Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Say i have models that are ten years old. How diffrent are they in quality compared to todays stuff? I doubt it would be very noticeable if someone had models that where twenty years old.

Are you still able to play with them?

This is my army. The youngest model in there is the GD commander from 1991 at 22 years old.

There is absolutely no doubt the quality of models is greatly improved. You can still play with the old stuff but there are occasional issues, especially with old assault marines.

sure you can use old models, perfectly "legal"

some are a bit off in scale, but some are just fine.


some peopel complain if you use old models like the older ork trukks, but there isnt any rules against it.

thehitpack wrote:
Say i have models that are ten years old. How diffrent are they in quality compared to todays stuff? I doubt it would be very noticeable if someone had models that where twenty years old.

Are you still able to play with them?

Depends on the model. Some of the sculpts/sprues are over 10 years old, so the ones you have are still being made. Some have drastically changed. I routinely put ~25 year old RT era beakie marines on the table. Noticeable difference there.

The only big deal is that there has been some scale creep over the years, so the old stuff is smaller, which can lead to MFA arguments and LOS issues. A few models have also had their official base size changed.

For 95% of the time, there shouldn't be an issue. If you do play in tournaments, check with your TO if there are any questions.

 Nevelon wrote:
A few models have also had their official base size changed.

This is something I have real issues with. My terminators look ridiculous on 40mm bases (not to mention require a whole different foam tray) but it's just easier to conform. Even then they're still much smaller.

40k desperately needs standardised bases and a decent LOS system. I know both conflict with modelling aspect but I think it's worth while.

Anyway, old model rocks. For me it's all nostalgia but I genuinely think 40K was a better game back then.

Depends on the model.

Look at DE http://theback40k.blogspot.com/2010/10/dark-eldar-old-and-new.html and http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/529197.page#5658494

The best thing I can say about the old sculpts is that they were ... comical. The new ones look really good and were the primary reason I went ahead and started a DE army.

Regarding using old models: I don't personally know of anyone that cares. The most flak you might get is people wanting the models to be on the current base size. There are certainly arguments on both sides of that camp. Me? I don't care.

The quality has defiantly improve. Better details, better material (except fine cast, that's still horrible), better poses....ect ect.

But some of the older models are still good and still have that Charm to them that makes them on Par (and even superior) with many of there modern counter part.

This is my old space wolve with banner, is from the ´97, fit prefectly with my army, and anybody complain about being an old model, the only new part that has is the bolt pistol, that is from the new space wolve kits

still looks impressive

I'm working on an Ultramarines army built entirely of old models:

I'm also painting them like old models, which makes them more noticeable, but my Valhallans look excellent on a table, and they're sculpts from 95 or 96.

Just to follow up on Brother SRM's post, here is a mix of old and new scouts that I use:


That is a mix of old metal snipers, new plastic ones, and a finecast Talion in for good measure. The metal ones date from around '97, the plastics from 2005, and I'm unsure when Talion was made (5th ed?) Unless you know what you are looking for (slota bases are one giveaway) they mix pretty flawlessly.

That said, nobody is going to mistake these guys for something produced within the last two decades…

I have heaps of the old plastic Beaky marines, as well as the metal ones that preceded them.

The flip side of the sculpting quality increase is the pricing.

The Beakies use to sell at £10 for a box of 30.

There are some old models that are so different to the modern equivalent that they would need to be carefully explained. I used to have a first edition Dreadnaught. The modern Terminators are not much smaller.

For my csm, I have the old metal termies and the old oblits and raptors

I've based the first two on bigger bases.

Spoilered pics of the oblits and raptor models
I get tempted to sell my raptors on occasion - I've seen them go for £10 each and I have five but I'd like a squad of 10 which would mean buying the newer models...

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I have heaps of the old plastic Beaky marines, as well as the metal ones that preceded them.

The flip side of the sculpting quality increase is the pricing.

The Beakies use to sell at £10 for a box of 30.

There are some old models that are so different to the modern equivalent that they would need to be carefully explained. I used to have a first edition Dreadnaught. The modern Terminators are not much smaller.

One thing to keep in mind, is that a dollar (and presumably a pound) from the mid 80's is not the same as it is today. IIRC last time I looked it up, the RTB01 box costs about the same as a tactical squad box these days, adjusted for inflation. You did get 3x the marines though, so you still have a point. But you can't look at it as a lower price for more marines, the price is actually pretty close.

As for the dreadnoughts:

One of these things is not like the other… There is a big difference in the RT dread to the "modern" ones. I put modern in quotes, as I think the current production dread is the same as the 3rd ed one there at the end of the line. Who, besides being plastic, is not that far from the chunk of 2nd edition lead in the middle. Forgive the base, he's just borrowing it for the picture (they didn't come with one)

I can't compare modern terminators, since all mine are old-school

Lol

Forgot about dre..adnoughts

I've one of these too

thehitpack wrote:
Say i have models that are ten years old. How diffrent are they in quality compared to todays stuff? I doubt it would be very noticeable if someone had models that where twenty years old.

Are you still able to play with them?

The biggest differences are really the size of the miniatures. RT figures tend to be a bit smaller, and the fairly static poses which are a result of most of the miniatures being cast in one piece.

I personally love old miniatures, but you may run into problems with them when it comes to wargear. RT and 2nd ed, and the models that were designed for them, were much looser in the wargear you could give characters and units. one of the biggest gripes that happened with 3rd edition is that it rendered a lot of wargear combinations on characters and units invalid. You should be able to get away with counts as unless its a tournament when you will have to speak to the TO

Another issue is base size, but thats easily fixed. and yet another one is the fact that a lot of the classic RT vehicles are slightly smaller, or in the case of land speeders, significantly smaller, but with most people, its not as big of an issue as you may think. certain units are no longer allowed by certain armies, marines and guard can no longer use jet bikes(WHY?????) for example. but again, the rule of cool usually means people are ok with counts as.

I've got a pair of RT land speeders, my Chapter master is riding an RT jetbike, i have RT scouts, and i'm thinking of buying some Tyranid attack scouts for the heavy bolter models.
One use i have found for older dreadnaughts ( i have 3 due in the mail) is that i am going to use them as counts as Centurions since i have a massive dislike for the centurion models, but not the rules

talk to your local group and see what they say!