by Mathieu Thérézien

In May 2007 (incidentally the same month the 3rd “Pirates of the Caribbean” blockbuster was released), and after having been asked by fans for years whether they were producing pirate miniatures, Privateer Press finally released their first pirate models for their Warmachine game. Warmachine is a fantasy miniatures game whose defining feature is the use of giant robots animated by steam technology and controlled by magic. Any of these ’steamjacks’ that are designed or modified for combat are called Warjacks.

The Mariner Heavy Warjack reviewed here is the first (of two) Heavy Warjacks in that new range and is extensively described in the Warmachine Forces: Pirates of the Broken Coast expansion book. The model was sculpted by Ben Saunders, an artist who has recently started working for Privateer Press. The Mariner was released in the first wave of pirate miniatures in May 2007, and it retails for $29.99 US.

Individual pieces
The model comes in 10 different pieces, from left to right and top to bottom on picture 1: torso, smokestacks, left hand + cannon, hips, head, left arm, right arm + anchor, right leg, left leg, and chest + ammo. It also comes with a black 50 mm round plastic base. As often with Privateer Press models, the pieces have very few mould lines, and the metal is smooth.

Click to enlarge

The most noticeable mould line is on the legs, with a little bit of flash on the foot. The narrow space between the foot and the knee on both legs is the perfect environment for flash to develop. For the right leg in particular, you might have to use a very fine file or the tip of a sharp modelling knife. Most mould lines are discreet though, and easy to remove. In fact some are so subtle that cleaning them might not be necessary unless you plan on entering your miniature in painting contests. If you want them all removed though, I suggest a thorough inspection of every single piece, especially around the many rivets on the model: those lines might not be the most visible on the bare metal, but they will stand out once painted, and they definitely are the most tedious to remove.

The metal is smooth but the surfaces are not exempt from tiny dents here and there. Nothing requiring heavy filing and putty work to reconstruct the details underneath, more like very little scars on the pewter that probably occurred during shipping. I personally think that if anything they’ll give a little extra depth to the paintjob, but if you want mirror smooth surfaces all over the miniature, you might have to sand some areas with fine grit paper.

It didn’t take more than 20 minutes to clean the model of all its mould lines, which isn’t bad for a miniature this size (at 60 mm from the feet to the top of the smokestacks, the model is about as tall as a 54 mm scale human model, or slightly taller than the average Wolfen but a lot bulkier).

Model assembly
After spending considerable time assembling large models from the same range (Lich Lord Terminus comes to mind) this one felt like a breeze. The pieces fit together well and the connections between them leave pretty much no room for hesitation about what goes where.

The main frame (hips, torso, head, and smokestacks) have very large contact areas, gluing definitely is sufficient here. The hips, torso, and head fit snugly together. The possible gap between the torso and the head pieces are conveniently covered by the armour plate behind the head, and the gap between the hips and the torso ends up almost completely hidden behind the chest+ammo piece. These are smart design decisions since Privateer Press has a history of large pieces warping a bit, generating fairly respectable gaps. There is a gap between the smokestacks and the rest of the frame (see below). It is not very large, but it is worth filling since its position, right on top of the miniature, will make it stand out once the miniature is painted.

Click to enlarge

The legs fit in a single position with a tiny bit of leeway, and each one has a connection with a shape matching the corresponding slot in the hips piece. Despite those joints supporting the whole Warjack, the contact areas are barely larger than the ones at the shoulder. Unless you have a big thing for gluing pieces over and over, you definitely want to pin the legs.

The only poseability comes from the cylindrical joints between the arms and the main frame, and between the left arm and the cannon. Cylindrical joints do not give as much freedom as ball and socket, which I found unfortunate as I couldn’t find many different interesting positions. On the other hand, they visually work well with this miniature. The contact areas (shoulders and left wrist) are rather small, especially given the hefty weapon the Warjack carries, so it is probably safer to pin here. Be careful when drilling the arms on the shoulder end though: the “biceps” of the model are made of relatively small cylinders, so you’ll either have to drill no deeper than around 3 mm, or to use a small drill bit that won’t damage the biceps.

Finally, the right arm offers an alternate solution to pinning: a peg on the cannon (see the first photo in this review) designed to fit in a hole on the right thigh. The problem is that you need to align five pieces (cannon, right arm, torso, hips, and right leg) perfectly so that the peg will come straight in its socket. I didn’t try very hard, but it did seem to me that it would take some time to get it right, and besides it wouldn’t leave any freedom at all to position the left arm.

Final model
The assembled miniature definitely has a strong marine feeling about it. Some details are quite obvious (the anchor, the antique diving helmet head) and some barely more subtle (riveted armour plates, side ropes). Some of them even act as a reminder of some of the miniature’s special rules, particularly the helmet (the Warjack is amphibious) and the side ropes (friendly models may tie themselves to the Warjack to gain stability). All those details also give the Mariner’s frame a lot of character and strongly connect it to the seafaring mercenary range from Privateer Press. There’s nothing really “piratey” about this miniature, but after all this Warjack was originally meant for nautical warfare rather than piracy.

Click to enlarge

As a minor gripe, I wish the Mariner had been a little more dynamic, or at least had a more meaningful stance: it looks more like the Warjack is carrying a bunch of stuff rather than about to swing its anchor or fire its cannon. A little more poseability might have helped to give the model more movement, and would have been nice regardless.

Conclusion
The Mariner is a good looking model, if a little too static in my opinion. The model is well designed and well made, its assembly is straightforward and should pose problems only to modelers who have literally no experience with pinning. Even then, the cylindrical connections and the snug fit between the pieces make it easier to determine where to drill, so this model can be a good way to get some pinning experience rather painlessly.

As nice as it looks, I can’t see any other game out there that could make a use of the Mariner. It looks too antique to be used as a robot in a futuristic universe, and the few mechanical beings of other fantasy universes have their own very particular designs. Generally speaking Warjacks don’t really fit into game settings other than Warmachine’s. The concept of a giant steam-driven robot in a fantasy universe might not be that innovative, it is still pretty unique to Warmachine.

Finally, I initially thought the price tag to be a tad on the heavy side. However, comparing it to models in other ranges, it appears that $30 has become quite a standard price for a miniature roughly that size in popular wargames. For example a Daemon Prince for Warhammer 40k retails for $35, the Archon of the Faathi for Confrontation is $32.50, and the Greater Damned of Wrath for Hell Dorado is $31.99 (the euro/dollar conversion rate doesn’t help). Besides, it is the price of all the newer Warjacks throughout the Warmachine range, so if you are interested at all in that model, it is likely you will not be surprised by that cost.

Pros

• Clean casting, the few mold lines are very easy to remove
• Well thought out design makes the assembly straightforward
• Fine details give this model a strong nautical flavor

Cons

• Very limited choice of poses to choose from, unless you go the conversion route
• Not a very dynamic miniature, it looks as if it were just “standing there”