Warhammer Fantasy – Classic Bretonnian Squires

Among the releases Games Workshop provided with one of the last waves for the Bretonnians in Warhammer The Old World were some not made-to-order classic miniatures, the Bretonnian Squires with Bows. I have used the metal casting for classic OOP miniatures in the past, most recently with some Bretonnian characters on foot and mounted on a Pegasus.

With the squires, I bought those blisters as well, but unlike in the past, it took quite long to deliver. Usually the items are sent out so that they arrive on release day, but it seems that is not the case more, in my case they even shipped them after the release day and only arrived a week later.

The squires are separated into two sets, one with the command and one with the regular squires. Don't throw away the clam shell blister, inside there is a small sheet with banners beneath the inlay and terms & conditions of the models.

I already own a few of the poses, but one USP of the classic Bretonnian range was a vast choice of different poses for each unit. You could really put up larger armies with a minimum amount of doubles. And with 3-4 still missing, I decided it would be easier / cheaper to just get the whole sets and sell the overstock. If you want to take a look on the vast range for the classic Bretonnians, you can do so at SoLegends, who scanned a lot of the catalogues, like Citadel Annuals.

Unfortunately the quality of the casting this time isn't on the level that I'm used to. I had some mould slip, as well as rather glumsy details. The miniature on the left in each picture is from a classic blister, with the model on the right being the most recent cast. Some details, like in the face didn't come along as good and the mould lines are quite present. If I had bought these on eBay, I would have the doubt of recasts.

Beyond that, I was briefly irrated by the large bases. As I played Empire in Warhammer Fantasy, most of my bases were 20mm squared, and I am not familiar with the larger slotta-base ones like Chaos or Orcs, so I was wondering that these bases didn't have the GW + date pressed into them, but I grabbed some other older bases and it seems that just the closed ones for the plastic models had this.

With these miniatures I have the last missing models that I was looking for to recreate the Bretonnian Hunting Party, a boxed set from the late 90s for Warhammer Fantasy. A nice, round assortment for smaller games and skirmishes.

But more on that later. Beyond that, the range Games Workshop covered for the Orcs & Goblins was quite extensive and impressive, really looking forward what else we will have access to when the other armies are re-released.