28mm Gael Chariot from Celtos

The good folks over at i-Kore were kind enough to send along one of the products in their Celtos line: the Gael Chariot boxed set.

If you haven't read the Celtos rulebook, the back-of-the-box text clues you in a little: The model is a "standard" war chariot belonging to the Gaels (based on the historical British Celts, apparently). There are two horses, one chariot, one driver, and one "high status" Gael warrior.

Breaking open the box, one finds two bubble-wrapped bundles:

One of the packs contains two horses and a base. As the photo below shows, the base is for the horses - the chariot will stand on its own. The base is indented to show where the horses' hooves go.

The other bundle contains "everything else." For the chariot, that means the basic chassis, two sides, two wheels, the "bow" which harnesses the horses to the chariot (don't confuse it for an archer's bow!) and two blades (which attach to the wheels).

Also provided are the driver and warrior.

Our sample's base had a hole (where a pin from a hoof fits) that wasn't open - easily cleaned up with a sharp knife. Both horses had some minor flash along a belly seam and between the rear legs.

One horse looked like it had some casting problems - there was a rough surface on the upper back, and the neck had some textures that looked out of place.

Assembly is straight-forward. Note that the horses' "base" is really more of an alignment tool, since for wargaming you'll end up basing the entire model onto something larger. One horse has a pin on its hoof which fits into the base, and that might fool you for a second or two (the pin fits into the base all right, but the hoof is supposed to sit at an angle - some of the pin will remain "above ground").

The chariot pieces are so well made that I was able to dry-fit them together and snap a quick picture. The bow also fits easily (and tightly) into place, once you turn it so that the curve is upwards and the "bolt" faces forwards.

The driver sits on the "tongue" of the chariot. There's no specific spot to mount him on, so slide him around until he looks right - but if you place him too far back, he'll be staring bashfully down instead of looking where he's driving. For extra credit, you might want to improvise reins to give his hands something to do.

The warrior has a slottabase which slides into the slot in the floor of the chariot. There's an odd-looking plug on the bottom of his spear, which doesn't come all the way down to hit the floor - my guess is that you're supposed to prune it off.

The Gael Chariot is currently the flashiest unit available for Gael forces in Celtos.