DBA Resource PageMiniature SourcesReviews of Essex Miniatures
Steve Aspinall on Essex Medieval SpanishThought fellow Fanatici might be interested to read a review of the new Essex 15mm Spanish Medieval range. I bought some packs at a show in Birmingham UK at the weekend. All the figures are up to the usual high standard set by Essex. Further detailed comments follow - it would help you a lot if you had a copy of the WRG's book "Armies of the Middle Ages," Vol 1 (AMAV1) by Ian Heath handy while you read this. MID99 - Assorted Knight 1350-1420, jupon, lance shield, barded horse -- All are in same pose - looking to front with lance upright away from body. Two have closed bascinet, the other 2 have a helmet that looks like a great helm. All have plate armour on arms, mail chausses with plate armour covering front of leg from toes upwards. Mail collar covering collar bone, shoulders and top part of chest. This is worn outside a jupon which, as best I can figure, is a padded jacket worn over rather than under armour. Plenty of scope here for applying heraldry or dividing the jupon into different colours. Any decent book on medieval knights with colour illustrations should give you inspiration. All hold a shield close to their body; it is more or less rectangular in shape with a 'bite' out of the top left hand corner which, I think, was used as a lance rest. MID100 - Assorted Knights 1350-1420, Jupon, Shield, Mace, on barded horse. -- Two variations, one with closed helm, one with open. All with mace raised in right hand (thus easy to replace if you want with a wire spear), all with rectangular style shield with "notch" in top right hand side. Very like figure 84 in AMAV1. MID100a - Assorted Knights 1350-1420 - 2 figures wearing open faced sallet and two wearing closed bascinet. As for MID100 but on unbarded horses - my pack had four different horses so plenty of variation. MID101a - Assorted Knight 1400-1420, plate, tabard, lance, unarmoured horse -- The figures are the same as reviewed at MID101 except that there are 2 with open faced sallet and 2 with lambrequin and plume - see AMAV1 figures 85 and 85a. My pack had 3 different unbarded horses. Code M102a Assorted Knight 1400-1420 -- All have plate armour and wear a tabard. All have mace held high, away from body - so easy to replace with wire spear if you wish. 3 have cabacete/capacete helmet, bevor and carry mace in form of spiked ball. The 4th has lambregin helmet and plume and mace which is in the form of flanges. See AMAV1 figures 85 and 85a. None have shields. My pack had 4 diffferent unbarded horses. MID103? - Assorted Jinets -- Very like AMAV1 figure 89. Same heart shaped shield and open faced helmet. Three poses: pointing javelin ahead (this is a one piece casting of horse and rider), holding javelin upright looking to right, holding javelin upright looking ahead - these last two are horse and rider separate. All are modelled wearning a quilited jacket. MID10x? - Assorted Knight 1400-1420, plate armour, lance, barded horse -- Knights all in same pose, 1 with kettle style helmet, the other 3 with open faced sallets. All hold lance upright away from body so easy to replace with wire if you wish. 3 different horse poses, all advancing. MID105 - assorted spearmen -- with convex almond shaped shield are just like AMAV1 figure 90 - 2 slightly different poses but both are standing with spear upright - by the way it is a very long spear, almost a pike! MID106 - Assorted Hermandad militia, spear, round shield, advancing -- Three different poses: wearing hood looking to left, wearing hood looking ahead, bareheaded looking ahead. All hold spear upright and are advancing purposefully. Rather like AMAV1 figure 89 but with spear and shield instead of sling. MID109 - Assorted Javelinmen hooded -- This pack has 3 poses: standing with javelin held close to body at about 45 degrees, advancing thowing javelin overarm, advanding holding javelin horizontal close to body. All wear hoods and have small, round shields. Very like AMAV1 figure 131. Could be used as peasant levy for any European country during the period. MID110 - Archers Kettle Helm -- has, if memory serves, 3 different poses, at least one of which is not firing his bow. They are all very like AMAV1 figure 91. MID112 - Assorted Mudejar Spearmen -- very like AMAV1 figure 94 except that there are 2 poses, both standing with spear upright. Doug Barker on Essex Ch'in Heavy CrossbowmenJust got some of the heavy (read armoured) crossbowmen (CHN12) from the new Essex Ch'in Chinese line. One pose only. They're really nice figures, based on the terracotta figures buried in the tomb of the First Emperor at Xian. The casting is extremely clean (likely due to the new moulds), the little flash there was being on the crossbow itself and easily removed with a fingernail. Detail is good, and the figures are well proportioned. The only thing I don't like about Essex crossbowmen in general is the casting of the crossbow separately from the figure, joined to the main casting at the figure's left toe and left hip. Cutting it off to put it in the soldier's hands gives a nice smooth patch on the left hip of the scale armour. This will be hidden by painting, but is something the sculptors should have taken into account. Paul Crozier on Essex New Kingdom EgyptiansEssex are the usual well fed guys - nicely sculpted although not as much detail, especially in faces, torso's etc - but I find them much easier to paint up (perhaps the metal?) and there is no spear breakage because of Essex's usual fat spear syndrome. Essex have just brought out some more NKE and other biblical stuff, (the dismounted NKE general plus guard is excellent!) and it's likely they will continue to expand their lines. Paul Harrison on Essex MiniaturesConsistently excellent with one exception- RO51 Late Roman Legionaire. This figure is a turkey. If you want a preview of nearly any Essex figure, look in the WRG referance books. The sculpting is drawn from there. Some people complain about the proportion of Essex but the many I have mostly seem fine in that regard. David Kuijt on EssexDavid Kuijt's excellent figure reviews include notes and pictures of selected Essex. Jonathan Lim on Essex Shang/Chou ChineseThis new set of castings is extremely impressive. Overall, the sculpting is clean and clear, the cloth folds are accurate and deep, and there is something pleasingly "heavy" about the figures. Maybe their centre of balance is really low (like a 25mm figure). Anyway,: Spearmen: These are mainly in static poses, though with one running pose. I'm not too pleased about the spearmen's relative lack of detail, or their slightly non-Chinese faces. But they are fairly accurate and still very nice. Chariots: These are magnificent. They are extremely well cast, with much variations amongst horses. Sadly they are *far* too uniform overall, esp. equipment, which actually varied a lot. Still, very nice, with conversion potential. Archers: Very, very nice figures. The clothing is better defined than the spearmen's with deep folds. The bows are slightly lacking in shape, looking at times like a stick. There is enough variation in poses to keep anyone happy. Barbarians: The Barbarian allies are magnificent!! The best of the lot, with nicely folded clothing (OK, loincloths), detailed daggeraxes and even raccoon tails hanging off the odd belt. Best of all is the facial detail, far better than on the Spearmen. Skirmishers: Not so good. The shape of these figures is puzzlingly "flat", with sticklike javelins (hey, aren't they meant to be archers??) and poor poses. The detail is still OK. The best bit is the fact that these guys are helmetless, so you can actually see the topknot of hair. I'd like to swap heads with the other troops. Officers: Look at these for swordsmen. They're really nicely done, with moustaches and silk clothes, the whole bit. Plus, they have a nicely modifiable pose. Michael Ng on Essex Han ChineseI own a Han Chinese army from Essex, it's 15mm. All in all once painted the army looks rather decent. Ok, it looks great. However the only problem I have with the figures are the fact that the Chinese spearmen look nothing at all like any illustrations I've seen from the Osprey books and their spears look more like huge Chinese battle axes (something you might use for an element of Blades rather than the Spears DBA has the Han using). The Light Horse are rather good and historically accurate looking but the cavalry figures are lacking a hat and have a funky looking hairdo. The Chinese crossbow though are 100% accurate and the chariot is very decent once you get rid of the canopy and add a flagpole of some sort to the right side to hold a yellow flag. All in all I'd give the Essex Han Chinese an 8 out of 10. Tom Ryan on Essex 15mm Parthian and Early ArmeniansPA1 Parthian Cataphracts: Good detail allowing for a black wash and dry brushing of armour on both rider and horse. No variation in riders and two variations in the horse, which is, accurately, quite large. The variation is, however restricted to the head being raised or lowered. Very pronounced mold-lines on the horses. While tight, they will fit 4 to a base. In fact, it gives a great "boot-to-boot" look. PA2 Horse Archer: Good detail on the rider, who is shooting to the side (no variation). There are a number of variations of horses in each pack. Again, quite distinct mold-lines on the horses. PA3 - Camel Cataphract: There is also a Camel Cataphract figure, which looks outstanding, and features a different rider than PA1 and a camel frontally armoured inlamellar armour. PA4 and PA5 Armenian Horse Archer and Cataphract: Same horses as the Parthians. Riders, again, have good detail and look great painted, even if the riders do lack variety. General Notes: I'm very happy with these figures, except for the lack of variety in the riders and the amount of work (filing) involved in preparing the horses. They do not mix well with any other manufacturers Parthians that I have seen. A command pack and accurate foot figures would nicely round out this range. Tom Ryan on Essex NKE Army PackIšve started painting my New Kingdom Egyptians so that my Hittites will finally have someone to fight. Herešs a review of the figures. The DBA Pack contains: 1 x ANK1 Pharaoh in LCh Obviously cast from old, worn out moulds, all these figures take some time to clean. The historical accuracy is questionable as all of the infantry wear armour of one type or another I have seen very few depictions of rank and file infantry universally armoured. As well, only the axemen wear the stiffened textile crotch protection which was nearly universal during the late part of this period. That these figures are intended to depict late New Kingdom is reflected in the fact that all but the Ps wear head coverings, a later feature. The chariots are well carved and detailed but the amount of flash to be filed, cut and ground away makes the prep time excessive. The horses are beautiful. The figures are, in many cases out of proportion with huge hands, elephantine heads, and oversized facial features that make many of them appear to be survivors of killer bee attacks. On the positive side, the carving is detailed enough for washing and drybrushing of fringes and textile armour without being too cavernous. In general, if I could do it again, I would pass over the Essex figures and look for more proportionate and better researched figures. I say this with some regret, since, for the most part, I am a big Essex fan. Brent Sustaita on EssexReally needs no comment from me. One of the most popular, varied, and best lines available. Ordering and customer service is outstanding. I have never had to wait more than a few days to get an order in from Essex. My hat' s off to Mr. Hood here in the US. They do not have an "all options available" for DBA armies, but they do have a website that will tell you what is in each DBA army they offer, though. Now my slant on the figs. Essex are a little larger in height and width than normal 15mm's, but they use that extra space well to do an outstanding sculpting job. The animation on the clothing and musculature on the figures can make an average painter look like a pro, because of all the help they get in enhancing their washes and dry brushing. The only complaints I really have about Essex is some flash that almost always has to be cleaned (but it is usually a small amount and may be due to the tremendous amount of production on their molds), and I do not like the size of the horses to represent LC/LH. They look a little too large. The figs are still gorgeous and they are the only horse figs I will use to represent Arabian horses, at least until Battle Honors comes out with an Arab line of Cav. I can't think of a weak line of figs in the Essex family, and I doubt you will find any more variety for medieval troops. With the quality, accuracy and shear volume of what is offered I have to give Essex the number one ranking in miniature lines I have encountered, but I prefer the sculpting of Battle Honors and Metal Magic to supplement the troops along with some other lines here and there. Still, the most troops I own in ancients are Essex and they are the standard by which other companies are measured. The small packs are good for DBA armies (eight infantry, six command inf, four Cav, three cav cmd). James Wright on Essex HoplitesI have used Essex for 95% of my Hoplites of any army I have that uses Hoplites. I like them. There is only one pose for all the Essex Hoplite figures listed below, overhand thrust, with five or six head variants and two clothing variants. The heads have Corinthian, Boeotian (Boiotian), Pilos (Pylos), Attica types helmets with several different crests where crests are appropriate. The difference in clothing is "standard" linen cuirass or cuirass covered by a cloak. See Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars by Duncan Head (WRG still in print), page 92 Greek Hoplite - this is the Essex MPA25 model, page 94 Spartan Hoplite - this is the Essex MPA26 model.
The single pose is ok, but not good for gaming as the overlapping spears make moving a pain, and I find player tend to grab the protruding spear butts to move the figures. The spears come off too easily in the overhand thrusting position. I converted all the spears from lead (pewter or whatever) to brass wire to avoid the firehose spear/pike syndrome. I also bent the figures arm/wrist to hold the brass spear vertically. See the attached picture. These figures are all Essex MPA26 with the Pilos helmet I chose to use for poorer Hoplites. I figured not everyone had fancy helmets and as time went on even fewer. Simple, strong and probably plain would be the rule. Steve Aspinall on Essex Rus Foot (HSA14 & 15)These are very nice figures. Well up to the standard of production we have come to expect from Essex. All have a conical helmet and the characteristic rectangular shield. Although this is well detailed - you can clearly make out the planks of wood and the metal boss--they do not have the arrow/lightning type symbols as shown on illustration 74 in the WRG's Armies of The Dark Ages. In the Spear pack (HSA 14) there are 5 different figures:
In the Axemen pack (HSA 15) there are 4 different figures and all are unarmoured except for their helmet:
If this much variety is not enough for you then there is scope for replacing axes with home made spears. The style of these figures is very much like Essex's Vikings so there is scope for combining both ranges since Rus used round shields as well as the rectangular style. > Top of Page > Miniature Sources > DBA Resources > Fanaticus Last Updated: May 3, 2004 Comments, suggested additions, and/or critiques welcome. |
