Saxon Miniatures Comparison

L to R : Drabant, Saxon, GB (plastic), GB, Saxon

Last week I took advantage of the offer by Saxon Miniatures - two starter warbands for £60 plus postage - full details on their website or here in this post. The parcel arrived today. The vikings are for a friend, but I took a couple of photos before I hand them over. Here they are lined up with some of my vikings, all these figures are metal unless noted.

Drabant (painted) vs Saxon

Scale wise and stylistically they match pretty well with the old Gripping Beast - not surprising as I think they are the same sculptor. They also fit in well with my Drabant Miniatures vikings, though the latter are slightly more detailed. A good thing if you ask me, though I know some gamers prefer the simpler styles. It should be noted that shields and weapons are included, not something that all manufacturers do (for what reason I have never discovered - imagine buying a car and having to fit your own tyres)! If you take advantage of the warband offer you get a sheet of shield decals thrown in too. I would be happy to include these in my collection, but the vikings are off to a new owner, the Saxons are for me.

L to R : Tanatus, Saxon, GB (plastic), GB (plastic), Saxon

This last photo shows the Saxons (Danes) alongside my existing Saxons. Apart from the Tanatus metal archers, all my Saxons are plastics from Gripping Beast and Wargames Factory - the latter are not shown because they are just bad models and I would not recommend them. Stylistically, the Tanatus archers are slimmer and more finely detailed, not something that bothers me on the battlefield when these things are barely noticeable. The Saxon Miniatures again fit in well with the Gripping Beast plastics, particularly the fully armoured figures which are, for my money, the best of their plastic range. I am less keen on the plastic unarmoured figures available, which is one reason why I bought these metals. In general, I am a fan of plastics, but some of the historical sculpts are poor. Hopefully I won't have too much trouble with the claw hands, the bane of metals as far as I am concerned. A fuller review to come when I have assembled and maybe painted a few samples.