Rumble Slam Starter Set Review: A Fast, Fun Tabletop Miniatures Game

Introduction

If you grew up loving retro pop culture, wrestling, and tabletop games, but find it hard to carve out time for long sessions, Rumble Slam might be the answer. It is a tabletop miniatures game that combines the over-the-top drama of professional wrestling with the hobby of collecting and painting miniatures. The game is designed to be quick to learn, fun to paint, and does not take three hours to play a single match.

The two-player starter box is refreshingly affordable, and it includes everything you need to get started. From the demo games played, it seems fun, which is the most important thing for any game. This review covers what is inside the box, the prep work required, and how the miniatures paint up.

What Is Rumble Slam?

Rumble Slam is a tabletop miniatures game with a wrestling theme. It features miniatures, pop culture references, and a fast-paced, silly, and fun gameplay style. The game does not require many miniatures to play, and it is quick to get going, making it a good option for people with busy schedules.

The two-player starter box costs about 40 pounds, making it an accessible entry point. Inside the box you will find markers, clear acrylic bases, unique dice, a mouse mat style neoprene wrestling ring with a subtle grid printed on it, cards for all the characters and their stats, a slim instruction book, and the miniatures themselves.

The miniatures are made of resin, which provides insanely crisp details compared to plastic. All but one of the models are in one piece, so there is hardly any assembly required. The downside is that resin is a little more fragile to work with, and the models need a wash before painting to remove mold release agents that can stop paint from sticking properly.

Prep Work: Cleaning and Assembly

Before painting, the miniatures need some basic prep work. First, give the models a gentle scrub in warm soapy water with a soft toothbrush, then let them dry. This removes the mold release used in resin casting, which can prevent paint from adhering properly.

Next, use a pair of nippers to cut away the casting gates. In a pinch, nail clippers work fine. It is best to work from the most fragile parts first, cutting close to the contact points, so you do not flex and break them. Some of the bigger models, like the troll, have large contact points that can be nipped away until they are flush with the model. Most gates and contacts are in subtle places that will not be visible during play, so perfection is not required.

The models are by and large really cleanly cast, with only light mold lines that can be scraped away with the blunt side of a hobby knife. It is only worth bothering with the obvious top-facing ones, as these are game pieces, not competition entries.

Rather than sticking the miniatures straight onto the clear bases, it is recommended to mount them on something easy to grab, like a cork, a small block of wood, or little plastic shot glasses. A tiny dab of super glue on the soles of the feet holds them in place while painting, and they snap off easily when done. The big troll model has an arm that needs to be glued on, and super glue is required for resin models, as plastic cement will not work.

If the tiny gap between the arm and body on the troll bothers you, a water-soluble modeling putty can be used to fill it. Once the putty is dry, the prep work is done.

The last step before painting is to prime the models. A proper primer gives the models a microscopic texture that helps paint stick uniformly and bond to the resin, preventing rubbing or chipping over time. Two very light coats of a neutral colored primer are enough, and the coverage does not need to be perfect since none of the primer color will ultimately be visible.

Painting the Miniatures

Painting the Rumble Slam miniatures is a great project for new painters. The models are a tiny bit bigger than Warhammer models, so the details are bigger and easier to reach, with no fiddly trim.

A basic selection of 14 paints is enough: a rich brown, a medium green, a bold blue, a warm khaki, a basic medium gray, a silvery gunmetal, a saturated purple, a rich gold, an eye-popping yellow, a bold red, a black, a white, and two washes (a black wash for armor and weapons, and a brown umber wash for warmer toned shading).

Start with the skin, using the green paint thinned slightly with water. One thin coat is usually enough for opaque green paints, but a second coat can be added if needed. Then paint the singlets in red, being careful around the borders with the green skin. White boots and pads make the models pop, and two thinner coats are recommended for white paints since they tend to dry streakier and coarser than other colors. Use a detail brush for the tassels on the goblins.

The khaki paint is versatile for creating skin tones. Mixing a tiny touch of red into khaki, then desaturating and lightening with white, creates a rosy fair complexion. Adding a little brown creates a richer earthy tan, and more brown pushes it into a more realistic darker skin tone.

For the humans, paint their trunks blue, and give the halfling gray hair. Brown works for a brunette, and a one-to-one mix of yellow and khaki creates a rich blonde. For boots, mixing black and gray in equal amounts creates a shadowy charcoal color.

The wash stage is the final step for a game-ready look. Mixing the black and brown washes in equal parts creates a very dark but warm toned wash suitable for everything. Paint it over literally everything on all the models. The washes love finding recesses and do not stain flat surfaces much. If big pools gather, wick away the excess with a drier brush to avoid tide marks.

For extra contrast, a few quick highlighting techniques can make the models stand out. Thin white paint can be used for sketchy highlights on top-facing areas. Mixing yellow into red creates a blood orange color for streaky lines on the singlets. Adding a tiny touch of yellow to the green creates a sickly potent color for hatching lines in the direction of muscle fibers. A little bright highlight on the tips of teeth and claws makes them pop.

Once the painting is done, snap the models off their cups with a short, sharp shock. Trim or file off any super glue from their soles, then glue them to the bases. The clear bases have a protective film on one side that can be peeled off with a nail. A teeny tiny dab of super glue on the soles is enough, and placing the models in front of a fan while the glue dries prevents the bases from fogging up from the fumes.

Final Thoughts

The Rumble Slam Starter Set is a cool little project for new painters and a fun, fast-paced game for players. It combines wrestling and fantasy in a way that is quick to learn and does not require a huge time commitment. The two-player starter box is affordable, and the miniatures are easy to prep and paint up nicely with a basic selection of paints.

The game has good potential because it is fast paced, fun, silly, and a good laugh. For anyone who loves wrestling, miniatures, or both, this starter set is worth considering.