A Comparison of 28mm Ancient Miniatures

Hello everyone! Dustin here with a whole mess of pictures comparing the ranges of various models I have collected throughout these past two years.  I have seen a few size comparison posts but thought I'd do my own miniature comparison between companies. I find those who have posted their height and size comparison photos to be rather useful when collecting so I thought I'd show you my unpainted models and hopefully it helps you as well!


LETS START WITH THE GREEKS VS THE PERSIANS - From The Ionian Revolt up until the conquering of Persia! 

Wargames Factory made some pretty good Persians. Though hard to put together, they made excellent infantry and cavalry, with tons of options! You could make spearmen, swordsmen, skirmishers, axemen, equip various shields! If you can get your hands on the plastics somehow, do it!! 

Here you can see four Hoplite warriors from Warlord Games.  Take notice that their plastic (once Immortals) are a tad bit smaller than their metallic Spartans on the left!  I have a higher base for the Warlord Plastic to make up for height.  Excellent detail though, though I find rank and file for the hoplites to be difficult with their spear positions. 

Wargames Foundry is well known but I find their models quite expensive.  Great models though they are getting dated? 

Black Tree design also has interesting Greeks.  I've got a few of these and they make for good alternatives, but their sizes and poses are sometimes awkward! They do have PLENTY of sales on all the time though!

Victrix makes excellent, easy to pose together miniatures.  I also have the unarmored hoplites. Great detail, match well against wargames factory persians.

Great detail in the models for the Phalangites. I do not own the Victrix phalangites, but I suspect Warlord Games are a tad bit smaller. 

I find the Warlord Games Kushites, for metal models, to be VERY short and scrawny, even besides other hoplites and persians. I was a little disappointed with their size, but they are actually true 28 m... But since they're small I will only have one unit for skirmish reasons. 

Notice the sizes differences? I have some Warlord Games Persian Immortals on foot but did not take their photos for I did not have the models when these photos were taken.  The immortals are roughly the size of the Spartan King.

The Wargames Foundry Hoplite fits in well with the Wargames Factory models. 

Victrix Hoplites Make Warlord Games Hoplites look like scrawny men! Especially the heads!   But you cannot deny that both companies have superb detail in both miniatures. 

Black Tree Designs work well with the most of them. 

And here is the Warlord Games Phalangite.  Heads are sort of small, closer to their plastic hoplite , but they still make great models.

Here they are lined up, some on bases, some not.  All and all, all great miniatures in my mind.

SECONDLY:

THE PUNIC WARS : CARTHAGE VS REPUBLICAN ROME

Here's my whole line of models. Victrix, Renegade Miniatures, Wargames Foundry (I am using the greeks as fillers for Libyan spearmen), Relic Miniatures, Gripping Beast, Agema, Victrix, Relic again. 

Here's three different Libyan Spearmen (and one Boetian Greek hoplite) Notice that each company is actually quite different!  My favorite is Victrix once again, but the old Renegade Miniatures have , in my opinion, interesting characteristics.  Their shields are MASSIVE though!!! 

The Relic Miniature Libyan spearman is slightly large for what is normally produced for their company, but it works well with Victrix, I think. 

Here's something I found: Gripping Beast Miniatures. Here we have a mixture of Iberians.   When I purchased them the store advertised them as 28 MM.. but look!  They're all over the place in size!  I think these are some of their older, OOP models and I do not suggest them, even for 25 MM games, because their sizes and proportions are just... too weird.  You can see the black tree design kid followed by another Gripping Beast model on the far right  .  The Gripping Beast Arab spearmen at the end is a proper 28 mm model! 

Yeah, I have no idea why I have these. I guess I have some great models to turn into casualties ... =D 

Here's the Roman forces of the punic war I own... You have the Victrix Hastati with chainmail which has great proportions beside the Agema (in the middle) Hastati... notice that Agema and Victrix model, were they both on bases, would be roughly the same height. EXCEPT the Victrix model looks like he's got some girth to him... The Relic Illyrian on the far right is shortest by far, and has , like my warlord games hoplites been raised on a higher base.  Great models, despite the height! 

Another thing of interest:  The Victrix Roman Shields are a tad bit smaller than the Agema shields! Those skinny Agema Hastati are carrying more weight than their bigger victrix brothers!

All in all, I'd say save the Gripping Beast Models, every company again has excellent details... But if you are worried about sizing, Agema and Relic Miniatures go really well together for they are a tad bit skinny..., where as Victrix models in my case just do well with other victrix miniatures.  All great models (again except the weird frog eyed gripping beast iberians of old...)

CAESARIAN ROMANS AND GAULS

(I should have put some of the Gauls with my Punic War fellows... but Warlord Games does work very well with all the ranges. They're again, somewhere between Agema and Victrix for sizing, so they would work good for the previous section.)

I have the fewest models for this era of time, because the Punic Wars and Greek and Persian world interest me much more than the Marian Romans... In any case, here you have The Optio model from the newest Hail Caesar! Supplement: Great model, but he towers over the other legionaries of the time.  Mind you, a good chunk of the Warlord Games Casearian soldiers are crouched over.  

Here's a better photo... Warlord Games Romans on the left, Wargames Factory Roman and Warlord Games Gaul on the right. I REALLY like the Warlord Game Gauls. They have a lot of customization options and gear.  Some of my favorite to paint so far.  The Wargames Factory Caesarian Romans, Ive read, were once of their first kits, so the details in the casting and the proportions seem awkward to me... But they do alright.  Warlord Games Romans are much better looking, though! 

Warlord Games and Wargames Factory shields are more or less a similar size, with Warlord Games winning with the added pilum / more detailed curve to the model.  

AND LASTLY: MY LEAST FAVORITE MODEL OF THEM ALL

The puny, wtf am I looking at, Imperial Romans of Warlord Games... They make GREAT miniatures, but.. WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR IMPERIAL ROMANS???? I know the gauls and celts were described as these epic huge wildmen, but if you look at my two photos... look how small he is!!  The Victrix Republicans can literally toss these dwarf roman buggers! 

Look! Even the weird Gripping Beast Iberian is standing beside him.. I really think these guys are like borderline 25-28 mm.. apparently their heads are the right spot but I just.. I dont know. If I put them beside any of my models they're just a disappointment.  I put them on eBay fairly quickly after taking these photos because I just don't see them really meshing well with any other company out there.  The Warlord Games Gaul, same company and all, beside the Imperial Roman are TOTALLY DIFFERENT!   Luckily, Victrix recently released their new Early Imperial Roman boxes, so if I do get into the Imperial Romans I at least have some.. better models to play with!

I hope this little post of my models helps someone out with their collection!  I had fun taking these photos and typing up this comparison.  I will be at some point be using all of the models in my games (minus the Imperial Romans) and hope to show off paint jobs sooner or later! I'll have to add in my newest items at some point (I've got more Gripping Beast Persian Peasants for levy, Warlord Games mounted and infantry persians, as well as some possible Wargames Facotry Numidians, Warlord Games Metal Gauls and metal Strategoi on the way! )