"First Corps" Topic

Gents;

Re-looked at the First Corps offerings……..dang, I forgot how nice they appear to be. Can't say I have ever owned any, but am sorely tempted………are they smallish 25/28mm?

Dave

Most of the ancients ranges compare well size-wise with older (Perry-sculpted) Foundry, or Gripping Beast's ancients, or maybe Crusader. A bit smaller than the Foundry World of the Greeks/Polemos/A&A/Gorgon/Aventine types, but not all that much.

But it depends a lot on what you select. For example, 1st Corps horses tend to be large and energetic compared to Foundry.

Now those ellies are going to be quite good-sized compared to some.

Allen

Oh the ellies are big. Perhaps even too big, but they *are* definitely impressive: you know they're there, and that they're coming for you!

Allen, have you ordered from them recently? I haven't ordered 1st Corps from the UK, ever. Just wondering how their service is. I HAVE to have the Caesar and Pomepy groups. :)

Mike B

Mike, I placed an order on August 6th to round out Jeff's and my Ptolemaic phalanxes; the Curtii sent me a PayPal invoice on the 7th and I paid it that day. The figures (including some goodies--samples of the new Successor cavalry!) arrived on August 18th, which is pretty good, at a time of year when most everybody in the UK is on holiday!

Through three owners--Rob Baker, Phil Stirpe, and now Michael and Simon--1st Corps has always provided good, quick service across the Atlantic. The Curtises are maintaining a fine tradition in most admirable fashion.

Oh, and today, I e-mailed a question about the elephant crews and had an answer in 37 minutes. So the lads are definitely in the modern electronic age.

Hope that helps--

Allen

P.S. I should mention that time may have included casting to order. I had requested some of the older Ptolemaic figures, which may not be in stock now, although they can be provided on request.

Mea culpa! There have been *four* owners of 1st Corps--with Mark Muslek prior to Phil--and all have provided outstanding service on my orders. Apologies to Mark for forgetting him.

Allen

I have some Principes from their Repub Roman line and they're really good figures. I just haven't had the time or inclination to follow up (been distracted by medievals, which is a sure fire thing for me), but when I get around to Romans again, I'm going to fill up from this line. I did find the principes a bit active, and do not fit well on 20mm bases for WAB; I had to base on 20x25mm…

Damon.

Hi Allen,

So the horses are roughly Foundry sized? How about the riders? I may take a punt.

It's great to see all the Successor stuff coming through.

Simon

I'd say the 1st Corps Romans that I have are on the smaller side of 28s. Considerably smaller than Crusader. I have some Roman Republicans that I don't want so if your heading in that direction let me know on this forum and I'll get in touch with you.

Mark

Hi Mark, thanks but my Romans are quite tall Aventines and wouldn't work with 1st Corps. I've long fancied some cataphracts, though, and if the horses are big I might be able to go with them…

Simon

"So the horses are roughly Foundry sized? How about the riders?"

I was thinking of EIR there: the 1st Corps EIR horses are considerably larger than the Foundry ones.

I've got a few minutes this morning. I'll do some comparison shot of:

- The EIR cavalry, so you'll see what I mean.

- 1st Corps Republican Roman cavalry compared to Crusader

- 1st Corps Successor cataphracts compared to… I'll come up with something!

And as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, some comparisons of Republican Roman infantry.

Watch this space.

Allen

Thanks, Allen.

Simon

OK, here we go. A couple of the shots are fuzzy, but you'll get the idea.

First up are a 1st Corps EIR auxiliary cavalryman with a classic Foundry EIR cavalryman:

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The riders are very close to the same size, despite the Big Hands on the 1st Corps figure. But the 1st Corps mount tends to make the Foundry horse look like a pony.

Infantry in general--Crusader's actually an inteerting one to compare, because Mark has made his own figures a bit less bulky and a hair shorter than what he had done for A&A. So although they mix fine with A&A, they're not all that far off from the smaller ranges of figures. I use Crusader Spanish with A&A Spanish; but if I wanted to, I'd have no problems mixing them carefully with the "smaller" 1st Corps and Gripping Beast Spanish ranges.

Here's a 1st Corps Republican Roman musician with his Crusader Carthaginian counterpart:

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Note that although the 1st Corps figure is smaller, its large head and hands make it appear just as a smaller guy. Look at them from the other side, though, and you'll clearly see the difference in sizes:

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Now here are a couple of figures picked to illustrate the same point--a 1st Corps Republican Roman velite and a Crusader Spanish standard bearer:

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The Crusader figure is much taller, but the heads and hands look much closer. In any case, there is no problem matching 1st Corps infantry with "normal" 28s like classic Foundry and Gripping Beast and Imago Militis. I think there's wiggle room to match with Crusader. Obviously, they're not going to be completely happy with Gorgon or Polemarch, but I think you can work in separate units by careful selection. Aventine (some, at least) and Renegade: probably not.

Here are cavalry again. This is a 1st Corps Republican Roman equites (the horse pose should be familiar)) with a Crusader Republican Roman equites:

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The riders aren't a bad match, and the 1st Corps horse stands up pretty well to the big Ebob Crusader mount. Note that the Crusader rider is sitting a millimeter or so high; every one of those damn figures have to have a good bit of metal carved away from the underside of the cloak and the horse's butt to fit properly. This one is only half done, enough to keep him from going face-forward into the horse's mane, and the Blu-tack is sitting him up a bit high.

Here's another view:

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Not bad, I think.

Now for the new 1st Corps Successor cataphracts. here's one with the same Crusader Republican Roman equites:

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Maybe better from this angle:

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The armored horse stands up well, I think, and the rider is a good match with the Crusader equites.

So I think there's more opportunity to use 1st Corps cavalry with the larger 28s.

Hope that helps.

Allen

Thanks very much Allen, that does.

The armoured horse does, indeed, look like a good match- I shall have to buy a few to see what they look like in the flesh. I've been meaning to get some 1stcorps minis, anyhow, for the odd comparision shot.

I have some of those eBob mounts with my Numidians, I've not taken to them. I really like some of his later horses but I find these a bit too leggy, and some of the poses are a trifle odd.

Cheers, Simon

With Numidian horsemen from Foundry, A&A, Crusader, Old Glory, Gripping Beast, 1st Corps, and probably some others I've forgotten, sometimes I feel like they're running a horse show: "All Breeds of the Mediterranean"! Finding something representative of the original Berber (Barb) horse is a bit of a challenge.

I've had a fun time trying to mix and match consistent mounts for Crusader and A&A Spanish, and now will have as much fun with Crusader and A&A Oscans.

Allen