1. Make a small ball of green stuff by rolling it around in your fingers. 2. Push it on to the shoulder pad. 3. Wet your finger slightly and push down on the ball, flattening it. 4. Roll your finger around on the flattened area in order to smooth out the edges. 5: Take a shaping tool or something like it and gently "brush" the surface of the GS to remove any fingerprint marks.
Voila!
This one is actually on the large side... I prefer them a little smaller in relation to the size of the pad. The raised area also makes them very easy to paint. Undercoat white, then whatever layers & shades of yellow you like.
Well, Thing-1 and I were going to participate in a team tournament at Gamehole Con in Madison this weekend. But all the 40k events are two-day affairs and we're unable to attend on Sunday. Given that we couldn't actually finish the tournament, the $60 cost was just too much. Too bad though, Thing-1 and I had a pretty interesting combo going... not "competitive" by any stretch but pretty unorthodox & it might have given people fits.
So, I'll probably work around the house. It's supposed to snow on Monday so I'll need to get the garage organized so I can get the ATV out easily (our snow-plow) and get our best vehicle inside. My cold has set up camp in my chest, which will just make everything more difficult. I hope to work on the centurions though... I really need to get my act together and start getting some models painted. Might even fiddle with something orky if the whim strikes me.
Here's another useless update for you. (Sorry... I was initially expecting to spend the day gaming... so now that I'm not it's left me chatty and in need of 40k stimulation.) A couple of months ago I got a new, very up-to-date computer (this coincided with my reappearance on Dakka, not surprisingly). Among the other benefits... I was finally able to play Dawn of War II, which I've owned for years but could never get to work on my old machine. Well, I just finished it. Very fun, though I wish there was an option for some kind of pick-up battle like the old DOW.
I think I'll go work on the cents now & maybe an orky bit just for fun. Laters y'all!
Finally made some progress on the centurions. Basically I'm working my way through one of the sergeants, trying to figure out the color scheme. Haven't worked on the arms yet... thinking I might paint the large parts of the not-power-fists purple. No idea what I'm going to do with the guns or the banners yet. But... progress is progress.
It is a puzzlement... Those are excellent suggestions Ramos. I'd originally intended to do something heraldic (which would appropriate), however the more I look at them, the more I'd like to do calligraphy. Like so.
These would be more traditional for battle standards I think.
Thing-1 walked in and looked at the figure... he immediately stated that they needed to be done in kanji. So that's it. He's found me a good kangi site with meanings, so my reasearch is done. I think I'll combine that with a bit of graven's suggestions. If I can figure out how to do heraldry on the sergeants, I might do that as well, but I'm not confident I can render the design on the shoulder pad (i.e. the realistic mantis) on a 2-d painting. I'm just not much of an artist.
Here's where I finished (noonish). Have to go get some work done around the house & earn my kibble!
Good work Gits'. He's looking very posh with all that purple.
Good work, TSL on keeping the blood translucent, and not just painting him red. Looks good.
As an extension to the making of neat circles, I had an idea while reading Gits' GS explanation above:
If you paint the surface yellow (the colour of the circle) and then use a blob of blu-tack (poster tack) in the same way as the GS, you can then paint the rest of the surface green (the colour of the surroundings). Remove the blu-tack and you should have a perfect circle.
Here is my entry to the Mantis Maker II challenge...
And the entry description: Brother Sargent Waldorf, of the Mantis Warriors. Mantis Warriors are masters at using their environment to their advantage. Here is one of Waldorf's prepared sniper positions. One key to being a successful sniper is to realize that your location will be discovered. Another key to surviving is to no longer be at that place when it is discovered. Buried in the moss, Waldorf has left an explosive surprise for any who do find it.
Can I add a further option to painting the perfect circle on a shoulder pad?
As Dr H said paint the pad yellow and then pick up some of those round stickers you see all over the place (which can be all different sizes) stick it where you need it and paint over.
Then carefully peel it off and hey presto there is your spot.
Just like masking up a tank for quick camo patterns, just perhaps check the strength of the stickers adhesive that it won't take paint with it....
Hi Gang, I'm back! Thanks for keeping the blog going in my absence!
First thing's first...
@Anpu: *Very* creative and out-of-the-box interpretation of the contest rules. Nicely done.
@TSL: It's ridiculously easy. First a solid coat of dark purple (GW Liche or P3 Beaten), then several very thin coats of watered down light purple (GW Warlock), dabbing it unevenly in the center of the plates & avoiding the edges. Let each application dry thoroughly before applying the next. Then apply a coat of purple wash. Finally, one more dab-coat of the lighter purple in the very center or high spots of the plate.
More progress on the Cent. It won't look like much but there was actually quite a bit added on. Have to re-do the blue part of one side of the grav gun... wasn't sure how I wanted to handle it so I experimented with a couple of different things before deciding.
Have also been working on a grot tank. You can see that over on my ork blog (linky below in sig).
Thanks, Gitz. I'm glad that you enjoyed it. The white and red striped legs were a bit of a clue as to what I was intending. This oldie, but goodie is also a bit of an inspiration.
Great execution, will they be getting a wash afterwards or remain as is? I don't think they really need it but I'd be interested to see how they'd look if you matched them to the purity seals.
Likely true Jehan, but I didn't have room. I may try it on another one though. It's my first attempt at a kanji so I kept it simple. Thanks for the tip, I'll see if I can't do better next time!
Okay time to throw my hat in to the ring. Here is my entry for the Mantis Warrior Competition.
Pic-Capture #4356 - #4359
Date: late M41
Subject: Mantis Warrior Veteran Sergent Bektai
Here we have Sergeant Bektai during one of the Battles of Herodian IV. While the Mantis Warriors would gain their redemption after the defeat of the Tyranid splinter fleets, Sergeant Bektai was killed during the final engagements of the war.
Ritually scarred as a follow on from the primogenitor chapter of the Whitescars, D'Naru has also reached high enough within his squad to go through first two trials of absolution, the aim being cleansed of their sins.
Separated from his squad after a tight skirmish D'Naru found him self fighting alone to get back to the chapter, having gone through his bolter rounds he now has to rely on his bolt pistol, a scavenged knife and his wits. to survive.
Gitsplitta wrote: Nev, you want me to white balance those for you? It'll help.
Great jobs guys, beautiful work.
If you have the time. Photoshop (and pictures in general) is not my thing. I can try to grab more pictures or try a different backdrop if you think it would help.
No problem Nev, just e-mail your three best shots to me and I'll fix them up for you. Really they just need to be white-balanced so the color is correct. I'll PM you with the addy.
Well gang, we're almost there. Unfortunately there's been a little hiccup in my schedule which will keep me at arm's length from Dakka (meaning restricted to infrequent use of my phone) until the 18th. So, I'm extending the competition to the 17th, just to give everyone a full weekend to work on finishing up their entries. Everyone who has posted has done such a fantastic job... it's really been exciting to see. Going to have one heck-of-a-time making a decision based on the entries that I've seen so far. So keep those brushes moving! Make any last-second changes you'd like.... no entries are final until the 17th of November.
I'm cutting it a little close but here is the progress that I have made paintwise so far. Still need to pretty up the shoulder pads and do the base but I thing he is nearly finished!
Fear not, I shall take some better quality pictures later on but my camera is in a different room and that is simply too much work at this late an hour...
Ok, so I had a miserable fail at sorting out a base for Brother Sabera, and now I'm on my Northwards for the weekend. If it's now closing on 17th that gives me most of a day when I'm back to come up with something....so maybe I'm not out after all
Great work one and all,
I hope this is right, post final entry here!?
This morning, been touching up my Mantis Warrior entry, the standard of work others are doing is amazing, and I don't really stand a chance now so decided to cheat!...
Other shots spoilered to avoid boring you.
Spoiler:
From the last lot, I have added several coats of yellow to try and shade the green, Can see it in person better. Touched up my silly little slips, and the cheating part, put some purple on him, which Gits is adding to some of his models so I have stolen it.
Only left to say good luck to all of you, great competition again Gits, thank you, and good luck to you, you will definately need it on this one.
Okay here we go. Got this fella finished just in the nick of time!
In contrast to many of the other entries, I decided to focus on the violent aspect of the Mantis Warriors rather than their stealth abilities and as such gave him a heavy and rugged set of armour. To add a little bit of sneakiness to the model however, I fitted a silencer onto the bolter and then promptly contrasted it with a compressed chainsword for close encounters. The base was designed to fit with the aggressive theme as I can see him stalking through a recently breached starship, waiting around a corner to dispatch an enemy in a blaze of anger. Hope you all like him!
I wanted to apologize for my relative silence... been on a road-trip with the boys to celebrate the life of my recently deceased aunt. Lovely woman... real spit-fire too. Nothing like a 28 hour drive there and back to test the quality of the new car as well as your relationship with your kids.
There will be two official late entries, both fully sanctioned. Nev is waiting for me to dress up his photographs, which i should get to today. GamesEtc was counting on me to get him some legs to participate and it took me over a week to do so, so I've given him until Friday.
Fear not though.... in the nonce I'll be assembling all of the entries into one big post. It will probably take several updates to get the post together though. Each time I update the original post, I'll post a notification in the stream along with a link. Once everything is posted, I'll try and make my decisions as quickly as possible.
As far as my own painting goes... I'd like to finish up the first centurion as quickly as I can, but one of the furnaces is down in our home, making the half of the house that my studio is in very cold. While it's not SO cold I can't work... it's not very comfortable... so it may be a bit before I get back into the painting chair.
Thanks for your patience and especially for your talents and dedication. Really stunning stuff for the competition this year. I'm quite floored and am already fretting over how I'm going to judge the entries.
This has been heaps of fun, and just the excuse I needed to try a new (and very different to my usual) colour scheme. I think that the theme is an excellent choice, and that gitsplitta proves himself the lord of mantises.
So from lord to lord, thankyou my friend, for this missile up the arse in termes of trying new schemes. Bed of luck to my fellow competitors, BEAT ME AND I SHALL CRASH YOUR RIBCAGES! quiet down victor, ignore him it was just victor my crazy alternate personality.
Anywho, as I was saying, my fellow competitors have led me truly humbled, and I hope that the winner will be the most worthy among you. So make haste my friends, and make toast to the lord of mantises.
HURRAH, LONG LIVE GITSPLITTA, LORD OF THE MANTISES!
Victor, go back sleep.
It is time to start putting all of the wonderful entries together into one post for everyone to enjoy! I'm just doing this in order of appearance as best as I can determine it. If I've missed your pictures or entries please PM me with the page number your final entry post appears on and I'll add it in. This should be everyone minus the final two I mentioned earlier.
Keep in mind... this is the mark they're trying to hit!
Your task is a simple one... match a single, Mantis Warrior infantry figure (including bikes) to the following quote from IA.
"Once the silent warders of the Endymion Cluster, in the wake of the Badab Wars the Mantis Warriors have been bound to a century long penitent crusade which may well see the end of the Chapter before its conclusion. One of the rare descendants of the savage White Scars, the Mantis Warriors’ millennia of isolation on the far edge of human space has left them much changed from their origins. Experts in the art of guerrilla warfare and the sudden application of violence from concealment, the Mantis Warriors are subtle and cunning killers, wreathed in mysticism, who strike with the fury of an unexpected storm."
That's it. Best figure that hits closest to the mark wins. No judging criteria, no point system, just you, your skills and your imagination fueled by the above statement. There is no limit on basing. While you may only submit a single Mantis Warrior, your scene may include as many "victims" as you'd like... I'll consider them part of the basing.
Okay, I think I'm done. I may resort to a new snap of the top of the gun as I've removed an irksome mold line and some shoddy gs work.
There is a legend, that is whispered in fear even in places of damnation and darkness. Striking, lancing with fire and axe, borne on the wind itself - the Flaming Claw.
And I'm done! I could fiddle more, but won't really change the result.
Tasked with laying mines, the Mantis Warrior became aware of the sound of approaching footsteps. He waited, hidden by the foliage, until the enemy was within sight and then burst forth to eliminate the patrol before they could raise the alarm or trip one of his traps prematurely.
Many angles, should show all...
Notes relevant to the competition/modelling: I tried to use parts for the model that were (or appeared to be) of older marks of armour/equipment. This was to keep with the aesthetic of Gitsplitta's Mantis Warriors and to represent the length of time that the Mantis Warriors have spent away from the Imperium on crusade.
The "beaky" helmet, to me, represents speed due to the streamlined look. This then harks back to being successors of the White Scars (the only other marine I have with a beaky is a White Scar), who like the faster modes of transportation. Plenty of purity seals to show that he (and the MWs) are loyal to the Emperor.
The studded shoulder pad, in the tranquillity camouflage pattern, shows that this marine was a veteran of the Badab war and, while his armour has been repaired and refurbished, he has chosen to keep the pattern on that shoulder as a badge of honour.
His bolter has been modified into more of a rifle than an assault rifle, and he carries a suppressor, to show that he is well versed in sniping from a concealed vantage point. The "many" grenades and the meltabomb, and the mines are all to show that he is also proficient in sabotage. Both of these to emphasize the Guerrilla warfare preference of the MWs. Most of the metals (in particular the knife) are dulled to avoid detection.
The pose, however, is to show that he can act when he needs to in a "sudden application of violence from concealment". Holding the knife to show that he can and will get stuck in as well as the occasional, subtle, stab in the back/slash of the throat.
I think that is all there is... all contained on a 25mm base.
steinerp wrote: Here is techmarine Lansing Okemos. As with all the Mantis Warriors nearing the completion of the penitent campaign, his servoharness has seen many modifications such as the arc-inducer and powerful scissors replacing the tradition flamer and servo arm. He is seen here on the Battle Cruiser Transgression of Trust.
Barely seen through the heavy mist, the Battle Brother moved upon his target swiftly and without noise. A brief opening in the fog, a demolition charge casually left behind, almost as if forgotten… The blast went off even before the mist had fully closed behind him, and the wall was breached. The fight was over before the debris from that first explosion had finished falling to the ground, the enemy never getting over the utter surprise of the attack.
Maybe because of living in an arid climate, coming out of the mist for a swift attack before getting lost in the fog again quite embodies the idea of the "sudden application of violence from concealment". Surprise assaults, bombs and quick strikes come to mind regarding the guerilla tactics of a depleted or isolated force.
At least, that was my take on it.
the shrouded lord wrote: I've always been against the whole thing of space marines being shown in pretty, un-damaged armour, completely unaffected by battle. so, this guy has just appeared in the midst of a traitor PDF patrol, and pretty much exploded through them with chainsaws. bhold, brother MERCUTIO!
Anpu-adom wrote: Here is my entry to the Mantis Maker II challenge...
And the entry description: Brother Sargent Waldorf, of the Mantis Warriors. Mantis Warriors are masters at using their environment to their advantage. Here is one of Waldorf's prepared sniper positions. One key to being a successful sniper is to realize that your location will be discovered. Another key to surviving is to no longer be at that place when it is discovered. Buried in the moss, Waldorf has left an explosive surprise for any who do find it.
deadmeat85 wrote: Okay time to throw my hat in to the ring. Here is my entry for the Mantis Warrior Competition.
Date: late M41 Subject: Mantis Warrior Veteran Sergent Bektai Here we have Sergeant Bektai during one of the Battles of Herodian IV. While the Mantis Warriors would gain their redemption after the defeat of the Tyranid splinter fleets, Sergeant Bektai was killed during the final engagements of the war.
Ritually scarred as a follow on from the primogenitor chapter of the Whitescars, D'Naru has also reached high enough within his squad to go through first two trials of absolution, the aim being cleansed of their sins.
Separated from his squad after a tight skirmish D'Naru found him self fighting alone to get back to the chapter, having gone through his bolter rounds he now has to rely on his bolt pistol, a scavenged knife and his wits. to survive.
Camkierhi wrote: Great work one and all, I hope this is right, post final entry here!?
This morning, been touching up my Mantis Warrior entry, the standard of work others are doing is amazing, and I don't really stand a chance now so decided to cheat!...
Other shots spoilered to avoid boring you.
Spoiler:
From the last lot, I have added several coats of yellow to try and shade the green, Can see it in person better. Touched up my silly little slips, and the cheating part, put some purple on him, which Gits is adding to some of his models so I have stolen it.
Only left to say good luck to all of you, great competition again Gits, thank you, and good luck to you, you will definitely need it on this one.
Commander Cain wrote: Okay here we go. Got this fella finished just in the nick of time!
In contrast to many of the other entries, I decided to focus on the violent aspect of the Mantis Warriors rather than their stealth abilities and as such gave him a heavy and rugged set of armour. To add a little bit of sneakiness to the model however, I fitted a silencer onto the bolter and then promptly contrasted it with a compressed chainsword for close encounters. The base was designed to fit with the aggressive theme as I can see him stalking through a recently breached starship, waiting around a corner to dispatch an enemy in a blaze of anger. Hope you all like him!
May yet decide to re-do those striations, not convinced by them at the moment. Also need to start thinking about the base - original plan was to have him emerging from some kind of industrial pipework, but I'm thinking the colour scheme requires something a bit less urban.....
Nevelon wrote: Penance. Would that I could join my brothers in a simple crusade to remove the stain from our chapter’s honour. But the art of divination is rare in the librarium of the astartes; not that our foresight was enough to escape the Tyrant’s machinations. So when the Ordo Xenos “requested” my services, how could we refuse? So now I’m chasing an alien shapshifter across the frozen tundra with a motely kill team, none whom trust me. They will have to now. When the changeling fled our ambush, leaving his cohorts to die, he left no trail. But all things can be found in the Warp, for those who know where to look…
“He went this way. We can catch him if we run. And next time, save the howls until after the ambush is sprung.”
<sigh> Wolves. I think back to the rumors the surrounded the end of the Badab incident. Could a shapeshifter have replaced a chapter master? Maybe this one will have some answers.
+++Thought for the day: Victory needs no excuses, Failure allows none.+++
All contestants please double-check your entries to make sure I got all the photos you wanted and your supporting text. In some cases I couldn't just quote your entry (the pics weren't coming through) so I had to go into your galleries and snag the pictures from there. PM me if you have any problems. You'll note I did post monkeytroll's entry even though it wasn't technically finished. I thought it looked nice enough as-is to make the final cut for the comp. Sorry MT... I'm just too big a fan of your work to let your figure languish.
Penance. Would that I could join my brothers in a simple crusade to remove the stain from our chapter’s honour. But the art of divination is rare in the librarium of the astartes; not that our foresight was enough to escape the Tyrant’s machinations. So when the Ordo Xenos “requested” my services, how could we refuse? So now I’m chasing an alien shapshifter across the frozen tundra with a motely kill team, none whom trust me. They will have to now. When the changeling fled our ambush, leaving his cohorts to die, he left no trail. But all things can be found in the Warp, for those who know where to look…
“He went this way. We can catch him if we run. And next time, save the howls until after the ambush is sprung.”
<sigh> Wolves. I think back to the rumors the surrounded the end of the Badab incident. Could a shapeshifter have replaced a chapter master? Maybe this one will have some answers.
+++Thought for the day: Victory needs no excuses, Failure allows none.+++
All the best to one and all! And thanks to the mighty mantis lord himself for once again running a contest that has inspired such a range of responses.
I get to play 40k tonight.... yippee!! Put together an absolutely rancid space marine army. Should be amusing to play and nice to look at... but not remotely challenging for my opponent. Ah well, such is life. I shall bluster and wave my arms around and call for the Emperor's protection. In the end it shall be for naught however.... and I shall slink home to plot my next battle.
@moonpie: I was so sad when you didn't make the deadline. Who am I going to disqualify this year if you aren't participating??!!
Gitsplitta wrote: I get to play 40k tonight.... yippee!! Put together an absolutely rancid space marine army. Should be amusing to play and nice to look at... but not remotely challenging for my opponent. Ah well, such is life. I shall bluster and wave my arms around and call for the Emperor's protection. In the end it shall be for naught however.... and I shall slink home to plot my next battle.
How bad could it be? You just laying the groundwork for your post-game excuses? If the main redeeming feature of your army is “It’s nice to look at” you had better pony up some pictures, if not a battle report.
I have many pics which I will post later. Lost a close, fun game to a fluffy Eldar list. Plagued by bad dice rolls the whole game. Great opponent though with a nicely painted army.
Let me begin by saying that all but one of the photos I took of the battle were blurry. Damn android takes forever to focus and by the time it takes the picture the camera has moved and the picture isn't worth sh*t.
Here are the only 3 pics that were worth anything.
My opponent's lovely classic elder army, minus the flyer:
His wonderful vintage harlequins, which look so much like mine that I did a double-take. His are painted better than mine though.
And the only shot of any of my figures that turned out... this is what happens when you mishap your assault squad with your HQ. Even with jump packs they end up being by-standers for the whole game. This shot was taken from the extreme left corner of my deployment zone where they got stuck.
Fun game but I had horrible dice luck. Mishapped commander & squad, A TFC that never hit anything after turn 2, pods that scattered all over hell and gone, lousy marine saving throws, Iron Clad dread immobilized the first time it was shot at... I think I'm going to quit taking it... it never does anything. I didn't know they'd changed the rules on the quad gun so it no longer could shoot at ground targets at full BS. Not a pleasant surprise. Still, a close game in spite of all that & my rifleman dread did manage to shoot down the flyer eventually.
Sorry... I sound very grumpy. I actually had a really good time playing a great opponent with a beautiful army. And the final score was 13 to 11 so it was a really close game. Nothing to complain about (seriously) on my end... just a bit of dice-frustration here and there. It's not like everything went perfectly for my opponent either, he had his share of bad luck too.
I'm trying to cook up an army that will receive a perfect "fluff score"... that is: 1 HQ (not named), 2 troops, 1 elite, 1 FA & 1 hvy. The idea is not to show up with something super-powerful like centurions. With the models I have painted... it's actually kind of hard to do & reach the 1500 points that the game is set at (and still make the army make any sense).
At the moment I'm thinking along the lines of...
HQ: ?
EL: 5 tac termies in LR TP: 2 full tac squads in pods
FA: either an assault squad or 2x land speeders w/ MLs HV: TFC or dev squad
Problem is there's no room in any of the transports for the HQ, so I'm not sure what to do with him unless I choose the assault squad. I don't have much in the way of heavy support options. Just 2 TFCs, a vindicator & a dev squad.
Finding the right spot for your HQ can be rough. Jump pack with the assaults is an easy choice. Drop pod with a 9 man sternguard or a command squad can also work. If you have pack-less assault marines, a pod with them is also a good spot, as they loose next to nothing by being understrength.
From a fluff POV, I might take rhinos rather then pods, and the Vindi for a HS pick. This gives you a fully mechanized armored column. Still have the HQ problem. JP still fits the theme, as they have the speed to keep up with the tanks, but bikes would be fluffier.
He's injured, why's he hoping? Oh sorry got it, yes indeed we are most patiently waiting aren't we. Yes we is.....Patiently.............Waiting....................................................
I've been sitting here fretting over exactly how I was going to present the winners. There were just so many darn good entries that it makes not only the judging difficult but it also makes the presentation that much more important. I first want to thank everyone who spent their valuable time and talents producing a model for this competition. They were, one and all... fantastically done. Each model should be a source of pride when fielded and I sincerely hope each of you takes to opportunity to do so from time to time. For my part, it is truly an honor to have my work be part of the inspiration for such an amazing display of talent and creativity. I am humbled.
As you know I didn't lay out a point system for judging the entries, nor did I ask for any other judges to help. This, in particular... was a very personal process for me and I wanted to keep it as much about creativity and cleverness as possible rather than having people design and paint to a certain set of numerical criteria. That approach turned out to be the right one given the quality of the models produced. Because of the nature of the challenge, I also didn't want to dilute my own ideas of the chapter by involving other judges. Not that involving others is a bad idea... getting other opinions and expertise is wonderful... but this was a guilty pleasure I wanted to keep for myself. This also means that if you aren't happy with the final standings, you know exactly who to put the blame on. I'm an adult... I can take it.
How did I make my decisions? I read through the same paragraph from IA-10 that I based the competition on, as well as the clues I left in the instructions. I looked to see how many of the contestants had hit on everything (in my opinion anyway) and ranked them by how closely they hit the mark. I then went to the rest of the entries and found the best interpretations to fill out the bracket. I felt the first three places were pretty easy to pick, the last two were nearly impossible as there were SO MANY strong pieces. I actually cheated and went to 6 places rather than five... and they're not 5 and 6 so much as 5a and 5b. I'll add in one more prize for the choosing as a result.
I will list the top 6 in order then, with my positive comments about each one along with a pic of the entry. I will eventually do this for every entry... but only the first 6 are in order.
Shall we begin?
The challenge:
Your task is a simple one... match a single, Mantis Warrior infantry figure (including bikes) to the following quote from IA.
"Once the silent warders of the Endymion Cluster, in the wake of the Badab Wars the Mantis Warriors have been bound to a century long penitent crusade which may well see the end of the Chapter before its conclusion. One of the rare descendants of the savage White Scars, the Mantis Warriors’ millennia of isolation on the far edge of human space has left them much changed from their origins. Experts in the art of guerrilla warfare and the sudden application of violence from concealment, the Mantis Warriors are subtle and cunning killers, wreathed in mysticism, who strike with the fury of an unexpected storm."
That's it. Best figure that hits closest to the mark wins. No judging criteria, no point system, just you, your skills and your imagination fueled by the above statement. There is no limit on basing. While you may only submit a single Mantis Warrior, your scene may include as many "victims" as you'd like... I'll consider them part of the basing.
Of course... it wouldn't be one of my competitions unless someone got disqualified for not actually adhering to the rules. Last year it was moonpie and IceAngel who made a bloody amazing Inquisitional Retinue which involved many Mantis Warrior ties. Unfortunately I did specify at the beginning that each person had to do their own work (i.e. no teams) but then I blindly went ahead and let them enter the competition. That one was on me. :( This year... our sacrificial lamb has no one to blame but themselves. And even though I really loved what they did (it "hit the mark" like Robin Hood at the fair)... it was technically an illegal entry. So without further ado...
Disqualification: Brother Sergeant Waldorf by Anpu-adom Reason: Rules clearly state that the entry must include "a single Mantis Warrior infantry figure". Unfortunately there is none.
Anpu-adom wrote: Here is my entry to the Mantis Maker II challenge...
And the entry description: Brother Sargent Waldorf, of the Mantis Warriors. Mantis Warriors are masters at using their environment to their advantage. Here is one of Waldorf's prepared sniper positions. One key to being a successful sniper is to realize that your location will be discovered. Another key to surviving is to no longer be at that place when it is discovered. Buried in the moss, Waldorf has left an explosive surprise for any who do find it.
Brilliant idea A-a. Seriously... I love it. Just didn't *quite* fit the comp criteria. - Gits
First Place: Dr H --- Prize: Infinity & non-GW figs
Tasked with laying mines, the Mantis Warrior became aware of the sound of approaching footsteps. He waited, hidden by the foliage, until the enemy was within sight and then burst forth to eliminate the patrol before they could raise the alarm or trip one of his traps prematurely.
Many angles, should show all...
Notes relevant to the competition/modelling: I tried to use parts for the model that were (or appeared to be) of older marks of armour/equipment. This was to keep with the aesthetic of Gitsplitta's Mantis Warriors and to represent the length of time that the Mantis Warriors have spent away from the Imperium on crusade. The "beaky" helmet, to me, represents speed due to the streamlined look. This then harks back to being successors of the White Scars (the only other marine I have with a beaky is a White Scar), who like the faster modes of transportation. Plenty of purity seals to show that he (and the MWs) are loyal to the Emperor. The studded shoulder pad, in the tranquility camouflage pattern, shows that this marine was a veteran of the Badab war and, while his armour has been repaired and refurbished, he has chosen to keep the pattern on that shoulder as a badge of honour.
His bolter has been modified into more of a rifle than an assault rifle, and he carries a suppressor, to show that he is well versed in sniping from a concealed vantage point. The "many" grenades and the meltabomb, and the mines are all to show that he is also proficient in sabotage. Both of these to emphasize the Guerrilla warfare preference of the MWs. Most of the metals (in particular the knife) are dulled to avoid detection. The pose, however, is to show that he can act when he needs to in a "sudden application of violence from concealment". Holding the knife to show that he can and will get stuck in as well as the occasional, subtle, stab in the back/slash of the throat.
This model just jumps out at me as hitting all the main elements nicely . The pose clearly shows violent intent. The basing is fantastic and clearly addressed the cover issue. Aside from that the model itself is very well built, cleanly painted with extra details here-and-there, not to mention of very nice job on the MW insignia. - Gits
Second Place: Camkierhi - Prize: Imperial Guard package
Yet another model that just jumped off the page at me. The menacing elements of the chain-saw bunny ears... a-hem... I mean mantis-like arms above the head of the terminator. His exposed head showing a focused rage magnified by the finger pointing... he's got that "Your next me laddo!" look. The basing using the terminator time travel bubble effect to represent teleportation is what really elevated this figure into 2nd place. Great idea, very well executed. - Gits
Third Place: Littletower - Prize: Space Marine package
Barely seen through the heavy mist, the Battle Brother moved upon his target swiftly and without noise. A brief opening in the fog, a demolition charge casually left behind, almost as if forgotten… The blast went off even before the mist had fully closed behind him, and the wall was breached. The fight was over before the debris from that first explosion had finished falling to the ground, the enemy never getting over the utter surprise of the attack.
Maybe because of living in an arid climate, coming out of the mist for a swift attack before getting lost in the fog again quite embodies the idea of the "sudden application of violence from concealment". Surprise assaults, bombs and quick strikes come to mind regarding the guerrilla tactics of a depleted or isolated force.
I really enjoyed watching LT work his way through figuring out how to do the mist. This is the last figure that I felt hit every aspect very solidly, though many of the other entries came close. Nice, solid work on the figure, love the little bomb and the cinematic effects (laser sight and mist) really make the figure stand out. - Gits
Fourth Place: D'naru Thuos by Knightley - Prize: Eldar 1 package
Tranquility sniper squad member D'naru Thuos. Ritually scarred as a follow on from the primogenitor chapter of the Whitescars, D'Naru has also reached high enough within his squad to go through first two trials of absolution, the aim being cleansed of their sins. Separated from his squad after a tight skirmish D'Naru found him self fighting alone to get back to the chapter, having gone through his bolter rounds he now has to rely on his bolt pistol, a scavenged knife and his wits. to survive.
Knightley hit on a bunch of details with his figure that I really like. The tranquility pattern armor brings the essence of MW camo with it, even though the base is simple. The drawn knife and bared teeth show a clear indication of the violent intent of the marine, and the ritual scarring is also reminiscent of the tribal nature of the chapter. An exquisite job on the face and the less then perfect state of the armor are just icing on the cake. - Gits
I want to comment that even in my own judges notes... 5a and 5b have switched places many times. They are both fantastic in their own way, but ultimately, I had to make a decision.
Fifth-a Place: Brother Mercutio by the shrouded lord - Prize: off-menu terminators
the shrouded lord wrote: I've always been against the whole thing of space marines being shown in pretty, un-damaged armour, completely unaffected by battle. so, this guy has just appeared in the midst of a traitor PDF patrol, and pretty much exploded through them with chainsaws. bhold, brother MERCUTIO!
Quite simply put... its the pure, unabashed violence and carnage depicted by this figure that flips my switch... more so than any other entry submitted this one revels in violent intent. Just love it. - Gits
Fifth-b Place: cormadepanda - Prize: Eldar 2 package
"Like a Boss!!" as my children would say. Awesomely heroic viewpoint of a great figure. Pose and painting are excellent. I want this guy as my sergeant! - Gits
Prizes Give me a day to get the last two prize pics done and I'll post them here. I will contact each of you by PM when it's your chance to choose & let you know what choices are left.
To continue on with my commentary on the submissions. These are in no particular order.
I really like the ancient feel this figure has given by the early mark armor. The dark green and black color scheme with the unusual back-pack also do a very good job adding to the antique feel of the figure. The knife blade mandibles are a nice nod to the chapter & I like the storm bolter as well. I think Jehan did one of the best, if not THE best... Mantis Warrior insignia. It's a nice "active" pose too, which I like. - Gits
inmygravenimage wrote: There is a legend, that is whispered in fear even in places of damnation and darkness. Striking, lancing with fire and axe, borne on the wind itself - the Flaming Claw.
Graven did a very nice job with this figure. Love the helmet slung on his belt, the tall grass reminiscent of my sternguard figures and the lightening pattern on the power axe. With the ornateness of the armor, the cloak, the weaponry... this definitely makes a powerful statement as a MW commander. Of course the use of the RT era bike tugs at my heart-strings. - Gits
steinerp wrote: Here is techmarine Lansing Okemos. As with all the Mantis Warriors nearing the completion of the penitent campaign, his servoharness has seen many modifications such as the arc-inducer and powerful scissors replacing the tradition flamer and servo arm. He is seen here on the Battle Cruiser Transgression of Trust.
I love the fact that steinerp went a completely different direction than anyone else and that perhaps better than anyone... picked up on my "no limit on basing" comment to build this really cool diorama. The tech marine looks gritty and rugged and perfectly suited to someone whose been cobbling things together with not enough supplies and reclaimed/scavenged/antique equipment. - Gits
deadmeat85 wrote: Okay time to throw my hat in to the ring. Here is my entry for the Mantis Warrior Competition.
Date: late M41 Subject: Mantis Warrior Veteran Sergent Bektai Here we have Sergeant Bektai during one of the Battles of Herodian IV. While the Mantis Warriors would gain their redemption after the defeat of the Tyranid splinter fleets, Sergeant Bektai was killed during the final engagements of the war.
A very nice, clean figure with dynamic coloring and really solid conception/construction. Absolutely something that would look fantastic leading a Mantis Warrior tactical squad. I really like the way deadmeat has brought the colors (especially the green) from dark to light. Nice work on the insignia and head as well as the scroll. - Gits
Commander Cain wrote: Okay here we go. Got this fella finished just in the nick of time!
In contrast to many of the other entries, I decided to focus on the violent aspect of the Mantis Warriors rather than their stealth abilities and as such gave him a heavy and rugged set of armour. To add a little bit of sneakiness to the model however, I fitted a silencer onto the bolter and then promptly contrasted it with a compressed chainsword for close encounters. The base was designed to fit with the aggressive theme as I can see him stalking through a recently breached starship, waiting around a corner to dispatch an enemy in a blaze of anger. Hope you all like him!
Spoiler:
Yet another gorgeous figure using early mark armor. The silenced bolter is so wonderfully chunky that it fits the armor perfectly. I loved the idea of the short chainsword for close-in action and the extra swirlies on the sling are a great add. Beautiful work on the base with colors that really compliment the green marine. It's absolutely worth your time to open up the spoiler to check the base out from above. - Gits
Nevelon wrote: Penance. Would that I could join my brothers in a simple crusade to remove the stain from our chapter’s honour. But the art of divination is rare in the librarium of the astartes; not that our foresight was enough to escape the Tyrant’s machinations. So when the Ordo Xenos “requested” my services, how could we refuse? So now I’m chasing an alien shapshifter across the frozen tundra with a motely kill team, none whom trust me. They will have to now. When the changeling fled our ambush, leaving his cohorts to die, he left no trail. But all things can be found in the Warp, for those who know where to look…
“He went this way. We can catch him if we run. And next time, save the howls until after the ambush is sprung.”
<sigh> Wolves. I think back to the rumors the surrounded the end of the Badab incident. Could a shape-shifter have replaced a chapter master? Maybe this one will have some answers.
+++Thought for the day: Victory needs no excuses, Failure allows none.+++
Nev did a great job with this figure and like so many others... interpreted the challenge in his own unique way. The black and silver look great and the way the figure is panted and posed it focuses your eye on the head, which is a great choice for the figure. The story just adds to it & makes it more "real". - Gits
I'll be going through each entry as I did above as soon as I can. Hopefully I'll get through the rest today. Only positive thoughts of course. Unfortunately we're supposed to get hit with a big snow-storm this afternoon which may bollix-up my internet connection. Keep your fingers crossed.
It was a marvelous competition... and very, very hard to judge.
I know my Mantis has a good chance of seeing the table. One reason I did the cop-out Deathwatch armor, rather then one of the classic paint schemes was to facilitate ease of play. He’ll either be leading the DW team I’m assembling, or grab a stick of scouts to ally into my army. Actually, the “Shadow Killers” rule and some CC scouts sounds like a lot of fun.
From a mechanical POV, I’d rather grab a MW librarian for access to divination rather then some of the more unsavory options. So I did, thanks to you.
He might not the be best looking Mantis out there, but he’ll be out on the table doing his part of the chapter’s penance, not just sitting on a shelf collecting dust. Well, no more dust then the rest of my collection...
Would it help if I said that he was a psycher and had cast invisibility on himself?
Ok... I guess I can accept the DQ since it puts me in with the likes of Moonpie and Ramos.
Great job, everyone. I'll just slink off to keep painting my silver robot-zombies and green fungus men.
I'm pleased that you liked it Gits'. He shall take his place, proudly, as a brain-washed representative of your army, in my army. Sorry that I couldn't fit the roller-skates into the model in the end.
Well done everyone, and really, congratulations to all the winners.
I shall have to actually have a close look at the prizes now.
Gits', a list of what is included in each bundle would be nice for those of us (me) that are unfamiliar with certain (most) model ranges. When you get around to it, of course.
Congratulations Dr, well done, and well done to all, amazing work all round. genuinely mean it, many little tips and bits I am taking away from this. Can't believe I got a second place, witht hte strength of the competition I feel lucky to place at all, honestly.
As to mine, well he is probably about mid-atlantic, winging his way to you Gits, use his parts or stick him in the bottom drawer of shame, He is yours to do what you will.
Again well done one and all, and especially Dr, brilliant work. Next!
A big "Thank you so much" to Gits as the host and initiator as well to the contestants, or better the participants! In the end, everyone is a winner, for at least you all have done a wonderful fig, and we the "watchers in the shroud" had mucho, mucho eyecandy!
I won something? cool.
nice work to all my other fellows, especially DR.H.
and great big thanks to gits. I was going for shockingly brutal, and it seems I acheived it.
I'll anxciously await your PM, and began planning my antrance for next year (not really but i will bbe joining again if you do it again next year (probably)
Yeah... sorry guys. Have massive deadlines at work today and tomorrow followed by Thanksgiving travel. I'll really try to get the last prize pics up tonight so at the very least... you can view your options. I'll start contacting folks as soon as the pics are up.
You guys are the best!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here are the final prize packages. I'll be sending this list in order to each finalist, removing any prizes that are claimed as we go. First PM is already out to the winner. Make sure (all of you) get your choice back to me promptly so that I can pass it on to the next person.
1. Eldar #1:
Spoiler:
2. Space Marines:
Spoiler:
3. IG:
Spoiler:
4. Infinity & other non-GW figs:
Spoiler:
5. Warhammer Fantasy
Spoiler:
6. Eldar #2:
Spoiler:
7. Mk-1 Rhino set (rhino, whirlwind and razorback parts & upgrade sprue) *please note that while the sprue in the pic is missing some bits... the sprues I send you will be complete)
Well LT, you're third... which means you have to wait until I hear back from the first and second place finishers. You'll notice if you look back at Dr H's entry that he's made a decision already... so we're waiting on Cam.
Honestly... I'm forwarding the list as soon as I get a response... but since the winners cover half the globe... there may be a bit of a delay as we go from place to place, time zone to time zone.
Git I bet it was a series of hard choices, I mean Jehan and Cain had such cool minis, and Littletowers mist/concept was great, and then you had Dr H's solid and lovely miniature. Heck I just give up, deadmeat and so many others besides those I already mentioned made great entries.
I will never make a SoO contest lol. (Now I jinxed myself,) I'd end up getting stuck trying to choose. Oh and I was wondering this on my last post but, I moved it since it was edited in to this one, since I didn't expect you to post right after me. Here goes:
Spoiler:
Edit: Hey git, since I got ripped off by those ebay purchases of the old Rhinos, (the pictures made them look better than they were, trust me... they were all broken and jacked up,) can you post pictures of the sprues individually in a PM to me sometime? Not right now, I mean I know you are swamped by this contest and work. I just need to replicate some parts with plasticard and cardstock.
It was indeed very difficult to decide. I genuinely liked all of them as you can see by my comments on each. The beauty of the completely subjective judging criteria is that I'm free to express my own likes, ideas and yes... biases. However the artists had nearly as much freedom in creating their pieces... at least as much as I could give them and still have the comp make sense.
The draw-back of course, is that there's no guarantee of fairness for the entrants. They have to trust that I will judge each entry honestly on its merits and that their "vision" coincides with mine, or that their vision is so strong it sways my own. The only draw-back for me is that I risk alienating people because if the way I score the entries. I certainly hope that doesn't happen... but it is a risk.
Yep, I can take those sprue shots for you and depending on what you need, I may have spares to send along.
Alienating people........ Nah. I'm cool with your judgement. I just angled it as a client wanting a bid and.... I lost. :( But I do have a question for you Gits. Was wondering if you want Sergent Bektai. It was a great modeling experience, and it kicked me in the paints to get back to my table an finish my own Chapter.
umm, gitz, if the first eldar prize is taken, could you either keep or give my choice to someone else. I men, i never expected to win anything anyway, and its just that I couldn't use any of the others. I don't know if that sounds rude, but I'd prefer the models go to someone who could use them than to me.
Great work all, there were some amazing pieces there, and huge props to Gits for organising it
Don't think you have any worries on alienating anyone with your decisions Gits, it's your comp and we all acknowledge you as the real chapter master of the MW's
Sorry I didn't get mine finished in time, I was suprised to even see it in the line-up as t was incomplete When he does get done I'll make sure to post a pic here for you....probably just in tme to prompt you for the next Mantis Maker
Congratulations to the winners, wonderful work guys
Gitsplitta wrote: Yep, I can take those sprue shots for you and depending on what you need, I may have spares to send along.
You are flattering me Gits. I am unsure if I could accept that even if some spare parts are tempting to me... Pictures are more than helpful as all my MK 1 rhinos are secondhand and damaged. (As much as my fault as the ebay listing, I believe I was confused as to the way they were assembled.) Anyways, you say we are the best but, frankly it is your kindness, your cool builds, and contests that is holding this little cult, I mean er, large following of your thread together. Also, I hate to ask since your work and holidays are cramping us all, and you have a busy life but, did you ever get a chance to think on that PM I sent you? I feel bad asking about it, as it makes me feel like I am hounding you. That would be worth more than any parts, even if I hold RT stuff that is NIB to be as amazing as freaking... idk, relics of another time. Heck that PM, sending me some pictures of the sprues and maybe dropping a hint or two on how to clean my blog up would be more than I could ever ask of you.
Also have the winners been formally announced and I just missed it because I'm as dense as ice or... are we waiting on prize selection still?
I think it needs to be known that gitz has one so far as to offer me an alturnative prize. this kind of consideration, it may be small but it adds up to my faith in humanity. this is a seriously generous gesture, my firied. happy holiday to you.
Okay finally saw the judging. Idk how I missed it in the thread. Just wow. I don't envy the judge and all the pieces were great. I would have commented sooner but, water ruined my laptop.
Just wanted to let folks know that I'm working my way through packaging up the prizes. Lots to keep track of but I hope to have nearly everything on it's way by Friday. I'll send each of you a PM when your package is on it's way.
Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. I've been completely preoccupied finishing the paint job on my FW Big Squiggoth. One of my long-time "dream" minis. You can check it out here if you're interested.
On a side-note Christmas approacheth at the 'Splitta residence and I find myself in an odd state of calm even though I don't have all my shopping done... which has me a little bit worried. I do have all the major presents sorted out, no big work deadlines to worry about, my health is starting to improve and 11 days off to look forward to (Christmas day through New Year's week) wherein Thing 1 and I are going to play a massive 40k battle. He's going to throw his entire Necron force at me. My only chance for answering (and its a poor one) is to meet him with my Mantis Warriors. We haven't added up all his points, but I suspect it'll be a fairly good sized kerfuffle, though probably closer to a large 40k battle than a true Apoc battle.
Another point on the plus side is that the wife let slip that she got a package from Forge World that had "extra stuff" in it and was wondering if I'd ordered anything and they shipped it together. The answer was "no", but then again she might just be misinterpreting multiple parts of a single thing in different bags. But it's exciting to have something coming that I didn't specifically ask for. Could be anything really. I did ask for one of the FatMats from Frontline Gaming as it would be nice to have another option for a table to play on... and it's not something I have to build and paint!
You better post a battle report Gits! The squig turned out great. I hope my yellow is that smooth when I tackle something that is yellow! (Retro Sallies or House Hawkshroud. Though I will never be able to afford either lol.)
I hope to go to my FLGS and take one of their free painting lesson/tutorial days. And well you know what else I am hoping for.
Lastly, that avatar is gave me a chuckle. I would exalt it if I could.
My only wish would be for some storage... my Orks have started multiplying... and right now I'm storing the boyz in cottage cheese containers... I'd like something from KR or Battlefoam.
That, and I want a respectable Necron codex in the new year.
Oh, and the force of will to NOT buy more models until I have paint on 55 boyz.
My biggest 40k wish is to have more time. Or perhaps the ability to cast quicken on myself, maybe even Time Stop. I have let me collection get to far ahead of the painting. I need to do some serious catching up.
- IA 2? (second edition)... "War Machines of the Imperium"
- 2 new brushes
- an ork painboy (just love the new figure)
- Frontline Gaming's "winter" fat mat (gaming mat)
- And my big 40k-related present.... a beautiful wood and glass lighted display cabinet so I can have all my nicely painted models out on display rather than being buried in boxes or cases! That won't be here for a couple of weeks yet, but it gives me a chance to finish cleaning up my studio to make room for it.
Other 40k related household gifts went to Thing 2.
- first edition IA 4 (tyranid book). Yes, we'll have to replace it eventually to get updated rules, but it still has a bunch of good reading and fun fact sheets.
- fully painted FW tyranid capillary towers & brood nest
- Hierophant Bio-titan (not painted yet but will be)
- GW's tyranid dice
Best to all... going to go hang with my family now.
WM pointed this out to me today as I'd missed the thread. Apparently Kid_Kyoto ran some numbers on dakka activity in 2014 and I popped up in one of the lists...
King of Contribution: Most Exalted threads
5-pretre
4-BrookM
3-GrimDork
2-Alpharius
And the winner, whose threads have garnered nearly 50k exaults this year is...
1-Gitsplitta
Given that I was AWOL for about 6 months this year.. that's kind of hard to believe. Thank you for any exalts you may have given & for your continuing patronage of my blogs. Hope I can continue to give you material that is worth exalting in 2015.
Already said it once but, Merry Christmas, God Jul Gits.. Glad Thing 2 got some stuff. Those dice are cool, I wanted some but, I am making my own through a dice company.
Each year I do an overall summary of activity. I usually try to get it done on New Year's Day but this year the holidays have been a bit more random than usual so I'm starting a bit late. As I start to write this missive to you, my loyal and much beloved readers... I have yet to actually catalog my accomplishments... but given that I took many months off this year, I'm expecting to fall considerably short of my previous tallies. I'll also set a few goals for the year for my Mantis Warriors... will have to come back next year to see how I did.
Here were my goals for last year, set last January. Shall we see how I did?
So... just for the record... here are some things I'd like to get done. I'll try to be somewhat conservative here...
- hold 2nd annual MM comp
Done, A
- help judge 1 other comp (if allowed)
Done, A
- stay active gaming, at least 2 games/mo.
Meh, not done but there were extenuating circumstances. Best local game store closed, closest local game store completely lost interest in 40k after advent of 7th & new game store has 40k nights on only night of the week I can't attend. Call this one a push. C
- play in 2 or 3 non-local tournaments & 6 local
Given the above... no way. F
- get rules for Kill Team and get some friends & kids to play as well
Got the rules, played some games with the kids but the very low point values tended to lead to pretty lopsided games. A
- wonder if the internets will explode if this blog reaches 1,000,000 views. Do I get a prize or something?
Still 100k views short. Maybe next year?
- enter 2 comps to challenge myself & make me do something new
[b] Entered bebopdrums IG trooper competition & did well. So... 1 of 2. C
Great Marine Swap:
- BLACKHAND's marine
Nope. F
- Solar_lion's marine
Also no. F
Mantis Warriors:
- FW terminators
- modern MW terminators
- modern vanguard squad
- land raider #2
- finish LS storms
- finish & paint rhinos to whirlwinds conversions
Epic fail, zero accomplished. F
- finish centurions
Built, airbrushed, one nearly done. D+
Brotherhood of the Black Hand:
- 2nd dreadknight
- 4 troopers for second strike squad
- terminator apoth
- rhino for second strike squad
Epic fail, zero accomplished. F
Necrons:
- work with Thing 1 on ghost ark
No. F
- work with Thing 1 on bikes
Finished, but did them on my own. B
Nids:
- finish up gaunts with Thing 2
No. F
- 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)
Bought & arranged for painting. B
Orks:
- finish at least 1 squiggoth
Done. A
- finish last 2 grot tanks
Done. A
- megadread
Not done, but had to arrange to get a major part replaced (which still hasn't come), giving myself a pass on this one. C
- buy and paint something new when the dex is released
Bought Mork/Gorkanaut but no paint. C-
- re-paint 2 battlewagons
No. F
Space Wolves:
- paint wolf-boy special character
Traded SW so I forgive this task. A
- paint fenris wolves
No. F
Boy, that all looks pretty dismal. So what exactly DID I manage to do?
- Only 45 pages added to blogzilla, like I said in the intro... I was gone a lot.
- Attended Adepticon for which I'd practiced my brains out for. Got to hang with many wonderful dakka friends.
Spoiler:
- Discovered that mild-mannered WyomingFox does indeed have a breaking point after I pushed him over it with my gross gaming ineptitude.
- Made my first graphic novel-style battle reports, which is great fun!
Spoiler:
- Won my first trophy at the local gaming group's monthly tournament.
Spoiler:
- Somehow managed to have the most exalted threads on dakka despite having miserably low productivity. Thank you all!
Well, let's take a look at some P&M that I actually managed to finish.
Imperials: Man, there's not much.
Spoiler:
Orks:
These obviously have taken up some of the Mantis Warrior slack.
Spoiler:
Work on Crons & Nids was minimal at best, so I'll leave them off the list.
What are my goals for next year? I'm going to keep them very simple.
P&M MW: finish the following - centurions, bikes, flyers, 1 squad of infantry (my choice)
Orks: finish the following - grot mega tank, mega dread, 2 mork/gorkanauts, 1 SH tank, gargantuan squiggoth (I actually have a lot more orkish things that I'd like to do, specifically some custom built stuff by Cam & LT... but what I've listed are the highest playing priorities.)
GK (Brotherhood of the Black Hand): finish the following - paint DK, 4 infantry, rhino
General goals: - Be more active consistently throughout the year (i.e. no 6-month disappearances like last year).
- Attend 4 local tournaments.
- Attend 12 local gaming nights.
- Attend 1 major gaming event.
- Judge 1 comp if asked.
- Participate in 2 comps.
- Hold MM3 comp.
- Do better at giving people thoughtful advice and comments on their work & not just being a cheerleader.
- Be a better husband and father.
I guess we'll re-visit the list above in 12 months and see if I fail as miserably in 2015 as I did in 2014.
Oh, and sorry for the wall of text!
Well Gits. You did alot more then I have done this past year, but like you I to have given myself a New Year's Resolution to be more productive. Soon I'll post my goals and wishes on my own blog.
2014 was pretty rough for me completion-wise as well. It seems that new editions push me to extremes... either I'm extremely productive or I'm extremely non-productive. It sounds like the new edition (as much fun as it is) didn't help you out either.
Best of 2015 to you and Thing1, Thing2, and Mrs. Gits.
Nice recap. I love the guardsman you did. Don't beat yourself up too much, you still did a lot of orky projects this year and your comments on other blogs count for a lot surely.
Regarding progress, you've been on quite the roll with your orks lately! So that is good . Looking forward to seeing you paint the big bug for your son, too (where would that be logged?).
While you may not have got as much done as you may have liked, you did have quite a large break and then it's always going to be slow getting going again. So for half a year, you did pretty good.
And the quality of what you have done has been excellent. I'll take quality over quantity when it comes to painted models any day.
My fury was vented in 2013 and as I recall had little to do with you and more to do with work, lack of sleep, sinus infection, cold dice and a previous day of dealing with donkey holes screaming "backaw" for 3 hours straight . I was well behaved in 2014, even while passing a kidney stone the first day of ATT
I feel bad about saying this cause ou guys seem sad, but 2014 has been a heap better than 2013. i haven't done too much hobbying actually, a bit less than last year but man, school has been so much better. last year was terrible tho, so there wasn't much challenge.
Thanks, Solar. I had a pretty good year, though. Can't think of anything to complain about. I am planning to put forth my own year in review and goals for next year on the bl0rg. For all my rabid readers...
My year of the ork will hopefully be done by the end of the month and then I am going to try really hard for three armies this year. Failed last year but I have a good feeling about 2015.
Well, for the time being it's orkses for me. Just got the bug... is all. Also have lots of really cool Forge World ork minis that need paintin'. Really cool things like a grot mega tank, mega dread & some super heavy tanks. Can be very trying though... I spent a week just getting the grot mega tank ready to paint. I'm hoping to get some work done in earnest tomorrow. I guess we'll see what else on it will malfunction & need major attention to sort out. Link in sig below.
moonpie wrote: Thanks, Solar. I had a pretty good year, though. Can't think of anything to complain about. I am planning to put forth my own year in review and goals for next year on the bl0rg. For all my rabid readers...
Looking forward to that!.
I have alot to do for all my armies, except the Grim Reapers ( GK's ). With all the talk of Orks I pulled out my collection, plugged in the nunbers and came up with a base of 4100 pts. I didn't realize I had that much. Might do some test themes. Different Skin color.
Looking forward to the Ork campaign. Your MW can wait they are in decent shape for playing.
Hello everyone. Sorry, no P&M update as such... just a here's what I'm up to thing.
Have been busy, both mundanely and hobby-wise. Have been on an ork binge which is why you haven't seen me post here in a while. I have a healthy number of ork projects that I want to plow through that when complete should bring my orks up-to-date and make them fully compatible with 7th, then I can relax and refocus on my Mantis Warriors. Included with be several super-heavies which will be fun to do. I've also been playing a lot of 40k lately. Wed night league at our FLGS and pick-up games at home with the boys. Been fun to see my figures in action on the table again.
In the meantime though, I will be sending all of my Mantis Warrior flyers to be painted by one Ramos Asura. Friend, artist, giant teddy-bear... Ramos has got it all. While I am generally very protective about the painting of my Mantis Warriors, I'm just not emotionally invested in the flyers. They're a gaming necessity more than figures I'm really excited about painting, so I'm happy to send them off to Ramos who I know will do an excellent job with them. I may also sent a few more servitors to weety that she may administer to them as she did my previous batch. I just love the way she paints the servitors. So even though I'm very preoccupied at the moment, there will be some Mantis Warriors added to the fold over the next couple of months.
This winter myself, my wife and Thing 2 are all trying to slim down a bit. We weigh in each Monday and at least for Thing 2, there are incentives for dropping pounds. If he manages to lose more than I do in any one week, I promised to paint a single large figure or group of small figures for him. He succeeded in the first week out and now I'm frantically painting a dakka flyrant. In order for the incentive to remain motivating I want to be done before the next week's weigh-in, so on top of the other projects I'll hopefully be pounding my way through some nids. (as long has he keeps dropping pounds, he'll always "officially" lose more than I do.
Lastly I'll be working on a display board thanks to some terrain tiles I'm picking up from Alf. should be an interesting project.
That's it for now. Just checking in really. Hope everyone is doing well. If you want to see what I've been up to, stop by my ork blog sigged below.
and assuming Thing 2 is young enough to still be much smaller than you, as a percentage of total weight, he will almost always loose more than you. Just don't tell him that if you start to struggle to keep up with painting his beasties.
I heard a rumor that their might be an actual Mantis Warrior update some time next week. It's just a rumor, but you can always keep your fingers crossed (I know I am).
I'll try really hard gang. Got "the bug" (pardon the pun) but had to work the entire weekend so I'm pretty spent. I'm still keeping my hopes up though and will do my absolute best to set some time aside to work on things.
As promised, I AM actually doing something. I want it to be a bit of a surprise so I'm holding back on any pics for now. Expect something in a couple of days through.
Hey, I had to work really hard to come up with a photo that was appropriately blurry and had looked like it'd been taking during an earthquake, then printed in some magazine. Show some respect for artistry when you see it!
This is the phallic version of the tank. I've got all the parts cleaned up & ready for assembly which I hope to start this evening.
Funny that... I was thinking about sending the whole thing to Damo and have him give it his "personal" EC touch... but then I came to my senses...
Tons of gaming going on around the house which has cut into my tank-time. Just got done battling Thing 2 and his Nids to a draw... not bad considering I was once again fielding my grot horde. They're kinda shooty actually. Get to play at my FLGS tonight, perhaps for the last time in a long while (like, 3 years). Hope not, but it's a possibility. Still planning on a substantive update some time this week. All I need is two sessions of about 2 hours each and I could make some major headway.
Gitsplitta wrote: Funny that... I was thinking about sending the whole thing to Damo and have him give it his "personal" EC touch... but then I came to my senses...
Hey gang. I wanted to apologize for not showing some progress on the Venator as promised. My children have gotten the 40k bug and I've been spending nearly every night with them, just playing. I've had enough time only to re-base a few orks, touch up the paintjob on 1 grot and fully paint one other. The Venator is the next project on the docket. Hopefully some progress to show soon.
Actually... it's more like the old "Celebrity Death Match" cartoons on MTV. Lots of yelling, arguing & fighting. I have managed to keep both boys from ripping out each other's spines or decapitating each other though.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
From tonight's game with the kids. Thing 1 & I vs. Thing 2 and his Nids.
This could be bad...
This could be bad... 2.
Believe-it-or-not, the necrons actually won their combat vs. both the MCs and the short squad of marines in the building lost one but made their morale role after gunning down a ravener w/ snap fire. Go us!
Lots of yelling, arguing & fighting. I have managed to keep both boys from ripping out each other's spines or decapitating each other though.
uy,
Another reason to concentrate on your greenskins, git! Sounds like proppa orky behavjure to me. Including da Big Boss makin clear who'se to do all dat yellin and crumpin and dekapitulating between da Boyz. Bruddas got to shtick togewwa, Things! If yer wanna yell, argue an' foit an rip out spines and dika-decant-ahm, decapsulate sum Boyz, get to da school yard ann crump dat big goof whose gettin all dat lunch money from da gits, boyz!
No seriously, kids. You don't wanna grow up and be That Guy, do you?
You've given your kids the gift of the hobby though.
Which means you don't have to worry about the teenage problems of drink, drugs or smokes. Safe to send them off to universities and the like when they get that age too! Very good plan sirrah.
How come every gamer father I know takes that approach? One of my best friends (the hilarity here is that he's married to my first gf) has two of his own and one of them has started to show an interest in the hobby, as well as other geek things..
As a father myself, I've started my 6 year old on the hobby. Who else will come and see me when I'm in the home... and hopefully bring a pair of armies to battle with?
The Mrs and I took the boys to their first concert last night. .. Heart... even in her 60s Nancy is still a hottie & Ann's voice is still fantastic. Wonderful experience to share with the kids!
Sorry for not posting any updates on the tank in a while. Have been away on a family vacation and I'm sure you'll all understand that I didn't want to advertise that we'd be away from home. Had a nice break with the family but now I'm back at it.
My main point for this post is to mention that I'll be at Adepticon this year along with my eldest (who now is on Dakka by-the-way). I'm not signed up to do anything except to help out with a couple of 4-hour shifts at RiTides very cool little business venture/kickstarter called the ModCube. The dakka announcement can be found here: ModCube The rest of the time, I'll be looking desperately for pick-up 40k games. I'm counting on the "large open-gaming area" that they've been touting being a real thing. I'll have both my Mantis Warriors and my Grotsapalooza lists available from 500 to 2k points. Neither is particularly competitive but fully painted, fluffy and the ork lists features a ton of IA stuff that you might never have had a chance to see and/or play against.
Other dakka friends will be there as well (Solar_lion, Ramos Azura) so perhaps we could arrange group games as well. My son will be there for the first time with his Necrons (at the same point values) so you can challenge him as well. Please.... he's sick to death of playing me and his little brother all the time.
If you want a fun, friendly game... or even if you want to try out your deadly tournament list (just warn me first so I don't feel bad when you crush me)... please PM me & we'll work things out, or just walk up to me sometime during the event. I certainly won't say "no", but PMs help me plan my time intelligently.
Cheers Solar, might need to save up some money however. As of today if I were to book, flights alone would be $1600, then there is hotels and getting my models over there. Maybe in 2020
Thanks guys, it'll look a heck of a lot more interesting once I get some other colors on it. I think I'll just do the boltgun metals first. That'll make it playable if not particularly detailed. Then I can start fiddling around with it from there.
Actually, I'm not sure I'm going to add yellow Gir... thanks for asking.
I'm thinking that this might be a very nice debut vehicle for my Mantis Warriors Penitent... where a shade of purple is the secondary color (see my centurion done a while back). I have some ideas for either a decent sized purple section, or very little of the secondary color. All of my other MW vehicles have very little of the secondary color... but I may use this opportunity to draw a clear distinction between my Badab era and modern era motor pools.
One airbrush can do the work of 1000 Egyptian slaves. If they'd had airbrushes... the pyramids would have gone up in a fortnight!
Tank's about 7 - 8" from front to back. So distinctly larger than any rhino-hull but smaller than a land raider.
Yes... they really do look fantastic together. With gold (rather than yellow) accents.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Decided to do some quick modernizing of some crappy old terminators of mine from 20 years ago. I don't intend to keep these really... but I need some functional terminators so I pulled these off their 25mm bases, clipped the slotta-thingies & pinned them to new bases. The cork "rock" brings them up to modern terminator height. I'm in the process of re-painting the right shoulder pad and adding a Mantis Warrior badge. I've got two different sets of new termies that will eventually get done, but these will hold me for now.
Again... the paint jobs are *really bad*... they're just a functional place-holder for models to come at a later date.
Funny part is that I re-painted the tops of the feet and the right shoulder pads where I'm adding the MW insignia & have been trying to replicate the original paint job. I can't! I just cant figure out how to paint that crudely anymore.
Dont’s say mean things about those terminators! They aren’t old and poorly painted, they are vintage.
Some steps that might help recreate the paint job:
Thicken your paints.
Let the paint soak up into the ferrule.
Use your best crappy brush.
Work at 2 AM, after eating half a pizza and a 2 liter of soda.
Listen loudly to music from the last century.
Barring that, outsource the job to someone half your age.
LOL! That's great Nev!! It's like we shared a period in our lives!
Well, I may fiddle with them just a little bit but I really don't want to get carried away. I can re-do the chest eagles in actual gold and clean up a few details without too much problem. The rest I think I'll leave be for now. I want to make serious progress on the Venator before Adepticon and have a couple of small orky projects to slip in around the edges.
I spent way too much time fiddling with these crappy models, but at least they're playable. They look better on the tabletop, the flash associated with this picture does them no favors at all.
A little surprise for you this morning. I painted until 1:30 AM and again early this morning and managed to finish the first Centurion squad. When I say finished of course, I don't mean actually complete... I mean good enough to bring to Adepticon next week. I had to shuffle around which model was the sergeant and as a result had to remove the banners. Not sure how I'm going to get them back on, but I'll leave them for another day. Hope you like them. This is the first full squad painted in my post-crusade pattern.
Thanks, I'm really happy with the way they've turned out. Those heads were custom-sculpts by BLACKHAND.
I'm excited about executing a similar color scheme on the sicaran venator. I've been staring at it for a while now, trying to develop the color pattern in my mind. I think I finally know what I'm going to do with it now, so I should begin working on that this evening. I'll keep you guys updated and have some other content that I'd like to get your opinions on as well... but I'll save that for tonight.
The Mantis Heads are really awesome, love the extra detail you have gone too for the project. The color scheme is great I love purple and green together.
The tank is looking great, eagerly awaiting how you incorporate the purple into it.
inmygravenimage wrote: Looks good, like the touch of red in there. What colour will the giant wang be?
Ah yes, then I could name it "The Purple Headed Warrior".
Honestly.. I'm waffling as to what to make purple. Had an idea in my head for a while now, but suddenly (now that the base metal is laid down) I'm unsure.
Finished!! Well... finished enough for Adepticon anyway. I plan on doing a lot of detailing on this tank. Edge highlighting and some free-hand to be sure. Hope you like it!
Both the Mantis Warriors Penitent squads together. Gives you a feel for the color scheme.
THAT IS AMAZING. That purple is brilliant. That thing glows. Sorry not commented in a while. Those old boys look great. The big guys are awesome. But that tank. WOW!
Funny you should ask. I did have the presence of mind to take this pic and upload it last night before bed. This is my 1500 point army. I've written up versions at 1k, 1500, 1750, 1850 and 2k for pick-up battles at Adepticon. As I assemble them I'll take a pic & post it. Each army will be a subset of the last & I wanted to focus on fielding "pretty" models. No sternguard I'm afraid. Not very Mantis Warriory but they just didn't work with the rest of the list.
This was not designed to be competitive... but I don't think it'll be a total waste either. The list also has some built-in weaknesses so there should be things my opponents can exploit.
So a very marine-like list. Small, elite, lots of armor. Shooty more than assaulty which seems to be the kind of army I like to build. I like the fact that it's evenly split between machines and men. The 1750 point list follows this trend as well. It's mobile and fairly flexible, with weaknesses to air, assault and massed infantry... which I'm hoping will result in a very fun and challenging fight for both myself and my opponents.
Well, remember these are all traveling lists... so for simplicities sake, I'm trying to bring as few figures as possible (meaning each list has to fully fit into the rest)
So, the 1k will probably just be missing the terminators and land raider.
The 1750 adds a TFC & 2 land speeder tempests. The 1850 adds a terminator libby & I can't remember what the 2k adds.
The problem with building lists this way... especially with expensive lists like marines... is that you end up nickel and diming yourself to death at the higher point values rather than adding anything substantial. I think the 1750 list is the best, most flexible one. The 1k, 1500 & 1850 aren't bad. I think the reason I can't remember the 2k list is that the last 150 points weren't really meaningful... just stuff to fill in the gaps. However I won't know for certain until I check. Just dawned on me that I *might* be able to add a small sternguard squad with a drop pod for 150. That would give me one more "signature" unit in the army... which is really the idea behind all of these builds. "Style over substance".... that's pretty much what I'm going for.
I have no illusions that it is in any way competitive.... but for beer & pretzels games, it's pretty and should be fun to run. That's really all I ask out of my hobby.
The tank is definitely growing on me, and matches with the centurions well. I miss their back banners, so I hope you put them back on
I have one question, regarding this prior comment:
Gitsplitta wrote: Actually, I'm not sure I'm going to add yellow Gir... thanks for asking.
I'm thinking that this might be a very nice debut vehicle for my Mantis Warriors Penitent... where a shade of purple is the secondary color (see my centurion done a while back). I have some ideas for either a decent sized purple section, or very little of the secondary color. All of my other MW vehicles have very little of the secondary color... but I may use this opportunity to draw a clear distinction between my Badab era and modern era motor pools.
I think the purple on the center of the tank, on the back, and the main gun, is quite nice. But the large "U-shaped" panels on the side just seem like Too much purple to me. The bits of yellow on your other tanks blend in so well, whereas with this much purple, it jars me a bit! Like I said, definitely growing on me, and maybe I just need to see more things with the purple for it to "make sense" in my head... but I wonder if having a bit less purple on that side "U" panel would help, personally.
Is this just me? I do love purple, the Ravens are my NFL team but just wanted to provide some feedback on the "overall look", as obviously the individual panels are well done, it just seems a bit hard to pick which / how much should be purple.
It's a very good observation RiTides. I struggled with where to put the purple A LOT in-between the time when I painted the green and when I finally approached the purple. There is a LOT of purple on the tank... but I didn't like any of the other options as I think that jarring contrast between the purple and green is to some degree the attraction of it for me. But is it a purple tank, or a green one?
I may, after Adepticon... look at toning the purple down a bit... probably with the addition of painted on detail rather than re-painting the purple.
I'm not in a position to really give advice yet but, perhaps a decal to break the purple up on those side panels? Something like the half eagles the whirlwinds had but, in yellow. (Just an example. I am sure you could do much better than that.)
You do a great yellow and not only would it pop against the purple but maybe it would ease the eye along from the green to purple segments since yellow is such a major part of your existing force?
Oh, I had not considered that, but adding some insignia / detailing / etc on the purple panels might be perfect! It would help my mind see why that panel is purple, because it's the one where the detailing is. My impression of tanks is that it's somewhat common to have an area painted a different color if you're going to add some sort of markings there. I like that idea a lot
Been a while since I've checked in, but its great to see more gorgeous green and purple.
You went in a WAY different direction with the purple than I imagined. I thought you were going to paint the inner armor panels purple, rather than that giant slab. Can't say it isnt really striking, though. Looking forward to seeing it in person!
That list looks like its gonna be painful... but a good, fair painful.
OK guys... forgive me for not mentioning this before.\
There are two distinct eras in mantis warrior history represented in these models. The traditional green and yellow are for my Badab era army. The green and purple are for my Mantis Warriors Penitent.... the reconstituted chapter after they returned from their 100 year crusade (penance for the Badab Rebellion). I specifically changed the color pattern, the mark of armor and will be changing the mark of the vehicles as well. In typical ecclesiastical heraldry, purple is the color of repentance, which is why I changed the secondary color to purple. The yellow was changed to an actual metallic gold and is now a tertiary color. The chapter has also taken on an Asian (Japanese) feel as it's new home world (granted by the Inquisition) is inhabited by primarily Asian cultures.
So yes... there will be two completely different mantis warrior armies when I'm done... separated by 100 years and a crusade.
Cool stuff Gits. I like the mix of really old terminators and librarian with the brand new sicaran and centurions. It's a great mix of models. I think the sternguard would be a great addition though. You know the tranquility vets are my favorite part, next to the tranquility dreadnought.
Gitsplitta wrote: Yes... and I actually meant LITERALLY... "100 years and a crusade". My great grand-kids might be finishing this army!
You should set up time capsules. Every 10 years, they open a box and have to paint it. Some years a tac squad, others a rhino. The lucky ones get to do a HQ.
Finally getting excited about Adepticon as the reality of it sinks in (life is so different when you don't HAVE to prepare for a major tournament). Was up late last night drawing up ork lists and packing figures away. I was very satisfied with the job I did army building. 5 different point builds of two different armies and I took up less that 2 "standard" (720?) battlefoam cases. Even brought extra stuff for Ramos and my son & have extra room. While I was at it I tweaked my 2k marine list. I just really wanted to have the sternguard represented in there somewhere as they are one of the historical units for the MW. Here's what I came up with...
Done from memory so it might not be perfect...
Normal marine CAD:
HQ: Azhara Redth HQ: terminator librarian - storm shield EL: 5 tac terminators - CML, in land raider EL: 5 sternguard + srg w/ PF & combi melta, in drop pod w/ ML thingie TP: 5 marines - flamer in rhino TP: 5 marines - flamer in rhino FA: LS Tempest FA: LS Tempest HV: Sicaran Venator HV: TFC HV: 2 grav cents w/ bolters, 1 sgt w/ las canons & MLs
At lower point values there is an aegis wall and the rhinos become las/plas razorbacks. So elite, but still pretty flexible. Should be pretty & fun if not competitive. Hey! That's means it'll be "pretty fun"! I can deal with that.
Yeah, the hotel cost is outrageous. Luckily we live within about 2.5 hrs drive, so we don't have airplane expenses (though Il tolls are nearly as bad). I'd love a Badab War battle! Don't see too many appropriate chapters out there so its always a treat to get to play one.
This is my last day at work before heading out to Adepticon. You can probably guess how much use I'm going to be. Am really excited about the trip. I just want to play games until I drop.
I'll also be bringing a camera, a video camera and my wife's lap top. Might try my hand a creating some videos and uploading them to you tube. Might do some battle reports as well (though probably not with a video recorder as I have no idea what I'm doing with one. I'll do my best to provide some occasional updates at the least. Something to do in the wee hours after Thing 1 has gone to bed. Any special requests? Something people want to see that I can take photos of or report on?
Just don’t forget to take still pictures in addition to video. Not all of us are up with the whole new fangled “moving picture” thing (it’s just a fad) and prefer to browse the old fashioned way.
Plus it’s a well established fact that taking pictures steals part of your soul. How many frames per second do the soul-eaters work at? More in HD.
Thanks Nev. I'll wager that MOST of it will be still pics, but this seemed like a good opportunity to experiment with the video camera and do some "shorts". Perhaps of some of the more elaborate model displays or fantastic armies... things that are best viewed from more than one angle to be appreciated or that have a sound element.
Living vicariously through you, Gits. Some day... when I don't work in a profession where I get a total of 2 days off per school year, I may be able to make it to Adepticon.
Gitsplitta wrote: This is my last day at work before heading out to Adepticon.
Have fun !
Is Adepticon only about 40k or are there other games ?
I like the purple on the penitent models, it is a good addition to your green. If you think it's too bright, you can tone it down using well placed weathering.
Well, 40k is a very large component... but Warhammer Fantasy & Warmachine play a large role. There are many other (non-GW) games represented... more each year. Just a matter of someone taking the initiative to organize a tournament of some sort. Also LOTS and LOTS of classes and game demos everywhere... not to mention a decent sized merchant area. It is largely tabletop gaming focused though.
. Looking forward to your progress on the Mantis Warriors.
As if I could be that self-centred. 
different time zones. 
Pictures are more than helpful as all my MK 1 rhinos are secondhand and damaged. (As much as my fault as the ebay listing, I believe I was confused as to the way they were assembled.) Anyways, you say we are the best but, frankly it is your kindness, your cool builds, and contests that is holding this little cult, I mean er, large following of your thread together. 
That would be worth more than any parts, even if I hold 
