Warhammer The Old World – Grand Cathay Battalion

We are pleased to welcome a brand new army to the Warhammer The Old World tabletop - the forces of Grand Cathay. Those of you who play the Total War: Warhammer Series know more about this than those who have stuck with the miniature game, which is why we are going to cover the battalion in a slightly different way.

Games Workshop sent us the Grand Cathay Battalion boxed set, which is available for pre-order from June 21st and will officially be released on July 5th, with an RRP of 145 EUR or 110 GBP.

But before we unbox the battalion and take a closer look at its contents, we want to introduce Cathay in a similar way to how we did it with the first two Old World factions:

• Who are the Bretonnians
• Who are the Tomb Kings of Khemri

Cathay has been part of the Warhammer World since beginning, but has never been in the spotlight. It was first mentioned in the 1980s on the third edition map, but the focus of the conflicts was mostly on the Old World, which remained the case in the relaunch/return of Warhammer Fantasy, as can be seen on the map next to it.

The first descriptions of Cathay date back to the second and third editions. I have the third edition from 1987 and the armies book here. Let's take a look at what they wrote about Cathay.

As you can see, the Old World is far from Cathay. The map of the Warhammer World bears a strong resemblance to Earth, with the Empire being strongly influenced by the Holy Roman Empire and the Bretonnians by the Normans — historical miniatures were even used in the initial releases. This was because Citadel used the ranges they had available and could quickly add to in order to create fantasy armies. In this context, Cathay is connected to medieval China — it is even synonymous with medieval China, just as 'Nippon' is with Japan.

Cathay only got a few sentences:

The far east is a very large area, possessed of a unique cultural history. It would not be possible for us to describe this area properly within the space available in this book. For the moment, we shall pass over these langs, leaving their exploration to others. A complete guide to the lands of Nippon is already under development.

That guide never quite made it, but Citadel took over the Oriental Heroes range (you can find a great deal of information on these on the Collecting Citadel Miniatures and Lost Minis Wiki), as well as the catalogue pages from the late '80s on SoLegends. These ranges, which partially comprised Advanced Dungeon & Dragons sculpts, mostly featured Japanese-inspired figures, such as ninjas and samurais, giving Nippon the advantage over Cathay and providing them with a compact army list.

Cathay had no army, only mystical creatures connected to their realms. They are only mentioned in the descriptions of the Temple Dog and Ki-Rin.

In the fourth edition, Cathay was not mentioned in the core book, only in footnotes in the army books of the Dark Elves and Skaven. Even in the fifth edition, they only appeared in brief references in the army books of the Lizardmen and the Dogs of War. It took the sixth edition for a brief summary and more attention, along with the introduction of the Ogre Kingdoms to Warhammer Fantasy. The Ogre Kingdoms are strongly influenced by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, who traded with the realms further east, thus bringing Cathay closer to the picture. The 7th edition provides another brief introduction and proper artwork of a Cathay warrior. Until the release of the new range, Asian design aspects such as dragons, Asian-styled characters and certain symbols like the yin and yang were mostly used with the (High) Elves to differentiate them further from the Dark Age and medieval-themed human factions.

This is about to change, however, with the addition of Cathay as a playable force in Warhammer: The Old World. We do not yet have access to the Almanach, so our information is limited, but several Warhammer Community articles have already provided additional lore on the vast and ancient human empire of Grand Cathay, which is located in the far east of the Warhammer World. Cathay is not isolated from the rest of the Warhammer World. They border the Ogre Kingdoms to the west, the Chaos tribes of Kurgan and Hung to the north, and the Great Eastern Steppes, Nippon, and Naggaroth (home to the Dark Elves) to the east. They also border the Kingdoms of Ind and the Hinterlands of Khuresh in the south. Little is known about these areas, much like Cathay was before this release. However, much of the narrative on Cathay was fleshed out in collaboration with the Total War game studio when development of the game began in 2018. They wanted to know more about areas that had not been explored much. This collaboration began with the further development of Kislev, and the creative process for Cathay started in 2019.

As mentioned above, Grand Cathay draws heavy inspiration from China and several of its great dynasties. Proper research was conducted to avoid providing a Hollywood caricature and to ensure that designs and myths from different Asian backgrounds, such as Korean and Japanese, were not included. Beyond that, the design team made sure to tie it into the Warhammer universe, not just by adding skulls. An example they presented on the Warhammer Community website was the Longma, which translates as 'dragon-horse'. According to old lore, the Ki-Rin/Qilin is a Chinese unicorn that can fly without wings. These are noble, authentically Chinese beasts, but they would look too similar to the Bretonnian or Elvish mounts, and without wings, they wouldn't translate well as a flying miniature. Thus, the Longma was a better design choice as its aesthetics are more fitting for a stronger, more distinguished look.

Dragons play a central role in Grand Cathay's culture and army, as the country is ruled by the Celestial Dragon Emperor and his Empress consort. They can assume human form and rule from the capital city of Wei-Jin, which literally floats in the sky. While large areas of the Old World have a rather low-fantasy approach to magic, considering it scarce and special — something most inhabitants of the various realms may only heard of — Grand Cathay is intrinsically magical by nature, and its people could not imagine a world without it. For example, there are Cathayan Sentinels, created by the Celestial Dragon’s mastery of the elements, and other units that make strong use of their magical nature.

Over the two centuries, the former Kislevite settlements north of Cathay had become Marauder tribes, and Cathay was busy defending themselves against Chaos invasions from the north and closing down the Great Bastion (the Warhammer counterpart of the Great Wall). This explains why Cathay is less present in the End Times/Warhammer Fantasy timeline than the Old World. By the time Karl Franz was crowned Emperor around 2500 IC, they had given up on relations with the Old World. During the Old World time period, Cathayan ships, filled with merchants, ambassadors and military escorts, are not an unusual sight in Marienburg, but still far from the settlements of others, like Dwarves, in the centre of the Old World realms.

The design studio added a section of the map dividing the area into five provinces, but this is not yet part of the interactive Old World map.

But let us return to the battalion, which forms the core of the army. We have infantry, cavalry and artillery.

Like every other faction in the Old World, Grand Cathay receives a battalion box. This boxed set is containing 50 plastic miniatures. These include 30 Jade Warriors, who can be deployed as two units of 15 or three units of 10. They are supported by ten Jade Lancers, which can be split into two units of five with full commands. There are also two artillery pieces that can be built as either a Cathayan Grand Cannon or a Fire Rain Rocket Battery, complete with crew.

This boxed set contains a large number of mid-sized plastic sprues, as well as a booklet, lots of bases and a decal sheet.

• 19 Sprues in total (three sets of three for the Jade Warriors, two sets of three for the Jade Lancers and two sets of two for the Artillery)
• 36x 25mm square bases
• two 25 by 50mm rectangular bases
• 10x 30 by 60mm rectangular bases
• two 40mm square bases
• two 60 by 100mm rectangular bases

The multi-coloured decal sheet provides various icons for banners and armour. The quality of the print is good overall, but the grey/silver print has bleeding edges and, compared to the other colours, is rather blurry.

The first unit we want to take a closer look at are the Jade Lancers. They are the heavy cavalry of Grand Cathay, armed with long lances and riding horses with barding into battle.

The layout and design of these miniatures is very similar to that of the Ellyrian Reavers. You can build a regular set of five lancers, with or without a command unit carrying a banner, drums, and a champion.

Each unit of five miniatures is build from a set of three sprues. Mould lines are minimal and the details are sharp. It's a shame that the optional parts are kept to a minimum. You can build them with or without the three command models, but beyond that, the poses are fixed.

The Grand Cathay army's standing core is made up of regiments of Jade Warriors equipped with hand weapons and shields or halberds.

Each set of ten comes with enough pieces to build ten soldiers with or without a command unit and with one of the two weapon types mentioned above.

And if you're wondering, yes – sprues 1 and 2 are identical. Yes — they are. Two of the three sprues are identical. And no, it is not the same sprue twice; it is actually P1 and P2. This is a bit disappointing. While you now have spare parts for the regiment, they are all the same and don't offer any additional variety. I can't really grasp that, given that it's a digital design process and the moulds were made for both of them. Why not make some alterations to the poses, armour, accessories or faces?

The third unit in the battalion is the artillery, which can be built as either a Cathayan Grand Cannon or a Fire Rain Rocket Battery, and is included twice.

The design of the shared parts (shown in grey) and how they create the variants with the options (highlighted in green) is quite clever. The artillery kit is an area where the design team has a bit of creative freedom, and I already liked the plastic Helblaster for the Empire, but this is on a whole different level.

The sprue is packed with bits and pieces, so you'll end up with quite a few items for your bit box.

Conclusion

With 50 miniatures for 145 EUR, you get solid value, even at the recommended retail price. The overall design is well made and cohesive. You can see that these units belong to a coherent design and army. This is something that they have achieved well with this product line, and it certainly fits in with the extended range of Sentinels, Sky-Lanterns, and various dragons.

Another benefit of this full launch is coherence. All the units and models are released at the same time. You don't have to worry about scale creep or different design languages as with some other products. Take the Bretonnians, for example: we have miniatures ranging from the late '90s to the early and mid-'00s, as well as new additions. These go from a leaner 28 mm heroic scale to full Age of Sigmar compatibility. The same goes for the Wood Elves and the Chaos faction, among others. This is not something you need to worry about with Grand Cathay.

However, I still think it is an odd choice not to include any options beyond command for the cavalry and infantry. Yes, they are rank and file, but the ability to add creativity and individuality straight from the sprue was a strong selling point of Warhammer plastics, and I miss that. On top of that, the fact that they cloned P1 and P2 with the Jade Warriors baffles me. I actually had to check that I hadn't accidentally grabbed the same sprue twice, or that it hadn't been mispacked, as this feels lazily inappropriate for a project that was carried out with so much care and attention, as can be seen in the Warhammer Community articles.

While they are properly produced Warhammer miniatures with sharp details and proper casting, I feel that something is missing. It may be because of my stronger bond to Middlehammer, but I feel they are not sufficiently Warhammer-esque. However, due to their strong Chinese design, the pieces in these kits will be great for converting other armies. With the next edition of Horus Heresy just around the corner, I can see the White Scars and the Chogoris-themed Militia and Solar Auxilia having a lot of fun with the plastic parts in these kits. Not only for infantry, but using parts of the artillery to create unique Leman Russ and Baneblade designs will be very effective.

Warhammer The Old World is a brand by Games Workshop.

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.