Castle Eras and Factions

[x105Black]

We have had 5? 6? Lion shields so far, and the two full body emblems are similar in color and the 3 lion head emblems are similar in color, so I can't justify having more than 2 lion factions in my world. I don't use 3 of the lion shields at all, which is a waste.

I use them all for the same faction, just different troops or divisions within the faction.

I don't think you can leave crusaders out of the classic castle lineup because they were one of the two core factions initially (1980s on).

Fair enough. There is support enough for Crusaders that a Lion faction would make sense. I'm just tired of seeing the Lion in every Castle theme.

I personally think a rerelease if the classic theme would be a waste. I would expect them to tweak everything slightly (classic blue/yellow Black Falcon vs. Joust Silver Black Falcon) making the classic figs potentially obsolete, which would be of no use to me. If they kept everything the same, this would still be a ware because I already have all the classic figs I could want.

I realize that many people would disagree with me on this, but I would rather see new ideas over recycled concepts. I have no issue with an occasional release (Black Falcon's fortress a few years ago) but I don't need to see a revamp of the classic factions.

I can see where you're coming from. One thing I like about the Dragon faction is that it has appeared in a wider variety of color schemes over the years. There are a lot of factions that I either don't like the animal heraldry (Bull, Monkey, Bat, Scorpion) or the color combinations (Purple & Yellow, Green & Yellow, Red & Gold), so being able to get more variety on that front is always nice. For example, I would have collected far more Fright Knights and KK2 since I am a fan of Black & Red, but I didn't like the animal heraldry chosen in those colors. The new Dragons appeal to me far more with their Black & Red. The Joust Black Falcon is a wonderful example as well. I think he is actually much better in color than his Blue predecessors.

Ultimately though, I think that I would prefer more generic factions to avoid these types of issues.

The original Black Knight (Dragons) were my favorites of the classic Castle series, partly because with scale mail torsos they looked more realistic and were far more useful. The Crusaders and Black Falcons looked like they were wearing t-shirts by comparison. The armored Black Knight torsos aren't tied to a single faction by having it plastered on their chests. The new Scary Knight CMF is a great example of this type of design. Similarly, there have also been some great shields over the years that don't have faction heraldry on them, and I think some of these are among the best and most useful.

So I'd like to see factions that are distinguished more by color and armor styles rather than by the presence of faction heraldry on their shields, torsos, armor, barding, and flags. I think that this would be the best way to create a really versatile Castle theme, while not putting off new or old fans with the design of the factions.

One of the reasons I'd love to see "Classic Classic" Castle redone is because it has a somewhat more generic feel. There are colors and patterns (Blue with Clubs, Green with Chevrons, Red with Maltese Crosses, Purple with Crowns), but no animal heraldry. Unfortunately most of the patterns are in yellow, but I'll call that a product of the times. These old factions have not had a revamp since Classic Castle began in 1984 (to my knowledge). This could work as a compromise between Classic fans, fans of Jellybean color schemes, and fans that would prefer more generic styles.

Having said that, I still think a more versatile generic style would be best.

Edited December 5, 2015 by x105Black