Friday Rucht Hour: Challenge Accepted

Not long ago (about half an hour ago, actually) I just read Mik's throwing down of the gauntlet. So, here's my taking up of it. Friday Rucht Hour on Friday.

In my earlier post, I showed off some minis and gave a quick and dirty battle report. However, now I'd like to take some time to just showcase the Lair of the Astromancer. We saw it a little bit in the after action report, but I'd like to do a more proper review of it here.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with this product. It is quite pricey, weighing in at 80 dollar and change. Also, it is a Games Workshop product, and there are people who are opposed to buying their products.

The model itself is mainly two large pieces which you glue together. Now, Caveat Emptor, the two pieces of this terrain model did not match up perfectly evenly. More on that below. The top of the tiled roof is in two pieces. The observatory and the tower on which is rests much be assembled as well. If you wish, you can leave the observatory dome off and put on a parapet. Or, like myself, assemble both and switch them out as needed. I haven't assembled the parapet yet.

Pros: 

• The model is basically one very large piece which is quite solid. You can transport it easily by just picking it up with one hand. It won't fall apart on you.
• The terrain piece is fully three-dimensional and meant to be appreciated that way. What I mean by that is there is no "front" to the terrain. As you can see from the pics above, you could place it with the walk way out front or the skull stone out front. It truly is meant to be appreciated from all sides.

Cons:

• It's 83+ dollars. 
• Here's my biggest problem with it. The hard plastic material that it's made from. The plastic mold that came in the box did not match up, leaving a gap in the mountain. I'll have to fill it in with putty. What's more - putting the plastic in boiling water did not seem to make the model bend so that I could get both pieces flush. After all is said and done, I was okay with it, because it's a problem that can be remedied. However, it's definitely a problem some would find egregious.