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Every now and then a model gets a refresh (or every year if you are Calgar ).

Do you feel compelled to buy and build the newer, shinier version of what you already own?

Or are you satisfied with keeping your old version?

Quite the opposite. I wish I hadn't sold some of my 2ed Eldar Aspect Warriors so that I could use them in Kill Team now.

Them being ones of the top WH sculpts of all time also would make using them in KT a pleasure.

Many times new versions represent improvements in sculptor skill, material study and a bunch of other things. So sometimes they honestly just look WAY better than what GW was able to achieve before.


Other times they are upgrades, a lot of the Eldar models are like this where they clearly have a lot of the very same design language but the new versions have better proportions; better details and so on.

Sometimes the style changes. Eg I liked original Tyranids from the 2nd edition, but I disliked half of the updates in 3rd edition. Felt like two different designers/teams worked on them so you had awesome stuff like the new gaunts and warriors; but then stuff that was very different like the Hive tyrants and Carnifex which I wasn't a fan of.

4th edition and it all changed again and we got new plastics in many models and things like the hive tyrant and Carnifex changed up again and looked way better than before.


But that can also work in reverse, some old sculpts look better or have a different style. Eg the Diaz Deamonetts sell for silly money secondhand compared to the modern plastic ones or the really old "super thick crab claw" ones.





So honestly - no - I don't feel compelled to buy and use the new ones only. It's case by case. Some are equivalents; some are better, some are worse. And all that is very personal.
Heck it can even be highly contextual. Eg you might favour an old sculpt not because you prefer the artistic design of the model, but because it was the first model of a brand new army that you painted up first and you're really proud of it and really like it for that reason.

Maybe you did loads of converting work to it; or gave it a really fancy base.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Cyel wrote:
Quite the opposite. I wish I hadn't sold some of my 2ed Eldar Aspect Warriors so that I could use them in Kill Team now.

Them being ones of the top WH sculpts of all time also would make using them in KT a pleasure.

Honestly I bought a bunch of eldar metal models and even though I now plan on building an Eldar army mostly out of Pipermakes Void models- I still kept those metal eldar. Heck I'm really salty that GW dumped a lot of the fantastic Forgeworld Eldar models.

I don't feel compelled in the slightest. I pick and choose whatever I fancy, but I also don't do anything remotely competitive so have zero need to make sure I'm up to date.

Depends on the model. I'm certainly in no rush to replace my metal Inquisitor Coteaz.

I don't feel compelled unless the model is clearly an upgrade, in which case I'll likely buy it for that reason. I'm not going to get a bunch of models to replace perfectly fine ones just because there's a newer version out.

For example, I have plenty of the old assault Terminators. I don't see a need to get the new ones any time soon.

 Olthannon wrote:
I also don't do anything remotely competitive so have zero need to make sure I'm up to date.

Barring a few extremes such as 1st and 2nd generation models (eg for tyranids); and things like the new Greater Demons which grew to what was once called exalted greater demon size - most models only really need to be on the right base to work. For the most part shifts in vertical size really don't have all that much great impact on the game itself (esp since how you draw line of sight shifts around all the time between editions anyway). The only thing that remains a certain fact is the base size

Compelled? No.
Want to? Generally.

Most of the time the new sculpts are better these days. That’s not always the case. There have been plenty of cases over the years when the new models were just not up to snuff. Times like that I’ll just continue to use my old ones.

But a lot of the stuff GW is kicking out thse days makes me want to push the old guys to the back of the shelf.

I would like the modern plastic Eldar Warlocks but they're very pricey for what they are, and I already have some finecast Warlocks still sitting on the pile'o'shame. That said I did go the extra distance for Jain Zar, despite already having an unbuilt 90s metal kit.

In Warhammer, extremely rarely. The new models are out of scale with my collection and I intensely dislike the spread legged power stance they all have so that they cannot fit on a 25mm base.

If a mini is still in scale and can fit on a 25mm I'll consider it.

But the prices on character sculpts these days mean even if it fits all my criteria I'm probably not going to buy it. Paying 30+ euro for a single infantry sized miniature is just a no go for me, I expect like 10-20 dudes at least for that price and 30 is better!

 Da Boss wrote:
In Warhammer, extremely rarely. The new models are out of scale with my collection and I intensely dislike the spread legged power stance they all have so that they cannot fit on a 25mm base.

If a mini is still in scale and can fit on a 25mm I'll consider it.

But the prices on character sculpts these days mean even if it fits all my criteria I'm probably not going to buy it. Paying 30+ euro for a single infantry sized miniature is just a no go for me, I expect like 10-20 dudes at least for that price and 30 is better!

The price is the main thing stopping me from replacing a lot of minis.

They want how much for a new version of what I already have? There are other new shiny things out there. I’ll keep using my old stuff and buy the ones that are not replacing things.

No. If their is an older version of a model I will usually go with the older version. Especially if it's in metal.

Most I will do is rebase it if the newer model is on a larger base.

A little bit, but it depends on a lot of things. Like, to a certain degree I just like collecting and painting new models so if a new sculpt is really cool I'm happy to pick it up and replace the old. That said, I like my older stuff as well and if there's an opportunity to use it alongside new stuff I'm all for it.

Honestly though at the moment I'm pretty happy with things like the Primaris updates. The new sculpts are generally great and give me a chance to do a better paint job. I think as Primaris stuff gets updated I'll be a little more choosey. Basically, if I like the new sculpt, I'll probably want the new sculpt, but if I'm attached to the old sculpt I'm far more likely to stick with it.

And then there's things like Boyz where you should never replace anything ever. Just let the tide grow ever larger....

After new Heresy Firstborn scale, I don't think I can go back to manlet marines.

Apart from that, I mainly care about having a unified look in my army and in case of a conflict when expanding an army, I will do whichever is easier:
- hunt down additional old models and ignore the new
- get enough new models to replace all old models

Compelled? LoL... NO.

If I like a model it'll stay in use until A) GW makes a version of it that I like better, or B) I die.

For ex: In 40k I have models in active use that date back to the RT days. And for WHFB/Sigmar/Old World? Some of my Dwarves pre-date slotta bases!
I don't even feel compelled to re-base things most of the time. (I'm not re-basing long finished models with out damned good reason. GW farting is not a damned good reason. What you all do in your tourneys is also not a good reason))
Best ex is the Bloodthirster bought around 89'/90 that's now smaller than a current Demon Prince. "Tiny", as some of my opponents have dubbed him, is still played as the Bloodthirster he was bought as. Between decades of WHFB & 40k play he has 10's of thousands of pts worth of kills. He is NOT going to be dishonored by being demoted to Prince status because he's smaller than another model. The only changes to him over the years have been two better quality paint jobs & about 10 years back I replaced his original 40mm(??) square base with a 2" square resin cast base covered in skulls. Maybe one of these days I'll have one of the kids at the shop print me a 60mm round (dreadnought size) skull covered base.... (Bigger than about 60/65mm will just look stupid from a modeling perspective IMO.)


Want to? Sometimes. It depends upon the model. Usually it's simply because I like the new model more than the previous.

Examples of (40k) models that I've replaced:
*Necron Destroyers - have you seen an original destroyer??
*Necron Wraiths - A) looks better than the 3e version, B) the 3es were incredibly fragile & top heavy
*Tau stealth suits
*Tau Broadsides
*Eldar 2e metal Swooping Hawks - beautiful sculpts. AND no longer top heavy even on larger/weighted bases!
* CSM Raptors - never really liked the actual Raptors. Finally replaced with the brand new 30k assault Marines w. jump packs.
*Chaos spawn - just about anything looks better than the poo GW wants to sell you for this unit. Me, I'm using D&D Otyogs (sp?).
*Khorne Juggernauts - modern metals/plastics far better looking than the old 2e eras
*SM drop pods - went from old Armourcast resin to GW (4e?) plastic version. Mostly just an issue of practicality - the ACs were heavy & took up alot of space transport wise (I had 9 of the things). They also had sharp edges (even after sanding - they could've doubled as giant shuriken...) The plastic ones were just so much easier to carry around.
*Necron Monolith - stupid price, but a waaay better model.
*coming soon: Nightbringer (& hopefully Deciever??)

Not remotely... yet to chuck a model out, and - after a while old enough has its own cool..... (ok except you original tyranid warriors...)

I might if I was playing serious tournaments, but I like having quirky older models and it's usually a good conversation starter in game stores since there are plenty of sculpts that are older than gamers.

I'd be careful to avoid mixing old/new models or trying to chose for advantage i.e. to take advantage of base size or LOS changes.

Have never felt compelled to use the latest version of models. Don't really care about the height difference, my older sculpts look better anyway.

Especially the raptors, they look like they're on a religious crusade.

No.

Words for the words god.

Seeing how ridiculously worse the new Typhus was compared to the old one - no.

No, GW will have to take my old XV-88s from my cold dead hands.

The XV-8 in XV-88 means it is based on the XV-8 chassis, dammit! The new ones are so much bigger that it makes no sense!

For me, it depends on the model(s) in question. I've replaced some models for various reasons when they were updated, but not all.
Some that I've replaced or not:
Azrael: the new one just looks so much better, and his helmet bearer is on the same base.
Space Marine Terminators: I haven't replaced my old ones, but I do have some of the new ones. If the scale is off between the two types, so be it.
Belial: Similar to Azrael, the new one just looks better. Particularly in terms of scale.
Deathwing Knights: I do have a set of the new ones, but I'm also still using my old ones, no need to replace.
Asmodai: I haven't gotten the newer one yet, but I want to. Again, mostly because of the scale difference.
Dreadnoughts: Technically they haven't been replaced, but we can all see which way the wind is blowing. I haven't put one of the angry washing machines on the table in years. That's mostly a rules thing more than a liking the model or not thing.
Stormcast Eternals Liberators: I sort of replaced some of mine; I kept one unit of the old ones but sold the rest, and added my two units from Skaventide.

Not in every case
I did re buy necromunda as I magnetise them for ease of use and knew they would expand past the original gangs and options.
However My Astra Militarum army with Praetorian Guard (used as cadians for rules) and old Imperial agents








My TOW Orcs and Goblins are from 6th/7th edition and my CHORFS are the original metals from the 90s.

Compelled to replace? No, never.

Compelled to add newer models? Yeah all the time!

My Tyranids army date back to 2nd edition and 3rd edition, and outside of the 2nd edition Hive Tyrants, all other models have been carried over. I restarted gaming in 40k in 8th edition, and started repainting and adding to the army. All my Genestealers, my Screamer Killers, Beetle Carnifexes, old Warriors (2nd edition plastic and metal) got updated, repaired when needed and repainted. I've bough way more old stuff to flesh out units too. They are all still in use now.

Sometime I do the opposite. I purposely seek out the older models when I start a new project/army. Old monopiece and upgrade kit for Rubric Marines. Lots of old Eldar (Dreadnoughts, War Walkers, lots of Warlocks). I'll get the old and classic models to keep them running and see table time!

I suspect there are limits. I mean, at some point I want to finish painting my old metal bloodthirster. It's the old metal one that only had about 5 parts - legs, body and one arm in a single piece; head; arm plus weapon; hand plus weapon; and wings. It originally came on a 40mm base and is not a lot bigger than a modern Terminator, certainly smaller than a current daemon prince.

I will probably be able to get away with using it as-is, because I only really play with the one very tolerant friend! But I suspect if I tried to run it elsewhere I might face a few complaints of modelling for advantage... I have at least put it on a current-sized base, but short of a 6" high pile of skulls for him to stand on I don't think I can make it anywhere near the right height / bulk.

Honestly for things like the old greater demons - just run them as a demon prince.

Oh yeah, that's definitely an option - but I do have a plastic daemon prince that I've actually finished painting (well, except for the magnetised power armour vents) so don't really need a second.

I think the old Great Unclean One might actually be a little bit smaller than the current Beast of Nurgle. I thought about getting one to use as a cool Beast

If your Bloodthirster even fits on a 40mm base, maybe he could stand in as a cool herold with some enhancements (I'm not into current Daemon rules, though).

Yeah, the original ones weren’t much larger than an Ogre.

Rogue Trader Era Avatar of Khaine is still the greatest example of scale creep ever.

He's now shorter than a Kasrkin.