"Using GW figures as historicals" Topic

Although I've given up on Warhammer I do have a large number of Empire figures lying around from back when I did. I never got round to painting most of them as time became a problem and then I became so frustrated with the company that I gave up and moved over to historicals instead.

I'm having a clearout and looking at selling some of the figures I collected in those days, but having seen a few recognisably GW figures in historical Renaissance armies I wonder if instead they could conceivably be repurposed. Given that in some of the less fanatical communities it was relatively common practice to use historical miniatures in Empire armies,

For the sake of clarity I'm talking about exclusively human figures from the 90s with minimal obvious fantasy elements, many of them sculpted by the Perrys. Stuff like the artillery, war machines, monsters, wizards, special character models and that sort of thing is obviously going to be kept well away.

However my knowledge of 15th-16th century clothing is as yet sufficiently minimal that I don't know whether or not they would be viable or if they'd look seriously out of place to any trained eye. The one obvious concern is that the weapons would be too big.

This must be something someone has considered before – is it worth a try? Or a serious no-no?

Being reenactors and well read fellows the Perrys based their Empire figs on actual renaissance troops such as Landsknechts, Reiters and Gendarmes. The main diffrence is that they did not include all of the esoteric designs worn by Landsknechts and the figures have no pikes which is sort of a problem as the pike was the main weapon. But you could certainly reuse a lot of infantry and some cavalry.

I saw some tournament game a while back at one of the HMGS shows where a guy was using the GW plastic spearmen as pikemen. He did put metal pikes in their hands I believe, which is an easy enough conversion to do.

The only issue you might run into is that they will probably be a bit bigger than other historical figures on the market which may or may not bother you and the older GW stuff actually won't be that much bigger than modern historicals anyway. That and you won't find many historical armies with wizards.

Do a Rennaisance imagination. Your Wizards could become commanders who are a bit eccentric.

Or schismatic priests!

'and then I became so frustrated with the company that I gave up and moved over to historicals instead.'

It's a refreshing change isn't it. The nice thing is you're somewhat less likely to cause controversy by using GW figs in a historical army than vice versa.

'However my knowledge of 15th-16th century clothing is as yet sufficiently minimal'

GW Empire stuff would be about okay for 16th century.

One key visual difference is to do with legwear, the trunk (shorts, kind of) and hose (tights). Generally you don't see the trunk so much in the 15th century and see it a lot more in the 16th. IIRC GW empire figures wear the trunk.

Also the sleeves on the shirts got bigger and wingier in the 16th century and again IIRC this is the type of sleeve the GW figures have.

It's going to be the lack of pikes that causes problems but if you've got the handgunners, halberdiers and swordsmen you've got most of the stuff that should be seen around the pikes in a landsknecht force.

Some of the artillery might well work out too – it was not very uniform in real life.

Do a Leonardo army. That way your Birdmen of Catrazza will fit right in.

Speaking of Leonardo, as soon as I can figure out how to put pictures from an iPhone on Vista, I'll have some Landsknechts, Warhammer volley guns and 10 Birdmen of Catrazza up in the Marketplace.

It's a refreshing change isn't it. The nice thing is you're somewhat less likely to cause controversy by using GW figs in a historical army than vice versa.

It really is. Hard to imagine going back now.

I suspect most of the artillery is probably a little on the large side for historicals but I'll deal with that when I get to it. If I can repurpose the infantry that will, as you say, fill out a lot of an army. I can always buy some more pikemen from historical manufacturers.

I must admit that this project, the idea for which only occurred to me yesterday, is no higher than fourth on my current list (behind 6mm ECW, 1:2400 Anglo-Dutch Wars and 28mm ancients) and I don't have a clear concept in mind so it might take me a while. But it's enough to persuade me to hang onto the figures.

I saw some tournament game a while back at one of the HMGS shows where a guy was using the GW plastic spearmen as pikemen. He did put metal pikes in their hands I believe, which is an easy enough conversion to do.

Yeah, the spearmen in the Empire range always bothered me, though I understand why they're there (pikes are much fiddlier). Whether I convert them to pikemen or just sell them and buy new pikemen I'll decide if/when I get round to the project I think.

That and you won't find many historical armies with wizards.

Indeed. The fantasy elements like that fairly obviously wouldn't be used in a historical army!

Do a Leonardo army. That way your Birdmen of Catrazza will fit right in.

Alas, I have no Birdmen. I do have some of the other Dogs of War units (including a lot of pikemen), but most of them are sufficiently ahistorical that I wouldn't want to use them in a historical army.

Jeff of Saxe-Bearstein and I played a few games of Lion Rampant using our GW Empoire figures, set in a 16thC western European Imagi-Nations. Twas fun… except I lost every game…
Defense of The Barony of Wulfheim.

I have used them in a few of the units in my collection. Sometimes I feel they work well but they can be a little large. Here are some examples

In the last picture the 2 nearest figures are old Empire, and they fit in perfectly in my opinion.

When I was considering a similar project, besides re-arming Empire spearmen with pikes, their lack of a katzbalger (short sword) seemed to be the second detail to fix:

link

Many of the metal GW Empire can be used within a Landsknechts army of the 1515-1540 era. The Reiters can be used for the 1560-80, so using them together will not work for historical armies. Landknechts looked different on the second half, and pistol armed Reiters only came up then.
If you are not too keen on authenticity you can even use the knights for Gensdarmes (without the shields), though the horses are pretty large and the armour repetetive.

Pikes can be had from a good broom by the thousand, though you need to look out for one with round rather then oval sticks.

The GW are indeed a bit larger then the usual 28mm metals. Those of Artizan are on the larger side, so you can best mix them within these units or use them as bulkier individuals.

BTW: Best use for your old GWs you can find. I never understood why GW seperated their design from the historical outfits. That was when I started to part from their IP and ceased collecting their fantasy line.

Malatesta--are those crossbow men on 40mmX40mm stands or 50mmX50mm stands?

They are on 45mmX45mm stands, a bit of a strange size I know

Deuce03 I've been using them as historicals for years, several historical manufacturers will fit ie Casting room @ Foundry,Artisan,Old Glory and several others you can get away with if your not too fussy about size.
In my office I have a co worker of 4'6" and one of 7'
As as long as the are based the same is not always so noticable.