Should Games Workshop (I really can't see them letting FF do it) put out miniatures for Dark Heresy? What would you want in it? Does it actually need it (considering you can use other 40k miniatures)? What figures do you use in your games?

Two years ago, there were rumors that GW were going to be releasing an Inquisition-themed skirmish game; I was looking forward to it, if for no other reason than to repurpose figures for DH . Alas, that never materialized...

I don't think the WH40KRPG line registers high enough on GW 's radar to make figures specifically for it, but, since they have said that they see their primary audience as 'collectors and modelers' rather than gamers, they really should be striving for ever greater variety and 'kit bash-ability' with their miniatures. Customizable multi-part plastic Inquisitors and retinue would fit in well with their targeting of 'collectors and modelers'.

Until then, we're stuck with creating our own custom figs ...

Oh man, that reminds me of ye golden times when you could actually get minis for stuff like hive gangers and frateris militia.

In the link Adeptus put, I mention that my group use Infinity miniatures (in addition to the standard GW 40k figures), as they are great individual looking figures and Raging Heroes has released a horde of great female figures, a lot of individual figures that work great, plus troops figures.

My current character is actually a female from the Infinity line and a head that was perfect match from Raging Heroes.

~ alemander

and Raging Heroes has released a horde of great female figures ..

Let's just say opinions are split over Raging Heroes' pin-up girls.

and Raging Heroes has released a horde of great female figures ..

Let's just say opinions are split over Raging Heroes' pin-up girls.

Wow, I need to get those.

Lynata, Don't look at the game "Macho Women with Guns"

and Raging Heroes has released a horde of great female figures ..

Let's just say opinions are split over Raging Heroes' pin-up girls.

I don't get the outrage over "pin-up" type mini's. It's a fantasy game! I don't get offended with "beef cake" male figures even though I look nothing like that and neither do most men! When one is playing a fantasy type game I would assume they usually want some kind of heroic archtype. Said archtypes are usually in extremely good physical condition at peak adventuring age. That is to say basically young and beautiful (Regardless of gender)! What's the beef?

BTW: I just looked at the "Raging heroes" line and they look pretty cool! They are VERY well detailed and would obviously fit well in a 40k environment. I have tried to look for female mini's before and not come up with much. These are as good as any others I've seen.

In answer to the OP: GW does have an Inquisition faction in their current lineup. Any of these mini's would fit well in a DH game. Further: The IG, Stormtrooper and Grey knights factions also have a number of possibilities. Finally; The Adeptus mechanicus and Sisters of Battle have an entire faction all to itself to draw on! So, I guess the answer to your post is; they already do! The only thing I can't regularly find in GW anymore are the Arbitrators but I bet you could still find them on EBay if you wanted. Also, An outfit called Warlord games has an entire line of Judge Dredd mini's if anyone's interested!

GW should do a lot of things, but they've never capitalised on their licensed products before so I don't see them doing it now.

BYE

Oh man, that reminds me of ye golden times when you could actually get minis for stuff like hive gangers and frateris militia.

-And each individual figure- and part!- was available from their mail order department. Yeah...

When I heard that GW was no longer going to be supporting their Specialty games line, I snapped up a couple sets of Necromunda gangs (they were no longer available individually- only as non-optimal [**** Juves!] sets): a set of Delaque and a set of Van Sar, to use in DH . I wish I could have afforded even more of them, since now they are only available for excessive prices on eBay...

Privateer Press is trying to become the new 'good old days'-version of GW , by offering their stuff as individual bitz on their online store. Unfortunately, their figures tend to vary significantly in scale, making 'mix-and-match' conversions problematic. They've recently begun to convert from metal to multi-part plastics for their 'units', but these figures are deliberately designed to go together in only one configuration; they aren't even posable , much less interchangable with other figs for 'kit-bashing' projects.

I don't get the outrage over "pin-up" type mini's. [...] What's the beef?

The "beef" is that it's incredibly difficult to find miniatures of female characters who actually look like competent fighters rather than nightclub dancers, usually referring to poses and physical characteristics, sometimes clothes (depending on what they're supposed to depict - depending on the archetype, sexy clothes can indeed be suitable or even expected).

The reason you're not "offended with beefcake males" is because their design focuses on the "masculine" qualities of strength and physical prowess (absolutely adequate for most types of P&P characters) rather than appearing sweet to please the onlooker. It's cool if you want pin-ups in your game. But I would prefer characters who look like they belong into the setting, and - some notable exceptions from studios like Reaper aside - apparently that isn't possible with current industry standards, so I'm somewhat salty.

I would aggro a lot less if people wouldn't constantly praise the RH line as if it would actually portray female fighters oozing the same combat prowess as the average male mini does. It's rather ironic that if you want this, you'd have to go to Games Workshop!

tl;dr: Ever heard of sexual dimorphism?

The only thing I can't regularly find in GW anymore are the Arbitrators but I bet you could still find them on EBay if you wanted.

I think a lot of DH characters wear semi-civilian garb, for which only Inquisition minis are a good fit -- and the selection there is pretty narrow. The amount of options has shrunk considerably ever since you cannot order stuff like hive gangers anymore.

At least they still sell most of the old IG minis (with exception to the female Catachan).

They've recently begun to convert from metal to multi-part plastics for their 'units', but these figures are deliberately designed to go together in only one configuration; they aren't even posable , much less interchangable with other figs for 'kit-bashing' projects.

I have to say, I'm probably one of the few weird people who actually prefer metal over plastic. It's just got a totally different "feel" in your hands ... and isn't actually that much more expensive, depending on where you look.

I have to say, I'm probably one of the few weird people who actually prefer metal over plastic. It's just got a totally different "feel" in your hands ... and isn't actually that much more expensive, depending on where you look.

A friend of mine- a true old-timey gamer who has been buying minis since the first edition of 40K hit store shelves- also says the 'feel' of metal figs are a major consideration for him. I prefer the increased 'dimensionality' of multi-part plastics (metal figures, which are more labor-intensive to cast and thus usually designed to require as few pieces as possible, are often posed too flat to look realistic). Plus I'm addicted to customizing, which is a major pain with metal figs: even something as simple as swapping an arm is a laborious chore (carefully sawing it off, hoping that the thickness of the saw doesn't remove too much material, then drilling holes and pinning the parts together- since superglue really dislikes two smooth metal surfaces- and then mixing up some 'green stuff' to cover the joint, since the joint of two metal areas will be painfully visible otherwise. Yech...). With modular plastics, you can focus your efforts on developing creative designs rather than tedious, finger-cramping fiddly-work.

That's true, increased customisability is the one advantage I have to admit plastics have over metals. Personally, it's a sacrifice I'd be willing to make, but only because I'd be fine with only rigging major characters like my army's leader (and even there I would only switch weapons rather than trying for new poses -- though so far I didn't feel a need to do even that).

For someone who wants to give their entire army a special touch, it's obviously undoable...

Can't have your cake and eat it, too, I guess.

Being mildly OCD, I couldn't resist planning out how I would make a multi-part plastic Inquisitor and Retinue kit. GW ’s plastic Shadow Warriors/Maiden Guard combo set established that they could make multipart kits that can produce both (tall) female and (thin) male figures simply with alternate heads and torsos.

HEADS-

Attractive, Heroic (Male)

Attractive, Heroic (Female)

Elderly w/ Scars/Cybernetics (Male)

Elderly w/ Scars/Cybernetics (Female)

Hooded, Severe Face (Male)

Hooded, Severe Face (Female)

Flaming Crown (Male)

Elaborate Piled Locks (Female)

Full-Face Gasmask

Skull-Faced Carapace Helmet

TORSOS-

Robed (Male)

Robed (Female)

Stormcoat (Male)

Stormcoat (Female)

Carapace Armour (Male)

Carapace Armour (Female)

LEGS-

Long Robes

Pants & High Leather Boots

Carapace Armour

Cybernetic Replacement Limb

ARMS (Hands Separate)-

Loose Full Sleeves

Tattered Sleeves, Strap-Wrapped Forearms

Stormcoat Sleeves w/ Wide Cuffs

Carapace Armour

Cybernetic Replacement Limb

HANDS-

Empty (Right & Left) x2

Holding Laspistol

Holding Boltpistol

Holding Plasma Pistol

Holding Inferno Pistol

Holding Sword

Holding Chainsword

Holding Power Sword

Holding Skull-Topped Cane

Holding Staff

Holding Open Book

Holding Torch

ADD-ONS-

Inquisitorial and Ecclesiarchial Icons, Purity Seals

Tabbard (fits Robed and Carapace bodies)

Ceremonial Stole (fits Robed and Carapace bodies)

Tricorn Hat, Puritan Hat (fit Heroic and Elderly Heads)

Epaulettes (fit Stormcoat Torso/Arms)

Cravat (fits Stormcoat Torso)

‘Up-Armour’ Bits [Oversized Shoulder Plates, Raised Metal Collar, Knee Pistons, Power Pack] (fit onto Carapace Armour , turning it into Light Power Armour)

Shoulder-Mounted Targeteer

Backpack

Large Books (strapped to back)

I could add more to the Hand and Add-On options, but my OCD is starting to drift...

Wouldn't be profitable. Small runs would need people to actually buy the items at a high price or you'd need them to be part of a board game released by FF like Space Hulk or Betrayal at Calth. If you look at how much those primarchs cost on FW, then you'll get an idea of what price you need to sell things at to make a profit, if you want their kind of quality. If you are willing to skimp on quality, then there are options. If you are really willing to skimp 3d printing becomes an option.

Your best hope is that someone like chapterhouse studios makes something to mod something from the existing lines. People have made Dark Heresy parties before. I run on roll20 because I can generate tokens quicker than painted miniatures.

http://www.chapterhousestudios.com/

http://www.pig-iron-productions.com/

You can learn to resin cast pretty quickly if you are at all artistically or mechanically inclined.

My flatmate recently made me aware of HeroForge again.

I already knew it existed, but they seem to have expanded the amount of options considerably from last time I looked at them years ago. Now you even have sliders to make minor adjustments to stuff like facial expression.

My only regret: no tin, only plastic, steel and bronze.

But how's this for a Sororitas Novice with carapace and a combat shotgun? Even has the Angry Nun face.

And while we're at it ... Inquisitor with chainsword and stub gun!

Sadly, it's missing quite a bunch of other signature weapons from 40k (for obvious reasons), but with plastics, such post-production modifications should not be too difficult to do as long as you have the necessary bitz.

Wouldn't be profitable.

Not if it was produced solely for WH40KRP; but as part of the 40K tabletop line- where boxed sets for niche items (like Empire Wizards or Catachan Command Squads) can be produced in bulk (and thus at a discount) and then kept on the market year after year until they sell- they would do comparable to many other current GW products.

Wouldn't be profitable.

Not if produced solely for WH40KRP, but as part of the 40K tabletop line, where boxed sets for niche items (like Empire Wizards or Catachan Command Squads) can be produced in bulk (and thus at a discount) and then kept on the market year after year until they sell, they would do comparable to many other current GW products.

You've got to understand that there are a lot of high fixed costs associated with making minis. I worked in a similar industry for a while, so I'm pretty good at judging what you can make profit off and all the stuff involved. Doing small limited at resolution runs requires you to pretty much do resin casting. GW IP is expensive. Good models that people will buy require superstar artists who don't come cheap. Then there are a ton of other costs.

You see some stuff like these kickstarters and it will give you a good idea. Remember this guy is probably trying to grow his business and is doing his own design.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gbg/fantasy-resin-custom-miniatures-collection/description

The only way this will happen is if FF or GW makes a Dark Heresy 40k board game. Like Space Hulk or Betrayal at Calth.

To be fair, if GW can produce "limited edition minis" like a female Commissar you can only buy when attenting GamesDay during a specific year, they should also be able to also afford permanent additions to the line that just don't sell as much as other permanent offers do. The end result should be pretty similar, or even more profitable.

The true reason they wouldn't consider it is probably because it's not profitable enough for some high threshold where the execs decreed that investments should not go over X, and must yield no less than Y in return before day Z. Spend as little as possible for maximum profits; if you look at it this way, a lot of their business decisions start to make more sense ... at least from their point of view (which I'd still consider shortsighted).

A lot of those 'specialty miniatures' are actually failed projects or fun projects done by the artists.

You are effectively paying for the mold with the magazine or ticket price. They anticipate sales in these cases too as 'limited runs'. If games day has 2k spaces and sold 1.5k tickets the year before they can be reasonably confident they can move 1.5k minis. Same with the white dwarf minis.

I agree that their business plan isn't great. It's just that they've survived, which if you think about it is incredible. How many competitors have been sold ? How many war game companies are out of business since they started. They did the impossible and of course their attention to profit is a lot of the reason for that.

If you guys want to get a petition together with money locked down for potentially a few years maybe we can get this done.

Their survival certainly is remarkable. I'm just convinced they would have seen fewer losses still if they'd handle their franchise a little more ... hmmh, responsible? Right now, with the steep entry price, it seems they are almost exclusively focusing on existing customers, not even expecting new people to join in anymore. Needless to say, this business model is living a timed life -- as can be seen in the annual sales numbers.

I want to believe they could do so much more. Only a decade ago, they would not even have any competitors of name as they essentially had the market cornered. Now people are switching to Warmachine etc in droves. Not that competition is necessarily bad; a lot of companies take it as an incentive to get more creative in an attempt to lure more people to their side. But GW, well ...

Then again, with the recently announced relaunch of Specialist Games -- let's see where this goes. Maybe a miracle can still happen, right?

If you guys want to get a petition together with money locked down for potentially a few years maybe we can get this done.

You know, I always wondered why "kickstarters" don't become a fixed part of many companies' business model. Imagine, you could have GW set a price tag on how much it costs to produce a new mini, then add a profit tax on it, and basically say: "go nuts, people! pre-order and pay for X amount of minis from your favourite character from all over 40k or WHFB, and when the counter reaches this number, we'll begin making them!"

And projects that don't get funded after 6 months have their money returned.

Literally voting with your wallets, if you will. And as a bonus, imagine what a company can do with 6 months' worth of cash for a product they never actually had to make ...

Kickstarters will eventually enter business models. I know that Onyx Path is involved in them to an insane degree. I think there is probably too significant a lead time to miniatures though to make it super viable. I wouldn't be surprised though to see smaller batches eventually.

There are strong rumors that Games Workshop is bringing back Specialist Games and folding the Middle Earth Games into them. Truth be told, it's no longer a rumor- look at the career's website: http://jobs.games-workshop.com/category/global-studio/

At the time of writing they are advertising positions for a specialist game fluff writer, specialist game model maker and rules designer to bring back games such as Battlefleet Gothic. Whilst this won't mean we get Dark Heresy models, it will mean we will get more 40k models that don't belong in armies and are a good fit for Dark Heresy (like the old Necromunda gangers).

My Necromunda gangs have serviced Dark Heresy very well over the years. More Necro models would be fantastic.

BYE

Kickstarters will eventually enter business models. I know that Onyx Path is involved in them to an insane degree. I think there is probably too significant a lead time to miniatures though to make it super viable. I wouldn't be surprised though to see smaller batches eventually.

Onyx Path does really good--when they have most of the product done vs. using kickstarter for start-up capital. Too many times, I see kickstarter used to establish research and development/income (i.e. "support my lifestyle so I can do this") capital rather than production/distribution (i.e. "we have a product or most of the product done, we just don't have the capabilities to mass produce/distribute or make it look glorious money!") capital.

Kickstarter should never be used as income (despite the need to declare it as such on taxes).

But I'm digressing from the topic...