The Knights for the Principate Army Project have arrived from Old Guard Painters. I haven't had time to mount the figures yet, but I did take some photos to show how the new figures look compared to the master figure, as painted by Minidragon 
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First, the horses. Here, you see a random horse selected from those painted by Old Guard Painters, and the master horse (with flocked base).
The master horse has fared well in his travels to Ukraine and back - a paint nick on one ear. The sample horse, despite being well wrapped, has a paint nick on the tail - and a crevice between the tail hairs that missed being painted. There's also a tiny bit of sparkle in the black paint (forgot to clean the rinse water between colors?). Part of the horse armour above the eye is still painted black instead of silver. (I find these sorts of error forgivable, because I can easily fix them. OK, the sparkle is a little bit annoying... but not noticeable at tabletop distances.)
The highlights on the master horse are brighter than on the new horse (a darker gray). The gold details on the original are a silver/gold, while the new ones are coppery gold. The shadowing on the armor is darker and more stark than on the master model. None of these differences bother me much - if anything, the new horse's colors "pop" out a bit more.
I'm almost unhappy about the saddle work. The master horse has a red saddle with lighter highlights; the new saddle is a lighter red, with blotchy shadowing of brownish red, and really looks nothing like the master. However, since 75% of the saddle can't be seen once the rider is in place... I'm fine with it.
My general impression with the riders is that the new figure is just a bit "punched up" compared to the original - brighter highlights, darker shadows. The decoration on the new helmet's crown is much less muted than the original; yet the "bolts" on the shoulderpads barely stand out (much more visible on the master figure). In a few places, the shadowing is overdone or could have been cleaned up more - for instance, you can still see the brush stroke of ink across the visor.
On the top-right corner of the shield of the new knight, you can see a tiny raised ring. I'm not sure if it's something on the casting that wasn't cleaned, or if it's something in the paint.
Total cost from Old Guard Painters was $264.85 USD (including $25.00 USD for return shipping) for 15 knights, working out to $17.66 USD per knight.
More pictures when I get these knights mounted, lances added, and based!
These Crucible figure is available from Ral Partha Europe as 02-321; they are also probably available from Iron Wind Metals, but might require special ordering.