Works Raptor

Ah yes, even the words themselves seem sharp and bladed...the unscrupulous Works Raptor have always been a favourite of mine, and now we have the completion of the outstanding forces from the Zenian League Fleet Book in the form of the Battlecruisers and Destroyers. First up are the Battlecruisers, in the standard smaller box and sleeve format;

I like the studio models paint job, which is still menacing but feels more in keeping with the recent releases.

Rear of the sleeve has a bit of fluff and box contents as normal - all standard stuff so far

Opening the box you get what you might expect - some bubble-wrap bagged items and accessories in a press-close bag.

On unpacking, once again all is as expected - two of the battlecruisers, cast as a single piece with flight stand inserts, flight stands, SRS tokens/dice and four of the much discussed metal shield pieces we all love/hate so well.

Looking at the hull in more detail, shae has some typically Works Raptor design pieces, but she's a lot less "sleek" than the Attrition or Interdictor - she looks like a bruiser! You can also clearly see the attachment points for the metal shields here.

The only piece of the model I'm not in love with are the two remora sucker pads on the rear, which look rather Corsairesque, and don't really seem to fit the prior design cues of the WR models. Still, It's a small piece, and if I really find them that objectionable I can always remove them!

One of my ships had a small defect on the nose - nothing I'm very concerned about, it'll either be a green stuff repair or battle damage.

So, moving on to the Destroyers, we have the same small box and sleeve format featuring the pretty pictures...

...and the fluff/contents on the back.

Contents look very familiar...

Now we're onto the good stuff! Unbagging everything you get two full squadrons of the Nullifier Destroyer, plus flight stands, inserts and bases.

Now let's talk about the Nullifier....this is possibly my number 1 favourite model straight out of the box - she's gorgeous! Sleek, pretty and deadly - very Works Raptor!

Basically she looks good from any angle, including the slightly occluded engine ports which is what I expected on the Battlecruiser too (the more I think about it the more I think they have to go!).  Can't wait to get them painted and try them out!

Now several people have complained about the rather monodirectional function the WR ships provide - the Nullifiers do essentially the same job as the Interdictors, the battlecruisers do nothing the Attrition doesn't etc...but that's kind of the point, isn't it? WR doesn't have to stand buy themselves, they produce these types of ships for others to buy and to protect their holdings...they're not supposed to be a rounded fleet, they're meant to be like they are!

Anyway, getting slightly off-topic! The long and short of the WR releases is that if you like WR, you'll like these models, they're both very much in keeping with the WR  trope (apart from the remora suckers!), and I can see people wanting them - I did!