Oathmark – Goblin Wolf Riders

After covering the infantry kits of Oathmark, today we have the opportunity to show the first cavalry set of the range - Goblin Wolf Riders. These were released only a few weeks ago.

If you're not familiar with Oathmark. It is a project by Osprey Games and Northstar Military Figures, with Renedra covering the casting. The full name is Oathmark - Battles of the Lost Age and it is going for a 28mm mass combat range, with rank & file regiments and a few characters. I haven't had the chance to look into the rules yet.

As for the goblin army, this is the second Oathmark kit for them. The first one was the Goblin Infantry, we showed here in december. A box of 15 wolf riders will cost you 25 GBP and covers three sprues for the riders, five for the wolfs and two bases with 50 x 25 mm cavalry bases.

Osprey/Northstar teamed up with Renedra for production, so you get a proper casting quality on the plastic miniatures. Low to medium amount of mould lines, a bit stronger within the fur parts. The riders sprue covers 5 different bodies, enough arms to equip the models with either hand weapons and shields , spears or bows and quivers, 10 different heads, and a banner pole incl. banner top. The layout is very much like the infantry, but with different legs and overall different designs.

The wolves are two part models and are numbered, so you know which halves go together.

There are three different designs of the wolves. Unfortunately they can not be mix, so you have to assemble them as they are numbered. I am not quite happy with the split in the middle, but due to the limitations of plastic casting (and undercuts) you'd either have to make a more complex cut resulting in possible gaps or modify the design (for example smaller ears, closer to the head, similar to the old Warhammer wolves).

They fit pretty well on the rectangular cavalry bases.

Now up for the riders. Their bodies consists out of wide spread legs and "regular" bodies, that should be compatible with the infantry kit, maybe a bit more hunched. You will need to glue the bodies to the mounts later on, for a more reliable hold. I used a small ball of blutac to keep them in place. You could pin them and keep them removeable.

The weapon options are the same as with the infantry kit. You can give them hand weapons or spears with shields, or bow and quiver. There is a larger sword and a banner pole for the command section, but no musician (like a horn blower) in this set.

For the five bodies you have ten different heads to choose from. Helmeted ones and bare ones, as well as one with large horned helmet, obviously for the champion / pack leader. The helmets have the option to add a small fur tail on top.

The wolf riders are only missing the completing bits, like shields, quiver, banner pole and fur tails. I just put the shields in place, as you might want to glue them to the bodies after you've painted them. The shields come in different round / moon shape designs. As for the banner bearer I added one to his back.

To give you an idea of size, I put them next to one of the goblin wolfriders from the Warhammer range.

And here is a pack of wolf riders with different gear, just to show you an example what you can build from this set.

Conclusion
Less than 2 GBP per mounted miniature is a bargain. Continuing the low pricing, the infantry kits started at less than a pound per model. And that is the way to go if you intend to promote and develope a mass combat system in this scale. Similar to the infantry, there are additional blister / codes that will cover more heroes, a shaman and a musician mounted on wolves.

These are intend to fill an army, a horde, to be placed in rank and file. You can see that from a design point of view and from the amount of details. So you certainly can not compare them to some 35-50mm show case miniature, that would be used for a painting competiton, but that model alone would cost you as much as the whole box. They are still a pretty solid design, with more true-scale proportions and a refreshing uncartoony approach towards goblins. I have to say, due to the coherent strategy Oathmark has a pretty good chance to get their foot in the door for the mass combat gap that was created once the old Warhammer system withdrew from the market - but on a reasonable price without feeling like a budget miniature range.

Based upon the items already available, you're able to field a proper army incl. heroes, only missing a war machine or maybe a monster. But that's something you can easily source from other companies on the market in the meantime.

If you're interested in Oathmark, there is this facebook group for the player to have a chat.

Oathmark - Battles of the Lost Age is a brand by Northstar Miniatures and Osprey Games. Oathmark has a Facebook page as well.

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.