kit, and you can create a lot of unique-ish guys from the components available. Overall this is a fun kit that I’m excited to build and paint more of.
As always if you want to get 10% off and support Goonhammer you can make your Conquest purchase by clicking here. You’ll also need to enter code “goonhammer” at checkout.
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