Have just received my initial order of a box each of the Wargames Factory Persian Infantry, Persian Cavalry and hic! Amazons.

Initially I have to say I am pleased overall with the figures even though they are clearly marked as 28mm 1/48th and do indeed redefine 28mm yet again as they are much larger than WF's previous releases, to the extent that the new 'large' horse looks a tad ponyish under the Persian Cavalryman. Though I'll be happy if they maintain the size within the Army / Sub-range for future releases, though my now puny plastic Greeks may feel intimidated.

However, there are sadly a number of problems. I say sadly, as I have stayed clear of commenting on the recent furore and have continued to buy their Barbarians and Numidians and have been adequately happy with them.

These new releases do exhibit some problems which I can only hope will be resolved:

The Persian Infantry have been packed with 16 figures, not the 24 advertised. In only 2 leg poses, 1 standing, 1 kneeling, though with 4 differentish torsoes and a variety of arms.

Before anyone starts posting reference pictures to the Sprues as posted on/in various WF fora, these old pictures do not relate to the released product. Both Persian sets have been manufactured on the mini-sprue system.

WF seem to have listened to concerns about the original design of the Spara shield which they have re-modelled so that it no longer has the floating V's of the originally published design. BUT they have not included any spears in the box. I have to ask, have these even been moulded/manufactured?

There are 12 Bows/Bow Arms and bizarrely 2 sprues of 4 slings from the Amazon set, so perhaps this set should be re-labelled Persian 'Archers' (with a few slingers thrown in!)

The new 'large' horse in the cavalry set is a very nice sculpt (forgiving the above mentioned size 'problem) and indeed there are 12 Persian horses heads included with top knots, bridles and reins. BUT there are also 12 horses heads on the horse sprues without any trappings and a need for some skilled greenstuff or similar additions to be of any use in this set, though I understand the concept of a multi use basic horse sculpt, surely that should be the basis of a completed sculpt, not a fully manufactured item. Then there are 6 additional single horse head sprues, of no use whatsoever in this set, without end-user sculpting.

There are enough bows / bow arms (12) to build the entire Cavalry set as horse archers, so far so good. In addition there are 6 javelins, 3 Pikes!, 3 Crescent shields from the Amazon Set and 6 oval shields from the Persian Infantry. I personally would probably have liked more javelins and Crescent Shields, rather than the superfluous horses heads.

I haven't yet experimented to see whether the figures can be posed to hold the Pikes 2 handed on horse back, but they do seem to be far to long for use as a single-handed weapon.

Overall, I am a little saddened by this output, as there is clearly much good there, and great potential, but the final execution is simply sloppy. I would regretfully have to say that the agglomeration of errors with the Persian Infantry Set (shortfalls and omissions in particular) make this set as currently/initially released more suitable as a Pound Store (Dollar Store?) toy shelf offering than a serious Wargames production. A great shame as it is pay day, and until I examined the contents further, was about to order additional sets.

This just appears to be a rushed job of a mish-mash of sprues of some basic Persianish ideas topped off with some items from the Amazon set and a yet to be finalised multi-use horse concept. A serious re-think wouldn't be a bad idea, because if this is the result, it doesn't work.

So, my advise to Wargames Factory would be to post the sprue pictures and content counts as quickly as possible, as you did with the Amazons, and even withdraw them from sale until you have your packing/content sorted out, you can ill afford any more damage to your reputation.

And, to potential customers… as the topic says Caveat Emptor, don't bulk buy unless and until you are happy with the confusing/confused content