front of the bax
it gives a good idea as to what a shieldwall might look like
Strelets adds to their already expansive Dark Ages range with the addition of King Harald's Huscarls. These figures represent the hard core of a late Saxon army, full-time soldiers that served the will of the king instead of some local lord. This set adds variety to the equipment and posing that is already present among the earlier releases from this manufacturer.
The figures are cast in a stiff but flexible rust colored plastic that holds detail well and displays a minimum of flash and mold lines. All but one of the figures on the sprue will find a place in a Saxon shield-wall, the odd man out has decided to go hawking (a nice touch if Strelets were doing a set of Dark Ages civilians but rather out of place here). The equipment and weapons are historically appropriate and the detail of the chainmail and faces is very good. Some of the poses are rather flattish but that is an inescapable product of the molding process and they will still look great in a group. The depth of the sculpting and detail should make these easy to paint. The anatomy of the miniatures is excellent and the poses are reasonable for troops fighting in a battle line. Anyone looking to build a wargaming army or a diorama for the late Saxon period in Britain would do well to start with a box of these troops.
Very Highly Recommended
rear of the box clearly shows the contents
box with conents,
four identical sprues of troops
sprue side A
sprue side B
excellent active poses,
except for our friend who has decided to go hawking
the chainmail detail is subtle but should paint up well
the arrogance of the standard-bearer is first-rate,
as is the proportions and detail
The chap hawking is the bonus streltsi figure, so Russian renaissance instead of dark ages, I've even got one at the moment on my painting table, which is why I recognised it.
ReplyDeleteI did think that his dress was a little odd for an Anglo-Saxon of the 10th century....
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