"Victrix Napoleonics Plastics - Still Brittle?" Topic

So Victrix is running one of their great sales again – and I'm planning of getting into their Ancients line, but was thinking of also taking advantage of the sale to dip my toes into Napoleonics (gasp!). I remember complaints about the very first box sets being very brittle, with the muskets and bayonets breaking easily. However, their Ancients and more recent Napoleonic releases all look like a grey polystyrene, more akin to what I'm used to seeing with the likes of Perrys, GW or anything from Renedra.

Have any fellow TMPers recently picked up the earlier Victrix Napoleonic box sets like the French & British Infantry, and if so could you answer if they've updated the plastic mix they're using for those first kits?

I know, too, the early Napoleonics had a lot of parts (and hence greater variety), I see that as a plus. :)

Thanks for any advice!

~Brian

All i can say are their romans and Carthaginians are not brittle.

Can't help with the rest.

Hi Brian, I like Victrix figures from what I've seen so far. I've had no broken bayonets with their Napoleonic Austrians:
link

I've started assembling the French Guard boxes and these really are great miniatures (and great value). The one thing I did do was replace the eagle poles which were quite thin (replaced with brass wire, but keeping the plastic eagle and sticking it on the end of the brass pole after drilling a small hole in it).
link
I also picked up two of their older French boxes, and have looked at them but not started assembling them yet, but the material looks to be the same as the French Guard sprues, and nothing broken on the sprues.

I'll also be picking up four boxes of Victrix French Artillery once my plastic/lead pile shrinks further.

And yes it's nice to have a bit more variety possible with the Victrix kits, with the later kits (Austrians and French Old and Middle Guard), being more of a compromise between speed building and variety than the earlier ones – a good move on the part of Victrix I think.

The original sets are still brittle as you say. Most every bayonet will break off eventually. The newer sets such as the Austrians are sturdier.

I've used my Victrix French for frequent gaming – for years now – and never had a single thing break. What ham-fisted treatment others are subjecting them to is beyond me.

Awesome – thanks for the replies everyone, I'm eagerly awaiting their arrival.

~Brian

I have long been worried about the likely breakage of plastic figures and especially muskets/bayonets. But I agree with JCBJCB, I just don't understand why this needs to be an issue. But alas, it is and when you share your collecting and art work (ie., you figures) with players at conventions it seems that damage is inevitable. I wish everyone would treat figures better, or more to the point, respect the cost and work that goes into preparing figures. It doesn't even matter about the quality of the painting. When I started painting my work was really rough, but I was proud of what I had achieved. Having a broken or bent model really was upsetting.