As one of my commentators noted the Airfix shields were fiddly. I kept losing mine. I also never liked the chariot. Solid wheels for the Britons yes, Roman chariots no, I’m fickle. I did like auxiliary eastern archer particularly. Anyway the aforementioned reasons and the finding of some Strelets Romans in the shed recently ( see above picture of these splendid chunky, legionaries on the march) means my current plan is not to buy the reissued Airfix Romans. I also like the idea of old figures battling new ones , past v present, but we will see no need to definitely decide yet.
I’ve looked out my copy of DBA 3 which l bought during Covid for those Zoom games mentioned a couple of posts ago. I will probably use them for the “ Airfix “ project, maybe in the big battle mode eventually but we will see .
Also found the updated “ Purple Primer” which is a splendid introduction to ancient wargaming, plastic figures and DBA , not to mention terrain making ideas etc. A veritable one stop shop. Looked it out and have been having a read. Great fun, good solid advice and highly recommended for newbies and veterans alike.
Also found the original “ Purple Primer” from 1975. It was an introduction to ancient wargaming through the lens of WRG 6th edition. Well worth a read if only for its nostalgia value.
So here we are plastic coming and plastic here already. Can’t make up my mind whether to start the Romans now or wait to summer, the AB’s arrival and paint them together. Hmmm we’ll see.
Fiddly Roman shields were up there with attaching Airfix riders and horses to bases for fiddliness. I still wish I knew how to do this and what glues work. Other makers did not have this horse problem.
ReplyDeleteUsing and getting on with or starting the Strelets Romans early seems a good idea.
Paint something. Paint what inspires. If it's the Romans, make a start so you'll be ready for the ABs when they come.
ReplyDeleteStephen
Besides it's always satisfactory to finally get to use those boxed sets we have laying around. These sets will work great together as opponents. I've always been interested in those Airfix rule books but you couldn't get them around here. Are those rules very different from more modern simple rules?
ReplyDeleteI still have a lot of time for Airfix Romans, but its probably the nostalgia talking...
ReplyDeleteLoved reading the last two posts with my marmalade toast. Here’s my (rather long) post on them.
ReplyDeleteThe ABs are a lovely set , the sculpting and poses are definitely amongst the best of the early Airfix figures. I think you should put spoked wheels on the chariots- why? The set came out in 1969 so part of the swinging 60’s when you could buy British sports cars like the MGB with spoked wheels- the chariot is the ancient equivalent.
The set is pretty much complete except for cavalry but there are some cheap packs from Hat available on eBay. The alternative would be conversions. I did some back in the 1970s based on the US cavalry set and articles in Airfix Magazine and Battle. I could dig out the magazines if you would like copies.
I still have mine and found them a few days ago when looking for WWI figures. Unfortunately, most have suffered from plastic embrittlement but you are welcome to have them as donors for heads etc.
I gave away most of my Romans a few years ago so don’t have many of those. They don’t have as many options (no cavalry, auxiliaries etc) so more converting or Hat figures may be required.
I had the same experience as Ion in the 1970s, couldn’t get any Romans and eventually found 3 boxes in a city 1000 miles away when we went in holiday.
Good luck with the project and get back to me if you need anything.
This will be an interesting project. The Ancient Britons were a wonderful set of figures.
ReplyDeleteMy memory of the Romans was that they were fiddly and horrendously inaccurate; but I looked at them again not that long ago after seeing some painted examples on someone's blog - I am thinking Archduke Piccolo, but I could be wrong - and they suddenly seemed much more attractive. I'm sure it's nostalgia!
ReplyDeleteColkitto
For interest, the Airfix Romans were based on an illustration in a Funcken book. Also, Superglue Plastyx will fix the pesky shields (really, any superglue will do so long as you use the activator from the Plastyx set).
ReplyDeleteThose figures look a little rugged but it's interesting to see Romans marching with their packs (I can't imagine carrying all that weight on one shoulder but they made them tough back then). Interested to see what you do with them.
ReplyDeleteI bought that Airfix book with the heffalump some years ago but now I want to read it!
Cheers, Michael
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