So what's in these two new boxes.... let's take a look....
The Light Cavalry and Horse archers have four sprues each with three horses and rider legs. Making a total of ... yes, 12 cavalry in the box (you read the number on the box too!)
First impressions are good - crisp, clean castings and easy to cut free.On closer inspection you can see a wealth of parts - arms and weapons.
What is even better are the fact you get six torsos to choose from and eight heads.
Some of the heads look familiar - being the same or very similar to ones on the plastic Arab infantry box.
The parts smaller part counts include three round shields, three bows arms, two sword arms, three spear arms and one trumpet arm.
Overall, the castings are good with enough detail. Horses and rider torsos have detail that will be emphasised on painting and washing.
Each half of the horses are numbered to aid in correct alignment, but also suggesting they only fit one way. The poses of the horses are dynamic. If you are wondering from the photo's, yes, the tails on the horses appear to be knotted.
The Arab Heavy cavalry are laid out in a similar way. Three horses, three rider legs and six armoured torsos this time. There are some five bows in this set - plenty to go around.
Additionally there appear to be two spear arms, two javelin arms, two bladed weapon arms and a trumpet arm. It seems a little odd there are more bows in this set than the "horse archer set".
This should be great though if you want to use them with other plastic models.There are also three quivers of arrows and three bows modelled in holsters - great for modelling warriors with more than one weapon type.
The armour detail on the torsos is good and is also seen on some of the arms and heads.
When you hold one sprue of light cavalry directly over the heavy cavalry sprue you see that the horses in both kits are the same three poses - can't blame the designer for keeping it simple.
Overall, the detail and versatility of these boxes shines through. Good quality castings with plenty of poses available and spares that can be used on you Arab Infantrymen perhaps... these boxes are part of the reason why I really like plastics.
Each box comes with a set of green plastic Renedra bases (4 of 25mm x 50mm and 6 of 50mm x50mm) to mount all of the models on.
I struggled to see any kind of casting faults with my sets. Cleanup prior to assembly and painting should be minimal to almost non.
The Gripping Beast plastic range for Saga just gets better in my opinion.
Once again, thank you to Gripping Beast for kindly supplying these boxes for review.
--Mike.
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