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Maybe it's just because I'm getting old but I look back on some of my older models and they somehow have a charm that the newer models don't have. Lemme preface this; I started 40k back just at the end of 3rd edition and on the beginning of 4th, and back then there was a charm about 40k models, where the hand-crafted scenery alongside conversion guides had something magical about them. One of my favourite line of models at the time (and most people will probably roast me for this) were the Tyranids. Something about the grinfex, the Alien Queen-looking Hive Tyrant and the space hulk genestealers just grabbed me. Fast Forward to today, I look at 40k and see...nothing but numbers. All numbers, all calculated. Each individual has nothing special about it other than being a representation for a board game. They are ofc a lot more detailed now, but somehow they don't feel right to me. So I've been trying to get that feeling back, that charm of the old days.

Currently I'm trying to recapture that feeling that made 40k magical to me, mostly by collecting ancient, long-forgotten armies second hand and by trying to organize games with older editions (with varying success) and making my own terrain. But on some days I just want to give in and buy the newest models, and yet when I go to the store and hold the models in my hand something just doesn't feel right. The new plastic GK Terminators just doesn't have that special feel the old metal ones had.

Any of you guys had this kind of feeling? How do you get over it? Do you get over it?

Well logical enough reason for that. GW design style has changed. New style doesn't appeal to you as much as old one. Pretty much only solution is therefore to keep buying models you do enjoy of. New style isn't going to change in a hurry

I love the old minis. I started back in 1st ed/Rogue Trader. The majority of my eldar army is first/second ed models - mostly metal monopose - bought off eBay, and I'm currently working on repainting all my first/second ed marines that I've had since I was a child. All of my terrain is scratch built - I just can't bring myself to buy GW's buildings. The only exception to this is I have the old cardboard Firebase that I'm going to (eventually) kit bash with some plasticard to make it better (or at least different!!).

That said, I do have some new models as well. After years of using the old models, I got some brand new boxes (wraithguard, marine tac squad, plus a few others) and was really impressed with the quality. The detail, the number of parts, the options available, all make the new minis good as well, they're just good for different reasons. After stripping and reassembling some of the original plastic RTB01 beakie marines, I really appreciated some quality minis! The old ones look great, but are awful to work with.

So I'm going to stick with a mix of old and new, but if you dislike the new style that much, just buy old stuff off eBay. There's loads out there.

This is not something you need to 'get over'. Embrace it. It's awesome that people love the old stuff. It's like classic cars or antiques, some people appreciate them, some people prefer new. Or like me, they appreciate both for different reasons (I also have a 1 year old car and a 40 year old car!).

I have a soft spot for some of the older models as well. However, I think that some of the new stuff has been fantastic as well. The new jetbikes look sleek and fast, and the "new" dark Eldar range is amazing, especially compared to some of the ugly 3rd edition ones. The one thing that I'm not a fan of is some of the new chaos stuff. I find that sometimes it's just too busy and distracting.

As for recapturing that initial feeling... Well I'm not sure you'll ever get it back. I think part of it is that naivite that people experience with a new game. That initial period when you and your buddies discover the game together, making terrible lists and finding out what works. The best way I've found to go back to that feeling is to play the older additions again. When I pick up my old 3rd edition dexes and look through them I'm reminded of all the cool stuff that you used to have in your dexes and all the weird rules. It's also almost like re-learning the game, as you have to see how things used to work

If you like the old models, stick with those. If you like the new ones, buy new ones. If you want to mix and match, go for it. In my experience, people love playing against models from 10-20 years ago.

Honestly, you're probably just feeling nostalgia for the "good old days" when you started the hobby and everything was new and awesome. If you step back and look at it from an objective point of view most of those old models are just awful. Awful proportions, awkward poses to fit within the limits of casting technology of the time, blocky and limited detail, etc. You might find an interesting idea here and there but the execution is usually still pretty bad.

I started playing during the Rogue trader era and still have a few of the old models. Apart from the odd one, by and large todays models are massively superior in every way, including charm.
The feel/ethos of Games Workshop however has changed from a company with charm to one of numbers. It used to be a hobby, created by those with passion who played the game. Now it's all about the money. The models however, are great (by and large)

I think that what's magical for you aren't the models in themselves: of course, they were cool too, but a simple change in style wouldn't make you feel nostalgic. However, the ruleset, the rich illustrations which the books abounded with, the strong character given to the units is probably at the root of this feeling. You've been right to try to find other nostalgic people who still share the same tastes as you, because according to the very problem I doubt you'd ever be able to stick to what GW's currently doing. You're gonna have much more fun.

But to be honest, it's all nice and I wonder whether, for my own, I haven't gotten involved somewhat too late.

Hoping to have been constructive.

Doubtful the rules were much into that...Those been bad and been going for worse.

Now illustration and background meanwhile.

Maréchal is definitely right. If it was just the models the itch would be pretty thoroughly scratched by now.

I think what i really miss was the hobby, the creativity and such promoted by GW, which is certainly something they're lacking recently.

In anycase, I was wondering if anyone else had these feelings of nostalgia? I'd like to talk to some like-minded people.

40k's newer stuff largely lacks the character and flavor of its older lines. A lot of it just looks too GIJoe-ey, or like it got stripped out of League of Legends or WoW. It lacks that sort of 80's metal aura that made 40k so interesting. Very little of what GW has put out in recent years is of any interest to me. This also extends to the art and fluff, I really dont care for the LoL style colorized art, bring back some of that Blanche and England stuff.


The one thing I did appreciate about aome of the AoS stuff was a throwback to that 80's metal imagery.

What you've highlighted is essentially the "Oldhammer" movement, something which is oddly thriving right now. What you have is a large amount of gamers in their 30's-40's-50's who started with Games Workshop back when it was a much more charming company (nearly bankrupt) run by gaming geeks. For some of us who were even younger we were inadvertently cutting our gaming teeth with Hero Quest and Battlemasters (games which, behind the scenes, were heavily orchestrated by Games Workshop).

The atmosphere was much different, evident in the White Dwarf, the Citadel Journal and the general gamer population. The world hadn't yet really caught on to tournament this/tournament that. The absence of the internet meant a limit of net-based army lists and overall shared knowledge for spamming/min-maxxing. It happened, but was far more limited. People knew the game was "broken" in many ways - but playing amongst friends? Big deal.

The miniatures (particularly early 90's and up) were actually quite good. Some of the very early Rogue Trader stuff was definitely...rough. Some sculptors had some phenomenal abilities. Jes Goodwin and his Eldar were what actually got me into 40K (after buying a couple squads of space marines like every other 12 year old kid). Some sculpts continued on from the 90's well into the 2000's without changes...and many are still perfectly passable today on the gaming table. While I don't play modern 40K, I've been painting/amassing an army of 2nd edition Eldar --- and these models are still perfectly suitable to the task:



A unit of Banshees I recently painted.

The game itself was crazy, clunky, but shed-loads of fun when properly played amongst amiable groups/friends. The overall environment/atmosphere of the game was quite different (at least in my area).

As a thirty-something, I'm fully enjoying assembling the Eldar army of my dreams from when I was 13-16 years old. There are some crap old models...but they're few and far between. I'll use new Jetbikes, new plastic Wraithguard etc., but the majority of my figures have been 2nd edition metals. You're not alone in your nostalgia trip.

The beauty of wargames is that the rules never die...there is nothing stopping you from collecting/painting/gaming an older edition of the game - you simply won't be able to walk into the average game store and find an opponent sitting there with a army waiting to play.

Regarding the new direction of Games Workshop's aesthetic...it's definitely "turn it to 11" and rather heavy handed which turns me off immensely from a majority of the current sculpts. Some are quite good, but others are...I won't say immature, but just poorly sculpted - you get the feeling the sculptor is good at CAD but doesn't have much of a background in actual art/form/design/proportions.

This, however, seems to sell fine. If I stumbled into Games Workshop now, having never played - I'd be hard pressed to gain quite as much interest.

As an animator specifically specializing in 3D modelling, I concur. It's sort of like comparing traditional paintings to digital paintings; the latter are technically more perfect but it lacks that charm.

However I mainly miss the hobby aspect. I remember the conversion articles in Black Gobbo and the codexes. Now I'm scrounging around the internet for any scrap of documents from that era, where we made terrain out of wedding cake decorations and aquarium plants, not bought from GW.

 Elbows wrote:
and these models are still perfectly suitable to the task:

{picture}

A unit of Banshees I recently painted.

This is kind of what I was talking about, with nostalgia giving a favorable view of that old stuff. Those models don't have some of the proportion issues that ruin a lot of the older stuff, but look how boring and static the poses are. Arms and legs flat along the body to make everything fit into the mold, weapons held out so they don't overlap with any other pieces, lots of copies of the same model unless you spent a ton of time converting them, etc. They're not bad models, and maybe they're even good for their era, but they're underwhelming by modern standards IMO.

Regarding the new direction of Games Workshop's aesthetic...it's definitely "turn it to 11" and rather heavy handed which turns me off immensely from a majority of the current sculpts. Some are quite good, but others are...I won't say immature, but just poorly sculpted - you get the feeling the sculptor is good at CAD but doesn't have much of a background in actual art/form/design/proportions.

Try looking at some of the FW sculpts instead. There the superiority of modern models is a little more obvious. You can see all of the improvements in posing options, level of detail, etc, but without the "MUST COPY/PASTE PURITY SEALS ON EVERY POSSIBLE SURFACE" design problems of some of the GW plastic kits.

 MechaEmperor7000 wrote:
Maréchal is definitely right. If it was just the models the itch would be pretty thoroughly scratched by now.

I think what i really miss was the hobby, the creativity and such promoted by GW, which is certainly something they're lacking recently.

In anycase, I was wondering if anyone else had these feelings of nostalgia? I'd like to talk to some like-minded people.

As I previously said, I can't feel the very same nostalgia, according to the act I'm not involved since long ago. But after what I've read on forums and heard from veterans, I got the same state of mind, just the poingnant feeling in a the days of yore, for me covered by the mist of past and mystery (sry I calm down) things have been better...

Showing my age now but I loved the old RTB01 marine box. Personally I think it is better than the current tactical box.

 NoiseMarine with Tinnitus wrote:
Showing my age now but I loved the old RTB01 marine box. Personally I think it is better than the current tactical box.

I love the RTB01 box too - just stripped, rebuilt and primed mine from my childhood - but there's no way it's better than the current one! The details aren't well defined, not many options, limited poses. I also found it much harder to clean up the mold lines. The quality of the new ones is miles ahead. Of course, if you're just talking aesthetics, that's purely personal choice. I think they both have their appeal.

Also love the old land raider. I'll be stripping and rebuilding mine eventually!

@Whittlesy40k, I agree. I far prefer the aesthetics of the old Rhino, Landraider and Predator. Nostalgia, its not what it used to be.

I kinda wish I could afford Forge World. I love how the Deimos Preds and Rhinos capture that old feeling without it looking as goofy as the actual old rhinos and preds.

Then again it is Forge World.

My Eldar Aspect warriors are only the 2nd edition metals, with new plastics that I like thrown in (jetbikes, wraithlord, etc). But I love those metals-aside from the clunky wings on the Swooping Hawks. As my Eldar are a savage Corsair-style force, I used the plastic Dark Eldar Scourges.

Right now I plan on making a 13th Company Space Wolves army for 2nd edition by using them as "Chaos Marines" with non-cult selections. Plastic Cataphractii will be great non- Chaos pre-Heresy terminators.

I think the largest draw of the early days (I started in 2nd edition) was the sheer imagination and exuberance I remember being the hallmark of the hobby. Remember the days of non-official homemade terrain? People wanted a bunker, they didn't buy one, they looked for a good shaped section of foam electronics packaging to bash up.

I feel the same way.

You can never go back.

Sorry for the bad news.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I find the older models pretty ugly and very cartooney - I know you guys are talking about 80s charm and all, but to me, especially the old marines and Tyranids, look like a bad child's drawing.

I'm absolutely in love with the new line of models - very detailed, realistic, and usually a pleasure to paint. The Dark Eldar and Tyranids, for instance, look especially nice, and I look at the old metal models and cringe.

I absolutely love the gritty, dirty artwork of Blanche and really miss the old style pictures of the 40k universe - those were some of the most interesting and inspiring sources for modelling, in my opinion. The new CG artwork is garbage in comparison.

Nostalgia is a funny thing, and I'm just as guilty as anyone, though retro video games are my vice. Like I said, probably in the minority here, but I wouldn't trade our new line of models for any of the old ones.

@Retrogamer. Mate, everyone has their own taste. If you dont like the look of them it is perfectly fine.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
@AegisGrim. The first bunker I made was out of polystirene which when painted actually captured the rugged and damaged concrete effect pretty well. Also had an old and spare predator hull view slot glued on. Oh, happy days. In that era I played Genestealer cult out of the Tyranid codex, great days.

 MechaEmperor7000 wrote:
Maybe it's just because I'm getting old but I look back on some of my older models and they somehow have a charm that the newer models don't have. Lemme preface this; I started 40k back just at the end of 3rd edition and on the beginning of 4th, and back then there was a charm about 40k models, where the hand-crafted scenery alongside conversion guides had something magical about them. One of my favourite line of models at the time (and most people will probably roast me for this) were the Tyranids. Something about the grinfex, the Alien Queen-looking Hive Tyrant and the space hulk genestealers just grabbed me. Fast Forward to today, I look at 40k and see...nothing but numbers. All numbers, all calculated. Each individual has nothing special about it other than being a representation for a board game. They are ofc a lot more detailed now, but somehow they don't feel right to me. So I've been trying to get that feeling back, that charm of the old days.

Currently I'm trying to recapture that feeling that made 40k magical to me, mostly by collecting ancient, long-forgotten armies second hand and by trying to organize games with older editions (with varying success) and making my own terrain. But on some days I just want to give in and buy the newest models, and yet when I go to the store and hold the models in my hand something just doesn't feel right. The new plastic GK Terminators just doesn't have that special feel the old metal ones had.

Any of you guys had this kind of feeling? How do you get over it? Do you get over it?

Sir, I am afraid, you are suffering from a very serious case of nostalgia. I recommend abstaining from wearing rosetinted glasses and listening to melancholic music for the next few months. And definitely stay away from things reminding you of your childhood.

Looking at old White Dwarf issues though, I do have to admit that the modelling sections were really neat. The miniatures have massively improved over the years, but unfortenately it seems that GW's support and enthusiasm for the hobby has run out.

I think some sculpts have gotten better. But a lot have gone far too over-the-top. More doesn't necessarily equal better.

Obviously metal minis were always stuck in the 2D posing limitation...the marines being one of the better ones because of the available plastic arms/backpacks etc.

Personally I'd much rather have this:


Than this:


It all comes down to personal preference.

Another thing that really did it for me was the Battle Reports in White Dwarf. Back in 3rd, my teenage self would get all crazy and inspired when they featured a new board that they had bashed out in studio. I remember one from the release of 3rd ed Nids, where they made a really dense jungle board with a few scratch made bunkers that had to be defended by the Crimson Fists. The close ups of the forest line with just a few hints of nids in places, looked freaking cool. Then in 5th (the last time I bought WD) it was the same realm of battle board every single time.

Whereas before it would be random bunker complex something, now it is battle for the FORTRESS OF REDEMPTION $$$ BUY IT NOW $$$.

It's a funny case of "be careful what you wish for" because I remember when the Imperial ruins dropped in Fourth for "Cities of Death." I was stoked! I thought, oh man I have to go buy a bunch of these so I can finally have an awesome city fight board that looks pro. But then as time went on and ALL we saw on tables were GW bought terrain, it lost a lot of the charm that it once had. Eventually becoming really sterile.

It's like the point the positive people tried to make about AOS: You can play any army you want.
But the negative people said "But we could always do what we wanted, we didn't need a rule to tell us"

But we did need a rule to tell us to play however we want. Because so many people are reluctant to play differently to the stated rules.

The same goes for terrain. When we were encouraged to build our own, everyone was trying it. Now though people either just buy GW or dont have much money so just use the cost as an excuse not to field much terrain. Newer players don't have that guiding voice to show them the joys of building your own terrain from random hobby stores or scratch builds, they just get sold GW.

Now there is one very positive note I can end on. Something I wish I had as a kid and the very thing that has dragged me back into the hobby again...Youtube. Forget the echo chamber that is 40k forums. Go on youtube, scout around until you find a Wargaming channel or two that you like. Find someone who is into the hobby for the same reason as you were and you can get that old feeling back.
For me, seeing story driven Video battle reports or even just videos of people talking through why they picked their armies, that inspired me to go pick up some models again and just stick to the aspects I like. Thankfully I'm spared delving back into the old school because I'm doing 30k, which has the benefit of re:imagined retro models, meaty amounts of fluff and rules that reflect them, and oodles of encouragement to build armies around campaign forces. It's the closest I feel I can get to the feeling that drew my 12 year old self into the hobby in the first place.

I miss the bitz order. Remember when GW use to do conversion articles and then linked you the bitz needed to make the miniature? those minis had no rules and you had to find someone willing to play you but they were fun to make and equally fun to paint.

I don't miss the 2nd ed Stormtroopers, personally, litteraly any Stormtrooper model that came after those where a major improvement, and I really love the Scions.

A lot of the early plastics were...rough. Even as much as I love Eldar I didn't like the pose of these:



The Stormtrooper one-poses were pretty "gah!" as well.

You still can't ignore the fact that in 1994, those plastics were cutting edge. Some of you guys have to look at the fact that you are getting off on scoffing at stuff that was at the very beginning of more than 25 years of development.

See, I just want the models of today (at least in situations where I don't like the old ones better) with the gaming atmosphere of the late 90's- especially that of GW.

My god, the fun of the days of Citadel Journal, but with the new Genestealer Cult models from Deathwatch? That'd be heaven.

There are two different threads to this discussion: style vs. technique. Modern models are clearly better in terms of technique: better materials, better detail, and for the most part, better quality control.

However, the style has certainly changed, and not always for the worse. 2nd edition Nids were actually a pretty solid range, with the unfortunate paint schemes of the time hurting it a lot. The 2nd edition and even RT eldar aged very well, with the limited detail not a huge factor. Plenty of people love that era for SMs, and a few brave souls try to build a modern IG army out of the plastics. Still, the Space Marines have awkward poses, and the need for plastic arms on metal bodies really limits the vintage collectability.

Even in 90s things progressed a ton. Look at IG. The RT era Necromundans are cool, but have oversized heads and goofy poses. The metal regiments of 2nd edition still look sharp!

However, there's not a ton of nostalgia for the 2nd edition Chaos models, either SM or Daemons, and the Orks got such a hard reboot in 3rd edition they're like different model ranges.