West Wind - Empire of the Dead - Infernium Hound and Handler - Review and Unboxing

The hound and handler arrive together in a standard clamshell pack

Westwind kindly gave me this box for the purposes of review, I have uploaded an unboxing video Here

Content:

1, handler
1, hound
2, 30mm plastic bases

Quality:
The hound and handler are neatly cast in white metal. The hounds legs are very close together, not however, to the point of being fused into a single lump. This is an indicator of quality and will allow the model to be posed less statically if it is freed from the tab. I recommend using a jewelers saw if you intend to do this.

Appearance:
The handler has a different hat to regular bobbies, this seems a little random as special branch don't. Maybe it is to clearly mark him out as a non-combatant. The hound strikes a nice balance between being overtly mechanical and still resembling a dog. Whilst the pose is too static for my liking, with both pairs of legs posed identically, this does lend the model  an air of robotic unnaturalism - which may have been intentional. 

Table top usage:
At time of writing, the the hound and handler have no published rules. I anticipate that the hound will be a strong melee combatant whilst the handler will be weaker than a normal bobbie. There will also I expect, be rule for what happens to the hound if the handler is killed.
Personally, I would have the hound require both line of sight to and being within 12" of the handler in order to be given new orders. Otherwise, it would simply complete its current order and then act only in response to being attacked. This seems 'realistic' given the level of technology in Eotd and it rewards tactical play in terms of both protecting and attacking the handler.


Scale:
The handler is 28mm heroic scale.

To the left a 32mm scale model, to the right a 28mm heroic scale example.

Cost per model:
At £7 for the combined pack the models retail at £3.50 each, this is highly competitive for metal models.


Conclusion:

I think that a pair of hounds in individual stances could be a good seller, they'd have a wide range of appeal. The handler ties this set to the Eotd universe, for which they currently have no rules. If that isn't an issue for your group then I think this set is good buy to expand your bobbie force. Overall 8 out of 10