Caesar Miniatures - ARAB CAMEL RIDERS AND BEDOUIN - Arabs Bedouins Biblical Era

Another Caesar set to review, will this be another top notch set with excellent sculpting, or a boring and meaninglesss set?


The box;

Maybe one of the best Caesar box arts, at least they seem rather human. All the same, compare it to nearly any other manufacturer and you won't buy these for the box. The camels seem gigantic, and the perspective is not right, but it gives a sensation of heat, and depicts correctly what you get (which is not difficult, you'll see why later).

SCULPTING - 8.5 out of 10

I am not complaining about the quality of details, lifelikeness of the figures, nor anatomic proportions, which are nearly a 10. But there are a couple of weird poses with spears, that although they could win a prize on "never done before" this is probably because you would never be in that pose if you carried a spear.

Besides that, probably the camel is a bit too big, and seems very strange looking, ( a bit like an elongated hamster ) , if compared to camels from other manufacturers.



HISTORICAL ACCURACY - 10.0

This is a double-edged question; did Bedouins in this period wear turbans, that sort of skirt, and were their weapons  spears, sickles and bows? Indeed, for what we know (mainly some egyptian reliefs) that is a big yes. And the reliefs normally don't lie, so that is that.

But will everybody wear absolutely the same, including having nearly the same face and beard? Most probably not. God, they didn't even make someone without a turban, besides the camel riders. It is like having the same man in all the different poses, you could make a stop-motion movie with them!!

So yes, they are historically accurate. But in my opinion, after buying this set, you have just "Light and Medium Bedouin Infantry".

Caesar many times strives for total historical accuracy, and they don't want to enter in any sort of controversy, so if they find a relief that just shows a warrior, you'll get 42 figures of that warrior.

ARMY REPRESENTATION - 6.0

"The army representation score is the potential of the soldiers to be used for other purposes different to the one originally intended"

Besides representing Bedouins from Biblical times until nearly the advent of Mahomet, you could use some as light skirmishers in medieval arab armies, some with a bit of conversion for Indian and Muslim kingdoms. The good thing, is that you just have to add something with sculpting , so they could be a very good base to represent Arabs and men with turbans throughout the ages.
FUNNESS - 3.0

"I feel that many reviews are oblivious to this point - there are fantastic figures, which you can´t say anything against, but they are just too "correct", maybe too static, and just boring. So I feel that this is an important point when deciding if you buy this set"

I was quite disappointed after buying this set. It was an expensive one at that time (11,99 €, when most sets were 7,99 or less) and I expected something like the Trojan army, also from Caesar. Instead, even the supposed leader is exactly the same as the other men. I know that there isn't more information, but I think that with a bit of research and a bit of imagination you could have made them more interesting and appealing.


It seems that, for example, with sets like the Trojan Army, there was a very deep research, and the result was very good. Here, it seems they looked the Osprey where the camel riders appeared, saw a relief which showed the standard Bedouin, and here we go, we have a set. The funness in this set it is on the double-ridden camel.

WARGAMING VALUE - 6.5

This is a very good set for wargaming. You are given all the different sorts of troops, and in good ratio (albeit if a bit too many armoured men without spears maybe, this seems to represent an  elite Hittite army), so it scores high here. Some sort of standard bearer and king is the only thing it lacks to be a ten.

PRICE-VALUE RATIO - 7.5

"The price value ratio of these soldiers will vary between every shop you go to, and the best I can do is judge by their average price on eBay"

As with most Caesar Miniatures, you can find them for 8 GBP shipped from Hong Kong, which is better than what I paid at a retail store.
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PAINTING AND GLUEING - 8.5

As can be said for all Caesar models, the plastic is a sort of rubber that is rough and not slippery. Even if maybe a bit too dark , a lighter grey would have been better. They can be nicely glued. A bad thing is that they come many times with bent lances or bent bases,(which in theory  can be solved with hot water, although many return to their bad poses again.)

OVERALL VALORATION - 7.0

"A complementary set, just for the very enthusiastic of the period"

Disappointment, that is the feeling I had when I opened them 5-6 years ago, and that is the feeling I have now after doing this review. Okay, maybe I am wrong, and really all Bedouins even their chief and aristocracy, rich and poor, old and young, wore the same clothes and used the same weapons. But even if that was the case, without a absolutely historical confirmation, it would have been better to be bold and made something more special.

Why make Bedouins and not Babylonians, Hurrites, Gutis, Amorrites or Elamites? peoples that destroyed and forged great kingdoms? it escapes me. But I won't complain for getting an obscure tribe.

PAINTED EXAMPLES
"Your figures could appear here if you want! just send me a email with the pictures to tam_cob@hotmail.com and I´ll gladly include them"

Painted figures by  Miniaturas Aconcagua.

Thanks for reading, and see you in the next battle!