Fireforge Infantry first impressions

I have been searching around for some time for figures to make a generic middle ages force for Lion Rampant. The idea is not to recreate one particular historical nation, but rather a stereotypical medieval force. There are lots of metal figures around but not many of them appeal to me - too many have a squat, chunky appearance that I dislike. Luckily, there are quite a few decent plastic sets around and there's a good range of choice at reasonable prices. When a gaming mate offered me these Fireforge infantry at a discounted price, I was happy to raid my battle chest.

The casting quality is excellent, matching that of the Perry plastics - hardly surprising as these are produced by Renedra. The detail is good, crisp without being too clunky. The sculpting is mostly very good, with good proportions and realistic folds in the garments. One minor problem I have is that many of the poses are very dynamic. Given that half of the box can be used to make up crossbow armed men, I would have thought that half of the poses being a bit more solid would have been appropriate. I am no expert on medieval weaponry but I would expect a solid stance is required to fire a weapon. It's not a big problem for me, I am building half as spear armed sergeants, half as hand weapon wielding troops, but worth bearing in mind if you want them for crossbow duty.

The figures required very little cleaning, with faint mould lines easy to scrape off with a knife. They are quick to assemble too, comprising just a body, two arms and head. They are probably the easiest plastic historicals I have assembled to date. This dozen I whipped up in a couple of hours or so, which included a bit of conversion work on weapon length, a couple of Perry head swaps and the like. In terms of scale they are a very close match to Perry Wars of the Roses figures, so you could easily get a box of each and mash them together if you wanted to make generic fantasy/medieval troops. All in all, highly recommended.