Review of Servitor Horde Of Nyarlathotep

Blurb from the publisher: Servants of the dark god.

''The sound was horrific, cracking bone and tearing flesh. Where moments before, our comrade had stood, now an obscenity made a mockery of nature. Wet, pulsing and slick, a proboscis seemed to taste the blood-soaked air. Below, flesh fell away in strips from the hungry maw that widened in anticipation of the coming slaughter.'''

What you get: Your EUR 41,51 or USD 43,93 or GBP 34,99 will buy you a boxed set of the Servitor Horde of Nyarlathotep, one of the boxed sets for the Achtung! Cthulhu Skirmish wargame line. The set contains 10 highly detailed 28 mm metal miniatures, namely 2 Servitor Overlords with MP40s and 8 Servitors of Nyarlathotep.

All miniatures require some minor assembly as they are made of three or four parts (torso, head, arms) and their plastic base. There are three sets of two miniatures, all of them attacking barehanded. The remaining four miniatures are the two Overlords in different poses as well as two Servitors one of which is in a kneeling position, probably not dead yet and his mind definitely turned mad from the blasphemous transition.

The strong points: The Servitor Horde Of Nyarlathotep is by far the most vile and disgusting from the four initial sets that have hit the market. Once soldiers of the Third Reich, these abominations roam around in torn uniforms, gigantic claws and alien heads without any need for guns. Their gaping maws, not unlike those of crocodiles, could chop a man in half. Their Overlords, alien themselves but in impeccable uniforms, command them to do their bidding. This is neither the easiest nor the hardest of sets, even though quite the filing and precision gluing will be needed. The peculiarity lies in that the so-called heads are not what one would expect. Some might prefer painting both the torsos as well as the heads before actually attaching them; it might become substantially harder otherwise. The palette here should be zombie like, with different tones of rotting flesh and what have you, in order to show how this once used to be a man, yet now it is an abomination beyond understanding. The still transforming man is the ultimate mini in this set. If done right, it will chill the spines of your players. Needless to say, unless one opts for heavy Nazi regalia on the minis, they will fit many other horror games with ease.

When it comes to usability within the context of A!CS, the Servitor Horde Of Nyarlathotep is almost as much of a staple unit for the Third Reich as the Black Sun Troopers. This does not mean however that it doesn't make an appearance often; in fact, it appears in eight out of the ten scenarios of the Rise Of The Black Sun Campaign. Additionally, you can structure your own scenarios around it, not to mention the actual Achtung! Cthulhu roleplaying game line if you run out of ideas.

I haven't finished treating every single miniature in the bunch (that would have stalled the review), but up to now they behaved very well to my clumsy cleaning, cutting, priming, partial gluing and partial painting (with all the intermediary steps).

The weak points: First, the standard caveat that accompanies all my wargaming reviews. This is a non-autonomous product; one needs at least the Core Rulebook (purchased alone or inside the Commander's Set) in order to play, and potentially even the Rise Of The Black Sun Campaign. One will also need additional miniatures that need to be cleaned, glued, primed, painted, shaded and what have you, in order to enjoy the game in its full glory.

There are a couple of bent claws and appendages on the set. Once again, I assume it was a glitch, seeing how other claws didn't face an issue. It is not something that cannot be solved with the right tools, patience and firm pressure, don't go however out of your way; no need to damage the miniature. I start being skeptical however seeing how three out of four initial sets faced the issue of something being bent and needing an intervention, even though the boxes themselves are heavily padded. Hmmm.

As I wrote in the review of the Commander's Set, the game is built around the force entries on the main rulebook. The miniatures in the set come alone, without any cards with their stats and abilities like they do in other games. In other words, either you will have to somehow prepare before each battle (maybe by making your own cards), or there will be an insane amount of page-flipping during the game, and especially while one is learning it.

Conclusion: The Servitor Horde of Nyarlathotep is the first truly horrifying set of the series. The man in transition is outright amazing while the distorted features with the otherworldly heads of the once human soldiers are expertly made. Yet another set that can see quite the play time in other games. Buy fearlessly.

For more info on the Servitor Horde of Nyarlathotep and Acthung! Cthulhu Skirmish overall, visit the Modiphius Entertainment website at http://www.modiphius.com.

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