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GW seems to think that if third-party miniatures manufacturers make minatures that match/are inspired by/similar to/etc their own products, then their sales will be hurt. The truth is that no one on this site that I know of really has the market analysis to either support or deny that claim. (And maybe that's not a claim that GW itself really makes.) But what I do know is that there are a fair few third-party models of the hero/centerpiece variety that actually make me want to start GW armies that I would otherwise have no interest in.

For example, Deramforge's Leviathan Crusader.



This beast is a bit too big but Mark Mondragon has plans for a 15mm one eventually. And that little guy is doing what Citadel's Dreadknight was presumably intended to do: make me want to play Grey Knights.

Malestrom's Galagaak similarly makes me want to pick up way too many packs of Gors and Ungors.



And let's not forget Scibor's Minotaurs!



Finally, Avatars of War made an ogre hero that is inspiring enough to make me consider his GW cousins.



What third-party miniatures have made you guys think about starting a GW army?

Wargames Factory and their Shock Troops models.



They've got some fantastic deals for some pretty good looking models. 126 infantry for $118? Swap some heads with some Pig Iron heads, and you've got some nice looking models for much less than the equivalent GW amount of Cadians or Catachans.

I got a Dark Elf army just to go with the Avatars of War Dark Elf Sorceress. Played it a few times then traded the army and kept the lady.

An interesting question

Am now of a mind that I prefer small scale games with fewer figures, partly as I don't seem to cope well with painting large amounts of figures all the same.

So not likely to start a GW army because of such a model
However I did have an itch for Beastmen and those guys are rather tasty, and in past times I may have been tempted.

Yeah, most of Mantic's stuff - it may not be aesthetically on par - but the minis are cheap enough and the material quality is the same. The AoW Dwarf Slay...I mean 'Berserker' boxed set means a Slayer heavy army is now possible (and the minis are great). There are lots of really nice minis out there, although my wallet is too tight at the moment to start any new projects in a meaningful way (however much I'd like to/threaten to)

Well, when we start talking about replacing the majority of the army (troops/core choices) then the argument that third-parties hurt GW . . . kind of pans out.

Third parties that make really cool heroes or centerpiece units, on the other hand, seem like they could actually end up driving some (admittedly small) portion of GW's business -- especially, perhaps, regarding those factions that GW isn't doing a lot of development on. It'd be hard to do under the current copyright regime (pre-Chapterhouse decision) but I'd bet some cool third-party Tau or Necron models would spur the purchase of GW Tau and Necron kits.

After all, isn't that kind of what FW does? Maybe GW's issue is with third-parties screwing over their FW market?

I've never seen a 3rd party mini that has made me what to start a new army.

I've bought 3rd party minis because I liked them.

Of course this was years ago when I enjoyed playing GW games. Now days, I'm more likely to see a cool mini and go looking at the system it belongs to.

If independant tournaments got rid of the Citadel/GW only rule, I'd fill my armies with appropriate 3rd party figures.

I've seen a few different 3rd party figs that have made me consdier starting a 40k or WHFB army. However, none of those figs made me want to buy many GW 40k figures for that army.

I've seen several lines of dwarves that I mused about using for a WHFB army, but none of those armies would have included many GW figs.

If the Mantic Space ork "Mauraders" are up to snuff I may start an ork army, but it's likely that I wouldn't use too many GW kits outside of purchasing some used bits and bobs.

On the other hand, once my IG force was mostly done, there were quite a few non-GW minis that I've considered incorporating into it such as WG shocktroops, Warzone Imperials, etc.

The original Heresy minis Netherlord, I started a Hordes of Chaos army just because of that beauty.

This guy?

General Hobbs wrote:

If independant tournaments got rid of the Citadel/GW only rule, I'd fill my armies with appropriate 3rd party figures.

Most tourneys I have attended have the 51% rule. Allowing players to field non-GW bits and kits... Ie. Thunderwolves, LasPlas Razorbacks.

The GW only rule only appears in GW-backed events... (not many of those about now) and those run by fanbois and white knights who do not understand that WYSIWYG isnt as literal as they would like it to be.

Avatars of War vampire countess. I'd wanted to make a LAhmian army for about a decade, but never found a female vampire to be the armies 'Lord'. I like GW's Lahmians well enough for lesser vampires, but neither looked good enough to lead the army.

As soon as I saw Avatars of Wars vampire countess I ordered the start of a VC army.

DUST Tactics Germans for IG: