A bit of a departure here for me. I'm going to review some models!
The kit being inspected is the Roman Veterans box, a set of 20 plastic 28mm Romans by Warlord Games, to accompany their Hail Caesar ruleset.
Now, before we get started – I don't do 28mm and I don't do historical. At least up until now. I play Warhammer 40k, Fantasy, Warmachine, Malifaux… you can see where I'm coming from. Most of the miniatures I own are 30 or 32mm 'heroic' scale models so in comparison these guys are like hobbits.
So why am I looking at this stuff, never mind buying it and painting it?
I've noticed a lot more plastic kits appearing on the market these days and from distance they look pretty good. I was intrigued to see how they compared to what I know, plastic Space Marines (© Games Workshop).
I placed my order on the Warlord Games website last Thursday mid-morning; I got an email to say it was being shipped on Tuesday evening this week and it arrived the next day. Not the quickest of deliveries, but not bad at all.
I only wanted to dip my toe in so went for the 20x Veterans box rather than something with more models in it. It has options for a Centurion and a Standard Bearer and Musician with the rest all Legionaries. I was disappointed to see that it only comes with 3 different body sculpts for the troops which, when building 17 of them, makes them look rather repetitive. In addition there are only a handful of alternative head sculpts so again repetition occurs quickly.
Being veterans these guys are battered and bruised and so is their gear. Lots of damage on shields and bandages on heads. I liked this and it's perfect for the application I have in mind for them.
The plastic itself seems good quality. As you can see I stuck my test models onto weighted 25mm bases, and standard plastic glue gave no problems with that or attaching limbs or shields (not like Privateer Press 'plastic' models). It all went together very easily and I could have added more with leg armour and other extras available on the sprue.
The detail on the sculpts is good. I especially like the Centurion and can't wait to get some paint on him. I would have liked to see shield motifs sculpted onto the models but I guess if you're doing multiple units and need different images a plain shield is best. The models came with a set of waterslide transfers which look good – won't be using them myself as I'd rather paint them on by hand, but if you had 20 to do the transfers might be a less laborious option.
I realise I've been spoilt with the quality and volume of extra 'bitz' on my 40k plastics all these years. These models have limited poses and there's a lot of repetition but that's not to say I'm not impressed. I've a lot of faith in the quality of Warlord Games' gear – they have the pedigree to back it up – and these models do not disappoint. The quality of the product, sculpt and price per model is great and I will be dipping my toe in again at some point.
Price: 9/10
An absolute bargain, 20 models for 16 quid, fantastic!
Plastic Quality: 9/10
No problems at all, variable levels of flash and mould lines but good overall.
Sculpt Quality: 8/10
I have limited experience of this scale but they look great to me!
Poses: 7/10
Limited to sticking arms and heads on and limited alternative sculpts, but alright.
Extra Bitz: 5/10
A few bits here and there but I guess they're more of a 'nice to have'.
Overall: 8/10
Considering these are the first 28mm, non sci-fi/fantasy/steampunk plastic miniatures I've ever bought I'm really rather impressed. I am coming from a totally different perspective that most gamers who will be buying this product, my expectations were very high so the scores may seem a little harsh. I was looking for some Roman Legionaries – they certainly seem historically accurate (based upon my recent studying) and I doubt that I could find anything better out there at the moment. Very happy.
I'll do a post or two as I paint them and that will be the real test!
UPDATE…
With the realisation that the scale of these guys is on the small side I have to amend the overall score to reflect the disappointment I felt.
Overall: 7/10