Thistle and The Rose

15mm Dark Ages and Medieval

by Rod Burr

The Thistle and The Rose have now released the second batch of figures for the Dark Ages and Medieval period. The new additions include their mounted Normans and Scots, Welsh and Franks. These figures are intermediate in size between Mike's Models "true" 15mm and Minifigs socalled 18mm figures. The casting quality is good with crisp detail, but there is more flash on these figures than on the ones previously reviewed. The alloy used is pliable enough that it should be easy to modify figure positions. One of the great strengths of the range continues to be a wide variety of poses produced for each army. When you realize that many of the figures for these armies can be used in several of the others, the variety of figures available is quite amazing.

The mounted Normans are now being released after the Norman foot figures due to a decision by The Thistle and The Rose to have them resculpted to improve their quality. judging by the quality and variety of the new figures, the wait was worthwhile. There are four different Norman horses with the distinctive high saddle developed during the 11th Century. All of the horses are in active positions, one rearing and three running. There are 12 different mounted figures: 6 in chain mail, 2 in padded hauberks, 1 in scale and 3 unarmored. One of the nicest of these is one depicting William the Conqueror from the Bayeux tapestry with his helmet removed to allow his troops to see that he is alive. None of the Normans suffer from the dwarvish proportions seen in some of the earlier Viking releases. To increase the variety of the figures, each of the 12 figures are produced with 7 different shield patterns, all based on ones shown in the Bayeux tapestry.

The Scots range so far consists of 31 foot figures and 1 mounted knight (a portrait figure of Robert the Bruce?), and is intended for the earlier period of the wars between the Scots and the English. Some of the foot figures could easily be used for an earlier Scots/Irish army of the 11th or 12th centuries, especially the axemen and javelinmen. The variety in poses and armor among the figures is again quite impressive. Included are 8 different spear or pikemen with separate shields. The spear/pikemen are also available cast with shields but none of these were included for review. No wire or cast spears are included so these would have to be provided by the gamer.

Besides the pikemen there are 11 axemen, 4 men with claymores, 5 javelinmen, 2 archers, one standard bearer and two "obscene gestures". Of the latter 2, the first is mooning their English opponents while the second is giving them the finger. Overall, while some of these figures are a little on the stockyside, they are all reasonably well proportioned. The armor worn by the figures range from none at all through padded coats up to chain mail. The mounted figure of Robert the Bruce is equipped as a fully armored knight in chain mail on a barded horse. There are no other Scots knights included with the range, but ones from the Norman or other Medieval lines could be used to fill this gap.

The Welsh range includes 4 longbowmen, 4 men with long spears and two mounted knights with closed helms and one barded horse. Unlike the Scots, the Welsh spearmen are cast with a long lead spear which is good looking but rather fragile. The mounted knights included with the range do not appear to represent any specific historical personalities.

The last group of figures included are early Franks. This group includes 3 figues throwing franciscas, 1 "berserker" with double bitted axe, 4 other men with double bitted axes, 2 men with angons (heavy throwing spears), and 2 javelinmen. The detail on the Franks is a bit less crisp than on the other figures.

Also included for review were miscellaneous pieces: a standing knight in chain mail and closed helm, abound female captive, a treasure chest and two saddled ponies. These figures are similar in quality to the others.

Future figures planned for release shortly will include additional Welsh and Scots, as well as Picts and Slavs.

The Scots and mounted Norman figures are especially nice and are highly recommended. The Welsh and Franks are also quite good. The price for these figures is $.25 per horse, or foot or mounted figure. They are available from The Thistle and the Rose Miniatures, 3079 Bridgeton Court, Woodbridge, Virginia 22192.

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