Richard, thanks for the review and the pictures! Although I personally probably won't be buying this set, I think it is a great set for children (I guess they too buy Playmobil
), people who want to "try out" the Roman theme, and people who only want a few Romans in their collections.
The greatness in this set lies in its playability, its diversity, its expandability, and its value. I like that you get the three primary types of Roman klickies (legionary, auxiliary, and centurion), a standard, a scorpion ballista, two "barbarians" (Gauls, Celts, Germans, Dacians, or whatever you wish) and a small fortlet that can be utilized by either the Romans or the Barbarians. This set makes for some great scenarios: the "barbarians" could suddenly ambush this small Roman outpost or the Romans could lay siege with their ballista to these last surviving brave "barbarians." With a few add-on sets of Gauls, Roman legionaries, Roman auxiliaries, and maybe a Roman Tribune, one could even have a battle of medium scale with this set for around $50!
The set, however, isn't perfect in my opinion. First, while I like that Playmobil has done away with the ridiculous looking rocky arch from the Viking Super Set and saved themselves some money in the process, they should have left the base green, especially since "barbarians" are present. This color change was a very poor choice. Second, they should have included an auxiliary shield for the auxiliary soldier and they also should have given him sandals rather than greaves. (At least they got his helmet right, unlike in the auxiliary add-on pack!) Also, they should have included two regular spears, one for the auxiliary soldier and one for one of the "barbarians." These small criticisms aside, however, I think this is a great set! If I didn't already have multiples of all these klickies and one Viking Super Set, I'd be tempted.
