"Gripping Beast 28mm Dark Age Archers Plastic Set" Topic

So, I saw the announcement of a new Dark Age set from GB and thought I'd give it a shot.

link

My box arrived today and I have to say I'm rather underwhelmed. In the box were four sprues each with four 4xm x 8cm bases (so sixteen in all) along with ten figure sprues.

Each sprue contained the three bodies you see in the pictures on the GB website and three heads. The chap groping for his next arrow has a separate hand holding the bow. So the only variation you can get is to mix the three heads between the three bodies, and to vary the angle of the bow in one fellow's hand.

Clearly what I received was what was pictured on their website but have we really come to this with plastics? Lets bang out the minimum we possibly can and see if people buy it?

The Conquest Games Medieval Archers plastic set is more or less a dark age set really, and offers more variation, especially in terms of heads.

Yeah, I agree. I was a bit disappointed also.

The models are nice and the pose is good, and they do look great as a unit. But for a plastic box set? Nah.

My take on going plastic, aside for the cheapness against lead, was for the flexibility of different pieces and what you could do with them – a massive advantage over metal casts (that need to be cut and pinned if you want to change them).

Seems a step backwards for plastic boxsets.

My take is there are two types of people who like plastic minis. Those who want big armies cheap and those who like the versatility of plastic for conversion and modelling.

If you are the former less parts and mono-poses are the way to go. If I'm assembling 200 miniatures I don't want loads of bits and options.

If you are in the second group then you want lots of options, spare heads and multi-posing to build your heavily converted 12 man warband.

Not easy for manufactures to get right and someone is always going to be unhappy. GB are marketing these as for their Swordpoint game though so I guess they are aiming at the first type of gamer

bold 30 Plastic Archers. Includes bases for your Big-Battle games of Swordpoint

I am wanting some archers form Anglo Danes, I think Ill go for the Conquest range, based on variety.

How well do the Conquest and GB plastic archers mix, so that you can kitbash?

Yogi, unless you are happy hacking arms off the GB figures and adding Conquest stuff the only kitbashing potential is head swaps – the GB figures one piece (plus the head).

Prince Rupert – I accept what you say about those wanting big armies cheap – but three bodies and three heads? If they had put nine heads on the sprue (believe me there is room for several more) then I'd have been happier. As it is your 200 figures will have 70 figures repeated three times. Back to the early days of metals – one pose of figure ranked up en masse.

After a promising start with their Vikings and Saxons they seem to have decided to see just how little work they can put in to get a sale. And remember this box is supposed to retail at 18 pounds so 60p each.

Compare that with the Perries – 42 figures in the French Agincourt box for twenty quid (or 48p per figure). Conquest Games Archers – 28 figures for twenty quid so marginally more than GB, but lots more variety.

We are told that the costs of plastic occur up-front in design and tooling costs (I guess that is why the Perries can produce such sprues at cheap prices). So GB have put less effort than their competitors at the front end but seem happy to charge the same price as Conquest Games.

Malc

At least you do get minis that actual shoot an arrow, unlike the Conquest Game archers.

That said, its sad. An opportunity missed. Again, I feel compelled to say, after some disappointing recent sets.

I will get me one box and use up excess heads for variety.

If someone wants to sell me a single sprue I could use a few more poses.

I bought GB's metal archers and was underwhelmed and sold them off to someone less fussy. I got excited when I saw the box art, but when the photos appeared of the actual figures, I then realised the metal ones were probably better. I am a bit over the entire army with the same pose of holding a tree trunk with left arm straight out horizontal and right hand scratching the right tit. When you watch real archers in action, there are so many different poses throughout the entire process of reaching for an arrow, loading the bow, aiming and then releasing (at different release angles) that could so easily be captured in a miniature. V&V can make all their 6 archers look so different, why cant other manufacturers see it too. GB missed an opportunity to be different here, yet reached for the same old, same old, easy and mundane path. A big disappointing thumbs down.

The archers from FireForge are very nice, also.

Highly recommended.