Good luck to you and the boys at Adepticon Gitz. Looks like its gonna be a riot and a half. Take plenty of photo and what not because some of us need to live vicariously.
Oh no... You don't realise what you've done!! Gits you've doomed all of us. You've said one of the two things guardenteed to annoy any red blooded Tasmanian. You refered to Tasmania as a seperate entity and not part of Australia. They hate it when you do that.
Well, I know that Tasmania is part of Australia, I just didn't know if they had their own distinct identity. I figured it would be better to err on the side of respecting their individuality.
Mea culpa. Apologies to the southern-island Aussies out there.
Oh no... You don't realise what you've done!! Gits you've doomed all of us.
You've said one of the two things guardenteed to annoy any red blooded Tasmanian. You refered to Tasmania as a seperate entity and not part of Australia. They hate it when you do that.
It's bloody funny none the less.
I'm certain the other way to annoy them is to refer to them as a part of Australia, rather than a separate entity
Wow i actually feel proud to be Tasmanian right now! thanks for the backhanded props guys! at least i'm excused from attending a function I actually want to see! and you both had it right, we feel slighted when we're not included and we feel slighted when we're singled out lol in fact it's nice to see an American even know that there is a Tasmania! I have seen maps shown in schools from a friend of mine from Oregon that didn't even have Tassie on there go figure!
Oh and good luck Gits and Co. I hope you all have a blast!
It's a sad thing to say, but most Americans only know about Tasmania because of this guy...
I say that because I'm a science teacher, and late night talk shows prove that we don't know our own country's geography much less those of our good friends and allies around the globe.
Ha yep, you're right there! Taz devil is probably the first time many here the name, it's great seeing their faces though when you tell them there actually IS a Tasmanian Devil, and it eats dead animals bones and all with some of the strongest jaws on an animal :-) lucky they're only the size of a large cat!
oooh photo's! are we gonna get to see the faces behind the names? that's pretty exciting! I like to know who i'm hanging out with incase they're those people my mother warned me about! :-)
Well, you guys have seen my ugly mug plenty... but I'm sure SL will splash lots more photos up.
I'm printing graven's image out now, so you can stop by our game on Friday night and get your picture taken with graven! Actually... first there's a sort of parlor game involving matching & taping the various bits of graven's image into a cohesive figure... but THEN you can get your picture taken with him!
We'll be leaving in a little bit. Further updates from my phone. Which I knew how to post pictures from my phone to the blog but the finer nuances of technology escape me. My smart phone is smarter than I am apparently.
Sorry guys. Weekend was "eventful " for me, but not entirely in a good way. Friend took hundreds of pics though so keep as eye on Solar Lion for the best of those.
I was 2/4. We beat 2 marine teams and were crushed by GKs & guard. Wonderful to see my team mates again.
I got a wardrns of the maelstrom nametag from briancj (and some 15 yr old scotch) I'm gonna be warden in spirit meeting you all has kind of kicked my butt into gear to make a tyrant list from IA 12
SL and I made it back to my place safely. Wife says I can only post a short note before I'm off to bed. I'll have some pics tomorrow hopefully.
Hey whalemusic! If you read this, I need 10 more dice... gave a bunch away over the last two days and I'm short now.
Have some swag to report. Perhaps not as much as you guys would like but funds were limited & FW was out of must stuff so I had to order it for later delivery. But, will post what I can.
Gak sounds ominous? hope nothing too bad's happening in Gits world? I await the next piccy update and uplifting game comments soon! whatever's going on dude we'll pull ya outta the mud!
Here's one of the Spikey Bits pictures that I like... shows my stuff off well.
You can see what we were going for in our half of the display... all of our units, mixed up... giving the impression of a mass, somewhat disordered rush towards the inner walls. It also shows off some of the cool work that SL did on the display... the burned out rhino for example. Tons of nice touches and extra stuff everywhere.
Looking at the pics of the board is difficult to get everything at once.
It's just so big and full of stuff and details.
Great job of the maker and the armys owners!
Gitsplitta wrote: Great meeting you too Alf! Hold that thought. Well be discussing what we want to do next year in a month or so.
O.o
I wasn't thinking anything official in any sense haha but I saw your guys armies, and got the itch to really do a solid Badab War army. Just gotta get my hands on IA9
I've decided to just trickle the Adepticon pics in here and there. I didn't take too many myself and since it was with my phone they aren't the best. This way you get to enjoy each one rather than getting deluged with a huge mass all at once.
Lousy picture, but a neat perspective. Imagine you're the driver of the third typhoon in the squadron. The world is moving so fast everything's a blur. Only your trained and enhanced marine reflexes keeps your flying rocket in the air from second to second. You scan for potential targets.... there! Up in the tower! A Marines Errant devastator squad raining death on the infantry below. You vox your squad mates and adjust your trajectory...
Here's a couple of shots from the Crystal Brush competition. I just stopped by early so they were far from having all of their entries yet.
I like this first one because it looks like it took place in some back alley, where this "thug" terminator just got done mugging/killing his necron "victim". I think it's the lantern on the post that makes me frame it in this fashion. I also think it's the lantern on the post that gives this model character.
I call this one "Lady Grace". Don't know why... it just strikes me as fitting. Loved everything about this from the flower field to the tree and the fantastic model in-between.
Life imitates art:
Some of you may remember when I posted this... (referring to what I was going to do to Yellowbeard's tanks that *I* painted during our team-on-team Badab War battle.
Well... here's what I actually did to it in our first turn... resulting in "First Blood" for our side. (sorry for the rubbish pic, but you get the idea)
Glad to see/hear you guys got back OK, looks like you had quite the weekend! Cant wait to see more pics/hear more stories, but even the teasers are amazing...S_L truly amazing work on the board...
First blood indeed, and in spectacular fashion!
WM, i have cultivated a sixth sense for photos, but i still get caught out by pictures like this....(its when they seem] to be pointing away from you that you get caught out...)
OK, I have no idea what you guys are talking about... I actually have a very nice picture of WM sitting at a table chatting and smiling.
@WM: Thanks my friend. Just let me know the total with shipping and I paypal it to you.
Much as I love to pimp my own thread... Ice Angel started an Adepticon report blog. I'll probably post pics over there.
Because of the way the weekend worked out, I really don't have much in the way of stories for you. I simply didn't get to do hardly anything except play in the team tournament and that was a mixed bag. All of our opponents were really great, but the only games I was competitive in were games against other standard marine armies. We won one of those games convincingly and the other by a single point... so more of a tie really. The games against non-"standard marine" opponents (GK & IG) we got crushed... and in game 1 I didn't even kill a single model. We did get to play the team that won the theme competition, which was a real joy. I'm so happy for their success... they were fantastic guys and did amazing things with an army based entirely on one of the BL books.
The theme judges were wonderful and very interested in what we were trying to do. I have nothing good to say about the painting judges. The other gamers who came by our display were wonderful and very interested. I even bumped into some of last year's opponents and had a chance to catch up. That's when you know you're playing cool people... when you see them a year later, recognize and want to catch up with them. OH, and the regular rule judges were excellent as well. Helpful and knowledgeable. They helped to clear up a few times when no one at the table was certain of the correct rule... made the games go smoothly and stay good natured.
Sorry to disappoint everyone who was hoping for a big post-event expose'. Just don't have one in me this year.
Sounds like you had a great time, Gits. In part at least, I hope everything is okay. I'm going to watch the thread Ice put up to see how it went for you all.
53/60 for theme 43/60 for appearance (71%... C-) 56th overall (if you run the numbers, that's in the (top) 45th percentile... which is exactly where we were last year, a few tenths lower actually)
What's a bit confusing is that the Redeermers (the other half of our team) got several points fewer than we did for spirit, even though we all did the same kind of things.
I know that Adepticon has a fairly detailed grading metric, but I don't believe that painting scores translate to acedemic grades. For example, a 30/60 translates to a 50% or a 5/10. Acedemically this would be an F or failing grade. However, in regards to a paint score, this is indicative of an average paint job or where the average painter should stand (not at a tournement exactly but in the miniature painting community in general). 43/60 translates to a 7/10, which is a very good score and well above the average painter's skill. At a tournie such as this the quality of painters as a % of participants will be greatly improved. Hell, Hulksmash told me that my fully painted nid models were Par-The-Course at adepticon. So you shouldn't feel bad, your team is in good company.
I wasn't sure how to read it. So 36th through 46th place was tied? Is #1 the best? This was out of 100-102 participants?
From the Adepticon scoring sheet:
40-49 Skillful: The ENTIRE Team is painted/modeled to an above average standard. There is evidence throughout the entire Team of exceptional unit and character details, highlighting/blending, basing details and conversions or scratch-built models (as applicable). Represents very skillful work, only missing a few minor elements. Any one of the detachments comprising this Team could easily win “Best Painted” at a local tournament.
I just can't see why you are down on the paint judges so much?
Because of the way they behaved and the complete disinterest the showed on doing their job. My comments were made before the scores were posted. The fact that the text for the score sounds good does not excuse the half-*ssed way they carried out their responsibilities.
I suspect they had too much to do in too short a time, but that is poor planning on the part of the organizers. Either do the painting competition right, or don't do it.
Sorry CtC, when I'm posting from my phone I can't really link or anything... all I can do is post text. And I'm done bitching. It just wasn't a good weekend for me aside from seeing all my friends. They happen. I'm sure it'll be better next year.
Gitsplitta wrote: Sorry CtC, when I'm posting from my phone I can't really link or anything... all I can do is post text. And I'm done bitching. It just wasn't a good weekend for me aside from seeing all my friends. They happen. I'm sure it'll be better next year.
And someone got a shiny new space wolf for their GMS Squad
Speaking of which, I need to take a proper picture with your libby... I have a feeling he and the model I got from btemple0 a year or so ago are going to be the start of a Vanguard Vet squad . 2 GMS trades and they both have jump packs
Ooooh, thanks for the reminder Alf... that was a bright spot!
Getting your marine fixed up will be a nice way to ease back into painting. Just priming up his "I" shoulder pad right now as a matter of fact! I'll have a pic up soon when I get him finalized.
A long list my friend, which I'd rather no drag out here. Much of it revolved around the fact that if you did the team tournament, you couldn't do anything else on either Saturday or Sunday. No demos, no casual games, no classes, no schmoozing, etc. I like the pace of the TT games, but the cost (i.e. "no con") was too high.
Gitsplitta wrote: Ooooh, thanks for the reminder Alf... that was a bright spot!
Getting your marine fixed up will be a nice way to ease back into painting. Just priming up his "I" shoulder pad right now as a matter of fact! I'll have a pic up soon when I get him finalized.
Excellent, I hope Brother Arngeirr serves you well!
I've heard a *lot* of folk very unhappy with the TT this year. across t'internet. It may be small comfort, but at least it's not a concern that's yours exclusively (there's also an inordinate amount of whingeing about meta, but that's another matter).
Well, yeah... the meta sucked, but we knew that going in. Didn't help a whole lot when we were getting our asses kicked, but at least we *knew* that we'd be getting our asses kicked from time to time depending on the match-up. I just didn't realize how many other armies we matched up poorly against. Chaos, Nids, Crons, GK, IG.... pretty much everybody except other normal SM. Besides, that's not Adepticon's fault, so it's not fair to hang that on them.
If I'd had a vote, I totally would have given you the best Imperial display, guys. It rocked. It was great to momentarily put faces to names, only to have lost them once more in the jumble that is con-memories.
whalemusic360 wrote: I dunno, Clif and I nearly tabled a GKCSM combo. Had he had one drake and not two, woulda been a cake walk.
Yeah, that was a really fun game, too. Really nice guys. They even said they didn't feel like they had really won the game, even though they had the points. Of course, we should acknowledge our luck, too: having the chaos lord turn into a spawn and then getting four 6s when the RB snap-fired at the first drake was pretty awesome.
The Lord was pretty lucky. The razorback was totally planned. Bet he never ignores a mostly dead razorback again But yeah, dice were on our side on that one. Snap fire killed his hq, killed all 20 termis for my 8. Good times.
Though some poor sod from Ohio forgot to drill out a barrel >_<
I like how the best painted marine in my army wasn't painted by me
Edit: Storytime -
I had been out with some of the Dakka Detachment 2 guys for some pizza and beer at a local (fantastic) pizza joint. And while I had every intention of seeing and meeting the Wardens/Redeemers of the Maelstrom, I had forgotten that Chicago style pizza taste forever to bake. So it's like 10:15 to 10:30 or so when we get out of there and get back to the Westin. I start running all over the place trying to find the table, and finally I walk out, look around the vendor hall area, and head back into the main 40k room, I see a jovial looking chap bedecked in green with a button that looks suspiciously like this:
And I exclaim, "I found you!" Which probably didn't make Gits feel too safe . We exchanged marines, chatted briefly, I was sad I missed the grudge match. Though the next day I did managed to catch some of you guys midgame. Fantastic armies all around. And Briancj's maulferfiend counts as was awesome looking. I look forward to next year
But it was awesome meeting you guys, and thanks to whoever had the glue and accelerant at your display because I needed it Saturday night, and Ramos was nice enough to dig it out for me
Alfndrate wrote: and thanks to whoever had the glue and accelerant at your display because I needed it Saturday night, and Ramos was nice enough to dig it out for me
That be me...Ironicly .. it dissapeared and never made the trip back with me. I can only imagine what the lost and found box looks like after the event.
Alfndrate wrote: and thanks to whoever had the glue and accelerant at your display because I needed it Saturday night, and Ramos was nice enough to dig it out for me
That be me...Ironicly .. it dissapeared and never made the trip back with me. I can only imagine what the lost and found box looks like after the event.
Now I feel bad I gave it back to Ramos and Whalemusic...
I know most of you are lying awake at night wondering... "What is Gits working on now?"
Well, the post-Adepticon period seems to be my time for finishing up old projects. So other than basing a few orks and working with Thing 2 on building and painting a bunch of his termigants, I decided to work on adding detail to a number of Armorcast refinery and pipes pieces that I've got. The kids and I really like this terrain... it's interesting and unique. While it was functionally painted in boltgun with some washes... there was a ton of detail left unspecified. So, I've been going over each piece and adding some character. They don't look as spectacular as the pipes on Armorcast's site... they're still mainly boltgun colored, however... each piece now has a number of details picked out in proper fashion so they're much more visually interesting. I'll take some pics when I'm finished.
I personally spent so much time building all the terrain for my store front and painting it that it made me sad when I took my vacation that somebody came into the store and stole 3 of my best pieces, since then i have had a hard time bringing myself to putting the time in sadly.
That's a real shame CtC, some people have no honor.
This stuff stays at home, so it's safe from pilfering. I just came up with a neat little idea for some easy and appropriate decoration, we'll see how it goes.
Our last teammate Steve has no digital footprint... he lives totally off the grid, eating roots and berries in his limestone cave in Ohio. The first team activity each year is to force him to bathe and cut his fingernails. He is the source of the "Bigfoot" reports throughout that region of the country... oh wait, that's Ramos. My bad.
HA! That made my day Git. I will be sending that to Steve via a carrier pigeon as soon as I'm able.
On an unrelated side note I found some inspiration for you.
Have you ever thought about painting a unit of Mantis Warriors that look perhaps a bit.............. different. Maybe you're bored with green. Perhaps you could model them after the Flower Mantid. I'm sure you've seen these before but these things are super cool. I never knew there were so different colors they came in. You already have your tranquility veterans. Perhaps its time for some Flowering Vanguard?
@Ice: Please do. Let him know that it was written with great affection.
OK, you know when I pull out the tiny posters and the weathering powders... I mean business! (actually, made a couple of new tiny poster sheets for this project)
I was just going to add some propaganda posters to the refinery bits to give them some color and interest... but then it dawned on me that a refinery/pipeline would have all kinds of it's own signs. So I googled "warning signs" and "chemical warning signs" and came up with all kinds of amazing, modern stuff that looks perfect on this type of terrain.
Of course I went about miniaturizing it and putting it on to a master sheet (two actually) like normal. I completed the first pieces early this morning. They're looking *really good*, at least to me. I'm very excited about being able to show them to you but I've got a few more pieces to do first. This whole thing might take a while... I have a lot of sections ranging from mostly painted to just primed, however... I won't make you wait for the stuff that isn't painted yet. As soon as I get all of my lower pipe sections and supports done, I'll post the lot.
@Ice: Just about missed your update to that post. That's an interesting idea... and yes, I am getting kind of tired of green. I'll have to put some consideration into that. Thanks for the pic, very cool little beastie.
I was just going to add some propaganda posters to the refinery bits to give them some color and interest... but then it dawned on me that a refinery/pipeline would have all kinds of it's own signs. So I googled "warning signs" and "chemical warning signs" and came up with all kinds of amazing, modern stuff that looks perfect on this type of terrain.
Of course I went about miniaturizing it and putting it on to a master sheet (two actually) like normal. I completed the first pieces early this morning. They're looking *really good*, at least to me. I'm very excited about being able to show them to you but I've got a few more pieces to do first. This whole thing might take a while... I have a lot of sections ranging from mostly painted to just primed, however... I won't make you wait for the stuff that isn't painted yet. As soon as I get all of my lower pipe sections and supports done, I'll post the lot.
@Ice: Just about missed your update to that post. That's an interesting idea... and yes, I am getting kind of tired of green. I'll have to put some consideration into that. Thanks for the pic, very cool little beastie.
What do you need to know about warning signs and chemical warning signs >_>
That's basically my job... do you want EU hazard, US hazard, Canadian WHMIS?... GHS, OSHA? I got labels on labels
Well, I found a bunch of pics on line and nicked em. I think I'm OK with what I've got, but you might be a better person to produce a sheet of appropriate warning signs than I am. Be a good project for you.
Took a couple of step-by-step pics of some hazard striping I did on these little panels on top of a couple of the pipe junctions. Turned out *really* well. Hopefully, I'll have something to show you soon.
I can't recall Gits but do you print these off on normal paper and then just glue them on? Or do you have some kind of special decal paper that you print these on?
Yes, that's all I do. Works beautifully as you'll see when I post the pics of the pipelines I've been working on. You can't just download the full-res image by right clicking what comes up in the gallery though... pretre figured out how to do it. You can right click the image in the spoiler and it'll download at high resolution.
pretre wrote: Basically, you use the dropdown where it says 'Recommended Sizes', change it to full Size and then grab the URL from the html one.
I then copied just the image link out of it and pasted it in.
I'm actually going to add a 10th sign to the sheet, which is what I was doing when my system crashed on me. So hold off downloading it for just a bit, their'll be more value in it for you in a few hours. (have to get some work done)
Thanks again to pretre for figuring it all out. Very helpful.
OK, the Industrial Warning Signs page is now updated and completely full with 10 different signs. Let's see if I can do the "trick" for you...
*edit*: Yeppers, that appears to work! If you right click and download the image below, it should have plenty of resolution to print out correctly. So, to get them all in one place...
Finally a little progress to show. This is my first complete "set" of connecting pipes. A central plinth with 4 radiating arms. I actually have a couple of more pieces done (another pipe section and another plinth, tall risers and long pipe section close to done, but for now these work best for illustrating what I've been up to). There are a ton of little signs on these pipes. Room for a ton more but I didn't want to overdo it. I can always add more later if I want.
So, first the mini-tut on hazard striping.
- paint yellow
- 2mm tape lines
- paint black
- remove tape
- add edge highlighting
Thanks guys. Looking at it, I'm thinking I might change the color on that single wire on the one side... just to give the scene a different color, it's kind of dominated by red. But... on the whole... I'm very satisfied. Once I get the second junction done, I'll get to work on the high level pipes and supports.
I probably need some verdigris around the copper pipes... and some kind of weathering on the hatch and colored pipe caps. I'm afraid this project may never have an end as I'll constantly be seeing more and more to do!
Hazard stripes are nicely done Gits. I might have to steal that technique for myself. Can never have enough hazard stipes. I like the pipeworks as well, are they scratchbuilt?
Making good progress on the second junction and added a bunch of extras to the previous stuff. I'm glad I'm not in a hurry with these pieces... they aren't going very quickly.
I welcome it, no problem at all. They were far too much work for me to hoard for myself.
Sorry the updates have been so sparse, I'm kind of enjoying the fact that I don't have to work like an indentured servant on painting my minis. That, and were having the first nice weather of the year.
Hmm having consistent weather must be nice. The other day it went from being bitterly cold in the morning to warm with a breeze at around 10.30am. Rained for about 10 minutes just after lunch and then got nipple freezingly cold again around 4pm.
I'd kill for a few days of reasonable weather.
And Gits after powering your way through the Mantis warriors for Adepticon i doubt any of us would begrudge you a few days off. I think its to easy in this hobby to get over engrossed in what you're doing and you only end up burning yourself out. It goes from being a hobby to being a chore and that's no good.
Go outside and enjoy the nice weather. That's what I'd be doing.
Never fear... there will be updates. I'm just taking a short break. It's been very satisfying to be able to walk by my painting desk with a project sitting there and just think... "Nope, not today."
I need to do a chapter banner... I'm just no good at 2-D painting.
Based on your die rolling it should be " Alea Iacta Est" - The die has been thrown ( said by Julius Caesar when he crossed with his troops across the Rubicon river in 49BC, despite the refusal of the roman senate, thus provoking civil war. Kinda like the HH only Horus won this one!
@dangledorf: Glad you like them, should have an update soon.
@Dc: Thank you sir, I feel the same.
Well, woke up this morning feeling better than I have in weeks. Took up my brush and did some work on the second junction. Should have an update for you soon.
Ork Big Mek Buzzgob and his grot henchmen examine a recently captured imperial refinery transfer point.
"Weez gunna tap inta dem pipes 'n draw off some a da juces fer da boyz. If'n we duz it right da humies won't know wez doin' it. Hah!"
@dstein: Some, I've got the gizmos that shift from the low pipes to the high ones, and about 5 of the long (high) pipe sections but no extra high supports. That'll have to be a later purchase. I do have some of the low (wall) pipe sections. Ordered some new pieces for that but they haven't shown up yet. Been a while, perhaps I should contact Armorcast.
@Snrub: Thanks mate. Can't take credit for Buzzgob or most of the grots... had Iffy do them for me. She does great work.
@Selv: Thanks, though it would be a bit nicer that just the standard light box pic.
@J-paint: I couldn't agree more. It's too bad some of the pieces appear to be discontinued... but, I think you can still get most of it.
Announcing the First (annual?) Mantis Maker Challenge!
That's right. I've decided to sponsor an actual P&M competition. The subject? (of course) The Mantis Warriors!
The rules...
1. Entries must NOT be started before the issuance of this challenge (May, 14th). Build progress must be shown on either this blog or your own (with a message and link left on this blog so people can follow along, cheer you on, spy on you, etc.). Take a picture of your disassociated bits before assembly if you can. You don't need to post every step here... just pre-build, build and final paint. Of course if you want to add the intermediate steps, that's fine. 2. Final photos must be submitted to me (on this blog) by no later than Midnight PST June 15th. 3. All work should be done by the entrant alone. 4. The subject of the piece MUST be the Mantis Warrior chapter, however the form of the piece is entirely up to each entrant. 5. Full judging criteria are published below, in general however... pieces will be judged on build quality and creativity, painting technique and impact, basing and adherence to theme. There will also be a decent pile of points sent aside for things like humor, Wow factor, thinking outside the box, etc. Stretch your legs a bit people... time to add to your P&M toolkit! 6. Your "vision" of the Mantis Warriors and mine DO NOT have to coincide. Do whatever moves you. 7. You may submit a short paragraph explaining your work, but it is only to provide context, the back-story or to point out new techniques you've tried. You won't be judged on the quality of the narrative. However you may gain points in other categories because of it!
The prize... As I'm not exactly flush at the moment, I'm afraid big value prizes are not possible. BUT... I'll be making 3 trophies to send to the top three finishers. My idea is to make each one based on something iconic for the Mantis Warriors. They'll be little things based on models that I'll construct myself... but their size will not diminish the quality of effort that the winners would have put forth! That... and I'll do my best to direct lots of traffic to your blog. One of the few advantages a behemoth like this has is a lot of eyeballs... I'd be delighted to point them in the direction of the contest winners.
Judges Small panel. Here are the judging criteria. Might change slightly but here's how I see it. Judges will be given leeway to express themselves however, this is only a guide... but it does detail what I look for in a piece.
There will be 20-30 extra points for the judges to use at their discretion for "the unexpected", humor, etc., i.e. whatever floats their boat.
Best, Gits (oh, feel free to re-post or direct others here. The more the merrier!)
Confirmed Entrants (i.e. have submitted their pre-build pictures) Medium of Death - pre-build, build inmygravenimage - pre-build, build, final Yellowbeard - pre-build, build, final Snrub - pre-build, build, final BLACKHAND - pre-build, build GiraffeX - pre-build, build, final Raatcharch - pre-build, build Hive Fleet Lazarus - pre-build, build, final Matt.Kingsley - pre-build, build, final Know No Pear - pre-build, build Theophony - pre-build, build, final entry lost in the warp! :( SelvaggioSaky - pre-build, build, final Ovion - pre-build, build, final Nerdfest09 - pre-build, build, final Solar_lion - pre-build, build, final Ice Angel & Steve- pre-build, build, final Commander Cain - (bitch, bitch, bitch) pre-build, build, final
Kudos to you Gits, I might try and get in on this if I can. To show my support at least. Funny enough, I woke up today and mused over starting some kind of competition, jumped on Dakka and boom, great minds think alike they say.
Question: is Three weeks enough time, or would 4 be better?
I kind of thought 3 weeks for the comp and then a week for judging so the whole thing can wrap up in a month... but if people think that 3 weeks is a little tight, I can add a week with no problem.
Thanks to everyone who's expressing interest. When you throw something like this out there you're never quite sure how it'll be received. Hopefully, the criteria are open enough that most folks should be able to come up with something that inspires them & is fun to do (which is really the whole point).
Ordering Bitz (if needed) could easily take up to 2 weeks. Debating if I have the bitz / minis to do this... would mean reading up on Mantis Warriors a bit more and actually thinking of something!
Just some clarifications … ( cause I hate confusion )
1. Any MW variation is acceptable. Is this limited to figures? Dreads? , Vehicle? Diorama ? full display table? Just to be clear!
2. Do we send the figure to you?
@Nerdy: I'd be honored if you'd compete, though you'd make a great judge.
@SL: anything goes, no you keep your work. The point of the comp is to get more Mantis Warriors out there, in the wide world. To raise Mantis Warrior awareness world-wide. I'll be contacting Bono and Bob Gheldoff to see if they want to get involved. Maybe do a concert or telethon or something.
I'm not too sure if I have time to get an entry together but I'd like to show my support, so if you'd like, I'd be just as psyched to be a judge. If not I'll try and sort an entry out in time instead but the offer is there.
Ovion wrote: ohgod 366pages.... xD
Bloody Hell: Anyone want to give me a crash course in Mantis Warriors? (Have many fallen to Chaos?)
Go to the OP, there are links to each of my P&M summaries. That'll just show you what I've done with them though... that's far from the whole story.
There's no fluff that I've seen suggesting that any fell to chaos, but given their association with the tyrant during the Badab Rebellion, it's not impossible that some left with him after the war and became Red Corsairs. Exposure to the Ruinous Piwers may have happened thereafter.
@gitsplitta, don't try to candy coat your beloved Mantis Warriors. They followed Huron and never stopped. Even now they pretend to be "loyal" to the Emperor. They are only patiently waiting, like the insects their named after. Waiting for the best moment to strike and collapse the Empire from the inside.
IceAngel wrote: @gitsplitta, don't try to candy coat your beloved Mantis Warriors. They followed Huron and never stopped. Even now they pretend to be "loyal" to the Emperor. They are only patiently waiting, like the insects their named after. Waiting for the best moment to strike and collapse the Empire from the inside.
PRAISE HURON!
THE INQUISITION HEARBY ORDERS ALL CITIZENS TO IGNORE THE PREVIOUS LIES.
THE HERETIC RESPONSIBLE HAS BEEN APPREHENDED AND SHALL KNOW HIS RIGHTEOUS FURY.
ALL CITIZENS ARE ORDERED TO RESUME NORMAL IMPERIUM-SANCTIONED ACTIVITIES.
Hi Gits, started to get a little carried away after I posted, remembered you needed to have a "bits" pic. I could take the arms and torso apart if you want, I just wasn't thinking.
Also wasn't sure if it needed to be a Game Legal base.
Awesome, first official entry. Base is totally up to you my friend.
I just asked for a bits pic to show it wasn't a pre existing model. If you decide to switch some things out later, that's fine & no further pic would be needed.
Excellent! Cheers man. Should have a fully assembled pic by the end of tonight. A post-Badab force of Mantis Warriors is calling to me now... dammit!
Brian, you'll remember that the Mantis Warriors are on a Crusade in which they cannot induct new troops. I'd imagine heavy bionic augmentation is one of the methods used to keep their numbers "steady".
Construction complete. He doe's look very mechanical, but I'm hoping the right colours change that.
Brother Angir; Critically wounded in the closing stages of the Badab War while engaging Carcharodon assault squads. Heavy bionic reconstruction was required to save his life. His rebirth has made him see the error of his and his Chapters ways. Angir can be found at the front of his squad, leading the charge and absorbing fire that his more organic brothers could not withstand.
I would do, but I fear i'd do a fair bit of damage to those pads. Plus I think i'll be identifying as a Mantis Warrior through colour. I also think it would detract from the overall models bulk.
What kind of green does the Mantis Warrior base coat consist of? I only ask as I don't want him ending up looking like a Salamander or Son of Medusa.
Gitsplitta wrote: The point of the comp is to get more Mantis Warriors out there, in the wide world. To raise Mantis Warrior awareness world-wide. I'll be contacting Bono and Bob Gheldoff to see if they want to get involved. Maybe do a concert or telethon or something.
"Mantis Warriors are dying in the Endymion sector NOW!"
Automatically Appended Next Post: Bits pic:
It's fuzzy to add an air of mystery...
Gitsplitta wrote: The point of the comp is to get more Mantis Warriors out there, in the wide world. To raise Mantis Warrior awareness world-wide. I'll be contacting Bono and Bob Gheldoff to see if they want to get involved. Maybe do a concert or telethon or something.
"Mantis Warriors are dying in the Endymion sector NOW!"
Every time I click my fingers a Mantis Warrior dies in battle.
...
Click.
...
Click.
...
"Stop clicking your fingers!!"
I had a look at the original guy again and wasn't overly happy with him, he seemed to be too generic. I decided to rough him up a bit, replacing the chainsword with a machete/gladius, giving him a partially torn cape and reposing the bolter arm. I'm trying to show that they are a White Scars successor, and portray a post Badab/end of M41 look.
Spoiler:
Bits used;
Spoiler:
Iron Hands Legs and Bolter Grey Knights purity seals and Force Staff Space Marine Mk.8 torso and Helm Chaos space marine heavy bolter hand Necron Warscythe Chaos Terminator Lord Cape Chaos Terminator Lord Base Grey Knight Terminator apothecary bit
@Graven/Matt - Probably won't believe this but I was planning to swap out the head of the above chap for that top-knot head. A very popular look this season indeed
@Graven - Is that part of the ruins that came in the 3rd Edition starter box? (potential nostalgia)
*sigh* Finally back at home where I'm not limited to hunting and pecking on my stupid phone...
All right Snrub!! Welcome aboard!
Casey's Law wrote: I'm not too sure if I have time to get an entry together but I'd like to show my support, so if you'd like, I'd be just as psyched to be a judge. If not I'll try and sort an entry out in time instead but the offer is there.
Hey Casey! At this point, I'd prefer to have as many contestants as possible as I think it would make for a much more vibrant competition.
Snrub and others: Not wanting to sound lectury... but I want these to be YOUR Mantis Warriors... not copies of mine! However.... I'm not unsympathetic to questions about colors and such, I just can't play favorites. Within the confines of this blog are numerous examples of step-by-step tutorials on my technique. Dig around, see what you can find. You could also look in my "Methods" gallery. The OP of this blog has links including (I think) some of my tutorials... at least on my yellow. I will let you know that my standard green is Vallejo Air "Chromate Green", but that's really not important as applies to this competition as by the time I get done fiddling with it, it's not really chromate green any more.
I've also added a couple of things that I hope will help keep the competition organized. First, I've put a link to the competition OP in my signature. As the OP gets updated over time, you can easily access through my sig to keep track of how things are going. Secondly, I've added a list at the bottom of the OP of "Confirmed Entrants". You become "confirmed" when you've submitted your pre-build photo. As you submit other milestones, I'll add them to the list behind your name (see graven's entry) so everyone will be able to check on their status. If I've missed something... you can check to see the error and contact me so I can correct it.
Delighted by the response so far. You guys humble me with your enthusiasm. - Gits
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And just so you guys don't think I'm resting on my laurels... I continue slow but steady work on graven's GMS marine.
On a deathwatch marine, does the inquisition pad go on the right or the left??
Casey's Law wrote: I'm not too sure if I have time to get an entry together but I'd like to show my support, so if you'd like, I'd be just as psyched to be a judge. If not I'll try and sort an entry out in time instead but the offer is there.
Hey Casey! At this point, I'd prefer to have as many contestants as possible as I think it would make for a much more vibrant competition.
Yeh no worries, mate, understandable. I'll try and get something ready in time. If I can't manage then feel free to give me a shout, it'll be good practice for judging the next Dakka Painting Contest.
what MK's of armour were prevalent at the time period of the Mantis Warriors battles? power and terminator styles just so i can get a feel for creating ;-) were they older styles or new?
Wonderful to have you aboard BLACKHAND! A bit surprised that you didn't use any of your custom MW bits but in a way gratified... keeps the playing field level.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with. It's quite energizing actually. Just the thing to get me out of my ennui and get me back to the painting table.
Popped out his arvo and picked up a pot of caliban green and warboss green. 2 new colour experiences for me.
Also i should thank you Gits. You've inadvertently forced my to face my dislike of using greenstuff. You may notice that in my bitz pick the legs I'm using are missing a thigh, so I'm going to have to sculpt a new one. Also one arm needs some gs work too. Neither should be to difficult but it will pose an interesting side challenge for me.
Yeah i think theres a tub of Vaseline kicking about somewhere. I've just been using water as lube. Will i have to worry about the Vas drying and mucking up my work?
nerdfest09 wrote: what MK's of armour were prevalent at the time period of the Mantis Warriors battles? power and terminator styles just so i can get a feel for creating ;-) were they older styles or new?
MW's big thing is Badab war, which would have had all forms, but likely been less Mk VII and more Mk VI and below. Gits uses TONS of the Corvus armor (Beaky marines), if that helps.
nerdfest09 wrote: what MK's of armour were prevalent at the time period of the Mantis Warriors battles? power and terminator styles just so i can get a feel for creating ;-) were they older styles or new?
MW's big thing is Badab war, which would have had all forms, but likely been less Mk VII and more Mk VI and below. Gits uses TONS of the Corvus armor (Beaky marines), if that helps.
Thanks WM would that equate to the more common forms of Terminator armour as well? or would they also be earlier MK's?
nerdfest09 wrote: what MK's of armour were prevalent at the time period of the Mantis Warriors battles? power and terminator styles just so i can get a feel for creating ;-) were they older styles or new?
MW's big thing is Badab war, which would have had all forms, but likely been less Mk VII and more Mk VI and below. Gits uses TONS of the Corvus armor (Beaky marines), if that helps.
Thanks WM would that equate to the more common forms of Terminator armour as well? or would they also be earlier MK's?
Well, even the standard termi armor is older, so really any of it would be viable. Other than maybe GK termi armor.
Gitsplitta wrote: .... A bit surprised that you didn't use any of your custom MW bits but in a way gratified... keeps the playing field level....
I took this as a chance to work on my theories for a "Samurai" termie, and even if I was using all custom MW bitz looking at the level of the entries so far I don't think I would have much of an edge
Well, back when I picked em there were No pre-made shoulder pads. I did get Chapterhouse to make some though.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here are the judging criteria. Might change slightly but here's how I see it. Judges will be given leeway to express themselves however, this is only a guide... but it does detail what I look for in a piece.
Thought I'd post this answer to a question by MoD...
Medium of Death wrote: I'm assuming a small fluff piece explaining who your Mantis Warrior is and what his background is could get point from the extra points thing?
@MoD: Not really. The writing is just so you have a chance to put the piece in context... so the judges can understand what you were trying to do. You can either use it to tell the back-story (i.e. explain the action), or perhaps talk about new techniques or experiments that you tried, etc. So, it may well get you more points in some of the other categories by allowing the judges to understand why you did what you did... but you won't gain points directly from what you write.
I kept looking at my entry for the Mantis Maker challenge, thinking something wasn't terribly right with him. Something about him screamed Minotaur instead of Mantis. I've chosen to create a diorama so that I can keep the existing model, but incorporate a Mantis Warrior. The kneeling marine is a Sergeant and is the last living member of his squad, and has a hidden surprise for the marauding Minotaur. I'll have a wee bit of background fluff up for the confrontation eventually. I'm hoping this diorama allows me to do more from a painting and basing point of view.
Hopefully that's still all ok for the terms of the competition.
I'm also not 100% on what god the Mantis Warrior Daemon Prince should be, and what gear he should have...
Once I've got that down I can start going through my bitz boxes / figuring what I need - have some ideas though.
Which mark is most Mantis-Warrior-y? (has to have 1)
Khorne - Gains Furious Charge, Hatred Slaanesh
Tzeentch - Gains Hatred Nurgle, Re-Roll saving rolls of 1
Nurgle - Gains Hatred Tzeentch, Shrouded, Slow and Purposeful
Slaanesh - Gains Fleet, Hatred Khorne, Rending, +3" to run moves.
Personally, I would normally go Slaanesh, but I want to run what's closer to MW. Going to have Wings + Power Armour.
Would being a Psyker fit, or are there relatively few MW Psykers?
Also - are there any 'signature' Mantis Warrior weapons (other than Chainswords?).
@Matt: Great! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
@Ovion: I think your's is a good choice. I don't know that there's anything in the fluff that suggests a dirth of psychers. Anything preying-mantis-like. Beyond that I don't think anything's been detailed in the small amount of fluff there is. Pretty wide open.
Ovion wrote: I'm also not 100% on what god the Mantis Warrior Daemon Prince should be, and what gear he should have...
Once I've got that down I can start going through my bitz boxes / figuring what I need - have some ideas though.
Which mark is most Mantis-Warrior-y? (has to have 1)
Khorne - Gains Furious Charge, Hatred Slaanesh
Tzeentch - Gains Hatred Nurgle, Re-Roll saving rolls of 1
Nurgle - Gains Hatred Tzeentch, Shrouded, Slow and Purposeful
Slaanesh - Gains Fleet, Hatred Khorne, Rending, +3" to run moves.
Personally, I would normally go Slaanesh, but I want to run what's closer to MW. Going to have Wings + Power Armour.
Would being a Psyker fit, or are there relatively few MW Psykers?
Also - are there any 'signature' Mantis Warrior weapons (other than Chainswords?).
maybe Khorne? the little bit of fluff I know about the mantis warriors talks about the "battle-haze", sort of like tunnel vision with advantages. Could be similar to khorne with the warrior losing it and gaining single minded determination to destroy all in their path to reach a goal.
I think I may have to participate. I was thinking something along the lines of a Techamrine, with his servo arms looking like a praying mantis's pincers. That's what came to mind first, but who knows. I always did like the Mantis Warriors, so this seems like a good excuse to start a small force.
Nice build, and like the SG chest - fits the whole ornate armour of the preying mantidae thing. Also, yay RTB1! I'm really amused that you're using those legs (I've put them on the red corsair!)
Same backpack for the SM too I'm debating whether to have a mk6 or 4 helm on the ground next to him. Here's what's I got up to last night , in a narrow window of cake and work.
Spoiler:
Exterior ivy:
The light, and some gap filling: The plan is to zenithally highlight, creating shadows and light.
Here's the ivy again: Now you might notice I've added thin strips of brass where the steel beams are behind him - and do I spy an aquila there?
Why yes, yes it is: Need to bend that front shin ivy a bit.
And here's a view of the torso, with a line travelling up matching the window frame.
Progress. Got mrs g to check it, and she's okayed it, so y'know, wifely seal of approval
Yes, it's just a nearly stock Space Marine. This contest is an excuse for me to start the Deathwatch Killteam I've been wanting to do, so I'm building it with that in mind. I wound up leaving off a lot of the extra bits (scrolls, pistol holster) because I just can't find a way to make them fit in a way that I think doesn't look wretched. Any criticism before I cement this guy together?
OK guys... been up to my neck in my son's soccer tournament so I haven't been able to keep track of things as much as I like, but I think I'm caught up now. Everyone's stuff is looking fantastic! Keep up the great work all... oh so inspiring!
For those of you who can't compete, I do appreciate your moral support. I've only entered one competition myself and I didn't finish the figure in time, so I get it. But please, hang around and watch the fun. Encourage the contestants & maybe next time you'll be able to pile in.
For those of you who can't compete, I do appreciate your moral support. I've only entered one competition myself and I didn't finish the figure in time, so I get it. But please, hang around and watch the fun. Encourage the contestants & maybe next time you'll be able to pile in.
If I'd had the bits to hand I may have joined in this one.
I do tend to watch most of the competitions that happen here on DDakka as I can find some interesting blogs that way.
So I will make the effort to pop in to anyone blog that's taking part here (and offer advice if I can) to at least enter into the spirit of the thing even without taking part. Maybe one day I will be in the right place to take part in a competition.
I got enough bitz to try this one and I'm pretty exited to build and paint something out of my comfort zone I'm using what I have and not sure about all the purity seals and stuff, but I'll figure It out on the building process and I'll use the colors I have in the house, so don't expect the perfect MW here.
Just to confirm, definitely not going to have time to compete sorry Gits. I'll be around to offer support though. All the entries are looking great, can't wait too see them finished.
Here is the build for my entry. Assault sergeant name to be determined later of the mantis warriors. Copied over from my p&m log.
Oh and finally got my mantis challenge guy to stay together. Had to pin him, too much mold release on him I guess? Although the same glue bottle I've been using, the joints are still gummy.
Front view
Right side view
Left side view
Removed all blood angel icons, placed krak grenades on leg where the blood drop had been. Went with krak grenades instead of frag because the krak has the midline rib on them, which is the same diameter as the rib going around the leg where the symbol was. Hopefully that looks like some type of cabling holding it in place.
I also gave him a deathwatch shoulder pad. Not sure if he'll become the first of a deathwatch squad for me, or if he'll just be a veteran returned to his chapter. Haven't decided on the painting either. Will he be full deathwatch black with silver arm, or will he be mantis warrior green with silver arm, or do I go crazy and try a tranquility pattern camo with a silver arm? Was the deathwatch even around during the tranquility fighting? We're they around during the badab conflict? If anyone knows for sure I'd appreciate a pm
@Gits, I'll stick around for sure, looks like a fun ride!
@Theo, Nice build, where are those cream coloured bits from? And what glue are you using that you had trouble with? If it's a plastic glue and those cream bits are resin then that's your problem, you need super glue for resin.
@casey, the chest and head are FW red scorpion mark IV armor. The rest are GW look angel bits as well as old GW bits from Orc range and oop vehicle sprue range. I know I need to get some ca, my old bottle hardened up on me.
Cool, I'm not sure what you mean by ca but definitely invest in some super glue. Plastic glue just won't hold resin at all, if that's what you've used it's going to fall apart sooner rather than later. Best to use the right stuff now so there aren't tears later when your beautifully painted miniature crumbles in front of you.
I've done the build, little pieces here compare to my Orkz , pretty happy about the posing.
Also cut a bit the banner to give It a more Emperor liking look (It is a banner from the night goblin from fantasy actually )
Here the pic of the assembled Mantis, C&C are welcome even in Git thread
Brother Ahoky:
"I bring our symbol in battle.
I do It for my Brothers, my beliefs and the pride of our Chapter.
I will keep our colors high in good and bad times 'cause this is what I am, a Mantis Warrior."
Just to prove that I'm not relying on you all to keep my blog alive... I have been making progress on graven's GMS marine.
The irony of this, is that THIS is the figure I built for the one and only competition I entered... graven's Deathwatch competition last year. I just never got it done. So, it seems fitting to work on it while so many people are working of figs for my competition.
I must admit painting him has been a bit of a head-scratcher. I'm kind of feeling my way through it as I go along. So far though... I think he's coming out O.K. I need to do something with the gun which is very blah... and the head of course which I've been avoiding.
Git and Casey, thanks for the compliments, I have to say that I have big plans for a proper freehand paint job on the Banner, something that will be my best job or my ruin
The Death watch mini is coming along nice Git, I find It pretty fun that You're painting that during this competition, exalted the post for this reason.
Ruglud wrote: Ahh man, this is great. If I had more time (or a TARDIS / DeLorean) and some Marine bitz I wouold throw my hat in, but I have none of these at present
Good luck one and all...
This is where I am sitting too... Wait a minute... I think I have an old metal Pariah around here somewhere that would make an int..., never mind.
Ruglud wrote: Ahh man, this is great. If I had more time (or a TARDIS / DeLorean) and some Marine bitz I wouold throw my hat in, but I have none of these at present
Good luck one and all...
Start working on a time machine now and then do the model later. Then come back to now and give yourself the model to use in the competition...
and you both had it right, we feel slighted when we're not included and we feel slighted when we're singled out 
in fact it's nice to see an American even know that there is a Tasmania! I have seen maps shown in schools from a friend of mine from Oregon that didn't even have Tassie on there 
go figure!
Hummmm
However.... I'm not unsympathetic to questions about colors and such, I just can't play favorites. Within the confines of this blog are numerous examples of step-by-step tutorials on my technique. Dig around, see what you can find. You could also look in my "Methods" gallery. The 
