Dystopian Legions Prussian Empire Teutonic Knights, review and unboxing

Prussian Empire Teutonic Knights

The knights march into battle in a medium Spartan box

The box back shows a detailed render, along with some fluff and a list of the box content

Also included are three large bases. The included game card is titled 'Impervious' and is the same as the one included in the starter box.

The knight's bodies are an intricate resin block. There is a nice surprise in addition of a new pose relative to the one included in the starter box.

 Each of the three knights has their own small bag of metal bits, these are listed as upgrade packs on the spartan store.

First and identically to those included in the stater box is the standard knight. I have chosen to differentiate this model from the standard knights included in the starter box by using the different body sculpt here.

 The specialist boasts a humungous Tesla lance that has some nice visual symmetry with the Tesla bayonets on the grenadiers. I really like the bucket head included with this model and the different shoulder pads are a deft touch.

Finally we have the Unter Marshal (under Marshal) with his own shoulder plates and imposing winged helmet

The models are inherently modular and as such you can swap the shoulder plates and heads about as you please, the shoulder pads can also be omitted on one or both sides to add verity.
Here are all three constructed:

Construction:

I didn't find the knights difficult to build. Most problematic is gluing the arms in place: make sure that the peg on the model is smooth and then hold the arm in place with bluetack until the glue sets. 

Contents as list:

Standard Teutonic Knight

Teutonic Knight with specialist upgrade

Teutonic Knight Unter Marshal

Imperious game card

Activation card

3 Large round bases.

Quality:

The models are of a high quality easily matching anything  or beating anything comparable. The mould lines are in manageable places and the detail is clear.

Appearance:

Personally I really like the knights placing them high among the  reasons I started collecting this game originally! I find they bespeak a smouldering malevolence that is just wonderful in a model.

Table Top Usage:

If you bought the starter box and the knights box you should now have 5 knights to command. The simplest way to deploy these is as a section of three standard knights. This offers the player a mobile wall of cover which, if followed by a section of grenadiers with attached lieutenant using Force march (target section moves three inches in any direction) on the knights, allows the them to advance quickly while the grenadiers advance in relative safety. This can be an effective tactic in smaller games where the knights have little to fear.
A section of standard knights will require babysitting by an officer to achieve their potential, this can be problematic in larger games. 

Adding a specialist to the section brings anti ironclad firepower and the 'Blast' Weapon Assigned Rule (WAR) at the cost of three points and the ability to fire out to range band (RB) three. Personally I find this to be an easy choice in larger games where I know there is going to be an Ironclad and I want as many weapons with armour piercing as I can get; in smaller games the specialist can be your insurance against a surprise Ironclad.

Thematically, I would love for the specialist to have the champion Model Assigned Rule (MAR). 

The Unter Marshal brings the ability for the unit to act independently, a harder to kill model, one of the best dueling stat lines in the game and the Force March ability. To me this makes the Unter Marsh a very viable choice.
Remember: an officer can't use force march on the section they are in command of.

Once deployed, the knight's towering MAR means that they are difficult to conceal behind anything other than an Ironclad. Inversely, it does mean that infantry can hide behind the knights. This mobile cover concept is the simplest way to use the knights, although whiled effective it does, I feel, waste their offensive potential. Making  use of that potential will require you to get the knights in close somehow, my personal favorite tactic is to use two units of knights next to each other, this allows them to use force march on each other and speed across the battlefield.

Price Per Model:

At a R.R.P. of £24 (or £21.60 from The Troll Trader or Fire Storm Games) the Knights march in at £8 (£7.2 with discount) per model. This seems a lot but allow me show you a photo:

Yes that is a GW terminator, look at the relative size of these models, now the price seems so much more reasonable.

Conclusion:

The only thing that holds this box back is the lack of additional heads and shoulder plates to customise your unit as a result it gets an outstanding 9 out of 10!
I leave you with a picture of one of my painted knights, I used a scenic base from  terrain geek