Warlord Games Phalangites Review

 First off, the standard Macedonian Phalangites.

Warlord Games "Macedonian Phalangites"

For $35 USD (£22) you get 40 multipart plastic figures which is a very affordable pricing standard. These seem to be intended to build up large blocks of rank-and-file infantry quickly and affordably, which is quite useful to a wargamer looking to start or expand a Macedonian army.

The box contains ten identical sprues, each consisting of four Phalangites. No command sprue is included, but it is possible to rectify this without making further purchases as I will demonstrate in a later post. It does not include bases either, but does include 40 black Macedonian star transfers for the shields.

Warlord Phalangites Sprue: Front

There are four bodies, six heads, six arms holding Sarisas, and four Pelte shields on each sprue. Each of the bodies is posed to fit into a specific place in a 3- or 4-rank formation, but there is some flexibility here. Two of the bodies are designed to hold their Sarisas at an angle in an advancing pose, two are intended to hold them straight up in a marching pose.

The flexibility comes in here, because you can swap the arms for the 1st and 2nd rank figures, introducing some variety in panoply in the different ranks, and the two rear-rankers could reasonably be expected to reside in the same rank (this makes a three-rank Phalanx for something like WAB a little easier to form up, while still leaving a four-rank Hail Caesar Phalanx amply supplied).

There is no option for a pikes-lowered pose, which is a disappointment to me personally because that is my favorite pose for Phalangites, but a great many wargamers tend to disagree with me and prefer static poses that are easy to rank up and move around the battlefield.

It is also perfectly reasonable to, say, buy one pack of metal Phalangites from a manufacturer like Wargames Foundry in any desired pose, and use them to form a "fancier" front rank alongside the Warlord Phalangites, or to mix them into the formation for increased variety. This is also likely how I will solve the lack of unarmoured and/or hat-wearing rear-rank Phalangites.

Warlord Phalangites Sprue: Rear

As far as historical detail goes, the sculptor made some interesting choices. The bog-standard (but historically dubious) selection of the massive, leaf-shaped spear head and the flanged, mace-like buttspike (both copied verbatim from the Vergina Tomb finds) are at once a strength and a weakness, a strength because visually these details make the sarisai infinitely more interesting than the old-school brass rod, but a weakness because of the aforementioned historical dubiousness.

Although very little is certain in Hellenistic history, I personally found Sekunda's arguments in Macedonian Armies After Alexander pretty compelling, at least as far as ruling out the massive spearhead, buttspike, and bronze connector as in any way related to sarisai. Artistic depictions suggest a narrow buttspike with a plate-like catch near the top, to enable its being stuck in the ground for camp storage. Literary references also refer to small, projectile-like heads for the sarisai, allowing more penetrative capability (and also making it less likely to get stuck in a shield or corpse after thrusting). Presumably most wargamers will not be bothered by this, but it does annoy me slightly. Although I am not a complete purist (with the source material being so spotty, this would be impossible anyway) I do like to make my historical figures as authentic as I can.

A final complaint about the sarissai is that they are quite on the short side, relative to the figure probably about 12' in length (as opposed to 15'-18' in Alexander's day, and 20'-22' feet in the era of the later Successors). Doubtless this decision was made for convenience, as a properly scaled plastic sarisa would be extremely vulnerable to bending or snapping

Helmet styles seem to have been chosen as a temporal compromise, to allow the customer to depict Hellenistic phalangites from as many periods within the era as can reasonably be expected. The Chalcidian and two Phrygian helmets were most popular in the early Hellenistic era and the time of Alexander (and even his father), while the Thracian, Attic/Pseudo-Phrygian, and cheekguarded Pilos are typical of the Diadochi wars to early Successor era. All of these types were probably used to a greater or lesser extent throughout at least the first 150 years of the Hellenistic era (through to the first conflicts with Rome), however, so the selection is very versatile. It would be nice to see some of the more exotic helmet styles from the period represented, but again this is very much a rank-and-file box, and for the price it's hard to complain.

The Transfer Sheet included in the box

Also included are 40 shield-decals depicting a simple black Macedonian star on transparent background. A nice (optional) touch, these can be used as is or replaced with higher-quality decals or even hand-painted designs.

Overall, I am quite happy with this set as a means to quickly and cheaply fill out massive phalanxes, to which additional, more expensive figures might be added later on, as front-rankers or elite units or whatever.

Warlord Games' "Macedonian Royal Guard"

The Macedonian Royal Guard box set contains the exact same sprues as the Macedonian Phalangites set (6 instead of 10, for a total of 24 figures) but with the addition of metal heads and shields that are used to distinguish them from "standard" phalangites.

Front and Rear view of the shield sprues, and selection of extra heads

There are 24 embossed shields in three different designs, half with Macedonian stars, and two of the crescent/half-circle style patterns which are quite common in artwork and coinage, these examples very likely taken directly from Head's "Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars". The four unique head sculpts consist of two Phyrgian, one Attic/Pseudo-Phrygian, and one Thracian, all with horsetail crests on the sides (the primary different between these and the standard plastic heads).

Macedonian Shield-Designs re: Head's AMPW

The sculpting quality and detail of the shields is excellent, but the heads leave a bit to be desired, particularly the faces which tend toward the "frog-mouthed" style seen in many metal figures. The lack of feathered plumage is particularly disappointing, as these were likely just as popular as "horsetails" to denote rank and unit, if not more so.

And since the set is based on the same plastic figures as the standard box, there is no variation in body-armour which might indicate better-equipped, more prestigious troops (such as solid metal muscle cuirasses, for example).

At $32 (£20) for the box, you pay a significantly higher price for these metal components: $1.33 (83p) per figure, versus $0.88 (55p) per figure in the standard box set. Are these components worth the extra $10.80? Not really. If money is no issue and you really like working with the Warlord plastic figures, then this set is a nice variation on the rank and file one, but for that price the flaws of sculpting can't really be overlooked. The embossed shields are quite good, and I would happily equip the standard phalangites with them as well (painted bronze rather than silver) if it werent for the fact that Warlord does not sell these shields separately. 

My recommendation is to buy Victrix's Macedonian Phalangites for your Argyraspid/Agema/Hypaspist Phalangites, since they are cheaper and better sculpted than Warlord's Guard Phalangite set. But, the standard Macedonian box is cheaper than Victrix, and therefore perfectly commendable as an affordable, competently-sculpted and laid-out kit for building huge armies on a budget. Scale is not a concern as long as they aren't mixed in the same units, but I will be covering this in a later post.

 
One final thought: Warlord's Successor Starter Army is a great way to get as many rank and file phalangites as you are likely to need outside of a BigRedBat-style convention event, to which may be added Victrix or metal manufacturer's figures for variety and specialized units such as royal guard or native levy phalangites, with the added bonus of eight companion cavalry and an armoured elephant. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell the latter is really only suitable for a Seleucid army, and then only in the "High" Hellenistic era — mid-3rd to mid-2nd c. BC in the most generous historical interpretation; the company's marketing of the set as suitable for Pyrrhic armies is totally inaccurate, as the elephants of Pyrrhos' army would have been towered Indians but unarmoured. Likewise, Ptolemaic elephants were not Indian, and whether or how they were armoured is up for debate. 

All that said, it's still a cool model to have. I will probably find myself picking this set up eventually because I'm building two Hellenistic armies, especially since this "army-in-a-box" can be found discounted at many online distributors, in some cases to the point where the cavalry and elephant are essentially free add-ons. 

Next, a review of the Warlord/Immortal Hoplites, and then thoughts on construction and customization.