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| The whole set of Romans. Quick and easy to paint in a cartoon style, plus they look good. |
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| Centurion, Standard Bearer and General. I wasn't sure whether or not to give the Centurion and Standard Bearer shields, in the event I decided in favour. Hides most of the paintwork though. |
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| Archer section. One of the main things I dislike about a lot of Admins figures are shown with both the archer and standard bearer figures - why on Earth are the bows and shafts of spears/standards so rough? Smooth wood would have been both easier and a lot better! |
Jolly fun toys Rob…
ReplyDeleteAll the best. Aly
Very much so thanks.
DeleteI must admit, I do prefer an archer figure to “look like an archer” - which generally means posed either firing a bow or possibly placing the arrow, ready.
ReplyDeleteWhilst I appreciate firing an arrow does require a certain level of physical strength (as well as a fair bit of experience/practiced technique) I generally figure that “big, strong hefty blokes” would likely be expected to carry a shield & spear and that the more agile guys would be the archers. That’s largely supposition on my part, so every chance I could be wrong.
I suspect making the spear shafts and the bows look like rough wood is for effect. As you say, in the real world the soldiers would want a smooth surface to grip.
Anyhow, these figures look lovely. Real “old school charm”, and your paint job is spot on. 👏👏
Cheers,
Geoff
Archers are often recruited from specific areas that specialise in archery - examples would include Cretan archers. I believe the Romans recruited quite a few archers from Syria. Decent archers took years of training - one reason why crossbows and guns took off was because you could train people in their use quickly. Rough wood could be for effect - but to be honest it's hard on the brushes!
DeleteI agree it is better when archers look like archers. I feel the designer missed an opportunity to do a figure dressed like the archer in the Airfix Roman set. Could have made a splendid cartoon style figure . I am not sure of the rough bows either.
ReplyDeleteAlan Tradgardland
To be honest, I actually quite like the figure. It's just the bows...
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