27 Mar 2009

Xystons Monsters!

Xyston TheurophoroiXyston 15mm

Just added some new photos of the Xyston Theurophoroi to the 15mm photo gallery, as the size of these chaps seems to be a regular subject on many discussion boards. I've put up comparison shots with Essex, Old Glory, Corvus Belli and also some other Xyston ranges as well.

26 Mar 2009

FoG Surveys

The FoG WIKI now includes polls on each and every army page so you can give your opinion on how each army performs. The options are:
  • Great all round army
  • Good, but only in its own theme/book
  • Not great, but still a solid choice
  • A near-duplicate of a better list
  • Eccentric - Terrain or matchup dependant
  • A real dog I'm afraid
  • None of the above

There's also a new Survey you can take on how you'd like FoG tournaments to be set up.

20 Mar 2009

Become a Fan of Madaxeman.com on Facebook

If you have a Facebook account you can now become a Fan of Madaxeman.com! just click this link and sign up as a fan!

10mm Medievals on eBay

Another one of the nicely painted 10mm Medieval armies I'm selling (Italian Condotta or Ordonnance French) ends on ebay this Sunday. For the listing click this link

18 Mar 2009

New Medieval Figures from Donnington

I've just gotten my hands on some of the new Medieval figures from Donnington (due to be released at Salute 2009) - and very nice they are too.

100YW Men at Arms Swiss CrossbowsSwiss Spear Pike Halberdier



.

Having chatted to Damian at last weeks Doubles in Oxford, it seems these figures have been designed by a totally new sculptor for Donnington, so are a big step forwards from some of their other ranges. The figures themselves are compatible in size and bulk with the popular medieval ranges from Essex & Corvus Belli, but have more innovation and animation in poses than the Essex ranges. They even stand up very favourably when set against figures from my personal favourites, Mirliton and could be mixed IMO with any of these three manufacturers with no problems at all. The first 3 ranges on offer are 100YW, Swiss and Low Countries - so plenty of Men at Arms and halberdiers all round, as well as some longbowmen who will give the well-regarded 100YW Corvus Belli range a stiff challenge in the popularity stakes - especially as Donnington have nicked an idea from Peter Pig and slipped in a longbowman giving the Frenchies the finger!


Mounted Man at Arms100YW Longbowman
Swiss Generals





Donnington intend to sell these new figures under a slightly different brand to the rest of their ranges (maybe "New Donnington" - which I suppose is better than renaming the old lot "Classic Donnington"!), and at a higher unit price. They still intend to offer the option to buy figures individually, but probably will offer unit-sized packs as well. There is a good variety in each range with at least 4 variations for most types of troops, and if they continue to allow you to mix and match their horses (of which there are 12 on offer in the 100YW range) when you buy the variety you can achieve could be very impressive.



Men at Arms100YW Men at Arms




The figures generally come with open hands, or at least hands that need to be drilled to accommodate spears or pikes, although some of the halberdiers come with cast-in weapons. Donnington intend to offer a range of weapons with the figures, maximising variety within each unit. The clever innovation with the range is visible in the above photos of the horse-less Men at Arms - the guys have been cast with a "Vamplate" (no, I didn't know what it was either) on their hands, which creates the hand guard part of a proper lance when its drilled through to take a metal wire spear - very cute!

Overall these look to be a really good range, and continue the recent trend of ever-improving 15mm figures with more "human" proportions, lots of variety and some genuine thought going into the poses to create more interesting units. There are plenty more pictures of these in the 15mm Photo Gallery (search for "New Donnington" in the "manufacturer" field) - and I'll be adding more as I get to take some photos of them. Details of procing etc haven't been released yet, but if you contact Donnington or go along to see them at Salute I'm sure you will be able to get hold of some soon!

16 Mar 2009

Warmaster Medieval Eye Candy

Three armies now painted up and on this site in their full glory with bucket-loads of photos.

Hungarian Troops

13 Mar 2009

Fully Updated Tactical Tips

The Tactical Tips section of the Wiki has been fully updated, revised and extended, and is all here in it's full (Field of) Glory. Its in the WIKI, so if you have any bright ideas to add to it, you can do so !

12 Mar 2009

Another 10mm WMM Army on sale

This time the army on offer has options for Italian Condotta or Ordonnance French. It - and all its pictures - can be seen now on eBay now via this link.

Stronghold / Jacobite added to Supplier Directory

I managed to find a link to a full listing of the Stronghold/Jacobite ranges which worked and so I've now added them to the 15mm Ancients Suppliers Directory.

Don;t forget that if you have pictures of figures from any of the ranges in the 15mm Ancients Suppliers Directory please drop me a line as I'd love to add them to the Directory and Photo Gallery.

11 Mar 2009

New "News" Page added

I've added a new page that pulls together all the latest postings from various Yahoo Groups and Wargaming news sites, and previews them here on this site. It's available here. If you can't be bothered logging into Yahoo groups to see if anything interesting is happening, this is the page for you to bookmark!

9 Mar 2009

Xyston Gallic Nobles reviewed

Xystons latest release is a pack of 8 armoured Gallic infantry. As usual they come with separate shields, which all have well-sized anchor points for the figures hands (although some of these figures don't seem to accommodate / need shields). There is also a separate "ornament" which sits on top of the helmet of one of the warriors.

This is a picture of the figures as they arrived, so a little flash needs to be cut off the swords and some other parts of the figures, but nothing too technical. Having picked up some Xyston Gaeasati recently, these figures are noticably more well-fed, even allowing for the fact they are wearing both clothes and armour, making it easier to see them fitting in alongside other ranges. The armour (in fact, all of the figure) is well cast with good detail to pick up drybrushing, and the poses are well animated although anatomically a touch suspect in cases (see this review elsewhere for comments).

The first figure is waving a sword (which is cast with the figure avoiding risk of it falling off with use). The second, with the seagull-attachment to his helmet stands on a rock, looking forwards, and the third lunges forward again with a sword cast in hand.

Xyston Gallic Noble Xyston Gallic Noble Xyston Gallic Noble

The final figure is holding his sword slightly uncomfortably, but has a great moustache and rather angry demeanour. The other photo shows the first figure again, but this time from the rear.

Xyston Gallic Noble Xyston Gallic Noble

Overall another nice set of figures from Xyston, not as stylized as their Gaeasati warriors, but yet again it would still be difficultto mix these chaps with anyone else's figures as they are rather large. I have managed to combine them on the same base as the Fantassin/Warmodelling Gauls, but they tower head and shoulders (literally) over my Essex, Old Glory and Corvus Belli troops.


5 Mar 2009

10m Medieval Army Photos !!


I'm selling a 10mm Warmaster Medieval army on eBay right now. for lots of photos follow this link. For the listing on eBay click here.
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