Xyston New-Releases

[Matthew Bailey]

I just recieved an email from Allistair Baird at Xyston who said that the Hellenistic Thyreoporoi and remaining Hellenistic Troops should be out any week now (along with several elephants for the Indians and Successors, and Seige equipment).

I am not holding my breath, but he also mentioned that the Greens for the new Republican Romans should be up on the site soon.

With the addition of these figures (The remaining hellenistic figures, elephants, seige equipment, & Camillan/Polybian Eomans) Xyston will have a formidable edge on the classical period figures market. If they are able to flesh out the few remaining niches (Gallic & Iberian Cavalry & Light Troops, Illyrians, earlier Persians, & Carthaginians) they would have perhaps the most comprehensive and highest quality miniatures avaiable in 15mm since Essex & Minifigs first began to do these scales.

[Mike Demana]

Now, if they'd just market their figures with the hands drilled out to receive their spears, I might actually buy some. Until then, I refuse. I shouldn't have to buy a dremel, pin vice, shmin vice or anything of the sort to use them...

Sorry, my pet peeve...

Mike Demana

[derek]

Hullo
Choice of figures is very much one of personal choice. In my opinion Gladiator Hellenistics & Achaemenid Persians compare well with Xyston figures. Albeit with fewer different packs and less figure variety. Corvus Belli manufactures very fine Carthaginians, Numidians and Ancient Spanish. These are ranges which will be hard to beat! OWS has a nice range of Macedonians which are also considerably cheaper than Xyston. While I like Xyston and would generally agree that they produce fine figures they are pricey if one is buying from South Africa.
Kind Regards
Derek

[Matthew Bailey]

Originally posted by derek:
Hullo
Choice of figures is very much one of personal choice. In my opinion Gladiator Hellenistics & Achaemenid Persians compare well with Xyston figures. Albeit with fewer different packs and less figure variety. Corvus Belli manufactures very fine Carthaginians, Numidians and Ancient Spanish. These are ranges which will be hard to beat! OWS has a nice range of Macedonians which are also considerably cheaper than Xyston. While I like Xyston and would generally agree that they produce fine figures they are pricey if one is buying from South Africa.
Kind Regards
Derek I have a Corvus Belli Carthaginian and Numidian army(Armies). They are some awesome figures, and Xyston minis fortunately mix well with Corvus Belli. Although some have pointed out that Corvus Belli figures are slightly smaller than Xyston; I have discovered that it is not the mini but the base than is smaller on the CB figures. a small piece of 1mm styrene under the CB figures and you can easily mix the two on an element.

I have seen some of the other Hellenistic figures, and have not been too enthusiastic about them. I think that the separate shields and spears give the Xyston figures a depth that is impossible to get with cast-on components.

Gladiator does make some nice figures as well, but I have not been able to compare them to any other figures save for Essex (which I think that they are at least on par, or better than)...

Anyway... I still cannot wait to see the new Xyston figures. It will greatly expand my armies to have Hellenistic Theurophoroi and Phalangites, not to mention Xystophoroi. I need Atillid Pergamene, Pyrrhic, Hellenistic Greeks, Ptolemaic, Seleucids, and several others who need at least one of these figures to be able to complete.

[Matthew Bailey]

I just received another email from Alistair Baird at Xyston. He says that he just recieved the Greens for the Republican Romans, AND that they should be up on his site in a week or so.

I sure hope that I can get hold of them soon...

[Matthew Bailey]

I just recieved more News from Allistari Baird from Xyston again.

I had asked about the Republican Romans (Number of figures, Poses, etc).

He says that there are several poses of each figure (more of the Legionairres than others), Command figures, Cavalry, and such, and that they should be available within the month.

I do hope that he is correct. I have about $500 that I have been saving to invest in Xyston Romans should they come out.

I already have a Corvus Belli Carthaginian army to fight them with, but it would be great if Xyston could do some Carthaginians too. It never hurts to have more of a good thing... I would rather have Early Hoplites and Persians from Xyston at this point though.

[derek]

Hullo Matthew
Did Xyston give you any time frame on the actual release date?
In my view, shortcomings of a number of ranges of Republican Romans include that the Hastati & Princeps are the same figure and/or the Triarii are not armed with spears.
Kind Regards
Derek

[Matthew Bailey]

Originally posted by derek:
Hullo Matthew
Did Xyston give you any time frame on the actual release date?
In my view, shortcomings of a number of ranges of Republican Romans include that the Hastati & Princeps are the same figure and/or the Triarii are not armed with spears.
Kind Regards
Derek Alistair said that he should have pictures of the new Romans up on the site within a few weeks and the range should be available for sale in a few months.

He also said that there are several poses available for each troop type. Xyston is usually pretty good at that, and they have a minimum of 2 poses for all of their figures (with an average of 4 poses).

I am extremely anxious to get a look at this range, and to actually get my hands on them. I have an Essex Polybian Roman army that I am going to be replacing with Xyston Romans (and building a Camillan army as well).

If Xyston does as well with the Romans as they have with their Alexandrians, Greeks, Persians, & Indians... These should be some pretty nice figures.

[derek]

Hullo Matthew
Thank you for the information.
Kind Regards
Derek

[Matthew Bailey]

Allistair says that the remaining Greeks have been pressed (the molds), and that the first production figures should be available within a few weeks now (These are the Greek Thyreophoroi, Phalangites, Xystophoroi, etc; not the Romans, which are still just the greens). The pictures should be up next week (he promises)...

Now... If I could just get him to speed up the Romans. Not that I haven't been waiting on those Xystophoroi for a while to finish out my Pyhrric and Pergamene armies...

[Matthew Bailey]

Supposedly Alistair has just finished cleaning off the Republican Romans, and the pictures of the Thureophoroi are soon to be on the site...

This is positively killing me with this wait. I have about $500 that was set aside for these that is going to get eaten by other expenses if these Romans do not get out soon.... AAAARRRRGGGGHHH!

[imported_Koen DS]

Anyone know how soon is soon? ;)

Very curious about the Republican Romans, as I need an adversary for my Late Carthaginians. Whether it's Xyston or Corvus Belli I don't really care, whomever releases that range first ;)

Cheers,
Koen

[Timurilank]

Koen De Smedt
http://www.wargames-central.com/

Koen,

I had placed a request to locate DBA gamers in the Netherlands as I am now living here as well. Were are you located?

If you have regular events when are theses held and where?

cheers,

[Redwilde]

Matthew, have they given any clue when the artillery, bullock carts and stampeding bullocks are coming?

Stampeding flaming bullock carts, at long last. Yeehaa! When those are out and Fernando releases the Ancient Spanish army packs, I'll have to get them immediately.

[Matthew Bailey]

Supposedly the Artillery and Elephants are coming out at the same time (Next releases, which are due soon as Alistair gets it in gear) along with the Thyreophoroi.

His last email suggested that he was doing the molds for the Republican Romans. If he needs help I would be willing to fly to England to offer my help doing the molds (I used to own my own spin caster and mold maker... Handy when you cannot afford to buy an ENTIRE army, but can afford at least one of each figure), so, I know how to make molds. I would easily do it for enough Elephants, Thyreophoroi, and Republican Romans for an army.

That would easily make the trip to England worth while.

But... I am guessing that it should be soon. I wouldn't hold my breath or anything, but I am hoping that it will be before this summer. The $$$ I have set aside for Romans is burning a hole in my pocket as I speak.

[gsa]

I've been asking Alistair of Xyston about further plans re Polybian/Camillan/Carthaginian figures. He does not plan to release any Carthaginian heavy spear since he does not want to duplicate the range already produced by Corvus Belli. He will, however, be bringing out cavalry to go with the Polybian/Camillan Romans.

I can see the logic of not duplicating what is already a high quality range of figures but I still think it is a shame that he is not going to do any of Hannibal's heavy spear. Mind you, I should not complain because when I think back to my first wargaming days, the only ancients available were Airfix 20mm Romans and Ancient Brits. Now, thanks to Xyston, CB, Essex and the rest we have massive choice of high quality figures.

Steve Aspinall, Ashill, Somerset UK.

[Matthew Bailey]

Originally posted by gsa:
I've been asking Alistair of Xyston about further plans re Polybian/Camillan/Carthaginian figures. He does not plan to release any Carthaginian heavy spear since he does not want to duplicate the range already produced by Corvus Belli. He will, however, be bringing out cavalry to go with the Polybian/Camillan Romans.

I can see the logic of not duplicating what is already a high quality range of figures but I still think it is a shame that he is not going to do any of Hannibal's heavy spear. Mind you, I should not complain because when I think back to my first wargaming days, the only ancients available were Airfix 20mm Romans and Ancient Brits. Now, thanks to Xyston, CB, Essex and the rest we have massive choice of high quality figures.

Steve Aspinall, Ashill, Somerset UK. The not cuplicting any ranges is something that I suggested also.. to Both Alistair at Xyston and Fernando at Corvus Belli. It is something that other miniature companies do as well... If a line is produced by a company that is of significantly lower quality then it will be produced, but usually a higher quailty manufacturer doesn't do well to compete with its peers.

I would think that Mirliton would be in the same bracket as CB and Xyston, but there ranges seem to be well clear of both Corvus Belli and Xyston. Mirliton seems to be centered on Early Italy, which is really nice as this is an area I have noticed a distinct absence of figures for.

Alistair also says that they will be doing a few more Princeps since the Triarii will be drawn from them. I think he mentioned command packs as well... I am sure they will have the usual attention to details.

[Gregorius]

I have also emailed Xyston about the Tarantines that they listed in their Lysimachid 320BC-281BC army listing (ANC20133-Tarantines). The reply I got from Alistair is as follows:
"Hi Greg,
Actually putting up the Lysimachid list was a mistake, it should not have been uploaded as it doesn't make sense, its actually a basic list for the Hellenistic's for me to build the actual DBM lists.
Anyway yes we will have Tarantines very shortly, say within 8 weeks if this will do?"

So we could see Tarantines by the end of July.

Regards,

[Matthew Bailey]

Originally posted by Gregorius:
I have also emailed Xyston about the Tarantines that they listed in their Lysimachid 320BC-281BC army listing (ANC20133-Tarantines). The reply I got from Alistair is as follows:
"Hi Greg,
Actually putting up the Lysimachid list was a mistake, it should not have been uploaded as it doesn't make sense, its actually a basic list for the Hellenistic's for me to build the actual DBM lists.
Anyway yes we will have Tarantines very shortly, say within 8 weeks if this will do?"

So we could see Tarantines by the end of July.

Regards, I got a reply from him yesterday about the Roman allies (Including Tarantine Cavalry), and he said that they would be doing a complete line of Italians (Etruscans, Latins, Oscans, Samnites, Etc including the Campanians, Apulians, Bruttians, & Lucanians) as allied troops for the Camillan/Polybian army.

I think that There are Tarantines in the Attilid Pergamene army as well.

They will have a pretty extensive line of miniatures by the time that they fill out the Italian/Roman armies.

Now, all they really need to do is go back and do some Early Hoplite Greeks and a few Early Achmaenid Persians and they will be able to fill pretty much any book I or II army up to 100BC.

I know that he said they were not going to do any libyan Spearmen, but after looking at what is available; you should be able to make a Libyan Spearmen for a Carthaginian Army out of some of the Phalangites for the Antigonids or Seleucids. You would need to get Hoplons for them instead of the smaller sized shields they use as Phalangites, but they would look pretty much OK. I think the only difference would be that the Libyans didn't have greaves on their legs like the Phalangites did.

I already have a fairly large Corvus Belli Carthaginian Army, but I may try and do a few Libyan Spearmen with Xyston minis just to see how it looks.

I am having a really hard time concentrating on doing the minis I have to do know waiting on the Xyston Romans....I hope that it IS July when Alistair finally gets these things out.

[Chris Brantley]

I understand the Samnites are next, and likely to be out late this Fall.

[derek]

Hullo
Given the quality and figure variety available from Corvus Belli in Libyan spearmen, as well as the Essex & Museum alternatives I am frankly surprised that you want Xyston to do them too! :D
I have Essex, Museum & Corvus Belli. All are excellent figures with Corvus Belli providing by far the most figure variety.
Kind Regards
Derek