Caesarian Polybians

The closing few days of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge are almost upon us. I've been painting up Polybian Romans like crazy, in between balancing work, exercise, and my social life. I've mainly used Victrix plastic Romans, mixed in with Agema and a few metals.

Warlord conversions with Victrix Polybians.

A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting with a friend of mine, James Morris, about his Polybian Romans. When I looked at his models, I noted that some weren't ones I immediately recognised.  James told me they were conversions from the Caesarian plastics of Warlord Games. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so naturally, I borrowed the idea.

Warlord bodies (left) compared with Victrix (right)

The Victrix models stand upright, so are good for ranking up, particularly when the large scutum shield is added. The Warlord poses are more active but consequently more challenging to rank up without bigger bases. The conversion itself is simple: shave a little bit off the back of the neck (so the head won't lean forward) and add on the Victrix head. Arms from either set can be used to complete the model.

Converted signifer with Warlord parts and Victrix body compared with Victrix signifer.

Now, the conversion isn't perfect. While the lorica hamata (chainmail) armour is pretty accurate, the figures don't have the front left greave the Polybian Romans did. Luckily I had some spare greaves from the Warlord Imperial Roman Veterans, plus there's two on the Caesarian Roman command sprue, so some of my conversions will have the correct greaves.

More parts from the Warlord sprues with Victrix bodies.

Other parts from the Warlord Caesarian command set can be mixed in to make more custom miniatures.

Some of you may be saying, "Why do you bother?" My reply is simple: I like units to be dynamic and unique-looking. Mixing in other miniatures gives just a little bit more flexibility. In a future blog, I'll discuss how i painted them and show examples.