New Late Roman Range

[area23]

Strange that nobody does thicker wire spears, thinking of it. Both Gripping Beast and Aventine sell pewter spears though.

[WillieB]

Oddly enough I prefer the cast Gripping Beast spears, simply because IMHO they look better. I even go as far as to drill out the Musketeer (and other brands) hands to fit in the thicker GB spear. These would be replaced as well.
(possible tip*) I don't glue these on permanently with superglue, so if a spear bends beyond rescue, I'm almost always able to just easily replace it with a new one. And yes, that means thinning the GB hands somewhat in most cases and folding them into a 'gripping' shape.

The cast on shields however, are what will probably keep me from buying them. Another oval(ish) shape that won't fit in with any of the existing ranges.
Separate shields are a godsend if you want to apply shield decals and even when not.
I can get a more 'uniform' look (if desired) by just adding shields 'A' to figure range 'B','C' or whatever. Or do the opposite and go for a more 'barbarian' look.

They look like really nice figures, but as said, I'm probably going to give them a miss.

[Emir of Askaristan]

I quite like them and may avail myself of a few come payday.

Two things strike me.
Are these for the mid to late 3rdC onwards? There seems to be a mix of helmets - difficult to tell from the pic and I may be my eyes, but some look ridge helmet type while others look more italic. I like this though, I want less uniformity in my legions please, especially in this period.

The shields being separate make no odds to me, but I wonder if they are large enough to take any of the transfers around. (Something to bear in mind if planning more, these transfers are popular!). The shield looks a little small (again just maybe the pic), compared with those found at Dura.

Good figures and a welcome addition - look forward to seeing more and a webpage too please ?

Thanks!

[Graven Steve]

Emir - you are bang on with your time period sir - Jim loved the period, with its potential for a nice mix of kit, and it's a shame these weren't given a proper release, but I always loved the 40mm figs more - so they had priority when it came to moulding. They were all Jim's children and should have been treated equally!

[Emir of Askaristan]

Now I know the sculptor and got the timeframe right I'm looking forward to the rest of the range with even more relish.

Thanks for sharing that Steve.

[bigredbat]

Interesting period; that puts them between the A&A Mid Romans and the various Late Imperial ranges.   How many different sculpts are there?

Re the shields, maybe send Steve at LBMS a couple of samples?  He will have suitable designs that could be re-sized.

It's funny, I don't much like a cast-on spear, but I don't mind a cast on shield.  Different strokes!  ;-)

[dm]

I really like them and looking forward to seeing some painted

[Graven Steve]

Simon - there are about 30 figures in the range

[bigredbat]

Thanks Steve- look forward to seeing the rest!

[area23]

28mm Jim Bowen should work well enough with Copplestone in style. Hope there are good choice of early saxons in the mix.

Very Warlord Chronicles in feel.

[area23]

@Steve; These 30 miniatures were a range parallel to the 36mm England Invaded range or early dark ages only? What can we expect to see released?

[mcfonz]

Shield wise there is always VVV - http://www.3vwargames.co.uk/

And these are on my must have list. Been looking for elite looking late Romans for my dark ages based fantasy/myth human army.

The cloaks on these will help them stand out as such as well.

[MediumAl]

Easy enough to replace the spears. Cut them off above and below the hand, then use a pin-vise or a mini-drill to put a hole down through it, and slide in a steel spear from North Star or the like.
Don't mind cast on shields, and if I'm painting the shield design then I don't mind if the shields are a slightly different size. I think a bit of irregularity suits very late Romans, so like mixing figures. However, I like the LBM shields in particular, so if they were of a size to take the same decals as one or more of the other manufactureres, that would be good.