Sprue Game Round 5: First Empires

Comments

Kid Cthulhu - January 9, 2026

I also went with Shaolin. I made some fun fantasy monks using the Boxer sprue, but I really want to see more weapons like Shaolin Spades and hook swords (amongst others).

Stephen Sutton - January 9, 2026

I’m not voting because I didn’t see myself getting into this range, but I wanted to say I also think the Chinese parade dragon sounds lit. I’m really interested to see what kind of market there is for stuff like that and how people would use it in a game.

Mithril2098 - January 9, 2026

Shaolin warrior monks aren’t a first empires era thing, they don’t exist until about the 14th century AD (the monasteries existed since the 2nd century AD, but the warrior monk aspect did not appear until the 14th century in the wake of the damage to the monasteries in the Red Turban Rebellion. and the warrior monk tradition would effectively end with the fall of imperial china and rise of the Republic of china in the 1900’s.) so even if you focus on the pacifistic earlier centuries, it still doesn’t qualify as a first empires category. (though to be honest, given it is likely people are thinking of media depictions from Wuxia and action films, they’d probably fit just as well in the pulp category.)

mycenean heavy infantry is listed three times, counting the “trojan war infantry” listing. (the trojan war was Mycenean greeks against the Hittite aligned city of troy)

unless the submitter used an incorrect terminology, “hellenistic cataphracts” aren’t a thing till the 2nd century AD so belong in the ‘decline and fall’ category, as part of the Eastern Roman Empire/early Byzantines. cataphracts wouldn’t really catch on in the greek half of the roman empire till after the 3rd century though.

The Chinese Parade Dragon is a mostly modern thing in its recognizable form, so really should be in the pulp category. there have been dragon parades since the 4th century AD, but the recognizable form from modern times doesn’t start showing up till the 15th century as part of street plays, and didn’t become common or popular until the 1800’s. combined with the fact that it is largely a non-combat element, it fits better into Pulp or the digital catalog than first empires.

George - January 9, 2026

Hellenistic Cataphracts is such a great idea, plastic kit has been sorely needed for a long time.

Y. Whateley - January 9, 2026

This isn’t really my scene, but this poll had some interesting choices! I hit all the major infantry types, but the Shaolin Monks sounds like a great set, and I thought the Chinese Parade Dragon sounded like an inspired choice for at least a Digital Atlantic set.