Italeri Gallic Cavalry I^st-II^nd century BC

What You Get

• 15 horses (7 galloping, 7 walking and one rearing)
• 15 mounted warriors (5 with spear (spears are separate), 5 with sword and 5 with an axe)
• Two foot warriors (1 axe, 1 sword)
• 12 shields (5 small round, 5 hexagonal, 1 hexagonal with different pattern from the others and 1 oval. The latter two shields seem to be intended for the foot figures)

Well, what are they like?

The Horses

These are quite good with the detail of the harness being especially nice. However there is one thing that is wrong with them all. Instead of a saddle blanket they have skins thrown over the horses back. The rearing horse is worst of all as it has a fur saddle blanket and the rear harness straps have a strap going across the back like a medieval horse harness.

The Riders

The swordsman is a good figure bare chested and spiky haired. He has a stub for putting a shield on. The pose isn't to bad though the sword appears to be rather thin.

The spearman again a good figure, bare chested and wearing a pointed helmet - like the previous figure he is ready to use a shield. For some reason the designers have equipped this figure with a Celtic horn sling on his back. It is very unlikely that the instrument would be used on horseback.

The spear is a beautiful piece of work which looks like a model of a real one and not the kind of generic blob that you often get.

The axeman this is an indifferent figure in several ways. First the pose is pedestrian with the axe held dangling at his side and generally looking like he is sitting watching events rather than joining in. The figure has a horned helmet and breastplate but is not meant to carry a shield. Do I need to say that Gallic cavalry are not known for using axes or that breastplates are very unlikely?

Of these three figures the first is the best and is perfect for the mass of less well equipped cavalry. The second is also very good but marred by that trumpet. The third is a mess which will need some work on it to make it right.

The Foot Figures

The first is a running figure waving a hand axe behind his head. This is very similar to the running spearman from the old Esci Barbarians set. He wears a helmet with a floppy crest and is meant to have a shield. I like this figure as its pose is nicely dynamic and it is well detailed. However the axe looks more like a Frankish throwing axe than a Gallic weapon and should be removed.

The second is an advancing figure which looks like it is based on the spearman from Italeri's Gallic warrior set. This figure is stripped to the waist has spiky hair and is waving a sword about. Again a very nice figure.

The Shields

All the shields are very well done with beautifully moulded details. My only reservation is that the shape of the round ones in cross section is convex when it should probably be flat. However they are so good that it is worth overlooking this.

Overall Impressions

As usual the standard of sculpting is excellent. However the choice of details is a little poor. The skins thrown over the horses back, the trumpets and the mounted axeman really spoil an otherwise excellent set, as does the decision to only include 12 shields for 17 figures. The two foot figures are also a puzzle - presumably they are there to fill in space. Defiantly a case of quite good but could do better.

Using The Figures

The obvious thing to do is mix them with Hat's Gallic cavalry for maximum variety. The two sets of figures should mix well as they are almost the same size.

The Hat figures are more heavily equipped all have round shields and, due to them being sculpted with ease of moulding in mind, rather flat. As such they are fine for wealthier warriors or early Roman auxiliary cavalry but they are not right for Ancient Brits or Caledonians as these were lightly equipped and used oval shields.

The Italeri figures on the other hand are lightly equipped and many have hexagonal shields. This makes them fine for the bulk of the Gallic cavalry and also suitable for use as Ancient Brits.

Note the axe wielding horseman can have a paint conversion on the armour i.e. paint it as flesh as it looks roughly like chest muscles. The axe should be cut off and replaced with a wire javelin. A home made shield should then be added to finish it off.

Stephen

[Thanks Stephen, that's great! If anyone want's to contact the author, please click here.

Nick]

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