Re: Give us your input on the makeup of the elephant set!
I'd prefer completely different sets. Having the same elephants serving two very different armies makes them look cheapened, however good the basic figure may be. HaT has higher standards than that.
Re: Give us your input on the makeup of the elephant set!
Two separate sets, please. These figures are for two different time periods separated by centuries and I wouldn't want to buy lots of unneeded Sassanids just to have a proper Successor army.
Re: Give us your input on the makeup of the elephant set!
hefay
Two separate sets, please. These figures are for two different time periods separated by centuries and I wouldn't want to buy lots of unneeded Sassanids just to have a proper Successor army.
My thoughts exactly.
Quite sure that people would also not want to buy a combined set of Crimean War Sardinians and Balkan Wars Bulgarians just because they're randomly associated with Industrial Age warfare.
Please keep sets separated in the established, logical & customer-friendly way that worked very well so far.
Mike Manning
For the same reason I want a fifth horse for the cavalry officer . . . I hate having unused figures without a mount.
Totally agreed on that one.
No matter if some call it a "bonus", what's the point of having sets with less horses than riders?
Never understood this somewhat peculiar set design.
And while we're at it, for the sake of diversity, the ancient sets in question would benefit enormously from another elephant pose.
Re: Give us your input on the makeup of the elephant set!
I have to side with 2 separate sets myself simply because I'm not so sure I would want a bunch of figures from an army I did not collect, though if I had both armies the unused figures would make interesting extra figures for the other army.
Re: Give us your input on the makeup of the elephant set!
When there were no specific sets with elephants I used the Britain's Baby Elephant and made the castle with cardboard cut and bent to shape. When painted this was quite strong. I then stuck a plastic screw cover on each side which were the right size to represent round shields. My biggest problem was finding figures to use as Mahouts. So if Hat decides on a combined set I can see the sale of the Britain's 1/32 scale Baby Elephants rocketing as all your customers will have spare crews and no ride.
Never thought the elephants would ever see the light of day... But looky here! A serious inquiry.
I think a thriving HaT serves us all, and two sets in one seems to be a win for everyone.
The issue of redundancy in the elephant's poses can be solved by a boiling technique mentioned previously.
When hot from boiling, Hat's newer soft plastic can be repositioned and fixed by dipping in cold water. (Wear gloves and keep the kiddies away, of course.) So I've managed everything for a slow walk to a fast run with the Macedonian Elephant set.
And the separate elephant heads can be glued in place at different angles which gives them even more individuality.
(P.S. Alan... apologies if the subject title made you squeamish.)
Re: Give us your input on the makeup of the elephant set!
Emailed this to Hat, posting here to see what everyone else thinks.
I think two seperate sets will be much better as it reduces left over figures, having those would stop me from buying a set as I wouldnt know what to do with them.
I'd also like to see head options for the Greeks so my riders could have helmets or the Petasos hats making them look really Greek in my mind.
The Sassanid Elephants I suggest a bigger carpet where the men sit. I don't know the word for it, but I bought the Indian ones and struggled to paint a paisley print on them, I think half the fun of Eastern Armies is how patterned and bright they are. To solve this problem I think a larger, undetailed cloth spread, maybe with tassles to accent.
Re: Give us your input on the makeup of the elephant set!
You wouldn't buy a set because of left over figures? that must create a problem for you...I dont think I've ever bought a set where I didn't end up with something left over...
I think the Sassanid set is already to go so I cant see anything changing, personally I dont see a problem with extra figures usually the opposite is true... not enough figures, if it helps to make the set viable and by this I mean the Pyrrhic/Seleucid version then I'm all for it.. of course Hät could cut off the spares and recycle them... so it could still mean only one tool and two boxes... but what a waste of time.... and why make it more complex then it needs to be? besides I could use the extra crews....
Add extra carpet/armour with milliput greenstuff or moulded plastic card or whatever material floats your boat to individualise the models....
Re: Give us your input on the makeup of the elephant set!
Honestly, I'd rather not have a few left over random sassanids or Greeks that I won't be able to use for anything. Even if I collected the other army there would be a shortage of mounts as been mentioned previously in the thread.
I'm new to the hobby, so I really struggle with green stuff for conversions.
Also I'm sure like many people who are enticed into buying their first box of models, the ability to take something out of the box, a little assembly and then have infront of you a good looking unit or model or whatever is important. The Carpet or hats were just suggestions on how to improve the aesthetics of the models which otherwise are a bit non descript looking for the Greeks, and I think the driver is even the same as the Indian elephant set?