We have just received test sprues of the eagerly awaited Athenian Hoplites, and have been busily sticking some units together to show them off. We could not be happier with the finished results, and hope you agree with us that these are some of the finest 28mm hard-plastic figures on the market. The detail is really sharp and crisp, and we must give a huge round of applause to the guys in the tool room for the quality of work they have done.
The box contains 48 miniatures with thrusting and at-rest arm positions, plus lots of extra options, such as sword arms and specialty pieces to customize your figures, creating the huge variety of poses and character which people have come to expect from Victrix sets.
The spears are separate to the hands, as some customers prefer to add metal spears. The plastic spears in the set are very robust and flex without breaking, but if you still prefer to replace with metal spears, the choice is yours.
We are due to put the first Greek set, Athenian Armoured Hoplites, on pre-order on 24th May. Orders should start shipping around the 2nd-3rd of June.
The Spartans will follow the Athenian release about two to three weeks later, followed by the Thebans and the Mercenaries. Each set contains different heads and some extra parts options. All these sets will be able to be mixed together to add a massive amount of variety to your hoplite armies.
We are hoping to receive test sprues of the next three sets in the coming week. As soon as we have them, we will be posting images on the site (we can't wait to see those Spartans!)
Steve has designed some transfer sheets for the Greeks, and will be putting them up on the shopping cart in the next few days. He is also working on some Theban, Spartan and other citystates transfer sheets.
Also included in the box is a really nice insert provided by the guys at 'Great Escape Games' for their Clash of Empires rules. There are unit stats for Athenian Hoplites from early to late period, and a really informative historical synopsis.
It is great to finally get our first Ancients set out. We are already working on Republican Romans in hard plastic for the Punic Wars. We showed some of the masters at Salute this year. We are also working on some Ancients light troops. (More on those later.)
The next Napoleonics set is not far off. We are working on the Middle Imperial Guard. These will be a really useful set, as we have done them in covered shakos so they can also be used as Legere and Line Voltigeurs and Grenadiers in greatcoats. The early French Dragoons are still being worked on.