"Gripping Beast Plastic Dark Age Warriors - review" Topic

I've put a review of GB's plastic generic Dark Age warriors on my blog.

link

Bottom line for me is that it was well worth the wait and that forty mini's this good for twenty quid is a no-brainer.

Here's a few assembled spearmen – it'll take me a lot longer to get them painted!

Thanks for that – shame about the lack of scabbards but have some spares from other sets. One of the benefits of the 'new' hard plastic ranges.

thanks

Great review and one I have been waiting for. Now I have seem them in the "light" I'm not overly that impressed, some have anatomical poses that look "odd" with arms in odd positions and others looking stilted. Certainly nowhere near as good as the figures of old Gripping Beast (metal ranges, where are you Patten brothers please come back….)

However, they are on par with Warlord and better than some others like Wargames Factory, and they are cheap and very useful to bulk out an army, if, you can ignore some of the anatomical issues raised above and as mentioned in the rveiew above, like missing scabbards, no extra weapons like Bows etc, which I can live with, as not every lowly warrior could afford a sword but would have had a bow.

Thnaks for a great review!

Mithridates, the beauty of the plastic sets is how they "build" the spares box up over time. Old scale modellers' rule: if it's on a sprue, it goes in a spares box!

I will resist, I will resist! They do look and if they are as nice as the saxons box set then I will have to invest some cash on a couple of boxs. Thanks for the review, its always nice to see how they build!

Marcus, I get what you mean about the poses. The anatomy is fine, in my opinion (proportions, joint presentations, balance etc), but I think that the poses look odd without the shields in place. The position of the arms looks very strange in the pictures because no one would actually have their arms in those positions if they only have a weapon in one hand. I think once the shields are in place, the poses will "work" better.

I'd planned to buy a box and build some of them as slaves, workers or captives (I have visions of doing a portage the rapids game). Looking at the pictures, I'm not sure all of the bodies will work for that--as noted, if not holding a shield, the left arm looks a little odd. Maybe the FLGS will get a box in and I can look at them.

Grelber

I think they will be particularly useful

I was fooled by the weird left arm positions for a while too.

Did a bunch of mine with spare Saxon heads.

Would these guys be suitable for the Arthurian period using the heads in the box? I'm thinking of Romano-British levy types using the Dux Britanniarum rules.

Would these guys be suitable for the Arthurian period using the heads in the box? I'm thinking of Romano-British levy types using the Dux Britanniarum rules.

They are just perfect for that. If you want to add even more variety change the heads and shields. You can even use the WestWind separate heads with a little 'neck surgery'

Thanks very much WillieB.