There I was, quietly painting Vikings, disturbing no-one, when a packet thudded onto the doormat. What could it be? Ah, Aventine Miniatures! 16 'Early' Imperial Romans.
I seem to have four packs - command, two packs with pila and one pack with swords. At first glance I'd say not very 'Early' but not 'Middle' either. The website says AD160-190, and I don't think I'd argue too vehemently with that. I might make the start date a decade or so sooner, and I think that by the end date there'd be more long sleeves and ankle-length breeches in evidence (depending where said legionaries had been stationed). Some of the legionaries have greaves and manicae (army-guards). The legionary packs so far are illustrated here, with the command pack here.
They are beautifully sculpted. And it's hard to find fault with their anatomy, animation, clothing or equipment, with two small exceptions. With the exception of the centurion and the standard-bearer, they are all wearing the Niedermörmter (Italic H according to Robinson) helmet, which is probably dated towards the latter end of the period in question - say AD180-240 or so. I think I'd have preferred something slightly earlier, and a variety of helmet types into the bargain. The centurion and standard-bearer are wearing Imperials Gallic G (I think - though Robinson's typology is sometimes too subtle to be able to tell on a 28 mm figure!). Keith tells me that Adam is sculpting more legionary variants, with at least three different helmet types. In my opinion that will make this range of figures one of the most attractive ranges of 28 mm Romans to date. And, with their breeches, later helmets and Newstead-style segmented armour, they're aimed at an interesting period - that of the Marcomannic Wars and the 'retreat' from the Antonine Wall and re-occupation of Hadrian's.
Posing is perhaps a little more uniform than I'd like ideally - all are in a 'left-foot-forward' attacking pose, though the varying head positions make them appear less 'regimented'. The standard-bearer is pointing with his left hand, which might become annoying if one was building a series of units, but it would take very little effort to snip off the 'offending' digit and fit a shield to the outstretched hand, thus building in a little more variety.
I like them and, when more helmet variants appear, will find it almost impossible to resist collecting yet another Roman army. Highly recommended!