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Post by paddy649 on Oct 5, 2020 22:47:24 GMT
I’m just finishing my first army from Forged in Battle and can say that I’m very impressed by the minis. Nicely cast, minimal flash, well proportioned and they take paint well, especially dry brushing. They are more animated than most ranges - on a par with Xyston but have moulded spears and shields so are less fiddly. Size wise they are more compatible with Chariot, Peter Pig or Alternative rather than Xyston, Museum or Essex which means they fit nicely on 40mm bases and are slightly quicker to paint.
So what’s not to like...well the packaging stinks for DBA. They are sold on packs of 24 inf or 12 Cav. Now this is OK for an army like the Sarmatians where a couple of packs of Heavy Cav, a couple of packs of medium Cav, a pack of Inf and a General pack is all you need......but it is terrible if you need to buy 24 Inf for a couple of 3 Aux elements. I think there are only a few armies that can be made with minimum waste: Sarmatians, Spartacus, Parthians, Normans and Vikings all potentially have minimum wastage....either that or split packs with a friend. However, if they ever make packs tailored for DBA it would be so much better! And here is an offer - if FiB management are reading this I am prepared to advise them of how to make the minimum number moulds each of 24 pieces that best make DBA armies using their existing minis with minimum wastage.
So in conclusion don’t discount FiB they are well worth a try but choose your armies carefully to minimise wastage.
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Post by ammianus on Oct 5, 2020 23:31:31 GMT
Concur with all above. I always have to strategize my purchases to end up with a DBA army with few remainders.
I'm waiting on their Vikings and Arthurians.
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Post by sheffmark on Oct 6, 2020 8:20:47 GMT
Back in Aug I ordered some figures from FiB, (You can get a decent Carolingian DBA army from 4 packs) and at the time I asked about any plans to provide smaller packs specifically for DBA and got the following reply:
"No we will never sell them in smaller packs as it is not commercially viable. We offer the best variety and quality at a very good price. We are so grateful that folks love our figures and choose them over others regardless. We are also happy to do ‘special orders‘ though If you are buying into the range and want a few more of one type in a certain compilation, as long as it is not too ridiculous and time consuming, as our moulds are set up to produce complete pack sets. Email at the time of ordering and we will always see what we can do."
I don't understand the comment about smaller packs not being commercially viable as other manufacturers do this, but presumably it's because their moulds are set up to produce the set packs and they don't want to break these packs up and be left with odds and sods themselves, or change their moulds.
However I do think they are missing a trick as the DBA customer can end up paying for a load of figures they don't want or need.
Although, as quoted above, maybe they may provide some flexibility if you ask at the time of ordering.
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Post by timurilank on Oct 6, 2020 16:59:17 GMT
Lovely figures, but the number per pack worked as a deterrent for me.
Old Glory pose a similar problem as they offer infantry per pack (24), but only 9 mounted.
Command packs are no longer purchased as fixing a crown or cloak or an extra battle flag to the command stand does the job.
Collecting historical armies might be one solution as extra figures of one army can find their place on the opposite side.
Extra figures can be useful to build allied contingents.
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Post by paddy649 on Oct 6, 2020 22:41:53 GMT
Weirdly I’m not advocating smaller packs just more tailored packs of 24 pieces for DBA.
For example Polybian Romans: You need 24 Blade = 1 pack no waste. 8 Spear = 1 pack with 16 waste. 4 Psloi = 1 pack with 20 waste. 6 Cav = 1 pack with 6 waste. So for Polybian Romans you currently have to buy 4 packs and waste 48 pieces which is half.
However, if they packaged them in a pack of 12 Blade, 4 Spear, 2 Psloi and 3 Cav - that is a DBA Legion. 2 packs makes a DBA army. Zero waste! I bet these packs would fly off the shelves! Plus it adheres to their sales strategy of selling packs of 24 pieces and it requires no additional masters.
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Post by ammianus on Oct 7, 2020 1:26:01 GMT
FYI, I have their Polybians, Spartacus, Early Germans, and a mix of Atecotti Fanatics & the Dal Riatan Mercenaries (for HotT).
Great figures!
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Post by jim1973 on Oct 7, 2020 2:04:40 GMT
Weirdly I’m not advocating smaller packs just more tailored packs of 24 pieces for DBA. For example Polybian Romans: You need 24 Blade = 1 pack no waste. 8 Spear = 1 pack with 16 waste. 4 Psloi = 1 pack with 20 waste. 6 Cav = 1 pack with 6 waste. So for Polybian Romans you currently have to buy 4 packs and waste 48 pieces which is half. However, if they packaged them in a pack of 12 Blade, 4 Spear, 2 Psloi and 3 Cav - that is a DBA Legion. 2 packs makes a DBA army. Zero waste! I bet these packs would fly off the shelves! Plus it adheres to their sales strategy of selling packs of 24 pieces and it requires no additional masters. Great idea! A proportionate mixed pack would be fabulous. They look like nice figures. I've done several calculations to make some DBA friendly but it's difficult. I think I have a formula to do Paionian and Illyrian using a few swaps between them. Slingers are a problem. Unfortunately, their starter armies are too large. Lurkio has a nice method of providing larger groups with lots of variety, together with small boosters at a slight premium. Quite reasonable. Jim |
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Post by wolfisin on Oct 7, 2020 9:59:37 GMT
I've been wanting to feature different manufacturers when I feature armies in my video and I have had my eye on Forged In Battle for quite a while. paddy649 I've had problems with the packaging myself. Not such a fan of having loose figures that don't fit into a DBA rule based army organisation. Will still keep an eye on these these.... |
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eg407
Beneficiarii
Posts: 91
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Post by eg407 on Oct 9, 2020 5:05:58 GMT
Thanks for the heads up. I've also always discounted FiB because of the wastage.
A side question. I notice they now offer a Rus range. I've always felt the best Rus figures are the old two dragon ones. Anyone any idea how well the two dragon minis would mix with the FiB figures?
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Post by redrob on Oct 10, 2020 14:19:36 GMT
Well buy full packs and sell on the spares!
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Post by larryr on Oct 20, 2020 17:02:12 GMT
Well buy full packs and sell on the spares! or do team buying! |
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Post by judebecker on Oct 28, 2020 19:33:01 GMT
Great figures and awesome building range, but the horses are too small!
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Post by paulhannah on Jan 26, 2022 9:30:38 GMT
Just another lament about Forged-in-Battle's packaging. I can't object to their sticking to a business model that works for them; I just don't have to like it. (Grins.)
I'm finishing up my first FIB army (II/45c Spartacus) and have found I really enjoy painting them. That's a relatively monochromatic army. The figure wastage wasn't too awfully bad. I recently got a notion of building a II/48 Mithridatic army with FIB. Oh, my. A combined-arms army, needing just 2 of this and 3 of that...it could prove prohibitively expensive.
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Post by timurilank on Jan 26, 2022 12:30:20 GMT
Just another lament about Forged-in-Battle's packaging. I can't object to their sticking to a business model that works for them; I just don't have to like it. (Grins.) I'm finishing up my first FIB army ( II/45c Spartacus) and have found I really enjoy painting them. That's a relatively monochromatic army. The figure wastage wasn't too awfully bad. I recently got a notion of building a I I/48 Mithridatic army with FIB. Oh, my. A combined-arms army, needing just 2 of this and 3 of that...it could prove prohibitively expensive.
A box of 24 foot or 12 mounted can also be useful to fill the odd numbers required for other armies of the period, such as Arabo-Aramean, Armenian, Judean, Pergamon, Cappadocian and Galatia. |
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Post by jdesmond on Jan 28, 2022 5:45:49 GMT
If you asked the crew who run Maplewood Hobby - or any other FLGS* - They'd probably say that it's the same amount of labor cost taking an item out of shipment from distributor, checking it against invoice, getting it onto shelf, and actually selling it - regardless of the selling price.
Meself, I've occasionally brought extra figures to sell at the Sunday morning 'no-charge-flea-market' at Historicon or Cold Wars, or the bring-and-buy at NJCon
OTOH, got really good deals on Corvus Belli DBA 2 army boxes at Fall In '19 (back in the Before Times)
Thought of getting a couple of packs of FiB at January sale, decided to whack away at current lead mountain. Next year .... Or ...
"It's a free country."
"Everybody's got the right to make an honest pound."
"You pay your money, and you take your choice."
*Friendly Local Game Store
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