A reasonably nice picture of my new Marian Romans. These are the Wargames Factory figures which have received a lot of bad press and I admit that I was initially quite disappointed when they arrived. The plastic was very shiny and the detailing of the chain mail was poor. Once sprayed with black primer however the detail became much more pronounced and the chain mail dry-brushed very well. They fit together well and make for a very good figure for the mass of an army. They are not going to win awards, but look fine with a basic wargaming paint job and are very cheap into the bargain.
Sizewise they are a perfect mix with my Gripping Beast republican Romans, which are at the smaller end of the modern scale. Not so great with modern Foundry figures, but the size of them is getting stupid (as is the cost).
A couple of minor irritations. Wargames Factory haven’t yet learnt GW’s trick of including lots of extra arm and weapon options on the sprue. As a result you can’t have all of them with swords or all of them with pila; there needs to be a mixture.
Part of this is also that they have missed a trick or kit flexibility. If they had added in heads with multi-feathered crests, these would have been perfect for earlier Roman principes. Add in a few arms with spears as well and you could have made Triarii as well. Then you could have combined these head and arm sprues with a different body sprue and you have Hastati as well – voila, most of the figures for a Polybian or Camillan Roman army with only a couple of extra items on the sprue, and you have increased potential sales by another 50%.