Paint. Play. Repeat!: Games Workshop Sci-Fi 28 mm Miniatures Images

Why

With the success of the 8th edition of Warhammer 40.000, new versions of older games that Games Workshops produced were launched. Among them, one that I had wished I was collecting at its time: Kill Team, a skirmish wargame set in Warhammer 40k universe. When it was released I was in general happy, started to collect the miniatures and play the skirmish wargame, but fast the products related to Kill Team were beginning to go out of stock, out for good, because of the marketing of Games Workshop. No matter, I have enjoyed the game and the miniatures collected and decided to try to make here a review of them along with a gallery of images.

Another good reason for doing this gallery of images and review is because I thought that the miniatures from Games Workshop were too expensive and you could not play a wargame without spending a lot of money to assemble armies of plastic miniatures. Looking back, I am very glad I was able to collect some of the miniatures and to have some plays of the wargame, but only somewhere near its minimal requirements. I like the miniatures, and the more I knew the market of miniatures in different scales, the more I came to appreciate Games Workshop's miniatures and to know that the prices are high, but in terms of what you get and in comparison with other manufacturers, Games Workshop is a good manufacturer of miniatures for all of us (not all companies, and not all of their ranges, but the idea remains...).

How

The miniatures come in a sprue so you have to cut and remove unwanted parts and clean and wash with liquid soap. In assembling them you have to be careful with the super glue as not all the parts will stick good from the start, and also some of the designs are spectacular, but not easy to assemble. Another problem in this step, but with a silver lining, comes from the many parts that you receive for the customization. With lots of options comes lots of problems, but you will figure out which one you like, from the way it will look, or from a wargaming point of view (unit composition rules, point-based restrictions). You can prime the miniatures for you may want on some of the miniatures, for the paints to be applied strong, to limit the chipping it can appear (though the miniatures are from plastic, the designs bring some problems). The miniatures come with a corresponding base. You will have to work the base, painting it and placing some basing materials, but with time, money and care invested, good results can be achieved. Videos and sites with lot of information help big time and they are easy to find because Warhammer is one of the best known wargame.

Results

I have collected miniatures for two factions from Warhammer 40.000 before Kill Team arrived. When the latter skirmish wargame was (re)launched, other miniatures from other factions were collected.

Review

Games Workshop is a renown company for its quality in casting the miniatures, incredible designs of the miniatures, good wargames and high prices. All is true, but let me point some thoughts. The casting is with very good quality, but because the miniatures come in sprue, you will spend some time to cut and in cleaning the miniatures. The designs are truly great, but sometimes you will have some problems to figure out how to assemble some of the miniatures (my epic fails are many, but look at Exalted). There is no problem in doing mistakes if you will learn from them. And when you are experinced and still making mistakes, sometimes is because you are surprised by some of the designs, and this has a good aspect, in that you continue learning (I also have the notion that a painted miniature is never "finished" - if you remain in this hobby you will learn something or discover some methods or some materials that will improve your miniature - it is fun and you have to deal with it:)). Another ”but” has to be mentioned here: but the miniatures from Games Workshop come with the BEST assembling guides in the miniatures market.

The prices are high, but the miniatures in 28mm height really are worth the prices, with exceptions, as some of the miniatures and their prices reflect more the wargame importance than the designs or raw materials and ideas invested in the miniatures. Another point for prices: they are not that high when you are able to know a little bit the market, in terms of what you pay and what you receive. Some manufacturers are making miniatures with a larger gap between the two indicators, so you may arrive to the conclusion that Games Workshop and their miniatures are more than good. The problems are increased by the wargames in which the miniatures are used, that influence the prices and designs and other things.

There are other things that can be said, but I will stick to write that Gellerpox Infected and Elucidian Starstriders are incredible miniatures and the story that Games Workshop invests in Warhammer 40.000, sadly not for Kill Team, is great, and I like those of Necrons and Adeptus Mechanicus. At least, with the miniatures that I have I can easily play Kill Team, while for Warhammer 40K is hard.

Surely, you do not have to paint miniatures from Games Workshop to be a good painter of miniatures or to play their wargames to be a good wargamer or to read the stories around Warhammer 40K to be a science fiction fan, but you will miss some of the best miniatures, stories and quite good wargames that exist on the market, and this, for some decades now!

Click on the links to access the galleries of the ranges of miniatures, totaling 50+ miniatures and thousands of corresponding images.