The new Grand Cathay Battalion boxed set has finally convinced me that it's time to get into Warhammer: The Old World

As I get older, my love for retro Warhammer has only gotten stronger. I've been slowly collecting the 2nd edition 40K Codexes that I didn't get at the time and have a real fondness for the miniatures from that era. I still play Space Hulk with some regularity and, as I've mentioned in these pages before, I pine for my long lost copy of the very first Warhammer Quest.

One thing I've managed to resist getting into, however, has been Warhammer: The Old World. Perhaps because I like Age of Sigmar so much, I've felt no real compulsion to dive into a revived version of Fantasy Battle. It's cool to see the old models back on the shelves, but there's been nothing that tipped me over into actually wanting to get into the game... until now.

Yep, the Grand Cathay battalion set has been on my desk for a few weeks now and the models are every bit as gorgeous as they look in the preview photos. There's a whole heap of them in this set too (which appears to be currently out of stock at Amazon, but can be found for £93.50 at Magic Madhouse, down from £110) which is going to take me quite some time to complete. Every one of these miniatures is a little work of art that deserves a lot of time putting into it.

Building the models

So let's take a look at what you get in the box: a total of 50 miniatures, which breaks down into 30 infantry, 10 cavalry, and two large artillery pieces with supporting crew. You don't get the army book included – so I will not be touching on any of the rules here. Probably a good thing, as it's been over 20 years since I played Fantasy Battle and I haven't dug into The Old World rulebook yet.

I started by tackling a couple of the basic troops, the Jade Warriors. These are nice and easy to assemble, despite the intricacy of the models and the many fiddly parts. They're mono-pose kits, but they look beautiful and can be assembled with either hand weapons and shields, or with halberds. Each unit also comes with the options to make standard bearers, musicians, and Jade Officers – the unit's champion.

One thing to note is that some of the details are quite finely moulded, so be careful when you prime and paint them as they're not going to forgive being layered up with too many thick coats of paint.

With a few of the Warriors painted, I turned my attention to the cavalry models, known as Jade Lancers. I mentioned in my recent review of the Gloomspite Gitz Gitmob Army Set how much I detest working on cavalry. The kits in that set were remarkably well designed, fitting together perfectly with no hassle whatsoever, so I was hopeful that the same would be the case here.

Alas, while the 10 Jade Lancers included here are beautiful models that look fantastic when built and painted, actually getting them to that point is the problem...

With such intricate models, building and painting in sub assemblies is a must if you want to get good results. In the case of the Jade Lancers that means painting the horse separate to the rider, then attaching the two. The trouble is, the riders – from the few that I've built so far – don't always sit perfectly flush on the mounts. Complicating matters are the reins, which only sort of attach.

The Champion model is a great kit that went together nice and simply. The Standard Bearer I made and painted, however, is more awkward. Fitting everything together meant the rider leaning forward, which leaves an unsightly gap at the back. It's not a huge deal and can be made less noticeable with careful painting, but should you pick the model up and look you can see that the brave rider has no pants. Or, indeed, an ass. It doesn't help that the assembly guide is occasionally a little hard to parse.

It's not the end of the world and the miniature looks good when finished, but getting the miniature to that point was slightly frustrating.

Heavy metal

Finally, I came to the artillery models. You get two of these in the box, which can be built as either a Fire Rain Rocket Battery or a Cathayan Grand Cannon. You could choose to have one of each type, or build two of the same with the contents of this box – I elected the former.

Putting these together was simple enough, but not without a few slight issues. Gluing the two halves of the dragon head encasement that surrounds the barrel of the weapon involved sitting and pinching the two halves tightly together for about 20 minutes while waiting for your glue to bond properly. Even when that's done it'll likely require some filing and filling.

On the plus side, it's possible to build the kit so you can detach the barrel for easier painting. Also, a clever little screw mechanism makes it easy to adjust the positioning of the cannon's barrel. Neat.

Supporting the artillery are a range of crew models. These are some of my favorite miniatures in the set – they're so full of personality and detail. Each artillery piece comes with four crew figures, split into three humans and an ogre, who does the heavy lifting. Some are loading rockets or lighting a cannon fuse, others hauling wheelbarrows full of munitions. These are really great miniatures, which I opted to paint in a different color to the infantry, again putting a spin on the box art colors by paining their uniforms in a royal blue.

There's 50 miniatures in this jam-packed army set and I haven't painted anywhere close to that number yet. They're all so detailed that they really do require all of your focus. The results will be worth it though – I can't wait to see blocks of my fully-painted Jade Warriors all lined up and ready to do battle, just like in the old days.

I do think that the complexity of these miniatures is a bit of a big ask for rank and file infantry. Obviously, the models look superb and really capture the look of the unit types as seen in Total War: Warhammer III, but if you're keen to paint your army to a decent standard then its gonna take time – and that's not factoring in the fiddlyness of assembling some of the models

Still, "the models are too good" is a high class problem to have. If you have the patience to get stuck into a really in-depth hobby project, then this is for you. As the first all new army in The Old World game, this really does feel like the real start of the game. No doubt GW will be keeping a keen eye on how this range, and in particular this boxed set, sells.

So, any chance of Kislev next?

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