Space Marines - GW Has Come a Long Way

[Bigred]

I recently came upon this shot of a complete Ultramarines army from 1991!

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And just marveled at this army from the fairly early days of the Warhammer 40K and what we have now 22 years later with the latest codex.

It's both pretty cool to see how far they came, and that GW like everyone else started from humble roots. Think about this picture when you are looking at other companies out there. Its nice to have some perspective.


I still have a bunch of those myself painted up in Blood Angels colors!

Anyone else?

[Mr Mystery]

Got a complete Dark Angels 5th Company dating from 2nd Edition.

Haven't used it in years, and co-owned by my now non-gamer brother.

So it will be going on EBay at some point soon!

So much metal! Plus Grey Knights, Terminator Inquisitors, loads of oddities and rarities!

[generalchaos34]

are those funky models in front of the land raiders old terminators? they look like transformers =P

[ElectricPaladin]

are those funky models in front of the land raiders old terminators? they look like transformers =P

Those would be Imperial robots. We used to have robots, back in the day.

[Bigred]

Oh no, those are Imperial Robots!

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Those funky looking dudes on the hill in far background right are the original Grey Knight Terminators

DRAT, ElectricPaladin is too fast... *grumble*

[nathaneal246]

Big Red and MrMystery could we please see some pictures of these armies you speak. Would be much appreciated!

[YorkNecromancer]

What really gets me: compare the picture of the old Castellan, ugliest of all the robots:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xnETz3mKCYs/UJNy5eSjXtI/AAAAAAAAE0c/ZjK0c3Mpg5o/s1600/70184+29-Castellan+Robot.JPG

To the Castellax, prettiest of the Forge World AdMech range:

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Images/Product/DefaultFW/xlarge/castellax-1.jpg

THAT'S progress.

[Denzark]

I prefer the original...

I counted the picture, I own an example of at least 1 of everything in it except the LR and the Robots - both sold...

[ElectricPaladin]

I'm a newcomer, and my Rogue Trader-era landraider - purchased on eBay for a mere $23! - is the jewel of my collection. I have it painted up in Exorcist colors. It was probably a gift from some First Founding chapter.

Personally, I like both the original robot and the new one. They're both cool in different ways.

[Mr Mystery]

Big Red and MrMystery could we please see some pictures of these armies you speak. Would be much appreciated!

Unfortunately, said army is 500 miles away in Edinburgh!

Quite the Labour of love that force! 1 complete company, and various parts of other companies. I think 4 metal Ravenwing Landspeeders, 2 metal hybrid Whirlwinds, pair of Vindicators, one of each standard Predator marks (hybrid kits), patched up original Landraider, 10 original Rhinos...

Loadsa bits and bobs!

[Bigred]

Big Red and MrMystery could we please see some pictures of these armies you speak. Would be much appreciated!

Damn, you're gonna make me do a Retro Army photoshoot....

Time to break out the camera.

[DrBored]

I'd love to see some old models side by side with some new models, particularly things like Dreadnoughts, Tacticals, and Rhinos. Everything's gotten bigger, sharper, more detailed, grittier, more tech-y...

Heck, just think, back 20 years ago there weren't things like the Kuratas ( http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/kuratas_robot.jpg ) or things like quantum computers or even USB flash drives or all sorts of other things that artists and designers can draw inspiration from these days.

[biffster666]

hehe, there is even a couple of the original Imperial Jet bikes in that picture. If I wasn't out of town until the beginning of Oct. I'd throw up a picture of the original Land Raider, Land Raider Spartan, Wolf Guard Termies, and Blood Claws I have in my SW army. I've also got a full squad of the origianl GK's with what are now the custodian gun/glaves. I've even got a few random old metal marines (both Chaos and Imperial) that are tiny. The old Rhino's, Predator's with bubble turrets, the metal whirlwind turret, the original metal Razorback turret with the HUGE blast shield on it, heh heh. Damn, I just dated myself bigtime /cackle! :D

[Arkhan Land]

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3733/9848533464_af52dbfed0_c.jpg

Some of us may have a few errrr things...

just the armoury, this is from my p&m on DD

[DWest]

I know the Razorback was a post-Heresy design, but I'm really hoping FW brings back the old gunshield-turret Razorbacks somehow.

[RGilbert26]

Is that the original Metal Thunderhawk?

[Arkhan Land]

tis the one, albeit there some missing/changed bits so it looks sort of in-betweenful to the FW model. I got it for real real cheap missing most all its weapons so those are all modern. Fortunately I went bit-ballisitic at FTW games a long time ago and had them handy

[Chris*ta]

Regarding the original image that started this thread, '91 isn't that long before the first multi-part Mk 7s were released, and armies looked quite similar to modern ones, at least in this type of group shot.

Some side-by-side comparisons of various early minis and their modern equivalents would be nice, for anyone who has the right minis.

[biffster666]

Nice Arkhan, an original metal Thawk! I just saw one recently on e-bay and granted it supposedly had all the parts still, but I still laughed that the individual had the min. bid at 3-4k. You've even got the 2xplasmagun/LC Razorback option back! No original 'blast shields' on the Vindicators? heh heh. The new Vindicator and Predator models are improvements IMO, but the original Whirlwind turret is so kewl!

[ElectricPaladin]

...the original Whirlwind turret is so kewl!

I maintain that in the move to take itself more seriously, GW dropped a lot of its best designs. Some of that janky old stuff was actually kind of cool. In a field with a lot of games that take themselves seriously, the old stuff was unique and interesting.

[magickbk]

What sets those old army shots apart from modern stuff the most is the paint. Old GW painting had this overly-bright palette, with a lack of serious depth technique. If one were to paint an old army and a new army to the same standard, in the same colors, it looks closer than one would think. BigRed's Alaitoc are a good example of this. He kept technique and color consistent across multiple generations of models, and then blend together very well.

Chris*ta is also right in that once the Space Marine Strike Force box was released, the overall look of Space Marines shifted quickly to what we all know of today.

[ElectricPaladin]

What sets those old army shots apart from modern stuff the most is the paint...

Someone made an excellent old-style Crimson Fists army painted to a modern standard. It was really beautiful.

[Spamthulhu]

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3733/9848533464_af52dbfed0_c.jpg

Some of us may have a few errrr things...

just the armoury, this is from my p&m on DD

Sorry, I am going to have to call you out on having predators that are too new :) I have one of the really old original preds in plastic. Thing is a piece of junk.