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Non-GW figures for Imperial Guard, OK or not OK?


warprat

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It's pretty much accepted as long as they look appropriate. Make sure they are armed with weapons that could be reasonably interpreted as the normal weapons (so an assault rifle is fine for a Lasgun, but a minigun probably is not. Likewise, a bazooka is alright for a Lascannon but not so much a BAR.)

 

Scale is the other issue- make sure they aren't excessively tiny or huge. No one wants to see Guardsmen who look like dwarves or giants.

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Hey Guys,

 

Before I pull the trigger on buying some cheap non-GW minis, what is the general consensus on this?   OK or not OK?  Can you use them at tournaments?   What if they have some GW parts, like guns?

 

 

 

 

Thanks in advance!

The basic idea is that if you buy non-standard models entirely to be cheap, they tend to look bad. The further they look from their intended model, the more it will distract from the game.

 

Buying non-standard models because they look awesome, for theme, or because you'll otherwise be able to make your army more awesome, that is fine. People make all sorts of exceptions if the army is just awesome.

 

So, if the goal is to buy cheap models AND have an awesome 40k army, then go for it.

 

If going for just a cheap army, I'd be wary of non-standard GW models for GW games. They just start adding up, very quickly. You are often better off looking for OOP GW metals on ebay (and locally), as those are often getting replaced by the newer plastics. $2-4 per model is about as cheap as 28mm models get (GW or otherwise). Astra Militarum isn't exactly a cheap army.

 

I will note that the biggest disadvantage with non-GW models is an often decreased resale value. This might not matter to you.

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paxmiles, I think you make some very good points here.   

 

It is amazing to me that people will pay good money for terribly painted GW minis on e-bay.  Talk about re-sale value...  I have been buying metal dreadnoughts for pretty cheap, though. The paint should strip off quite well.  Nobody likes dreads right now, but things change and can swing around again.  I really like the added weight, it somehow feels "right" when you pick it up and move it. 

 

I have been looking around at what is available.  The amazons were kind of an impulse choice, which is why I posted.  Thankfully, you guys managed to talk me down from the ledge. But I do love Deamonetts.  I bought 10 of the old metal figures just before they were discontinued...

 

I have noticed that there are quite a lot of good non-GW Ork figures.  And since Orks are so non-standardized and chaotic in nature, I think they could fit in with GW figures quite well.

 

And I have seen a nice Highlander set, that looks very good as Imperial Guard.   I believe they are pretty spendy, but less than GW.

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You can get a bag of 80 Warzone figures for really cheap. There are two forces in the bag, so you can pick out one to be veterans or only use the style you like best. 

 

You should make at least one squad of those Amazons. When using smaller minis like those Amazons, it's not a bad idea to put a booster in their base, like a penny, rock, or piece of corkboard. Tall and skinny looks better than short and skinny on the tabletop.

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If I were doing a foot Guard army I'd be all Perry Bro plastics. The cost vs quality ratio is (in my opinion) by far better than anything else out there. Cheaper than most options and better sculpted. Biggest issues are: they'll take a little work to sci-fi up and they're not heroic scaled so no mix and match.

Those are good prices (https://www.perry-miniatures.com/).

 

Any chance you've got a scale photo for those models?

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The Perry models are pretty good scale-wise, the drawback being that they are modeled to a more realistic scale than GWs version of 28mm so the heads, hands, and feet of their models are proportional to the models themselves but look small next to 40k or WH Fantasy models.

 

But that's no reason not to consider them, they're nice models with really good poses and detail. And, it's a big universe after all with millions of inhabited planets so play the models that you like and you can afford. The most important thing is to enjoy the game.

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The Perry models are pretty good scale-wise, the drawback being that they are modeled to a more realistic scale than GWs version of 28mm so the heads, hands, and feet of their models are proportional to the models themselves but look small next to 40k or WH Fantasy models.

 

But that's no reason not to consider them, they're nice models with really good poses and detail. And, it's a big universe after all with millions of inhabited planets so play the models that you like and you can afford. The most important thing is to enjoy the game.

The big concern would be if conversion/assembly of the Perry models increases the cost beyond buying used/new GW models.

 

I've certainly run into issues where a cheap conversion became very expensive once I realized how uncommon a certain GW weapon bit was.

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