Senatus Populusque Romanus 217BC Part 2

I’m collecting a Polybian Roman army for our 217BC ancients project. To build my army, I’ll be using a variety of manufacturers in both plastic and metal as I like a variety of poses in my army. However, I will primarily be using the excellent Victrix and Agema plastic sets as the staple of my force, and making hybrids of the two sets.

Both of the Polybian plastic sets are broadly compatible with each other. I like the thickness of the Victrix pila and javelins (you get plenty of extras too, useful for equipping metal models), but I like the variety of poses and helmets you get with Agema. I also prefer the Agema gladius. The Victrix arms join at the sleeve while the Agema ones join at the shoulder. The Victrix shoulders have a little neck ‘stub’ which the head glues to while the Agema shoulders are flat. The Agema have one kneeling pose per sprue, ideal for Triarii.

To fit Agema heads to Victrix bodies, I simply carefully cut off the neck and then glued the new head in place. To fit a Victrix head to an Agema body, I glued the ‘neck’ piece I’d previously cut off the Victrix model to the Agema body before finally glueing the head on. I particularly wanted the Agema helmets for my Triarii, as they matched the helmets of metal models I had (you can’t have your Triarii with different shaped helmets, perish the thought!)

Simple head swaps are only the tip of the iceberg, there is plenty more you can do with exchanging arms and parts. I’m generally using the Victrix Pila and the Agema gladius on all models. I had lots of fun with these.

I will post up pictures of my painted miniatures (and how I did them) in a future blog. As I’ve entered the Analogue Painting Challenge this year, I am obliged to post the picture of the finished unit on there first by the terms of the challenge.