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Looking for some feedback on my WIP exodite warlock conversions. They're converted from the Vanari Auralan Wardens. I specifically want to know if the 'shields' on their backs look okay. I have three more in progress, one of which may the shield on the arm rather than the back.

I kinda like the almost samurai-ish look to them, just not sure. What do you guys think?

I think they look fine, shields fit well.

I might suggest adding some pouches and/or runestones. They seem to be an iconic part of a seer’s gear.

They look cool overall, though I had always thought Exodites' armors would be less armorie and more primal, though to be fair I haven't been following the novels for years so it might just be like that. IMO an Eternal Guard body would fit the theme better.

The shields are... huge, IMHO, knda wondering what puproses they serve either on a Maiden World or during an invasion in the 41st millenium. It looked more sparta too me, given the overall greco-roman aethestic of the Elves/Eldars and whatnot, especially if you had given them Witch Staffs instead. Samurais... don't carry shields, apart from the Sode whith are two plates on their shoulders. This isn't really a criticism, rather an observation.

Nevertheless a good job I'd say. If you can green-stuff the soul gems on them they'd look great on the table or the shelves.

I think they look great! I agree with adding some more bits to them, but the leaf-like armor really works for exodites and the shields are sized right, especially from the front. I'd assume glowing rune lines in the shield faces?

My only suggestion would be maybe some heads without helmets? Dark Eldar ones might emphasize the ferocity of the exodites.

 The Power Cosmic wrote:
I think they look great! I agree with adding some more bits to them, but the leaf-like armor really works for exodites and the shields are sized right, especially from the front. I'd assume glowing rune lines in the shield faces?

My only suggestion would be maybe some heads without helmets? Dark Eldar ones might emphasize the ferocity of the exodites.

How often do we see unhelmeted warlocks? I think if you took the helmets off, it would be hard to distinguish them from other models in the army.

If you wanted to have unhelmeted seers, something like a spiritseer would be a better choice. They have a distinctive staff that is not shared with others, so it’s easy to pick him out as the space wizard on the battlefield.

From a modeling POV, totally agree. But from a game standpoint, WYSWYG could start getting a little fuzzy. Guy with a sword and pistol could be a lot of things.

(which is one reason I suggested the stones and pouches, make him stand out more as a seer)

Nevelon wrote:I think they look fine, shields fit well.

Thanks Nev! Do you think they're in the right position on their backs? Too high? Too low?

I might suggest adding some pouches and/or runestones. They seem to be an iconic part of a seer’s gear.

Yep, definitely going to do that! I've also got to greenstuff the armpit scale-mail on the left hand guy and neaten up around the hands that have been grafted on.

lcmiracle wrote:They look cool overall, though I had always thought Exodites' armors would be less armorie and more primal, though to be fair I haven't been following the novels for years so it might just be like that. IMO an Eternal Guard body would fit the theme better.

I'm using the eternal guard for a different unit, but I get what you mean. I do think there's a slight misconception about exodites, though. There's a cliche about them being 'Amish Space Elves', but I don't think they're actually primatives - they just deliberately don't rely on technology like the craftworlders and drukhari do so their lives are harsh enough to stave off the fall into decadence. I'm sure they'd still use it if the situation required it. In fact, they have a sort of quasi-feudal society, with a monarch of some kind that rules, either groups of tribes, or entire worlds, so the lore I'm creating for my army has lots of different factions of varying levels of feral. These guys will be from the royal faction, pretty much like bodyguards to the king, hence the flashier armour.

The shields are... huge, IMHO, knda wondering what puproses they serve either on a Maiden World or during an invasion in the 41st millenium. It looked more sparta too me, given the overall greco-roman aethestic of the Elves/Eldars and whatnot, especially if you had given them Witch Staffs instead. Samurais... don't carry shields, apart from the Sode whith are two plates on their shoulders. This isn't really a criticism, rather an observation.

Ha ha, yeah, the 'samurai' comment was more about the shields looking like those wide brimmed hats that they occasionally take off, but leave tied around their necks and have dangling down their backs. In my (ever-evolving) homebrew codex, they're actually shield generators, like the ones either Dire Avenger Exarchs or Wraithblades carry. Exodites are less psychically sensitive than Craftworlders, so Exodite warlocks wouldn't be able to rely on their predictive senses to the same degree as their Craftworld cousins, hence the shielding.

Nevertheless a good job I'd say. If you can green-stuff the soul gems on them they'd look great on the table or the shelves.

Thanks! I've done a soul stone on another model in the centre of the breastplate, but I'm not sure where I should put it on these two. The designs on the front makes it a bit difficult... Where do you think they'd work best?

The Power Cosmic wrote:I think they look great! I agree with adding some more bits to them, but the leaf-like armor really works for exodites and the shields are sized right, especially from the front. I'd assume glowing rune lines in the shield faces?

My only suggestion would be maybe some heads without helmets? Dark Eldar ones might emphasize the ferocity of the exodites.

Glowing lines are a great suggestion! When I come to paint them, I'll definitely do that. I'm using the unhelmeted head from the vanari wardens for one of them, but other than that, I was going to use a farseer head and a spiritseer head to go with these two. I might change to your suggestion, though.

 CancelledApocalypse wrote:

Nevertheless a good job I'd say. If you can green-stuff the soul gems on them they'd look great on the table or the shelves.

Thanks! I've done a soul stone on another model in the centre of the breastplate, but I'm not sure where I should put it on these two. The designs on the front makes it a bit difficult... Where do you think they'd work best?

I do think they should be around the chest area -- maybe make them as necklaces, so they rest on empty spots on the chestplates? Otherwise, maybe on the helmets? Could look pretty wild IMO.

Nevelon, to your point about unhelmeted seers, I don't think there's been a model of one in GW's history. But we'd never seen an unhelmeted banshee either. Since exodites aren't a known commodity, there are literally no rules to making models. I don't think they should all be helmetless, but it might work for one or two. I can see your point that they might be easy to lose track of, especially in a multi-unit melee. So then it's up to modelling and painting to distinguish them.