As part of our ongoing revamp process for our Ancients ranges, next in line is the Achaemenid Persians! This will be last revamped range for a short while and we'll be looking to get these moulded and released within the next couple of months hopefully, along with the Greeks, Dacians and Sarmatians.
As with most of our recent ranges, we've gone as comprehensive as possible with these so this definitely more of an expansion than a straight replacement!
Sparabara x 4 / Foot command x 3:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48619729838_313f4f48ee_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2h5mPN7)AncPerSparabaraCommand (https://flic.kr/p/2h5mPN7) by Leon Pengilley (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156736924@N08/), on Flickr
Infantry with crescent shield x 2 / Immortals x 2:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48620221017_ee1a7f50a4.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2h5pkNH)AncPerInfCresImm (https://flic.kr/p/2h5pkNH) by Leon Pengilley (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156736924@N08/), on Flickr
Saka Haumavarga/Asiatic Hillmen x 6 + 1 Leader:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48620079596_29835baa90_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2h5oBLq)AncPerHillmen (https://flic.kr/p/2h5oBLq) by Leon Pengilley (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156736924@N08/), on Flickr
Light cavalry with javelin x 4:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48620220917_59f60a6be1_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2h5pkLZ)AncPerLightCav (https://flic.kr/p/2h5pkLZ) by Leon Pengilley (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156736924@N08/), on Flickr
Satrapal Guard cavalry x 4:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48619729948_c97a7d2a40_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2h5mPQ1)AncPerSatrapalCav (https://flic.kr/p/2h5mPQ1) by Leon Pengilley (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156736924@N08/), on Flickr
Guard cavalry x 4:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48620221132_a3a217aa7a_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2h5pkQG)AncPerGuardCav (https://flic.kr/p/2h5pkQG) by Leon Pengilley (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156736924@N08/), on Flickr
Iranian cavalry x 5:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48620220967_c42cf10b5f_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2h5pkMR)AncPerIranCav (https://flic.kr/p/2h5pkMR) by Leon Pengilley (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156736924@N08/), on Flickr
Arab cavalry x 4:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48620079691_d5ccf92fbf_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2h5oBN4)AncPerArabCav (https://flic.kr/p/2h5oBN4) by Leon Pengilley (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156736924@N08/), on Flickr
Skythian cavalry x 5:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48619729918_cd29cb83c1_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2h5mPPu)AncPerSkythCav (https://flic.kr/p/2h5mPPu) by Leon Pengilley (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156736924@N08/), on Flickr
Scythed chariot with crew and driver / Xerxes and Cyrus chariot figures:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48620220772_cc83b26aba_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2h5pkJu)AncPerChariots (https://flic.kr/p/2h5pkJu) by Leon Pengilley (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156736924@N08/), on Flickr
Mounted General / Xerxes / Cyrus:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48620220907_7594b39a83.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2h5pkLP)AncPerPers (https://flic.kr/p/2h5pkLP) by Leon Pengilley (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156736924@N08/), on Flickr
We've also had the shields altered on the Greeks to make them a bit bigger, thanks to Techno for the quick work on these!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48620079771_fa57f9da95.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2h5oBPr)AncGreekNewShield1 (https://flic.kr/p/2h5oBPr) by Leon Pengilley (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156736924@N08/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48620221177_25098aed68_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2h5pkRt)AncGreekNewShield2 (https://flic.kr/p/2h5pkRt) by Leon Pengilley (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156736924@N08/), on Flickr
Just amazing. Thank you all
Love these!
I do not need some Cappadocian extra-heavy cavalry...I do not need some Cappadocian extra-heavy cavalry...must be strong....
A decent amount of cavalry this time round.
Well done Leon.
I'll have a few of them later in the year.
:-bd =D> :-bd =D>
Those Greek shields definitely look more the size we expect ;) :)
...And many thanks to Will for all his help and input, :)
Cheers - Phil
Defintely a great range of figures and I love the Greeks with the larger shields :).
Quote from: FierceKitty on 26 August 2019, 12:11:04 AM
I do not need some Cappadocian extra-heavy cavalry...I do not need some Cappadocian extra-heavy cavalry...must be strong....
YES YOU DO
Terrific looking figures and authentic looking too - a vast improvement on my old 15s, which I am now considering off-loading. Is there a future range of Alexandrian Macedonians planned?
Quote from: Leman on 26 August 2019, 07:59:05 AM
Is there a future range of Alexandrian Macedonians planned?
Up to Leon, Andy.
I just make what I'm told to. ;D ;D
Cheers - Phil
Lovely looking figures.
Now all I need is a suitable set of rules.
The Greeks do still need at least one thureophoros - one of the defining Hellenistic troop types.
Those Greeks are much better with the larger aspis.
Thanks, Techno.
The question is should I add yet another EAP to my collection - got em in 15 and 25, so should I buy a 10 and 6mm ones ?
=D>
Ian, yes.
And2mm
Quote from: fsn on 26 August 2019, 11:54:53 AM
Those Greeks are much better with the larger aspis.
Thanks, Techno.
You're welcome, Nobby....(I thought aspis were bees...and I'd b*ggered up something else.) :P
Quote from: FierceKitty on 26 August 2019, 11:35:16 AM
The Greeks do still need at least one thureophoros - one of the defining Hellenistic troop types.
I'm pleased to say that I'm back on 'fantasy' figures for a while......So I don't have to pester Will about stuff I know bog all about. ;D ;D ;D ;D
Cheers - Mr Far-too-hot-at-the-momement !
Quote from: Leman on 26 August 2019, 07:59:05 AM
Terrific looking figures and authentic looking too - a vast improvement on my old 15s, which I am now considering off-loading. Is there a future range of Alexandrian Macedonians planned?
There will be, along with revamping the Indian range as well. We've put them on the backburner slightly while we do some Fantasy work for the rest of the year, but we'll come back to them in early 2020.
Quote from: mad lemmey on 26 August 2019, 12:42:27 PM
Ian, yes.
And2mm
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!! The thought of doing an approximation of the embroidery in 2mm !!
Yes, those Greeks are now splendid. The Persians are neat too.
There were a couple of bits on the chariot that, in the end, I thought.....Arghhh! X_X
I spent a fair old time doing teeny winged lions,* in relief, on each side panel......Forgetting that the bloomin' wheels will hide them. :'( :'( :'(
But I'm very pleased everyone seems to like the figures !! ......Thanks for the kind comments, all !
(*....Well...they looked like winged lions, in the piccies I looked at !) ;)
Cheers - Phil
They look cracking! Shame I just did them in 1/72nd plastic >_<
The infantry and riders are all decent and very nice variety of troops types. What I'm going to say now may be a bit cheeky, but I mean well. Since Pendraken owns the former Tridente Bologna lines now though, would you be able to use their figures as the base for new ranges, as you seem to basically do conversions of existing figures. T.B line figures are just better figures - i understand that may be because they just took more time over each sculpt (and maybe that's why they went out of business). But doing conversions from them would give you a better base figures to work from - and horses whose leg positions don't look not quite right.
Quote from: Dunnadd on 01 September 2019, 11:25:03 PM
...as you seem to basically do conversions of existing figures.
I'm not sure I follow on this bit, all of these revamped Ancients are brand new sculpts? They've got the same dolly/mannequin underneath them to save time/money but they're all built up from there?
We could look at using some of the TB figures as a base, but it's not quite as simple as that. If you're wanting a very similar troop type then it's quite feasible to use an existing figure and adjust it to the new requirements. But as soon as you need more than a superficial adjustment (changing mail to padded jacket, removing armour) then you've got to grind off the surface of the entire figure to remove a layer of metal. If you don't do that then the added putty on top makes the finished sculpt look far too bulky and out of proportion.
Quote from: Dunnadd on 01 September 2019, 11:25:03 PM
...and horses whose leg positions don't look not quite right.
Horses are a much easier option and can we can look at using those at points in the future. We've not considered it for the Ancients ranges as we wanted the horse poses to all match across the ranges already done, so we've kept with the existing horse dollies so far. When we move forward into the Dark Ages we can have a look at some different dollies for the horses if need be.
I'm very happy with my Pendraken figures on the whole, as my collection must make clear, but I do like the idea of seperate horses and riders so irregular cavalry look more varied. Detailed painting of horse furniture would be more feasible too (just to show Leon he's not alone in knowing the word).
Quote from: Dunnadd on 01 September 2019, 11:25:03 PM
T.B line figures are just better figures -
I think its because they are slightly larger sculpts, you can see the detail more easily.
If you look closely at the new Pendraken stuff they are as good as all of the 10mm figures out there.
Some of these figures ranges are 20 odd years old, and due to improvement in techniques in the manufacture over the last 20 years they show their age. Hence the time for revamping the older ranges.
When will the Ancient Greeks and Persians be available
?
Quote from: FierceKitty on 02 September 2019, 03:18:33 AM
...but I do like the idea of seperate horses and riders so irregular cavalry look more varied.
That's a tricky one as well as it immediately requires 2 moulds per pack instead of the one, doubling the labour time required. We've kept the separate on the TB's to see how it goes but we had to charge an extra 25p on those packs. (t's actually costing us 70p just to do that extra spin, so we're making less profit on those codes!)
Quote from: Orcs on 02 September 2019, 09:39:35 AM
When will the Ancient Greeks and Persians be available
Shouldn't be far away, hopefully early October all being well. I'm working on the Dacian production moulds at the moment and the Greeks/Persians will be following those.
Blimey, it's really 70p per 15 figures to do separate riders on cavalry? You're in the wrong game, sell up and become a disaster capitalist ;)
I wonder if you could actively explain that on the codes and put the price to a more sustainable level?
Quote from: toxicpixie on 02 September 2019, 03:08:22 PM
Blimey, it's really 70p per 15 figures to do separate riders on cavalry?
Sadly, it's at least 60p just to put any mould in and spin it. The majority of that is the direct labour costs for the casting guys, £9 per hour ish / 15 spins per hour = 60p per spin minimum, plus the minor electric and heating costs for the melting pot. The separate cavalry uses more metal than cast-on riders which pushes it up to roughly 70p.
It's one of the reasons we have to charge more for the custom orders. If you're wanting just 4 figures from a code then we're charging you 80p, but 60p of that is gone straight away to spin the mould. Hence why we keep spares of as many codes as possible, to reduce the amount of times we're having to do a fresh spin.
Ouch again.
Nice as separates are that's not really sustainable, is it :S
No.......Not unless the Dark Lord knows he's guaranteed to sell thousands...or tens of thousands 'straight off'.
There's an awful lot more to this 'biz' than many folk realise.
Cheers - Phil.
Quote from: Leon on 02 September 2019, 04:25:29 PM
Sadly, it's at least 60p just to put any mould in and spin it. The majority of that is the direct labour costs for the casting guys, £9 per hour ish / 15 spins per hour = 60p per spin minimum, plus the minor electric and heating costs for the melting pot. The separate cavalry uses more metal than cast-on riders which pushes it up to roughly 70p.
It's one of the reasons we have to charge more for the custom orders. If you're wanting just 4 figures from a code then we're charging you 80p, but 60p of that is gone straight away to spin the mould. Hence why we keep spares of as many codes as possible, to reduce the amount of times we're having to do a fresh spin.
Use robots to run the casting machines. And make sure they're really efficient robots that don't need £9 an hour of electric.
P.S Does anyone know if you can get a job as a management consultant if your only skills are the ability to tell people "Use robots/children/slaves instead?" Or maybe as a Management Consultant Consultant, who tells Management Consultants "you're doing it all wrong. You should run your management consultancy by looking scruffy, turning up late and telling the client firm "Just use robots, children or slaves instead."
Youre hired!
The separate riders on the TB Line figures are tempting me to try my hand at painting a few 10mm Teutonics/Eastern European knights for a couple of BBDBA armies myself, since the number of figures involved is fairly minimal :- :o
The references to robots and management consultants reminds me of the marketing division of the Cirrrus Cybernetics Corporation in Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy ;)