Plastic Soldier Company Late Romans Review

 


I've always wanted some Romans, but never quite bit the bullet and bought any to paint. But, having wanted to dabble more in historical gaming, and having bought the 2nd edition of the Lion Rampant rules when they came out, I had the perfect excuse.

Why then did I settle on the Plastic Soldier Company Late Romans over all the other options out there? Well, I wanted to try out a smaller scale, and I'm not the biggest fan of metal. These seemed to offer up an ideal solution then- a 'soft-plastic' alternative, coming in very cheaply (I picked up the army box for under £40) and with some nice sculpts. How did I get on with them then?

Value: 5/5

I really can't fault the pricing here. Being used to mainly Games Workshop, with a little bit of Warlord Games and 3D printing here and there- getting a whole army for so little money feels like fantastic value. If you're looking to get into historical wargaming cheaply- I'd be pointing them to this product as a good option. The smaller scale helps here too- 15mm just feels like I've got more for my money!



Quality- 2.5/5

I'd seen a little on these before buying- and quite a few comments about flash and mould lines. This is definitely true to some extent. There is clean up work to be done, and the detail is sometimes not as crisp around some of the faces as 15mm metal miniatures that I've seen/owned. However, the material was actually a lot easier to work with than some of what I'd seen had led me to believe it would be. An absolute perfectionist might find the quality a bit annoying, and reason enough to buy metal equivalents- but for me, the slight drop in quality is worth it for the price point.

The quality is decent though!


Build & Paint- 3/5

Not much to discuss for building- they're all 1 part miniatures. Painting was nice and straightforward. The sculpts aren't so fantastic that the painting was a real joy- but they weren't so bad as to make the painting experience difficult either. 



Looks- 4/5

I think these look great. Yes some of the detail is a bit 'soft', but they look very good at 15mm, and the purpose is to have them in a unit. And, as a unit, they look really good. Lined up in a shield wall- there's enough variety of pose that they look diverse and like an actual unit of Romans would in my mind. I'm really looking forward to getting the cavalry and the unarmoured infantry painted up for my Lion Rampant force over the next couple of months.


Overall- 14.5/20

I'd recommend these overall, and I wouldn't be surprised if I buy again from Plastic Soldier Company! Are they the most amazing miniatures in the world? No. Are they very good value and good for what you're paying? Absolutely. For me, and cheap project which results in a full Lion Rampant force for less than a box of Space Marines is well worth it!


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