West Wind Productions Welsh Spearmen

I ordered some Welsh spearmen from the West Wind Productions Arthurian range to flesh out my Welsh for Saga. Unfortunately they don't have images of the figures on their website, so this is just a quick preview of the figures for others who are interested in them.

The figures come as a set of 20 for 19.99GBP, so they are good value. There are four different body types in the pack, shown above with a Gripping Beast plastic Saxon on the left and a Gripping Beast metal Viking on the far right for comparison. The pack also contains shields (of two different types) and five identical sprues, each of four separate heads.

Things to Like
The figures are very cleanly cast with minimal flash, and they will mix in well with Gripping Beast figures. The detail is very good. Proportions and poses are good.

Quibbles
No weapons are supplied. There are only four different bods, and it is a shame that none wear any form of armour. There is no real texture on the reverse of the shields. Like most Welsh figures (eg GB) these chaps have been given breeches, presumably to make them look different to Saxons etc. I don't know that there is any real evidence for them, but they look fine. Like the GB Welsh the West Wind bod on the left of the line has been given a short cloak, although I didn't find it as convincing. The sculptor has rendered it as a short surcoat-like arrangement, secured with a belt, although with no apparent brooch fastening. It is a bit of a shame that only four different heads come in the pack. It would be great if there was more variety, with some helmeted heads. West Wind do make some very nice ones ad part of their Separate Heads System, but you'll need to buy these separately.

Verdict?
These are nice figures that will give some variety to a warband, although will look a bit uniform if used by themselves.

I also ordered some of the West Wind Arthurian personality packs along with these, and they are lovely figures. Perfect for Saga apart from the helmets, which really are more 6-7th century, but you could either replace the heads, or overlook the anachronism and get a head start on your warband when Saga goes Arthurian.

If anybody fancies a swap of 8-12 of these for say, some GB Scots or mounted Welsh or Scots, let me know.