"Warhammer Empire Plastic Greatsword and Archer pictures" Topic

A couple of good shots (I think probably scanned from the April White Dwarf) are posted over on Warseer:

link

(Skim to the bottom of the page).

Due out this summer. I am really pleased with them – I like them much better than the last wave of Empire plastics. (Which were OK, but not as good as older Empire plastics in my opinion).

Huh. Why the zombie faces on some? Or is that a Maori haka face? Are New Zealanders, or the undead, taking over GW?

Allen

Those are looks of Grim Determination, Allen.

The figure on the right side of the greatsword pic surely looks grim.

He's looking up at that skull on his helm thinking "only one silly skull icon among us, and who gets stuck with it? ing typical."

They really are zombie looking facially, hopefully it is just the painting style.

Yeah, I think it's definitely the paint jobs that makes them look so dead. I really like the sculpts on both units, but I far prefer the metal Greatswordsmen to those plastic ones. The Archers, on the other hand, are superb and beat out the old metal or plastic models hands down!

The nice thing is, I think these new plastic greatswords will mix well with the old metal ones (which are, I agree, excellent models).

I think the zombie look comes from the way their eyes are painted – white with dark lining, but no pupil.

The archers look pretty decent, and remind me of the old metal Perry ones (which I do have a bunch).

The greatswords would benefit from actually having the full plate armour that they have on the paper.

Griefbringer

That's why I use my old metal Reiksguard foot for them.

I have been painting a bunch of zombies this month, and I do indeed paint the whites of the eyes, with no pupil.

I think I have somewhere some zombies with yellow eyes, no pupil. Perhaps it is the radioactivity that makes the eyes glow yellow.

A bit odd painting style for normal humans, though – if you bother painting the eyes white, then touching the pupil is only a little extra work.

Griefbringer

I suppose the theory is that it looks good on a gaming table and you don't have to worry about bug-eye syndrome. But it does look a little creepy in a close-up shot like that, doesn't it.

If you've ever seen farmer pics from the turn of the century, they are all sinew and muscle and look gaunt in comparison to today. Same goes for farmers who joined the military in ww1, ww2.

On PBS, they had families live as settlers did 100 years ago. The father of one group lost a LOT of weight, and looked gaunt by today's standards. So much so, because of her concerns, they called in a Military doctor.

He said "Well, your body fat is really low as expected from all your work, and except for mild dehydration from not drinking enough, you're otherwise fine and healthy. People used to be that skinny"

Griefbringer, I have a load of the old metal archers as well and that was my first thought. Nice return to style there from my point of view.

Is somebody thinking of using these for actual renessaince gaming?

Greatswords should make for decent landsknecht doppelsoldners if you stay away from the more fantastic bits.

I guess with a suitable selection of heads and arms the archers could be either used for Tudor English archers, or Balkans infantry with bows.

Griefbringer

The archer about to shoot a pheasant from his bow is a bit of a worry – do Toyota or Hot Shots 2 own the IP on that?

Griffin feathers! Should be easy to remove or trim down.

By adding in some arms from other kits, the archers could possibly be converted into a Mordheim Ostlander or Kislevite warband with relative ease.

Griefbringer

Neotacha is certainly thinking "Kislevite".

>> If you've ever seen farmer pics from the turn of the century, they are all sinew and muscle

Yes, I can remember my grandfather who was born in the 19thC – about 5'8" and thin, but strong and wiry. That's how people were. 75% of troops in the AWI were 5'6" or smaller. 5'3" being common, even a few below 5'. Imagine how more difficult it would be weild weapons.

I really like those archers as I was very dissappointed with the most recent empire swordsmen/halberdiers (not the sculpting quality of the models but the move away from the traditional frilly Empire/Landsknecht look).