Warlord Games 28mm Praetorians

Here is a unit of 28mm Praetorian Guardsmen that I've just completed for a commission. These are some of Warlord Games' plastic offerings, and I think they are very attractive figures. Each one is comprised of 5 parts: body, weapon arm, shield, head and crest. Detail is pretty crisp, and there are some nice touches, like the 5 different faces included for the regulars. There is also a new arm pose not included in the regular legionary box set - an upright javelin held close to the body.

My only complaint about this set is the shield decals. The graphics themselves are perfectly fine, but in every other way they are extremely frustrating. They have too much "flash" of clear film around the edges, they had to be soaked too long to remove them from the backing paper (I tore several even after soaking more than 45 seconds) and - probably because of that - adhesion to the shield is extremely weak. They started curling off immediately, and I had to develop a routine where right after applying the two halves to one shield I would immediately coat it in matt varnish to get it to stick. It made for a slow, excruciating process, which is not how decals have to be. I've only had good experiences with other brands.

Still, they do make for a nice looking unit, and are an economical option.