I was very please to hear the announcement yesterday and reveal today from North Star Miniatures about the up and coming release a range of plastic miniatures suitable for the Hussite Wars, and that this range would include, not just the Hussites but the forces of the armies of the Catholics who fought them and by extension Eastern armours and fashions. By this I'm hoping for, not just Hussites and Wagons but for Mounted and Foot Knights, Men at Arms (on foot and mounted), artillery, Hungarian/Balkan looking archers and crossbowmen. at least that is my initial "wish list"! to my mind, the range could extend into Hungary, into Moldavia and even into the realms of Medieval Ottoman Empire! What an absolute treat that would be!
due to my excitement at the announcement, I could not stop myself from making these initial comments here! Bearing in mind that this is a very early look I'd like to compare the Eastern/German/Bohemian Foot Knights to that of the more Western European Perry Miniatures Foot Knights, based at what little info we have thus far.. What grabbed me immediately was that a distinction between the general look of the armours and fashions of Western vs Eastern Foot Knights had not been overlooked which is a huge tick in the box for me. In the interests of completely honesty I must also point out that the dynamism and elegance in the Perry sculpts (far below) is lacking a wee bit in the North Star sculpts (below), which to my mind look a little more more clunky. hopefully I will be gladly proven to be incorrect in this matter. As I have already pointed out, this is a very early look at the range and I certainly do not want to be counting my chickens. I will be investing in this range.
The Announcement from the North Star Newsletter:
And finally, a look at the sprue for the Foot Knights. They do seem to have a lot of parts, which is always a great thing as kit bashing with plastics to get a certain result is always preferable to converting metal! I'm now wondering how well the Perry foot Knights would kit bash with thet of the new north Star range? Only time will tell!
The Hussite Wars in plastic, now that's tempting.
ReplyDeleteIt is..... though I'm probably going to hold off buying anything until I've seen the quality of a few sets. Still, very exciting news.
DeleteCheers for heads up always been keen on doing Hussite Wars.
ReplyDeleteNo probs. Late Med. Warfare is possibly the most fascinating genre within wargaming.
DeleteI think the fact that the legs and torsos are separate may help them look a little more dynamic once hobbyist get their hands on them. I was very interested to read a comment by Nick on facebook that the torsos for the Knights with Great Weapons will be different to the one's shown on the initial sprue.
ReplyDeleteI hope the range does well and expands into Hungary as well. I'm also interested in how they compare to the European miniatures Matt did for Claymore Castings which are very nice.
Steve
I concur Steve. This has the makings of a very interesting range indeed, especially if it's expanded into the more "ordinary" troop types of the general geographical locale.
DeleteI'm very excited about all of this!
Not sure I'm a fan of the weapons honestly, they seem very bulbous and thick, a bit too much like North Star's fantasy range.
ReplyDeleteI see what you're saying George, but it's nothing that a thin piece of brass rod and a bit of drilling cannot fix.
Delete