Top 10 Worst Games Workshop Kits & Components

 

We've all been there. The tiny bits that are easily dropped and get lost in the warp forever, the difficult to glue parts that force you to hold them together for what seems like hours on end, the thin plastic pieces that break when you try to clip them off... Some kits are just a nightmare to build and leave you rocking in the corner, hands covered in super glue, chanting "why?" over and over wondering what you ever did for Games Workshop to torment you so.

So today we will be discussing what was voted by the community over on X, Facebook and Instagram to be the worst model parts and kits that hobbyists, especially new hobbyists, should be wary of building or, if possible, just miss out completely. If you pick up a box or a blister pack containing any of the below, let us warn you of the Horrors that await you before you pick up that hobby knife...

10
3rd Edition Necron Warriors

There will be many of you that will not be familiar with this particular kit, partially because they're (fortunately) out of production now and have been for a good 4-5 years, but also because when they were readily available, Necrons as a faction were far less popular. But I was there, during the dark days, and I have built built 80 or so of the damnable things during my time in the hobby.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing inherently wrong with the 3rd Edition Necron Warrior models, they look decent aesthetically and unless you've actually built them you'll find no fault with the kit generally, so what exactly makes this kit so bad? Well for starters, unlike literally every other Necron plastic kit Games Workshop has ever made, Citadel decided that each warrior head should be attached to their sprue by both cheeks, and you've seen how Necron faces are shaped right? You had to carefully sculpt out the remaining sprue from each individual face, and we are talking about a unit that is both battleline and teetering on the edge of being horde like.

Then there's the arms, by the Emperor, the arms! These things still give me grief to this day. Not only are the ball and socket joints not particularly well suited to plastic glue but the super skinny arms are really easy to lose and too fiddly to align properly to use super glue, especially given the ridiculously shallow socket that joins the left arm with the hand sculpted onto the gun piece - my Warriors always break when I take them to a game and are commonly seen on my hobby desk being held together by my assembly handle because I am not sitting there for 5 hours holding them in place. All this was made even worse back in the early editions where these guys were mounted on 25mm bases that, considering how far apart their legs were meant the base would only make contact with about 25% of each foot which made mounting them an incredibly painful process.

Fortunately at the Dawn of 9th edition these kits were replaced. They will not be missed.

9
Ork Trukks

Now I know what you're thinking - how exactly does a kit belonging to a faction famous for throwing random gubbinz together even make it onto this list? Well, that'd be because Citadel has had many, many years experience in making simple ideas arduous and difficult, and the Ork Trukk is a master class in how to do just that.

I think what the main issue with the Trukk is that this is a kit that assumes to add too much order into a naturally messy and junky faction, the numerous parts simulating random bits of scrap stuck together that have to go together cleanly in a way that is completely unclear in the instructions creates a confusing and frustrating paradox that leaves many parts ironically stuck in the wrong place. Not only that but Trukks suffer a similar issue as the Warriors in the last entry, you're going to want a few of these.

Honestly it might be better to pour Tamiya Thin all over your bits box and stick 4 wheels onto the resulting mush to save yourself the headache. Failing that, your Orks don't need transports, right? I mean you're going to be fielding millions of Boyz anyway plus you have the WAAAGH! and 'Ere We Go, I'm sure you'll be fine...

8
The "Infamous" Goliath Cigar

Here's an interesting one, I wasn't even aware of this part nor how infamously infuriating it was until someone on X pointed out to me. A quick Google image search later and even I "noped" out of this piece, and I don't even collect Goliaths!

The main issue with the Goliath Cigar is just how tiny the part is, and you've seen the size of a miniature's mouth, right? Clipping this thing off will very likely result in it flying off, never to be found again unless you get a good grip on it. Not only that, but holding this tiny piece and inserting it into the Goliath's lips requires a precision that our fat hobby fingers just aren't suited for and will likely result in liquified plastic all over your fingers and lost detail where your digits have inadvertently rubbed off the tiny details sculpted on the cigar from the plastic glue you've just used. 

I'm not familiar with the kit personally, nor is it particularly obvious on the instructions but if a flat surface has been dug out of the Goliath's face to make it, quote unquote, "easier" to assemble then it just makes the prospect of losing this part worse as the fates permanently declare your Goliath will stride around Necromunda with an unhealed bullet wound in their mouth. If this is not the case then it's probably better for your sanity to just leave this part alone. Smoking's bad for your health anyway.

7
Two Part Weapon Cables

This will be incredibly familiar to anyone who has had to put together Necron Immortals or Space Marine Hellblasters, but in the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, people like to attach their weapons to cables that fix onto their backs. This as a concept isn't terrible, in fact I like the idea of these hulking Space Marines carrying huge power packs on their back, though it does make less sense for Immortals to literally wire themselves into their gun. The problem is when the Games Workshop design team decided that said gun should join right down the middle of the damn cable, creating this horrible and immersion breaking gap in what is meant to be a smooth surface.

What makes this particular design decision even more galling is that once upon a time, Citadel put the connector points of the components in the between the relevant parts, ie where the cables actually connects to the backpack, like the Firstborn Devastator models for example. I wouldn't mind so much if this designed served a purpose but it offers no benefits - it doesn't make the model more poseable, it doesn't make assembly easier and it doesn't reduce mould lines. If anything, it makes the whole process of assembly more difficult as you're working with far fiddlier components that need to stick together in a much more awkward and much less stable position. Absolute pain in the backside.

Of course you could just clip the offending wires off and have done with it. Who needs unknown energy to power their plasma weapons anyway?

6
Horus Heresy Mk VI Studded Shoulder Pads

Sticking with the subject of unnecessary and awkward joints, we need to talking about the studded shoulder pads that come with the Horus Heresy Mk VI armour, and I have but one question for Games Workshop... "Why?"

For those not in the know, for some inexplicable reason the Citadel design team decided to separate the iconic Mk VI studded shoulder pads into two halves that you are required to assemble before attaching them the rest of the model. I have absolutely no idea why this decision was made as it makes even less sense than the cables. The standard shoulder pad format didn't produce any notable mould lines and Games Workshop have done studded pads in one whole piece before. The only explanation I can think for this horrendous design is that it accentuates the detailing on the studs, but I would argue that a little bit of lost detail is not quite as bad as an annoying gap that you need to fill going all the way down the middle of the pad, but maybe that's me.

5
Necromunda Escher Gang

Wow, the customisation of the underhive gangs must be a real pain to work with as this is the second Necromunda entry on the list.

Now I'll level with you all. I'm not at all familiar with this kit, I haven't had the need to work with them at all, but this was a surprisingly popular entry on the communities I asked when compiling this top 10. The gist of it is that the Escher gangers are very thin and thus very fiddly to assemble full stop. Basically imagine the awkwardness of the Goliath's cigar, but as a full model.

As far as I can tell that is the only real issue the community have with this kit, the slender figures on the Escher gangers are just unpleasant to work with. If they think that's unpleasant, I hear their manners are appalling.

4
Uruk Hai Spears

Have you ever worked with pole arms or other pole like parts? They're pretty annoying right? You have this long, thin, cylindrical piece of plastic that with one slip of the clips will break the whole part and make it basically unusable without some super delicate repair job. That already makes them bad, but not 4th place on a list of most annoying Games Workshop kits and parts bad.

As you are all very likely aware, Games Workshop's Middle-Earth miniatures are made to a smaller scale than those found in Warhammer 40k or Age of Sigmar and as such the bits are smaller and thinner... including spears. The main problem with the Uruk-Hai spears in particular is the fact they are a very important and irreplaceable part of the kit. Clipping them callously can result in the spears snapping, you can't press too hard on them whilst removing mould lines because they might break, and you have to do this with every single Uruk-Hai spearman in the unit. Worse still the sheer length of these things means they will get caught on every surface they might come into contact with, increasing the risk of snapping.

I don't know enough about the Middle-Earth gaming system to really comment on how important Uruk-Hai spears are as a weapon, but for the sheer difficulty for keeping these things intact I sure hope the answer is "not very".

3
Nighthaunt Spirit Hosts

This was one of two units I had quite a lot people suggest. It is a kit I am sadly familiar with and agree, it is absolutely horrible to build and for a multitude of reasons.

The main issue with the Spirit Hosts is how they join together. If you are not acquainted with this kit each spirit in the host are joined together by the whispy bit of their spectral bodies, you know, where the legs would normally be. This in itself is bad enough given how thin these components are and how top heavy each spirit is, but the "notch", and I use the term loosely, where each spirit is meant to connect is so minor that it offers zero support in the gluing process as well as making it incredibly difficult to spot where exactly each part is meant to go, and the instructions are about as clear as mud when it comes to actually finding them too. Worse still is that there are three of these spirits per base, and they attach to the previous spirit in much the same way as the last one so you have to balance the spirits like one of those human pyramids you see being dragged behind jet skis, leaving you to deal with top heavy gluing that completely screws up your previous gluing if it hasn't already fully set.

Then, you factor in that horribly thin and brittle whispy tails that are a signature annoyance for the Nighthaunt faction in general, making them prone to breaking (up to three time don't forget!), not to mention the bits that jut out of their heads that can easily catch on things. All in all there is nothing good that comes about from assembling these miniature save the genuine and authentic fear you feel that rivals the actual fear that the Nighthaunt are meant to instill in the lore.

Wait, that's not a good thing...

2
Necron Flayed Ones

I don't even know where to begin with what makes the plastic Flayed Ones kit so, so bad.

Oh I know, let's talk about the legs!

Right, so let me just start by saying this. Whoever had the bright idea that each individual legs should be separate components, not just from each other but from the damnable hip as well needs to be sacked immediately, what an abysmal design choice. Not only that but the contact points for said legs are completely smooth, meaning there is literally no purchase or clear definition as to what angle the legs should be pointing in. Now throw in the fact that for some inexplicable reason Games Workshop decided these models should be mounted on 28mm base as opposed to 32mm bases like all the other standard sized infantry models in the faction; in fact I am sure, and please correct me if I'm wrong, it's the smallest base size in the Necron range. This forces you to play a dangerous miniature edition of Buckaroo as you try to hold the legs in such a way that they join on the the hip directly and ensure both feet are completely level on a base that is entirely too small for this job. I gave my Flayed Ones 32mm bases and even I struggled. This is worse even than the 3rd edition Warriors because at least you knew the feet would line up and came as one complete piece.

And that's just the legs.

Now factor in the awkward way the Flayed Ones bodies twist and the way the flayed flesh hanging from their bodies line up; you need to have pin points precision in assembling them or you end up with awful and weird gaps between them. The claws are also in two parts but that is absolutely minor in comparison.

So now you've built and painstakingly painted your Flayed Ones, it's finally over right? Nope. The claws on these things jut out in awkward angles and catch on everything - other models, terrain, clothing, each other... if they can catch it they will with the added bonus of giving you massive anxiety attacks as you fear you've just broken the them off the model. If you use foam based carrying cases, forget it, your Flayed Ones are getting broken. If you use Really Useful Boxes and magnets you'll find you need a bigger footprint to store them because of the outstretched claws. The pain never stops with these models. If Games Workshop just gave these guys bigger bases, less annoying legs and a manicure, this kit would be fine honestly.

But this is only second in the list of the worst Games Workshop models and components, so what could actually be worse than a kit as annoying as the Flayed Ones kit? There can be only one answer...

1
Finecast

It's so bad. It's so, so bad. Not only have we ranked this as worse than the Flayed Ones kit but we've just listed the material, not a kit or a component, that's how bad it is. Everything Finecast touches is just terrible quality, from wonky and warped components to the worst mold lines you've ever witnessed, not to mention the numerous holes that turned each model into the resin version of swiss cheese. In the worst cases, you essentially needed to resculpt large portions of the model which is not what we as consumers sign up for.

Now, Finecast in and of itself is utterly terrible, we've established this, but there are two things that caused it to fail from the first hurdle. The first thing is that Forgeworld was situated right next door to the factories, how did Games Workshop make Finecast resin so bad compared to a section of the company that literally specialises in and produces good quality versions of the stuff? 

The second thing is that Games Workshop released their first Finecast kits alongside the 5th edition Necron codex, which is quite possibly the single worst faction to show case the product as their characters wield staffs and scythes, and having your command stride around with flaccid weaponry is hardly going to strike fear into your enemies, is it?

So yes, Finecast gets the vote as the worst model kits/component that Games Workshop has ever produced, do you agree or do you disagree? Let me know down in the comments or on our Facebook page.

The next Top 10 list we will be running is the "Top 10 Most Baffling 40k Rule Designs". You can let us know what you vote for the most baffling 40k rules decision in the comments below, over on X or our Facebook group.