"I Don't Do Ancients..." Topic

… but if I did it would be the new 54mm 1/32nd Expeditionary Force Spartans! So, having been tempted, what is the best single source reference/inspiration book for these, please?

And whilst I am confessing… I also love the Supreme/Tiger 1/30th 60mm Romans – so the question is the same. And can the Romans come in any colour other than RED? Thanks.

Don't know about the other questions but yes, Romans can come in other colours. Tunics: white or off-white, and shields are anybody's guess…

Mike,

Just search on the internet for images of Spartans or Romans. Caliban is right, no one really knows about the color of Roman tunics or shields.

I would highly recommend Osprey's Elite "Greeks" title for Greek dress and equipment. It will change your views on the subject, guaranteed. You'll find that Ancient Greeks were not that much different from your ECW period warriors.

"The illustrated encyclopedia of the uniforms of the Roman world" is the best single source for Romans and their enemies. It's only 20 British pounds but worth about 20 Ospreys in illustrations. It covers all the Roman periods up to the height of the Byzantine empire and all the Roman enemies like Celts, Germans, Carthaginians, Greeks, Persians, Arabs and others.

This company definetly seems to be one to watch. The Greeks look like excellent figures. Has anyone ordered from them? Do they have a US/UK distributor?

Duncan Campbell's Osprey "Spartan Warrior" would be a good start, I think.

If you can find it WRG's Armies of the Punic and Macedonian Wars is the best

Well, if you are looking for historical facts and not for information about the look of the units, you may take a look in the Play Store or Google Books. There is a lot of free documents about this, and some free previews of good books. I have the free preview of a book named "Conflicts that Changed the World" that include a detailed description of some famous battles and wars, including "The Persian Invasion of Greece" and, of course, "The Battle of Thermopylae". As it's free, i think it's worthy take a look.

Mike the Supreme 60mm Romans come in the red plastic and also a silver plastic. I ordered 6 bags of these and they are a mix in each bag of red and silver.

The riders for the cavalry figs don't sit well on the saddle but other than that I was too pleased to add these to my Supreme collection.

Thanks for all the idea – will start following them up…

ExFo Greeks – yes, UK supplier is Steve Weston – plasticsoldiers.co.uk. These really are extraordinary IMHO – they set a new benchmark for plastic figures. I am really looking forward to painting some up.

Supreme/Tiger Romans – it isn't the colour plastic I was asking about, as I paint my figures so whatever they were is lost anyway. It was the colour of the tunics etc worn. White and off-white don't sound like exciting choices I have to say – no other 'real' colours?

Ken – Cavalry – umm, loose fit would seem the least of their problems ;-) They look more like mounted officers/NCOs to me, ie not real Roman 'cavalry'? The horses are much too toy like too.

But the foot figures – well given they are copies of King & Country painted metal figures it's not surprising how splendid they are. Seems odd to me that critics of them couldn't see beyond the garish paint to recognise the superb figures underneath!

UK stockist for the Romans is Tiger Hobbies Ltd on eBay.

I have all the ExFo Greek sets now – and I am really impressed with these figures.

I have also seen the photos of the Persians – oh dear, they look splendid too! These latter photos are now up on the ExFo website – well worth an look and then imagining what they will look like en masse and painted! expeditionaryforce.com.sg

The Greek figures are the nicest cast figures, metal, or plastic, l have EVER seen, beautiful figures! There, l've said it! Hahahaha!

John