# Took a hiatus, general grab bag of questions



## swarmofseals (Mar 2, 2009)

Hi all -- I used to play warhammer (both FB and 40k) about 7-8 years ago and have recently been poking around the web looking to see where the game has gone in that time frame. I've been looking at the newer rules (I believe FB was 5th edition when I last played), army books, models, etc. and have quite a few questions for those of you who are actively involved in the hobby.

1. I'll go for the simplest question first. Is there any way to salvage old paint pots? While I probably don't have time to get back into the hobby now, I still think that painting a bit here and there might be fun. That said, replacing all my old paints would be a serious barrier to entry. I have a box full of old paint pots that have sat unused for the better part of a decade and have almost certainly all dried out. The inks are gone I'm sure due to evaporation -- but can the regular paints be saved by re-mixing in water or by some other method?

2. One of the things that I've noticed hasn't changed much are the attitudes about game balance. There has always seemed to be a lot of ill will toward folks who build competitive lists or play factions that others see as more powerful. I remember before I left the hobby, the "best general" award was actually being removed from tournaments! I used to blame GW a bit for this for not maintaining better game balance, and I see that hasn't changed all that much since I played -- that said, I see that "best general" is back and the level of discourse regarding strategy has improved a lot. Is there generally a better competitive warhammer scene now? Also, has a dichotomy between casual and competitive games and venues solidified? I know when I played Magic, there were similar community issues when it came to tournament players vs. casual players. That said, these types of players tended to self segregate a lot and there was a great deal of support for both factions. The casual folks had plenty of fun around the kitchen table and even had some more casual tournament support, while more competitive players had plenty of tournament support and could easily find other likeminded players. There wasn't much if any stigma attached to playing a powerful decklist. Is the same now true for warhammer, or are you going to get blackballed for playing a strong list?

3. Special characters tend to be featured more prominently in the army books now. Back when I played, most tournaments did not allow special characters... then again, that was serious Herohammer. My self-build Khorne Lord from 5th ed could go toe to toe with today's Bloodthirster and probably win. Is use of special characters generally more accepted now? If so, I see this as a bit silly given that the game supposedly wanted to move away from being totally focused on characters.

4. It seems that in the last 8 years some significant competition has sprung up. Between operations like privateer and more boutique companies like ultraworld and gamezone, there are some really impressive minis out there that would look great in warhammer armies. That said, back when I used to play using anything other than GW minis was a SERIOUS no-no. GW venues wouldn't let you play there with anything but pure GW painted and flocked armies, and in my experience non-GW stores tended to enforce these rules too, albeit less strictly. Obviously friendly at-home play groups are nad have always been free to do whatever they want. Has the general perception and acceptability of use of non-gw minis gotten any better over time?

5. How easy is it to get OOP stuff? I remember it being pretty difficult but not impossible back when I used to play, and I would hope things have improved a bit. I know citadel had some mail order service where you could get oop stuff from them, although it was UK only if I recall correctly, and shipping to the states was atrociously expensive and slow. I ask mainly because the newer versions of some models are just plain worse than some of the old versions IMO, even though many of the new models are light years ahead of their older counterparts. A great example is the new daemonettes. Back when I used to play, I thought that the daemonette models were awful. Now a new plastic kit is out which looks allright -- I like the command a lot, but the rest of the models are seriously lackluster. Then I find out that in between when I played and this new plastic kit, there was a different line of daemonettes that look WAY better. If I were to want to field a unit like this, I'd almost certainly want to go with those OOP ones over the new plastics.

Thanks for taking the time to read and/or these questions =)


----------



## comrade (Jun 30, 2008)

Well I can answer 4 and 5

4: Yes GW still does not allow non-GW models into tournaments, Last I heard, it has to be 75% GW miniature to be legal in tourny play.

5: OOP models. You can find them on EBay, thats about it, and sometimes if you looking into the trading sections of certain forums, you can find em easily enough.the Deamonettes you speak of were the models that were inbetween the current and the early ones you speak of. Great models, though not very kid friendly, if you catch my meaning. They are actually well liked so they are a bit hard to find.


----------



## maddermax (May 12, 2008)

well for 2, the game is a bit better balanced than it used to be many editions past, but still, there are power builds/power armies ect. I don't know about other places, but the few tournys I've seen here in Aus have all had sportsmanship and army selection taken into account for the top prize, so that helps people keep their lists somewhat balanced. If you're looking into competition though, still a lot of rules-lawyers, powerbuilds and people-who-must-win-at-any-cost, you can't get rid of them, but it is it doesn't seem all that rampant.

4) if your playing in a competition/GW store, then its probably as comrade says (never checked it out before). For other stores/friends then yeah, some of the other brands do make a different looking army, but its always a bit limiting if you can't play it in certain places. Better to base most of your army off GW, and have a few units/conversions from non-GW models, to add a bit of individuality.

5) as Comrade says, Ebay is your best bet. They also have a few of the older models in the collectors section of the GW website, (GW - warhammer - warhammer collectors) but not everything they used to have.

Hope that helps somewhat!


----------



## newsun (Oct 6, 2008)

Well no one has taken a stab at 1 or 3 so:

For old paints I think it depends, if it's totally dry, then you may not be able to salvage and I don't have much experience here. If it is at least a bit moist still. You can definitely thin things out with water assuming a water based paint and I believe some special flow release mixture found at an art store. Even just water will help and stirring well.

As to special characters, that is going to depend strongly on where and with who you play. Where I play we don't play with them. Though they were allowed at a recent tournament I attended and not at the next one I have planned.

I personally like playing with out them and dislike when certain things are only possible with taking one. An example from one of the armies I play is that I can only get poison to my arrows if I play the Khalida special character. If I could still get this, even at a high cost without her, I would be more pleased.

I will also take a quick stab at 5 as well: If the army you are collecting is one of the more recent ones, there are people who have old minis from them often that they want to sell off, though sometimes at a semi-premium price. ebay and craigslist and talking with local gamers can garner things too.


----------



## swarmofseals (Mar 2, 2009)

comrade said:


> Well I can answer 4 and 5
> 
> 4: Yes GW still does not allow non-GW models into tournaments, Last I heard, it has to be 75% GW miniature to be legal in tourny play.



Thanks for the replies all! 

I'm a bit confused on this one -- do you mean to say that GW sponsored events require armies that are at least 75% gw models, or that GW sponsored events require 100% GW models and third party events tend to require 75%? Also, am I correct in assuming that this is counted numerically rather than pointwise?

Either way, that does sound more lenient than what I was used to. You can do a lot to make your army unique/stand out with 25%, especially if its based on numbers and not on points.


----------



## neilbatte (Jan 2, 2008)

What he means is that if you convert a model/army at least 75% of each model must be GW based so a headswap from another suppliers range would be ok but any unconverted models have to be GW. I don't really go for the tournament stuff so can't really say how strictly its enforced but most GW stop you playing with other manufacturers models.


----------



## squeek (Jun 8, 2008)

Regarding non-GW models, I spoke to a guy who has quite a lot of say in this area at Warhammer World events about this very topic. He said there is no magic percentage that must be GW in each model. He decides on a model by model basis and recommends that photos are sent in advance of any models that may cause concern, to stop last minute issues.

GW do not like you using other companies models in their events, though a good conversion using GW and parts from a 3rd party company may well be accepted. He said that he tends to base his decisions on a WYSIWYG approach, if the model is quite obviously what you say it is and is not obviously from another company you are normally ok. GW stores seem to vary depending on the manager, some are more relaxed than others so best bet is to ask in advance.


----------



## Stuntiesrule (Mar 22, 2009)

for paints that have dried try just putting drops of water in and mixing until it either seems about right. however I have never tried to revive paints quite that old.


----------



## Tigirus (Apr 13, 2008)

I personally have never had any issues with using non-gw models, such as my halo warthog I use as a landspeeder. As long as you don't make too big of a scene out of it you'll be fine.


----------



## Creon (Mar 5, 2009)

Last year the Grand Tournaments stated that it had to start as a GW model and be a majority of GW parts. As stated above, what a "majority" means was subject to interpretation.


----------

