Funny that the flash shows the chaos symbol on the left (as you look at it) fender. In natural light, that's completely covered up. I'll do just a bit more to blend those areas into the whole a bit better... but I didn't want to spend too much time on this model. Just wanted to give it a little TLC since it looks like I'll be fielding it from time to time.
Oh, and just for the record... both BA and MWs just suck at assault. We were flailing away at each other like a couple of elderly bag ladies high on cough medicine...
Sounds like the BAs knew in their hearts they were being played, and the MWs don't want to risk the ire of a First Founding Chapter
First... wow. that is a big gun. That is an orkishly, massively overkill gun. Cam is right though, the details really bring it together.
Second, from one father to another... Happy Father's Day!
The funny bit was the little chaos decals were put on in a most unchaossy way. All neat and orderly. It's like the guardsmen were handed a bunch of transfers by their "Chaos Local 132" recruiter, but then were told nothing about what it was to worship chaos. The just went right on being guardsmen... just with chaos symbols rather than standard imperial ones. Maybe they were given a free week in Panama City Beach FLA if they signed up or something...
In any case, crew are now properly in line and back to fighting the good fight for the Emperor. It would be neat if I could somehow associate the tank to the MWs (space marine chapters have associated IG regiments, don't they?), but I have no idea how to signify that on the tank.
Working on finishing up the cents today. Also have my Father's Day bucket list to work through.
er... where did that baneblade come from all of a sudden... i am by far a regular customer here on these pages...but you always now how too reel me in
but it looks either to be an old armorcast or a scratchbuild... so... origins of that beast?... good looking either way... and the bastion looks smooth... !
Armorcast. It's been lurking in my collection for a long while. Got it used locally. Decent paint job but not very complex (basically all grey with steel treads and some decals). I just spruced it up a bit. I like these much better than the modern plastic ones. Actually, I've got a modern baneblade... also used with a bit of damage to the sides, but otherwise perfectly servicable... that I think I'm going to sell. It just doesn't do it for me when compared to this old gem.
well, this one is way sleeker... that´s in itself a quality that hints of older times....like the mk I landraider´s ...
i am following on another thread from a friend of mine a current model build... i have to say the older one has way less rivets...and i am biased when rivets are concerned^^
that build i think here could do with a camo job... the great surfaces could do with a little breaking up... or add a bit of backpacks, camo netting rolled up and tools and the like...but that´s just my two cents
Solar_lion wrote: Let me know when you need another one for a Apoc game. I have the same model and would gladly let you use it to destroy Eldar titans.
Now there's a true frien, helping you take down the heretic
Solar_lion wrote: Let me know when you need another one for a Apoc game. I have the same model and would gladly let you use it to destroy Eldar titans.
Now there's a true frien, helping you take down the heretic
Eldar are filthy Xenos scum, not heretics. They still need to be purged from the galaxy, but know your enemy.
Looks like I need to clean up that one toe & dumb down the red foliage a bit. Other than that they're pretty decent. All six of them together look pretty impressive.
Tradtionally, SM and IG units were united by the use of war or crusade badges on vehicles. There's a lot of them available on the standard transfer sheets, such as the black and white diamond, fist, lightning bolt, etc.
Thanks Brian. Pretty sure I've got some old transfer sheets that will have those on them.
One more pic of something new. While my super-fancy display board is being worked on, I needed something quick-and-dirty for a tournament two weekends back. With the help of a magnetic bulletin board and a cheap lazy-Susan... I came up with this. It's flexible (the lazy-Susan can be moved around as needed) and easy to store & transport. Cheap too. I think it could easily hold 1850 or even 2k as long as the army doesn't have too much infantry & the lazy-Susan makes a nice little platform for special models.
So, while it's not a "competition-class" display board... it'll do fine for snagging me a few extra points at our monthly local tournaments. I'm still going to do a bit of work on it. I don't want to add a lot of crap to the main display surfaces as it just interferes with the placement of the models, however I will be adding foliage to the edges of the board and the turntable to make it a bit more interesting.
Hey, it does the job and sets you off on the new and thrilling path of thematic giant display bases! I have a suggestion: rather than foliage, barbed/razor wire - or even some of your magnificent aegis elements. The turntable as a rotating sky shield...
Such a tiny little force. I am sure you have said before, but for those like me with bad hearing (and reading and hey that dog has a puffy tail.....) how many points is that?
Automatically Appended Next Post: Damn I am good at getting page rollovers.
Nah, this was the army for a local tournament two Saturdays ago. It won best painted vs. some *really good* competition. Also landed me 4th overall (field of 10).
The scouts in the Storms didn't really work the way I wanted them to. Part of it might have been the way I played them, but I think they'd be better if I also had two 5-man sniper squads to put on objectives or terrain in my rear so the LS could be a little freer to zoom around the table. I also didn't have anything in the storm raven. I know it's risky so I'm thinking of painting up some more scouts or maybe just using a stripped down (cheap) assault squad... just so I have something either OS that can drop out and either sit on an objective or try and do something offensive late in the game.
I'll be honest, I've played a LOT of 40k over the last few of weeks and am just a bit burnt out (add to it lots of travel for work and I'm pooped). Going to take tonight off and work on my Skitarii, hang out with the fam, maybe even do a bit of yard work. I just started assembling 2x 5-man ranger units so at least I can field a legal army. Also working on finishing up the bastion... which is the next project you'll see here on this blog.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to explain why you haven't heard more from me by way of WIP photos and battle reports. My internet/camera situation is really screwed up when it comes to uploading photos onto dakka. At home, for some reason my computer has stopped recognizing the data card on my camera, so I can't upload photos from there. Dakka won't let me upload photos of any source from work (or maybe there's some kind of block at work) so that's out. The only reliable way to be able to upload photos is from my phone.... which doesn't take great pictures, nor is it particularly easy to do. Until I sort this out... I'm limited to uploading bad pictures from my phone... It's all VERY frustrating.
don´t you still be able to upload your camera pics to your PC by means of cable connection?... USB?...that should work at least if the reader of the SD card is broken...
also it could be just a driver related problem...
The cable port on my camera is worn out and won't "see" the cable any more. It's been a long, slow, painful death for that system. I have a major issues with my windows operating system... so it may just be some failure there. A friend of mine will be updating my computer to Win 8 in a week or two, but until then I'm stuck with what I have.
Picked this off the Forge World News & Rumors thread... look familiar??
In other news, I'm now in a full post-op boot and crutches. Broke one of my toes yesterday morning and they want it to be as immobilized & light duty as possible. (apparently I got lucky on the kind of break and it won't need surgery or pins to heal)
Oof. Sounds like more paint time to me. Might interfere with standing at a table to get a game in. And you need a better story then “I stubbed my toe” Something about a delivering a swift kick to the rear that went wrong, or involving bears.
Ouch!
Well, I prescribe 300ccs of heavy painting and 2 of whatever particular beverage you prefer.
Trust me, Im a doctor.*
New FW marines look miiiighty familiar. Maybe someone is reading another certain someone's blog for inspiration! The extended barrel looks like it could do with being a bit larger bore. Currently they look a little weedy. And is it just me or do they look more "stumpy" than the norm these days? Look particularly Rogue Trader-esque. Not a bad thing, by any means, but its an unusual look.
Well, as far as enforced rest and extra painting time... I don't think either is going to happen. I'm a biologist and this is the beginning of my field-season. So a whole year's worth of planning is starting to come to fruition right now. Boot and crutches... fine, I can accommodate. Sitting on my butt for several weeks? No can do. Besides, I don't think anyone would give me a break at work for having a broken toe anyway... the usual response I've gotten so far has been; "I didn't think they could do anything about a broken toe." Which is code for "stop belly-aching and get back to work."
Gitsplitta wrote: Well, as far as enforced rest and extra painting time... I don't think either is going to happen. I'm a biologist and this is the beginning of my field-season. So a whole year's worth of planning is starting to come to fruition right now. Boot and crutches... fine, I can accommodate. Sitting on my butt for several weeks? No can do. Besides, I don't think anyone would give me a break at work for having a broken toe anyway... the usual response I've gotten so far has been; "I didn't think they could do anything about a broken toe." Which is code for "stop belly-aching and get back to work."
Well, if that’s what you coworkers are saying, I guess you’ll just have to toe the line...
Gitsplitta wrote:In essence, I walked into one of the legs of our couch.
damn.... that s so often happening...toes are as fragile as can be... only bested by ribs...
and your colleagues are like everywhere else... mine used to think i was on vacation when i was ill at home...they also thought like this when i was busy at school... so long as you are not sweating with them you´re a lazy one...what a weird world...
Automatically Appended Next Post: oh...and get better soon...!
My Mum broke her toe recently (a shelf of books jumped out in front of her), and the trip to the hospital got her some micro-pore tape and some padding.
Also, everyone she saw said "Oh, everyone's done it".
honestly...yup! especially when you are on your way to the loo in the wee hours at night... you refrain from turning on the lights, to not awaken the household and bam! you smash into couches, fridges, cupboards ,tables or even better toys....kids are soooooo lovely....
So, believe it or not I actually have a small Mantis Warrior project coming up. I need to do one more scout biker so I can field two units of 3 for my next battle with Yorkright. Have the bits set aside, just need to get them assembled and ready for painting.
Hope the foot gets better soon. I've been fighting a sprained ankle for a few months. Sprained it, got better, then reinjured it . Still loving the centurions bug heads . Every time I see them I get a little smile thinking the bugs are getting some payback on the Terminex man.
Necrons can absorb a stupid amount of firepower. Have you thought about including more CC elements into your list? I know you’ve got the GKs, but how choppy are they? The old “Shoot the choppy ones, chop the shooty ones” philosophy.
Well, I had my share of bad luck. Two things misshaped on the way down, warlord (psycher) came down in a pod with a group of cents, cast a single spell, periled, died & took half the squad with him. My opponent found a skyfire mysterious objective so he just sat a ghost ark on there filled with warriors, shooting down anything that got close enough. That combined with the fact that you just can't kill them... two to 3 saving-throw rolls apiece & rerolls of they pop an orb... ark's replacing losses, etc. They (like Tau) just aren't fun to play against. You suffer through it so your opponent can have fun, that's about it.
Unfortunately Nev, I don't really have much in the way of assault units. Two 5-man squads of generic assault marines, that's all I've got. Given how easily they shrug off damage from any source, I don't think they would make much of an impact.
As we are planning the next one for some time in August.... I thought I'd update everyone on the last battle of what I've dubbed "The Devil Wears Prada" campaign between my friend Yorkright and I. Let's start by reminding everyone where we left off... (I'll spoiler everything so you don't have to read it again unless you're really interested.)
The story so far...
Spoiler:
An inquisitor named Jaxeena believes that the re-constituted Mantis Warrior chapter is using unauthorized technology (specifically centurion suits) and is slipping back into it's rebellious ways. She had demanded samples of the chapter's gene seed in order to test them for purity. It's clear that she's already made up her mind as to the Chapter's guilt, and is just looking for confirmation of any sort. The Mantis Warriors of course, have refused her request... deeming it neither justified nor reasonable and a major insult to the Adeptis Astartes. Jaxeena has approached a Blood Angel company in the vicinity and convinced them to aid her in her quest.
Chapter 1: Jaxeena and her BA Allies try to take a gene seed sample by force. In her arrogance, she aims to simply drive the "traitors" from the field a rip the samples she needs from the bodies of the fallen. While the Blood Angels do win the day, it is a very narrow victory (1 VP in game terms) and the Mantis Warrior defensive line remained reasonably in-tact, in spite of a considerable drop pod alpha-strike by the Blood Angels. Thus she was unable to get her prize. For their part, the Mantis Warriors are basically butt-hurt about the continued harassment by the Inquisition, but as there are clearly no inquisitional forces involved in the battle yet, they suspect that this is simply the agenda of a single Inquisitor as opposed to an Inquisitional mandate (as they've had to deal with the Inquisition on a regular basis every since the reinstatement of the chapter). They focus much of their efforts on trying to kill Jaxeena, but fail to do so.
Prelude to Chapter 2: The Mantis Warriors hope that their stalwart defense of their position, combined with the BA casualties at "The Battle of Littleton" would be enough to dissuade Jaxeena from her course, but as you can see from the challenge above... unfortunately it is not to be. They are trying to walk a fine line... defeat Jaxeena and her BA allies without actually making themselves a target of the greater Inquisition, nor starting an all-out inter-chapter war. On the BA side... some are starting to question the validity of Jaxeena's claim based on their observations of MW conduct, equipment and tactics exhibited in the first confrontation. As a result, the BA decide to rely heavily on their Death Company for the next confrontation. The Blood Angel's astropaths have tried to reach out to their upper command echelon to get advice on how to handle the situation, but for some reason their attempts at communication have not been successful, perhaps being interfered with by the Mantis Warriors or some other power.
Chapter 2: Inquisitor Jaxeena has discovered the existence of a lightly defended strong point well away from the current concentration of MW forces. The bastion is an access point to the entire Mantis Warrior data network & if captured, will give her access to the Mantis Warrior's own records regarding their genetic stock. Failing that, she and the BA commanders have been issued with special gear from the vaults of the Inquisition\s own apothecarion that will allow them to collect gene seed from fallen Mantis Warriors on the battlefield.
By the time the Mantis Warriors realize what the Inquisitor's next target is, all they can do is throw together whatever mobile units they can scavenge and send them to reinforce the bastion (which is currently being manned by a single tech marine on a maintenance tour of duty).
Nuts and bolts of Game 2:
Spoiler:
The Battle for Typhon Tower
Short edge deployment. BA have no limits on deployment (save normal ones). The Mantis Warriors start with a single TFC on the Bastion and an extra layer of fortification (both the bastion and an AEGIS wall}. Half of their army (measured in units) rolls on from reserve in turn 1, the rest comes on in normal reserve. This is to represent the haphazard scramble the MW have had to arrange to get units from wherever they can to defend the bastion. There are no classic objectives in this mission (not even tertiary). MW casualties will stay on the table for one full turn to facilitate the objectives below.
Mission Objectives - Blood Angels: (there are many of which that overlap, each delivering a varying degree of victory to the BA side) - capture the communications array at the top of Typhon Tower by game's end (total victory) - drive the MW off & have the tower surrounded by game's end. (draw) - Each of the BA/Inquisition characters has been issued special war gear which will allow them to extract a genetic sample from fallen marines on the battlefield. They must reach the marine within 1 turn or dying in order to collect the sample. The sample may be passed from the collector to another marine, but each time it does so it degrades by 1/3. At the end of the game, if there are no complete samples and the tower has not been taken, each third collected will be rolled for (D3) and if a complete DNA set results, Jaxeena has her sample (victory)
Mission Objectives - Mantis Warriors: - do not allow Jaxeena to obtain a complete gene sample from fallen MW (partial victory) - capture Jaxeena by defeating her in melee (total victory) - hold the tower (partial victory)
The Armies:
Spoiler:
The Battle:
Unfortunately all of my photos from the battle were lost in a combination of failing internet, failing phone systems, failing cameras, a change in operating systems on my computer and a little bit of nerd rage thrown in for spice. I do have one or two photos to add to this report thanks to Steve's handiwork.... but they're just of key events, not anything that will really give you the feel of the battle.
In essence, Typhon Tower was close to the back of my table edge with the wall around it. The TFC was on top at the beginning of the game. Yep, that was my deployment.
In turn 1, half my non-flying force arrived. That being the two tactical squads and the land raider. The two tactical squads took up flanking positions behind the aegis wall, surrounding the tower.
The rest were to come via normal reserve rolls. The BA started moving across the table at speed with Herself in the land raider along with a group of death company. While the BA advance is uniform, it is also rather scattered, leaving just enough space for the hell-bent-for-leather assault squad, chaplain and captain to drop into the center of the table in order to take a bite out of Jaxeena's hind quarters (and I don't mean in the kinky way either). Unfortunately... the concept of "a land raider full of death company" didn't quite sink in when the captain picked the drop spot. I'm sure the chaplain pacing back and fourth in the open thunderhawk bay, waving his baton around and ranting about having faith in the Emperor didn't help him think very clearly. In any case, they dropped, they got shot at, then were assaulted by the occupants of the LR (though Jaxeena stayed pat). Amazingly... they survived... they not only survived but the ensuing scrum lasted nearly the entire battle and involved 3 units of BA infantry (2 small tac squads & the death company).
Elsewhere on the table, things generally went well for the boys in green. As I recall I was doing pretty well at either popping the rhinos, putting their occupants on the slow path where they could be shot... or ignoring the rhinos all-together knowing that the guys inside couldn't really hurt me until the turn after they disembarked... giving me a turn of shooting to thin them out. Over the course of the battle, the tower and its communication array was never really in jeopardy (keeping in mind that the scenario dictated that Steve could not just simply blow it up).
Late in the game as things thinned out, the BA managed to loot a fallen Mantis Warrior for a gene seed sample. The only way the Mantis Warriors could now win the day would be to take out the she-demon herself. This is what happened next...
Out of a mound of Adeptis Astartes bodies staggered the Mantis Warrior Captain. His armor scarred and smoking... severely injured and down to his last wound he slogged out of the bloody morass and beheld the cause of all the needless carnage... Jaxeena herself. With grim resolve he triggered his jump pack and raised his hammer aloft to deal a final, crushing blow to his enemy.
His helmet had been split in the mayhem of the previous melee, so there was naught to protect his lungs from the wash of promethium and flames that greeted his assault. Weakened as he was with his chest still heaving from having defeated so many bother Astartes (he'd killed nearly every enemy marine in the scrum by himself), the flames found their way into his lungs and nearly eliminated his capacity to absorb life-giving oxygen. The Captain's near lifeless, smoking body skidded to a halt at Jaxeena's feet.
"Death to all Heretics" ... Jaxeena spoke softly, her nose wrinkling at the stench of burnt flesh. She spat on the Captain's body, then turned and flagged down one of the few, still functioning rhinos.
Major victory for the Inquisition / BA. They have not only a regular gene seed sample but a living captain of the chapter for testing and prosecution. The only saving grace for the Mantis Warriors is that Typhon Tower is still in their possession & with it they are able to block communications between planet-side enemy forces and their support.
Bummer about your loss. It is really cool to see your story continue though. I am a bit bummed that Inquisitor didn't get beaten by your captain. That would have been fantastic.
There are a bunch of words, that if I used right here, might get me banned or suspended from Dakka. So i'll give you the short version:
It's awesome, the small part of the universe Ice is telling us about is full of war, intrigue and death... oh and more war, supplemented by amazing set ups for character and story arcs, nailed by gritty combat and rounded off by more fluff about the Ice Angels and his chapters goings on.
Oh and my GMS is now in the story and I want him to wreck some faces.
Sorry to hear (late) about the toe, Gits! Love the army shot last page, particularly the gemstone eyes of your centurions - for some reason I hadn't ever seen that part of them so close and man they look fantastic! Looks like you didn't end up selling those Grey Knights, eh
@Ice: I was frankly stunned at his loss. I could have easily stepped back and shot her... but it wouldn't have seemed right. This was far more epic (even though it didn't work out).
@Knightley: Stunning review. I will make some time and get caught up!
@Archer: Thanks for your continued support. Well, both Yorkright and I work on it together, but honestly... the games do most of the work.
@Nev: Funny you should ask. Yorkright is planning the next battle. Here's a little preview of our next game in August, I'll have more later as we get closer to the day.
Jaxeena is still unable to contact her superiors or call for off-planet aid due to the communications black-out the Mantis Warriors have been able to maintain thanks to their successful defense of Typhon Tower & it's communications array. The BA are out of it for a bit while they re-group after sustaining heavy losses in the tower assault, so Jaxeena has commandeered a small Astra Militarum outpost. The Mantis Warriors are also badly beaten up and all they can muster for the rescue is a 10th Company detachment (out of the new dex) who had been on training exercises in the Madgaruk Mountains nearby. These had been joint exercises with a small contingent of Skitarii rangers associated with an AdMech archiotechnology dig at an ancient ruin high up in the Madgaruk peaks. As the agents of Mars have never been on the best of terms with the Inquisition... the rangers have been authorized to accompany the scouts as "observers" and "technical advisors". However, it's well known that the only way to really observe a battle is through the scope of an arquebus!
@ RiTides: Thanks! Well, the eyes on those mantis heads are appropriately large... so I wanted to do something a bit more unique and notable when it came to painting. Nah, couldn't bring myself to sell the GK. Even added a few more figures and a second knight to go with them!
Next up: In order to get ready for the upcoming campaign game... I'll be painting 4 scouts with missile launchers, another scout biker & finishing up my two squads of Skitarii rangers. All things I've wanted to do for a long time now.
Unfortunately, that's impossible in the way I've laid out my chapter history. Tranquility pattern camo is reserved for the home-world guard (which no longer exists as their original home-world was taken away). Any scout from that time would have long been promoted to full marine. I could make a tranquility scout sergeant though, hmmmm.....
I will have to second RiTides suggestion on tranquility scouts. I think some of your best conversion work was done on those guys and I'd love to see you do more.
I'll see what I can do guys. TBH I don't see too many opportunities for scout conversions... the models just don't support it. But I'll give it a shot for a vet sergeant or two.
I have started on the 4 ML scouts. It's pretty crude work but since I'm not in my usual painting digs I'll settle for just getting some main colors on & clean up the paint jobs later. I'll get you guys a pic on Friday for sure.... there should be something to see then.
Played in a local tournament today with my MW w/ GK back-up. Did well. My team mate and I took 4th out of 9. Good considering the level of competition. Felt I was in each game, even the one I lost. Also got a set of ModCube objective markers to play test (though they arrived too late for today's tournament). They are PHENOMENAL. Go get some.
Pics and such tomorrow. I'm kinda tired and the foot is sore (standing on it all day to game probably wasn't the smartest thing).
Iron Hands with a lot of marines (the gold and red in the images below). I scored a few more points than he did overall, but I think I had more favorable match-ups.
Didn't take a lot of pics, wanted to enjoy playing. Here's a few from the club's facebook page... I took the first set and Yorkright of the Inquisitor Jaxeena campaign took the rest. As you can see we had a ton of nicely painted armies at the event! (Not to mention Yorkright's green demon kin army, which I just love.)
So, I'm sure you guys have given up on my ever actually painting again, but I thought I'd surprise you with a little MW project in progress. Namely 4 scouts with MLs to go with my snipers. Have two partially done. They're painted in order to match my existing scouts, which is why they don't have the usual airbrushy blends.
I'll add some detail and some flora to the bases and the first two should be ready to go!
Thing 1 is now 15. Gods.... No 40k presents but he scored a ton of manga books (black butler), some books on japanese kanji & a cool blue-tooth speaker thingie that's reasonably water/shock proof to name a few parts of his haul. Asked for a surf & turf dinner (steak and butterfly shrimp) with grilled broccoli, roasted potato wedges and cucumber salad.
That's terrifying. I think your boys were 9 & 6 when I first swung by your blog. Time, like an ever rolling stream, it bears its sons away, forgotten, etc, etc.
Bolstering the scout forces for your re-match? Have you picked up any of the new Dev box? IIRC there is a missile launched bit in there that looks fun to use, wonder if it works for the scout ML.
Kids grow up just too darn fast. I guess that’s what happens when you feed them. On the bright side, one more year until you can make him dance like a puppet just by jingling the car keys.
Well, I have 5 ML scouts which is enough to have one for each sniper squad... so I think I'm good. I'm really sold on the utility of scouts in this edition... they continue to surprise me with their utility for the cost. Lately I've been taking sniper scouts w/ the LS Storm as a dedicated transport, but fielding both units separately rather than the scouts embarked. Gives me a couple of cheap, outflanking, fast, ob sec skimmers w/ multi-meltas. Not a bad deal.
i think the crucial sobbing justified birthday is when he gets 18... for me at least... after reaching the school age it feels as if the years swim by... season after season... but when we got with each kid to the school age...that was a hard pill to swallow...before that was when we got our kids dry... when our nursery nurse at the kindergarden said that our oskar doesn´t need to wield diapers any more...my wife instantly had wet eyes...
but nevertheless... best wishes to No 1 birthday^^
Yes, it's not worth it for me. Benefits are minimal and they'd lose hammer of wrath & furious charge (I'd have to trade MW tactics for UM... and I'd lose most of my cheap troops for my own CADs). They do everything I need them to do as Mantis Warriors and they're more versatile as they're decidedly better in assault (at least if I charge).
My current thought is to run a grouping of 5x 5-man snipers w/ ML & as many LS Storms as I can get my hands on (currently only two) as dedicated transports with the 6th troop slots as a small tac squad in a pod to allow two other pods full of cents to DS together on T1. Gives me a lot of infiltrating/outflanking ob-sec with a long reach and some assault capability at no extra cost. Add a pair of TFCs (again cheap) as HS and you've got a really inexpensive core that had a lot of long-range punch, is mostly ob-sec and has some mobility (the LS Storms).
Hmmm.... have to work that out on Army Builder and see what it comes out to point-wise. Less than 1k I'm sure (not including the cents of course).
Gitsplitta wrote: My current thought is to run a grouping of 5x 5-man snipers w/ ML & as many LS Storms as I can get my hands on (currently only two) as dedicated transports with the 6th troop slots as a small tac squad in a pod to allow two other pods full of cents to DS together on T1. Gives me a lot of infiltrating/outflanking ob-sec with a long reach and some assault capability at no extra cost. Add a pair of TFCs (again cheap) as HS and you've got a really inexpensive core that had a lot of long-range punch, is mostly ob-sec and has some mobility (the LS Storms).
I really like the sound of that list!
I always get mixed up on the numbering, Thing 1 is the one who helped out at the booth at AdeptiCon, right? He's awesome . I'm just now adding on to the orders for those who helped out, so find out from him what ModCube set he would like for that (I think the WoK starter I gave him counts for 1, but he's still due 1! As are you Gits). I asked Solar about his too, if I don't hear from you before I'll just ping you via PM when I'm getting closer to shipping.
Yeah, that's him. Great kid. We're very proud of him, especially over the last year. I'll make sure to pass on everyone's birthday wishes. I am very sad that we only have him "to ourselves" for another 3 years... really going to miss him when he's off to college & beyond. Sucks to think about it.
@RiTides: I think I filled out my order form for the sets I got through the kickstarter... can't remember what I ordered though, can you look that up and PM me? I can find out from him what he wants, NP.
On another note... THESE showed up today!!
I'm guessing that a lot of you might follow either Ramos' or my skitarii blogs, so you know about them already... but in case you don't... you can expect these bad boys to be making appearances very soon with my marines as well as my burgeoning AdMech army.
@Ramos: They're beautiful my friend. I can't thank you enough!
@RiTides: Thanks, me neither!
OH, and speaking of battle reports... I promised to feature RiTides ModCubes in my next one but the game was a total flop. HOWEVER... I did take a couple of good pics showing off how nice his objective marker set is.
First, here's a pic of my TFCs deployed on an objective, but as the game hadn't started yet, what the mysterious objective was had yet to be discovered. You can see the number of the objective clearly though from multiple angles so both players can easily identify it.
Once the game began, my scouts who were also on a different objective discovered it's special ability. "Satter Field" baby! +1 to cover saves! You can clearly see the word "scatter" on the face of the cube (even in the camera glare), again... making it easy for both players to read without having to consult a mystic chart or try and remember what the effect each number equates to.
I love them. Plan on using them in a much smaller and hopefully more interesting game this Wed which I will write a bat rep for sans something unplanned on happening. Awesome stuff RiTides. Wish you'd have come up with these years ago!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
To top off today's updates, a couple of scout missile launchers! Not a fancy paint job, but it's in line with the rest of their squads.
The finishing touches on those scouts really did the trick, they look excellent! And awesome to see the mysterious objective ModCubes in use, you're the first one to put them through their paces (these are from a sample lot, will post news on the full production run next week!)
Having found refuge at a Imperial Stronghold Jaxeena has enlisted a enginseer to build a stasis chamber to hold her captive. Any space marine would be difficult to hold, but a Captain takes special care. Communications are still not possible, the Inquisitor has sent off a psychic message to her "pet" psyker. Now she and her guards wait to make her escape.
Just wanted to say "thanks" to everyone who have contributed to the half-million views that got me to this point... ... Very cool milestone to reach. Perhaps I can keep people engaged enough to reach 1.5 some day.
Couple of pics from my game last night snagged from Yorkright. (lost but very fun) There will be a battle report.
This is for the escalation league where you're supposed to paint as you go. Of course I really haven't made much progress... so I turned my 500 pt army into a 750 point army by adding an upgraded bastion and some useless wargear. Nearly worked... just no mobility to the army which has cost me both games so far.
First off... my opponent's really nice Harlequin army.
Here's a squad of Rangers, camped out on top of the bastion, manning a quad gun.
Very fun little battle between two very different armies that share similar problems (no HQ's, no Ob Sec)... though the plethora of super-characters the harlequins have just makes a joke out of the fact that they can't actually do a simple CAD. What was GW thinking??
Teaser #2. This is a custom build for my next game with Yorkright...
Doesn't really show in the pic but there's a chaos (I think) skull helmet that is the current front-runner (with a little tweaking). The other favorite is the mantis helm over there in the dish. I'd paint it white too... but it wouldn't really look very skull-like.
I vote Mantis-hat. It might not be a skull but it's more chapter appropriate and chapter-specific. Besides by the looks of it you've got plenty of skulls on hand anyway. That with a Chaplain oriented paint job should get the point across just fine.
When it comes to a choice of reasonable or outrageous headgear I'm almost always on Team Silly Hat.
I picked the bike up at a local gaming "garage sale" (old FLGS used to hold them once a year). It was cheap, missing a few bits I think. I plan on GSing over the top of the nose of the bike and embedding skulls into it to give it a more chaplain-like feel.
Not sure if you are still interested in opinions on the Chaplain or not. But I would have to vote traditional headgear of a skull mask. Just because I am pretty old fashioned like that.
Hey gang! I'm back from a well-earned vacation in the north woods. Ready to jump back into the saddle.
So... as far as I can estimate (because some people seemed to express a preference but weren't very explicit about it). Team "traditional chappy" is up on team "white mantis chappy" 6 votes to 5. I'll give everyone one more day to express an opinion, then I'll go with whatever version has the most votes. In the mean time, I'll move forward with appropriate bike modifications.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Hi gang! Back from a hard-earned vacation in the "north woods".
As I count it... team "traditional chappy" is beating team "white mantis chappy" by 1 vote: 6 to 5. I'll give one more day to let those who haven't expressed an opinion vote, then I'll act on the majority. In the mean time I'll start working on the bike.
Here's a couple of pics to refresh everyone's memory...
Please cast your vote clearly... "traditional" or "white mantis"
I'll make sure to re-count from the beginning so I have everyone's vote correctly noted. If you accidentally vote twice, the most recent one will be counted.
It’s that kind of thinking that got the Mantis in trouble. You think a penitent crusade might have taught them something. Especially the chaplains in charge of making sure everyone is doing the right thing.
How much deviance are we willing to tolerate here?
I must admit that the photo of the white mantis really took me by surprise & was a concept I found very exciting. My original ideas were nothing remotely close to it, but the more I thought about it the more intrigued I became. Not only because it would be very remarkable and there was a biological basis for it... but local buddy Eiluj the Farseer gives me no end of crap about my centurions being heretics because of their mantis helmets (he says they're actually the marines' heads) and a non-standard chappy would give him no end of fuel for his continued verbal banter (which I enjoy).
That being said, I don't want to go too far off the rails design-wise and I am cognizant of wyomingfox's point about white being a bit too close to the color of an apothecary (not that I ever field them... stupid rules... they should be like tech marines). What I'll do then is to make the bike very traditional.... black with skulls and gold details. The chaplain himself will be creamy bone in color as Alf suggested, this is in keeping with the skull/bone theme of a traditional chappy yet distinct from my white apothecaries (not that I ever field them... stupid rules... they should be like tech marines).
The bike is going to take some work. That's probably where I'll start.
No worries Vik. He was very gently laid down after being dispatched by the knights. I couldn't believe how God-awful the Reaver is in assault. Crazy.
It was way too much fun! 5000 pts on a side. We had 1 Reaver, 7 knights, 2 shadowswords, 2 scorpions, 1 fellblade & Vulcan as the LOW on the table (both sides combined). Wow... what a line-up!
I'll put this out there just because it'll get some exposure. If anyone has an extra or sees a titan gun from this era come up for sale on e-bay... please let me know. Yorkright had a second gun for his Reaver but it was stolen a long time ago (along with a bunch of other gaming stuff). If we could hook him up with a new, functional titan weapon for his reaver... that would be a good thing.
Not a great picture but this gives you an idea of the build. No radical modifications... just a few amendments. I'm afraid the bone chaplain is going to have to be an idea that waits for another day. There's just too much going on here in order to try and pull it off (after careful consideration). Without the cloak... maybe. With it, it's way too much.
I am unsure if I voted already sorry to make more work for you Gits but I haven't had much time as I'm in the middle of a new job.
If I didn't though, then I vote fo the white mantis but, perhaps with some black to unify it. You could pull a deathwatch and do a single black arm and black shoulderpad on one side, or do a black helmet with white body instead.
Unfortunately Stormwall, given the limitations of the figure (now that it's fully assembled), I'm afraid that the white mantis is probably a non-starter. I'd love to do it... but just think this is the wrong figure. I'll probably work on the bike first, so we'll see what things look like as work progresses.
Looking at it now, yeah, the bone mantis might be a hard sell. Simply for the fact of the metal mini. Were it in resin, I think you might have a better time of it.
Ah well, something to look for in the future, eh?
That said, what you have this far is looking really really sharp
Well personally I would give him a hint of yellow and black, tranquility pattern. White with a hint of yellow about it maybe, but them I am very late to the party.
Modelling looks excellent, love the head, and skull work is brilliant.
Nice to see those helmets getting an outing Seeing them always takes me back to toiling away in my little hobby space under the stairs casting helmets, shoulderpads and wings with my 2yr old painting on the floor next to me
Later, definitely not now on this figure, you should build a bike with the big old gorilla style handles, but customize the handles to look like mantis arms . I think the hinge in the arm could bring the handles back perfectly for the rider.
Anyway on this build its looking great. Good use of that chapterhouse bit.
Theophony wrote: Later, definitely not now on this figure, you should build a bike with the big old gorilla style handles, but customize the handles to look like mantis arms . I think the hinge in the arm could bring the handles back perfectly for the rider.
Anyway on this build its looking great. Good use of that chapterhouse bit.
^ THIS!!!! do this NOW! what a brilliant idea Theo
Ape hangers.... I wanted a bike with those for my own (real) enjoyment. Not to be I'm afraid... but I can make it happen in miniature. Choice idea my friend.
Well, the Mantised-up chappy took another hit towards the standard. I broke off and lost one of the helmet antenna... so I switched back to the skull helm. I tweaked it just a bit so it looks a little less chaossy (honestly, I have no idea where the helmet came from in the first place). It's just waiting for me to get out the old airbrush and have a go at it. I'm still debating colors... black of course... but I'm not sure if I want to go with grey as the highlight or something akin to a dark green as I've done for a past GMS project (I really liked this figure by-the-way).
I'm open to opinions on this.
The main reason I haven't been painting is that I've working on picking up the studio. I can't say I've been cleaning really... more just putting things away and throwing crap out. I have made significant progress in that there is now room to move about the studio without immanent danger of tripping over something with each step & you could feasibly play a 40k game on the gaming table. I've also been repairing a number of figure "casualties" (happens a lot when you're moving stuff around to games all the time). Honestly it's been a very cathartic process and one I think I'll keep plugging away at until it's finished.
One major hang-up.... I need a good way to organize my paints.... by that I mean I'm looking for an organizer tray kind of thing. I have a LOT of paints of various kinds so it should be able to handle probably 75-100 jars. Anyone out there have any suggestions? I'm hoping for something either made in the US or with free shipping (not counting on that) if overseas manufacture. Anyone have any suggestions?? Something you're using now that you really like?
Hmmm.... Paint storage is a toughie... If a lot of it is dropper bottles, you could try building something like what I did?
Gets the bottles up and off of the desk and makes them easier to remix, too, cause of the larger surface area of the sediment. Jars are a little more difficult (ala GW style)- I have an aluminum case I stull use from when I bought the mega paint set when I first started painting.
Or go to Walmart and buy the cheap ($5ish) bamboo spice racks which hold 2 deep on GW pots and 3 deep on army painter style droppers on each shelf and like 9 wide GW style. I have 5-6 of them across the back of my desk. If your retentive than you can separate them by color groupings as well.
@CC: I've looked carefully at that setup. Very nice, very expensive. Given what I'm spending on models I'm not against spending some cash on a good storage system, just afraid my current painting desk won't accommodate it.
@Theo: Hmmmm.... have to give that a look. I could probably build my own that's a hybrid of your suggestions & CCs.... food for thought anyway.
Well if you are in a DIY mood you could always build something like what I use as well. It's basically a tiered rack that sits on a spinner so I can store a lot of paints in a smaller area. It would fit around 100 paints at a squeeze I think so it may be another idea to consider..
chappy looks good... tho i do have a lil thing to bicker about...the nods on the wings are a bit too clumsy looking for my taste...i think they´re scratchbuilt? maybe you can still add a small pip on these disks or you could drill in a hole (not all the way through) to make them into rings?...this would give you the oportunity to have that nice glow effect then inside...
also...ramos...that storage system is super!!! i am thinking i will make myself something like that soon! thanks for such a brilliant idea!
I contracted with one of my favorite dakka artists to do a special figure for me... Ahazra Redth the Dust Prophet, Chief Librarian of the Mantis Warriors. Built and painted by Sigur of Battle Brush Studios but the design concept was cooked up by some friends (you know who you are). It's in the mail, making it all the way from the motherland to me here in the US. I can't wait!
Had a really fun game with Eiluj the Farseer last night. Yorkright and I have expanded the story line of the campaign to include Eiluj's Sisters of Battle. The Sisters had managed to catch word of the conflict between Inquisitor Jaxeena and the Mantis Warriors through an emissary sent with a Rogue Trader. They came in force in order to capture and examine one of the Mantis Warrior centurions who by appearance... seems to be corrupted (they're distrustful that the insect helms are actually chaos mutations). Secondarily, there is a MW medical facility in the area that they believe might have data useful in their investigation. The Sisters landed and set up a communications beacon that can pierce the communications black-out the defenders have established. The Mantis Warriors... now having two fronts to fight on and having their 10th company deployed to try and recover their captured captain, brought the bulk of their reserves to bear. A chapter librarian was called up to lead the defense and charged with trying to "negotiate in force" with the commander of the invaders... a priest named Uriah. They are also tasked with taking down the Sister's communications array.
What followed was an epic struggle that ebbed and flowed like the winds of the warp. Eiluj took a vid of the battle and will be posting it on his YouTube channel. When it's up I'll post a link.
The Order of the Valorous Heart heads the call of an Inquisitor from Ordo Hereticus. Uriah Jacubus while of Ophelia VII visiting he Orders High Chapel had been troubled with visions and nightmares about something horrifying happening on Demetrion Secundus. Demetrion Secundus was an Astral Claws world before they became excumunicae traitorous. With word from Jaxeena and a previously in question chapter like the Mantis Warriors, Uriah and Cannoness Adriana come to the conclusion that the problem is probably stemming from the Mantis Warriors. Investigation of the geneseed for mutation and a search for heresy must be taken. If necessary the Order of the Valorous Heart will destroy the chapter. All capable Adepta Sororitas are assembled and travel to Demetrion Secundus. An initial raiding party led by the Cannoness and Uriah Jacobus with his most trusted priests, makes planetfall. The truth must be known, for the Imperium and above all else the Emperor. All must repent and the Heretics must burn!
.
Pretty exciting stuff, Inquisitor Jaxeena would be pleased to know that the Sisters are coming to her aid. Now I will grab some popcorn and wait for the bat rep!
The statement just hung there in the room. Among the members of the Mantis Warrior commanders present in the small, dark conference room, asking for “help”… was unthinkable. Yet there it was, proffered by the Task Force’s senior librarian.
A black robed figure, the Company chaplain… stood and growled menacingly… “We are Astartes, we do NOT ask for help!”
The librarian leaned forward in his chair and met the chaplain’s gaze. “We ARE Astartes. Astartes who are in open conflict with an Inqisitor, our Brother Astartes the Blood Angels, are about to be attacked by the Adeptis Sororitas and who are about to attack an Astra Militarum outpost unprovoked...”
“Brother” interrupted Kisira San, head of the Apothecarion… “have we been able to contact the Chapter’s command carrier?”
“No. A warp storm has suddenly appeared between us and the last known location of The Green Menace. Communication is not possible. We are on our own brothers.”
The chaplain sat down heavily as if bearing the weight of the news personally. “We need allies.” He mumbled under his breath.
I've kind of back-doored myself into a little inquisitor and retinue... so at this point I'm actually going to start developing it. It may be playable... it may not... I don't really care at this point. Consider it something fluffy and fun. Most of it was built and painted by Ice Angel & moonpie... but there's a bit of other folks work in there too. Nothing of mine yet. Have plans for at least one more inquisitor that I'll do myself. Minus might be painting up the 3 newest additions for me. Hope so. Any of you who actually run inquisitional squads have suggestions for the kind of figures that can be included (or are good to include from a playability stand point) I'm open to suggestion? Be fun to snag one of those old Jakero figs.
I'll re-base everything to make it all match. Three new additions are below.
Ah, retribution for the destruction of the Convent of the Ebon Chalce (of which you foolishly posted images.) Go Sisters, and bring the heretic to heel!
Gitsplitta, I took it upon myself to read through your entire blog after not seeing it for over 3 years. It took me the best part of 2 hours. I consider that time well spent. It's truly fantastic!
Very kind of you Bash. Things have slowed down over the last few years... too many other armies... too many mundane responsibilities. But I keep plugging along and comments like yours are exactly what keeps me going.
Working on bike chappy finally. Thought I might get it done this weekend but too many other distractions. I'll post a pic soon though.
Hope everyone enjoys the battle report. Thank you Shawn for putting it together. The saga continues!!
early dice seemed to not go Shawn's way.
I thought there was an issue with the camera till I realised there was a laser in use for line of sight Also seemed your tank killing dice were left at home.
That hammer of wrath hit with the devastators was awesome
then the assault squad getting ripped up by the flamer! (did they pass morale after all the shooting had finished but before they were almost charged?)
Question and I don't have my rule book to check, if a vehicle is wrecked don't occupants have to make an emergency disembark of 3"? not 6"?
I made this for 5 bucks using recycled wood and an old family that could be from the fifties, and an hour and a half of my time. It is pretty cruddy, I made it near the start of the year. (I think you saw it.)
I need to out more wood filler, and sand it back even. The dirty spots are the filler fyi. Then I will stain it and use an oil to make it look somewhat presentable. This was before I had a clue with woodworking. (It is all about K.I.S.S)
I have been too busy/lazy to do this haha. So it sits functional but ultimately ugly. TBH? If I had to do it all over again, I'd make a tabtletop one using cut gardening sticks, using a circular drill saw piece (just got off a 12 hr shift cannot think of the name.) To cut holes the exact side of your pots so you could just sit them in a lowered edge/hole in the stake.
I am already working on a large surprise to go with your Marines but, my woodworking is now apart of my job in the factory. As a result I am way better than before. To keep it short my new house will have a workshop. (The difference has gone from looming like a child with crayons to a young adult with a pen. I'm not the greatest but I think someone would buy my woodworks now,) got some old metalworker tables for the hobby and some tools.)
I will be posting up pictures of a crate I am making from reclaimed wood and pallets from work, since it is to store my miniature stuff/make room (or as a project for my mentor, if so then I'll have to PM you as I don't think Dakka allows anything but minis.) If you like it and you can't make, fashion or buy a paint rack in the next month or two then I definately will make you one if you want.
@Stormwall: Actually, as long as it's gaming related... it's good as far as dakka is concerned. Sounds like you've got some ambitious projects going. That's a very clever rack for holding paints. Nice use of existing materials.
Here's the pic of my progress. Mostly done. Has a lot of touching up to do and I need to clean up the blending on the helm a bit. Also some details to add. It's turning out OK. At the moment I won't give it any better than that, but we'll see what tomorrow brings.
I think you are being a very hard marker. The conversion is spectacular and the paint really brings him to life. I really like the pile of skulls. They have come up a treat. A very ghoulish Chaplain if ever there was one.
Yeah, that's one of the things I'm unhappy with. There should be a slight green tinge to his armor... but I think it's a bit too slight. Then again... you don't see a lot of chapter affiliation in any chaplain. He will have a MW symbol on his shoulder pad. I'll give it some thought though... thanks for the comment.
Question and I don't have my rule book to check, if a vehicle is wrecked don't occupants have to make an emergency disembark of 3"? not 6"?
You are right. I am sorry I screwed that one up. My bad. We screwed up a couple times. The las plas rhazobacks shot normally after they moved, I forgot to use my acts of faith appropriately (likely because I have not played my sisters since April).
Automatically Appended Next Post: Art since Chaplains are black armoured what about a green shoulder pad or green bike? Just ideas
Yeah, both Shawn and I messed some things up, but we still had a really fun game. With these campaign games, the emphasis is on fun and cool (which is why I always end up having my guys do something heroic/stupid during the game). The point is to break from the 40k meta and play simply for the joy of it... bringing back the story aspect and the history and army interaction that really hasn't been a part of the standard game for a very long time. It's why we share lists ahead of time and try to balance things out before we play... so no one gets mugged by a vastly superior list which is no fun.
Let me flesh out the figure a bit & then we'll make a decision about the cloak. It's a good idea WM, but I don't want to think about the horror show it would take to pull it off.
For what ever reason, the purple doesn't look built up enough and might benefit from some additional smooth gradients. I can see some gradients but they look more random and blotchy. Could be the lighting but the cloak seems like it was painted and then washed with a shade.
@Archer: Why thank you sir. I am my own worst critic... save for Mrs. Gitsplitta... who crushes my soul whenever she reviews my work. It's her job.
@miniholic: Thanks, and thanks for commenting. It is what I was hoping for... just need to sort out some details.
@Yorkright: Well, that's the plan at the moment. I'll get the pad done tonight so I'll see where it stands.
@Theo: Good idea. I was hoping to keep the bike in the black so-to-speak so it looks very chaplain-like, but that bit of green might make a difference. I'll think on it.
@wyfox: You're exactly right. I'm just not sure if I'm going to keep the cloak purple at the moment. If I do, It'll get a lot of extra shading work to bring up the highlights & make it more dynamic... though the original shading isn't random, it follows the raised edges or exposed sections of the cloak. (it's just hard to see from this angle)
Apologies, I didn't want to come across as a rules lawyer, the regular guys I play against are part of the competition scene to they are always making sure the rules are followed and in some instances that blends into how I view games.
I did really enjoy the game, lots of ups and downs and heroic charges (poor assault squad getting wreckt) I certainly am looking forward to the next installment.
No apology necessary Knightley. We knew we miffed some rules... it happens sometimes when you get immersed in games. It's certainly nothing we aspire to, but it seems to happen in nearly every game at some point. Just means we need moar practice.
Gitsplitta wrote: No apology necessary Knightley. We knew we miffed some rules... it happens sometimes when you get immersed in games. It's certainly nothing we aspire to, but it seems to happen in nearly every game at some point. Just means we need moar practice.
Yeah I did not take offense either. In our local group I am usually the "rules Nazi" according to some. I should be better about it too. When people comment on stuff like that it makes me better the next time I play. I am a little rusty on the Sisters recently, but I always like to play them with fluff stuff as I enjoy playing them. I took them to both Adepticon and Good Bad and the Ugly this year with the sole intent of just having fun with them as I know competitively they are not the top tier army. Cheers.
Finished the bike chaplain. Might re-do the chapter insignia on the front of the bike & put little white dots on his eyes. Hope this suits. Thanks for all the suggestions gang, they really helped.
RiTides wrote: Anything special planned for 500 pages, Gits?
Well, I didn't do anything special for 1 million views which I think was a dakka milestone. There are other blogs out there with far more than 500 pages.
Hmmm... I'm up for a challenge.
What would you guys like to see to celebrate my 500th page? Needs to be a single fig or a small, 5-man unit. Throw some ideas out there... I'll sift through them based on what I own (or can get easily), then we'll take a vote. You guys can pick my milestone project. In general terms... I have tanks, bikes, infantry, terminators, skimmers, fortifications... even some special characters (maybe). Just toss stuff out and we'll see what sticks!
This is a pipe dream, but I think Konrad Curze with a little modification to the skull symbols on his armor (i.e. mantis mandibles added on) would look fantastic as a psychotic Mantis Warrior, BUT that would be too much fiddling with that character model.
Helpful posters will keep the words "within reason" in mind. A 6-month scratch building project and a thousand dollar model do NOT fall into that category.
I think for such a momentous occasion of 500 pages something "simple" is in order. How about a 5 man Deathwatch team, of whom several members are Mantis Warriors and maybe a couple of other chapters. Go to town on them with personal kit and memorabilia.
Are color schemes on the table (within your theme) or are you wanting to paint this in the penitent purple scheme? I love your yellow Tranquility scouts and dreadnoughts, and they could use a big brother (contemptor) in the Tranquility scheme . I'd prefer the regular contemptor over the deredo, personally, but if one or the other fit the theme more I could be persuaded!
i would like to see something like a small scenery...a diorama...maybe in the spirit of the raising of thee flags of iwo jima...something that says: celebration and could be used as a kind of objective marker... (and no need to invest in the actual model and convert it for your needs here, i am sure you could make your complete own version...)
.
)
, takes a real bad 
do this NOW! what a brilliant idea Theo 
