Alexander's Troops !

Warlord Games has a great set with the Macedonian Phalanx

 

 

 

 

 

I know its been a while since we posted on here but with Christmas and the New Year things have been busy. One item that we got for Christmas was this box from Warlord Games/ The Hail Caesar range is quite large and there are a lot of options for army building. When I got the box I was working on my Roman legions so it got put on the back shelf but having opened it and built the 40 models, I am going to give some quick feedback and go over a few things.

1. Packaging and Product

    The box was pretty standard with some nice box art that is expected of Warlord's model range and inside there were 10 sprues with four miniatures per sprue. There are six head options and six spear options. Also four round shields. The box also comes with 40 shield transfers. Overall my initial reaction was a little skeptical at first having been accustomed to sets with more options. The kit was undamaged and the models were in good shape. One negative point was the lack of bases. As a gamer I really hops to see kits from a company that includes bases and one day maybe some movement trays with the kit. I don't really care if its the right size tray I just wish it would come with something to put my guys on when I buy them.

2. Assembly

     This is where I really started to fall in love with the set. I remember a few years back I was attempting to build a fantasy army for Warhammer. Some of the sets were really nice and there were a ton of options. This actually turned me off in the long run because it took so long to build a unit due to the specific construction of each model with multiple arms, legs and weapon options to create a ton of poses. When I was trying to create a rather large army I found that the task was daunting. With this box set each of the four models assumed a different position in the file of a rank. Regardless of the weapon option the spears would all be aligned at different angles to represent the sarissas and phalanx. This made it easy to assemble and required no instruction booklet. I had 40 phalangites assembled within two hours including clipping. I was really impressed with this aspect.

3. Overall Look

   The overall look did not have a lot of poses or customization but I was very happy with the outcome. the spears were all angled at different positions and the unit looks ready to fight. I think my Romans my fear the impressive sight of so many spears.

4. Price

   Another point that really tips our wallets to a product is the price. I personally do not have a ton of income to drop on every model I want but with this box set I found the price very reasonable. The set retails on Warlord's site for 32$ which is just fantastic when you consider you are getting 40 models. Some of you savvy shoppers will find the set at a much more discounted range of 25$ which is even better.

5. Overall

     I would rate this product with a 3/4 on my point system. My biggest issue is the lack of bases and I know the Hail Caesar range does not require individual bases but I think it would be a nice option considering their cost. I really like this kit though and I plan on buying at lest two more sets to go along with the play testing of our new rule system for an ancient warfare tabletop game. The plastic kits that Warlord Games is producing are turning out to be very well done and I continue to enjoy their product.

Thank again for checking up on us and expect more articles soon as we take a closer look at Flames of War: Tour of Duty, another Christmas gift that we get to check out and we are also looking at some other board games that were under the tree last month. Thank again and feel free to post comments and/ or email us.

Rob