@Moltar: The whole thing is pinned, problem is the arms are very thin and at a severe angle so the pins are by necessity short and keep failing... stupid figure...

@Len: At this point we're just collecting... so if you had anything you didn't need, it would probably fit in fine. LMK

@WM: See above, and yes.



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Oh Len... even small stuff... rippers for swarms and termigants are great as he has it in his head to do the Plague guy and a Tervigon. At this point just about anything is useful.

Wow... I've just finished all 100 pages (not all at once obviously) and I had to comment, I normally just lurk and leech some great ideas off people, Great work Gitsplitta.

And also to all the guys helping you with ideas and bits and all the great sculpting, it's awesome to see a community pulling together to help out.

Keep it up guys, it's a great read!

Thanks perplexiti! Flattered that you liked it enough to un-lurk for a bit. Please feel free to chime in whenever you'd like... we're all about getting differing opinions & always love a fresh set of eyes on the work.

Gits

Hehe, no worries mate, I wanted to post after the first couple of pages but decided I should read the lot first.

Also love that tranquility camo, it's great to see some old school stuff around.

A well, page 100 has been and gone...

Good to know you helped Thing 2 with his Nids but you need to keep workin on your Dread.

Just realised somethin', I could throw in a couple of rippers to the trade, I found a few in my bitz box. I'll also put some spare gaunts in if you like, I found a box of 40k stuff which had few strewn around it.

Yeah perplexity... you been around as long as I have, there's a lot of old stuff around... My son says he likes your avatar... Plants vs. Zombies he says...

@GS: Those would be greatly appreciated my friend, thank you!

So Gits, any plans for making a Rodgers marine, maybe passing a melta bomb or something?

1-i wrote:So Gits, any plans for making a Rodgers marine, maybe passing a melta bomb or something?

Nah i think of him more as a Ork on a lucky day. the best QB Brees is still on the saints rooster and my blood bowl team
yah i have a New Orleans Saints BB team

but back OT How is your dread comming allong Git?

@1-i: I'm actually a life-long Bears fan... but he** will freeze over before I make a Cutler marine. A-Rodge doesn't need me as a worshiper, he's got enough in Wisconsin to "ascend" all on his own. Great QB though... fun to watch too.

@fatty: Took the weekend off to work on the kids stuff. Will be working on the dread again tonight. Would like to have him done this week.

Thanks for the reply, Gits!
I figured I'd pin him at the waist, but since I won't play with him, he'll just sit on display, I'm hoping to not have to pin his arms. I do, however, plan to add wings which will also be pinned and probably a huge pain when it comes to balancing him on a base. Hopefully I won't have to put too many pins in such a thin mini. I think most people who haven't seen a Nightbring in person don't realize that although he is tall, he's not that much bigger than the average mini and totally skinny. Only time will tell at this point, but thanks again!

Depends on where you set the wings... as long as you keep their center of gravity above the base, you'll be fine. He's kind of unstable as it it. I was debating adding some bird shot to the base of Thing 1's Night Bringer (as well as Thing 2's zoanthropes) in order to make them more stable. I did this on my chapter master's base and it worked wonderfully and was stupid simple.

Bird shot? Like shotgun pellets? Just to weight it down? Interesting...

Yeah, go to your local sporting good store. You can do it the dumb way (like I did) and actually by shotgun shells and *carefully* remove the shot from them... or you can do it the smart way and just buy shot for re-loading. Just get the smallest sized lead shot they have. A single layer fits nicely in the free space under the base. Just throw in some glue, let it dry. Then lightly go over it with a large file in case there are some bits that stick out. Works great, takes no effort, can greatly stabilize unstable models. I did it on my chapter master as he was metal and the basing lifted him up in the air. Because I didn't want to have tip-over problems with him, I added the shot. Problem solved.

Going sligtly Off Topic here:

A friend tiped some shotgun shells into a iron tube and started to bang it with an Iron rod...... Can you guess what happened?

It blew up and his hand swelled up and said "You think I should go to the hospital?"

He is now an archaeologist

Thanks for the tip, Gits. I'll definately be looking into that.

Miss Dee, you may need to re-evaluate your friends

I very carefully take a tin snips and cut the plastic at the OPPOSITE END OF THE CASING FROM THE PRIMER to open the shell and pour out the shot.

This is still stupid as it leaves an unexploded firing primer and charge to be disposed of in a safe manner... which is not easy. Be smarter than I am... go buy some loose pellets. It's cheaper and safer!

If you need to get rid of the primer, and the shell still fits in a shotgun, just dump everything out and fire it. Like a really dangerous blank.

Hahaha no worries. I've always known I'm not to be trusted with live ammo. I'm bound to hurt myself. Will def just by the pellets, but wouldn't weights for fishing lines or even hobby weights for a wooden boy scout car work? Or are the pellets just a lot cheaper?
Sorry I seem to be pulling this OT

Good idea WM... should've thought of that myself.

@Moltar: Pellets are pretty cheap, and have unlimited flexibility because they're... well... pellets. I use them for weighting my kids pinewood derby cars for cub scouts, etc. Steel shot works too and is more environmentally friendly... just not quite as heavy & not very fileable.

Also for those who do not know, primers are extremely dangerous and explosive, please do not try things with them that they are not made for. If you have a few in your hand and manage to set one off, you hand will become forfeit. Which will make painting, typing and rolling handfuls of dice much harder. Not to mention those other things you use hands for.




Like clapping and high fives, you pervs.

Hahaha! Good call WM!
I'm not sure who you picture me to be, but I assure you I'm not a child who is gonna be hammering away on shotgun shells in my garage. In fact, if I bought whole shells my wife would totally flip. She hates guns, so I would def play it safe and just buy the pellets.
But, it never hurts to give safety tips and they're are probably plenty of people reading this who are thinking, "I have shotgun shells...why didn't I think of this..."

whalemusic360 wrote: Not to mention those other things you use hands for.

Like clapping and high fives, you pervs.

Did someone mention Barney over here?



(and yeah, Gits, that's me for the 3rd time who mentions that show... lol)

Yeah plants vs zombies is pretty much the greatest game ever, your boy has good taste all right...

Tell him if he goes to the popcap site he can make a zombatar for himself.

Now to get on topic a bit, I'm doing some nids for my son as well, he's just turned 6, and found I need to weight loads of the bases, although I've just been using the tabs off the bottom of some malifaux minis I've got. They wouldn't be heavy enough for the bigger stuff, but for the little plastic gribblies they work fine.

(closest thing I could find to a high-five)

@perplexiti: I'll pass that on... he'll be thrilled that you answered his comment. I don't have to weight many bases, but occasionally it can be very helpful.

You Yanks crack me up, not in a bad way, I just find the idea of using ammo in your model making totally alien. I guess its the stigma attached to guns in this country. But thank you guys for reaffirming my faith in the majority of Americans, the thread I read a couple of weeks ago had shaken it a touch.

By the way guys what is the shot made from, is it still lead or has its been changed?

There are a lot of idiots in the US, just like elsewhere. We arm ours however, in the hopes that they will do the gene pool a favor and point them at themselves.

So, gun policy in the US is a form of genetic engineering, it's just not something that we're supposed to talk openly about.

(Shhhhhhhh!)

well here in the gun hating land of Holland we use pennies. a 1 cents piece fits right in base

Gitsplitta wrote:There are a lot of idiots in the US, just like elsewhere. We arm ours however, in the hopes that they will do the gene pool a favor and point them at themselves.

So, gun policy in the US is a form of genetic engineering, it's just not something that we're supposed to talk openly about.

(Shhhhhhhh!)

Ok, I'll wait for the declassified documents then.

fatty wrote:well here in the gun hating land of Holland we use pennies. a 1 cents piece fits right in base

I have a ton of slotta-bases... so pennies don't work for those, thus the shot solution.

whalemusic360 wrote:Also for those who do not know, primers are extremely dangerous and explosive, please do not try things with them that they are not made for. If you have a few in your hand and manage to set one off, you hand will become forfeit. Which will make painting, typing and rolling handfuls of dice much harder. Not to mention those other things you use hands for.

MY BEST FRIEND!!!

Gitsplitta wrote:

(closest thing I could find to a high-five)

Hey, Yakface! Please make a High-five orkmoticon! PWEASE!!!

fatty wrote:well here in the gun hating land of Holland we use pennies. a 1 cents piece fits right in base

same. For a more child-friendly one, try fishing shots (AKA weights). They'd work just fine.

Just found this blg. I have been missing out!

Hey ToxicsLayer, welcome!

So have we made up our mind yet?
ditch this blog and make another or stick with this one?

We're sticking with this one.

Good news! The troops WM built for me arrived today! So, while I'm finishing up the painting of the dread I'll be tweaking the builds (minor green stuffing, attaching some packs, etc.) and I'll move them up on the painting roster! Progress... always progress. (and WM did a very nice job on the builds, especially since all I gave him were the original RT beakies).

And he did the coolest decorations on the box... free-hand purity seal, aquilla and Bad Moon insignia! I was grinning all the way up from the mail room!

Thanks WM! I'll do a good job on 'em & they'll really help move me forward on-schedule.

Lenny - Shot is made of many things, depending on what/where you are shooting. Everything from lead and steel to bismuth and tungsten.

Gitsplitta wrote:We're sticking with this one.

Good news! The troops WM built for me arrived today! So, while I'm finishing up the painting of the dread I'll be tweaking the builds (minor green stuffing, attaching some packs, etc.) and I'll move them up on the painting roster! Progress... always progress. (and WM did a very nice job on the builds, especially since all I gave him were the original RT beakies).

And he did the coolest decorations on the box... free-hand purity seal, aquilla and Bad Moon insignia! I was grinning all the way up from the mail room!

Thanks WM! I'll do a good job on 'em & they'll really help move me forward on-schedule.

pics?

Dont forget salt Whalemusic360

I was laughing while I made the Aquila for the Imperiamail (TM) logo, it was just too dumb and cheesy, perfect for the grimdark of the 40th millennium.

@ Dee - That friggin hurts! Some crazy hick blasted some at us one time. Maybe we shouldn't of been driving ATV's through his field, but seriously, who does that?!!?

let's see this dumb and cheesy logo!

Can't show you anything for a couple of hours yet until I get to a camera, will post later.

whalemusic360 wrote:I was laughing while I made the Aquila for the Imperiamail (TM) logo, it was just too dumb and cheesy, perfect for the grimdark of the 40th millennium.

@ Dee - That friggin hurts! Some crazy hick blasted some at us one time. Maybe we shouldn't of been driving ATV's through his field, but seriously, who does that?!!?

I bet it did, my friend was conducting an experament.

Would this be the same friend who tried to blow his hand up?

Yep.

whalemusic360 wrote:Lenny - Shot is made of many things, depending on what/where you are shooting. Everything from lead and steel to bismuth and tungsten.

Ah.. was just wondering if you could melt it down for miniature casting, though to be honest there are probably cheaper ways to get your metals.

When I made fishing weighs, I went to tire service places to get tire wrights for balancing that were used, which they will likely give you for free, and melted em down.

Tonight's update: Picked out most of the boltgun metal bits. Will finish the rest tomorrow night and give them their black wash.

Time for bed now...

*sigh* It took me 3 days! to look through this epic thread... Awsome work Git your mantis warriors look really cool. I like the camo that youve done for your sniper/vet marines. I would only sugest that you could highlight the yellow just a bit more to make the armor more defined so it doesnt blend in with the rest of the model. But feel free to leave them as is because they do look really cool. Cant wait to see that FW Iron clad all painted up i really want one for my Deathwing.

WarPetrie wrote:*sigh* It took me 3 days! to look through this epic thread...

perplexiti wrote:Wow... I've just finished all 100 pages (not all at once obviously)

gits, may I recommend making a summary post, with pics of the army so far, and each complete model, as well as where you are with your WIP guys?

shrike wrote:

WarPetrie wrote:*sigh* It took me 3 days! to look through this epic thread...

perplexiti wrote:Wow... I've just finished all 100 pages (not all at once obviously)

gits, may I recommend making a summary post, with pics of the army so far, and each complete model, as well as where you are with your WIP guys?

If you guys don't stop asking for summary posts, there'll soon be more summaries than updates in here

@WarPetrie: Thank you for taking the time to go through the entire thread... something even I haven't done (save as it was created of course). I'm curious... did you see the links to the summary posts at the beginning of the OP? If so, did they help... or whet your appetite for actually reading the blog? Is there anything I could do right up front that would make the blog more accessible?



My theory on summary posts.... I need to have enough of a new body of work to justify them. The last summary post was on page 90. Since then, only 3 things have been added to the blog as finished products, one is just a group shot of my objectives which have been done for a while, one is BBL's Mantis Warrior, and one is my chapter master. That's not enough for a new summary.

If you've lost track of what has been accomplished, please go to the OP. There are links there that lead you directly to the first two summaries. I will reword the opening paragraph and links so that is clearer. I don't expect the next summary until at the very least... the Iron Clad and WM's tactical squad are complete.


I posted this earlier, but here is the most recent group shot of my updated Mantis Warriors. You can see the paint job on the tanks isn't quite done yet as of the taking of this picture.



Hope that satisfies for now. I'd like to resist another group shot at least until the two tactical squads and drop pods are painted up.



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OK guys, spent lunch doing a major re-write of introductory post and significant additions to summary posts, especially the first one. Check them out & let me know what you think!

All that picture does for me is suggest that git has a strange love for sniper rifles... that said it does show off some nice minis at the same time.

One shot, one kill. Amazing that it works with a las cannon as well.

Lets see some pic of WM's squad? I'm all for being inspired.

Imperial Monkey wrote:All that picture does for me is suggest that git has a strange love for sniper rifles... that said it does show off some nice minis at the same time.

Jeez!! There's no pleasing some people!

... and yes... my MW's are kind of sniper obsessed. Once I get past Adepticon I'll start building my vanguard in ernest... and if Paulson Games will ever produce their blasted 3-jet jump pack I'll probably work up some regular assault marines as well. OH, and scout bikers mounted on RT era jet bikes... those will be fun to do.

So... chill... and cut me some slack. ...


TBH I'm not sure what to do with a "whole army shot" anyway. To get the whole thing in you have to be so far away you can't see anything anyway... so what's the point?

Your re-worked introduction post looks good to me, but I am no new reader...

It's quite easy to read, you managed to keep the text wall to a good size, and the primary links are quickly available for those that want to jump into the fray quickly...

That should do it!!

I'd say it looks good, but you should get the opinion of someone who has had to go through more then 10 posts at a time.

I think that works very well Gits. Lets hope we get a few more noobs joining. Always nice to have a fresh set of eyes on a project, especially like you've said it becomes a community project.

I agree with the army shot comment, in order to take a pic of my guard army I have to stand so far back they are just a bunch of specks on a white background, not very illuminating.

And don't worry so much about summary posts and the like, I would imagine a lot of the people whoe "read" the whole 100 pages did a lot of skimming and missed out on the best bits anyway, the text! If they want to see pics point them to your gallery, if people want to discuss the MW just let them jump in, its not like we don't mind explaining what we are discussing.

Sorry for the wall of text I just don't like to think of all your hobby time being taken up with managing your blog and not painting your models...which is the whole point after all

I added enough of your work to the first summary that folks might forget who's blog it is! *grin*

Appreciate the comments though.

could you possibly take a close-up of the scout sarge? Pwetty pwease?

As of that pic I think your razorbacks stand out a bit to much gits, tone them down and they will be great! (but I guess you will since it's still wip?)

out of interest, do you plan on doing a squad of straight-up green mantis tactical marines? You have scouts, multi-cultural () marines and tranquility veterans...

@Rose: They aren't exactly WIP... but they may eventually get some weathering which may fulfill your recommendation.

@shrike: Two squads (for the razorbacks) are slated to be done by Adepticon. Should be doing one shortly... The Inquisitional Squads will be in modern rhinos, but that project can wait a bit.

Do you have any ideas for a display board yet Gits?

Lennysmash wrote:Do you have any ideas for a display board yet Gits?

Am I still handling the display board for the team?

Ice Angel same question, sorry if you've said already.

Yes, the plan was for Ice and his buddy to handle the display boards... I've just slotted the last 5 days before the event for the display board just in case they get behind and need the time to finish their armies.

Lennysmash wrote:Ice Angel same question, sorry if you've said already.

As you've seen on some of my bases we're having discarded gear and the bodies from the other chapters that were in the Badab war. Our display board is going to be a brown field with more of the same, probably more banners and larger rubble. Still flushing out the specifics.

Update for tonight: finished picking out all the bolt gun metal bits and washed with badab black. Also got a nice white coat on the helmet and washed that badab black as well. Going to try to raise up a nice clean white with black lining on the helmet like some of the best painters on dakka do. Tomorrow the detail painting starts... skulls, melta, wires, highlights on metal parts, etc. (and the helmet of course).

There isn't much to photograph as of yet... perhaps after tomorrow night I'll feel there's a significant' enough amount of visual progress to post. Due to work commitments and a potential 40k tournament on Saturday, my weekend is FUBAR for painting which will put me behind schedule (not good for my first project). But only by a day or two at most. Even though I have plans for keeping this a fairly straight-forward paint job... I have high hopes for the final results as I just love the pose. A lot will ride on how well I can make the battle damage & chipping look during the final steps. I did get my #1 (smallest) needle for the airbrush which will greatly facilitate the painting of the scorch marks near the blasts. IF I can figure out how to change the needle of course.

Wish me luck...
Gits

Good luck gitz!!!!!!!!!

so many lucks, def if it means we get to see another beautiful model

he Git looking good on the OP.
the best of luck and su7 on the tournament

thought the left page was funny, looks like you got a baby git almost I mean the names aren't too close... I just found it amusing!

They just can't get over the stupid, corny names.... which after 20 years... is just kind of pathetic.

i have to agree its always the same few words being reused withthe occassional new title... its as if they use soem sort of online generator..

Gitilla the Hunter = Atilla the Hun

Just slly... I'd prefer formulaic to silly.

I dont know, but I love em. I get a kick out of all of the cheesy names every time. Gitilla Da Hun-------ter HA!

Gitsplitta wrote:Gitilla the Hunter = Atilla the Hun

Just slly... I'd prefer formulaic to silly.

Wow, I would've never found that out but for you telling us!!
(But the name was quite weird, I have to admit...)

Yeah i didn't even notice how awful that was. I was just thinking it was bad and silly, but that makes it even worse!

Finally an update on the dread. Details are painted. Note there aren't many of them. That's because between the camo and the damage this figure is going to be *very* busy so I want to leave the base painting as simple as possible.



And here's a close-up of the head. My first attempt at Iffy's white. Worked pretty darn good and was far easier than I thought...



Tomorrow night... sepia lining around some of the plates and adding the camo!

that dred is looking thug

Looking good! The head in particular is looking very nice.

Just read through thread... Too awesome...

Really beautiful models, now I better get back to my astral claws! Thank you for the inspiration

The dread is really looking great, good job.

With the lining, try diluting the wash/paint with some gloss varnish as it will flow much more smoothly and give you time to clean up the lining a bit. There are some photos of the technique on my Guard blog

Thanks endtrans, I'll try that on what's left.

mini-update: Got up early and got most of the lining done. However the highest visibility areas are still to do, so I can try out endtrans' technique.

all you need is to put checks on him and he could be a Lamenter... Were going to have a very " Yellow " game.

Ah, Gits I am glad Epic Thread will continue to be Epic. Thanks for updating the summary, it allowed me to get back up to speed quickly.

Excellent work as usual, I'm looking forward to the inevitable Adepticon After Reports!

--Brian




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Oh, almost forgot (thanks auto append!)

For an Army Shot, you may wish to consider following some of the artwork in the BBB or Codexii, of chapters in their "great hall" all lined up inside or on the field of battle, ready for inspection. Not a lot of detail in those pictures, but they're still quite stirring in their own right!

@SL: *chuckle*, yeah... but we'll have one of the best looking yellow armies out there!

@Briancj: Hey Brian, good to have you back! Thanks for the feedback on the OP modifications and summaries. Deciding to keep the blog a single entity was contingent on improving it's accessibility to new or returning readers, so I'm glad some of the changes have worked for you. Your comments on the army shot are helpful. My problem at the moment is that I just don't have enough figures painted yet for any kind of official inspection photo to have any credibility. Once I get the Adepticon force done, I may have achieved enough critical mass to make a decently impacting photo.

I'll bring my camera to the event this weekend, so with luck, there might be a battle report or so appear next week. For good or ill, they'll be learning experiences.

Love the dread. Can't wait to see the damage and camo on it. The white head looks great.

Really good looking dread mate! You've done a great job with the white too, I'll have to trawl back and find Ifalna's recipe.

Ifalna had mentioned how she'd done it before... but it didn't sink in until I was looking at Joske De Veteran's sternguard blog and discussing HIS crisp whites.. then Thunderhawk277 mentioned his technique, which is very simple and everything gelled. So I guess mine is really closest to Thunderhawk's recipie... but I think in general, Ifalna's approach works in a similar fashion.

To quote Thurderhawk277:
"I usually do a skull white base coat, take some badab black to it, then use water-downed skull white in layers."

So I just primed white, gave it a black wash & when that was dry, thinned out some white and when over all the surfaces 5 or 6 times... couldn't have taken more than 10-15 minutes to get the white painted up. It was easy, fast and by far the best white I've done yet. Might be worth your while to look at Joske's and Ifalna's blogs and see if you can distill some more useful information.

Is adep this weekend?
I hope you do well and get your army ready in time

and get some pics and battle reports!

No, not until April 1st... this weekend is just the first of the practice tourneys that our FLGS will hold (our store has a big showing at Adepticon). This'll be good though as I have doubts about my list and this will help me either gain confidence in it or show me where changes need to be made while I still have enough time to make them.

But, I will still give you pics and battle reports, as long as I can do it without disrupting the games.

Wow that model is stunning

@ToxicsLayer: (sorry for the late reply) Thanks! Will try and continue to entertain... tonight is the first big test as the camo goes on. Then probably won't have a chance to do the next big step until Sunday or Monday night (which is battle damage).

@IHEART: Thank you Sir. It is but a shadow of what it will become (I hope!)


Dawned on my that I've never mentioned where all this is going as far as an army list. I know this is a P&M blog rather than a tactics blog... but just in case your curious...

Gitsplitta's Badab War Mantis Warriors: 1000 pts

HQ: MoTF (stock)
Elite: Sternguard (5) w/ combimeltas, sergeant has PF, pod
Elite: Iron Clad (stock), pod
Troop: 5-man tac squad, srg w/ PW, las/plas razorback
Troop: 5-man tac squad, srg w/ PW, las/plas razorback
Heavy: Rifleman Dreadnought (stock), pod

In theory...

Razorbacks & rifleman provide long range fire support while remaining mobile (move 6" & fire). Embarked Tac squads serve as semi-hard objective holders.
Sternguard, MoTF & Iron Clad pod in on turn 1 somewhere "inconvenient" for opponent, or at worst... to shore up our own defensive positions. After disembarking can unload 6 melta shots at 2 targets (5 and 1 respectively) or sternguard can rapid fire special ammo into infantry supported by MoTF and his flamer and twin-linked plasma pistols. Anything that survives the ensuing turn either charges or rapid fires as the case requires.
Rifleman's pod comes down empty in reserve.

So, the theory is to cause disruption in the opposition by podding in some nasty melta/assault stuff right off the bat while razorbacks and rifleman cripple opposition armor or transports from the rear. Pod drop is hoped to cause enough disruption that rearward units are at decreased target priority and live longer. Most of my partners are assaulty so my *ss is really only hanging in the wind for 1 turn before I get help. So generally... it's "throw a monkey wrench into their opening gambit, then hope for the best".

Should make for entertaining games if not particularly long ones.

Advantages: not many... fun to play I guess... might be decent in a supporting role, should look great on the table though
Disadvantages: too many to list

Gitsplitta wrote:....infantry supported by MoTF and his flamer or twin-linked plasma

I was under the impression that the servo harness let him fire both the flamer and the T/L plasma pstol in the same turn, was I totally wrong there?

Cool list Gitsplitta, will definatly look great on the table, no should about it.

Also Blackhand's right, you can indeed fire both harness-mounted weapons, or one harness-mounted gun and whatever other weapon he's got.

Yay! I was looking forward to burning the living crap out anything in my path before assualting it with two normal and two powerfist attacks

Yeah it's pretty cool, I stuck a new servo-harness on my classic Iron Priest, looks pretty sweet, then read the Wolf codex and discovered I can't even get one!

Oh well looks good though.

Cool! Thanks guys! That will help a lot. I'll adjust my comments in the post above accordingly.

More pics!

Funny you should ask...

First, a surprise aquisition! So, I wrote up an 1850 point Badab War army that is mechanized & will be my ultimate goal with the early stuff. 3 predators, 5 tac squads w/ razorbacks, two lobbys & two tech marine, with the ability to swap out one libby for the MoTF. Should be very entertaining. Well, just by luck I picked up my 4th razorback from a friend at our FLGS! Here 'tis, nice and green now.



And finally progress on the dread. It was a big night (which is why it's ending at 1 AM).

- finished sepia lining (the trick with the varnish really worked!
- added camo
- did edge highlighting

Those 3 together were a lot of work! But here's the product. Hope it suits.



Next is painting the damage!

Awesome!

That looks fantastic!
The recipe for a nice clean white sounds interesting too. I shall have to give that a go next time I need something white

At last I've caught up,
it took two weeks but I've read every post from start to finish and just wanted to say...

Um...I don't actually remember,
it's been two weeks, I probably should have posted before reading the whole thing.
Still great work! It's been an inspiration and wow!

Hi Gitz,

I've been trying to work through your post, but at 104 pages and climbing it has proved far too much work! I have just started a Mantis Warriors army for a Badab War campaign that is being run by our local gaming club, it's all set during the war, so I don't have to deal with the same things you are, but it has still been fun seeing what you've done.

I have a fluffy question for you though, especially considering your current loadout for the 1000pt tournie. It's been revealed in IA10 that the founder chapter for the Mantis Warriors is the Marauders chapter, one of the successors of the White Scars. According to the White Scars fluff, they do not use dreadnoughts, the idea of a warrior being trapped inside being inimical to their beliefs. I have bought myself a dreadnought as I think they are awesome, but I am wondering whether or not I should use it in my army. Do you think that the White Scar fluff is due to the world which they recruited from, or the beliefs of Jagahtai himself, and do you think successor chapters should feel beholden to a primarch's beliefs?

I'm probably still going to use a dreadnought, and I know fluff isn't everything for an army, but just wondered if you'd considered this (if you've already spoken about it earlier in the thread, I apologise).

Love your work

Personally I'd say that the Mantis warriors have a different perspective on war than the White Scars, so to say they can use Dreads isn't a far reach.

The White Scars are recruited from a tribal, nomadic style world, which would lead to an inherent fear of confinement/not being able to see the sky properly... that sort of thing. I can't see the Mantis Warriors having the same hang ups, especially as they have (or will in your case) lose their recruiting world and become a Crusading chapter where every fighter is necessary for their survival.

Really pimping dread, love it!!

And;

"two lobbys & two tech marine,"

lol

endtransmission wrote:Personally I'd say that the Mantis warriors have a different perspective on war than the White Scars, so to say they can use Dreads isn't a far reach.

The White Scars are recruited from a tribal, nomadic style world, which would lead to an inherent fear of confinement/not being able to see the sky properly... that sort of thing. I can't see the Mantis Warriors having the same hang ups, especially as they have (or will in your case) lose their recruiting world and become a Crusading chapter where every fighter is necessary for their survival.

I did think that, but I also thought that Jagahtai was brought up in that same culture and may have held similar beliefs to the tribesmen. I know that many of the successor chapters revere their original primarch as much as the chapter which kept the name and colours (Soul Drinkers springs to mind, the long quest to find the artifact Dorn gave to them to keep safe).

I very much agree that in Gitz' case at the end of the crusade they need every body possible though, and they would have maybe even done a 'Red Dwarf' (replacing holograms if a higher level crew member died) and replaced those intered within a Dreadnought when a greater warrior died (with attrition in the ranks being so very bad).

BishopGore wrote:I did think that, but I also thought that Jagahtai was brought up in that same culture and may have held similar beliefs to the tribesmen. I know that many of the successor chapters revere their original primarch as much as the chapter which kept the name and colours (Soul Drinkers springs to mind, the long quest to find the artifact Dorn gave to them to keep safe).

Not all chapters revere the original primarch though, for instance the Red Scorpions revere no primarch at all. Instead the Emperor is the one true force to be followed and the Codex Astartes is viewed as a holy book. Of course, if any of the fluff actually mentioned which primarch they held above others, then it would reveal the secret of who their founders were... so that may not be the best example come to think of it.

I could see part of the White Scar's dismissal of Dreads being linked to their speed (or lack there of) as they wouldn't be able to keep up with the favoured bike squadrons. Oddly, this would put them in a similar mindset to the Evil Sunz Ork clan where speed is everything and taking them out of the saddle would be seen as sacrilege, or at the very least a less worthy form of battle.

From what we know of the Mantis Warrior culture and background, they have deviated quite a way from the White Scars tactics, forgoing the mass bike squads in favour of more stealthy hit and run attacks that would actually need strong anvils to use in ambush tactics. This could easily lead to a shift in cultural misgivings about being interred as they would have become a pivotal part of the chapter's tactical strikes instead of the slowest.

@Arakasi: Thanks! (and thanks for the bump!)

@endtrans: Thanks again! It's pretty easy all things considered & gave me the best white I've ever done right off the bat. Be interesting to see what your experience is with it.

@Z-Ray: LOL! That's really funny! Thanks for wading through the monster. Hope it was an entertaining journey. Sure has been for me.

@BishopGore: Hey BishopGore! Never met another Mantis Warrior player before, very cool! Please get a blog up as you build your army, I'd love to see it progress! The simple (and truthful) answer to your question is... that I've been playing Mantis Warriors for nearly 20 years, and IA 10 hasn't been around for 20 weeks... so I don't feel the least bit bound by it. I guess from a fluff perspective... giant preying manti would likely come from a jungle world (there are bilological reasons for this dealing with maximum size insects can attain in certain atmospheres and mantis biology of course) so even though the Mantis Warrior human stock might be tribal, they would probably not be used to seeing the open sky, so the dreadnought prejudice, which seems cultural and not biological... would not exist. They're also two foundings out... a lot can can change in two foundings. Unfortunately it makes using Kahn as a chapter master very problematic as he's bike bound... but I may have an answer to that eventually. But that's a future project.

@Vit: Thanks man. Still a lot to do. Damage, also all of the purity seals, crux terminatus & will sneak in a Mantis Warrior badge somewhere too.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

OH, and I replaced one of the libby's with the MoTF that I'm building for this list. The plethora of tech marines does tie in with the IA fluff suggesting that they were remote, very independent and took excellent care of their equipment (i.e. had a lot of old stuff still in good working condition), so having a lot of techs in the chapter for field repairs and maintenance seems pretty natural.

Gits, like I said, only useful stuff from me!

I don't know why, but the camo just isn't doing it for me. They look to small for the dread.
I'll have to see the finished product, but I think they could be a bit longer/wider

Luckily Kor'sarro Khan's bike is an optional extra... I too have been thinking of using his rules as a captain/chapter master (if that is what you meant), though according to the rules of the campaign I am joining I have to play with the special character Ahazra Redth present, so he gives all units Infiltrate as a Chapter Tactic.

Cheers for your thoughts, I shall be making a blog of my own as soon as I can take some good pictures of my guys.

YAY more Dread's good work on the dread

@BBL: I see your point, but the camo on my other dread... which most everyone loves, is the same size... perhaps smaller. I think what you're reacting to is the amount of empty space on the dread because of the lack of venerable doo-dads, not necessarily the size of the camo. Let me finish working on the battle damage and the extra decorations first... then see how you feel about it (because I'm having the same concerns).

@BishopGore: Cool, didn't realize that. Though... I did plan on making a couple of units of scout bikers out of old units of RT jet bikes. He might work with them nicely if I can find the right jet bike for him (and there are some off-brand jet bikes out there that might just work with a full sized marine). Have to ponder that as a modification (or fun variation) of my RT era list.

@Miss Dee: Thanks! Still WIP... more to come!

Now you mention it, it is about the open space. But as I said, I have too see the finshed product.

Gits, you should work for Forgeworld as a sales man. Seeing your dreads is making me want a FW dread SO bad.

Im thinking of getting another 'brush so I can base and wash but not soled on that idea at the moment.

Wow, Gits, that dread is just awesome. I've been out of the loop for a couple days. It's nice to come back to such greatness.

very nice!

I was hoping for FW to bring out Sons of Medusa transfers and the Master of the Forge.

I haven't heard anything about an MoTF, plan on building my own from scraps and bits.

Dread's looking good!

The dread is looking good. A lucky 4th razorback already mantis green? Your getting quicker and quicker gits!

I needed some "me time" with my airbrush. All the fiddly details on the dread were getting to me...

Gitsplitta wrote:I needed some "me time" with my airbrush. All the fiddly details on the dread were getting to me...

some...alone time?
in...the bedroom?
spraying your...








mantis warriors?

Gitsplitta wrote:

Those 3 together were a lot of work! But here's the product. Hope it suits.



Next is painting the damage!

Can't wait to see this all singed and hacked up!

Found these jetbikes, from a N&R thread on dakka:

http://www.zealotminiatures.co.uk

@Vit: Yep, that's the one! Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a way to order it... at lest not from the U.S.

O.K. So just in case disaster strikes, I assembled my army for tomorrow and took a shot. 1000 pts with some models not complete or proxied. Have an old tech marine standing in for the MoTF. Have the GMS marines standing in for my tac squads & my old, original commanders standing in for my squad sergeants (which I'd remember'd I'd had them... I'd use them as my squad sergeants for Adepticon... Hmmm... with a re-paint maybe I still can.. one les fig for WM to build). You can zoom in about two clicks before the resolution starts to fall apart.



Wish me luck! (I'll need it.)

Looking good, and: best of luck!

you need good luck? man Git i need some luck
i too have a small tournament today 750 points. i am going with my cans of glory list. thats 2 big meks , 2 deff dreads and 6 killa kans. objectives arnt that important right? right :(

but good luck any how

I joined just to post in this thread.

Loving the minis and I love Mantis Warriors.

I can't tell from the picture of the new forgeworld book whether the 'new' yellow shoulders are part of the general colour scheme or veteran specific.

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/New_Stuff/IMPERIAL_ARMOUR_VOLUME_TEN_THE_BADAB_WAR_PART_TWO.html

Heya increaso! Thanks for speaking up! I think it's because the original Mantis Warrior scheme had the mantis head on a yellow circle (most of the old badges were on circular backgrounds). That doesn't really work with the modern Mk-7 armor so they've just modified it so that the mantis head is on a yellow field.

Since I'm doing "old school" mantis warriors for my Adepticon army, I'm still using the yellow circle as the background. The shoulder pad that I've chosen for my "modern", post-crusade Mantis Warrior army has a reddish purple background instead of yellow. That purple is the color associated with repentance or penitence across many Judeo-Christian religions. Thus, my "Mantis Warriors Penitent" use a purple field as a visible reminder to others that they have repented their transgressions of the Badab War and will remain true to the Emperor. Similarly, the gold chain on the new pads is an old chivalric symbol signifying fealty to their lord, the Emperor of Mankind.


@fatty: THAT sounds like a fun list! Been working on a kan list myself but I always get distracted by other projects. How are you deff dreads armed?



I'm surprised no one's commented on the display base in the middle. It's flocked, eventually it'll get shrubbery and tall grass and will be the display base for the full sternguard/tranquility sniper unit. Looks really good with them on it even without any foliage. Might get more of these for the rest of my infantry.

Gitsplitta wrote:I haven't heard anything about an MoTF, plan on building my own from scraps and bits.

Yeah hes a Sons Of Medusa from the book,

I think he meant there's been no news of a miniature being released.

Are you planning on doing mini display boards for each squad?

One of the FW guys said he would be out .... sometime in the next 100 years.

the deff dread are armed with 2 flamers. this list workt pretty well but still i lost i ended up placing 9th out of 10.

I noted and liked the idea of the display board - just didn't comment! Looking forward to how you jazz it up. I'm in the habit of using card trays to ferry my Orks from off table to on (and back again in the event they have a Trukk to re-embark on!) to speed things up - and was considering doing something similar - in the far future!

good luck, tell us how the gamesgo!

I hope it goes well! Mainly I hope it goes well enough that you don't have to rework your list at all! Either way your force looks cool! I am going to put an exclamation at the end of each of these sentences! Let me know how Fwaupuu does!

exclamation mark! sorry high school musical trauma. how did you do?!

Had fun. List is a disaster. Major re-write in progress.

Oooo, bugger. Well at least you had fun right?

I would have painted the ram in metallics, and chipped black paint- but what the hey, iv'e got a Bjiorn to paint...

how was the list bad? what will the new one be!

Ouch. What's the problem?

@Boss: Paint job isn't done yet. The ram has a *lot* of battle damage on it that is yet to be painted.

The Iron Cad was a 175 point single-shot melta. Never got into combat, died on turn 2 every game. Sternguard with MoTF was a little better, but too few to really accomplish much more than being a speed bump.

So it's back to the drawing board. If I pull the Iron Clad, I can also pull the MoTF for a better commander and at least 2 of the pods if not all 3. Depends on where I go with the list.

Can't help you out with everything, but that sounds like you didn't use the ironclad to maximum effect. Every time I have one drop in, it forces me to use lots of resources to get rid of it, and even then it can survive till turn three. I find that the most annoying ironclad drops are on a flank, near ab unch of vehicles that should be moving forward, preferably with assault troops. That means the ironclad has decent chance of being splatted, but that he'll pull cc elements out of position. Guess what happens tot he cc troops' transports...

That's what we tried with it, but there is so much melta in the meta-game now that none of our opponents had any problems dispatching it in one shooting phase.

Poor guys...

I just wish we could use the "Movie Marines" rules, where every one of them is really a walking tank...

Your Iron Clad would single-handedly face the opposing armies without a scratch!

I could see melta being a huge problem, what I would do is try to have a great many targets to force the melta to be divided to give each armor a bit more survivability.

or makethe whole list drop (did you do that?) and have them work together to protect each other's flanks and provide many fearsome targets.

What kind of opponents did you have?

Game 1: dark eldar/marines
Game 2: blood angels x 2
Game 3: space wolves/guard

First game were the only opponents that deployed spread out, both the others forted up so deep striking anywhere near them meant you could be fired at by their entire force. Our opponents also got better and better, so while we had modest success vs. our first opponents, as we got to better caliber players things just got worse and worse. Granted, one of my initial choices in the third game was ridiculously bad, in retrospect however, I don't think it would have made much of a difference in the outcome.

those are some nasty combos there, what was your partner's list?

haha my opponents where
Spacemarine - 750 points and he had a landraider, terminators. it was a objective game and i tied
guard - again objectieves and i killed him only too find out he had a objective
tau - kill points against tau isnt funny.

i hope too see your new list Git

Gitsplitta wrote:That's what we tried with it, but there is so much melta in the meta-game now that none of our opponents had any problems dispatching it in one shooting phase.

Ouch: did they have so many meltas or were they just lucky?

I played a 2 vs 2 player games in the weekend, other guys had a chaos marines and demon army, they were trying to start up their blood chalice for a campaign our club is playing.
Due to that we had a modified night fight all game, a 1 in 6 chance of rage for every unit when ever they acted and all units with mark of khorne had a 4+ save...we failed big time.

The reason I say this is I was running my latest list with 3 riflemen dreads and they rocked the party, they finished of two of those big blood drinker (?) demons and singlehandedly dispatched 2 Demon princes as well as putting holes in some obliterators.

For the points they have to be the best dreads you can find and you could probably run 2 of them for the price of the ironclad ( or near enough) plus they are usually sticking outside of melta range

You mean bloodthirsters of khorne?

I think he means soul grinders?

rifledreds are awesome, a great shooting platform

If we are talking about disaster games then i had one too...2500+ of my salamanders with 1500+ of ultra marines against a dark angels army made of terminators land raiders and jet bikes....and my partner was a noob

@BtTemple - Yeah those are the buggers! All up they had 2 three man squads of obliterators, 2 DP's, 2 bloodthirsters like 3 squads of bloodletters, 2 soul grinders and a couple of squads of normal chaos marines and a LR...not much fun when they all had 4+ invuns

@sageheart - He had two soul grinders but my partner actually managed to pop those..didn't do much good once they had the Chalice of Blood running

Oops, sorry for the thread hijack Gits

No worries mate! Have two major rewrites and a tweak. The tweak might work with some modification of my tactics. Have to think about it and get a lot more practice games in. Problem is I'll be painting right up to the deadline so I have to be careful to paint the most certain units first so I don't waste time painting things I won't use.

thats a real problem Git. what was your biggest problem with this list?

@fatty: I think if you re-read my last couple of posts you can fish out my main issue with the last list.
*edit* OK, it's not so obvious... thus, I quote myself.

The Iron Cad was a 175 point single-shot melta. Never got into combat, died on turn 2 every game. Sternguard with MoTF was a little better, but too few to really accomplish much more than being a speed bump.

and

That's what we tried with it, but there is so much melta in the meta-game now that none of our opponents had any problems dispatching it in one shooting phase.

Having had a couple of days to think about it, I've come up with a couple of solutions. One is a very minor tweak to the existing list. That being dropping one of the pods and stuffing the sternguard into a rhino for safe keeping . That way my opponents still have consider the possibility of the Iron Clad coming down on turn 1, but if doing so seems suicidal, I can bring the empty pod down instead and let the dread come down later in the game when things are beginning to break up a bit & his survivability and impact are increased.

The second option, which has been refined several times since my first thoughts presents some very interesting possibilities. It lets me keep most of the things I've painted already, lets me keep my "big conversion" but is far more flexible, has a neat "trick" or two, yet is still quite fluffy. However... I'm going to give my team mates a chance to comment on it privately both before I say anything further.


As frustrating as the day was, I learned some very important things and got some excellent advice from my opponents (who were all great by-the-way) not only about improving my list/play but about surviving Adepticon.

I hope to post battle reports of sorts on the first two games (the last was so tragic I didn't even take pictures). They won't be the play-by-play type... but some photos with comments on key events. So, assuming someone responds to this post... you should see a fresh post from me later today containing said material.

Gits

Can't wait!

I want to see the warriors in action!

oke but the most problem lay with the dread. i thoughed there where more things that didnt work. i guess you can pull the dread and mayby insert you rifle man dread?

I would love to hear the 'surviving adepticon' stories.

What is this winning thing you keep referring to? The concept is alien to me.
I consider a good game to be one that I manage to actually survive until the end of the allotted number of turns

[edit] in retrospect that's not the most helpful comment in the world. I am interested in seeing how your changed list pans out though as I've just bought the bits to make a similar dread for my guys

@fatty: I had the rifleman dread too. He did OK in the games where he didn't get popped in the first turn. The dread not working was big as it's 20% of my army. Any given game something is not going to work... but the dread never working was an indication that either it, or it's use needs to be reconsidered. I have done both.

@Briancj: Not stories really, just some helpful advice.

- bring aspirin as you WILL have a headache long before the day is over (apparently the din of the main tournament room is unbelievable)

- bring lots of water because, due to the din, the only way to get the attention of your opponents is to yell at them across the table... so you will be losing your voice by the end of the second game. Water helps save your voice.

- bring food in a container as the food available is fine but expensive. You must eat outside of the gaming room though as food is not allowed in there.

Anyone else have helpful hints for surviving a major tournament/event? (I don't mean militarily... I mean physically or mentally.)

Shoes were a problem during my first SHOT show in vegas. Ankle and arch support are a must.

I had an old 'convention survival guide', I'll try and dig it up.

Why not take pre written cards so you dont have to shout? Or take a megaphone "Nothing to see here!!!"

The new rules for Mantis Warriors special character Ahazra Redth are great, with every marine infiltrating I don't need to field any armour at all if I don't want to, so the melta heavy lists can set up and then I am standing 12-18 inches away and all they can do is pop one marine at a time with them, whilst I am ready to pour everything I have back at them. Of course as a Forgeworld Special Character I have to be careful that he's always allowed, but the campaign I'm in makes him mandatory, so I shall be laughing there.

Not that I expect to win very much, the dice hate me (last game I fired Kraken rounds from 5 sternguard, rolled 5 ones on ten dice and every one of them failed their armour saves - painful), but I shall definitely give them a run for their money

O.K., here is game 1.

Short, short version of the lists involved.

The good guys...
Me:
HQ: MoTF
EL: 5 sternguard, combimeltas, pod
EL: Iron Clad, pod
TR: 5 marines in las/plas razorback
TR: 5 marines in las/plas razorback
HV: rifleman dread

Wolves:
HQ: tough dude on bike w/ thunder hammer
dudes on bikes
10 dudes in LR w/ ass cannons & bolter thingies

Them
Marines:
Terminator Libby
tac squad in rhino
vindy
tac squad in pod
Assault termies w/ TH & SS

Dark Eldar:
zillions of dudes in raiders
Ravager
HQ?? don't know... didn't see him, I don't think he got on the table until the final turn.



This is kill points and objectives (own two of three. One in center and one in each deployment zone). Vindy sets up close w/ raiders on far edge (our left) with rhino for deep strike support. We set up on side of table with objectives (our right). Wolves have the center, I take the right flank with decent fields of fire.


Turn 1: I drop my pods on the far left to mess with the two raiders deployed there (we are not assaulty save for the one bike squad). Sternguard deploys from pod into cover and guns down one raider, killing 4. Iron clad scatters a country mile off the table, mishaps and dies, handing them 205 pts before a single shot is made.


On the right flank, the vindy moved forward & shot and killed my rifleman. Their drop pod plunked down to threaten our objective.


Turn 2: On the left flank... the sternguard and MoTF pile into the crater and kill the remaining dark eldar. The other raider beats feet around the corner, only to be shot down by the assault cannons on the land raider. The tac squad looks menacingly at my intrepid tranquility squad.


On our right, my predators go Vindy hunting while the wolf bike cav pile into the tac squad and put the hurt on them.


Turn 3: On the left, the marines polish off the last of my elites and HQ.


... while a cherry squad of assault terminators and their libby leader deep strike. Someone blows the turret off my razorback.


Turn 4 (sorry, no pics): The remaining raider and heavy raider show up behind his objective marker. Our LR takes out the vindy. I unload a squad of GMS marines from the damaged razorback and they rapid fire the termies KILLING 2! Weakened, the wolf bike squad piles into the termies and ultimately prevail (though most are dead). My razorback parks under the objective, unloading more marines who claim the objective and contribute bolter fire vs. the termies.

End result after many minutes of adding... a draw! (though had we not run out of time I think the hoards of approaching dark eldar would have swept the field).

Had I realized how effective a pain in the butt the sternguard and MoTF would turn into, I probably would have sent the dread after the vindy... which really accounted well for itself with it's shooting. Live and learn.

More later.
Gits



Please note the BishopGore's sig!! He's got his own Mantis Warrior blog. Please stop by and give him some comments!

Hurricane Bolters? So a LR Crusader, after seeing one of those gun trucks for the first time I had really wished I had not have made my LR a reedeemer.

Gitsplitta wrote:


Dark Eldar:
zillions of dudes in raiders
heavy raider
HQ?? don't know... didn't see him

I see a raider and some warriors. No such thing as a heavy raider I'm guessing its a ravager

It flies, it's got multiple big guns, it's got continuously running BDS&M in the crews quarters... don't care what you call it. Ravager then (will correct).

Sorry about the previous post, got distracted by something shiny and clicked submit....

Great BatRep Gits

Well a ravager has 3 guns, but can not transport anyone. Unless it was Vect, then its kind of a mix of ravager and raider, but costs a zillion points.

wow arnt that dark angels where wolves should be? he i am a power player i pick the heaviest possible list. and winning is not impoortant having fun is. we went too battle of the clubs 2 years ago we where the worst team but we won the sportmanship award for friendliest club of holland. so my tip for the convention
have fun do your thing and pray,
too the holy mantis in the sky that your opponents army will die.
now thats some shakesphere right there

Gitts its cool to see you gaming with your minis mate, i always get a twang of jealousy when i see a battel report , i really should find a gaming club. Do you think you would paint and model if you didnt game?

neil101 wrote:Gitts its cool to see you gaming with your minis mate, i always get a twang of jealousy when i see a battel report , i really should find a gaming club. Do you think you would paint and model if you didnt game?

I'm going to answer a question that wasn't directed at me, but eff if I care.

I find that gaming makes me want to paint (I hate playing unpainted models) and painting makes me want to game (gotta try that new ******). But if I've lost a few in a row, or played several d-bags in a row, I will often pass on playing to paint. But if I didn't have some fun and great games, and more importantly opponents, from time to time, not sure I could keep going. Certainly not at the same speed (which is already slow).

Game two vs. combined Blood Angels force.

They had...

predator
two rhinos w/ troops
sanguine guard
couple of jump pack squads
another tac squad (guys in the crystals?... maybe they were assigned to a rhino? not sure
nasty dread
another nasty dread in a pod that let him assault on deep strike
some winged super-character

Stupid scenario. Half a dozen things to keep track of, needed troop squads from both teammates to claim or contest a quarter, odd little other ways to earn points. If this is the real "primer" for Adepticon prepare for a ridiculous event. You get command counter to give two units the ability to either count as scoring or give them to one to count as a double scoring unit (i.e. can hold or contest by itself).

Turn 1
They fort up in the center behind large sight blocking terrain. I drop on their right flank. Initial strike works well... sternguard imobilizes pred & knocks out two guns, Iron clad takes out rhino (there was some reason we wanted to take out that rhino). We move up a bit, shooting from razorbacks miss.


In their half the dread in the pod deep strikes and charges my razorback, immobilizing it. They blow up my Iron Clad and pod & the troops and nasty dread move to take out my sternguard and MoTF.



Turn 2:
We move forward, something shoots the other rhino, the sternguard & MoTF get taken out by the dread of endless attacks. We plink away at some assault guys. The space wolf leader charges the dread nibbling at my razorback and kills it, taking a wound in the process.


Turn 3:
Troops pile out of land raider and finish off an assault squad. Not sure if my shooting accomplishes anything. LR gets popped. I think in assault)


Turn 4:
Space Wolf troop squad gets taken out in assault along with a pod or so. Game ends, they have 2 quarters, we have one... they have more kill points as well. Major loss.

At least you likely wont have to play against that DP, as its a IA ruleset (guess you could, but not as likely).

Actually if no one on your team used your IA piece, you could put your ironclad in a Lucious Pattern DP for similar results.

interesting batle reps, fun to read! cant wait to see the actual battles, write up some fluff for the big games?

Stunning blog with an amazing level of creativity and detail. You have done a great job re-envisioning this legion... And to keep building and painting with this pace and skill is truly fantastic!

Keep up the great work!

Very nice battle report!
Can't wait to see the next one.

@whalemusic: Well, each team of four people gets 1 FW item... so it's possible, but I think there are much more powerful FW things out there... serious cheese should abound. Since we're playing a fluff-based force... our FW item is Huron for the Tiger Claw player.

@sage: There won't be any time for that. From what I can tell from the stories I've heard, gaming at Adepticon is sheer chaos. I may get a few pics in of each battle... but I wouldn't hope for much beyond that.

@mandzark: Thank you very much! I'll certainly keep doing my best... I'm actually looking forward to slowing down a bit in a couple of months... other things in my life have been suffering with all this painting.

@Matt.Kingsley: Thank you sir! Should be a little while, but perhaps this weekend. Going to run another variation vs. my son's nids. Granted...he's 7, but it's Nids... so it should be a challenge regardless.



So, our team is actively debating list changes. We've come up with some possibilities. Problem is that it seems the more "useful" the army gets, the less Mantis Warrior-like it gets.

theme over effectivness i think theme should win.
hmm one forge world piece you say how much points per player? i think someone is bound to be crazy enough to deploy a thunderhawk gun ship or a thunderbolt

No super-heavy stuff allowed. Now if we didn't already have our forge world bit, that drop pod would be a good choice... but Huron is the right choice for our team, so I'm perfectly happy with that as our selection. Besides, I don't need the pod... and the darn things costs $95.00 which is a total rip-off. So even if I *could* fit it in my list, I doubt I'd shell out the money for it.

And remember, each team member only gets 1000 points, so for something like marines.. that's not bloody much. Oh, what I could field with my orks though...

Thought it was 55 gbp? 140 would almost get you a cram!

cram? What's a cram?

56 lbs = roughly $80 I guess... With shipping around $95. Someone told me $140, that's obviously not right but still... nearly $100 for a pod is over the top Fixed post though, thanks for catching that... should have checked.
.

C-ram. Caestus Ram for the not lazy. 92 gbp, ~ 150 usd. thats without shipping of course.

No more acronym inventing please, I have just encountered one here that I use at work.......

Ah... yeah, neat thingie... but TBH I'd rather have a Storm Raven.


Well, just got a pep talk from one of the best 40k generals I know. I think I'll make some minor tweaks to my list and keep practicing. He gave me some good things to mull over, and suggested some possibilities I hadn't thought of.

So... tonight we get back to finishing the Iron Clad and some green stuffing of the marines Whalemusic360 built for me, which is the next project!

Do you need me to change up anything in Bravo?

And I call it the C-ram because I can never remember the actual name. I'd like to get one sooner or later, something for the DA to zoom around in next to the Ravens.

@WM: Not at this point... trying to keep those two squads in-tact as they are pretty versatile as-is.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I posted the following in another thread. I thought I'd post it here as well since folks might be interested if they're thinking about getting an airbrush.

Problems as stated by another Dakkite:

- I cannot seem to aim correctly the burst correctly, and to avoid the aforementioned problem (watery paint pushed by the air pressure), I have to airbrush from a quite important distance, which again leads to a lack of accuracy. On the model above, you can see a large quantity of blue over brown, and vice versa. If I get closer, the paint spreads over the mini due to the pressure, if I get farther, it just spreads far beyond the parts I want to reach...
- Those drying/clotting/clogging issues happen even when I aim at basecoating a mini. For instance, I tried to basecoat my 5 Gutter Runners with Khemri Brown, and before I could start the fourth one, I had to dismantle the airbrush, clean it, then... I got fed up with it. It seems I cannot even speed up the painting with it!

I've had the aiming issue myself from time-to-time... in my opinion it's related to the fouling of the tip of the needle at the collar, the fouling causes the paint to flow unevenly around the needle tip and causes it to go off in odd directions (my theory... take it for what it's worth.

Keep in mind that even with all of the painting I've done with my airbrush, I have yet to take it apart to clean it. I will eventually... but it's not been necessary yet. I clean it a lot... but have not disassembled it.

So, to the point...
- Check the specs on your airbrush & make sure you're running it within the recommended PSI. My Talon runs at 20-50. I can dial it down to about 15 psi which helps me with finer work, but the droplets get bigger and more obvious when I do this so it's a trade-off.

- The way I clean my brush and needle is easy and fast.
1. Run roughly 1/3 of a cup (1.5 ml) of your solvent (windex for me) through the brush, swish it a bit to clean the loose stuff off the bowl.
2. Dip the ends of a cotten swab in solvent and use them to rub the semi-dried paint off the sides of the bowl. DO NOT do this if there is liquid in the bowl as the little bits you rub off will drift down into the mechanism and mess up your needle. Make sure all the chunks come out with your swabs.
3. Pour more solvent (same amount) into the bowl and dip another cotten swab in solvent (I just dip both ends into the solvent in the now clean bowl) and spray about half of it out full blast.
4. Take the swab and gently place it over the needle. Spin it around a few times, you'll be amazed at the gunk this picks up.
5. Repeat with the other end of the swab, second swab should be pretty clean looking when done.
6. Spray out the remainder of the solution, spraying it in pulses will help knock anything left in the needle chamber loose & when done, spray air for a few seconds to dry things out inside.

Viola! You're done! It's probably a good idea to disassemble and clean your brush more often than I do... but this system has kept me spraying cleanly for quite a while now... 6 weeks at least.


Some of your issues (#2) might be related to trying to do too fine a deatil of work with too large a needle and without a fine enough touch on the trigger. I just purchased a #1 (0.25 mm) needle and tip for my brush (cost like... $11 total) to help me paint individual figures. I was able to do some finer work on Inushi with my current #2 needle (0.32 mm I think) but it took a really fine touch on the trigger and I had to dial down the pressure to 15 psi.

You could also try an an alternate brush stroke. Rather than giving a constant spray, you pull back on the trigger, then release... once per pass. I've done this when working on smaller figures and it does help control the over-spray leading to paint drip. It also lets the paint dry just a bit in between spray pulses.

Gitz vallejo do paints for Air brushes

Yes I know. That was the first part of my response to the questioner, just didn't think it worth re-posting.

In my field of work a C-RAM is a gun that shoots rockets and mortars.

then again I have a 25 page word document of acronyms I am SUPPOSED to know, but generally disregard.

I'd go head and assume if its on Dakka, its probably the flying SM thingy Always annoying when acronyms are used for multiple things, but its all about context. Whoever came up with the idea is a real SoB (see what I did there?)

Been away for a day or two and I come back to see a sad Gits. I'm not sure how much this will mean but I wouldn't worry too much if that's possible. These were a few games that didn't go your way but it happens to the best of us. Plus, all the people of dakka are clearly rallying for you so lot's to be gained, still with time to adapt tactics and lists.

I'm not sure who the general who gave you advice is but I'm sure most people here will be wearing their "Gits T-Shirts" (or underpants if they are in full marine armour ) and the combination may well help.

Plus the "survival" packs should mean you have a great time at the event anyway!

Hi Gitz,

Having read his post and your response I would like to offer my own opinion, as I encountered exactly the same thing when I started airbrushing:

1) You need to make sure you are running thin enough paints. You want to balance good coverage (not too thin) without clotting (not too thick). The ideal thinness changes a bit depending on distance and air pressure.

2) Once you get a decent thinness, try dialing down the air pressure. This will have a huge impact on your ability to paint up close without "spidering". Spidering is caused both by having too much paint (so it's a thick enough layer to spread out) and too much airflow (which pushes the paint).

I would dial down to just about as low an air pressure as you can get away with and then increase slightly, then try to get your feel for that level by getting your thinness where you want it.

I'll pass that on to the OP... oh wait.. i don't have to, he'll see it here eventually. :-)

Thanks Heff! I'll use that advice myself.


@Taff: Thanks man, I just play so infrequently that I end up with a lot of emotional investment in these figures that I slave over for weeks... so when things go to **it it really knocks me for a loop... at least for a little while. But, one motivational speech later & I'm ready to get back in the saddle! Hope to get in a couple of games in this weekend so I can practice refining my technique a bit.

Gitsplitta wrote:I'll pass that on to the OP... oh wait.. i don't have to, he'll see it here eventually. :-)

No, I didn't.

Alright Yggs... I was trying to protect your dignity by maintaining your anonymity but you just blew that to smithereens... nice goin' ace!

*grin*

I used to get emotionally invested in models too...a couple of dozen thrashings on the table have beaten that out of me

Now I just make sure to bring at least one new conversion to each Club Meet so that I can bask in the adoration of the fumblefingered masses (so modest right?)

Though on a wierd note, thanks to me using the same login name on my clubs forum people have started calling me blackhand instead of using my real name..

Gits: Don't scoff at $100 drop pods mate.. that's almost what it costs BH and I to purchase the standard GW ones here in NZ!

List wise, I'm actually deeply saddened by the news of it's awkwardness as a workable list. My dusk raider list was virtually identical, only with more veterans and less drop pods (due to aforementioned price). This will mean if I plan on gaming with them then I'll need to rework mine as well.

I agree with the theme over practicality thing to a certain extent, but given this is for tournament play you need to strike a solid balance. Best of luck bud! Can't wait to see more of that dread too..!

With the IC being an expensive draw card, perhaps you could drop a tac squad with it as cover/padding. I imagine once you get past the first volley of melta rage then getting him into CC would more than make up for the risk wouldnt it?

Disclaimer: This post contains no valid experience or useful advice and is merely indicitive of an opinion conveyed by an individual widely regarded as 'oddly lucid' at the best of times. Also, he likes pie. Feel free to send him pie.

I appreciate everyone's support and comments. Team mates have been equally supportive. Let me get another round of practice in with the slightly tweaked list and we'll see where we are.

Tonight I built the last two sternguard and gave a dilute sepia wash to the Iron Clad. It was just too bright and looked out-of-place when compaired to the rest of the tranquility vets. It's a perfect match now and I can go on to painting the damage and a heavy flamer upgrade for it.

OH, and I primed the insides of the drop pods. Wife offered to help so I'm going to set her on a simple bolt gun metal dry brush on the pods for starters.

Gitsplitta wrote:but it's Nids... so it should be a challenge regardless.

Yeah, nids are a challenge, my ors AND my CSMs can't beat agaist them.
(Though allthat WILL change...)


M.K

Dignity? Is that a new concept or something?

I agree with theme over a power list like with my tau i have a very static line with no kroot or vespid (some septs dont believe in using the alien auxilaries) even thou kroot would definitely offset all the assaults i have taken over the years and vespid would support my crisis suits beautifully....or with my salamanders and thier close up firefights yes i can take weapons and equipment that make it a more ranged army but thats just not the promethean way :p

storm ravens would be a nice but expensive addition to the mantis warriors, as it can drop off the dread, which could assault in its delivery turn, plus ot vould be supported by the motf & sternguard. This would definitely be a hammer unit. You could load it up with melta lascannon and hurricane bolters + machine spirit can allow it to target 2 enemies. So pop a LR then gun down termies which get finished off by the dread for example. Plus it can hekp cover weak points by zipping over or harry your opponents (ambush like a demented flying mantis lol). Even if its shot down you'd be really unlucky to lose the dread aswell.
Your remaining points could be used for your marines is razorbacks or drop pods to capture objectives or be the anvil (fluffy snipers or tranquility vets in hiding to snipe etc)

Except Gits isnt playing BA....

Yes well, we'll see if they become generally available. As this is supposed to be the "summer of flyers" I can't imagine GW would leave it's most popular army without any type of aerial support. In the mean time I can do without.

Good to be back painting and modeling again. One of the sternguard has one of the FW meltas of the period, the other has one of my combi-meltas (well I'm working on it anyway). Got some of that instamold stuff and I'm trying to see if I can copy the muzzle of a melta with it. Green stuff is far from the best material you can use as it is very stiff and tends to deform the rubber mold, but it's better than nothing so we'll see if I can come up with anything useable.

I look forward to beginning to paint the damage on the dread tonight. Guess that means I'll have to figure out how to change the needle in my airbrush. *sigh*

Whats the Problem with not having BA's I have Sons of Medusa and I'm giving them a SR.

Perhaps in the past they helped or was given one or two by the Yellow marines in the Melstorm zone.

But in a tournament, unless you are using the BA codex (which doesnt have ironclads or MoTF) you will not be allowed to play.

Well, in friendly games it doesn't matter as long as your opponent doesn't care, but I'm preparing for a major tournament so I have to do things by-the-book... and technically the Storm Raven is a Blood Angel's vehicle, like the Baal Predator, Furioso Dreadnought or flying Land Raider (why do BA get all the cool toys?).

Cuse the like hording the good stuff.

Sorry for the confusion, not bashing anything. In fact i have an SR for my raven Guard lol

Was just pointing out that it wouldnt be any good for gits in adeppticon.

Apologies

No worries Vit, I don't think anyone was offended.

I thought that the most recent UK White Dwarf had Storm Raven rules in it for all other SM armies. I might be mistaken though?

Gathering Storm wrote:I thought that the most recent UK White Dwarf had Storm Raven rules in it for all other SM armies. I might be mistaken though?

You are. It has the rules, but doesn't say they are for any army other than Blood Angels.

Ninjaed by the Master Slowpoke.

i spoke ro a gw staff member in the dundee store (who was from the edinburgh store doing some covering work) and i was told that the storm raven would be for general use as the rules for it are published in white dwarf, this means as long as you have the white dwarf with you when you use the storm raven then all is copacetic.
It would be worth confirming with adepticon that you wouldnt breach their rules to use it.
I plan on getting 2 for my space wolves (if i ever get back to them) as it lets me get a charge in, it would help neutralise the furious charge rule by giving me the chance to get in first

I've heard that put forward before dantay, but I am skeptical since is not explicitly spelled out in the article. Our way it is still considered a BA thing exclusively. I would not put it past a GW rep to pitch that it was available to everyone just to increase sales.

Guess it might be one of those things (like the FW rules) that get's interpreted/accepted differently depending on what side of the Atlantic you're on. At least this one is easily fixable. A single sentence in White Dwarf or the Space Marine FAQ would settle it. Not that they'll do it... but it would be an easy fix.

It is in a section of white dwarf that is "Blood Angels Design Notes" or something similar. By the logic that it is in WD, anyone can use it, so could eldar, CSM, or Nids. If you take one to a tourny, expect it to get shot down. I would also not allow it in a casual game. My BA can't run thunderfire cannons, ironclad or venerable dreads, thunderwolf cav, or things from other Dex's, I'm not allowing people to use my stuff in theres.

Agreed. In my mind it's a BA thing. If it becomes official for general use... cool. If not, I'll just use my own toys.

And GK, once the new dex comes out (they will have it, the kit has bits for them and there is a painted GK one on the back). As Gits says, if it becomes useable for everyone, cool, but at this time it has not, and there is no way you will convince me otherwise. This game is based on what you can do (IE, you may upgrade this to this for 20 points) not what you can't (doesn't say I can't take a dark lance on my land raider, so I can) and no where in that article did it say anyone can take it, therefore only those who already could can now. /end rant.

Im gonna get another for my Night Lords

Shouldnt have to worry about changing the needle- the Talon seems to be a really user friendly brush.
I jammed it twice using the foundation paints a while back, and had to totally disassemble it. It unscrews great, and screws back together without a complaint. Changing the needle should be interesting, but I have every confidence that you can do it Gits.

dantay_xv wrote:i spoke ro a gw staff member in the dundee store (who was from the edinburgh store doing some covering work) and i was told that the storm raven would be for general use as the rules for it are published in white dwarf, this means as long as you have the white dwarf with you when you use the storm raven then all is copacetic.
It would be worth confirming with adepticon that you wouldnt breach their rules to use it.
I plan on getting 2 for my space wolves (if i ever get back to them) as it lets me get a charge in, it would help neutralise the furious charge rule by giving me the chance to get in first

yeh, no offence to him but that is a guy working in the store...its not him that makes the decisions on what is used in tournaments, FAQs, etc. We shall have to see...

Well, I still have the instructions (somewhere)... I'm sure I'll sort it out. High time I take my brush apart and clean it anyway.

You make me laugh Git. You seem to have had that airbruh for like 40 odd pages (not sure what that is in real time, I have replaced it with the new calendar of "new pages on gits blog" ) and haven't cleaned it or changed the needle! The laugh is almost painful now as I realise that you have achieved so much, especially those razorbacks, with minimal adjustments.

PS - whats an instruction manual? My wife has mentioned these alien words to me before.....

Its the paper thing you throw out of the way to put something together like a man.

Might be the thing I put my mug of tea (with 2 sugars ) on.

Instructions are something that magically appear once you're over 40, unfortunately by that time your eyes are so bad (even if you never need glasses before) that when you hold the book far enough away to focus properly the letters are too small to read. I have "cheater" glasses salted all over my house, cars, office, garage, fishing tackle box... you name it.

BLAM! I was way to lazy to set up anything to make the pics better. As I told Gits, I may have made the most expensive RT Plastic Beaky ever. Maxmini Sword, Head, and Leg, and FW Bolt Pistol

Nice one whalemusic360, looks great

If thats not a relic blade idk what is

Hey Gits, thought I would post up my prototype Mantis Terminator Helmet and Mantis Tech Helmet...Let me know what you think.

First of the Termie, found there was not much space to enlarge the eye but could at least give it the teardrop shape to tie them in to the rest of the MW





And here is the beginnings of the Tech Helmet, I considered changing the jaw area but thought I might cast this one first then do another version with a Mantis type jaw just to give you some options







Again let me know what you think and whether or not you would like me to resculpt the jaw

Cheers

BLACKHAND

I really like the subtley of those actually, simple but really effective ([kicks self for not asking BH to do Owl helms]). I especially like the termie, can really picture it as an end product.

Those are both really nice BLACKHAND! I have one suggestion on the terminator... It seems to me that the things along the jaw line are natural jumping off points for a mantis jaw modification, and would give the helmet a considerably more insectoid appearance. It's kind of a natural fit as it is... but perhaps a bit of a flair along the jawline would help these to stand out from the normal helmet.

How hard would it be to put a hexagon patern in the eyes for the termi BH?

Git I love that new FW dread nice and dynamic, as always the camo is excellent but what grabbed me the most was how good your getting with that airbrush matey top stuff

oh and I'll have the converts I made on the way to you probably next week can you do me a biggy and PM me your address?

@BLACKHAND: To clarify... I don't want anything extreme in the jawline, but if you can bring the side pods around a little bit and across the front grille, I think that would really make the look.

@Santobell: Thanks my friend, I really enjoyed putting that one together and took quite a bit of time & thought to the positioning in relation to the sloping base design. Like anything, the more practice I get with the airbrush, the better (or at lest easier) the results are. Still have a long way to go, but I'm going to use it for finishing this entire army (running out of time so there are no options at this point). That being said, I'm really happy with the results. There are still lots of situations where a brush is the only way to go, but for base coating, shadows and blended highlights... especially on large surfaces like vehicles... it's the only way to go if you're on a tight schedule.

I'll PM you my details. Thanks for all your work, I really appreciate it!


So, I made a little progress last night. Unfortunately there have been some other things that by necessity have been occupying my evenings so I'm unable to put in full nights of P&M. However, I continued to work on the two sternguard, added the combi-melta bit to the one and extras (purity seals, pouches, etc) to both. Once I get the Mantis Warrior pointy bits on the armor I'll post a pic. Also got the heavy flamer for the dread cleaned up and primed. Not much progress... but progress none-the-less.

That's a cool beakie there WM. Nice job with the maxmini bits, I'd have expected them to look massively out of place on the old RT guys, but that works well. And nice, subtle helmets BH.

I agree with Git about the term helmet you can place madribles nicely there. My new pet Mantis thinks the same... I think. OT fun school project keep a insect alive for how long its possiible. i named mine Pete

Here you go. Melta shot looks goofy in photo but fine in RL. I'm very tired... time for bed.

He looks fantastic Git, you gotta fit him into your army!

Looks good! And more importantly, done! My only complaint would be that the layered cork looks like layered cork. Are you going to hit the rivets with silver?

Very cool dread. I like the base a lot too. I love the melty bit of battle damage on the right chest(?) plate. The paint over all looks very good, as well.

Those helmets from Blackhand are looking pretty spiffy!

.... super cool dread

Iron clad looks wicked dude, and I really, really like what you are doing with the helmet lenses, so simple an idea but it has huge impact, they look subtle, appropriate an unique!

That may be the cleanest weathering I've ever seen...

Is that a meltagun or is he happy to see you?

Sreiouslyt though, I like everything except the metal in the impacts. You should add some brown like you did around the claw mark IMO. Still, wouldn't like to see that beast charging at me!

Just beautiful , I see what you mean now about not wanting to detail him too much before all the battle damage and weathering he would have been far too busy.

Great work Git, the yellow looks great and I like the way the base subtley contracts with the mini but doesn't detract from it. The White helm really sets it off. Keep it up, can't wait to see the next thing you have up your sleeve.

Simply beautiful.

Sweet Dread Gits, niced job.

Please dudes, don't forget to vote on that awesome mini!!!

As said Git, it's really striking!!!!

The only things which bothers me are the white-ish areas in the center of the battle scars... It might look better in real life, but here on the pics it looks quiet weird... Is it supposed to represent ashes? On the molten hole, I guess that's the hottest part (hence the brightest colours), but on the bullet / shell impacts, I don't think that works well...

Apart from that minor detail, that's a pure win... Great job, as always!!!

Beautiful work mate. The only thing I'm not sold on is the star-shaped damage on the plate to the left of the sarcophagus and likewise the star-shaped damage on the seismic hammer: they could look a little rougher a rounder the edges, imho. But, great job nonetheless.

ive noticed that sometimes a photo makes my mini look worse than it does in reality,highlights and blending tend to be lost in the photo,i think thats happened on your dread as said in the previous posts.

I like Mantis warriors, as they decided to
REPENT! in the end.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, nice Dread.

Gitsplitta wrote:Game two vs. combined Blood Angels force.

They had...

predator
two rhinos w/ troops
sanguine guard
couple of jump pack squads
another tac squad (guys in the crystals?... maybe they were assigned to a rhino? not sure
nasty dread
another nasty dread in a pod that let him assault on deep strike
some winged super-character

First off, amazing models! you make me jealous

I'm sorry to bring back and old post and i'm not too sure if this has been mentioned already but by the looks of it the list you were playing here was illegal, I might be wrong but the Dreads you are calling "nasty" must be death company dreads, for every Death company dread you need at least 5 Death company troops. I'm also pretty sure he can't assault that dread after deep striking, all these might of been the reason you lost because death company dreads are seriously dangerous.

Sorry again if i have repeated what someone else has said and qouted this old post.

Thamor wrote:I'm sorry to bring back and old post and i'm not too sure if this has been mentioned already but by the looks of it the list you were playing here was illegal, I might be wrong but the Dreads you are calling "nasty" must be death company dreads, for every Death company dread you need at least 5 Death company troops. I'm also pretty sure he can't assault that dread after deep striking, all these might of been the reason you lost because death company dreads are seriously dangerous.

Sorry again if i have repeated what someone else has said and qouted this old post.

Actually it might also have been Furioso Dreads, and they don't need DC to be available... Or the Jump Pack troops might have been Death Company, for what we know...
And as for the Deep Strike + Assault, it seems it's a FW drop pod with special rules that allows for an assault after deep-striking...
Anyway, it depends on the colour the "nasty" things were (red or black) lol....

Yggdrasil wrote:

Thamor wrote:I'm sorry to bring back and old post and i'm not too sure if this has been mentioned already but by the looks of it the list you were playing here was illegal, I might be wrong but the Dreads you are calling "nasty" must be death company dreads, for every Death company dread you need at least 5 Death company troops. I'm also pretty sure he can't assault that dread after deep striking, all these might of been the reason you lost because death company dreads are seriously dangerous.

Sorry again if i have repeated what someone else has said and qouted this old post.

Actually it might also have been Furioso Dreads, and they don't need DC to be available... Or the Jump Pack troops might have been Death Company, for what we know...
And as for the Deep Strike + Assault, it seems it's a FW drop pod with special rules that allows for an assault after deep-striking...
Anyway, it depends on the colour the "nasty" things were (red or black) lol....

Indeed, it's what i was trying to distinguish, by the looks of the pictures the assault marines were infact regular marines.

Sorry, I didn't check the pics before answering...

Firstly: Thanks everyone for your kind comments, too many to respond to individually but I will try and get to the main points. I was really tired when I posted it last night so I didn't post much of an explanation with it (we had a big cub scout "do" last night where I was master of ceremonies, then clean up afterwards... so by the time I got home I was toast).

1. The blast holes. The theory is that the center of the shell impact craters would have blown through the ceramite outer armor and exposed some of the metal underneath. Thus the shiny bit there. I've seen accomplished painters do this to good effect. I am also not quite settled with the look either however, as other's have said, a little too round and clean looking, but I'm at a loss as to how to fix it. I did wash each one with badab black hoping to tone down the shine a bit, but apparently that wasn't enough. I could try going in with a little black or dark grey and roughing up the edges of the silver crater in order to make it less regular. I'm open to any ideas on this one.

2. The back of the base is not finished. I will be using a thin layer of spackle to smooth it's appearance & then I'll paint it either the same brown or black. It gives it a cut-away scene appearance. It should look something like this when complete.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/134380-Chaos%2C%20Marine%20Abuse%2C%20Nurgle%2C%20Objective%20Marker%2C%20Rogue%20Trader%2C%20Warhammer%2040%2C000.html

3. Brown edging on the slash marks. I didn't do any discoloration around the cuts as chips as I didn't think the physical processes that would result in such damage would generate them. However, I'm open to suggestion. Are we assuming that things like lightening claws or dreadnought CCW's generate a lot of heat? Reasonable I guess... So, I'm open to this suggestion too, but it would be handy if someone could make a recommendation as to how to handle it. I suppose I could use some black weathering powder around the edges of the cuts to show scorching.

4. The melta spot (I'm adding this one.). This is just one of those occasions where the lighing in the photo box does me no favors. I think it looks weird in the pics but nobody commented negatively about it. It looks better in person.

5. The list. No my friend, the list is actually legal. The most recent dreadnought is simply and Iron Clad dread outfitted for close-assault. I have:

HQ: MoTF
EL: Sternguard (5) in pod
EL: Iron Clad Dread in pod
TP: Tac squad (5) in las/plas razorback
TP: Tac squad (5) in las/plas razorback
HV: Rifleman Dread in pod (MoTF allows this)

The Dread (actually both dreads) are Forge World Mk IV variations, this may be what you're responding to as they do not look like the standard GW dreads.


I'm still working on the heavy flamer that will replace the storm bolter on the Iron Clad, but that was such a minor thing I didn't want to hold up the post for it, besides... I wanted feedback on the "finished" model while I still had time to make corrections.


A wise man once told me that when painting against a schedule that it's often helpful to keep track of the points that are completed as a way of tracking your progress and keeping up your spirits. By that measure then (tweaks on the Iron Clad aside) I have painted.... wait for it....

595 points complete!

With and addition 238 built and awaiting painting.


Ever forward Emil...

Gitsplitta wrote:1. The blast holes. The theory is that the center of the shell impact craters would have blown through the ceramite outer armor and exposed some of the metal underneath. Thus the shiny bit there.

It might help you... Also, though I think the "sparkled effect" you achieved thanks to the airbrush is great, it looks a bit too round-shaped for the shape of the impacts... Do you see what I mean?

Gitsplitta wrote:3. Brown edging on the slash marks. I didn't do any discoloration around the cuts as chips as I didn't think the physical processes that would result in such damage would generate them. However, I'm open to suggestion. Are we assuming that things like lightening claws or dreadnought CCW's generate a lot of heat? Reasonable I guess... So, I'm open to this suggestion too, but it would be handy if someone could make a suggestions as to how to handle it. I suppose I could use some black weathering powder around the edges of the cuts to show scorching.

Do you think it was a lightning claw that did it? If so, it sure generates heat... If it's your son's Tyranids, then maybe not... In anycase, watered-down Chaos Black or Badab Black could do the job, if put into a few, almost translucent layers...

Gitsplitta wrote:4. The melta spot (I'm adding this one.). This is just one of those occasions where the lighing in the photo box does me no favors. I think it looks weird in the pics but nobody commented negatively about it. It looks better in person.

Actually I do think it looks weird, but as I said before, I'm confident it would look better in person... But you're right, that's the thing that struck me first when I saw it...

Gitsplitta wrote:5. The list. No my friend, the list is actually legal. The most recent dreadnought is simply and Iron Clad dread outfitted for close-assault.

I think he was writing about the BA lists you fought against, not yours...

Gitsplitta wrote:A wise man once told me that when painting against a schedule that it's often helpful to keep track of the points that are completed as a way of tracking your progress and keeping up your spirits. By that measure then (tweaks on the Iron Clad aside) I have painted.... wait for it....

595 points complete!

With and addition 238 built and awaiting painting.

Wow, you're nearly there!!!! Good luck!!!

Also, did I mention "Awesome job on the Dread"?

I dont know who this "wise guy" is but thats the dumbest idea I've ever heard of! Probably have an excel sheet and everything...

I like the melta damage, so if it looks better irl, I think your set there!

Yggdrasil wrote:It might help you... Also, though I think the "sparkled effect" you achieved thanks to the airbrush is great, it looks a bit too round-shaped for the shape of the impacts... Do you see what I mean?

I think I can use some weathering powder on those to get the effect you're talking about. Love the music in the vid, my wife thought I was up here watching a stag film. (bow-chicka-bow-wow!)

Do you think it was a lightning claw that did it? If so, it sure generates heat... If it's your son's Tyranids, then maybe not... In anycase, watered-down Chaos Black or Badab Black could do the job, if put into a few, almost translucent layers...

I'll think about it... maybe on the decidedly "lighning claw" looking damage I'll do a little shading. A lot of the damage though I look at as areas where hunks of metal were just fractured off by contact with other large metal objects (other dreads, machines, even nids) and as such would have no discoloration. Again, I'll ponder it a bit.

Actually I do think it looks weird, but as I said before, I'm confident it would look better in person... But you're right, that's the thing that struck me first when I saw it...

It looks better in person... but it's not the effect I was hoping for... I just have NO talent for making anything look like it's glowing. *sigh* Perhaps a little bit of weathering powder around the impact area to accentuate the head damage and set it off from the background (I think the effect would be more striking if the dread was not already yellow).

I think he was writing about the BA lists you fought against, not yours...

Ah, my bad.

Also, did I mention "Awesome job on the Dread"?

Thanks!


Unfortunately WM's post is caught in the page rollover so I can't respond to it yet... perhaps once this post registers I can come back and edit it appropriately.

Awesome work on the battle damage, I take it you used weathering powders to achieve the scorch effects?

Actually the scorch marks were airbrushed... but any adjustments now need to be applied as powders as the airbrush isn't accurate enough for fine details. At least not with me controlling it.

Last two sternguard builds are done, will post them in a bit.

I'll think about it... maybe on the decidedly "lighning claw" looking damage I'll do a little shading. A lot of the damage though I look at as areas where hunks of metal were just fractured off by contact with other large metal objects (other dreads, machines, even nids) and as such would have no discoloration. Again, I'll ponder it a bit.

You always have the primer showing through.

CommissarKhaine wrote:You always have the primer showing through.

Somewhere along the line I got the impression that marine armor wasn't painted the same way as normal... that the pigments were actually infused into the material rather than there being a "primer" as per normal.

Here are my last two Sternguard builds (at lest for my tournament army).

First, the last of the combimelta guys. I actually cut the melta nozzle off of the one of the little chapterhouse combiweapons but as soon as I did it shot across the floor of my studio never to be seen again... so I got tired of feeding $$$ in melta guns to these dang things and just cut a section to cabling and glued it on. If I paint it red, no one will know the difference. If I ever figure out how to make the insta-mold work well enough, I'll replace it with a proper melta muzzle later on. To be honest I think it looks a lot cleaner than any of the other conversions I've tried, or the real GW combimelta for that matter. The pose is inspired by one of my original plastic beakies from decades ago. It was always everyone's favorite (it actually had two bolt guns) so I thought I'd reprise the role here. Instead of the bayonet (which would not have looked right with the combimelta muzzle), I gave him a small sword on his right hip.



My second Sternguard is a melta guy. Decided to swap out one of the combimeltas for one guy who could fire a melta shot each round. Hate to give up the special ammo, but he does make possible two volleys of three melta shots, or an emergency single melta shot at some other time during a battle. Also he gives me at least one guy who won't kill himself with the "gets hot" rule... I think he's my favorite out of all of them... the pose just worked out with only a little tweaking of his original shap.



Gits

Hi there! Those are some nice sternguard Gits, isn't that about twenty, twenty-five know?
Srry, i've been lurking the forums for awhile, so I do have a few favorite threads(This among them). I really like the tranquilities, but I think the camo schemes were nerfed in the Badab War. Are you moulding those guys yourself 108 pages man, reading it all would drive most people to insanity, and don't get me wrong, I read The Founding in 1 & 1/2 days, but the jumble of a forum is just nuts. I did read quite a few of the pages on this though. How are things 1&2 doing, speaking of which, thing 2s thread has just sat there for awhile, is he out of the hobby?
Nice to meet you.

Excellent posing their Gits. I prefer the Melta Marine to the other Sternguard but I'm still likin' those Sniper Bolters.

Hey Gits looking great mate! fantastic work with the Ironclad. You're making me want to try out my airbrush now too, had it for a while now but never got round to doing much more than playing with it.

Gitsplitta wrote:
My second Sternguard is a melta guy. Decided to swap out one of the combimeltas for one guy who could fire a melta shot each round. Hate to give up the special ammo, but he does make possible two volleys of three melta shots, or an emergency single melta shot at some other time during a battle. Also he gives me at least one guy who won't kill himself with the "gets hot" rule... I think he's my favorite out of all of them... the pose just worked out with only a little tweaking of his original shap.

I think you might be getting your wires crossed here, it's only plasma weapons that use the gets hot rule, so your combi-meltas will be fine. Oh unless you mean that vengeance ammo, if that's what you meant ignore my ramblings!...

those are some really nice sternguard!

platypuscorps wrote:Hi there! Those are some nice sternguard Gits, isn't that about twenty, twenty-five know?
Srry, i've been lurking the forums for awhile, so I do have a few favorite threads(This among them). I really like the tranquilities, but I think the camo schemes were nerfed in the Badab War. Are you moulding those guys yourself 108 pages man, reading it all would drive most people to insanity, and don't get me wrong, I read The Founding in 1 & 1/2 days, but the jumble of a forum is just nuts. I did read quite a few of the pages on this though. How are things 1&2 doing, speaking of which, thing 2s thread has just sat there for awhile, is he out of the hobby?
Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too platy! Actually when I finish these I'll have a grand total of 8, so not even a full squad yet! Yeah, it's not so much a P&M blog as a rolling narrative on my hobby... but splitting it up would only weaken it to the point of irrelevancy.

Gathering Storm wrote:Excellent posing their Gits. I prefer the Melta Marine to the other Sternguard but I'm still likin' those Sniper Bolters.

Thanks GS! Like I said, it's my favorite too!

perplexiti wrote:
I think you might be getting your wires crossed here, it's only plasma weapons that use the gets hot rule, so your combi-meltas will be fine. Oh unless you mean that vengeance ammo, if that's what you meant ignore my ramblings!...

Yep, that's what I was referring to.

Sageheart wrote:those are some really nice sternguard!

Danke'


Well, got out the pigments and worked on the impact craters... I think they're better now. Also finished the flamer so I guess he's basically done with the exception of the back of the base. I'll do one more front shot when I get his HK missiles painted and attached.

Is this closer to what you are thinking about for the Termie head Gits?





I have sharpened up the inner edge of the mandibles as well to make them look less organic.

That is a (IM(not)HO) the perfect MW Termi head. If you share any of these heads out gits, I'm calling one now.

that boltpistol...am I right in saying that they're from the FW character conversion kit?
If I am, what did you do with those sweet power fists, bionic limbs and plasma pistols it came with?

Didn't think you could do the head better. Mea culpa. It rocks.

Perfect BLACKHAND. Not chaos, but not vanilla either.

@Shrike: I'll use them eventually. Not on this particular army, but I'll use them when I expend it. I originally wanted to stick with the original RT equipment, but the original bolt pistols were just but-ugly... so I couldn't see using them on figures that were going to get so much effort.


Late night update: Got the base color on the two HK missiles done and the missiles magnetized (not easy). Also got the base color and first wash done on the two new sternguard. We're supposed to get another blizzard tomorrow so internet may be dodgy, but I hope to put the final (final) touches on the dread and finish yellowing up the sternguard, at which point I'll post pics of both.

Gits

Somewhere along the line I got the impression that marine armor wasn't painted the same way as normal... that the pigments were actually infused into the material rather than there being a "primer" as per normal.

In that case, I'll be shutting up now

As for the minis: love the movie-pose marine! Meltaguy looks cool as well, really looks like he's staring down something a lot bigger then he is.

Gitsplitta wrote:Somewhere along the line I got the impression that marine armor wasn't painted the same way as normal... that the pigments were actually infused into the material rather than there being a "primer" as per normal.

I had missed that part... I would have quite agreed with you Git, until a few lines in various books of the Horus Heresy line talked about the bare / unpainted / metal sheen Power Armour plates, that the Legion receive from the Forges of Mars... It seems the artificers HAVE to paint them, and I don't see any reason why they would bother re-melting the ceramite to infuse the colours within...

But your opinion was way more 'romantic', and something I had thought as well for years...

I guess, as many things in the far future, there are a lot of possible opinions / take on the events...

Well... ceramite is a ceramic... at least that's what I assume they're after. Ceramics don't melt, once their formed they only shatter. That's why they use ceramic tiles on the space shuttle. So I'd gotten the impression the the color would be part of the ceramite making process. Not that doesn't mean that you couldn't paint over the top of the armor, but the color of the original ceramite would be part of it's basic structure as it came from the factory (so to speak).

Guess that involves repainting the scratches terracotta?

I like the metallic chippings. However another wash or two might help to enrich it. I did a similar thing on my Black Templars dread and it seems fine. (link is in my sig).

I've also started work on the Dark Mechanicus Marine. I think it would make a great chaos mantid objective marker.

@GS: A wash of what color? Badab Black or something like Delvan Mud or Sepia?

Thing 2 and I are in the midst of a great game! My little Adepticon force vs. his Tyranids. He's a little short on anti-armor stuff for this army but a couple of squads of gene stealers can go a long way. Right now were deadlocked in turn 5 at 4 kill points each, and we both have the ability to score a couple of quick kills without much effort next turn (we did the roll already). He's afternoon with the other Nid player apparently payed some dividends as he started off with some tactical insights I'd never seen him use before and with a bit of guidance from me... he's given me quite a battle!.

One of the things with this little army of mine is that I have a ton of kill points to give away... 10 in only 1000 pts.

Some Devlan Mud would probably help make it darker but not too dark. I'm not completely sure though as the damage on my Dread was against black and not bright yellow.

Sorry for taking so long Gitsplitta, got side tracked by battlecry (NZ tourney). Here's the old mini's I was talking about. I stripped off 90% of the paint, but they'll still need some work. The guy who I got them off must of painted with house paint or something...



Let me know which, if any, you want.

Man some of those figures bring back memories... that tech marine on the top row has been my tech marine forever... right now he's standing in for my MoTF...

OK, the one's Im interested in...

top row, L-R: #2, #4
bottom row: #2, #5 & #6

Those are so cool vent... thank you!

Gitsplitta wrote:Man some of those figures bring back memories... that tech marine on the top row has been my tech marine forever... right now he's standing in for my MoTF...

OK, the one's Im interested in...

top row, L-R: #2, #4
bottom row: #2, #5 & #6

Those are so cool vent... thank you!

No worries. You want the capes/packs to go with the captains?

Yes please.

First cast of the termie head, TechMantis and the Big Ol' Bug 'Ead .TM



Gave them a wash of Devlan Mud to show the detail, they look a little messy but believe me they are crisp and bubble free.

Cheers,

BLACKHAND

vent wrote:Sorry for taking so long Gitsplitta, got side tracked by battlecry (NZ tourney). Here's the old mini's I was talking about. I stripped off 90% of the paint, but they'll still need some work. The guy who I got them off must of painted with house paint or something...



Let me know which, if any, you want.

Haha, the bottom row #5 is an awesome model, I have the space wolf version of that model.

I love the standard bearer model, you be up for a swap/payment for him? (assuming you and nobody else wants him of course)

Awesome work Blackhand, I am jealous of your sculpting and casting abilities! Gits' models are going to look amazing.

@BLACKHAND: They all look fantastic! Love the big 'ol bug head! LOL Be nice to have that technical head... have a bunch of trooper classes that would be most appropriate for. (tech marines, apothecaries, devastators, etc).