"Historical Plastics Compatible With 6th Ed Empire?" Topic

What medieval and renaissance plastics are compatible with 6th edition WFB Empire? Comparison pics would be most welcome as well.

Thanks!

In my experience, none. Size-wise the closest I could get is the Frostgrave plastics.

The route I went was mixing Warlord Landsknechts with Perry HYW and WOTR. Most heads line up in size, and the arms are almost seamlessly interchangeable.

I've been building an Averland Army with some Border Princes thrown in;

Perry HYW = Brettonian Mercenaries
Perry WOTR = Tilean Mercs
Landsknechts = State Troops (cut pikes down to spears)
Warlord Polish Winged Lancers = Kislevite Lancers

I've also made State Troops Crossbowmen using Perry plastic crossbows, and Halberdiers by replacing the pikes with Perry metal Halberds. Artillery crew comes from Old Glory, with guns from Old Glory and Games Workshop (the 5th or 6th edition metal Helblaster)

Got any pics? Sounds like a nice army.

One problem with such comparison is that the Empire range available in the 6th edition WHFB days was not very consistent size-wise.

For example the plastic spearmen from the starter box set were much taller and bulkier than the plastic swordsmen/halberdiers released two years earlier. Then there were the new metal swordsmen, which went somewhere between the two, while the new Helblaster crew was also on the slimmer side. And if you wanted to field Dogs of War units (released a few years earlier) they tended to be on the slimmer side.

I think it would help if you would:
1.) Specify what figures you have in your existing collection
2.) Whether you are trying to bulk up existing units or to build new units that would look decent alongside the old ones

My force consists of the plastics from the 6th edition starter box, plus a hellblaster and crew, some characters, and the 6th ed plastic swordsmen. I am looking to add new units, rather than bulking my existing units.

Any specific units you might be thinking about? From the top of my head, the following options might be worth investigating (I do not guarantee anything for size-compatibility):

- Halberdiers: Perry WotR infantry
- Crossbowmen: Perry WotR mercenaries or HYW French infantry
- Free company: North Star Frostgrave plastics (Warriors, Barbarians, Ghost Archipelago crewmen), or a mixture of leftovers from other kits
- Archers: Perry WotR infantry or HYW English infantry
- Knights: Perry WotR mounted men-at-arms (but you need to add shields)
- Greatswords: Perry WotR or HYW foot knights
- Pistoliers: Warlord ECW cavalry
- Flagellants: maybe more Frostgrave plastics (the previously mentioned plus the cultists set)

Plastic artillery is pretty limited: Victrix makes a Napoleonic set, Warlord early 18th century set (formerly from Wargames Factory) and Perrys have an ACW cannon (available also as an individual gun sprue without crew). However, there is a decent selection of metal 16th century artillery pieces, which might look better for your purposes.

Also, are you only interested in Empire units, or also in Dogs of War options? Perry WotR mercenaries and Warlord landsknecht sets both provide a good number of pikemen.

Current Perry plastic historical s are very nice and cost much less than GW stuff (even when the Perry's were the sculptors for GW).

But they are slimmer than GW stuff which tends to be oversized and "heroically" proportioned. The Perry's did the Bretonians for a while and they are better proportioned than the current crop. (Use current HYW for Brets).

Glad the Olde World still has interest – I have lots of figures for it. About to do the Olde World edition of Knights and Knaves just so I can use them!

Thomas J. Thomas
Fame and Glory Games

I refuse to accept the "demise" of the Olde World. I just stick my fingers in my ears and think of the Emperor, Altdorf, and the world I enjoy so much – if someone so much as mentions the Age of Sigmarines.

I'll try and update this thread this weekend, with a comparison photo of some 6th edition plastics and a mix of historicals.

Thanks for all the replies so far!

I'm looking to add some more basic infantry units, and some cavalry especially.

Comparison pics would be great!

I would seriously consider going with Old Glory Landsknechts. Not a perfect match, but they paint up great and are very dynamic. Other than that, I'd settle for the Warlord and Perry mixes mentioned above.

Stupid question – why not just buy more 6th ed. Empire figures? Or do you want figures that are the same size but "different" from GW figs?

The only ones I can think of are Black Tree Designs and Front Rank, by the size.

As far as I know, GW has dropped all 6th edition Empire plastics from production by now, so one looking for them would need to rely on the secondary market. Finding unassembled plastics still on sprue might be an issue.

What griefbringer said. With the rising popularity of oldhammer, the secondhand market for the old figures is becoming pretty expensive. Contemporary historical plastics are much more within my meager budget, not to mention much easier to obtain.

Regarding cavalry, as far as I can tell the list given earlier by the trojan bunny does not contain any (except maybe the warhorse from the starter boxed set), so the compatibility of horses should not be a major issue. This is probably a good thing, since the GW plastic horses tend to be bulkier than most historical plastic horses out on the market.

For what it's worth:

Please note that the base hight does influence the overall impression of the figure's size.

In my opinion, the best match for 6th edition Empire is Artizan – a little shorter, but of similar bulk and detail style. For 5th edition plastics that would be OG, wth Foundry ones being the smallest/tiniest.

Having said that, I'm mixing all of them in my pike or halberd block. I have only a few 6th edition figures left over and they represent the especially bulky individuals, you know, the ones that would be called "Big Hans" or "Mountain Jorg".

The Olde World is NOT dead. I has just moved to Knights and Knaves. I've been playtesting "Olde World" armies for the last six months.

After release of the Olde World edition I hope to see lots more Olde World armies back on the table.

Thomas J. Thomas
Fame and Glory Games

Matheo provided very nice comparison shot, but for the sake of clarity I would like to mention that the Artizan figure shown is metal, not plastic.

Will the Olde World edition increase the stand widths (or lower the number of figures)? It'll be a bit challenging fitting 4 of those halberdiers into 60mm.