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.
Made-to-Order Classic Bretonnian Characters
With some of the last waves for The Old World Games Workshop offered some models as made-to-order. I used this service in the past, for example with the Skaven characters or the Halfling Blood Bowl Team. Production time in the store is usually stated with 180 days, but they arrived within a few days after ordering, pre-brexit sometimes even the tuesday or wednesday after ordering them on a saturday.
Are they bargains? It depends on what you take as a baseline. They are certainly not cheap, but usually less than buying them on eBay and you don't have the remaining risk of buying an overpriced recast.
What is new about these, is that they actually have clam shell blister packs and not as often in the past, just the white boxes from the Mail Order. This leads me to believe, that at some point, we might see this in store and not just as a made-to-order / mail order exclusive product.
But what did I pick up? Under the new names they are Paladin with Hammer and Shield, Paladin with Sword and Shield and a Lord with Sword & Shield on Pegasus. The Paladins were 12 EUR each and the Pegasus 32,50 EUR. Certainly not cheap, the 12 EURs for the characters on foot is above what I would usually pay for these (about 6 Euros, maybe a bit more if unpainted and a pose that I really like), as for the Pegasus Lord, this one is rather uncommon and I have seen him usually above the 50 EUR bracket on eBay, so that was a reasonable offer and complete.
Warhammer World 2023 – Exhibition Centre Part 2
After covering the Bugmans Bar and the fantasy parts of the exhibition, we move further into the Dark Future of Warhammer 40,000 and the Horus Heresy.
As mentioned in the first article, we've covered parts of the exhibition in the visits of 2018 (Warhammer Fantasy / Age of Sigmar, Horus Heresy / Warhammer 40k) and 2020 (Warhammer Fantasy / Age of Sigmar, Horus Heresy / Warhammer 40k), and will focus more on the novelties and some spotlights this time.
Warhammer World 2023 – Exhibition Centre Part 1
Part of the Warhammer World experience is the Exhibition Centre, which covers large dioramas and walls full of display cases with vignettes, armies and individual miniatures very early ages of Citadel Miniatures until the most recent releases.
The exhibition centre spreads across two floors and four areas, and ticket prices are 7,50 GBP per adult, 5 GBP for children from 12 to 17, younger kids are free. There are group and family tickets available as well. You can buy a softcover book, which covers professional pictures and additional information on the larger dioramas for 18 GBP onsite, which is a perfect souvenir. The book is updated regularly and currently in its third edition.
As we already have covered the new exhibition centre in extensive articles from our visits in 2018 (Warhammer Fantasy / Age of Sigmar, Horus Heresy / Warhammer 40k) and 2020 (Warhammer Fantasy / Age of Sigmar, Horus Heresy / Warhammer 40k), the focus this time is more on some spotlights and novelties, as some of the larger setups were replaced and / or updated.
Warhammer 40,000 – Through the Ages
The 10th Edition of Warhammer 40,000 was released with Leviathan in Summer 2023 - 36 years after the initial release of the game. And a lot has changed since then.
It hit me with a lot of nostalgia, for multiple reasons. About 25 years ago, I picked up my first Warhammer 40k starter set in 1997, after I initially started tabletop with Blood Bowl. And in 2008 the first review I wrote covered the release of the 5th edition starter set "Assault on Black Reach".
So, please let me take you on a journey through the ages and give you an overview of the different editions and starter sets.
HarrowHyrst – Forest Wyrm
In addition to the Treeman and Griffin, I just had to have the Forest Wyrm when Trish announced it. He has a name, Quercus, and is called either Forest Dragon or Wyrm. Yet, per definition of "dragonoids", he would count as a Drake (four legs, no wings), not a Dragon (four legs and two wings) or a Wyrm (giant serpent, no legs, no wings).
Quercus is a multipart resin kit with a 100 x 50 mm laser cut mdf base. Very clean cast, various casting aids from little stubs to rods, but no air bubbles and minor flash.
Quercus consists out of four parts, Head, front legs, body with right leg and tail with left leg. The casting aids are well placed, so that you can remove them without causing damage to the model or sculpted areas.
HarrowHyrst – Treeman and Griffin
Today for something special. It has been a while, since I've been gifted miniatures by my parents (actually, the very first Warhammer box I owned, was the Blood Bowl set for Christmas in the 90s), so I was very happy and surprised, when I received these for my 38th birthday back in September. Heartwood, the Treeman Elder, and Mockmoon, the Griffin, by HarrowHyrst Miniatures.
But why am I so excited about these miniatures by HarrowHyrst? Well, HarrowHyrst is not just any miniature company capturing the vibe of Middlehammer, because the person behind HarrowHyrst coined that era - Trish Carden (Morrison). She sculpted a lot of the larger creatures, monsters and mounts of many heroes of the Old World, not just in the era of Middlehammer but in the early 00s and for Forge World's Warhammer Forge as well. And "before" that, Trish, together with Aly Morrison, founded Marauder Miniatures in 1988, whose range were sold and later integrated by Citadel Miniatures.
Middlehammer – Skaven Rat Swarms
Since I've ordered and covered the Made-to-Order classic Skaven characters from the Middlehammer era of the 90s, I was able to get my hands on some original rat people from Citadel to build a small skirmish warband around.
This gives me the choice to have two small packs of vermin warriors, led by a champion each and some characters. But as we are talking Skaven here, we need some rat swarms. In the classic Warhammer Fantasy battles, you had giant rats that you put on 40 x 40mm square bases. The ones shown in the second picture are the later 6th-ish edition rats, a bit more in line with each other compared to the earlier Oldhammer ones, and of course more variety than the swarm pack plastic ones.
Necromunda – 1995s House Orlock Gang
I have finished a Middlehammer Chaos warband, I have finished a 90s Blood Bowl Chaos team and now it is time to jump into Sci-Fi. And what better miniature stock to do so by taking a look at Necromunda?
Necromunda has roots in the Rogue Trader era as well. Not entirely unlike Blood Bowl, it had a predecessor. In this case called Confrontation (not to be confused with the game by Rackham), which wasn't released as a boxed game but as published across multiple issues of the White Dwarf Magazine in 1990 and 1991 (Mordheim initially went for a similar approach and was published across multiple issues in White Dwarf until it was released as a boxed game). Confrontation shared a lot of similarities with Necromunda, like the gang warfare setting in a Hive City, yet had a different design approach, as you can see from the artwork and miniatures.
Necromunda – Outlanders Stock
I went over my Necromunda Underhive stock and did an update to the 2021 article, as I managed to complete large part of the collection, extending into the Outlanders supplement as well as beyond. From the core collection, I'm only missing a single Goliath ganger and I'd like to share the status quo of the extended Underhive collection.
Just to bring you up to date, a brief repetition from the last article: What is Necromunda about? It is a 28mm skirmish between the street gangs of the bigger Houses on the planet Necromunda, fighting over supply contracts, mines and facilities. And all that in the underground of a megacity (so very 2000 AD) in the Warhammer 40.000 universe. With the character / gang development it even included a narrative part, to tell the story of your own gang, with all the ups and downs that belong to it. And that narrative part is simply the cherry on top of that old school goodness.
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