Today we have yet another exciting Fireforge Games miniature review! This time we will be checking out the brand new Fantasy Forgotten World Northern Cavalry. Field the agile yet lightly armoured cavalry of the barren North and crush your enemies on the tabletop miniature battlefield!
Last year, Fireforge Games succesfully funded the upcoming Forgotten World fantasy wargame miniature range and wargame rules through Kickstarter. The Kickstarter was launched to allow the creation of at least 6 different hard-plastic multi-part miniature kits split over two warring fantasy factions being the The Northmen and The Living Dead. The Northern Cavalry miniatures which we will review today are part of the fierce Northmen faction and are described as fast moving mounted men at arms in service of local vassals and perfect for harrassing or charging enemy soldiers.
The Northern Kingdom is one of the strongest and largest nations of the New World. Once a united country, led by an ancient dynasty, now it is divided between generals, lords and rich merchants; assembling their own armies to conquer the throne. Any Northmen army can count on an excellent core of warriors, expert soldiers without fear of the enemy, with a good number of bowmen, who with their arrow fire, cover the advance of their warrior brethren. The flanks of a Northmen army are usually protected by fast units of mounted men at arms, usually bodyguards of the local vassal and act perfectly as scouts or to chase a routed enemy.
The Northern Cavalry Miniatures
The Northern Cavalry boxed set contains five sprues allowing you to create 6 individual horsemen with their weaponry and equipment. The kit comes with two identical horsemen sprues which each hold enough parts to make three soldiers, two identical horse sprues each containing three horses and one command sprue which contain enough parts to assemble some of the regular soldiers as command miniatures such as a mounted captain, standard bearer and musician. Next to this the model kit also contains enough hard-plastic oval and rectangle bases to base these miniatures for either skirmish or mass-battle miniature wargames.
The Northern Cavalry Horsemen Sprue of which two are included in the boxed set contains enough parts to assemble three warmly clothed mounted men at arms armed with lances and swords. The sprues contains a very nice selection of helmeted heads along with all sorts of equipment such as daggers and sword scabbards. As you can see in the sprue pictures below you can equip each miniature in the same way as three lances and swords are supplied on each sprue. Next to the weaponry, each horsemen can also be equipped with a round shield using the supplied shield arms. Check the lovely close-up pictures of the parts below and judge for yourself.
The miniatures are supplied in multiple parts which is also seen in the other model kits of this particular range. The Northern Cavalry Horsemen miniatures are assembled from two leg parts which can easily be glued together using the cast on pegs for easy assembly and one of the three supplied bodies along with the heads and arms. The quality of the hard-plastic sprues is very good with lovely detail on each of the parts but especially showing in the faces. There are some fine mouldlines from the production process but these are very easy to clean if you would deem this necessary when assembling the miniatures. If I'm not mistaken these miniatures are produced by Renedra, the leading hard-plastic wargame miniatures tooling and production company in the United Kingdom so the expertise of these talented people is certainly noticable.
The Northern Cavalry Horsemen Sprue of which two are included in the boxed set contains enough parts to assemble three warmly clothed mounted men at arms armed with lances and swords. The sprues contains a very nice selection of helmeted heads along with all sorts of equipment such as daggers and sword scabbards. As you can see in the sprue pictures below you can equip each miniature in the same way as three lances and swords are supplied on each sprue. Next to the weaponry, each horsemen can also be equipped with a round shield using the supplied shield arms. Check the lovely close-up pictures of the parts below and judge for yourself.
The miniatures are supplied in multiple parts which is also seen in the other model kits of this particular range. The Northern Cavalry Horsemen miniatures are assembled from two leg parts which can easily be glued together using the cast on pegs for easy assembly and one of the three supplied bodies along with the heads and arms. The quality of the hard-plastic sprues is very good with lovely detail on each of the parts but especially showing in the faces. There are some fine mouldlines from the production process but these are very easy to clean if you would deem this necessary when assembling the miniatures. If I'm not mistaken these miniatures are produced by Renedra, the leading hard-plastic wargame miniatures tooling and production company in the United Kingdom so the expertise of these talented people is certainly noticable.
The Northern Cavalry Horsemen Command Sprue of which one is included in the boxed set contains enough parts to change some of your regular mounted men at arms into command miniatures. You can change them into a heroic looking captain, standard bearer or musician but the sprue also offers some extra equipment to further add some more character to your regular troopers in the form of pouches. This identical command sprue is supplied in all three Forgotten World Northmen model kits offering the same options of command to the three different sets. Check the picture below to check the detail of these pieces and I'm sure you will like them.
As you can see this smaller command frame is filled with all sorts of cool detailled components ranging from weapons to equipment but also some rather nice capes and alternative bodies. The offered weapons and equipment such as the torches and pouches really add more character to your miniatures giving them even more personality and realism. Looking at the selection of weapons it seems that the Northern faction loves their swords as no other weapon is included on the frame. I also found the design of the very nice banner intriguing as it comes in two pieces offering you the option on how your miniature holds the banner. I thought that the two-part assembly would weaken the standard but the piece is quite solid when properly glued together.
The Northern Cavalry Horse Sprue of which two are supplied in the model kit, each contain enough parts to assemble three bulky Northern war horses with sculpted on gambeson armour. Each of the horses included is assembled from four different parts: two body halves, one head and one tail offering 27 possible pose configurations. I really like the look of these bulky horses and the quality of the design is once more superb following the same style of armour as the riders and foot soldiers. Check the assembly part for a remark concerning the design of these horses and what could have been improved during the design stage.
As you can see this smaller command frame is filled with all sorts of cool detailled components ranging from weapons to equipment but also some rather nice capes and alternative bodies. The offered weapons and equipment such as the torches and pouches really add more character to your miniatures giving them even more personality and realism. Looking at the selection of weapons it seems that the Northern faction loves their swords as no other weapon is included on the frame. I also found the design of the very nice banner intriguing as it comes in two pieces offering you the option on how your miniature holds the banner. I thought that the two-part assembly would weaken the standard but the piece is quite solid when properly glued together.
The Northern Cavalry Horse Sprue of which two are supplied in the model kit, each contain enough parts to assemble three bulky Northern war horses with sculpted on gambeson armour. Each of the horses included is assembled from four different parts: two body halves, one head and one tail offering 27 possible pose configurations. I really like the look of these bulky horses and the quality of the design is once more superb following the same style of armour as the riders and foot soldiers. Check the assembly part for a remark concerning the design of these horses and what could have been improved during the design stage.
The Northern Cavalry Assembly
When assembling the miniatures, I haven't encountered much trouble as all the parts are easily removed from the frames and cleaned using your standard hobby tools. Although I would recommend composing and dry-fitting all your miniatures before actually glueing them together.
The only minor remark that I have, is that the horses are supplied in halves which is common in model kits but in this set you can only assemble the six horse body parts as three identical pairs. So you can't create more than three different horse body poses. Although three different horse poses are good, a larger amount of body poses would have been better as some more planning in the design stage would have solved this issue. That said the three body poses combined with the three head and tail parts gives you 27 horse configurations which is certainly acceptable.
The Northern Cavalry Scale Comparison
In the scale comparison pictures below you can see the new Fireforge Games Northern Cavalry alongside horses from Games Workshop and Fireforge Games' own historical miniature range. I have taken pictures with these particular miniatures because the Games Workshop miniatures are more or less the norm for the larger 28mm heroic scale while the Fireforge Games historical miniatures are a fair representation of the 28mm historical (non-heroic) scale as used by most historical miniature companies.
In the first picture you can see the Fireforge Games Northern Cavalry miniature compared with the Games Workshop Empire Horse which is one of their more modern horse miniatures and is quite large. As you can see the Fireforge Games Northern Cavalry is considerably smaller than the Empire Horse miniature which might partially be caused by the bulk of the horse armour on the Games Workshop model. I would personally don't use these miniatures next to each other but wouldn't mind very much though if needed.
In the second picture you can see the Fireforge Games Northern Cavalry miniature compared with the other Games Workshop Empire Horse which is a much older release and would be called a classic by now. As you can see this particular model is almost the same size of the Northern Cavalry model but a bit bulkier but nothing to worry about as the bulk difference is mostly because of the armour on the Games Workshop model. Last but not least is the scale comparison between the Fireforge Games Northern Cavalry and the Fireforge Games Historical Knight. Here you can see that the historical horse is a bit smaller and less bulkier than the fantasy horse but would be more than happy to use them in different units next to each other on the tabletop. In the last picture you can see the Northern Cavalry next to the Northern Bowmen of our previous review (check here)
The Northern Cavalry Conclusion
After assembling these Fireforge Games Northern Cavalry miniatures, I was once more impressed by the recent miniature output by Fireforge Games. These miniatures alongside their brothers on foot and the undead faction were funded last year through Kickstarter and are really some great-looking miniatures. The quality of these hard-plastic miniatures is once more superb and the assembly is very hasslefree due to the good design of the sprue lay-out and minimal parts.
The Northern Cavalry miniatures represent mounted men at arms or lightly armoured knights in cold climate gear mounted on stout war horses very suited for replaying the epic battles and skirmishes of the popular Game of Thrones fantasy television series. I can see these miniatures being very popular as alternative miniatures for other popular tabletop miniature wargames and roleplaying games next to being used in the upcoming Forgotten World fantasy wargame rules by Fireforge Games. As these miniatures were funded through Kickstarter they aren't available yet but will be released in August alongside the other model kits of the Forgotten World miniature range. You can check these miniatures and the full range here in the Fireforge Games webstore.
Disclaimer - We received these miniatures from Fireforge Games for reviewing purposes. Please note that this doesn't influence our review as we always strive to supply you with our own independent and honest opinion about the wargame products reviewed and you may have noticed that these miniatures are simply awesome so no need to dishonest about that!
When assembling the miniatures, I haven't encountered much trouble as all the parts are easily removed from the frames and cleaned using your standard hobby tools. Although I would recommend composing and dry-fitting all your miniatures before actually glueing them together.
The only minor remark that I have, is that the horses are supplied in halves which is common in model kits but in this set you can only assemble the six horse body parts as three identical pairs. So you can't create more than three different horse body poses. Although three different horse poses are good, a larger amount of body poses would have been better as some more planning in the design stage would have solved this issue. That said the three body poses combined with the three head and tail parts gives you 27 horse configurations which is certainly acceptable.
The Northern Cavalry Scale Comparison
In the scale comparison pictures below you can see the new Fireforge Games Northern Cavalry alongside horses from Games Workshop and Fireforge Games' own historical miniature range. I have taken pictures with these particular miniatures because the Games Workshop miniatures are more or less the norm for the larger 28mm heroic scale while the Fireforge Games historical miniatures are a fair representation of the 28mm historical (non-heroic) scale as used by most historical miniature companies.
In the first picture you can see the Fireforge Games Northern Cavalry miniature compared with the Games Workshop Empire Horse which is one of their more modern horse miniatures and is quite large. As you can see the Fireforge Games Northern Cavalry is considerably smaller than the Empire Horse miniature which might partially be caused by the bulk of the horse armour on the Games Workshop model. I would personally don't use these miniatures next to each other but wouldn't mind very much though if needed.
In the second picture you can see the Fireforge Games Northern Cavalry miniature compared with the other Games Workshop Empire Horse which is a much older release and would be called a classic by now. As you can see this particular model is almost the same size of the Northern Cavalry model but a bit bulkier but nothing to worry about as the bulk difference is mostly because of the armour on the Games Workshop model. Last but not least is the scale comparison between the Fireforge Games Northern Cavalry and the Fireforge Games Historical Knight. Here you can see that the historical horse is a bit smaller and less bulkier than the fantasy horse but would be more than happy to use them in different units next to each other on the tabletop. In the last picture you can see the Northern Cavalry next to the Northern Bowmen of our previous review (check here)
The Northern Cavalry Conclusion
After assembling these Fireforge Games Northern Cavalry miniatures, I was once more impressed by the recent miniature output by Fireforge Games. These miniatures alongside their brothers on foot and the undead faction were funded last year through Kickstarter and are really some great-looking miniatures. The quality of these hard-plastic miniatures is once more superb and the assembly is very hasslefree due to the good design of the sprue lay-out and minimal parts.
The Northern Cavalry miniatures represent mounted men at arms or lightly armoured knights in cold climate gear mounted on stout war horses very suited for replaying the epic battles and skirmishes of the popular Game of Thrones fantasy television series. I can see these miniatures being very popular as alternative miniatures for other popular tabletop miniature wargames and roleplaying games next to being used in the upcoming Forgotten World fantasy wargame rules by Fireforge Games. As these miniatures were funded through Kickstarter they aren't available yet but will be released in August alongside the other model kits of the Forgotten World miniature range. You can check these miniatures and the full range here in the Fireforge Games webstore.
Disclaimer - We received these miniatures from Fireforge Games for reviewing purposes. Please note that this doesn't influence our review as we always strive to supply you with our own independent and honest opinion about the wargame products reviewed and you may have noticed that these miniatures are simply awesome so no need to dishonest about that!
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2 comments:
Great review thank you
Very detailed review, very good!
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