Tuesday 30 April 2013

Balls!


So, nearly three weeks ago I wrote:

"As much as we might moan about GW, hidden away on their website are some classic miniatures and, while 'forgotten' games such as BloodBowl, Necromunda, and Mordheim might not get much support in the way of new stuff, the range of miniatures still available for these 'abandoned' lines is impressive. Snap them up before the moulds break!"

The instruction in the last line in now more urgent than ever. According to Epic Addiction (where I arrived, via Porky), "GW are cutting all metal production as they switch over to fine cast, and have let it be known that once stocks of Epic, BFG, Necromunda, Warmaster, Mordheim, Inquisitor run out, then they are gone for good." I'm not sure what this means for the Warhammer Fantasy and 40K Collectors' Ranges, but I can't see the full ranges currently sold being converted to Finecast.

I guess the real loss here will be the end of Epic and Necromunda. As nice as some of Mordheim miniatures are, generic fantasy figures are ten-a-penny (not quite literally, but Reaper Bones comes close), and while it's not my thing, there are a couple of decent-looking 6mm fantasy miniature ranges. And I suspect that BloodBowl might live on in Finecast, but even if it doesn't, fantastical football miniatures are in pretty good supply. For all these games, playing with miniatures from other manufacturers will hardly dent the experience. But while there are a whole bunch of generic sci-fi miniature ranges, few possess the same aesthetic as the Necromunda range, which more than anything in the current 40K range capture the Rogue Trader 'vibe'. While the Epic miniatures aren't quite as characterful, any manufacturer can supply Orcs and Dwarfs which capture something sufficiently similar to the aesthetic of Warhammer fantasy. Outside of some Russian or Chinese IP 'pirates', you won't be buying 6mm Space Marines or Eldar Grav Tanks.  

Which has changed the priorities of my gaming spending over the next few months, to say the least. I was never much of a 6mm man, though I did own Space Marine and bought a few 6mm Squats back-in-the-day, and it is a bit late to give into the temptation to game large-scale 40K tank battles. So, is it unwise to blow a chunk of your redundancy payment on a whole bunch of Necromunda miniatures? 

8 comments:

  1. Re the Warhammer and 40K, epic addiction says they're going too:

    http://epicaddiction.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/whfb-and-40k-collectors-ranges-also-going/

    In the case of the specialist games, it only really sank in for me reading it sink in for the posters at this thread:

    http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24999

    It's very sad, and a step change given the role these games have played and how much they reflect. What is GW thinking?

    Thanks for the link too, for the honesty - not everyone seems to value that - and the ability to track information back, but mainly because every link from a blog as big as yours can be a lifeline for newer blogs, or those on the edge of giving up.

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    1. I'v got a box of Steel Legion sitting in a cupboard, so perhaps, rather than Necromunda minis, it might be an idea to supplement these with a few command figures etc.

      I don't think my blog is particularly big - only when I write a tongue-in-cheek post (with a serious point), and when a large number of people read lines such as 'when I were a lad, this were all fields' and *still* think that they are hearing my voice, do lots of people visit this blog. And even then they'd rather comment on it at RPG.net than address the post directly! ;-)

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    2. Oh, and you're not thinking of iving up, are you?

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  2. Good riddance to all those awful Necromunda sculpts by Gary Morley, if the moulds don't break fast enough kill them with fire!

    There are thousands of great non-GW models to use for Necromunda and 6mm sci-fi, so the best thing to worry about is downloading the free rules while you can.

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    1. Oh, I quite like House Escher's punk ladies and the Redemptionists, but I'm sure I can do without them. But you're right, there are a lot of good sci-fi miniatures out there - my comment was more than the fantasy miniatures can be replaced one-for-one, less a few things that are particularly Warhammer. Want old school? Alternative Armies and Mirliton are still out there. Something a bit more contemporary, with huge bulging muscles and AWESOMENESS, well, then you've got Scibor. And then there's Reaper, Mantic, etc.

      Re: sci-fi miniatures, I have some Squats *cough* Forgefathers from Mantic (50% off down the FLGS) - I'm not sure yet if I like them - and I've got a squad of 'shooty guys' in the Reaper Bones Kickstarter box (and a giant Gorilla with a minigun!). And some of the miniatures in the Reaper's Chronoscope range are pretty nifty...

      As I said in my post about my Chaos Warband for Oldhammer day - still unstarted - I'm moving away from an obsession with 'old lead' (I've still got a pile of Dwarfs and RT Orks to paint anyhow) and I'm keen to buy things from a range of current producers that capture the right aesthetic.

      Anyway, all that aside, will fire be enough? Don't you want to be really sure?

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    2. The Eschers are Jes Goodwin sculpts, overall Necromunda wasn't Jes' finest hour but I like the Eschers too. The Redemptionists were by Gary, they are not as rushed and incomplete as some of his other stuff but I still feel they look like some are dancing rather than engaging the enemy.

      Good call on those alternatives you mention, I always find that if GW don't want to sell me what I want there are companies queueing up who will. It's just a matter of punching the right keywords into Google.

      I too am painting up some RT Orks at the moment, a friend and I are preparing to play the 'Wolftime' from the Book of the Astronomicon.

      Will fire be enough you say? Hmmm. What terminates with more extreme prejudice than our old friend the flame? Should I employ a priest? Smuggling the moulds into a nuclear reactor might be tricky.

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    3. Do moulds have souls? You could feed them to the Emperor!*

      I started painting some Orks last year, and I've got no further:
      http://drbargle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/40k-space-fascists.html

      Regarding the Redemptionists, I can see what you mean. Any alternate sci-fi cultists out there?

      *I guess the answer is, some do. But not Gary Morley's.

      [On the subject of old school miniatures, I notice that Reaper have a load of Bob Olley sculpts, includings some Orcs in the Bones range.]

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  3. Gary Morley moulds definitely don't have souls. Neither does he for that matter.

    They are absolutely lovely Orks! I hope they get an outing one day.

    One could try looking for sci-fi cultists...

    here

    here

    here

    or here

    I know there are more out there too.

    Hope those links work. If I was about to start a new gang Copplestone Castings would be my first port of call for Scavvies by the way. When I run Necromunda campaigns I encourage players to mix and match their miniatures so they have a diverse gang rather than all meatheads (Goliaths)or all beardy, plasma-wielding cheesemongers (Van Saar).

    I checked out that corner of the Reaper website straight after your post about the box arriving. I am finding it difficult to resist.

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