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Miniatures Adventure => Age of Myths, Gods and Empires => Topic started by: Verderer on October 15, 2016, 12:14:28 PM

Title: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Verderer on October 15, 2016, 12:14:28 PM
Can you tell me how they are, they seem to offer a lot of bang for a buck, and from pics appear to be pretty nice for plastics, especially with shield transfers which make a fab focal point. How do they fit with other brands, like Foundry? I have hunkering for some Republican Romans...

Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Hu Rhu on October 15, 2016, 12:45:32 PM
I have a lot of the Victrix Romans, but sadly I don't have any Foundry Romans to match them with.  I do have some Foundry Gauls which are mich smaller and slighter and don't match at all. 

The Victrix figures go well with Aventine and also with Crusader figures if that helps.
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: tyrionhalfman on October 15, 2016, 12:59:30 PM
I've mixed them with Agema and Wargames Factory plastic, and also a handful of Wargames Foundry metals. I think they all look great together, and any slight differences in size just add to the overall variety I was after by mixing manufacturers. I just kept shields consistent within each unit to tie them together
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Verderer on October 15, 2016, 02:11:37 PM
Thanks for the info, I should mention that I probably would use mainly Foundry Ancient civilians with them, rebelling Roman citizens, patricians and so on. Not so much the legionnaires. The civvies seem to be newer models, so possibly a little larger than older Foundry ranges? And Victrix seems to be expanding on enemies of Rome too. I already have some Gauls from Warlord which should be useful.

I read someplace that at least some Victrix spears tend to be overly thick, but that's understandable for practical reasons. Thin plastic is really fragile in game use, in my experience (riders or Rohan for example). So I wouldnt mind that so much, I can always paint them dark colors to make them slimmer! :D

Oh, and is it best to order directly from Victrix, or does some shop in Europe have good deals? I am in Finland.

Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Berg on October 15, 2016, 06:44:19 PM
I have mixed in some foundry metal command with my Victrix plastic and they look fine together. You will get some extra plastic shields that can be useful if you mix in miniatures from other manufacturers.

I live in Sweden and order directly from Victrix without problem, I dont know if there are anyone that stock all the shield transfers besides Victrix.

*edit

I forgot to add that they are easy to assamble and they look good when painted, the only problem I have with them is that it can be difficult glue them in poses that both look natural and will rank up easily.
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Whitwort Stormbringer on October 16, 2016, 10:13:02 PM
I read someplace that at least some Victrix spears tend to be overly thick
I've actually had the opposite problem.  The only Victrix set I have are the Carthaginian citizen levy, and those spears are very slim in comparison to, say, Gripping Beast's plastics.  None of mine have snapped yet, but it kinda seems like it's only a matter of time...

Oh, and is it best to order directly from Victrix, or does some shop in Europe have good deals? I am in Finland.
I live in the US and ordered from Caliver Books, who seem to have pretty good prices and free shipping over a certain amount.  I'd assume they'll ship to Finland.
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: AdamPHayes on October 16, 2016, 10:59:14 PM
I did a comparison of some Republican Roman ranges last year. The Victrix Romans were not out then but there is one of their Greek hoplites in there to see a reasonable matchup.

http://wargamewarrior.webs.com/apps/blog/show/42484664-republican-roman-comparison (http://wargamewarrior.webs.com/apps/blog/show/42484664-republican-roman-comparison)

Out of the plastics available I prefer the Agema offerings, better sculpts but a lot less choice of pose.
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Cyrus1 on October 17, 2016, 01:49:24 AM
The Agema Republican Romans plastics are nice figures, quite tall and skinny but the Victrix are far superior - see Agema and Victorix comparisons below:

(http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss166/sumer2500/Republican%20Romans/IMG_3065_edited-1_zps930f71e1.jpg)

(http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss166/sumer2500/Republican%20Romans/IMG_2894_edited-1_zps9c714ad1.jpg)

(http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss166/sumer2500/Republican%20Romans/file_zps7ccb0e4e.jpg)

Victrix:

(http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss166/sumer2500/Republican%20Romans/IMG_4212_edited-1_zps6stfdor1.jpg)

(http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss166/sumer2500/Republican%20Romans/IMG_3826_edited-1_zpse603c88c.jpg)
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Corso on October 17, 2016, 05:51:06 PM
Cyrus' picts will give you the answer you need.

What I can add is that the Victrix Romans are extremely worth it. Great models with good value for money.
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Verderer on October 17, 2016, 11:00:31 PM
Thanks for the advice and pics, gents! I certainly will order a box of early Romans, and maybe one of those Sarmatians, and enough shield transfers to go around. That should keep me occupied for bit...
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: happyhiker on October 19, 2016, 12:07:17 PM
Sorry to hijack the thread, but I'm interested in getting some early Romans too.
The victrix ones seem to have massive feathers in their helmets. Is that right, is it accurate ? The Warlord Games Caesarian romans don't have this. Can you just clip the feathers off or would it look funny ? How do the Victrix ones compare to the Warlord ones ? I think Warlord are smaller and their Imperial Romans look a bit squat. I'm a bit torn between starting an Imperial or Republic army, it will probably depend on the best/cheapest models I can get, is there a good source for Plastic Imperial Romans that look better than the Warlord ones?
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Hu Rhu on October 19, 2016, 01:19:30 PM
The Victrix figures do have feathers but they are not huge (compared to some - Agema for instance).  However if you want a mix of helmets then you can mix and match with the Italian Allies box, who come with a wider range of helmets and adornments.  My own legions have a mix of the two with each having about 2/3 of their own and 1/3 of the others.

Hope that helps.
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Mad Doc Morris on October 19, 2016, 01:21:19 PM
Sorry to hijack the thread, but I'm interested in getting some early Romans too.
The victrix ones seem to have massive feathers in their helmets. Is that right, is it accurate ? The Warlord Games Caesarian romans don't have this. Can you just clip the feathers off or would it look funny ? How do the Victrix ones compare to the Warlord ones ? I think Warlord are smaller and their Imperial Romans look a bit squat. I'm a bit torn between starting an Imperial or Republic army, it will probably depend on the best/cheapest models I can get, is there a good source for Plastic Imperial Romans that look better than the Warlord ones?

For plastics, these are actually three different periods: Early to Mid-Republican (Victrix), Late Republican/"Caesarian" (Warlord, to an extent: Wargames Factory) and Early Imperial (Warlord, soonish: Victrix). They all have slightly, but noticeably different gear, helmets in particular.
Although most (all?) helmets identified as Roman could hold a crest, it is all but certain that these were attached all the time. You might therefore clip them off as well. Still, this doesn't make every 3rd century BC helmet fit into the ranks of Caesar's soldiers two hundred years later. ;)

Regarding scale: Besides the useful blog link provided earlier, it's always worth checking our Scale Comparison thread (LINK (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=38197.0)). If anyone wants to contribute, I'm happy to update it. :)
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: happyhiker on October 19, 2016, 02:00:28 PM
So Punic Wars = Silly Feathers, really ? they really went in to battle with a massive plumes on their bonce? I assume this has been verified by finding lots of feathers on battle fields or something. If I wanted to do Punic wars/Macedonian wars then I assume this is the right set of figures to get ?

In reality, despite my best intentions, the Romans will end up fighting orcs most of the time, so really cool is more important than any given period, but the Victrix do look better than Warlord(feathers not withstanding).

I'll check out the allies but does anyone do a better set of Imperials than Warlord(In plastic), I've googled it but I think Warlord has bought out all the competition since the posts I've read.
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Mithridates1 on October 20, 2016, 12:38:02 AM
HH

According to Wargames Reasearch Group Armies and Enemies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars (just re-issued), the historian Polybios noted that helmets were crested with a crown or circlet of feathers and three upright black or crimson feathers a cubit (18"/46cm) tall.   He apparently implies this type of crest was uniform.   There is a companion WRG volume on Imperial Rome.

Greek hoplites and other Italians like Samnites wore large crests/feathers on their helmets into battle so in this sense the Romans were not unusual.

As noted by Mad Doc Morris, suggest Victrix's Facebook page for shots of their plastic early Imperial range - legionaries and auxiliaries, likely due out next year.   They look excellent and if similar in size to other ranges will be larger than Warlord's Imperial legionaries.   Victrix make Numidian cavalry.  For heavier cavalry, archers and command figures you will need to use metal ranges - hard to go past Aventine (28mm).

Lots to choose from for a Roman!

Garry
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: SteveBurt on October 20, 2016, 09:35:49 AM
You can plausibly use Late Republican legionaries (Caesar's men) as Punic war Hastati and Principes (you'll need different figures for the Triarii); that's what I do, anyway! The Late Republican chaps have floppy horsehair crests. Lets me play both periods with most of the same figures.
You can't really go the other way and use Punic War legionaries for the later period.
Yes, they did wear tall crests, for the same reason Napoleonic guards wore tall bearskins; to make them look bigger and more intimidating in combat.
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: happyhiker on October 20, 2016, 12:15:19 PM
Thanks, so Feather it is, I'm not going to argue fashion with an armed Roman no matter what he wears!
The Victrix Imperial soldiers look awesome, but I've nearly finished my WotR and Orcs armies so I may need to go Republic to give me soemthing to paint before xmas, and least then I can do Greeks and Macadonians as enemies (and shh sneak Alexander into the Macadonian wars :o)
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: SteveBurt on October 20, 2016, 01:31:38 PM
Republicans have all the good wars and enemies; I don't understand the enthusiasm for the Imperial era, when the Romans were mostly fighting each other!
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: happyhiker on October 20, 2016, 03:30:02 PM
Square Shields look cool :-) Very Hollywood. Also no silly feathers I reckon !
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Verderer on November 01, 2016, 09:54:24 AM
Making an order right now, but just one question: what sort of bases, if any, are included in the Rep. Roman & Samnite boxes? I mean, in addition to the integral ones? I intend to base both individually and in blocks...

Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Verderer on November 01, 2016, 11:23:45 AM
Answering myself here, I emailed Victrix and they told me no extra bases are included. So I gotta order some from them, or use some other suitable bases... I don't think I really have any extras from my Pike & shotte stuff.

Is 40 x 40 mm good for blocks of soldiers? Seems so?
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: SteveBurt on November 01, 2016, 11:56:58 AM
40x40 if you want the multi-rank look, which is fine for WAB/CoE/Hail Caesar, or 60x20 if you want the WRG/DBx/FoG 'standard' (you can fit 3 figures on a 60x20 base, and none of those rules actually care how many figures are on the base).
I went for the latter as it lets you play more rules with the figures (including WAB/Hail Caesar), but it depends what rules you are planning on using them for.
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Verderer on November 01, 2016, 12:00:15 PM
ok, thanks. I guess I will go for a mix of 40 x 40 and individuals. I havent' really thought about what system to use yet. lol
Title: Re: Victrix plastic Romans?
Post by: Corso on November 01, 2016, 03:41:45 PM
ok, thanks. I guess I will go for a mix of 40 x 40 and individuals.

Wise choice ;)