Thank you everyone! I am quite pleased with the way it's developing... let's hope that keeps up.
Dr H wrote:For the purity seals, you could make it look like he's ripped most (but not all) of the paper off leaving the seal with a scrap of torn paper still attached. Probably not easy if they are molded on seals tho. Just a thought.
Unfortunately the seals are molded in to a large extent... neat idea but not doable on this sculpt.
Yggdrasil wrote:Hey hey, on its way to be a awesome model !!! Love the white on the helmet, looks crisp & clean !!
The most important critic! Glad you like it Yggs, more spiffyness to come. It probably doesn't show on the pic but the helmet is actually bone blended to white. It's subtle... but I like the slightly off-white base rather than just a pure white. Gives more interest I think.
Moltar wrote:Dee-Zaamn! That dude looks awesome, Gits! I love that helmet too. It works for everything. Yellows look good, as usual. Excited to see him with the Tranquility pattern applied.
Me too. Should be an interesting exercise. (and thanks!)
Cutthroatcure wrote:I love that plasma cannon!
Thanks Ctc... more glowing stuff will be forthcoming.
cormadepanda wrote:very nice models gits. Simply love those plasma cannons.
Thanks!
BLACKHAND wrote:Perhaps as part of your "subtle" Chaosifying you could add barbs to the Tranquility pattern, just a thought , he is looking great so far!
An excellent idea, but Yggs and I have conspired to develop another idea for the camo pattern... one I think you're going to like.
monkeytroll wrote:Looking great at just the yellow stage
I like the idea of defacing the seals somehow - might be tricky to show well though, I thought of crossing it all out or drenching them in blood, but not sure how well that would actually translate on a mini. Maybe blank out the text and add partial chaos stars to the parchment - depending on colour that might work over the top of the script.
At what point did you and I start sharing a brain?? I'll leave my decision over what to do to the seals until the very end... we'll see how the figure looks & what it calls for then.
nerdfest09 wrote:i really just love your yellow Gits! it looks so rich and lustrous i'm jealous I don't have the balls to try it yet! :-)
Not all that complicated... but I've had a lot of practice so I guess it would seem pretty easy by now. My main hint is to just keep in mind that all yellows (save for the "base" colors) are translucent. To be good at painting yellow... figure out how to use this to your advantage rather than trying to fight it. Wet blending is a fantastic way to do yellow & I still think it gives the best results... even though I airbrush most stuff now-a-days. If I were to do a GD entry... I'd wet blend it. It's easy and fairly quick too. There's a yellow tutorial burried somewhere in the blog that shows my wet-blended yellow technique. I think there's a link to it from the OP. Yep... there it is... down below the battle report links.
Yggdrasil wrote:Hey hey, on its way to be a awesome model !!! Love the white on the helmet, looks crisp & clean !!
The most important critic! Glad you like it Yggs, more spiffyness to come. It probably doesn't show on the pic but the helmet is actually bone blended to white. It's subtle... but I like the slightly off-white base rather than just a pure white. Gives more interest I think.
I had guessed it wasn't just plain white... But it still looks great !!!!
BLACKHAND wrote:Perhaps as part of your "subtle" Chaosifying you could add barbs to the Tranquility pattern, just a thought , he is looking great so far!
An excellent idea, but Yggs and I have conspired to develop another idea for the camo pattern... one I think you're going to like.
Erh... Damn, I thought "our" idea was close to BH's one...
What about changing the script on the purity seals to daemonic symbols or something? The kind of thing that would be overlooked by the casual observer.
What I thought we had agreed on was that some of the "plants" in the camo pattern would actually be emerging from the model as if they were coming alive... forming menacing tendrils and such. Apparently I was mistaken as nearly everyone, including Yggs... things BLACKHAND's idea is the way to go. Though I admit I'm a bit fuzzy about what constitutes spines.
Now... Yggs has (privately) cast doubt on the fact that I can do the sculpting... effectively throwing his gauge at my feet. Not that he isn't supportive of my efforts mind you, he is... but I get a sense of lingering doubt. So... do I go with the common sense approach and do the painting that everyone wants and I know I can do successfully, or do I pick up the gauntlet and risk *-ing the whole figure up by trying the sculpting? (And just so you know, leaving this bit of sculpting for the last was on purpose... I thought it would interfere too much with the rest of the paint job to attempt first.) Keep in mind my GS-fu is weak.
Discuss.
OH, and for those of you who think this blog is a monster... I just noticed that one of dstein's blogs is at 420 pages.... 420!
...OK, you completely had me at hello...ermm...I mean sculpting the cammo pattern. That would be truely amazing if you could pull it off. Creating some vines with thorns shouldn't be too tough. The vines would be twisted ropes of green stuff and you could probably find some plastic toyrs or something plastic to cut up and make thorns out off. If you went with more of a leaf pattern, I believe that Insaniak has some good tutorials on making leaves. Of course most people do the sculpting first.
Oh, that is an amazing idea That would be very cool!
Try on a spare pair of legs first - if it feels right and looks good go for it on the actual mini. I'm assuming you're thinking of very small tendrils coming out - no larger than the actual camo patterns themselves? I think you can handle that, just need a practice first to convince yourslef mate
@wyfox: The sculpted camo pattern won't be spiney... that's tempting fate in my opinion. BUT, I appreciate the support.
@DrH & mt: I just KNEW that someone would suggest practicing. Where's the adrenaline rush in that??!! Heck... if I KNOW I can do it then it just becomes another technical exercise. I'm talkin' about living on the edge man... risking dozens of hours of work on a half-baked idea that I have no real grasp on how to accomplish. "Go big or go home!" That kind of macho BS stuff...
Which is the way I'd often go Gits - if it were a mini I wasn't planning to give to someone else I just hide those in the dark depths of my table till everyone's forgotten about them
Actually I do have a plan... and I think it's entirely doable, but we'll see. While I won't practice... I may do a bit of "experimentation".
I'm just glad people are still interested & hope I can continue to generate quality content. The problem with a blog this size it that it can put people off. You don't get "casual" readers because there's no way they can get up to speed without a major investment in time. The links in the OP are designed to help with that... but I suspect some folks are rightfully discouraged by the page count. Still... she's my baby.
"emerging from the model as if they were coming alive... forming menacing tendrils and such" is just as cool, if not more so. I may have suggested using thin (1/2mm) plasticard cutouts and gluing and curling on the base mini, but who am I to deprive you of some GS-fu practice (especially as you think you need it )
I'll be interested to see how the "model on later and paint" work out too - I always have difficulties with painting hard to reach spots I've modelled over...
As for page count, quality over quantity! Yours may no longer be the longest, but the per post quality given the length is incredible. There are a few of the longer blogs I gave up on long ago due to the excessive chattiness of the followers - good for them, less so for me, and I suspect more off putting that sheer page count...
Anyway - you have a dozen or so shorter blogs too - so I think your bases are covered
Arakasi wrote:"emerging from the model as if they were coming alive... forming menacing tendrils and such" is just as cool, if not more so. I may have suggested using thin (1/2mm) plasticard cutouts and gluing and curling on the base mini, but who am I to deprive you of some GS-fu practice (especially as you think you need it )
That's a good suggestion Arakasi, and one I have considered. Not all of the leaves would be coming alive at the same rate or to the same extent... and the plasticard would have the same 2-D look as the original paint job, which may be more appealing. I'll run some tests and see where we are once I have some examples.
Arakasi wrote:I'll be interested to see how the "model on later and paint" work out too - I always have difficulties with painting hard to reach spots I've modeled over...
Yeah... it's kind of a risk, but I spent some time mulling this over back when I was doing the building and something at that time made me feel this was the better course. I guess we'll find out soon enough.
As for page count, quality over quantity! Yours may no longer be the longest, but the per post quality given the length is incredible. There are a few of the longer blogs I gave up on long ago due to the excessive chattiness of the followers - good for them, less so for me, and I suspect more off putting that sheer page count...
Anyway - you have a dozen or so shorter blogs too - so I think your bases are covered
Well, this blog has wandered into chattiness from time-to-time as well, but I try to keep it true to it's P&M status. Having readers who add their own quality content is a big advantage.
weetyskemian44 wrote:Good to see your back on mantis warriors again. Love the glowing plasma.
Paper soaked in PVA huh? I will pinch that one day.
Hey weets! Glad you stopped by! Yes.... "not dead yet" I guess. The paper trick seems to be holding up pretty well, though it'll never be as tough as plasticard. Someone else mentioned that you could also soak it in super-glue (the proper name for that glue escapes me at the moment) and get the same effect.
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On a side note... deer hunting season starts tomorrow here in Wisconsin... so updates might be fewer while I go cool my jets in a tree. Don't worry... "no deer will be harmed during this exercise", I pretty much suck at deer hunting. I do like to be out in the woods though. Very peaceful and cathartic. - Cheers!
Well its like my grandpa used to say- A bad day hunting is better than a day at work! Haha Send me a steak, eh Gits?
Loving the chaos mantis so far, and have to say Im very very interested in the "plants coming alive" idea.
Were it me, Id probably go the plasticard route, but I super suck with GS so its not much of a surprise. I can sort of picture what youre going for, but a great deal of it is still a mystery to me. Ill be watching with interest...
Off my self-pitying route: Think thats a great idea! GS/Bitz/partially sculpted will all look excellent IMO, it just depends if you can find a technique that you like/ can do well, i have no doubt that this could be any of them, but its what you feel comfortable doing....also, machismo aside, practicing is a good idea...
also, if you want to put spines/spikes/some sort of thorn or leaf maybe (but evil) into or ontot the GS, then do you not have a stockpile of Chainswords or axes that you can snip blades off? Like you already do for the bladed arms/legs for the Mantis Warriors....And now i have to propose having one of those areas coming alive, as if something is growing beneath the blades and pushing them out to become more tendrils...
Hmmmm.... food for thought guys. The spines thing wasn't on my radar to be honest. Yes, I do have a ton of chainswords specifically for conversions. I'll keep my mind open to the possibilities. If my "scheme" doesn't work out, I'll need a good fall-back plan.
Hunting Report: Have seen 3 does, 6 fawns, 2 red fox, piliated woodpecker at close range and a million noisy little birds & squirrels. I don't shoot mamas with fawns (it's legal to shoot does and fawns here) so just enjoyed the view. One set came within 30' feet of me. Weather in unseasonably warm so it's been a real joy to sit in the woods. No work on the minis but Thing 1 and I are embroiled in a 3400 point game and Thing 2 is building his own terrain!
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3400 pt. game with Thing 1 is amazingly fun. Very push/shove. Basically who's winning depends on who's just gotten their turn. Right now it looks like I have a commanding lead but I think his next turn is going to shift the balance. We're kind of playing things out a turn every day or so. I am taking a few pics so will have something to show when it's done. This is without question the largest battle I've been in since probably 2nd edition. We're letting Thing 2 roll to see if orks pop out of the ruins (so he can join in)... so far a small squad of boys has wiped out one of my devastator squads and gretchin have annoyed both his scarabs and one of my sternguard squads.
It actually looks decent when not super-magnified... but as I said, a quick-and-dirty job. Paints weren't thinned enough for real wet blending effects.
Next step, I'll paint one or two of the camo florets to use as our yard marker, then on to the GS work.
Thanks Red, really nice to have you back. Prompted me to take a look at your Night Lords blog. Very impressive work. Love to see those old minis with life breathed into them again.
I tried, but I can't get there from here. Will check it out this evening.
I'll be honest... no. Not that I in any way object to it in principal... I think it's great that they're finally addressing this in some formal way. I just have way too much to paint. I'm trying to advance or maintain 5 armies already and get around to putting the final touches on 1 more. I'm just swamped. Much as I would love to get into it, there's no room in my life for another army and/or gaming system. There's a reason poor Yggs has been waiting a year for his marine and BLACKHAND and Inmygravenimage have been waiting a lot longer. I spent the summer tying up loose (painting) ends & am still trying to finish up my marine swaps. I picked an army for Adepticon so I had to paint as few figures as possible while still providing a viable army for my team. I'm divesting myself of most of my Eldar. Just too much 40k for one man to handle (well, this man anyway). Time to start picking my battles.
My bad, the link didn`t work. Should be sorted now.
Yeah I can see that without a doubt. For me it`s two things:
1) the mystery is kinda gone now with minis for everything on it`s way.
2) FW is just way over my budget, at least as far as army building goes. I have indulged myself and bought a contemptor for myself as a christmas present though.
One thing I`ve done the last two years is setting a clear goal with the armies I build. This being the comps for the tournies I can attend to. Even if I struggle with hobby ADD as most of us do this has helped me in completing two armies for WHFB in two years and well on my way for two more for 40K (Wolfwing and Night Lords) sometime next year.
As a last question for this time. Do you really own that much vintage/OOP stuff or do you re-cast? I`m nearing the end of my supplies and I consider on trying out instant mold to get some more at hand before I build and paint all of it.
I own it. A decent chunk was stuff that I purchase new (at the time), another chuck was purchased used, a third chunk has been gifts from well-wishers... which are totally undeserved but very gratefully accepted.
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So, here we have the normally painted test left leg (or right as you look at it). The tendril leg is the right leg (or left as you look at the photo). The bottom of the grouping on the right outer leg isn't quite as blobby as it looks in the picture, just hard to get a good angle with the camera. It was also my first attempt. The inner leg and thigh tendrils look better as I got some practice.
Gitsplitta wrote:There's a reason poor Yggs has been waiting a year for his marine and BLACKHAND and Inmygravenimage have been waiting a lot longer.
*cough* 26th January 2011 *cough*
Gitsplitta wrote:So, here we have the normally painted test left leg (or right as you look at it). The tendril leg is the right leg (or left as you look at the photo). The bottom of the grouping on the right outer leg isn't quite as blobby as it looks in the picture, just hard to get a good angle with the camera. It was also my first attempt. The inner leg and thigh tendrils look better as I got some practice.
Not bad.
Hey, it looks great indeed ! I have to admit, the "inner leg" tendrils do look much better than the "outer leg" ones...
I guess it'll look awesome on a chaosified Marine !
(Also... Now you just have to put a torso & base on that pair of legs, for it'd be a waste not to use them !!! )
Hell yeah Gits! that looks wicked! I love the 'carnage symbiote' feel to the legs where the camo wraps around! you need to add a whole body now! getting progressively more chaos-y
I like that a lot, Gits. The inner leg is a little better, butbI almost like the way the camo on the outer leg pops. On the inner leg, though, I like how subtle it is. It looks like, at a certain angle, you might not notice it's 3d.
I really like your interpretation of the camo pattern. It could have looked overly cheesy but it doesn`t look that at all. Btw, I want to see more guys without helms like the epic heavy flamer marine you made last year or something like that
Man, you love yellow, don't you ? Did you get a price reduction on yellow paints ? ^^
It's good to see a non-common Space Marines Chapter.
I really like the plasma launchers. The blue OSL litterally pops up on the yellow armour. Well done. And I love these old-school models by the way.
I would suggest on the final mini that only some of the camo is fully alive, some painted on as normal and some inbetween with one or two of the prongs alive and the rest still painted on. It would give the impression that it's a dynamic process that's not complete.
The funny thing is that the hardest thing to do is getting the damn GS to stick to the figure and not whatever I'm trying to apply it with!
@Dr H: An excellent suggestion and one that I've already started on the test mini. I don't know if you can see it but none of the camo florets (not even the outside leg one) are completely tendrilized. On the main mini... it'll be a mix of painted, sculpted & partially sculpted.
@Minus: Thanks for stopping & commenting. You'd think I'd get some kind of discount by now wouldn't you? They just smile and take my money. I'm pleased with the way the plasma cannons turned out. Still room for improvement, but a good start.
@Red: Problem is I have kind of a philosophical problem with marines in combat without their helms... but I'm not ruling them out, I do have plenty of bare heads in my bits box to play with.
@YB: I actually struggled with that when taking the photos. Even the pattern on the outside leg isn't all that obvious depending on the angle. You really have to be able to manipulate the figure to have the sculpted bits jump out at you.
@Yggs & NF: I guess I can finish it at some point. Put it up for trade or something (so the next person doesn't have to wait 23 months for theirs). *sigh*
@Yggs: Glad you like it ol' son. I think it'll look good and I can do some fun stuff with the extending tendrils that I don't do with normally painted florets.
Gitsplitta wrote: The funny thing is that the hardest thing to do is getting the damn GS to stick to the figure and not whatever I'm trying to apply it with!
@Dr H: An excellent suggestion and one that I've already started on the test mini. I don't know if you can see it but none of the camo florets (not even the outside leg one) are completely tendrilized. On the main mini... it'll be a mix of painted, sculpted & partially sculpted.
Oh I see. So they are... Eyesight fail. Carry on.
And yeah getting putty to stay where you want it and not keep coming off with your finger or impliment is blooming tricky. Water is supposed to stop it sticking to the tools, but it difficult to get the tool wet and not the putty and then it still won't stay stuck to the mini... I've seen Vaseline is supposed to work well to stop it sticking, maybe coating your tool will help.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, that does mean that the GS gets covered in Vaseline and would require cleaning before painting and if you're like me, you'll break it off while cleaning it...
That's why I suggested making the tendrils separate from the mini and then sticking them on afterwards.
Water helps, but you can use a little vaseline to really help slide it off your finger or sculpting tool.
I think the tendrils from the camo look really good and honestly, better than I expected (no offense). I don't think what I was picturing in my head was the same, but now I really like the effect and you've done a great job with it. Yggs's guy should look totally awesome when he's done.
Throwing in my 2 cents on GS- I just lick my tools all the time. keeps them wet and prevents sticking. Ive also heard of people waiting like 15 mins after mixing GS before they work with it. Id imagine it gets less tacky.
@Alf: Thanks! Moderation my friend... it's the key when engaging in "risky" behavior.
@Dr H: I had heard about the water and Vaseline tricks... but since this was a Q&D mock-up I did't bother... also I painted them immediately after attaching them, don't think that would've worked if they were all lubed up! I'm just too impatient to build it on one mini, wait for it to cure, then move it to another... though in my limited experience the less you move GS'd objects around, the better.
@Moltar: None taken mate, it was something I *thought* should be pretty straight forward but you never know until you try it.
@Ramos: Thanks! I have experimented with that before. It's also less likely to pick up finger prints or tool marks. To get it to adhere to the mini I'd have to add a little super glue... not a big deal, but not something I was going to venture on a test model. Also I wouldn't be able to position the tendrils to take advantage of the model's form... well, not as nicely as I can if the tendrils are soft when attached.
I have been thinking over my experience and I think there's a very minor thing I can do that will help make them blend at the base better. Not sure how much time I'll have over the Thanksgiving holiday... but I think I'm close to the final push. Might need some "private time" after T-day dinner which would be great for some intense, focused modeling.
Have 'em. Been using them to smooth out the applied tendril but not to transfer it... I do need the tendril to stick to whatever's moving it with being deformed too badly by the contact.
Oh, then if you're still having problems with sticking, waiting 15-30 mins for it to partially cure works well. Though you do have to be careful not to mix too much, as the added waiting time means that it hardens quicker (obviously)
edit: just saw your edit, perhaps make the tendrils first, let them cure, stick them on, and then apply a little gs to smooth the join?
For sculpting woes - I recently made the switch from Greenstuff to Milliput, and it's so, so much easier to work with (as well as being cheaper). I somewhat doubt I'll be going back to Greenstuff now.
I find it lasts a bit longer than the Greenstuff (when working with it) and is a lot smoother. I've just been using the GW scultping tool and a little damp and away it goes. It's closer to working with a sort of... rubberised clay than anything at the end of the day.
I find it great for bulk work, or for vehicles and scenery. It has very good properties, ie it dries incredibly hard so sanding and cutting to shape is no problem.
You mix it like an epoxy putty, but mould it like clay, using water to solvate it. You can make gap-filling solutions, its essentially water soluble.
Its great for gap-filling on minis, but i find it too coarse and soft when attempting to sculpt detail, and prefer GS.
Essentially have a mess around with it and see how it fares in your own experience.
(I have found a 50:50 GS:Milliput mix works tremendously though. It combines the excellent detail properties of gs, with the easier workability of the milliput, and it dries stronger, and takes to sanding/cutting better.)
That's interesting, I wouldn't have thought the two different compounds would mix. Do you mix each compound first then combine them, or mix all four ingredients together in one mass??
Thanks for the details guys, I'll definitely give the milliput a shot.
I use milliput silver grey, it's as smooth as I could ask for. I can't compare it to GS as I've not used that and I'm still learning to use milliput so can't comment on how easy it is to do small details, but I seem to be managing ok. There's a few examples in my blog, but they may not be the best examples as I'm hardly the best of sculptors...
I do love catching up with your thread Gits, as always fantastic work, you are a great painter and have some really nice ideas.
And your dedication always impresses me, keep up the good work
Gitsplitta wrote: That's interesting, I wouldn't have thought the two different compounds would mix. Do you mix each compound first then combine them, or mix all four ingredients together in one mass??
Ive only tried it a few times, but its very cool, i do agree its odd though, given the two seemingly different properties of the compounds.
I mixed gs and milliput separately, as i would normally, then just mixed them 50:50.
I cant give any better advice than just try it all out. Most of all experiment. Experiment with different ratios of blue/yellow in greenstuff (60/40 for standard gs work, add more yellow for more organic textures), get some brownstuff for armour, For weapons and inorganic stuff use milliput (superfine is prob the best, but any milliput works). Experiment with mixing the different putties in different ratios. Some of the properties of mixtures can eliminate nearly all the weaknesses of the putties involved.
Interesting Vit... I've always mixed GS 50/50... just because that's the way I thought it was supposed to be done (not that I'm very accurate measuring mind you. I'll definitely do some experimentation. Thanks for the help!
Gitsplitta wrote: Interesting Vit... I've always mixed GS 50/50... just because that's the way I thought it was supposed to be done (not that I'm very accurate measuring mind you. I'll definitely do some experimentation. Thanks for the help!
The basics of greenstuff is a chemical reaction based on heat of you kneading it, etc.. If you add a little bit more of one color you either increase your durability or you increase your working time. Play around sometime gits
Standard gs should be 60y/40b, and for the most squishy organics 75y/25b is about the limit. Any more yellow and it wont cure.
More yellow increases curing time and makes the putty more flexible when set. More blue decreases curing time, but results in a more durable, yet brittle putty.
edit: Im always surprised by how many people use a 50/50 mix for whatever gs work theyre doing, lol
What about grey stuff rather than green stuff? Milliput I find can be problematic, but grey really firms up well. It also takes a hard edge properly, in a way that green doesn't.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Loving your work btw! The wet blends were a bit jelly beany I feared but turned out really well.
Well, the wet blends were on experimental legs... doesn't really matter how it turns out. What is grey stuff and the afore-mentioned brown stuff? Never heard of them...
They are both analogous to green stuff essentially, but with different properties. Brown stuff cures a lot harder than gs, and takes to finishing with tools after curing (eg. sanding cutting etc) so much better, it also holds a fine edge better. Doesnt do organics so well though.
Not had a chance to test out grey stuff but i assume its the same deal as brown and green, with different properties again.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Some useful articles i found:
No, actually it's quite useful. My modeling "skills" are bad, so any advice I can get will help.
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O.K., so I made some progress on the tranquility vanguard tonight. I'm going to do this in stages to give the GS time to harden before I do the next batch of tendrils so I don't man-handle the soft GS bits. So far so good. Question is do you want to see pics of each stage, or wait until all the GS work is done (probably several days)?
Looking good so far Gits, I find the detrimental effect that close up photography has on GS work is even worse than for painting. Joins and edges that looked crisp and smooth suddenly look rough as guts and finger prints arrive out of nowhere!
Not that I can see any of that in those pics BTW I just hate taking close ups of my work
I had to follow the link to get it (i do not know my American Football teams at. all. ), but now i have its pretty funny Yggs!
Gits, i like how the tendrils are going, are you still planning on keeping part of each camo shape as flat as well as the 3D GS bits? As i think thats an excellent idea to keep things subtle (and mess with peoples heads if they aren't looking at it properly)...
Ah... the Packers shirt. Actually I'm a Bears fan, but I do appreciate the thought. (and the Packers are looking much better than the Bears right now anyway)
Trample us? We're Wisconsinites...not petite french men (well, OK I resemble a petite french man...but then I am a pariah). We possess 200lbs of cheese and sausage impregnated flesh that has the resiliancy of a bean bag chair filled with Milwaukee brewed beer. You can't trample us...you have no way of knocking us down...hell you couldn't even budge us.
wyomingfox wrote: We possess 200lbs of cheese and sausage impregnated flesh that has the resiliency of a bean bag chair filled with Milwaukee brewed beer. You can't trample us...you have no way of knocking us down...hell you couldn't even budge us.
Actually, the toughest part is that you're never certain you've really knocked us down in the first place. Sitting, standing, flat on our backs... we pretty much have the same profile.
O.k this is getting weird for me! I know nothing about American football and those fans are aren't even dressed up! we see that gak every day down under! (maybe not the cheese bra)
Yup - from (titles) "Fimo", through "Cloak" and "Putties" - they went through various putty properties with us (any discrepancies, lack of info etc is most likely my note taking abilities - or lack of) and we also mixed GS with Wood Putty to bulk out the base of where the cloak would go.
So yeah - there is a lot more to sculpting than 50/50 GS!
I switched onto this blog, saw the guy above and nearly inhaled custard. I think I'm scarred for life. Anyway, liking the tendril idea, can't wait to see That vet finished.
OK guys, GS work is done. Pics on the morrow I think. - Gits
@LoD: Sorry mate, Packer fans are a rather frightening bunch. They are our version of "soccer hooligans" except that they assault your senses rather than using their fists.
It's done... just can't remember if Yggs wanted me to flock the base or leave it plain. Pics when I'm sure it's finished. Tomorrow hopefully... it's been a long, stressful weekend and I need sleep.
Wait... I've found it... I am supposed to base him. No problem. Tomorrow... I'm still wiped & need sleep.
Brother Duciss, fallen Vanguard and former defender of the Mantis Warrior home world of Tranquility.
"Duce" is slang for a 2 in cards. Here it represents a duality of nature in this marine who used to faithfully serve the causes of the Emperor of Man... but now serves only the Ruinous Powers.
Much as I hate to say this because when do, it usually dooms what I'm talking about to critical failure... I think I agree. For me... what sets this figure apart from most everything else I've done is that there were no compromises. This is pretty much exactly what I envisioned... that just doesn't happen very often, especially for a model as complicated as this one.
Outstanding Gits, its not where i thought you were going with it (i was thinking it would be more corrupted than that), but i think i like this even more! Yggs you are a lucky man....
I don't do "subtle" often... but I really wanted to focus on that with this figure. For some reason, it's an approach I tend to take with the few chaos-inspired figures I've done. I guess I see corruption as a slow process and I find the early stages more interesting than the latter.
And totally agreed, i find that while the slavering monster of Chaos is scary, the slow loss of mind/morals and the stigmata of mutation body downright terrifying! Hence, i think, why i love the subtle approach you have done here Gits....
Subtle is the key here Gits! like a warm stroke on the cheek before someone slaps you! the creeping chaos is perfect, at first glance it's a tranq vet, then second look, he's kinda chaos, then third look, he's totally turning! this is as others have stated, some of your best work yet!! both painting and modeling are top notch! bloody good job mate!
Damo
Automatically Appended Next Post: Rollllllloverrrrrrrrrr!! Grrrrrr!
Very Nice. I like how you have to concentrate when you look at it and think "is that bit just painted on, or is it 3D...Oh that bit's 3D".
Tendrils are good.
Alf, I'm not sure I see what you're describing. There are some bare green areas on the undersides of some of the tendrils where I must have missed it with the brush. I'll try to address those. Forgot to do the OSL on the jump pack jets anyway so it'll need a bit more work. At some point I may not worry about the GS that really buried up against the pack as risking getting black on the pack isn't worth covering up some sliver of green that you can only see under intense magnification.
Amazing work Gits!! You can feel the action in that pose! Its a shame you have to part with him.
I think you should give up the quest to become loyal and just turn to Chaos...
C'mon you know you want to...its so fun and easy... no more suicide missions! Just the pleasure of the Blood of others. I believe there is an army waiting in Maelstrom for some renegade marines, mind you yellow is not their colour but what does that matter!?
That's fine, I wouldn't fix it if it were me lol, but if you look at the pic you posted and look at the middle pic on the bottom, it's sitting just above the vent on the his left side (our right side) about parallel with the top of his helm, and in the top left pic you can see it's sitting just above the corner of that front vent..
The marine is awesome though, I just didn't notice it last night... sorry.
There are other slivers of green I see, but they're not worth it to fix, simply because they're in line with the rest of the tendril. I only mentioned the bit I saw because it was just kinda hanging there.
I got my gs out for the Malifaux painting contest... It's not very good lol, but I mean I got a lot of work to do before I can claim any gs skill like I've seen on this site.
I'm not very good either... you've just got to keep hammering away at it I guess. Practice, practice, practice.... It's not very sexy but eventually you've GOT to get better, right?
Gitsplitta wrote: I'm not very good either... you've just got to keep hammering away at it I guess. Practice, practice, practice.... It's not very sexy but eventually you've GOT to get better, right?
Yeah, I've improved since the last time I tried to gs something, simply because I couldn't find my sculpting tools, so I had to use my fingers and the effect is pretty good... Though it would be better if I had tools lol...
I should mention that the tire there is a Zinge Industry freebee. Zinge always seems to toss in a miscast or so with an order... a practice which has found it's way onto more than one model.
Now if I could only get them to make an entire sprue of normally sized chain sword blades... (sigh)
The piece is stunning. I really think it is your best to date. The base really sets it off, but it's the whole package. I feel compelled to vote, and 10s at that. Can't fault it - epic work.
That's very kind of you graven, I appreciate whatever votes I can get... 10s or not.
I'm mulling over what I should do next. I picked up this really neat ork figure off ebay that I think I'll do as a fun mini-break. Then back to the marines. Next up... 4 las cannons. 3 for my regular MW army and a las cannon-armed, deathwatch scout I started for graven's competition but never finished (also his GMS marine). If I get ambitious I'll build the rest of the models needed for my adepticon army (which isn't much... 4 or 5 bolter marines) so I can air brush the whole thing at once.
@Yggs: Ah, finally... the opinion that matters most! Glad you like it my friend... it's been a long time coming. Yes, he's "subtle" by GW chaos standards... but he's long beyond the ability to mix in with normal men.
Top notch, the base, as previously mentioned really set the model perfectly, the only gripe for me would be is the white faceplate gets a little lost on the yellow, I think it may have been more striking with a dark color on the face. Of course that's what I see and over all that model is totally badass!
Gitsplitta wrote: @Yggs: Ah, finally... the opinion that matters most! Glad you like it my friend... it's been a long time coming. Yes, he's "subtle" by GW chaos standards... but he's long beyond the ability to mix in with normal men.
Just read something on PinsOfWar.net that matches your point (see #4 in here) : we don't see enough "subtle" corruption in the renegade / chaos concepts...
I love it when the "valiant & proud" become the "bitter & patronizing"...
I have to admit to now being ridiculously over excited about my mini even more so because I have a specific use for it (lascannon teams of DW as part of an ally contingent for gks).
My fav parts are the hinged chainswords which are totally awesome and actually look functional and that CSM helmet. It`s stock I know but it`s still very cool
thing 2 and I played a quick game yesterday afternoon. He took eldar vs. my proposed Adepticon army (so... 1000 pts). He kicked my butt. I've written up a short battle report but I'm unsure where to post it. Do I...
a) post it here because it's a Mantis Warriors battle
b) post it on the Nid blog because that's usually where Thing 2's stuff in exhibited
c) post it in the regular battle reports section. Keep in mind, this isn't one of my normal, complicated bat reps... it's just a quickly with a few pictures.
Anyway, I want to give him his moment in the sun... so where do you think would be most appropriate?
This blog will give you the most traffic, plus its about the MW. Though I always advocate posting in the batrep forum regardless of where else you put it.
Having read it over quickly - that's fair enough (though maybe +10% next time? xD)
I think putting the Bikes in Reserve might have been a mistake and think that having them on the field would have made a difference, specially with his warlord trait, and it ultimately bit you in the ass.
As to the Reapers... I don't know, I fully intend to field 1-2 squads in my Eldar army when I get round to it, they seem brutal.
Hey Gits, here's a tease for you :-) I had some time on my break to work on the armour for your MW! it's coming along nicely I think! I can't wait to get into the details!
Link to yet another battle report staring Thing 2 vs. my presumptive Adepticon army. You guys will probably get really sick of these as their'll probably be a lot of them.
I like these batreps as they`re neither to short nor to long so I bother reading the entire thing
I hope my boys will be interested in gaming when they get a bit older, my eldest is seven now and the last two 3 and 5. Would be good times in the household with some proper wargaming (unless they`ve inherited SWMBO`s competetive flair..).
As for the army list, I feel it might be a bit vulnerable on the "mobility" side to me...
5/6 of the missions are objective-based, so you'd rather have some scoring units that can roam the battlefied freely IMHO !!
Tossing in a Rhino (or DP, as you so like them) should help you, I hope... As it stands, the Scout Bike squad is your only mobile unit, and it's non-scoring...
Also, I'm also struggling with that myself, but the loadout of your squads seem a bit "too versatile" too me...
As for the Tac squads, why not try 1x Anti-Armour and 1x Anti-Personnel, rather than 2x "Anti-everything" ?
I know 1k games are all about tactical flexibility, but bolters are good AP weapons already...
On a side note, those Batreps are nice to read, as they are short & dynamic ! Keep them up !
As for the army list, I feel it might be a bit vulnerable on the "mobility" side to me...
5/6 of the missions are objective-based, so you'd rather have some scoring units that can roam the battlefied freely IMHO !!
Tossing in a Rhino (or DP, as you so like them) should help you, I hope... As it stands, the Scout Bike squad is your only mobile unit, and it's non-scoring...
I struggle with this myself... a rhino maybe... but a pod doesn't do much for me that Redth's infiltration won't already do... and it's a one-shot deal. If I'm going to drop the points, I'd rather have something that'll work beyond deployment.
Also, I'm also struggling with that myself, but the loadout of your squads seem a bit "too versatile" too me...
As for the Tac squads, why not try 1x Anti-Armour and 1x Anti-Personnel, rather than 2x "Anti-everything" ?
I know 1k games are all about tactical flexibility, but bolters are good AP weapons already...
I'm not sure what your getting at. With only one special and one heavy weapon, by options are kind of limited. I guess that's why you combat squad, so you have the long-range support element separate from the close range, AP element. Perhaps if you gave me an example?
On a side note, those Batreps are nice to read, as they are short & dynamic ! Keep them up !
Gitsplitta wrote: I struggle with this myself... a rhino maybe... but a pod doesn't do much for me that Redth's infiltration won't already do... and it's a one-shot deal. If I'm going to drop the points, I'd rather have something that'll work beyond deployment.
I hadn't got that "Infiltrate USR" thing, sorry... Is he a, IA special character ?
I'd definitely go for Rhino, but since you seemed to enjoy DPs a while ago... I just mentioned them !
I'm not sure what your getting at. With only one special and one heavy weapon, by options are kind of limited. I guess that's why you combat squad, so you have the long-range support element separate from the close range, AP element. Perhaps if you gave me an example?
Let's say :
- Tac squad 1 : Combi-flamer, Flamer, Plasma Cannon : that's some tough AP firepower !
- Tac squad 2 : Combi-melta, Meltagun or Plasmagun, Lascannon : that one's more AT-focused !
As for combat squadding, you can have half a squad with bolter-only models, while all the other "specials" (Sgt, Special, Heavy) regroup in the other one !
Hey Yggs... didn't want you thinking I'd forgotten about your GMS marine. I tidied up some of the florets and added the OSL. Here's a quick pic. The OSL is actually the same on both jets, they just look off because of the way the lights were hitting it in the photo booth.
Is the mini as 'clean' as it appears in that photo? As i have to say that one of the things i liked from before (the original pic) was that it was a bit....dirtier than other Tranq Vets. Not as bright and with more of the Devlan Mud (assumed) wash showing rather than the bright yellow....just a query
When I was repairing some of the black areas, I had to hit some spots with white, then paint again with yellow, but it didn't quite have the same look as the airbrushed original so I hit a number of high spots with a very dilute golden yellow so the repaired areas wouldn't stand out. It may have brightened up the high spots a bit, but just a bit. The rest is as sepia laden as it's always been. I honestly don't think it's changed the character of the figure, hope so anyway. I also liked the gritty feel of the figure.
OK cool, it may just be me noticing a non existent difference tbh, but thought i would mention it. Its especially evident to me along the joins on the extended chainsword where it looked almost rusted before, but that may have been a bit that you cleaned up and it just stands out to me and makes me see the whole of the model as different when it isnt. Otherwise the model is great, and yeah, the gritty, dirty feel is what really makes me like this model, it just highlights the Chaos corruption to me as well....
Not useless at all Yggs... that, along with some other comments got rolled around into a second variation of the list which I'm considering experimenting with. I'll admit I'm very reluctant to go away from the las cannons in the tac squads because they'll never be any cheaper... and having that extra point of strength has proven very useful.
So, I give up Redth's abilities (infiltrating, null zone... which I think I'm going to miss, the las cannon in the Dev squad and the bikes. I gain scoring sternguard (both for me and my team mate) who can sit in the back on an objective and plasma things. Pedro's significant shooting (anti-terminator IIRC) and assault capability, two mobile tactical squads, the Aegis line (a little anti-air + guaranteed cover) and Pedro's orbital bombardment. The mobility of the tac squads might be a fallacy though as the rhinos will be ridiculously easy to pop. As such, they may not live long enough to do anything valuable... but I'm willing to experiment.
I keep 4 units with heavy weapons and, save for the commander... the flavor of the army. Besides... I have an Aegis line in the box that's calling to me. I still have over 30 marines which was one of our team's initial ideas. The biggest loss for me will be the ability to infiltrate my army. I am notoriously poor at deploying and being able to infiltrate the whole shebang usually helps me do so in an intelligent fashion. Losing Null Zone is a big blow too, especially with the meta favoring terminators now-a-days.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Just got done building and converting these beauties. (thanks Damo!)
When combined with the las cannons, they become my next project!
Yay ;-) looking good Gits! really cool models all together! I particularly like the flamer guy the best so far, the MK6 corvus helm looks good on that armour! the Umbra Ferrox guns looks wicked too! I love those Bolters!
Yeah, the flamer is my favorite. I tried to mix up the bolters a little bit. Unfortunately I could only get one of the old bolters to work, but I like the mix. The real challenge was getting the old style shoulder pads on them It's tricky because you have to cut them off the original arms then hollow them out to go over the shoulder. They're still bigger than the original figures, but they don't look too out of place once you get rid of the massive modern shoulder pads. I used a heat gun to warm up the left arms and hands so I could wrap the fingers around the guns properly. That flamer isn't actually glued on... but it's held tightly in the marine's hands!
Well, all the hard work paid off! I was being sincere when i said i like them! ;-) the pads look the business and if you need any different bolters I've got a few kicking around the Nerd Lair somewhere!
Thanks Red. I just realized I need to do chainsaw blade ornamentation on all those guys... *sigh*.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Final pic of Brother Duciss. This is after cleanup and OSL. I decided I'm going to start signing my trade marines, not that I think I'm "all that" but I have a foam tray filled with really cool trade marines and I can't remember who's is who's for the most part. Shame that... have to dig through the GMS blog to sort things out.
If he looks neon in this pic... it's the lighting. He's more subdued IRL.
Thanks SL. I think I'm going to quit labeling figures as "final" as they never quite seem to be. Perhaps I'm getting lazy & not seeing things like I used to... who knows? But... I was going to do the OSL anyway, I just got excited at having the rest of the figure done and pulled the trigger a little early on the big photo spread. Still, pretty happy that after his long wait Yggs is going to get a good quality miniature.
I've got some translucent red that I was going to use to gore it up a bit, but I want to experiment with the technique first before I put it on a really nice mini (probably on some orks). So I stuck with conventional techniques for Duciss here. Turned out OK.
That's what I have (well, different brand name but it's made by the same company). I have a great gore tutorial bookmarked somewhere that I've wanted to try out, but it took my FLGS a while to get the paint in. Will not be "experimenting" on Ygg's finished mini... but am kind of excited to add that little trick to my options IF I can get it to work.
Wow! nice model, now i just started looking at this thread, and this project seems like a pretty big deal, what model number is this? and i assume the fold out change swords is a play on the chapter name?
That's it!! Thats what I was looking for. All this time I couldn't figure out what to do with my purity seals and scrolls
... consider it stolen... but first I need a step by step on how you did it.
I think I read in the IA book that the Mantis Warriors, being a rather remotely situated chapter are very good at taking care of their equipment, so a mix of eras suits them well. Just realized I forgot to put the roundels on the shoulder pads. Ah well, that's easily taken care of later.
Unfortunately I managed to ruin my last Windsor & Newton brush somewhere... so now I'm back to painting with crap brushes. UUgh. They just made my Christmas list.
I managed to re-vamp an old figure for a last minute trade with Patmandude. An old apothecary that was missing an army and really didn't fit into either vision of my army anymore. So, I spruced him up a bit. I think I'm getting better at the OSL... it's less daunting at any rate. Should've picked a different color for the plasma coil though, my usual blue just blends right in.
He's got a little bit 'o gangsa goin' on so we named him Brother Jazzy-Julius.
Actually I've tried to convince some of the third party bits makers to make arms oriented like that... no luck so far. Finding arms that are fully extended is a real pain too. Can get really expensive buying bits to make conversions like this. (not that a single conversion is an issue... but if you wanted to really do a unit up right it would cost $$$)
Automatically Appended Next Post: My FLGS is hosting an Adpeticon practice tournament this weekend and I decided the build I want to experiment with uses an Aegis Defense Line. Which of course is still in the box. So last night while the wife decorated the tree (well, began the process)... I cranked out a test piece. Airbrushing is done on all pieces and the "insides" are just a bone color with a sepia wash (which I quite like). Going to be a real chore to get these done by Saturday given how booked my week is, but I might be able to do it (there's no painting score this weekend so it's not a tragedy if I don't get it done, just a matter of pride).
Two questions:
1. Does anyone know a source for Imperial posters and propaganda? Nerdy? Anyone?
2. So, I note that the boxed set does not come with an Icarus Las Cannon set up. Where does one find one of these? I actually have a second Aegis that I scavanged the guns off of years ago for my Rifleman dread.... if I could find the LCs I could put together a second line (probably in some other color scheme since you can't field two).
Hey, does anyone have the stat's on an Icarus handy? (or know them?) is it one shot, twin linked, what's the deelio? I'm mulling over conversion options.
If you google "40k, propaganda" a zillion of them appear. I shouldn't have any problems finding something appropriate.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
For wyomingfox: The early stages are the easy bits. A quick, light airbrushing of bone primer, then dark green primer on the front panels. Then two consecutive passes with lighter greens to give the zenithal effect, finally a sepia wash on the back to give it some character.
If someone would be so kind as to comment in some way (i.e. bump the thread), I'll have a further progress pic later tonight.
Looks excellent Gits! and you found a poster even before i jumped in here! :-) I got all mine from a fellow Dakkaite named TiB he had some on file and shot me an email with them which i just got my old man to re size and print for me!
I picked up a sheet of identical posters from somewhere here on Dakka, but I have to re-size them before I can use them. These I just snagged off the inernet.
Section 2 is done!
And here are the two together (from the back).
I think this officially qualifies as a "wall" now.
@Reiko: Thanks mate! Once I started working on it, it just seemed natural to "decorate" the inside of the wall where troopers would be spending long hours on watch. While I'm making this for my MWs, I kind of figured it was erected by some planetary governor and is usually staffed by Guard or Planetary Militia... so the decorations I've included reflect that.
@Nerdy: You are most kind sir. Especially since it was some of your more recent work that helped to inspire it!
@Alf: Thanks Alf. I didn't intend to really "paint" this... just throw it together for the tournament. But, as I got started... it's just kind of taken over & demanded better treatment.
@wyfox: Once you get a feel for you brush, airbrushing things like this because just so simple.... and the Vallejo colored primers are really a God-send. Hit it with the dark green primer, work up from the corner with Vallejo Air medium green, then dilute some scorpion green with airbrush medium for the final "highlight" (just in the corner). No taping, no masking.... just zip, zip, zip from one panel to the next. For your SWs, you could do the whole thing using a blend of the black and white primers. No reason to mix more than 3 colors. Start with black or a very dark grey, do a medium grey and then a light grey. Maybe through a bit of blue paint (there is no blue primer) into the mixes to give them that frosty SW feel...
I didn't mention this, but I also put a medium brown in the airbrush and went around all the seams where the metal meets the reinforced concrete (or whatever the wall itself is made out of) in the back, makes it more dynamic and worn looking.
Gitsplitta wrote: I didn't mention this, but I also put a medium brown in the airbrush and went around all the seams where the metal meets the reinforced concrete (or whatever the wall itself is made out of) in the back, makes it more dynamic and worn looking.
I was going to ask about the back panels as something looked different from the WIP shots...in a good way.
I actually wish there were more open space on the walls... some of these posters are really funny, but I have to make them so small that you lose nearly everything... Now to keep coming up with interesting things for the other ones.
Not much action lately... was falling asleep standing up on Tues night so I thought I'd better go to be early for a couple of nights (since the mornings always come early). May get some work done tonight, then again I may just hang out with my kids.... been that kind of day.
Find them on line, shrink them, print them on white paper, cut them out, use a toothpick to rub a little white glue on the back, stick them to the wall.
Sorry couldn't resist. They were probably hoping you would try and take that objective for additional points. Instead they were a 1000 points investment in babysitting...ouch! Post deployment, it probably would have been a better idea to simply run the pallidins towards the objective you guys were gunning for and left a bike unit to score the other. Anyways, way to go ignoring those Pallidins.
I think there were a lot of ways those termies could have been used better. They knew where our fortifications were so just sitting on that other objective with a combat squad would have freed up the paladins to deploy closer and wreck face all they wanted. i wasn't about to point it out though... we had all we could handle with the 1000 points we ended up facing.
Oh, and... He looks waaaaaaaayyyyy better IRL than in the pic ! (Also love the right shoulder pad, looks so Eastern )
...I think Gits was responding to my hipster comment "Cool Story Bro" that was stated in jest. But yeah, that was an awesome model and while I have not been a fan of the mantis like chainswords of the past, he really out did himself with his latest reincarnation.
Sorry Yggs, I didn't see your post before I posted my response... that comment of mine was in response to wyomingfox's comment, not yours! I was worried that he wouldn't quite make the journey in one piece, but I'm very glad the damage was not irreparable. Problem with odd poses like that... they tend to be fairly fragile.
Oh, and... He looks waaaaaaaayyyyy better IRL than in the pic ! (Also love the right shoulder pad, looks so Eastern )
I'm very pleased you feel that way! It's a good day in Gittsville!
M0rdain wrote:I finally finished my Mantis warrior I hope you like him
Mordian did a great job on his Mantis Warrior... make sure you go check it out folks!
I'm not going to bother posting this one in the bat reps section as I only have a few pics and it wouldn't make much of a story. (I have trouble remembering all the details without a complete set of pics).
Our strong showing in the first round guaranteed that we'd be paired with one of the top teams in the second. Our opponents were running necrons. Nice, balanced lists by my estimation. Two night scythes each, 2 large scarab units, mix of troops, couple of spyders, pair of anni barges, 5 wraiths, d-lord, deathmarks & cryptek in one of the scythes. Our opponents were Jarrod & Joe. Great guys, fun to play, very knowledgeable.
The Game: We were on this table with a MASSIVE sight blocking (but not impassible) terrain piece in the center. Short edges. 4 objectives, one in each quarter. I can't remember what the secondary was... I'll have to check my notes tonight. Night fight for turn 1.
Deployment: I put the wall too far forward, should have slammed us against the back edge in order to maximize shooting. Otherwise I'm deployed along the wall. Pedro is with the combat squad on the right objective (because I set him on the table and forgot about him & that's where he stayed). So... two big mistakes for me on deployment... not a good start. Chaos is scattered on the flanks and behind to give close support as well as their heavies on the bunker thingie. The Necrons deploy forward with the assault elements hiding behind the mountain of sight blocking terrain in the center.
Turn 1 We shoot like mad at what we can see & do nothing. Darkness enhanced invuls make the Necrons immune to everything we can dish out. In their half the 'Crons pile forward... the assault elements, all of which pretty much ignore difficult terrain pile into the safety of the central terrain piece. They pick off a few stray marines but really nothing bad yet.
Turn 2 We shoot like mad at everything and succeed in knocking a hull point off of one of the anni barges... that's pretty much it for the big stuff. I bring the rhinos around to hit one of the scarab units from the right (that's the rhino on top of those spires... don't ask me, it's the convention at our uber-competitive shot that there's NOTHING that a vehicle can't drive through or over). My marines pile out and I flame/bolter 2 or 3 scarab bases. The second of the two rhino squads was supposed to run in front of the scarabs to act as a breakwater for the sternguard... but I forgot to do this, mistake #3.
In their half, 3/4 of the flyers come in. My fancy AA gun goes off and takes 1 hull point off of one flyer. These are highly over-rated as flyer defense. The assault elements pile forward, more things die to Tessla fire but we are still more-or-less in-tact.
Turn 3 We shoot like mad again but do little of consequence. I kill a few more scarab bases and put another hull point on one of the anni barges. The Necrons hit my line and wipe out the left-most squad & the sternguard. Shooting wipes my dev's on the left as well. The spyders charge my forward combat squad killing 2. I do wound it though I think.
Turn 4 In our most effective turn of shooting yet, we kill several scarab bases and a spyder. Chaos moves to shore up the center and left flank.
However the slaughter continues unabated. The deathmarks with cryptek drop next to Kantor's squad who are inroduced to the AP1 flamer that wounds on a 2 or better. Amazingly, only 3 are killed. The wraiths and lord begin the process of mopping up the chaos lord and his squad. Bikes, rhino, etc. are taken out by tessla fire. At this point I determine that we can no longer score a single point, nor can we prevent our opponents from scoring max points... but my team mate wants to continue playing. (I wished he hadn't, my back really needed a break by this point in the day).
Turn 5 As you'd expect... we mostly get wiped. He did manage to take the final hull point off one of the barges but that we pretty much it.
So... looking at it.... I did make several mistakes along the way, but the battle was so lopsided that it's hard to imagine that any of them would have made a significant difference in the outcome. Our shooting was completely ineffectual with the terrain, invuls, and night fighting enhancing the former. His best HtH unit got summarily executed by the wraiths & lord. They were just faster, more flexible, better at shooting and better at assault than we were. It's like playing mechanical Space Wolves!
Gitsplitta wrote: As we are about to get hit by a blizzard... I may be incommunicado for a bit. Take care everyone! See you on the other side of the weather!
Blizzard? Is it actually snowing up there? We've got rain in Ohio, and we're supposed to be hit by the same storm.
Thanks all. No Internet or TV all day. My first access today is here on my phone. Not sure when I'll get regular Internet (or TV) back. I'm guessing we had about 16" based on what I moved, hard to tell now because the high winds are blowing everything around. At least we didn't lose power which my wife and I were concerned about. Still possible that the wind will drop a tree limb on the power lines but we'll hope for the best. Odd to be completely cut off from the outside world (save for my phone).
Till later - Gits
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just took a pic which I'll post when I can. The snow on our back deck comes up to the seats of our deck chairs. According to the chairs in the house that's somewhere between 17 & 18". Quite respectable actually.
Did my fourth and final driveway plowing this morning... just before the ATV died (again... piece of crap). Also got up on the roof and cleared off the satellite dishes so we have TV & internet once again.
Thanks for everyone's concern... we're fine now. Road a clear, we have TV and internet... that's pretty much all you need, right?
Before I head out to do the last of my Christmas shopping... have some eye candy for you. Did the last two small sections of my Aegis Defense Wall. Just 3 big sections and the gun left to do! (Oops, looks like I need to black in the blast marks... will be sure to do that.) Would like to include some new posters but my printer died. I'm thinking that'll be remedied at Christmas.
This... my dear friends.... is post number Twelve Thousand! (12,000)
The only reason I've gotten to this milestone is because I've been able to make so many good friends here on dakka. Both new and old, you've helped to inspire me, teach me, keep me sane & talk me off the occasional ledge. Thank you for your consistent companionship, camaraderie and faith in me, even when my faith in myself was flagging.
Merry Christmas my friends!!
I hope that Santa brings you what you'd hoped for, that your travels are safe and that your holidays are filled with love and Joy!
Not that he isn't supportive of my efforts mind you, he is... but I get a sense of lingering doubt. So... do I go with the common sense approach and do the painting that everyone wants and I know I can do successfully, or do I pick up the gauntlet and risk *-ing the whole figure up by trying the sculpting? (And just so you know, leaving this bit of sculpting for the last was on purpose... I thought it would interfere too much with the rest of the paint job to attempt first.) Keep in mind my 
I just hide those in the dark depths of my table till everyone's forgotten about them 
As Gits stated, probably the finest example of WWII misfits 
