Oh, and just like bossfearless, I'm not overly sold on that model's aesthetics... BUT the painting from both of you, and the conversion, are really nice !
To me it looks more like that Armour comes from Battletech than 40k... But don't worry about me Gits !
alabamaheretic wrote:looking good gits...happy new year man
wish you and yours the best this year so eat your cornbread black eye peas and greens (i guess spinach is ok cause it is a green but its supposed to be collards turip or mustard greens
Happy New Year 'bama! Love me some cornbread. Greens are good. Not so sure about the peas.
bossfearless wrote:I'm torn, looking at that Dreadknight. The problem is that it is extremely well executed, I mean beautifully executed, but I really don't like the creative direction you took with it. It's an aesthetic preference on my part rather than any failing on your part. That said, it's a real showstopper of a conversion with creative uses of a lot of bits that normally sit in peoples' boxes forever (frag cannon, I'm looking at you). I'd like to see a rear shot if you have one.
Valid points bossfearless. BLACKHAND himself said that the build didn't turn out the way he wanted. I wasn't about to abandon it or rebuild it... so I just wanted to make it look as good as possible. So, I fiddled with the pose & tweaked the paintjob.
Here's the back shot you requested.
Spoiler:
Yggdrasil wrote:Bump, damn you !
Oh, and just like bossfearless, I'm not overly sold on that model's aesthetics... BUT the painting from both of you, and the conversion, are really nice !
To me it looks more like that Armour comes from Battletech than 40k... But don't worry about me Gits !
ibid ... and Happy New Year to you too!
I was going to make a big, lengthy post pontificating about something-or-other... but meh... I'll give you guys a break. Going to watch Wisconsin in the Capital One bowl instead.
I think I'll take a que from my good friend graven and let everyone know what they can look forward to in 2013.
OK, let's see how I did...
1. Finishing my Adepticon army.
Complete: A+
2. GMS marines. - graven - BLACKHAND - Solar_lion
1 out of 3... C-
3. Finish my LoTD marine & squad.
Nothing done: F
4. Build and paint up my FW Tartaros Pattern terminators
Nothing done: F
5. Finish my two LS Storms (missing guns/gunner & one rider each, plus some detail)
Nothing done: F
6. Do my late-period vanguard... but I'm going to hang on until a new SM dex comes out... unless it just seems that it's not going to happen for years. Now that I'm very comfortable with the way to do the swords correctly, I'm finally ready to go.
Nothing done: F
7. Finish my Warmahordes army!!
Nothing done: F In summary... epic fail. So this begs the question... is there any point to my doing a "what to expect" list for this year?
----------------------------------------------
I suppose a better thing to do would be the year in review... let's see what I actually got done in 2013.
General Things: - 87 pages added to blogzilla - helped judge 1 dakka painting competition - went nuts painting some industrial pipeline terrain - played my first game of Kill Team (great fun!) - played in a lot more games than usual (and not just against my kids) - played in a number of local & regional tournaments, oftentimes doing well in either the painting (usually) or actually by placing well in the tournament! - Adepticon (Chicago) - Rumble in the Tundra (Green Bay)
Space marines: - 9 space marines for Adepticon - built and painted two LS Typhoons - complete re-vamp and modification of two rhinos/razorbacks - kit-bashed & painted devastator sergeant - painted quad gun - ran the first annual Mantis Maker Challenge, built 3 prizes for same - built and painted two Mk-1 rhinos/razorbacks for Yellowbeard - made graven's GMS marine (who can forget"Uncle John" grabowski and his las cannon "long tall Sally"?) - rescued a Mk-1 land raider, including hatch conversion - made a neat little plasma cannon servitor for graven's repurposing competition - farmed out 5 tech marines and 4 servitors to be expertly painted by weety - 2 thunderfire cannons - fixed/repainted/rebased most of Blackhands "Red Knights", which have now been christened "The Brotherhood of the Black Hand" Models include... - land raider, rhino, kit-bashed DK, dreadnought, 26 marines, 6 terminators - bought a nice 1750 pt. SW army (used, painted)
Orks: - finally got the squig, handfull of grots and meganobz that I'd had Ifalna paint up for me based and ready to go - painted my version of Ghazzy - tweaked the paintjob on all warbikes - grot tank - 3 new grot warbikes - made "gobrobba" the demon grot - converted & painted my FW runt bot - began work on the squiggoth (got it built & the skin painted) - sent 3 ork planes to Ramos Asura for building and painting (this counts as they're DONE now and off my "to do" list) - painted/converted 3 ork nob bikes - converted & painted ork nob bike (made from old runtherder)
Necrons: - night scythe/doom scythe - wraith
Nids: - worked on gaunts with Thing 2 - 3 hive guard - farmed out T-prime and Malwock - 2 tyrant guard - 10 gargoyles (with a lot of help from Thing 1) - put together 12 marines for Thing 2 to mess around with
You set some specific goals, which doesn't always work out that well, with life and bargains and the generally haphazard 'OOH SHINY' nature of the hobby.
You've achieved plenty though, and it's been a good year.
And I'm looking forward to the Second Annual Mantis Maker Challenge!
(Mwahahaha)
Good wrap up Gits. Too bad about getting and a self imposed F in your review.
If I were you I'd be writing up a goal list for 2014. Give yourself something to work towards. IF you do start veering off course then we can give you a swift kick in the bum and get you back on track.
All in all though I think you had a good year. I certainly enjoyed keeping up with the progress. Much like Ovion, I'm looking forward to this years Mantis Maker Challenge.
I'm sure that there is something deep and metaphysical I can say to reassure you that progress is still progress, even if it takes you down a road that you didn't intent to take 12 months ago.... I could do that.
Or I could just say that you are a #$%^@#ing machine, and leave it at that.
That's thing, the road was long and winding, it just didn't take you where you that you were going sounds good to me You continue to have one of the most entertaining and involving P&M blogs for the community on the whole site. Kudos, amigo.
Thank you my friends. I'm actually fine with where I went this year, thought it wasn't where I thought I'd go. I think I had a much more interesting painting life over the last 12 months... with the GK and other races mixed in. Getting that land raider painted was actually huge for me. While it didn't make my original 2013 list... it should have been on it.
So... just for the record... here are some things I'd like to get done. I'll try to be somewhat conservative here...
General: - hold 2nd annual MM comp - help judge 1 other comp (if allowed) - stay active gaming, at least 2 games/mo. - play in 2 or 3 non-local tournaments & 6 local - get rules for Kill Team and get some friends & kids to play as well - wonder if the internets will explode if this blog reaches 1,000,000 views. Do I get a prize or something? - enter 2 comps to challenge myself & make me do something new
Great Marine Swap: - BLACKHAND's marine - Solar_lion's marine
Mantis Warriors: - FW terminators - modern MW terminators - modern vanguard squad - centurions - land raider #2 - finish LS storms - finish & paint rhinos to whirlwinds conversions
Brotherhood of the Black Hand: - 2nd dreadknight - 4 troopers for second strike squad - terminator apoth - rhino for second strike squad
Necrons: - work with Thing 1 on ghost ark - work with Thing 1 on bikes
Nids: - finish up gaunts with Thing 2 - buy and paint some big new Nid beastie as a special treat for Thing 2 when he does really well in school (one can hope)
Orks: - finish at least 1 squiggoth - finish last 2 grot tanks - megadread - buy and paint something new when the dex is released - re-paint 2 battlewagons
Space Wolves: - paint wolf-boy special character - paint fenris wolves
That's a crazy amount of work... but, that's what goals are for right? Stretch your legs and all? It should be stated that I made a real effort this year to spend more time with my kids doing gaming & non-gaming activities... that will continue. So if some of these projects get pushed on a year in order to leave time for me to enjoy my boys... I'm good with that. The nice thing about this list is that if I actually complete what I suggest, those armies will be done, or as close to done as makes no difference. Space Wolves, GK, Nids, Crons, even the orks would be really getting there. If I can farm out a unit or two here or there... I could really be looking at "want to" next year rather than "have to" when it comes to painting and modeling. Wouldn't THAT be something exciting?!!
Thank you everyone for your continued patronage. Please make a point of posting on the blog at least once or twice if anything you see interests you. This blog as "The Gits Show" isn't anywhere near as good or interesting as it is when it has the support and direct involvement of its readers! - Gits
Alright, put the "general" stuff to one side, you have 24 goals to achieve. That's 2 a month. Barring unseen calamities that sounds pretty damn doable. Even if you set aside 12 wild cards for the "oooh shiny!" stuff that this hobby has a habit of springing on the unwary then that's still only 3 things a month. That still sounds doable.
So if some of these projects get pushed on a year in order to leave time for me to enjoy my boys... I'm good with that.
that is the centre sentence in in my view....
otherwise...I wish you good luck in completing the task you´ve chosen! may the force be with you!
and whenever you start your next mantis warrior comp I am sure I will join... even if that means I get a second chance in completing my entry for the last I jest of course... each comp deserves a new entry!
What Vik said goes without saying i feel. As long as you make time for the family then everything else is gravy. If you manage to combine warhams with the young'ins, then bonus.
Snrub wrote: Alright, put the "general" stuff to one side, you have 24 goals to achieve. That's 2 a month. Barring unseen calamities that sounds pretty damn doable.
Well, 1 objective for 2 months IS undoable for me, so 24 is wayyyyyy too much Snrub lol !!!
Good luck on that Gits, we'll be there to prod you, as always
Well, last year I used the comp to fill in a slow period where I was taking a break from painting. Usually some time after Adepticon when I'm pretty burnt out. Not sure about this year as I'm having to do so little painting for Adepticon... I may not actually burn out. However... I may need a break at some point. I'd look towards the spring/early summer. It's my busy season at work and this year I'm heading a big, cooperative project so I'm guessing I won't have a lot of time to paint. It's also a big sports season for the kids so I'll be spending a lot of weekends at soccer matches or track meets.
OH! And I figured out where I could pick up an extra rhino for the Brotherhood without actually spending any money! Years back I'd snagged a couple of modern rhinos for Thing 1 that had been somewhat converted to chaos rhinos (but were still pretty normal looking) and roughly painted in Doom Eagle colors. I offered to trade him a Mk-1 rhino (painted) for one of the more modern rhinos. He agreed. I set about taking all the chaos bits off and even got the top hatch and gun hatch off without wrecking the whole thing. I dug out a very cool Inquisitional hatch made by pyriel-, mounted an old storm bolter on a new gun hatch and magnetized it in place (mainly so it can spin... because you know... it's gotta be able to spin).
So, here's the last large piece of the army. Now all I have to do is scare up two cheap dozer blades for the rhinos and get this puppy painted!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Yggdrasil wrote: Well, 1 objective for 2 months IS undoable for me, so 24 is wayyyyyy too much Snrub lol !!!
Yes, well.... I have been known to take a month to paint a single infantry figure. I'm not actually suggesting that I'll get all of that done. But it's what I'd like to shoot for. I guess those are my priorities would be a better way of putting it.
Pretty good progress for 2013 even though you gave yourself a lot of F's
Looking forward to seeing what you do in 2014 Gits and make sure you finish off your two clown cars
Thanks to a friend, Thing 1 and I were just able to play our first Kill Team game! Great fun! Necrons vs. Mantis Warriors. I lost 3-2 but it was closely contested & a lot of fun.
I need to make some more Kill Teams... I need a Razorback for a mreen one though... Think I've got most else.
Maybe that should be a goal this year for me: Finish Dalek-cron army. Prepare for Mantis Maker Challenge. Start making a custom Kill Team for each major army? (Maybe some minor ones?)
Spoiler:
Adepta Sororitas (Sisters of Battle)
Imperial Guard
Dark Eldar
Eldar
Eldar Corsairs
Inquisition
Necrons
Orks
Angry Marines / Blood Angels Adeptus Orthodontus / Clan Raukaan / Iron Hands Space Wolves Ostrogoths / Imperial Fists / Sentinels of Terra Grey Knights Iron Hands
Tau Empire
Farsight Enclaves
Tyranids
Chaos Daemons
Chaos Space Marines
Black Legion
Some 4000pts of Kill Teams?
Also, I just had an idea for my own competition I could run... Being this blogs popular I'll see what you guys think:
Kill Team builders comp. See who can come up with the best Kill Team out of the entire list of available Armies and Parent Chapters. It would involve making a 200pt Kill team, then building it to match the specialists youve chosen, and just generally making it amazing, with a requirement being every model in it has to have been converted in some way. Maybe with a display base for the team too?
For anyone wondering, the full list of 'released' army lists + marine chapters is:
Spoiler:
Adepta Sororitas (Sisters of Battle) Angels Revenant Armoured Battle Group Astral Claws Black Legion Black Templars Blood Angels Carcharodons Chaos Daemons Chaos Space Marines Clan Raukaan Dark Angels Dark Eldar Dark Harvest Death Korps Armoured Battle Group Death Korps Assault Brigade Death Korps Siege Regiment Eldar Eldar Corsairs Elysian Drop Troops Executioners Exorcists Farsight Enclaves Fire Angels Fire Hawks Grey Knights Howling Griffons Imperial Fists Imperial Guard Inquisition Iron Hands Lamentors Mantis Warriors Marines Errant Minotaurs Necrons Novamarines Ork Dread Mob Orks Raptors Raven Guard Red Hunters Red Scorpions Renegades and Heretics Renegades and Heretics: Servants of Decay Renegades and Heretics: Servants of Slaughter Salamanders Sentinels of Terra Sons of Medusa Space Marine Siege Assault Force Space Marines Space Wolves Star Phantoms Tau Empire Tyranids Tyrant’s Legion Ultramarines White Scars
Some 58 different ones to choose from, before you start on successor chapters and such.
Sure I can find something to use as prizes in my collection if people think it's a good idea.
Besides the awesome P&M always seen here, I also really like the idea of getting the cubs into the game - and eventually, even the hobby -, and Kill Team does seem a great way to do it - faster and shorter games would help with keeping attention drawn in - and I'll surely try it soon (And get to play myself too, btw!)
And.... on the coldest day since some time in the 1990's... (currently -11 F and falling)... one of our furnaces goes out. It's "working"... (has gas, has flame, fan is working), it's just not pumping out any heat. I'm wondering if the external air intake isn't completely frozen over (I'm not an HVAC guy so I'm not sure if that would make any difference or not).
The gas pressure regulator outside of our house freezes up from time to time... with symptoms similar to yours. Pouring a pot of boiling water on the regulator usually does the trick. I hope that helps!
You might want to have a look at that. If it's not getting enough air in, then it won't be burning completely and may be pumping out carbon monoxide instead of heat. You REALLY don't want that.
I don't think it's the gas as all the other gas appliances in the house are working fine. The CO thing has me worried though. Going out to check the vent right now while I still have a little bit of light.
Found the mechanical hands that I knew I had. They're big... but the again they're supposed to be DOOM FISTS... not choir-boy fists. Note that they mimic the positioning of the marines own hands and that I've even added a little flamer to the marine's arm in order to complete the look. I like the idea that the marine is actually fighting, with weapons... it's just that everything he does gets magnified by the massive machine he's attached to.
I was always under the assumption that civilisation is only a mere step away from a new age of barbarism
...if I not able to shower in the morning I feel that much closer to a club and a fur coat....good that your heating system is up and running again
Gitsplitta wrote: Found the mechanical hands that I knew I had. They're big... but the again they're supposed to be DOOM FISTS... not choir-boy fists. Note that they mimic the positioning of the marines own hands and that I've even added a little flamer to the marine's arm in order to complete the look. I like the idea that the marine is actually fighting, with weapons... it's just that everything he does gets magnified by the massive machine he's attached to.
I think he'll look mighty good painted up.
This is so gorgeous it makes me want to cry. But I won't.
^ I'll cry for you! that looks soooooo cool! I love the idea and the execution is great Gits! the hands are perfect and the fact they mimic that marine makes it seem slightly more believable as he's strapped in to to fight! that model deserves a smile and a head nod from me!
Thanks guys. I couldn't believe I found those hands. Basically they were sitting out in the open, within arm's reach of my hobby desk where I spend time every day. I literally tore my studio apart looking for them & all the time they were "hiding" out in the open, in plane sight, on top of a little stand that has all my basing materials on it (that I access all the time as a result).
The set came with enough bits to make 8 different hand poses... 4 for each hand... closed fist, open hand, pointing & "beckoning" (curled index finger). No idea what I'll do with the other six. I guess if anyone else would like their dreadknight to have jazz hands... let me know.
Short update: Finally working in earnest on a guardsman figure for bebopdrums' painting competition. I'm trying to get away with something though so I won't post any WIP pics until it's finished and submitted. Should be an interesting experiment... if a minor one.
I haven't put this much time or effort into brush-work in a long while. Once the face is finished, he'll basically be done. At that point... I have some decisions to make. The competiton asked for hand-painted detail, but at the moment he has none. I could do some kind of muted camo, but my research into the period suggests that the winter suits of the time were simple white without any other type of embellishment. The other option would be to give him some kind of IG markings... again, no such things existed in-period. This is further complicated by the fact that I own no guard books so have no idea what they're supposed to have. So I'm left scratching my head a bit.
This isn't actually the original idea I had for him... not quite anyway. In keeping with the inspiration, I want him walking through a winter woods. I imagine him as a lone currier of some sort, operating alone & quietly moving through hostile territory to bring some important bit of intelligence to his commander. As such... I really don't want to blow his "camo" with a lot of insignia and such... but then again, a bit of free-hand of some sort would be a nice compliment to the rest of the piece.
Here's my original mock-up of what I wanted to do. It is unfortunately not legal for the comp, so I'm made a small base for it, however... the guardsman will only be temporarily attatched to the small base and I'll finish him up on a proper 40mm base so I can use him as an objective.
You could do the marking in a grey that's a couple of shades darker on the shoulder pads.
I can't help with what the markings are supposed to be (having not done any guard yet), I've seen numbers, but that's all...
Yeah, saw that... along with some sloppy lining on the back. I'll get those taken care of tonight. Isn't the internet wonderful? Takes every stupid, nearly invisible little error and magnifies it 3" tall so everyone can see.
I'll poke around on the interwebs, see what I can find for exmples. I should be able to do something muted without completely blowing the scheme (or I can just forgo the detail points... this won't compete with what's already been submitted so maybe I'll just go the purist route and stick as closely to my original concept as I can).
"The Courier" A specialist of the Cadian 122nd works his way through a snowy woodland in rebel territory.
*Designer's Notes: As I'd mentioned before, the inspiration for this model/scene were the winter camo outfits of German and Russian troopers in WWII, as well as photos from the battle of Hurtgen Forest. I debated adding a kind of actual camo pattern, but my research into the period suggested that across-the-board the winter suits were simply white. I opted for a bit more aggressive shading on the cloth parts of the suit to give it some interest while leaving the plates as cleanly white as was practical. I did a little research into the IG and found some photos of members of the 122nd in similar outfits and mention of a notable winter action in a major campaign(Winter Campaign on Vintock III in the 40th Millennium).
I had this idea that I wanted to experiment with snow effects which led in large part, to this project. I found an old tree armature that was a reject from the model RR, completely stripped & painted it as well as trying to make it look as much like an actual tree as possible (these things are flat when you get them). I used Army Painters snow flock (which is the only one I could get my hands on). It's O.K., but in my opinion far too granular to be convincing as snow. If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd appreciate them.
Great looking, and well accomplished shading over the - always hard to work with - white scheme
As for the snow effect, if looking for a finer texture, maybe PVA and baking soda? I have not tried it myself, but would like to, and it is mentioned often for this...
I think he's looking cracking, mate. Maybe a little pva on fishing line to create icicles or snow melt? Also, there's a mold line on the tip of the barrel, I think (I know these things matter, for contests especially!)
Very nice work... I've used a few Cadians (usually under much more grizzly circumstances) and I'm amazed at the detail you got on the face. Really nice work, Gits.
I like the Guardsman a lot - you managed to make all white look interesting and textured. The tree looks awesome, though in the bottom left pic, like he's a Peacock guardsman with plummage!
Hey smithy! Yeah... that's just the angle. It's hard to suss out but there's a branch just in front of him that makes his head that odd shape & provided the "plumage".
@Yggs: I do worry about that... I have numerous criteria to cover when deciding to enter a comp (none of which have anything to do with the merits of the comp... it's all internal stuff). As a result I don't enter very many. They are fun though. Gets you out of your comfort zone a bit.
On to Mantis Warrior news:
The good news is that I've made arrangements for Reaper Man 2020 to build and paint my entire flyer corps... one Storm Raven with CH extension & two Storm Talons. Not only will this insure that these models get done in a reasonable time, but it will allow me to spend more time on other MW projects. I'm going to guess at this point that the centurions will get my immediate attention as they seem to be one of the few marine units that are worth anything in the new dynamic. eggroll has done some interesting things with his... I'll be trying something similar with mine.
The Guardsman looks great Git's, the white is very smooth.
I've been using Army Painter snow for the Warmachine minis I've done recently. A trick I found although I don't know if you think it makes any difference is after the glues dried is too go over the snow with gloss varnish, it melds it together a bit and gives it a bit more of an ice feel.
if you look at them again ignore the pic of Sorscha I forgot to do her base until after I took the pictures.
Gits he looks great! I think you've done a brilliant job of getting the cloth to look like cloth with the shading! and working on the one colour but giving the different areas with different textures attention to distinguish them from one another is very clever and done like a boss! :-) he looks overall, excellent!
Cool looking guardsman (pun intended). It looks so simple to paint white, but it's got to be one of the hardest techniques (along with yellow) to get right so kudos to you...
Played in a very small tournament today... (4 people). Came in dead last (0 points) but I put up a heck of a fight each time. While I am not a good player, I am getting better as I get to play much more frequently than I used to (at least once every 2 weeks) and I *am* pretty good at making the best out of my lot once everything goes to $hit. I guess I'm very good at being a pain in the a$$. Had a good time though. Good opponents & I got to give the TO crap the whole day. (always a bonus)
Picked up the "Firefly" board game which sounds like great fun (if you're a fan of the series) along with some interesting basing bits. Spent the evening trying to get some awesome looking MaxMini cybork/mek heads onto Nob sized bodies. No go. The heads are truly massive... with ridiculously long jaw lines. As awesomely cool as they look... all but one (a boy head) is completely unusable. They might fit on a warboss body and look OK... on anything else (nob, big mek, etc.) they just look silly. If you'd like to try one, let me know. I have 6 heads that I can't use on anything. So, I snagged some Kromlech boss heads out of the bits box and they fit perfectly. They're also big... but nowhere near as deep from back to front (which is how the GW heads are designed), so the fit the models just fine. I'm very sorry the MaxMini heads were all out of proportion, I had great plans for them... but I've had other issues with MaxMini stuff being nowhere near the appropriate size for "28mm heroic models" so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Set up another game for myself tonight. Been experiementing with an "Engineers List". First at 1500 & now 1750. I wouldn't call it competitive by any means, but it's interesting... somewhat unique, fluffy and fun to play.
If anyone has any plain old servitors that they want to get rid of, I'm in the market. Prefer trades as I have some pretty tight cash restrictions at the moment (cars keep breaking down), but it the price isn't too high I can do cash too. PM me if interested.
I've started a blog over in the P&M showcase section for the three armies that may or may not be on the chopping block... Grey Knights, Eldar and Space Wolves. It won't be a WIP blog but a place that I can post my progress & folks can see what's potentially going to be sold, unless I don't have the heart to do it.
Comments as I go would be welcome. I suppose the most time/cost effective thing to do would just be to sell them as-is, but I just can't bring myself to do that. Character flaw I guess. So, swing by, see what I'm up to. That should keep this blog on the straight and narrow... though I'll probably post some WIP shots here from time to time as I proceed on the bigger projects.
So, Gir takes 3rd in my first Mantis Maker competition. His prize is a custom made Mantis Warrior sternguard. He takes the model, paints it beautifully and then sends it back "so he can be with his bretheren".
...
Next time I'm sending Gir an entire unit!
So, I present... Brother Gir. (Painted by GiraffeX!)
Because those were the "modern" armor style when I began to collect and paint Mantis Warriors... and at that time the Badab War was already in the past, so there should be no Mk 7 armor in a Badab era force.
That's been retconned of course, but I'll stick to my guns for authenticity. It's also why I have primarily Mk 1 vehicles in the army, with a few notable exceptions.
Thanks Drake! (thought that last guy was painted by GiraffeX) Hopefully, I'll have something substantial to show in the not too distant future. Still trying to tie up loose ends with other armies.
Thanks for commenting Lucarikx! I always appreciate it when people comment for the first time. I'm so scattered in my attentions right now that this blog isn't getting the TLC it usually gets. I'm hoping that over the next few weeks I'll get my P&M affairs in order and be able to really focus on my two great modeling loves (Mantis Warriors and Bad Moons).
It's good to take a rest from things Gits. If your Mantis Warrior blog isn't getting a lot of attention right now, that's ok. Because when you come back to it you'll be far more enthusiastic about it and when we (the loyal purveyors) see it, we will be much happier to see its return.
Been a while so I thought I'd check in. Several exciting developments (though nothing very Mantis Warriory). Played my first game with the Order of the Black Hand today vs. my regularly bi-weekly opponent Bruce & his 'nilla SM. 1850 pts, hard-fought battle. I snuck out a narrow victory 5-2 in the last turn. I really like the GK. They're expensive, but better on balance that a normal SM. They're also one hell of a lot more interesting list-wise. I should sell my MW and keep the GKs.
Got a supply drop, 3 WS hulls minus the turrets (which I have already from many years back). Once I sell all the extras, I'll be building an Inyaden army which is something I've wanted to do for a long, long time. Getting the hulls pretty darn cheap from a bits dealer was a real coup... I also sold a good chunk of my old eldar to a young player here-abouts. Should be finished re-vamping the units I want to try and sell on e-bay this weekend too.
So... lots of things movin' & grovin'. Pretty exciting from my perspective. I'll post when the eldar go up for sale in case anyone's interested. The re-basing has really made a major difference, which I'm happy about.
Excellent news, and grats on the win. Don't sell the MW (not that you ever would, I suspect) but welcome to the Grey side Looking forward to seeing the rebirth of your pointy glass ninjas!
Sounds like you have done really well all around, and to echo inmygravenimage, please don't sell the MW's
It sounds like you are doing well on the wheeling and dealing front, I look forward to seeing your Iyanden army, knowing how well you paint with yellow, it should be a treat.
And another convert to the Grey side Did you get any pictures for a battle report?
No, I probably won't sell the Mantis Warriors. The GK are really fun and interesting though & the army plays well. He outnumbered and had more fire-power (by a long shot) than I did... however one-on-one I was better across the board so it was just a matter of making sure I got into favorable match-ups as much as possible. Of course I grounded my land raider redeemer AGAIN on turn two. Keeping it mobile would have made my life easier.
I didn't get any pictures... just wanted to relax and have a fun game. That and my opponent's army isn't painted so it wouldn't be very cinematic.
I think I might shift the color spectrum just a bit for my Inyaden... I'll do some experimenting when the time comes.
Yes, I find that with my Grey Knights too, having force weapons can help immensely the fact that they can put out 2 shots aand assault, plus psybolt to up the shot strength by 1... however it really hurts even if you lose a few as the army is so small...
Just DO NOT get mind shackle scarabbed because it can be really messy... especially if its a multiple wound character and you havent used your warp charge... so you wound yourself then pass your psychic test to activate your force weapon and then instant kill yourself gah!! Or he does it to your Nemsis Daemon Hammer and you beat your guys to death!
As for shifting the spectrum on the Iyanden Eldar, would you be going for a paler yellow, going into an almost bone colour?
I thought I'd post a pic of a little side project I've been working on. Entered bebopdrum's IG trooper competition & once I'd submitted my final entry I wanted to make something useful out of it, so I tacked on a 40mm base, extended the terrain & made an objective marker out of it. This was actually my vision for the project from the beginning... I just had to cut things down to 25mm at first to comply with the rules of the competition.
I actually did think about that moonpie & your point is well taken. In the end though, I decided I wanted a bit of color on the figure to match the color of the trees, and as nerdy points out, they're largely the same hues as the leaves on the trees. So call it an artistic conceit rather than an attempt as perfect camo.
But if that Aquila wasnt nice and shiny his Commissar would blow his head off!! hahaha... It does look good though, I really like the leaves, are they brass etch or seeds of some type?
No, I think they're the dried leaves of some herb. They come in a few different color groups... all based on tan (natural) but with either yellow, red, or green mixed in.
I think MY best snow effect was achieved as follows...
- apply GW snow effect (which is much too large to be really convincing as snow)
- apply layer of baking soda (this gives you the right look at the surface but doesn't build up proper depth as easily as the GW stuff)
- gloss varnish (gives it a bit of a shine if you want it)
I remember someone on the Flames of War thread basing their miniatures with herbs... Tea for the Brits, Oregano for the Italians, etc...
But yeah, Secret Weapon makes gorgeous stuff, and I drool every time I head to their webpage.
Gitsplitta wrote: So, Gir takes 3rd in my first Mantis Maker competition. His prize is a custom made Mantis Warrior sternguard. He takes the model, paints it beautifully and then sends it back "so he can be with his bretheren".
...
Next time I'm sending Gir an entire unit!
So, I present... Brother Gir. (Painted by GiraffeX!)
Nice job mate, thanks.
Just catching up here, but that is so cool of him!
Also, is the above IG objective marker going to be used for AdeptiCon? Or just for fun?
Regarding snow, I just got some of the Woodland Scenics snow, based on a tutorial which someone linked to over in the normal P&M section recently. It is a fantastic blog entry showing all the possibilities that you can get with just a bit of variation in material or method, posted by misterjustin of Secret Weapon fame:
Hey, Git, I was just joking about the glint, because that is so classic 40k ie. wearing camo but having bright gold medals and aquilas. I actually just painted a new captain for my Executioners where I did his aquilas and skulls and various bits and bobs gold. I originally had them not painted or painted black, because why would you wear camo and then have a bright gold bling chain? I think I am going to go back in and redo them all, because looking fly is way more important than actual practicality.
Let me know when you do, I'm curious if you end up preferring / recommending one of his methods over the others, and if it convinces you to use Woodland Scenics instead of GW snow . I actually went ahead and bought both Future Floor Polish and the Woodland Scenics Water Effects based on that article, and will see which I like using better mixed with the snow (as I'll be going for a "wet snow" look).
Briancj wrote: The aquila is just reflecting the exhaust from the nearby Thunderhawk that Gits is working on.
Can't wait to see that.. I'd bet it's an impressive addition to the MW army. Golly that would be most excellent! oh and the step by step tutorial will be worth all the anticipation!
Sorry, it's been a long week (already), I'm tired (already) and I have to work over the weekend... then roll right into next week's work again. I'm not much for subtlety at this point.
Ugh.. I've played that game, Git, and it sucks. I'm nearly done with my "weekend." It snowed.
Ice helped me post some pictures on my P&M, so I am advertising here, I mean, just letting you know.
**begin subliminal message**Look at moonpie's blorg...You know you want to... Buy moonpie a Warhammer Forge Basilisk...and maybe, like some Almond Joy bars...**subliminal message ends**
Had an interesting gaming experience on Saturday that I thought was worth mentioning. Played escalation for the first time. Friendly game with a bloke at my FLGS (who had the rule book). We were trying to get a group of people together to try it, but in the end there were just three of us (myself & Thing1, and Mark). Thing 1 and I shared his Necron army with an ork "ally" stompa, while Mark played a necron army with a tesseract vault. We set up an AMAZING table... twice the size of a normal one (at the time we hope multiple people would show up). See pic below.
We had a rompin' good time. The super-heavies blew up within a turn of one another... actually it was the exposion of the one that facilitated the explosion of the other. The only D-weapon on the table was the close combat stompa weapon, so they weren't blowing everything up around themselves (actually, I'd say their overall impact was quite muted). That... and all the gauss warriors on the table (70 total) were glancing EVERYTHING to death. Pic below is a shot right after my old Epicast stompa blew up the tesseract thingie (nothing quite as fun as titanic explosions).
It was... a LOT of fun. Not having D-weapons all over the place was a huge factor in keeping it fun. We eked out a narrow victory by a late-game gambit (running two shot-up squads of warriors into his deployment zone) coupled with some lucky reanimation protocol rolls to keep the squads alive. I'd play it again in a heartbeat... though I don't think I'd want it adopted for a major tournament such as Adepticon.
Sounds like it was a great time, and I love the fact that you get to share those with your Things (Cubs for me, but then again, I don't live near the Great Lakes, so no passions aroused by that!)
Nice Stompa, though the paint job doesn't seem to quite match that of the rest of your armies yet
The escalation game looks awesome and very cool to see you spawning other Mantis Warrior projects, Gits! If I am right to assume that GFX was inspired by you
RiTides wrote: The escalation game looks awesome and very cool to see you spawning other Mantis Warrior projects, Gits! If I am right to assume that GFX was inspired by you
Yeah blame Git's, that what happens when you paint one for the paint a MW competition
I think MY best snow effect was achieved as follows...
- apply GW snow effect (which is much too large to be really convincing as snow)
- apply layer of baking soda (this gives you the right look at the surface but doesn't build up proper depth as easily as the GW stuff)
- gloss varnish (gives it a bit of a shine if you want it)
Thank you Gitsplitta, that gloss varnish was the extra ingredient I was missing!
GiraffeX wrote:See Nerdy Kill Teams is the way forward you can do loads of different ones without having to paint an entire army
I agree. Kill Team is an awesome way to experiment and "play" with other armies!
RiTides wrote:The escalation game looks awesome
It was great fun. I'd like to do it again sometime. I think a bunch of D-weapons would ruin it though. Giant S-10 blast markers... no problem. "touches you and you die automatically"... not so much.
GiraffeX wrote:Yeah blame Git's, that what happens when you paint one for the paint a MW competition
There will be another after Adepticon. So keep those brushes warm!
chrisyella wrote:Thank you Gitsplitta, that gloss varnish was the extra ingredient I was missing!
My pleasure chris!
Painting-wise I've been noodling around with some necron objctive markers for our Adepticon team. I thought I'd finished them but then everyone whined that they weren't specific to each army, so now I'm re-doing or modifying 3 of the 4. No marines this week... though I did unbury my airbrush station... which means Mantis Warriors could happen at any time.
Ovion wrote:Also - a comment above reminded me - when's the next Mantis Maker Challenge going to be?
(see below)
Gitsplitta wrote:There will be another after Adepticon. So keep those brushes warm!
wyomingfox wrote:Awe man...I would be super excited to see you tackle something as mammoth in scale as a stompa!
Well, I will eventually get to that epicast stompa. Just need to replace and/or convert his right arm so he's legal. (or at least meets the standard configuration in the rule book) I'm half way done with a squiggoth... and have an ork mega-dread in the bags... Those a big, but not quite modern stompa standard. Unforunately there's nothing marinish large scale. I'd had great hopes that they'd issue a SM epic knight with the new dex (to match the eldar one). Unfortunately... no such model was forthcoming. :(
Yeah. Now, if that doesn't work for folks... I can shift it. But I'm usually kind of burnt out after Adepticon, so the competition is a good way to keep the blog active while giving me a break, as well as really pumping me up so I can dive into another year's worth of painting & modeling.
Oh for me, it's more... I was going to do something big, and I'm not sure how well I'll be able to do it atm, so may have to come up with something else.
I still have to decide exactly what I want the competiton to entail. Do I leave it wide-open or should I focus on a specific concept? Limiting the subject matter might turn some people off, but it does make the judging easier and levels the playing field a bit.
Hmmm... maybe set points for varying levels of paint with the real points to be earned in creativity and such.... or perhaps objects categorized by paint job (so that's a wash across a category), then scored on their creative merits.
Actually, graven gave me a fantastic idea. Will take some serious work on my part *before* the competition starts though. For now... relax... things will become clear in due time.
Hello!
I've been following this blog for I think... years now.
I made my first posts on the boards today.
I love this blog. I enjoy seeing the new projects and the fun conversations that you guys are always having.
Can't wait for more!
@EyeamRai: Welcome! I'm so glad you've finally decided to post! Sorry the blog hasn't been very exciting as of late. Have been very busy trying to tie up some old loose ends in other armies so my poor Mantis Warriors haven't gotten a lot of attention. Won't be that way forever though. Please don't be a stranger. The blog is always far better when new people drop in & say "Hi". Fresh eyes and opinions are always so critical... keeps this place from becoming a musty reverberation chamber.
@moonpie: Do you have any idea how bloody LONG it took me to come up with some kind of lame technicality so that I could DQ both you & Ice after you'd worked so long on that project!? That was a lot of work! (Actually, I do feel bad about that... and there will be some of Mrs. Gits cookies coming for you both at Adepticon.) This year, it'll be different... I promise.
Spoiler:
Meaning I'll find a much easier way to DQ your fuzzy butt, without all of the plotting and effort!
Lovely work there from Giraffe. Also good to see someone having fun with Escalation. It's not as bad as people make out, so long as D-Weapons stay off the board and both players bring along a Super-Heavy.
Agree with you on the tournament point though. Escalation is not fit for tournament play in the slightest.
I cant help but think our battle cry has been undermined by our unanticipated pastry-based rhyming...
Aaaaaanyways... Competition sounds awesome. Ill definitely have to try and enter this time! (dont know why I didnt last year!) Definitely looking forward to seeing the theme Whats more exciting is this:
Gitsplitta wrote: though I did unbury my airbrush station... which means Mantis Warriors could happen at any time.
Whoo!! Lets see them marines! ^^
Also, i feel I must echo the sentiment that Gir's team looks exceptional. What is the Sergeant's head from, by the by? I really like that helmet design!
I have gotten Mrs. Gits cooking so I can't complain, Bitch and whine is still on the agenda!
@ IMGI - I thought they didn't have cookies in the UK.. Biscots yep. Move to the States and we'll get you some cookies! Move near Gits and you could get some Ribs and Burgers... Tempted now?
I've sent cookies to the UK... cost about $50. Don't think I'll do that again.
Played a very odd game with my Mantis Warriors this afternoon. Took pics. Will have a mini batrep sometime this weekend (very busy). Maybe even get some painting done...
@Gir: It means a lot that they were so much appreciated. Besides, you guys did truly great stuff to earn them!
Been working on the last element of my Necron Adepticon list... some necron bikes. Lovely models... PITA to put together. Very time consuming. Should be great looking when finished though. I know, not the MW news you were hoping for, but I did want to let you know I have been busy.
What kind of cookies are they? I'm going to get a cup of coffee and eat them with it. And then blog about it. And wait for all the people in foreign countries that still operate at the same hours as me digitally drool. Mwahaha!
Ahh, the sweet taste of disqualification. I don't want to win ever again. Or even qualify. I just want to enter things. Which reminds me that I still owe Ice money.
Well, for Adetpcon I'm either running 3 or 4 in one squad. There's just no good way to magnetize these weapons so what I did was take the two weapons I thought were most likely to get used & model them 3 each. When I play, I'll just say the majority of weapons is what the squad is armed with, and make sure the first kills are from the "wrongly armed" models. Should be an honest enough way of representing the weapons in the unit. OR I can run 2 units of 3 (with different weapon types). My son only has 1 wraith squad so there's no other competition in this part of the FOC... so two bike squads would work fine.
I love the army gits. My only critique is that the bases on the flyers don't match the skull bases. Perhaps more flock or something to better tie them together? I don't know, just a thought. Are there going to be fields of skulls on your display?
I actually have matching bases, but they're going to take some fiddling to make them work. They weren't designed for a base post located where the post needs to be to handle a Necron flyer. I hope to have them changed up by Adepticon, but if I don't get to it I don't think it'll be the end of the world (we'll be mounting them airborne on our display).
Another really smashing job on our team display SL! I don't know how you find the time, energy or MONEY to put these together rear after year.... Makes me feel ashamed of my very meager team-contributions. I think once you figure out a way to get all the flyers up in the air... it'll be just fantastic!
How pathetic is my life???
Since losing the big FLGS in Madison... painting & modeling supplies not made by GW are nearly impossible to come by. For me, that's the majority of what I work with day-to-day. My big excitement for the week (and really... I was *very* jazzed up) was getting to the model RR store and buying out their stock of Testor's Dull Coat which can't be found at any of the surviving gaming stores (because it isn't made by GW). Well, at least I've got enough to last me a bit. God only knows what I'm going to do when I start running out of airbrush paints...
Actually, Gits.... Iffin you were looking for a matte varnish to replace the Testors, Id suggest looking at Liquitex Matte varnish. Its made for canvas painting, but I've found that with a bit of windex to thin it down, it gives an ideal matte finish when shot thru an airbrush!
Its a bit harder to control, as if it dries too fast you'll get a rough, sandpapery finish. Once you figure out what works best for you, though, it definitely my favored method. Way cheaper too, as I think I paid 14$ at a Hobby Lobby for a big 8 oz bottle. I've used it for everything Ive painted since October, and still have more than 2/3's of a bottle!
Sucks that brick and mortar stores are becoming a rare breed... Especially the more hobby-oriented ones. Used to be a real nice Hobbytown USA near me that had everything from woodland scenics stuff to plasticard. Now my selections are hyper slim, lest I go to the web!
@Ramos: I do have a variety of airbrushing varnishes that I've used successfully... I just don't always want to mess around with cleaning the airbrush when I'm just coating a single figure. I'll keep the Liquitex in mind though. I'm sure I can get that from the University art supply store which is near where I work.
Gitsplitta wrote: Another really smashing job on our team display SL! I don't know how you find the time, energy or MONEY to put these together rear after year.... Makes me feel ashamed of my very meager team-contributions. I think once you figure out a way to get all the flyers up in the air... it'll be just fantastic!
Thanks, IF this cold weather EVER goes away I'll try and finish it!.. and thus take a Army shot of my stuff at least ( for scale reference). Got my flowers ( did I just say that! ). Now just waiting on the scarabs.
Finally getting back to the hobby and reading the blogs on this site. As i have read hundreds of pages in this before, i did not feel like reading them all again to just caught up from the recent few pages. Glad to see its still going, but miffed that i missed out on a MW painting competition. I will just have to make sure i am around for the next one
Bit of a gaming update. Sorry for the total lack of production.
Took both boys to my FLGS for some "league" gaming. Basically an escalation league starting at 500 points and going up 250 a month. No cost, no prizes really though you do get a discount at the store if you play at least 4 games in your month. They're keeping track using a chess ranking system so you get more points for beating someone with a better record than yours. You have to stay in the same dex but can field any army you want. Been a lot of fun. Anyway, the boys LOVED gaming all on their own for a change. I think they're "hooked" on 40k again. Nice thing about these tiny games is that you can get 3 or 4 in a night and they don't feel so painful when you lose.
So, been doing a lot of playing but not much painting. Just don't feel like it. Been plugging away on the last of Thing 1's tomb blades but I'm not going very fast. Just can't get motivated to work on them for very long. Eventually though, they'll be done and I can move on to other projects that might be a bit more engaging.
Even if it's not P&M strictly related, I'd say it's a great update nonetheless
That you get to share with your kids - either the hobby side, or gaming itself - is absolutely great, and painting a bit less for that is in no way a problem! (Hope you get your motivation up soon anyway , and do both!)
Glad you liked it Luc, thanks for commenting. Always helps a new thread to get a couple of early bumps.
It went surprisingly easy and problem free. The only thing I had to re-do was that some of the glue did not take the first time when I glued the gems to the backing, so I had to re-do some of the seams. Not a big deal though. That's what I get for using a plastic-weld type glue rather than regular old "Jet" like usual.
Continued the gem making experiment. These are about 1.5" from top to bottom. Half are magnetized, half will get pins.
Props to whomever can guess what they're made of.
As you'll note I did not add an artificial top highlight mark. With some input from the Mrs. I decided that the gloss coat provided adequate natural top highlights all on its own. (of course there's no top highlight from this angle... but you can clearly see the room lights reflected in the gems, which is what I'm referring to) I further refined the building and painting techniques so it's very repeatable. Unfortunately while the materials cost is very low, it took a lot more time to do these than I anticipated. Not sure I can put a high enough price tag on them (that people would be willing to pay) to make them worth my while. Still, if I get bored between now and Adepticon I may turn out another set in a different color.
I'll give each team member (besides YB since he's getting the big ones) a gem to keep or dispose of as they like... favorite opponent or some such.
I am interested in seeing if there's any market for them, I don't really think they're cost efficient, but if I could earn a nice dinner at Harry's with them I'd be pretty happy.
I feel like an apology is owed because I've been so non-productive. Usually, you guys are used to a flurry of mad painting activity leading up to Adepticon and this year it's been nothing of the sort. Not only have I had very few models to paint this year (and those not marines), but I started and finished early. What I have been doing is playing on just about every occasion that I can. Generally at least once/week... sometimes multiple games per week. Both with my Adepticon army and with other armies. All that effort IS paying off and I'm definately a better player now than I was 6 months ago. Another benefit is that having the kids come with me and either team-play with me or play on their own has lit a fire under both of them again. The down-side is that it hasn't left a lot of time (or frankly patience) for painting.
Leave it to me to get back into playing, just when the rules are completely FUBAR.
Anyway... there you go.
Hope all is well with everyone. I do miss our conversations & hearing everyone's great ideas.
If anyone is going to Adepticon, our team shirts are black and white hockey jersies that have our dakka handles and a decent sized picture of our avatar on the back. So I should be easy to pick out of a crowd.
Its good that all that painting has paid off Git's so you now have time to enjoy playing the game (something which I myself dont get a chance todo). It's great that the kids are involved as well always nice to be able to share something you all enjoy.
I sadly do not have the time or funds this year to make it due to the fact i graduate in May and need to establish a full time job, and finish my sleeve i have been working on the last 4 years!
Good luck to you all though. I expect as many, if not more photos this year!
Gitsplitta wrote: I feel like an apology is owed because I've been so non-productive. Usually, you guys are used to a flurry of mad painting activity leading up to Adepticon and this year it's been nothing of the sort. Not only have I had very few models to paint this year (and those not marines), but I started and finished early. What I have been doing is playing on just about every occasion that I can. Generally at least once/week... sometimes multiple games per week. Both with my Adepticon army and with other armies. All that effort IS paying off and I'm definately a better player now than I was 6 months ago. Another benefit is that having the kids come with me and either team-play with me or play on their own has lit a fire under both of them again. The down-side is that it hasn't left a lot of time (or frankly patience) for painting.
Leave it to me to get back into playing, just when the rules are completely FUBAR.
Anyway... there you go.
Hope all is well with everyone. I do miss our conversations & hearing everyone's great ideas.
If anyone is going to Adepticon, our team shirts are black and white hockey jersies that have our dakka handles and a decent sized picture of our avatar on the back. So I should be easy to pick out of a crowd.
If it helps:
Full FoC
Spoiler:
Up-to-date 'what you can expect to see across the table / index
Thanks all. I am having fun. Last year I took my "break" by stepping away from the game for a while... this year it's by actually playing (what a concept). I'll be back soon enough. Too many exciting projects and excellent models in the que to ignore for very long.
First marine project will be 6 crusaders. First ork project will be a custom-built ork ambulance (pain boy bike) that Cam built.
@Ovion: Yeah... I read that article. Totally stupid. You have $1200 lying around so you can buy the complete rule set? I don't.
Yeah, I'm serveral books behind from supplements, Warzones and even the newest IA. It just got to much to buy 2-3 $50 books a month, on top of the IA books, just to be aware of the rules. I don't even bother on Dataslates.
Yes, this one source of a lot of the fracturing in our community. I'm liking the stance that Frontline Gaming has taken... you may have up to two sources for your army.
Gitsplitta wrote: Thanks all. I am having fun. Last year I took my "break" by stepping away from the game for a while... this year it's by actually playing (what a concept). I'll be back soon enough. Too many exciting projects and excellent models in the que to ignore for very long.
First marine project will be 6 crusaders. First ork project will be a custom-built ork ambulance (pain boy bike) that Cam built.
@Ovion: Yeah... I read that article. Totally stupid. You have $1200 lying around so you can buy the complete rule set? I don't.
Well, you don't have to own it all.
The important parts you needare:
Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook
40k Rulebook FAQ Stronghold Assault
Escalation (Not really important if you have Apocalypse)
Forgeworld Lords of War update
Your Codex(es) + FAQ(s)
So that's £100 to £130 'to start' for one army (direct from GW)
+£30 per supplement
+£20-65 for a new army base.
+X if you want particular FW units.
Though it'd be nice to have it all on the shelf.
But it is a bit silly isn't it?
And there's more coming out.. I'm not even sure if that's up to date anymore.
Ovion.. Not so true anymore.. in order to play well against others you have to have some clue to what other armies can do or you fall victim to some blatant rule interpretation.
“ No those Gaunts shoot 96in and all are D weapons” I exaggerate to make a point. There already enough poorly written rules that require clarification even when you know them.
Just spent two days at our FLGS with the boys (on spring break), playing 40k mainly though both boys did the MTG draft last night. The "slow grow" league that the shop is sponsoring has really been a good thing. In the last 5 weeks, the young'un has played 5 games (on his own) and his eldest brother's played 9. They're both getting a lot of confidence and are getting better at playing as a result. They're also getting exposed to a lot of ideas about 40k from other folks, which is great! The league was flagging a bit so I offered to help a bit in running it, mainly paperwork and some cheer-leading. It's been so good for the boys I'd hate to see it fail. Of course I've been playing my brains out as well. 12 games, all with my orks. I'm a bit over .500, though I did a lot of experimenting with lists early on, some of which just failed completely. What's interesting is that mixed unit lists seem to be much more viable than any "theme" lists I can come up with. My current list (at 750 pts) simply has a warboss on bike with a 4-man nob bike unit, a unit of aard boyz in a battlewagon & a dakka jet. It's not a sit-on-objectives-and-outlast-you list... more of a go-out-and-get-you-and-worry-about-the-whole-objective-thing-later kind of list. It's fun, fast & surprisingly effective. Neat thing about it is you never know where big push is going to come from. Bikes are always good... but sometimes the deff rolla or the dakka jet comes through with a major kill that just pushes the game over the edge. It's also pretty resilient as the bikes, wagon and even the aard boyz can be pretty tough nuts to crack.
Anyway... it's been fun and a wonderful way to relax with the boys while sharpening my general playing skills for Adepticon. I've also played a ton of different armies, so I shouldn't get surprised by much next weekend.
I leave for Adepticon on Thursday morning! Am very excited! All my gaming stuff is packed or at least laid out!
If you're going, please look me up! I'll be hard to miss in that shirt. (that's the whole idea after all)
Also, I'll be selling these little gems, some of which are pins, some are magnets (though I'm bringing extra pins with me in case there's more demand for those). Help fund a little deep-dish pizza for a home-sick Chicago lad!
Thanks guys. Been wonderful so far. Lots of dakka folks to hang with. As cool as you think people are on line, can't compare with how cool people are in real life.
Hey guys, all the mods are here... Quick, time to rip off your clothes and run nekked through the halls of dakka! You can do anything for the next two days!
I'm sure they didn't have the foresight to... say... have someone bring a lap top.
Great day yesterday. We drew the defending 2x champs in game 1 (Hulks ash's boys). Gave them a challenge I think but in the end they crushed us. Can't say enough about how great a bunch of guys they were. It was a true honor to play them.
Gene 2 against "Bolter Brothers'. Another fantastic bunch of guys. Really tight game until one tesla destructor shot killed 800 points worth of models. They never recovered after that.
The fact that you felt you were able to hold your own against the defending champions makes me so happy y'all decided to go with codexii that gave you a chance to be competitive.
On our way home. Had another great day. Loss (but not total) in the AM, solid win in the PM. Good guys to play against, very nasty armies.
Saw a ton of friends, schmoozed, shopped, ate too much. Entered a figure in the crystal brush, you can check it out on CMON (just my ork grot bot). Played casual games with friends and teammates.
It's your mother's father that determines typical male-pattern baldness. Apparently, my maternal grandad had a good shock of hair. My children won't be so lucky.
Much as I'd like to talk and talk about Adepticon all day... I really want to do it with photo support. I was pretty good at taking pictures with either my camera or my phone throughout the event, so rather than just dumping them on you, I'd rather do kind of a rolling narrative from start to finish. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time this morning to upload more than just the one pic, so if you can bear with me for a day until I can get home and start the process, I promise it'll be worth the wait.
I can tell you a few things though that don't need pic support however.
I had a wonderful time. Has to be one of the best Adepticon's ever for me (OK, 4 is a small sample size). Last year I was a wreck. This year I was calm, confident and really excited about attending. Most of our "extended" team was able to be there (though we truly missed the guys that couldn't come) and we spent a lot of time just hanging around, eating, poking fun at each other's foibles (of which there are many). You know... being friends. Had a genuine moment of zen with Yellowbeard and our opponents at the beginning of round 2. Great memory.
Dakka admin and mod-squad were there in force. Very friendly and approachable. I know no one likes to be modded, free internet and all that... but if you got to meet these guys face to face & got to know them a bit, I think it'd be a lot harder to get mad at them if they actually needed to talk with you "officially". Just keep in mind that you're probably being an unreasonable jack-a$$ and a bit more prudence might be in order. (This is an un-compensated testimonial from an actual Dakka user. Your mileage may vary.)
While I spent a good pile of cash, it was kind of dissappointing as I didn't really come home with much. Got a new battlefoam bag and ordered some trays, picked up some stuff for the boys, got a show-only marine model from FW, which I must have misplaced somewehre along the line. That's about it. Nothing spectacular (save that green Adepticon bandanna I'm holding in the pic above... thanks Yellowbeard!).
I attended Major_Tom's "Color Theory" class late one night. It was equal parts informative, inspiring and humbling. The only training in art I've ever had was in metal working. Engraving, pierced-work, forming, casting... those things. Even then it was informal, one-on-one from working artists, never in a formal classroom setting. I don't know anything about art from a theoretical perspective. I do love hanging out with artists and talking art though. When I lived in Washington State, two of my best friends were (trained) professional metal workers and the three of would sit around for hours looking through books & discussing the pieces we saw, how they could be made & our own work in relation. While my work was crude in comparison... that never seemed to matter, we all shared the same passion equally, so our disperate skills never entered into the discussion. Tom's class was like that. There were rank newbies, Golden Demon winners, professional artists and those inbetween, all discussing color theory until midnight. It was a lot to wrap your head around, but very, very cool.
Well, that's all for now. Don't want to spoil the narrative.
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Oh Lord... did I really say that? Just shoot me... please.
My wife and I attended one of those Wine and Canvas events that are going around the country. Depending on the instructor, you can pick up some really nice tips and tricks for painting at our scale too.
Besides... spending time away with the wife... they usually like that.
You continue to have one of the most entertaining and involving P&M blogs for the community on the whole site. Kudos, amigo.
I'm not actually suggesting that I'll get all of that done. But it's what I'd like to shoot for. I guess those are my priorities would be a better way of putting it. 
)
