Thursday, April 19, 2012

Fireforge Games 28mm Teutonic Knights figure reveiw

     Anyone that has followed this blog for any length of time will be well aware of my enthusiasm for hard plastic miniatures, if you are new here let me just say that I have long thought that they are the future of the hobby. Thus it will not be a surprise to anyone that I warmly awaited the release of Fireforge Games Teutonic Knights in 28mm. Having seen what the likes of Perrys and Victrix (not to mention Warlords, Wargame Factory and Gripping Beast) have done with with this media I was truly eager to see what these would look like in the flesh.

      Well, let me tell you, they have exceeded my expectations in every respect, they are simply beautiful, I can scarcely wait to get these put together and primed. The detail, scale, proportions and energy are of the highest order. I know not who the sculptor is but I am deeply impressed; congratulations and due praise these are lovely models.

      Now for the dull stuff, the minis are cast in a light gray plastic that seems a good bit harder than the usual GW stuff but not a hard as the plastic one finds in a styrene airplane model. The detail is crisp, mold lines are scarcely noticeable and flash virtually non-existent. In the the very well-done box one will find six sprues of horses and three sprues of knights as well as a single sprue of bases. I got mine from Michigan Toy Soldier for $41.99US; the only real fly in the ointment being that price tag, it is at the top edge of plastic models, hopefully larger production runs as they go forward will allow some price reduction.

Now on to the pictures;

now that is box-art, you can almost hear the thunder of the hooves


the back is OK, provides painting ideas, I think the fluff lost a little in translation

inside we find the goodies

the instructions are pretty weak, did they hire the guy from PSC?

side A of the horse sprue
on the other hand the horses are amazing,
the fabric flows naturally without exaggerated undercuts

side B, not as exciting, but take a look at the heads

side A of the figure sprue,
 a most satisfying selection of optional arms, weapons and heads

side B of the figure sprue,
enough lances for everybody and sidearms to spare

and enough heads for everybody to get two and a half!

these will find many uses and are a welcome addition to the "bits box"

here is where I get all silly about the clarity and precision of the details,
the perfection of the proportions, and the plethora of options

lots of extra shields as well

even the inside is great (and after assembly you won't see it, that is commitment to the art!)

you can almost feel the tension as the knight leans into his lance,
bracing for the impact

while these fellows rise in their stirrups to deliver a crushing blow to the ungodly

and there is some nice stuff with which to deliver those mighty blows


     Once again these are simply the best Teutonic Knight figures that I have seen in thirty-five years of wargaming and modelling, they rival the much larger collector's figures for detail, energy, posing and style. They will form the basis for the army that I have been working up the nerve to start. I can barely contain myself as I await the Mounted Sergeants and Hospitaller Knights soon to released from Fireforge. I will say what I said about the PSC models; I have run out of superlatives. If you are building/expanding a Crusader army in 28mm you are a fool to not to get a box or three of these amazing models.

      Very Highly Recommended scarcely covers it, but there we are.     John

2 comments:

  1. Great review John. Think I will pass on these. Like you said I looking forward for some mounted Sergeants

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  2. Nice one! Actually I find the instruction sheet quite clear :-)

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