Amazon

Legends of Araby (25mm)

The chaps at Amazon has quite a reputation for introducing the "unusual" to the wargames scene, remember the uproar in some quarters about the Girls and Guns range?

There latest releases will enhance this reputation, but perhaps with a little less controversy. Legends of Araby range takes its inspiration from the Tales of the Arabian nights, a series of stories which were in themselves brought to the attention of western audiences by a Frenchman who was not adverse to expanding the salacious and bloodthirsty elements of the stories, as well as inventing a few of his own.

Of course when Hollywood got hold of these stories the fantasy and glamour of the tales was emphasised, so ancient Bagdad is filled with likeable rogues like Sabu, mechanical flying horses, Evil Viziers (amazingly like Germans), huge genies, and of course beautiful and scantily clad dancing girls.

Fertile soil then for the designers at Amazon, and how well they have done. Received for review are two packs (each retailing at £5), the first of which contains a nicely produced flying carpet measuring 7cm x 4cm on which is balanced our handsome, turbaned hero Aladdin. The carpet is particularly nicely depicted with a well detailed fringe, and a series of undulations in the carpet as if whizzes through the air.

The other pack contains a mixed bag of models, the first is a female assassin, veiled in harem pants and revealing top this femme fatale creeps forward with a curved dagger held by her side…lovely girl!

Next we have a Harem Guard Captain. And all I can say is Dad's Army was never like this. A leggy well endowed lady, her face obscured by her turban and veil as she holds aloft an intricately patterned musket and a fierce looking scimitar. In profile this model is a little thin but in portrait this is a very nice model.

The final character in this pack is Achmed the slavetrader, and judging from the size of his cummerbund business is good. Of the three Achmed is possibly the most disappointing, simply because the pose and detail are somewhat uninspiring, albeit that the model itself is cleanly cast and well detailed.

The Legends of Araby range is produced to complement the rules of the same name that are available at £12.50, and full details including pictures or more models in the range can be found on the Amazon website at http://www.amazonminiatures.com

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