A review of this set is up on PSR and it gives 10s across the board, justifiably. A question has occurred to me. The regular roman soldier carried pilums which he threw at the enemy just before they charged home and then fought at close quarters with sword. The auxiliaries had spears instead of pilums. Did they throw the spears, or use them at close quarters? They had shortswords the same as the regulars which suggests they threw the spears, but spears are not really designed for throwing whereas the pilum was. Sources are rather vague about this, simply saying the spears could be thrown or used at close quarters. One source mentioned that spears were useful for repelling cavalry. This suggests that one of the roles of auxiliaries was to protect the infantry flanks of the army from cavalry. Auxiliaries were normally posted on the flanks with the regulars in the middle. Cavalry were normally on the flanks of the auxiliaries but were sometimes routed or chased their opposing cavalry too enthusiastically, leaving the auxiliary flanks exposed, so perhaps this was when the auxiliaries needed their spears. Anybody know anything about this? Do war games rules make any distinction between regulars and auxiliaries, other than in morale?

To answer your question about Auxiliaries and spears there are several representations that suggest that they carried more then one six foot spear, which would further suggest that they were capable of being thrown, so multi-purpose, shorter "javalins" are also represented...

Clickable link:

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/review.aspx?id=872

These really are beautiful figures along with the "Auxiliaries on the March" set:

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=1054

Can't remember the last time PSR has painted up a review set so we can tell just how much they are appreciated there! What impresses me is how 3D and well proportioned and posed the figures are as one-part casts - particularly the way the shields look so natural. No oversized hands or undersized arms.

Just a shame for me that I have zero interest in this subject, and already have too many projects on the go, but that means I can say without prejudice that these truly are the best sculpted figures Strelets have ever made which is encouraging for future releases in all topics.