I like the whitewalls on the bike. Make it look more sporty, suits the shape of the bike (compared to the normal 40k boxiness).
For the shading of the white, I'd go grey.
A brown would make it look dirty next to the clean look of the purple and gold.
A blue would connect it too much with the blue plasma.
A cool grey would contrast nicely with the warmer purple and gold, let the plasmagun stand out, and give a clean look that seems to be the thing for this army.
Sorry to here about the compressor, the airbrush worked out though, every time I see that tank I love it more, such a great design, and the purple really nice.
Well, this really isn't modulation, it's more like "panel lighting" (see graphic two pages back). There's no question I like modulation the best, but it can be a real PITA to pull off on an irregularly shaped vehicle like this one. I may have to go back on touch up the darkest areas again... they seem to have gotten covered up a bit too much by the lighter shades.
I'm in contact with the seller of the compressor, hopefully we can work something out. At least the Iwata works nicely.
I've decided to switch the queue around a bit. After this tank is done I'm going to jump into some infantry and a couple of rhinos. I just need more troops... fun as the dreadnoughts are... the contemptor can wait.
Sorry to hear about the early demise of the compressor, did it die of asphyxiation ;-P? The sicaran is one of my favorite FW tanks, and yours is looking good. When you paint the treads is it silver directly over the purple or do you lay down a base of black first?
Pour one out for the compressor, at least your airbrush worked nicely. The Sicaran looks great, it'll be an interesting shift from massive plates to tiny troops. Good luck!
Just thought this deserved an update. The ebay seller of the compressor has been very helpful and is sending me a new one. I don't think they'd do that if they didn't have confidence that my defective one was an anomaly. So I look forward with hope to the new machine arriving in a bit. Fingers crossed.
I promise some pics tonight guys. Sorry, frantically cleaning the house for Easter dinner & father-in-law.
Just to give you an idea of what the competition was like... I ran a list of 4 knights plus a dominus & 3 grav destroyers. I was tabled in 2 out of 3 games... and I don't think I played badly.
Did you enjoy it though? Sometimes playing the opposite to how you would normally can be very refreshing. I usually go for the fluffy and story driven game. But every now and then a "stomp them into the ground" super list can be an interesting diversion. Especially if you opponents are trying to do the same.
I did Archer. It was a very simple army to play so I had lots of time to consider what I wanted to do without slowing down the game.
My first game I actually won 18-1 (though not a tabling... almost though, he had one demon price left and we just sat on our respective objectives for the last 3 turns, neither of us really able to hurt the other).
Second game was close, though I was behind for most of the game (but still in it). Actually the first two games were quite similar, "very close, until it wasn't".
Game 3 I just got destroyed by an elder list filled with scat-packs and warp spiders... but sometimes you've just got to sit back and admire a list like that and a talented player who really knows how to use it.
So yes, I had a good time in spite of what would seem like a bad day.
Hey gang, finally got back to the painting bench tonight. Blocked out the not-white (Tom) on the tank. Thinking of adding one more element somewhere on the barrels of the main guns... but I'll sleep on it first. Don't want to overdo it.
I also got a box of joy with the last elements I need to build my EC army. Now all I have to do is build and paint... and paint... and paint.
Thanks guys. It's a long way from done. Once I finish the white (which has several more steps) I'll probably do the metals, then go back and touch up the purple. Some of the dark purples need to be darker and I think it's a bit too red in places... those will need to be knocked back a bit.
Making good progress though. We'll see how far I get it tonight.
Imho, as I suspected, blue was the wrong choice, you already have a huge, huge brightness contrast, adding a temp contrast on top of it is a bit too much contrast. Still super stark.
Skew towards grey-beige, get some nuance in there with shading and whatnot - check out this photoshop, see what it adds to make those changes -
Flattening out the purple a bit and being more zenithal with it, a little more indigo on the bottom of the tank, a little more magenta on top.
Yep, legit. See, that's not too bad... I only have to completely re-paint one color rather than remodulate everything! That's not a face-shootable offense in my book!
OK... fiddling with a white shade. I ended up at the center shade. It's a very light buff that can easily be brought up or down... and the formulation is airbrushable.
Looking good, Tom's little example did really make it stand out much better, i'm glad you're having a crack at this stuff and subtle changes, also 'majorly' shows up my own inconsistencies! Lol
Good to see you back and painting, Gits - especially on the EC, though I'd like to see the Mantis get some love this year
Do you have any advice on magnets? They aren't something I've worked with before, so I'm not sure what I should be looking for - first possible project being the Contemptor from Calth.
Looking.. the same as far as I can tell . Slightly kidding, I do see a difference, but I always feel like I'm just a chimp tossing paint at minis when I drop by over here or in MajorTom's thread...
Do you have any advice on magnets? They aren't something I've worked with before, so I'm not sure what I should be looking for - first possible project being the Contemptor from Calth.
Check polarity and mark all the pos/neg poles with something (marker, paint,...). Before glueing, always doublecheck polarity. Also, make sure you position them nice and flush with the surface, or ever so slightly recessed to prevent gaps. Did I mention you should check polarity? Trust me, trying to remove a magnet from a perfectly drilled hole (into which it has been glued of course) is a rather frustrating experience...
Tom and I worked out the white by PM... it's just simpler that way. I also started working on that cool display board that Cam made me. Still lots to paint on it and because it's terrain it's low-stress... and a nice display board gets you extra points in painting competitions don't 'cha know.
Magnets...
Well, my advice. You want to cram as much high-powered magnet into your space as you can. The magnet should hold *tight* and should not allow what it's holding to spin by it's own weight... otherwise everything droops down and generally looks like a sad panda rather than a mighty war machine. Also things tend to get lost if your magnets aren't powerful enough. I've also started favoring long pins over magnets in many cases. I've also occasionally used two magnets... one large one to do the holding, and a smaller one to act as a "lock" to keep the magnetized object from spinning too freely.
Polarity is easily solved. Mount one magnet, drop the second magnet on top of it. Put a drop of paint on the exposed side of the second magnet. Then just make sure when you mount the second magnet that you can't see the paint dot.
Was hoping to follow that white discussion, no worries, pics of the results will do.
As to magnets, my 2 cents..
Spoiler:
Exactly as Sir Tom says RARE EARTH, and a 5mm x 1mm will securely hold an arm, or a 3mm x 2mm will securely hold a gun. 5 x 1 for dread weapons, but as Gits said the bigger the better. The only thing I would add is one of these....
A piece of board with a magnet glued through it or on both sides, always make your polarity go from "Body" to "Limb" as it were, keeps you standardised.
For larger things don't bother with magnets, pins and friction fit tubes work better.
And you can use it to apply the magnets as well by putting a "stack" on keeps the polarity right and you can glue a magnet in place without running the risk of gluing the actual parts together.
Sorry Gits, you get a lot more visitors than me, hope it is good advise, by all means ignore me.
I love this go back between you and tom. its great to see the advice come to fruition here GIts! The models certainly look great and youre lucky to have him pulling your coat tails!
Re: magnets...because ill be building some big models soon, cam, do you normally use circular magnets for joints? are they strong enough to hold or does the joint spin 360 freely because its a circle?.
....you know what i mean? :/
Basically it was a matter of evaluating which color I was getting at out of more or less available ranges. It had to be a chromatic grey, chromatic grey means something that is more or less just on the edge of being true grey and another color. (That is not the precise definition, chromatic grey is any greyish color that is not true, monotone grey with no temperature bias, the tint can be quite minor, it doesn't have to be on the edge of being a color. Just a hint of it, as opposed to having to be an 'ish', greyish blue, reddish grey, orangeish grey etc).
For gitsy's purposes, the right color needs to be dark enough, and beige enough to offset the purple range he uses, and the trick is to find the right color that is beigeish in it's bias, not ochre/yellow.
Something in a deck-tan family is where we were headed, that color would then be highlighted with near white in the same bone/grey family, and edged with white.
In truth I expected a long back-and-forth which is why I took it to PM, but it was only one photo sent. I did some concocting based on Tom's comments on the pic you all saw of the variations on that sicaran bit and sent him the following photo.
Tom replied that I was close (bottom color), but perhaps the best option was somewhere in the middle. So I blended that direction a bit. Haven't taken a picture of the result, but you'll see it soon enough.
Gotta say it's cool to see different painters of different levels talking this stuff out. Too often replies offer little criticism in fear of offending the painter. Gits and Tom are the perfect storm, because Gits won't get offended no matter what Tom says.
I used to love Bleached bone, but it had too much yellow for what you need, but Ushanti Bone, I find a more "grey" bone colour, just not quite dark enough for where this was going, looking at the swabs, I would call that colour mushroom, or taupe. Game colour Heavy Brown, comes close, or am I still too creamy?
Taupe is the correct color Cam spot on, unfortunately no company calls it that, they say dragon-nuts grey or some such lol... but yes, a taupe is correct.
I am no longer super familiar with specific paint lines, half the time I just mix on the pallette from primaries, secondaries and black and white these days...
I'd just like to show that I am paying attention by agreeing with the direction of the white. Although I would keep it very desaturated on the brown front.
I find that I can't really join in in conversation that involve your weird paint names.
Due to the paints I use and the way I mix them by eye, all I can say is more grey / brown / green / etc.
I can't even express the colours in my own paint system's name/numbers.
I like to paint stuff Dur Dur...Try to avoid shooting people in the face in the meantime
I'm positive on the polarity point, CK - I was aiming more for sizes and depths, tbh, but I appreciate my question wasn't clear on that
Not quite yet. You'll be positive after you've glued one wrong . I always use neodymium (= rare earth) magnets, most commonly 3*1 mm, 3*2 mm and 5*1 mm. For the rest I'll refer to Camkhieri
I go with round mostly because it is easier to make holes for them. I tend to "angle" things so the weight does not make too much of a problem. One important thing is getting surface contact between the magnets. Sometimes it is not so important. Especially if you are using the magnets to help with painting. And there are times you can use a metal plate in place of one of the magnets. You need to be careful because you can over do it. The magnetic field around some of my pieces stops time!
In the end they are a good little tool. But a little thought and you can do better with styrene or a few pins. Back in the day when I actually played, probably about 4th, I was swapping out kit with a piece of copper wire and some blutak, worked perfectly, looked ok with just a bit of care. Magnets are fun. And I so want to play with the whole floating objects thing, but to me the best use is to aid painting when building models. Being able to take the top off some tank is really great and easily achieved with magnets.
Now enough waffle from me, I am certainly no expert. Want to see some Taupe-art!
Variety of rounds, exactly as Cam said, you just find the right sized drill bit then you can practically dry mount them in place, no fuss no muss. You basically want as big as you can get and still fit into the pieces to be magnetized, hence why a variety of sizes is handy, never know when you may need bigger or smaller working on a new piece.
Made some progress. White is done... unless I decide to add more. Just blocking out the steel now. Long way to go on this yet. Note that the color here is not right, but it's as close as I could get it. My phone's color processor just cant handle this and turns the purple into red & I have a heck of a time trying to bring it back.
Sicaran is looking good, I have seen your EC in person and know that it is a much richer purple than what it shows here. The white looks much better and I may use the same technique on my BA sicaran.
@Yorkright: Thanks my friend... for some reason my phone especially can't handle purple. It's always screwed up.
@Tom: Thank you as well for your guidance and most importantly your patience. You should see me go on our local group's Facebook page... I'm Mr. Color Wheel & Mr. contrast now. But you're right, it looks a lot better, I just need to improve my technique for getting to this point. Doing the white was a real struggle.
White is one of the toughest to do, especially in the kind of scenario you are working on. Certainly a lot easier if you are just painting the entire model white, but to mask of significant areas, and then ensure proper interaction with the other dominant color, it's tough. But you did it
Damn nice, thats 'eavy metal level painting right there! I still feel the recessed white part could do with a mural, but it would almost be a shame to mess up that white
Anpu-adom wrote: I love tagging along for this discussion, even though it goes way above my head.
Keep up the good work, Gits.
I think you jest.
The illustrated pictures of a suggested change and then the following discussion of colours to use is awesome.
Airbrush is a strange thought process of how one layer interacts with another.
All you have to do is spray a combo of colours and the wires in your head start crossing and you then see things differently.
I was painting a tank one day and thought: "why not spray first with a scorched brown (dark brown) then put on the olive?"
Best looking two colour only paint job I had seen on a surface after painting only with hairy brush for years.
Any discussion about white is always worth tuning into: How to avoid the chalky "liquid paper" look crops up more than anyone would like.
Very positive and smart crew here, possibly excluding Drax, but not to his face.
I got a package the other day. It was an amazing box... and inside the amazing box was something even more amazing... A custom, scratch-built Gorkanaut, built and painted by one Camkierhi. This was a gift the generosity of which I can't even begin to process. But damn, I am happy to have it. Thanks Cam.
p.s. You'll note that voting is turned off with these. This is Cam's work... it belongs in HIS gallery where people can vote and comment where he'll see them. I'm in the process of working that out right now.
I can't begin to show you all the cool stuff on this model with still pics. Everything... and I do mean everything... is magnetized so it breaks down for easy storage. There are two separate compartments inside big enough to hold orks. It's simply amazing.
Apon receiving this generous gift, Boss Gitsplitta was so moved that he immediately organized a bash be held in it's honor and invited all of his meks, tin boyz and other such orks as he saw fit, including Big Mek Buzzgob and the ranking (surviving) boss of his meganobz. As is typical with such events... everyone posed for a group photo before they all were too falling-down drunk to stand.
Boss Gitsplitta was heard to say...
"Boss Kam's me mate! E' done built dis 'ere amazin' Gorkanaut n' sent it wif a krew to be a part o' me waaagh. E's brilliant e is! Kant bye friends like dat... not 'nough teef in da world fur dat."
"OY you gits, lets giv a Waaagh fur Boss Kam!" ... and a roar went up from the assembled...
WAAAAAAAGH fur Boss Kam!
Beautiful pics. Glad it's relatively ok. Box was to help transport it. Maybe have to think of improving that. Sorry about inside of box, out of steam. Wanted to do it all plush.
Enjoy sir. Really hope that they sort out the Orks in this new edition. No idea how good this thing is. Just fancied the challenge. Look forward to seeing it in battle, probably only once for a laugh.
Tank is looking amazing. So rich in colour your camera can't handle it! Awesome.
Well, for Gits, I have a real congrats on that white panelling on the Sicaran, it's actually really lifted the entire model and scheme up a notch! good show mate!
and Cam, what a man! what a Mek, what an absolute gentleman and talented hobbyist you are, that model is spectacular and I am also honored to possess some of your rare ability in the warbuggies and truk you made me :-) they have not been forgotten and will get some lovin' when I get back on the Ork wagon ;-) but that Morkanaught is something else! the painting too, I love how you did the claw, the rusty corroded metal is perfectly done and incorporating the transport compartments is ingenious! beautiful stuff!
Nice work with the Sicaran Gits, the white works nicely. Turns out it pays to listen to Tom! Watched Cam build that bad boy on his blog, truly a great gargant, enjoy it!
Just when you thought you'd fully come to grips with Cam's brilliance... he throws this at you. This was the BOX... that the Gorkanaut came in. Please note the change in my avatar...
Actually I'm trying to work out how to get the box into a display board of some sort. If course I already have one Cam built... but I can't match his paintjob.
I am honoured by your generous comments. I love to build. Just not got a use once built.
This is not a plug, but I am open to requests. Could not charge for what I do, just not that good and I get pleasure from it, which makes it illegal in 20 countries.
There is so much inspirational work on Dakka, and all of your work is amazing. Long may it continue.
Gits,
I think you need to get your Goff Rokkers ready to go. That Box lid (in addition to making a great forum avatar) looks like a great stage backdrop for a metal band.
Cam absolutely refused to let me pay for any of this.. not even the shipping. All I could figure out to do was lend him a bit of my "celebrity" and take some really nice pics of his work and post it here. You guys with your generous comments have all been a part of my thank-you to Cam. So thank you as well!
I love the Gorkanaut, but my god... that box... words fail. Eeets Boo-tee-full!
Cam, you're bonkers. And I mean that as a compliment, in the best way possible.
WOW whoever did that Titan is sure super talented! ;-) I'm super happy you like her Gits, you certainly are wearing the good karma pants lately and I have no issues with that, you deserve it just for being such a top bloke and awesome Dakkite! may Dues Ex destroy well for you!
It looks amazing. The white works really, really well to break up the purple which enhances it a lot. I think the effort spent by yourself and others to get that white spot on was very much worth the exercise and think about all of us hangers in that have also benefitted.
The colouring is perfect, i.e. the purple against that white. The white is just so good, trying to think of something I can paint to try it. Such a really deep purple too. Brilliant stuff Gits, inspirational as always.
You don't have to be so hard on yourself, the Sicarian is looking amazing. The white has been done very well, almost perfect IMO. Maybe just a tad bit more shading around the edges and I think you'll be close to finished! The help from MajorTom has shown a serious improvement in the purples too, so overall a very well done from me!
I am strongly thinking of having a go at a white like this on the Necron army I will be shortly starting. White "carapace" on the steel skeleton. Sort of how they used to do the pariahs of old. Any idea how a white monolith would look?
Knock the golds back to tin bitz or bronze, leave the bright gold as the lghtest value, you may be pleased , control that contrast! In this case, you already have a high contrast on the white, tone the golds down and cut the yellow, you will stop them competing so much with the white and make everything more harmonious.
With all due respect Tom, I'm going to take a pass on this one. I think the treatment of the gold should be uniform across the army (as is the purple and will be the white) and I've got too much done to change it now. I do appreciate your suggestion though... I'm sure it would look fantastic.
Still working my way through it. Have the first highlight shade down and am working on the sepia wash. Hope to have it done before bed tonight.
Lol j/k of course that makes, sense, too much to go back to... you could just knock her back with an extra devlan wash too if anything but if it is as it is, it ain't bad all the same!
Lol j/k of course that makes, sense, too much to go back to... you could just knock her back with an extra devlan wash too if anything but if it is as it is, it ain't bad all the same!
Actually, that's exactly what I'd planned on doing.
Anvildude wrote: "Make the gold less shiney," says the man with a polished gold death-mask as his avatar.
You have misquoted me good sir... I said, make it less yellow... bit of a diff
Automatically Appended Next Post: PS to explain that -
The yellow is an issue on the Sicarran because it has an incredibly strong contrast in hue to the purple, hence, because of the amount of gold panels, it is drawing your eye all over the model, in addition to the white which is doing the same due to a brightness and saturation contrast.
This is less of an issue on smaller models or models with less panels accented because there will only be a few, thinner points, it is less competitive to the whole. In this case, the panels were already painted so my suggestion was to mute the hue contrast by using a more desaturated or browner metal. Had I been able to make a comment before, I would have merely suggested painting fewer panels gold and leaving the gold the yellow gold.
The yellow is an issue on the Sicarran because it has an incredibly strong contrast in hue to the purple, hence, because of the amount of gold panels, it is drawing your eye all over the model, in addition to the white which is doing the same due to a brightness and saturation contrast.
This is less of an issue on smaller models or models with less panels accented because there will only be a few, thinner points, it is less competitive to the whole. In this case, the panels were already painted so my suggestion was to mute the hue contrast by using a more desaturated or browner metal. Had I been able to make a comment before, I would have merely suggested painting fewer panels gold and leaving the gold the yellow gold.
Definitely some fine work comin' in from everyone here, Cam's shipping department goes that extra mile! Nerdy's Titan looks great too, been a real blast watching that come together.
Your Sicaran is looking equally spiffy, with the gold amount being just right for something belonging to Fulgrim's kin. Takin' real shape here Gits, I look forward to seeing all your future tanks if they're done like this!
Well, when I finish this one (hopefully in the next few days) you're going to see me go nuts as I'll have about two weeks to build and paint two rhinos and some infantry for an upcoming 30k tournament. Going to have to be much more efficient about how I paint the rhinos. Can't afford to feel my way through them like I did here.
Anvildude wrote:Is it not a good thing to have your eye wander over the whole model?
No it isn't if it happens first thing, allow me to try and explain. Generally, with a figure/human/animal/robot/character, you want a face to be the focal point, it will be made to stand out in some way generally. It is the point of connection, the face tkes priority over everything to convey the mood, the intent, the character of a piece. Secondary things contribute, like pose and lighting etc, but the face trumps all (unless it is covered, in which case, pose takes over). So if you paint a model and for whatever reason, you don't have an urge to examine the face first, then something has gone wrong.
So, assuming you succeed in drawing the eye to the face first with the majority of viewers, then you have secondary focuses that gently draw you away from the focal point and allow you to take in the composition of the model and appreciate the nuances as they come out to you. Weapons, details, pose etc. You want a place to draw the eye, to say 'start here', not just to keep your model from competing with itself, but to add a sense of narrative. Composition is the act of putting intention on how you want someone to see and interpret your work. You have intent on where you want them to look, what to take in, how the interactions play together. So, composition is pretty important because it makes sure your skill, your technique, and your decisions contribute to each other, as opposed to competing.
A tank is a different story, or, at least, it can be. Sometimes tanks have focal points, a commander, a particularly crazy turret, freehand, whatever, and can follow what I describe above. With historicals and line tanks, it is almost the opposite of what I mentioned above in execution as you want to compose it as a whole, as it doesn't have a face to look at, or glowy bits or extravagant sculpting or symbols. But it remains the same in intent, don't get in your own way, don't compete for attention equally. So in this case, given you want to be able to examine the FORM and WHOLE of the tank first and foremost, as if from a distance, the focus is all of it in essence. Because of the amount of gold, combined with the white, you don't examine the form of the tank first, your eye ping-pongs from accent panel to accent panel, edge to edge, corner to corner. You don't take in the details of the tank first, you take in the colors and amounts of panels first.
Now, to make it clear, this is not by any stretch a critical error. It's still a damn good tank. I am pushing Gitsy a bit because he takes info onboard quite well and I think he wants to push himself, and enjoys success. Pulling off that white was a big deal, and I am very (non-condescendingly!) proud of him for putting in the time to get such a great result. I don't get to paint much anymore, so I get my yuks armchair quarterbacking now lol!
Solar_lion wrote:You got the process down now. It looks great. Well done.
Exactly! This Sicarran and the Leviathan were your R&D phase! You should absolutely knock out the remaining bits for your tournament at warp 10, why wouldn't you??? That was the whole point! You can do it Gitsy!
Took the night off for some computer gaming & relaxation. Be back at it tomorrow. I'll see if I can't pull those big panels down a bit as Tom suggests.
Gitsplitta wrote: Well, when I finish this one (hopefully in the next few days) you're going to see me go nuts as I'll have about two weeks to build and paint two rhinos and some infantry for an upcoming 30k tournament. Going to have to be much more efficient about how I paint the rhinos. Can't afford to feel my way through them like I did here.
Get the base colours on the Rhinos, even if you don't go through the full highlighting/shading pass for the secondary/tertiary colours? You can alway scome back later.
Plus it sounds like the Sicarian has helped nail down how you'll be applying various colours, so hopefully that'll speed things up.
Reading Tom's post made me look at how I tackle models and I have subconsciously been very picky with any faces I use and the focal points of models but never really noticed before, it's hard to put into words but if you look at a whole model and then have a fairly basic armour colour but a really good face then you find the entirety of the model more pleasing? that's sort of how I look at it, with tanks it's a good burn or weathering (but I do love me a commander)
Gits' Sicaran is good and the fact that it's clean may be also what;s throwing some people off, maybe run some dust along the tacks and lower hull to 'ground' it more? then your eye subconsciously says ' Ay it's a tank and that's dirt! lets check out the rest of her' I personally love how it's looking and knowing Gits as I do I'm actually really pleased for him, this is a big nervous step and I gotta commend you for pushing your own boundaries and comfort zone, I remember when you first started airbrushing and the curve that came with that process, as well as the process when you attempted the clear wings on your vanguard! so even if you don't take every one of Tom's hints and tricks you've got to seriously pat yourself on the back and swing that knowledge gun and ram it back into the holster, tip your cowboy hobby hat and walk confidently into the next battle!
It's very pretty. I like my tracks, and tanks generally, to be down and dirty, but I think EC can be an exception. The purple is great, and have recommended this to a senior who's just getting into 30k. I'm not sure where I stand on the gold, I wondered whether EC wouldn't go even more bling and ramp the silver highlights as a result (colour theory be damned!)
@nerdfest: Actually, I've been coming to he same conclusion (about the dirt) myself. Trick is not to overdo it. I'm thinking some caked on dirt on the tracks and some road dust on the lower line of the tank.
@graven: I don't know if it shows, but the final highlight on my EC gold is bright silver... so I'm there with ya. I will still shade up to silver on the tank, but I'll be tempering the darker parts of the panels with delvan mud (or whatever) in order to make them a bit less yellow on-balance.
Been piddling around with some odd stuff for a tournament tomorrow. I'm doing a little henchman formation with Coteaz. I needed some Jakero though... you know how common those are. So, I set about making my own.
These were made from "micro Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" figures and some space monkey heads that I had lying around for some reason. I can make one more. They're just about the perfect size and look monkey enough with their poses. And they articulate so can be bent over forward for a more ape-like posture!
Here's the whole group together. I don't have Coteaz but this termie librarian will make a good enough proxy until I can get my hands on a figure.
Thanks guys. Very quick and dirty but fun and gratifying none-the-less.
@ckig: Yeah, goggles is my favorite too.
Had fun this weekend. One loss, one tie, one win. Unfortunately the unit didn't do much as if they were exposed they tended to attract the fire of the entire other army. Their best result was when they hid behind a wall on an objective all game and Coteaz just cast "prescience" on the nearest knight.
Trying to get this guy good enough to field by this Saturday. Please, no critiques... I'm just trying to get some paint on him. Will touch him up afterwards.
Are you planning on including the white accents, and details like the scroll work, in time for the weekend, or just working on the colours you have here (which do satisfy any 3 colours and based requirements)?
Either way, looks like you're off to a good start. Plastic Contemptor?
Sorry Gitz not going to make the 30k extravaganza, too many projects around the house. You have a good time and take some pictures of all those pretty armies.
OK, here was the progress going into the tournament this past weekend... I tried hand-blending the white bits and it was God-awful, so I just painted over them.
@San: He did fine. I don't think I used him very effectively & I really need to chop off the multi-melta and give him another assault cannon so I can field him as the cheap version of that dread. He definitely caused some pain though... so I was satisfied. Also, the tank did not suffer from new model syndrome and pretty much kicked butt all day. For once my Praetor on the bike did something and routed two units of mechanicus grunt infantry single-handedly, which was really important in that scenario. Most of the rest of the time I kept he and his unit well away from anything (like gretchen) that might beat them up and cause them to flee off the table.
Game 1 vs. Mechanicus: tie
Game 2 vs. Space Wolves: 1-point loss
Game 3... team game with World Eaters vs. Space Wolves & Dark Angels: tie
Overall I did much better than usual. Not sure why... I still have a poorly constructed list. Tied for best painted in a small but hotly contested competition. So... I think the first thing I need to do is finish up the tank and the contemptor. Then I need to do 9 simple tac marines and two rhinos so I can *finally* field some scoring units. That's the next step.
Sorry, no pics. Every battery I owned died within minutes of the tournament beginning (either before or after). I was a lovely day, playing 30k in a park shelter was perfect.
Sound slike you had a blast, and maybe you did better becasue you're improving? Even with less optimal lists, knowing them and their capabilities is worth a lot.
@CK: What is a "nudread"?
There's a leaked pic on the net of a new dreadnought to accompany the numarines. Hence nudread
Thanks guys. I may be getting a bit better... Most of my elements are good individually, but certain ones don't really mix well with the rest and I really suffer from having almost no scoring troops. Means I'm nearly always going to auto-lose any mission involving objectives. That will hopefully get addressed soon.
It was a beautiful day in a very tranquil park in the middle of a bunch of houses.
All is fair for tournament crunch time!
As an opponent I would be upset you not fielding your best selections... paint quality is important, but not that important! (sacrilege I know!).
Painting the full neon white... must... resist... comment.
Well, no painting... been to busy with work and the yard. Thing 1 is leaving for Japan on Sunday right after finals and his ACT test... so he's been busy too. I did manage to work out a 2000 pt AdMech list for 8th based on the current wisdom for the faction. It's not perfect, but I think it's the best I can do given the figures I have. I'd be happy to share it if anyone was interested.
Hope you guys are well and enjoying whatever season you have (looking at you Southern Hemisphere guys).
We appear to be done with Summer here in the UK. A few days of glorious sun and now it is back to rain and grey...
I for one am certainly interested in taking a peek at your list. I've been trying to decide how to handle my Guard, so you may provide the inspiration needed to unearth them all and start figuring it all out
I've come up with two lists so far, one with knight, one without. Neither is perfect... but they both try to take advantage of the news coming in about admech highs and lows as much as my figures allow. Both lists generate 3 command points.
Analysis: According to those that claim to know... small units of skitarii, shooting robots (because of a new battle protocol & Cawl), ballistari, infiltrators and dunecralwers are big winners, along with priests (that I don't have). Cawl is still good, dragoons are OK. Dominus and datasmith are a tax for the formation & robots respectively though I think their repair function makes them useful enough. Everything else is crap. Arquebii good, plasma bad. The list above reflects this early wisdom with a few exceptions... I need my plasma guys to fill out my units to 5, and I refuse to give up on the grav destroyers without seeing how they fail with my own eyes. The small infantry units counteract their bad morale and the extra losses that come from it by having so few guys that it really doesn't matter... if they're taking morale tests... they're probably damaged to the point of ineffectiveness anyway. Paying for more guys would just mean you'd auto-lose more guys from failed morale before the unit's guys all run off anyway... so why spend the points?
Super Heavy Auxiliary Detachment SH: knight gallant, avenger gatling cannon, reaper chainsword, ironstorm missile pod, heavy stubber (465) Grand Total: 2000 pts.
Analysis: I dumped katraphrons, fast attacks & one robot to buy a knight. The knight is good, though apparently the D-sword is a big loser in 8th. Unfortunately all my regular knights have it. As far as I can tell from the images I have access to, what your call your knight (errant, gallant, etc.) is meaningless now. You pay 320 for the hull and stick whatever wargear you want on it.
These are the two armies I'll begin playing with & will see how they do. I think both are decent if not perfect. I can live with that.
While I'm yet to convinced by 8th - even after having a demo this last weekend - I do like the idea of running an army of the Imperium, even if it is just for fun.
Might even convince me to pick up some of the cooler Ad-mech stuff - possibly including the Electro-Priests I've wanted since 2nd edition.
Have you had any thoughts on a Mantis/Ad-mech combined force yet, Gits?
Though I don't/can't play, I am fairly happy so far with all the news I have heard about 8th, if I played it would never be in a tournie, so narrative open fun play sounds good to me. There are ups and downs on units, but it seems mostly to balance things out a bit, some work will have to be done to convert to competitive if that is your thing. I look forward to seeing some greenskin action around and about, from what I have seen so far they are brutal.
So I have all the rules on pre order as I am a sucker for some nice books. But for those who have managed an introductory game of 8th how have people found it?
Dysartes wrote: ... I do like the idea of running an army of the Imperium, even if it is just for fun.
This is pretty much my feeling too. I could never quite build the lists I wanted to because of having to play ally shenanigans. Now? If it is Imperium, it's aaaaall good.
Thanks for the list breakdown Gits. Looks interesting. I'm also glad my two knights are, as yet, unbuilt so I can run some better combos. I think one thing I read was that stomping was better than the massive blades, so to go for double ranged weapons?
I love the idea of a just Imperium army, gives me an excuse to build a remnants of (insert planet here) and still be totally thematic and easy to make a list for. Just like why I loved the Castellans of the Imperium in 7th.
I'm lucky I managed to Magnetize 2 of my 4 knight to have all the variations. Still any knight should be useful; it's how it's get used and what your facing.
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Archer wrote: So I have all the rules on pre order as I am a sucker for some nice books. But for those who have managed an introductory game of 8th how have people found it?
Apparently leaks from people who already have the books. A lot of stuff is on the internet. My FLGS has a copy of the rules as well as the 5 codex books so it's possible for me to do some research, but my own set will come soon enough and building a list without knowing all the specific unit rules just makes me frustrated. I'll wait with the great masses of then majority.
Now that we've all got our "English" sorted out...
I know I usually take a break during the summer but this year I'll be soldiering on. However... the summer is very busy so you won't see as many updates as in the past several months. I have been puttering a bit while I wait for 8th to drop. Have been avidly following the AdMech 8th Ed thread and decided I had a good excuse to make one of my dragoons to be either a dragoon or a twin LC ballistari (which are supposed to be good this edition).
The tazer lance was already pinned on for ease of transport, so all I did was make up the gun and pin it in place... that way I can change the load-out depending on what I want to field. I did my best to duplicate Nerdy's brilliant gold-flecked red... but failed horribly. I think it's close enough to pass a quick inspection though.
My next project is a special fathers-day gift for my dad. He's a big history buff of the old west and he collects antiques (a bad combination). He gave me this classic toy of a Native American to paint. I'm a bit torn as painting it will ruin it's value as a collectible... but I'm sure it's not worth a ton of money to begin with. He's got a big dent in his head that will need to be filled and I'll remove and then burnish smooth some of the worst mold lines (which aren't too bad). Historical paint jobs would have been crude with thick enamel paints... but I think dad wants one of MY style of paint jobs on it. I'll forgo the airbrush and just see what I can do with standard brush techniques. Lots of skin to practice on... uugh. He's got one leg raised so originally he must have been standing on something... I'll have to work up a rock or some such.Anyway, there you go. I'll be interspersing the toy project with finishing up the details on my last two EC models. Then we'll see where I go from there.
On a personal note Thing 1 is in Japan for 3 weeks and our entire household is sad, even his younger brother which I never thought would happen. Great opportunity for Thing 1 though and I'm happy for him... there's just something about him being on the other side of the planet that is unsettling.
Indian should be a fun project. I'd suggest ditching the base and doing a mini diorama with him. Nothing crazy big, just enough to give him a feeling of environment that I think that base will be too small for.
whalemusic360 wrote: Indian should be a fun project. I'd suggest ditching the base and doing a mini diorama with him. Nothing crazy big, just enough to give him a feeling of environment that I think that base will be too small for.
I agree, even just a 60 mm base would probably give you enough room for some atmospherics.
I've been researching Eastern tribes as that is what he looks like to me (Iriquios or some derivative). Not much authentic period material out there... Lots of modern art, Hollywood or reinactors, very little pre1800 resource material.
Your conversion looks good to me, yes there is a difference in the reddish/gold tint but for playing purposes it looks fine. You can always go back and tinker some more.
The fathers day gift is unique, I am sure your dad will love it. My kids generally get me gift certificates or soap.. perhaps I should bathe more.
As for your lists, plasma is going to be king in this edition IMHO. I am going to guess that Knights will be more of a pain to take down than they were in 7th and will give your opponents something to think about other than your troops. Really you wont know till you get a few games under your belt, could be you have the next meta breaking list and just dont know it.
@Yorkright:
AdMech: Well... that's got way too many layers on it already to worry too much about a re-paint. There is a small possibility that I'll tinker with it... but it's very small. Damo's masterpiece still stands, mine is just a slap-dash adjustment to try out a potentially beneficial configuration.
Gift: It amazes me how quickly this went from a painting project into historical research, which I used to do a fair amount of. I may have to do some decorative GS work or metal sheet work... will have to see.
List: Interesting that you say that. The hive-mind over on the AdMech thread thinks plasma is dead... or at least not worth its points. I guess I'll find out.
Looking forward to seeing the FDG Indian, this should be really nice. Oh and could put his foot on a Bison or bear skull!
The news that the Imperium are one is music to my ears, always wanted to mix and match an army from the different factions. I know a cohesive paint job looks great but staring across a battle field at all the might of the Imperium is what us Orks long for.
Had my first game of 8th last night. Fun. Loooooong. My admech vs. an ork horde (120 boys + artillery). Only got to turn 3 but I was winning at that point. Very close though and still a lot in question if the game had gone on. Learned a lot about the game and my army... plus... the other side was kind of my army too, though I don't think I have 120 boys....
Generally yes. Things are different. I think the biggest improvements are some of the new dice mechanics... set to hit numbers for example, or armor save modifiers which I've always thought was a better approach. The unlimited split-fire thing is a bit hard to get used to as is the no-such-things-as-shooting-arcs for vehicles. No templates is fine too.
I was bitterly disappointed when I realized that right off the bat, you've got an army that is... unless you're a complete idiot... immune to morale (orks). That was one of the fundamental things that really didn't work in 7th... where morale really didn't mean much for most armies. Now here we go again in 8th. Stupid Humies.
All in all it was fine. It's really a slow play though. It'll get faster as we get better at it... but there's no way people are going to be completing a 2k game in 90 minutes (on average) like GW bragged about in one of there pre-release teasers. We did 3 turns in 3 hours... and my opponent John is very good and had a good grasp on the rules and what he was doing..
Fine stuff Gits, nice to see the hobby coming in handy for a special occasion; ironstrider looks great as well, love the red. Also excellent to hear that 8th seems to have balanced out the game, persuades me to start playing more diverse armies.
@JATW: The funny thing is that even before it's release... at least 3 of our club members have designed armies that totally break the game. Totally. And in general our local meta is highly competitive... so when I say "totally broken"... you can take that to heart. So yes, balanced... the way Warmachine/Hordes is balanced... everything's completely broken so it all works out in the end. The good point is that they've done it with 3 completely different factions and the builds are wildly varied. However it does not really encourage me to take part in our local tournaments which are ITC and draw in ultra-competitive players from a reasonably large area. God only knows what they'll come up with. The three armies I've seen locally would absolutely roll over a 7th edition power list.
For those who haven't played nor have built a list in the 8th, Can you give us some details? Is it the special rules, or the basic mechanics of the game or in combination. What factions and what makes them broken?
@SL: Mechanicus: a wall of 14 robots that in "protector protocol" produce 252 S6 AP-2 1 or 2 W shots (can't remember) in a single firing phase. OH, and probably many re-rolling misses. Tzeench: 28 lascannons fired by characters that can't be touched because they are surrounded by hundreds of brimstones. 230 some-odd orks. Try to kill that before they'll be getting off turn 1 or 2 charges.
All at 2k points.
I'm going to do a bit of converting tonight in order to get my AdMech test list done in time for the 8th launch tomorrow. I bunch of us are converging on the store in Madison for our goodies and gaming.
I'll make sure to post my how-tos... really it's near brainless... though having a bit of dumb luck helps (it's the only luck I've got, so I'll take it).
I don't really mean to sound down on 8th... yes, the orks being effectively fearless is a big blow... I thought we were ovr that. Otherwise I like this version and think it'll be a great game to play. If anything, I'm heartened by the fact that it's back has been broken by three completely different factions/styles of lists. Suggests that overall it'll be much more equitable.
At least there's more than 1 power list. Maybe everything is so broken it balances out at the end of the day like you said. If GW REALLY wanted to crack down on these lists, they would make a game specifically for competitive, rather than what we have now - a game great for casual/semi-competitive, but busted for competition. It's still an improvement over 7th, but there's still a ways to go yet. If I were GW, I'd hold my horses on dubbing 8th as the "Best Edition Ever TM", I bet something better is still possible.
A quick look at the force charts and the AdMech lists... to build that one you'd be looking at: Cawl, Datasmith and 14 Kastelans spread across 3-6 heavy slots... with about 100 points left over out of 2000 points. It also only gives you 4 CP and all of them need to be really bunched up in one spot to benefit from the rerolls and repairs.
So on paper it is obscene, but it sounds like a very small, one trick pony. A one trick pony that can potentially damage itself further with mortal wound generating explosions each time one dies. The Kastelans can't move if you want to do the double firing, so your opponent can just hide, camp the objectives and make you come for them; negating some of your massed firepower. Some AM mortar teams or indirect fire artillery would quite like that as a target too.
Ok.. wasn't expecting that. Though it sounds like we might be seeing these in most of the factions.
Not how I thought it would be played. Naive I am. I guess this is a way to kill playing competitively and push people into the Narrative.
I cannot imagine playing in the Adepticon tourneys. it's was already super competitive.
Gitsplitta wrote: @SL:
Mechanicus: a wall of 14 robots that in "protector protocol" produce 252 S6 AP-2 1 or 2 W shots (can't remember) in a single firing phase. OH, and probably many re-rolling misses.
Tzeench: 28 lascannons fired by characters that can't be touched because they are surrounded by hundreds of brimstones.
230 some-odd orks. Try to kill that before they'll be getting off turn 1 or 2 charges.
I've played 4 games so far and I think my biggest take away is that we all need more games before it becomes apparent what's good or not. All three lists you put out have big deficiencies. Mechanicus is immobile and can't easily score objectives if you plan to sit and shoot. The Tzeentch list can't handle hordes. The Orks can't handle vehicles too well.
I think the edition is designed in a way to allow any list to be built, but the most successful generals will use take all comer (TAC) lists. You need a big thing, some tanks, some infantry and some deep strikers. Extreme lists will be out there, but if you take a TAC list, you'll at least be able to do something to them. It won't be the invincible, invisible death stars of yesteryear.
@SL: Here is my review of my army. Not a battle report, this was just a grading review based on individual performance. I had 2 5-man units of rangers but only 1 had the arquebii. Had 3 units of vanguard with 2 plasmas each.
Just finished my first game of 8th tonight, thought I'd share some observations to add to the collective.
2k pts vs. ork horde... 60 storm boys, 60 boys, some artillery and characters. We played end-to-end specifically because my opponent wanted to see how he'd fare having to cross the table. We both made mistakes (tactical and rules-wise) but it was a good learning experience. Please keep in mind these are my impressions from one game... I don't pretend that this is a definitive analysis.
Canticles: Not as good as last time around, but still useful. B
HQ: Cawl - Unbelieveable tank with the ability to dish out damage. A
HQ: TPD - Frankly I think his "aura" and healing ability make him worth his points. B
TP: 5-man ranger squad w/ two arquebii. God yes. A
TP: 5-man vanguard squads w/ 2 plasmas. Worked fine as screens and fire support. I overcharged the heck out of the plasmas for the 2+ to wound the orks... I like them. B
TP: Kataphron destroyers (grav) - They got charged early, but I thought they did fine until then. B
EL: datasmith - a must have, not particularly effective, but for what he does to make the robots better. B
EL: Infiltrators - gunned down by artillery, so no information really.
FA: Dragoon w/ tazer - underwhelming. C
FA: Ballistari w/ TL Cognis lascannons - very useful. A
HV: Dakkabots - A (no surprise there)
HV: Icarus Dunecrawler - it was OK. Probably not the best match-up for it. Might have just been my dice rolls. B-
HV: Neutron Dunecrawler - see above. B-
Overall it wasn't a bad list & I did manage to squeak out a narrow victory, though we only got to turn 3. I have some ideas I'd like to try but I need some more models first.
Where I'm going...
1) Giving the second squad of rangers Arquebii
2) Dropping Vanguard & Dragoon
3) Changing both Dunecrawlers to Neutron lasers for some AV punch (figuring most armies will have at least some vehicles
4) Adding a patrol? detachment of one commissar and 20 conscripts to serve as bubblewrap.
Going to use some 30k covenant adsecularis as my conscripts (figure they're low-level admech... barely more than servitors... should be a good proxy) and will use a tech priest as the commissar.
I'm sort of surprised that people are down on Orks having their conditional Fearless rules back. The Ork players are all super pumped about it, since, unlike most other races, the VAST majority of Ork units have 7 Ld- that is, they fail leadership checks literally half the time without extenuating rules. This is always just exacerbated by the various 'combat casualties' rules that further penalize Ld checks based on lost models- when you have a ton of throw-away models, losing 10 of them isn't a big deal in terms of damage dealt, but when that then gives you a -10 on a stat of 7, which then causes the unit to auto-lose...
And yet people never seemed to complain about the Marines' ability to reroll all the things, and can have their cake and eat it too with ATSKNF.
8th seems to have balanced... just about everything, via point costs and removing the upper limits on stats.
Had 3 games yesterday at the shop to celebrate the launching of 8th. Had basically the same admech army that I posted a while ago though I added two arquebii to the second ranger squad and dropped all the plasmas from the vanguard. Please note my opponents are all friends of mine so we weren't trying to slaughter each other.
Game 1: Vs a non-optimized foot slogging ork army. Game lasted 4 turns, my opponent just couldn't get through my shooting to reach combat. There are at least 3 ways for orks to do that, he just hasn't made the appropriate adjustments in list list. So victory, but very frustrating for my opponent. (bad game in my book)
Game 2: Different friend playing yenari dark eldar... sort of. Since I had a shooty list, he took a shooty list which was basically a mix of DE vehicles and a couple of eldar flyers. He went first, because my opponents always have less units than I do. In his first shooting phase he wiped out half my army (and I mean that literally)... and it wasn't the bad half. We called it at the end of his shooting phase. (bad game in my book)
Game 3: We were running out of time so the Eldar player and I re-set at 1k points. He dumbed-down his army a lot and played straight DE. Game lasted until T4 but there was never any doubt who was going to win as there were objectives involved. While most of both of our armies were destroyed, he had my last couple of units backed into a corner in assault & his highly mobile units could leave combat at any time to go sit on objectives if they didn't want to table me (which they would have eventually). (i dunno... does that qualify as a "good game"??)
I'll be honest... I see over on the admech tactical blog that people are having great success with their armies and talking about how great they're performing. All I can think of is that they're playing vs. sub-standard lists/opponents. I don't' see it. I mean my AdMech list is "solid", but if you want to play the tournament scene in a competitive area like mine... you're going to be fodder. Knights are supposed to be hot stuff at the moment, so I'll work one of those in and see how that changes the dynamic as well as trying some IG conscripts as a dirt-cheap screening unit. That being said, I don't think either of these is going to suddenly flip the switch on the army... but I'll give them a try and see if it helps. At worst... I think AdMech might be a good part of some pan-Imperial army... By no means am I saying that they suck... but I am starting to lean towards non-competitive. Until I complete the knight experiment however, any kind of judgement like that would be foolish.
Putting Admech aside for the moment... these are some observations based on my 4 games and discussing many other games that my friends have had around me at the store.
- games seem to end by turn 3 or 4 usually... not because of fulfilling some objective but because one side is pretty well wiped out by then
- severe army mismatches as all levels *seem* to be more likely than before... leading to less fun for someone (if you care about that kind of thing)
- new mechanics are solid & it plays more like a board game in some ways (don't ask me to give examples, I can't... that's just the way it feels to me). Note: I mean this as a good thing.
- power levels of top lists are going to be sky-high... I suppose that's nothing new
- competitive gamers should have a ball with this system
- you should assume that you're going to be charged in T1, if you're facing a correctly built assault army (orks, nids, blood angels) you can assume many units will be attempting assaults on T1 and their army will be in full assault with you by T2.
I guess that's all for now. Keep in mind these are just my opinions and subject to change as time goes on. Get out there... do your own thing... report back. By all means don't make any decisions based on my comments.
That's the main problem I have with this system currently. It's all good having objectives and victory points for Matched Play, but everything dies so easily now that they are pointless - there's no incentive to play the objective. You may as well just go for the most destructive lists and hope you destroy your opponent before they do the same to you. That's why it isn't designed to be a competitive game (at least I think, something is seriously wrong if competitive was at the top of the priority list while making this Ed like it is), since less serious games always seem to be much more fun in this new edition.
The worst thing is that despite GW's claim, not every army is close equal. Dark Eldar, 'nids and Necrons (I really hate Necrons are still good, but that's beside the point) are a cut above the rest, although I admit it isn't nearly as bad as 7th range of tiers. Now I understand that making 15+ armies equally good on the table is basically impossible, but at least make them all relatively close to the same level.
Hey guys, I'm looking for a crap-ton of cheap guardsmen with las rifles. This is an experiment and I have no way of knowing if it's going to work or not... so I can't pay a lot for them. But if you've got some plastic guardsmen lying around that you don't think you'll every use. I'm interested. Solar_lion is trying to wrangle some for me but in case that falls through, or doesn't produce enough (I need 100)... I thought I'd put a request out to the general community.
PM me if you've got something please. Doesn't matter what condition (painted/unpainted, built/unbuilt), I'm going to re-paint them all in the end. OH... I do have a bunch of stuff I could trade I suppose, if you'd rather that.
In spite of my post... it's NOT a bad game. Actually I rather like it. But the mass proliferation of T1 and 2 charges and the overall deadliness of the game makes it a largely non-strategic exercise. It's a race to see who-kills-who-first... which seems to be decided in 4 turns or less (as WarbossDakka commented).
Is that better??? Ehhhhhhmmmm... I don't know yet. It's different. As with 7th, I think players will have to take responsibility for doing the work before-hand to make sure you get a fun and interesting game. Set up your matches ahead of times, discuss terms, share lists (I do this all the time). Without that kind of prep... I'm not sure how you can assume that you can show up blind for a game against an unknown opponent and reasonably expect that you'll have a competitive (small "c"), exciting match. God help the tournament organizers... I have no idea how they'll handle this.
Just thought I would chime in on 8th edition games, so far I have played 3 games vs the same ork opponent. We used power points for first 2 games in which he wiped me out to the man in each game after 3 turns. Part of this was poor deployment on my part and some gawd awful rolls, even he commented on how many ones I rolled Our last game we used the points system (after finding he had 200 more points than me) and we made some adjustments. The third game was closer but not being able to make him lose morale meant I was locked in and whittled down slowly over time. My take away is that Orks in battlewagons and on bikes are very good now.
I talked to a friend who was at a tourney in Chicago, at which he and another player from our group tied for first place. That should tell you how good our local list builders are and what type of meta Gitz and I play in. My friend ran an all Tzeentch list that literally cannot lose, Brimstone horrors, Heralds, LoC , Knight and the Changeling. It can throw out an insane amount of smites and the army is a 4++ with -1 to be hit. He is going to change things up and add Magnus and another Knight. Magnus has a threat bubble of about 48 inches turn one for CC. The other player ran a Harly list with the Yncarne not sure how it works but it does. The Tzeentch player said there were several good builds that worked well, Scions with tauroxes with 4 assassins was a list that impressed, he feels that a few RAW rules can be FAQed and would make the game more balanced.
Overall I think that Gitz is right, setting up games maybe more important for a fun experience. Dropping in for a game and hoping everyone is thinking along the lines hey I can bring what I want and it will be a good game will be in for a rude surprise. I do like the game mechanics of 8th over 7th.
Yorkright...How did Commander and Drone Spam due at the tournie . Personally I like the base rule set for 8th. Nice and simple. The competitive execution of the indices both within and outside the codex is horrible, especially for Tau, but then these are stop gaps and points will be subject to change as time goes on.
Finally had an interesting game of 8th Edition last night. Local store where 40k had been killed dead by 6th finally had enough people excited by 8th that they got a little escalation league going. 500 points to start so Thing 2 and I went over for a game.
Thing 2 had a game vs. a friend of mine who was playing Tzeench/T-sons but who luckily also runs Nids.... so he basically helped Thing 2 not only with how to play 8th but with how to run his Nids. They had a really close, back-and-forth game and tied in the end.
I played another friend who was sporting Tau... first time I've played them in 8th.
Tau:
HQ: character in suit w/ nasty weapons
... and I don't know the classifications of anything else...
6 somewhat special infantry (not pathfinders)
devilfish
3 suits with mostly burst cannons I think
We played a non-maelstrom mission with two objectives on the table (in our deployment zones), each worth 3 points + the standard secondaries (FB, LB & STW). Quarters deployment. He dropped the drones off the devilfish to secure his objective behind a wall, I castled up over my objective. He went first of course because AdMech always goes last (without a knight anyway). His 4 suits dropped and wiped out my rangers earning him first blood. What ensued was basically a battle between my remaining troops and his 4 suits. When all was said and done, he had his two drones on his objective and a 7/12 (damaged) devilfish left. I had my tech priest dominus and the dune crawler, both undamaged thanks to the tech priest's repair abilities, on my objective. He had first blood and linebreaker, I had slay the warlord. Game ended on T5 for a 5/4 Tau victory. Had it gone on I should have been able to take out the devilfish for a tie. Still, it was the first fun, close game I've had. Funny that it should be with such a small point value... usually such games tend to be horribly one-sided, but with 8th, low point values really prevents you from spamming which is one of the biggest failings of the current system.
If the wife lets me I'll swing over there tonight with a slightly different build and see how things go (if I can find a game).
Low points games are usually better in my experience. From past editions and AOS, at least. You can't take anything too obscene and medium things feel special again.
Looking forward to seeing some more stuff on your plog! Preferably battle shots or new cool things
Well, I'll fill you in. After this nice Tau game I had two games vs players that I don't think had won a game yet in the league. They both crushed me... basically with one figure each. Pasque in the first case, a single contemptor dread in the second. It sucked. I was very unhappy and ready to shelve the AdMech for the time being. I had one more idea though so yesterday I changed my list & played a game with a friend who's been running a Nid list that's pretty strong and has been having it's way with everyone else's armies.
The new build worked, and I won the game. I'm sure it wasn't too exciting for Brian as I just backed up and kept shooting, but given our two armies there really wasn't anything else I could do. That being said, I finally figured out a mobile (slow, but at least it can move and shoot) force that I can use to build on as the point values slowly increase in the league.
Second game vs. Brian (good player, good army, not a d***, thus great person to try things out on), I used a little kommando list I'd put together. Worked fine. Happy with the experiment. I may actually start painting some orks again.
Since I've begun fooling around with my orks... specifically with Snickgrot and his Red Skull Kommandoz, I thought I'd add a little modification to the figures (not my work, part of a very old purchase) to make them fit the part. They don't have a fancy paint job but they look very different from my Bad Moons, thus fit the role nicely as coming from another clan (even if they aren't particularly painted in the colors of that clan). It's amazing to me how the facial features of the Black Reach orks make a perfect skull. I'm sure that wasn't an accident.
I've got a second unit to do, though I'm short 5 guys. Luckily I have several of the original metal kommandoz. They're a bit small but they'll fit the role fine. Funny thing is I'm going to have to "paint down" to get them to match the rest. At least they should go fast... that works for me. I think they'll all look fine once the basing is done.
Here's an idea if you want to really differentiate them and dirty them up. try using a wash of Typhus corrosion over the pants and boots and then use your finger to wipe it off a bit, it gives a nice dusty muted look, you can then add a small shade of nuln oil in the recess to give it some Ooomph! :-)
No probs, for things like bases and vehicles I've found that using your fingers to get a bit messy can give you some sweet control over the effects with inks and technical paints, it's how i blended the yellow on my Landraider! without a brush!
It's always about the basing isn't it. Glad you are getting some games in, my bet is your orcs are going to be more fun to play than the Ad mech. Hoping we can get a game in soon, my inquisitor is still missing.
Wowowow! Yeah, Cam, that is AMAZING!!
You absolutely need to be getting something in return for it- Very much agree with Gits in this regard. Its just too good to simply be given away!
Yeah, Cam'. You are worthy. Also, don't knock it when you have a returning "customer" that insists on paying.
Gits', you know that you have to have something new and special to show off on this display board when it arrives, we'll all be highly disappointed if not. No pressure...
Yep, yep... orks are on the docket ... actually the top of the docket. Even though I'm mainly playing my admech at the moment... I don't foresee any new painting there (save that I can convince Nerdfest to do).
The first two projects are just modifications of existing units in order to get the army off to a good start. Easiest is getting those commandos finished up. Get some dirt on 'em as Nerdy suggested & finish the bases. I'll probably work on that Thursday night.
Project #2 will be to mass-produce a bunch of rokkits to convert my slugga-boyz into storm boys. The trick is I want the conversion to be removable (so I can have the boyz do double-duty). I think I've got a very simple procedure for doing this... though we'll have to see how it works out.
As far as a brand-new ork project... at this point I really don't have a priority as I'm not sure there's anything I absolutely need desperately for the army. The squiggoth would be fun, but I don't want to embark on that until I finish magnetizing the arms on the Reaver Nerdy did for me, so that amazing vehicle can take the field. I would have said that a morkonaut would have been a high priority, but Cam took care of that little problem for me. I'll take a look through my models and see if anything inspires me.
Have a 1000 point game tonight. I'll take pics if my opponent has a painted army. Thing 1 has a game set up with a friend who plays too. I'm excited to see that!
Game went well last night. Opponent was just building a primaris marine army so no pics. I did finally start to figure out how better to use some of my units. Learning curve and all.
Spent a good part of the game slowly withdrawing and shooting with the core of my army. However pretty much everything had at least one moment of glory. Little vanguard unit on an objective popped out and did some good damage on a character and squad before getting charged. The sergeant survived and held the objective until the end. Doom-chickens really worked advancing & firing (5's to hit). They're fragile though so you need to keep them under wraps until turn 3ish. Dune crawlers and infiltrators were awesome... as one would expect.
Thing 1 got his first game of 8th with a buddy. Had fun. Planning for Friday when I'll drag everyone out to our local league which is at 750 pts.
One of the advantages of building your own rapid fire battle cannon is that you get to dress it up a bit. converting one of my knights to a crusader (sword and gun will be switchable). Sorry for the quality of the pic.
Brilliant, looks the part, good scale. agree though tip of barrel needs a little something, even just a banding would do, but as Dave said would probably be better.
Making progress on the battle cannon. I need to fiddle with the red a bit and add some soot to the end of the barrel. The main difference between my gun and the real one is that the real one tapers I think. Unfortunately that's beyond my ability... so I've got to settle for a rather ungainly looking barrel tip. I think however, the soot at the end may help to deemphasize this.
You know, it actually looks just fine on the model. Not out of proportion at all. I think it's just the perspective of the photos that make it look odd. Think I'll declare victory and go home.
Shame to hear about the compressor, I hope it's under guarantee/easily fixable.
Fingers crossed.
always impressed when you step it up a notch. Punchy 
But you're right, it looks a lot better, I just need to improve my technique for getting to this point. Doing the white was a real struggle.
you'd think after 500+ pages he would figure out a way to counter that....am I right??? Huh??? You know what I'm talking about 
