"Warhammer Fantasy help - Empire Pistoliers" Topic

Hi folks- I am in the process of "re collecting" the WH Fantasy Empire army that first got me into the miniature wargaming hobby back in the 90's. For any warhammer fantasy collectors out there, does anyone have any perspective on the size between the old metal Empire pistoliers released around 1995, vs the plastic pistolier box set that came out in the early 2000's?

I'm trying to decide if I should try and find some of the old metal models (which in general are harder to find and tend to be expensive), or go with the box set which I think is actually still available (although I think rebranded for AOS). Any opinions welcome!

GMB

Well, since any opinion is welcome, have you thought about just using historical figures? The Empire is based on a historical army at fantasy figure prices.

I believe the old models are now AoS Cities of Sigmar

I have both (somewhere) the new ones are larger and better sculpts but the overall size difference is not great.

I think using historical TYW or ECW figures just doesn't have the nostalgia factor GMB is trying to capture for himself. :)

I've borh, the new plastic kit is noticeably larger. The newer plastic kit is easily found and not that bad a price either, if starting from scratch I'd go with those.

They're part of the "Cities of Sigmar" line, note these are all being updated to whatever new army that is replacing them this year, chances are that these and many other parts of that range will be retired so suggest getting them sooner than later.

There are probably a few Warhammer facebook groups, that could provide lots of information.

the old metal Empire pistoliers released around 1995, vs the plastic pistolier box set that came out in the early 2000's?

To be more specific, the metal pistoliers were released in 1992 (and the horses they were mounted date back to 1991), while the plastic pistoliers (with brand new horses) were released in early 2007.

I only have the metal ones, which are nice figures but a bit limited in poses – just three different bodies and one set of legs. The newer ones, being multipart plastic, will provide more flexibility in poses and can be mixed with leftover bits from other sets for variety, plus they have optional bits that allow them to be built as outriders with repeater handguns.

I think the big question would be what figures does the rest of your army contain, and which kind of pistoliers would fit best with them?

Thanks, everyone for your input!

Knowing that the newer plastics are significantly bigger seals it for me- I think I'll hunt for the older metal.

Griefbringer you bring up a ver good point- my collection is all metal, mostly from the 5th edition era with some 6th thrown in. This is purely a nostalgia project for me, so I should stick to the older models…. But boy they can be expensive!

If all of your collection is metals from that era, then it certainly makes sense to go with the metal pistoliers from the same era.

I have no idea on what is the going price for those pistoliers in the second hand market, but you might only need six or so for a unit. However, when buying second hand models pay attention to the state of the horses – the old plastic horses once assembled may sometimes lose their tails due to careless handling.

As for the historical options, the inspiration for the pistoliers tends to come from 16th century Reiters, for which there are a few manufacturers in 28 mm. However, finding models that would size-wise match the GW pistoliers might be an issue, especially when it comes to horses.

Etsy Sunland Empire search

link

Thanks again! Griefbringer- mi hear you. I've been burned by the horsetail issue before. Also- I have tried to experiment with using some historical, but have really struggled with scale…

Dragon gunner- thanks for sharing! Those models look great, and are cheap enough to buy and just try out….

Finding horses from historical manufacturers that would nicely match up with the plastic GW horses can be challenging, as most of the historical horses are much less bulky. Of course if one would only use non-GW horses then the issue would stand out less.

With infantry, it is possible to find historical models that are in a suitably bulky style to go with GW models. That said, GW Empire models have varied in size over the years (and sometimes even within a single year – e.g. original Helblaster crew), so when asking for recomendations it is necessary to be really specific about which Empire models you want the new ones to match.

I've recently completed a similar project, during the pandemic I turned attention to my old Italian Wars/Empire WFB army. I managed to put on 2 units of old metal pistoleers and got a lucky score with a 10 pack of outriders. I bit the bullet and just sunk a TON of money on ebay for those – the good news is you can get them for a semi-reasonable price if you don't mind taking a while. Watch for shipping.

I know what you mean about nothing quite captures the zeitgeist of those old GW/Perry sculpts from the day. The landschknects and cavalry they sculpted for the foundry are good & close, but they don't have reiters in the range at all. And those old GW plastic horses make nearly everything else look like a riding pony in comparison.

Good luck!

Are you still looking for old metal WFB metal Empire Pistoliers. If you are, I can go find mine and let you know how many I have. I