Review of Dracolich

Blurb from the publisher: 'Even as long-lived as they are, all dragons must eventually die. This thought doesn't sit well with many dragons, some of which allow themselves to be transformed by necromantic energy and ancient rituals into powerful dracoliches. A dracolich retains its shape and size upon transforming, its skin an scales drawing tight to its bones or sloughing away to leave a skeletal form behind. Its eyes appear as glowing points of light floating in shadowy sockets, hinting at the malevolence of its undead mind'.

What you get: Your EUR 90 or USD 90 or GBP 70 or equivalent will buy you a Dracolich, the unholy manifestation of a dragon as a lich as sculpted by Charles Woods.

Upon opening the box one is greeted by eight different tightly wrapped packages. There are fourteen distinct pieces that need only minor interventions, if any. The miniature is enormous. The radius of its base is 145 mm (!) and when fully assembled the miniature reaches a height of almost 140 mm.

The dracolich is hiding (if an enormous creature like that can ever hide) behind a half-fallen deserted tower. It is caught in a pose that is ready to strike, the remnants of its wing in front of the tower, its tail in a balancing posture and its long-talon front leg retracted.

Dracolich is one of the numerous sets that have been already released by Gale Force Nine in their D&D Collector's Series. In contrast to other minis, it does not have any other identifiers as to the subset it belongs to, even though on the publisher's website it is referenced as a Neverwinter mini. In any event, it totally deserves a review on its own.

Dracolich has a limited print run of 1500 items. GF9 has stated in advance that once gone no item of the D&D Collector's Series will be reprinted.

The strong points: Dracolich is not a named opponent like Orcus, yet damn, he is as at least as impressive. The dude towers over a tower for crying out loud. Everything oozes of decay. The dracolich's rotting flesh has contracted, revealing its powerful skeleton. Its skull is full of spikes and angled protrusions that can cut your fingers if you are not careful. The tower hasn't just fallen. Its stones are slowly washed away from the ground, revealing the dirt beneath it, with a heavy carpet of moss thriving where the structure used to be. The sculpting is phenomenal, and I didn't expect any less, seeing how Charles Woods is once again the artist responsible. The way skin, sinew and bones mesh is fantastic, and depending on the colour scheme you opt for can come out as extremely gruesome. The ivy slowly climbing the tower's walls is yet another touch of impossible detail which you will probably need a lens for.

The serving suggestion (i.e. the painting on the box) is out of this planet. I personally can't get anywhere near that quality. The remnants of the dracolich's skin give an impression of being multi-layered, something that a nice fade-away effect will bring out more pronouncedly. When one looks at the mini for the first time he is under the impression that there really isn't much skin. How wrong you are! There is enough detail here to have you occupied for ages, and especially if you bother with the tower as much as you do with the beast itself. You should, mind you. This is an extremely expensive mini that demands your full attention. Don't treat it as if it were a second grade goblin.

I haven't finished the process of painting the miniature (that would have stalled the review another year), but up to now the material behaved very well to my clumsy cleaning, minor cutting, priming, partial gluing and partial painting (with all the intermediary steps). This is a very solid, heavy mini mind you. The wings look flimsy, yet they are extremely sturdy. The mini stays where you put it; it is impossible to clumsily move it around the table.

The weak points: When it comes to quality of sculpting this is one of the best big-sized miniatures you will ever buy. Frankly, there is nothing bad to say about it. It will take a very long time for me to finish it and I know I can get nowhere near the exhibition quality job that the serving suggestion proposes. Still, what a mini to field!

'So, do I get a Dracolich and a falling tower in one?' Nice try, but don't be greedy. Dracolich is integrated to the tower; the two cannot be separated. I actually prefer it that way.

The tower is at scale with 15 mm minis, not with 28 mm ones. Dracolich is an impressive sculpt, don't get me wrong. When your other minis are near the tower's door however, you might be left wondering whether this used to be a tower built for the exclusive use of halflings and dwarves.

First world problem: storage. You'd better have space to store (or display!) this beauty when you are not using it. I don't recommend leaving him exposed to the elements, unless you really like dusting. This dude belongs to either a dedicated trunk for minis, or behind a transparent case for everybody to marvel at.

I have voiced my concerns numerous times about the collector's edition aspect of the series. Its items are available in a few stores only as indicated in GF9's website and the limited print run forces artificial demand upon them. At the end of the day Dracolich is not a miniature for everyday use. For most of us this will be the crown jewels of our miniature collection and the ultimate test for our skills. This isn't the monster that will appear at the end of a random adventure; this is the villain to defeat in the culmination of a demanding campaign. EUR 90 nowadays buy you two medium-sized games nowadays. Your wallet knows better where your priorities should lie.

Conclusion: Few things are cooler than undead dragons. The Dracolich begs to be bought, begs to be painted, begs to be played!

To find out more about Dracolich and the D&D Collector's Series, visit GF9's website at http://www.gf9.com.

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