A trip to the folks and down warhammer memory lane.

I was at my parents for the bank holiday weekend and while down there I finally had time to go through and catalog the Miniatures stored there. I’ll probably cover that further down the road as I took very few pictures (though it included all my Orcs and Goblins, many of which are oldhammer figures), however I did come across a few gems whilst delving in cupboards and boxes.

The first being my copies of the warhammer fantasy battle 3rd edition rule book and army book. These are still some of my favourite GW publications ever. The rule book alone, on almost ever page, contains multiple paintings and drawings, including many by (but not exclusive to) the great john blanche! The only others GW book that comes close to the enjoyment I get flicking through this, was the 40k equivalent of the day.

No wonder the book was so big when so much of it was artwork

The army book, as well as containing every army, also gave sample armies from well known names from back in the day (complete with mullets on many!). It included one of my favourites Kevin ‘Goblin Master’ Adams.

One thing that jumps out is the difference in painting styles on miniatures from them to today. There also seemed to be a preference to varnish everything.

The second ‘gem’ I came across were 2 large boxes of white dwarf magazines and citadel catalogs and at the top was issue 123 which contains one of my favourite ever battle reports (3rd ed. rules between chaos and Orc and goblins). Forget the modern day report with pictures and battle chronicler, it was very much a narrative affair with sketched maps (in the same manner as the report in WD120). If you run across a copy, I recommend giving it a read. 

The third and final ‘gem’ were 34 citadel halfling models and the halfling hotpot. These hail back to when you could still take them in Empire armies. Now I will say straight off the bat that these were bought for my sister and were painted in the main, by her, when she was still in primary school so at some point I will have to dig out the dettol to strip them. 

However, the reason I count these as one of my gems is simply because I love the sculpts. Every one of them is unique and tells it’s own story from the lady armed with just a broom, to the professional militia man, to the peddler, to the multitude eating or drinking. They all have such character and I think they sum up why oldhammer figures are so collectible.