" Plastic Carthaginian Veterans and Metal Command" Topic

From Agema Miniatures.

Main page
link

Question: Would be Right to include among this Veterans black color men? Pure Africans?.

Thanks in advance for your guidance.

Amicalement
Armand

The Africans in Hannibal's army were not black or sub-Saharan Africans. Skin color would probably be similar to modern day Libyan and Moroccan skin colors.

No, probably not. The Carthaginians were Libby-Phoenicians. Another in the picture is a Numidian, NOT a Nubian. Some have tried to portray the Carthaginians as black, but at this time it is unlikely that black troops would have been recruited as they would have been too far south.

Agema sure is in hot competition with Victrix on their plastic lines.

Advice from Agema is that the metal command figures will be included with 24 plastic veterans as well as 6 light infantry in one box. Alternative metal thureos shields can be purchased as well as separate sprues of figures to fill in any gaps.

When you add in Relic's new metal elephants and the forthcoming Victrix set, Hannibal will indeed be well served.

Nice variety and sculpting on these. I am still hoping to see some photos comparing Victrix and Agema Rep Romans. There has been some discussion with folks generally saying that the Agema figures are more slight in build, but I wonder if there is any potential for swapping parts?

I do have the Victrix miniatures and they would appear to have more broad upper torsos. They also have some variety in head sizing with the Centurion heads being just a smidge bigger than some of the legionaries. In any case, I'm hoping to see some pics before investing in an overseas delivery to the States.

Thanks for your guidance boys.
Another pic…

Amicalement
Armand

Here is a comparison shot of a Victrix (left) and Agema (right)Velite. They are almost exactly the same height but the Agema figure is slimmer, has longer legs and a much smaller head.

The Officer with the lion pelt looks amazing, I wish that they were closer in size to the Victrix and other lines of republican romans / punics, they have some great stuff. Alas they look pretty different from what I have now :(

And yes, North Africans are probably about the same color as Romans.

Thanks Legatushedlius for the comparison photo. The difference in head sizes certainly appears insurmountable for combining the two lines. The arms and even the legs (despite length of the tunic) look compatible for conversions. It is interesting to me that the Victrix swords are too small and their pila too big, while the Agema swords are larger and the pila smaller.

Any comparison pics of the Principes, Hastati, or Triarii between the two lines?

Scipios,
The Victrix boxes come with like 20 heads for every 10 bodies, if not more, so you could always use some of the numerous extra heads on the Agema bodies.

I might try some of their officers with my guys, just for variation.

I think Victrix made the spears and pila thicker so they would not break as easily while played with.

Hi Scipios Dream,
We modelled the velites' pila on the examples found at Numantia, which seem to suggest that a lighter, smaller version was carried by some troops – the lighter equipped velites being a logical conclusion.
The Numantia examples are about 3ft/90cms long, with long thin iron heads – hence quite a bit smaller than a legionary pilum.
We modelled the sword on a Greek Xiphos, rather than the Gladius Hispaniensis, there being much debate about whether the Spanish weapon would have been adopted during or after the 2nd Punic War. Examples of Xiphos can be quite large, so we plumped for something in the middle scale wise.
Cheers
Greg

Greg,

Thanks for the background information on your models. I actually prefer your depiction of pila and swords. They look like wonderful miniatures. Although I own and thoroughly love the Victrix miniatures, I am looking for any reasonable excuse to collect yours' as well. Both lines are superb and are certainly worthy of collecting…we can't go wrong.

The shame is that they appear not to be compatible, which is a typical dilemma for collectors. I simply cannot justify two Republican Roman armies in roughly the same size. If I lived in the UK I would pick up a spruce of the Agema Romans just to play around with conversions.

Best,

Keith

P.S.: Das Sheep, I agree that Victrix made their pilum extra thick to avoid breaking…but their swords are too slight. I broke two in cutting my first spruce. But I tend to enjoy the challenges of coming up with a solution to such issues…so not as much of a problem for me. I am experimenting with Warlord's Caesarian Roman swords on the Victrix miniatures currently with success.

I thought about getting some of the warlord guys to mix in and add some swords and more helms with hair plums, but I just loathe the crouching bodies.

My two pennies worth – the Agema guys look more "in proportion", and on the table I would figure they will match up fine. YMMV

Hi Scipios Dream,

You can purchase single sprues of both Legionaries and Velites from our webstore. Postage to wherever you are based (given the small size and weight) would be minimal too. Plenty of scope for conversions for you! :-)

@ Marc the plastic fan, yes you're right – we've deliberately aimed at a style that is close to human anatomical proportions at scale (within the limits of the plastic and metal mediums).
Cheers
Greg

Greg

Looking forward to having both Agema and Victrix Carthaginians in my army – in separate units. I do like the notion of separate sprues, which I note will carry forward to the Carthaginians. The Command set is superb.

My only 'Romans' are imitation (Pontic) legionaries!

Garry