Roman Auxiliary Infantry

Zvezda 1:72 scale Imperial Roman Auxiliary Infantry of the 2nd Century A. D. features a centurion, signifer, musician, 27 heavy infantry pedites, twelve archers, and three slingers in convincing wargame poses. Notice that we‘ve already cut down the figures‘ bases prior to mounting them on wargame stands.

Contents

45 Figures in 12 Poses – 24 mm equal 173 cm Height

• Centurion (1)
• Signifer with Signum (1)
• Cornicen with Cornu (1)
• Heavy Infantry:
  • Pedes with Spear and Shield, patrolling (3)
  • Pedes with Spear and Shield, advancing (6)
  • Pedes with Spear and Shield, throwing (3)
  • Pedes with Spear and Shield, thrusting (6)
  • Pedes with Gladius and Shield, advancing (6)
  • Pedes with Gladius and Shield, defending (3)
• Light Infantry:
  • Sagittarius (Eastern Auxiliary Archer), shooting indirectly (6)
  • Sagittarius (Eastern Auxiliary Archer), shooting (6)
  • Funditor (Slinger), standing (3)

Evaluation

Good choice of subject, Zvezda Roman Auxiliar Infantry offers a nice selection of auxiliary archers, slingers, heavy infantryman, and command figures. Unlike Strelets, who offer five dedicated figure sets of resting, advancing, and fighting auxilia, Zvezda gives the wargamer and collector a little bit of everything.

The heavy infantrymen in this set are wearing the complete cingulum militare military belt, including the baltea riveted leather groin protection, rarely depicted in illustrations of auxiliar infantry. Armed with the hasta spear, they are either patrolling the Limes Germanicus, advancing, throwing their spear overhead, or thrusting from above, over an opponent‘s shield.

The heavy infantry poses are supplied with separate arms and shields, which helps avoid the excess plastic which would otherwise fill the space between the shield and the miniature‘s body. The shield boss in the figure‘s hand is pushed through a hole in the shield, holding it in place securely. Unfortunately, when plastic corrosion sets in, the slightly oversized shield boss is sure to break the shield. At the time of publication of this review, the patrolling auxiliary below already has a hairline crack in the flat part of the shield boss moulded onto his shield. We will monitor how long will it take for this crack to expand, and destroy the shield.

Two of the pedites shown here have thrown their spear at the enemy, and they are now fighting with what appears to be the Mainz-Fulham gladius worn on the right hip, opposite the pugio worn on the left. Unfortunately, Zvezda made the gladius 12 mm long, when the Mainz-Fulham gladius should be 9.7 mm long in this scale.

The shields are decorated with a superimposed shield design. This may be perfect for toy soldier fans, but not for wargamers who want to play with painted troops. The shield design is too bulky to be compatible with 1:72 scale, it is difficult to paint, and severely limits the usefulness of these figures to a particular auxiliary unit which carried exactly this design. There are beautiful 1:72 scale decals of Roman auxiliary shield designs on the market today, which unfortunately cannot be applied to these shields.

The eastern auxiliary archers in this set are depicted in different helmets, and they should be nicely compatible with a similar sagittarius of the antique Airfix Romans figure set (01730) released in 1967. While we would have liked to have more than one slinger in this set, the static pose chosen by Zvezda will look just fine even if two of them are mounted on the same skirmish stand.

Historical Employment

• Imperial Roman Auxiliary Infantry, 2nd Century A. D.

Possible Conversions

• Roman Heavy Auxiliary Infantry with Spear

Zvezda Roman Auxiliary Infantry is a must-have for collectors and wargamers interested in raising heavy and light infantry elements for a Roman army.

Ancient Miniatures