Budget Bretonnians: Part Two
Peasants of the Realm
With my knights of the realm assembled, I needed to choose which models would be the alternatives for the bowmen that came with the 5th edition Warhammer Fantasy boxed set. Since my knights came from the Deus Vult and Forgotten World ranges, I thought I’d stick to that theme and get a box of the Deus Vult Medieval Archers and the Forgotten World Northmen Bowmen.
Unfortunately, there was a mix-up with the order from my FLGS and I received the Conquest Games Medieval Archers by mistake. Since I’d need more archers eventually, I got in touch with my FLGS, explained what had happened, and put in a second order for the Dues Vult archers.
Western Armies Medieval Archers
At 30 Euros* for 32 models, the Deus Vult archers were the second most expensive of the three boxes on a per-model basis.
As with the Deus Vult knights, there’s limited variation in the box. 4 identical sprues with 8 models each. Not a problem as I’ve got two other boxes for variety.
*Prices correct at time of writing.
Conquest Games Medieval Archers
At 20 pounds* for 28 models, The Conquest Games minis were the best value of the three boxes on a per-model basis.
In addition to their price advantage over the Deus Vult models, the box contained 4 identical sprues with 6 models on each, 2 sprues with a single archer and some extra bows and bits, and a single command sprue with 2 soldiers and the bits to make a captain, banner bearer and musician. Oh, and a dead bowman.
*Prices correct at time of writing.
Northmen Bowmen
At 25 Euros* for 18 models, the Forgotten Worlds archers were the only ones of the three boxes to cost more than a pound per model.
Similar to the Deus Vult minis, all the archers come on a set of identical sprues. Unlike the Deus Vult archers, the bodies and legs aren’t a single component. You also get a command sprue and some extra decorative elements compared to the other boxes, such as arrows stuck into the ground and braziers to turn them into flaming arrows.
One other detail I forgot to photograph at the time is that some of the bodies have hoods and some don’t so there’s the option to mix and match. As a result, here’s a poorly lit image of the bodies after I glued one of them onto the legs.
*Prices correct at time of writing.
Comparison
Let’s start with the cons. I don’t like the way some of the Deus Vult archers are posed. The hunched over stance just doesn’t do it for me. If it was one or two, I could put them at the back of a unit and ignore them. Half the kit being in a pose that looks odd for an archer is a deal breaker though.
Contrast the Deus Vult archers with the Conquest Games archers and you get a unit that stands more like I expect a unit of archers to stand. I chose to build all of mine with long bows for consistency across the three builds, but the kit does come with short bows. Add in the variety of a command sprue and I’d go with these over the Deus Vult archers.
The Northmen Bowmen sit somewhere in between for me. The sculpts are good and look like archers. The one thing I didn’t like was having some of the legs as two-part assemblies. Having the bodies separate so I can choose between hooded and not-hooded makes sense. However, It would have been good to have more head options to avoid the scenario where I have a helmeted head on a body with a hood.
Are they good Games Workshop alternatives?
On a purely price basis, yes. At £52.50* for 36 GW bowmen, even the Northmen Bowmen work out cheaper.
As for sculpt quality, the GW bowmen look like the 2003 sculpts that I disliked when they were first released. Time hasn’t been kind to them. I’d take the hunched over Deus Vult archers over the GW ones.
As for those hunched over models, mixed into a unit alongside the models from the other kits, they don’t look that bad.
*Prices correct at time of writing.
If you’re going for a more uniform look, the variation between the kits will stand out, but my peasants are intended to be drafted into a militia with whatever equipment has been made or handed down by village elders. A little variation helps to sell that ‘rabble’ look of peasants compared to trained soldiers of a castle guard.
If I had to score them out of 10, balancing price against model variety, I’d say…
Western Armies Medieval Archers – 7/10
The price per model is let down by some odd poses and a lack of command parts.
Conquest Games Medieval Archers – 8/10
Good price point with decent sculpt variety and a command sprue.
Forgotten World Northmen Bowmen – 7/10
Good sculpts with command options and accessories but the price point makes it hard to score them higher.
