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that group shot is blisssssssss


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these mmodels are bliss, how did you do the grass?


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it wont let me commenttttt


I really like the group shot! how did you do the grass!!

may i suggest that due too your wish for a lot of sternguard make a pedro kanto count as. his fluff suits the mantis warriors and it would be a tactical very wise. but love the dread and love too see you basing tute. for now my new dark eldar are on a black marmer laptop skin.

Nice Git Nice the long grass really sells it well that and the terrific paint job 5 stars my friend!

kaiservonhugal wrote:Crazy idea Gitsplitta - but.... Have you ever thought of using the Mantis Warriors as a "counts as" Blood Angel army? My reason for thinking this, they make use of Librarians like the Blood Angels AND the warriors succumb to a heightened sense (simliar to the Black Rage). The heightened sense occurs when they become engrossed in close combat. It makes them hyper fast with tunnel vision and the transformation is irreversible. They act with a prescience (could justify it as FNP).

Not crazy at all kaiservonhugal, and something that has been discussed and debated since the beginning of this blog. I guess that becoming a Blood Angels successor chapter opens up a lot of options and does jive with the innuendo in one of the BL stories. At the same time however it closes a *lot* of options that were consistent with my own ideas of the chapter after 20-some years of playing it & thinking about it & wondering what a 100 year crusade into the maelstrom (post Badab War) would do to it. Plus let's face it... Goto, is just simply not a good enough author to make me feel compelled to jump on his band-wagon. He's not disastrously bad... but even a literary simp like me could see that he did not handle the trial of the Mantis Warriors particularly well.

@TGG & Sageheart: Thanks! Wait 'till a get a full squad around him!

Sageheart wrote:

how did you do the grass?

Finishing the basing tutorial is my next project. Photos are all taken and about 2/3 are editied and uploaded. Hope to make some more progress today. Though it's all "behind the scenes" until the tutorial is complete of course.

it wont let me commenttttt

That's odd... there are a couple of comments up so perhaps if you tried again after a new log-on. In any case I already have your comments... and thanks!

fatty wrote:

may i suggest that due too your wish for a lot of sternguard make a pedro kanto count as. his fluff suits the mantis warriors and it would be a tactical very wise. but love the dread and love too see you basing tute. for now my new dark eldar are on a black marmer laptop skin.

LOL! Already have the figure painted in yellow with the base wash done... just haven't had the time to finish him up properly. New dark eldar models are pretty sweet to be sure.

@Santobell: Thank you sir! It's always nice to turn something out that people respond to. Makes the hours (days, weeks, months) of torturous effort worth while.

...

(You guys buyin' this?)

...

(nah, didn't think so)

group shot looks great, nice work, the snipers are really good

Thanks CL!




Something Pyriel- said to me (along with some of the earlier comments got me thinking of a fun list to work on once I get past this Adepticon list. Now I don't have a codex or anything in front of me so I'm winging it... but here goes.


HQ: Pedro Kantor (runs with close support sternguard)
HQ: MoTF (either runs with close support sternguard in pod, or hangs back w/ shooty vets to give them some anti-assault capability & keep rifleman in good repair)
Elite: Sternguard in pod with close support focus (combi-meltas, PF on srg), Kantor will join them (scoring unit)
Elite: Sternguard with long range shooty focus (2 ML), has pod but will deploy on table as normal (scoring unit)
Troop: Scouts w/ teleport homer (made with my RT era marine jet bikes)
Troop: Scout w/ teleport homer (made with my RT era marine jet bikes)
FA: Scout bikers w/ homing beacon
FA: LS Storm
FA: LS Storm
Hvy: Ven Dread w/ twin auto cannons, runs with shooty sternguard & MoTF, had pod but deploys on table
Hvy: Iron Clad in pod
Hvy: Dread in pod (could be anything, some really fun model)

With 5 pods, the close support sternguard, Pedro and 2 dreads drop without scatter on turn 1 the scout bike squad (which infiltrated on & scout moved into position) while shooty T-vets and rifleman dread provide long-range fire support. Flesh out the list with a deep striking terminator squad, assault or Vanguard Squad (would have to drop a LS Storm for this) or sniper scouts. Insanely expensive elite army, but God-allmighty would it look cool, especially if all the marine elements were painted as Tranquility Vets (save the scouting elements of course) and the vanguard. If deep striking troops are not taken, you could drop the teleport homers from the scouts & save some points.

Wonder if I can do all that in a 2500 pt 'Aard-Boyz legal army. This kind of list just "feels" right for the Mantis Warriors.

Thoughts? Maybe not on it's viability as an army... but would you like to see it on the table?


(Fixed army list: Gits)

I would love to see this army on the table, but a thing to note: Pedro is great not only cuz he lets sternguard become scoring, he is also great due to his +1 attack bubble. This makes him useful for being around assault units. I played a game against ultramarines, where he used a count as pedro in a Land raider with assault termies and termie chaplain. They dropped out of the raider assaulted my blob squad, keeping pedro out of the unit standing near combat with the land raider blocking any form of attack on him. This way I couldn't get to him, but he could make the assault termies (who get to reroll due to the chaplain) insanely good. They tore through that 50 man blob squad as if it was cutting grass.

On that note I would say maybe add a assaulty unit for pedro to go with instead of drop sternguard vets with meltas who usually tend to be suicide units for the most part. Maybe drop pod a vanguard squad with pedro and no JP, or drop a honor guard squad. A termie squad cant deep strike with pedro i think and you may not be keen on a land raider but it could work out well.

i also don't trust scout bikes with homing beacons, I've been trying them with my DoA BA army, they aren't flying, they just get shot apart since I have little else on the field for the enemy to focus his/her gunpower upon. Your list is different so it may not be as much of an issue since that rifleman dred, MoTF, and ML stern are scarier then some scout bikes.

I hope that wasn't too much on my thoughts of how viable it is.
I would love to see all those models made, and if i played against your list I think it would be a fun battle!!!

It looks good, but arent scout bikes FA??

that they are

Hey guys! First part of my basing tutorial is up! Here's the link: Basing the Gitsplitta Way

It will take you up to the point where we start adding foliage. Still have to edit & upload those pictures.

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Vitruvian XVII wrote:It looks good, but arent scout bikes FA??

Yes they are... my bad. So I'd have to go to two and one... Probably two LS Storms to 1 Scout Bike squad. If I really wanted the Vanguard I'd go down to 1 & 1.

Sageheart wrote:I would love to see this army on the table, but a thing to note: Pedro is great not only cuz he lets sternguard become scoring, he is also great due to his +1 attack bubble. This makes him useful for being around assault units. I played a game against ultramarines, where he used a count as pedro in a Land raider with assault termies and termie chaplain. They dropped out of the raider assaulted my blob squad, keeping pedro out of the unit standing near combat with the land raider blocking any form of attack on him. This way I couldn't get to him, but he could make the assault termies (who get to reroll due to the chaplain) insanely good. They tore through that 50 man blob squad as if it was cutting grass.

Hmmm food for thought there.

Sageheart wrote:On that note I would say maybe add a assaulty unit for pedro to go with instead of drop sternguard vets with meltas who usually tend to be suicide units for the most part. Maybe drop pod a vanguard squad with pedro and no JP, or drop a honor guard squad. A termie squad cant deep strike with pedro i think and you may not be keen on a land raider but it could work out well.

never dawned on me to do a vanguard squad in a pod without jump packs. Problem is that it's an insane amount of points to spend on a squad that can get shot up before it can assault (which is the whole point of the Van). But something to think about.

Sageheart wrote:I also don't trust scout bikes with homing beacons, I've been trying them with my DoA BA army, they aren't flying, they just get shot apart since I have little else on the field for the enemy to focus his/her gunpower upon. Your list is different so it may not be as much of an issue since that rifleman dred, MoTF, and ML stern are scarier then some scout bikes.

This whole army is about synergy and disparate units combining their abilities to augment each others strengths and support the weaknesses (what's the modern military term... combined arms?). It's also about delivering an overwhelming force at a single point of attack on turn 1. You've got 3, highly mobile units of scouts (bike squad, two LS Storms), each of which can infiltrate and get their scout move to nearly any place on the board (up to a point) before the game even starts, and each carrying a tool for either pods, deep strikers or terminators to drop on without error. I can run all three in one group, delivering 13-15 scouts, 2 multi-meltas and 3-5 grenade launchers to a single point on the board, to be joined by 3 pods with a full squad of sternguard, one or two characters and two dreadnoughts... that's on turn one. The big weakness of podding things in is that they can't assault, so have to suck up fire for a turn. With this approach however, all those scouts in the Storms and the bikes *can* assault the turn the pods arrive, or at least get in the way... so not only will my main units get their initial shots.. but they'll be protected from assault by the scouts (at least for that first turn).

On turn two then, my elites are free to act as they will, and the beacons/homers on any surviving scout units can act as loci to bring my reserves (assault squads or termies) directly to the heart of the battle. (whenever they arrive of course) I think if this strategy was well executed.. it could be overwhelmingly devastating. Definitely more useful against another elite army and better if you have first move... but still... spectacular in victory or defeat. I have used a dumbed down version of this tactic against my eldest at home and when it works... the game is over by turn two as I've done so much damage that he never recovers. Granted, having it work against a 10-year-old is not the same as it working against a seasoned adult, but he's not dumb either, so it suggests to me that the tactic can work if executed properly. He has figured out how to defend himself against it... but it took several exposures to the tactic for him to sort it out.

Anyway... that's my theory, unfortunately I don't have most of the key models yet built or painted (pods, bikes or LS Storms) so I can't really test it properly. Pods are high on my list to build and paint though, so getting those done will get me well on my way.

Sageheart wrote: hope that wasn't too much on my thoughts of how viable it is.
I would love to see all those models made, and if i played against your list I think it would be a fun battle!!!

Not at all Sage. What kind of doofus would I be to ask for opinions & then not take them?

Oh, I fixed the original list and some of the narrative to align with FOC reality...

if your list is gonna be anything the dp list i went up against with my tau you wont have any problems....2 dreads and njall with grey hunters on turn 1 turn 2 ragnar blackmane with grey hunter a 3rd grey hunter squad and a 3rd dread -_- it was not pretty to my tau

Well, it's definitely going to be a sink or swim list. Either I'll match up well or I won't... but either way the games will be short and brutally fun!

I love the idea, don't get me wrong. I think, as you said, it could be devestating if it pans out, I just see it also as relaying on a few homing beacons that can be targetted and knockedout. maybe have a ton of scout units, getting some in LS storms and a few just on the ground hiding out in cover with a ML or HB and if the other groups die they too can hand out some homing beacons. I may have to try out your idea myself. If you have enough units on the field the enemy does have to divide its fire which could allow a good number of homing beacons to survive allowing your tactic to work well!

vanguard are expensive, I would maybe try a few layouts, a small troop with wound allocation, so a storm shield, one or two powers, and a pf, so it doesn't suck up too many points but it can still do great in close combat. or i would treat it as a Assault squad and make a full ten man squad, with maybe 2 pf, and 2 pw or stormshields then combat squad it when it exits the drop pod so it forces enemy to divide their fire. At the same time it is an expensive unit, and I don't know how good they are drop poding I just think pedro should have some sort of assaulty squad since you really dont want your sternguard in combat (where their special ammo is void) and you want to work off of pedro's add attack bubble since you are paying for it in points and it can be argued to be his best trait. maybe just a normal assault squad without JP, they can be assualty and cheap in points, or two tactical squads around him, and thou they arent really combat focused they can utalize the bubble a ton more then the sternguard. You really don't want sternguard in combat, they aren't bad in combat, just i see them as having much more focused options that can really harass the enemy.

another idea may be dev squads with flamers, I forget if they could do that or not, I was pretty sure they used to, but maybe not anymore. I haven't played generic marines in a while. But that could be a nasty anti-hoard unit, 4 flamers, a PF, some extra heads and pedro could be a good unit. and it would be a fun one too I think.

I hope my comments help, I'm not the best tactic player but I'm learning. I still needa figure out how to make a viable DoA army that just can be nasty instead of now where its kinda nasty. i may try out your homing beacon idea with my BA.

Dont' worry about it Sage, I appreciate the ability to bounce ideas off you. I'm not a great tactician either... just trying to find a way to win with my Mantis Warriors while staying true to my "vision" of them.


On a side note. A little baggie full of Mantis Warrior heads just arrived from New Zealand... now I wonder what I should do with those??

you should marine swap them!!!!

I like bouncing ideas about, its a fun sport. so if you have any, feel free to toss!! just not too hard, we can't be breaking any windows... I don't know about you but my college funds can't pay for much

Sweet a tutorial? looking forward to it! thanks for the help!

Gitsplitta wrote:Dont' worry about it Sage, I appreciate the ability to bounce ideas off you. I'm not a great tactician either... just trying to find a way to win with my Mantis Warriors while staying true to my "vision" of them.


On a side note. A little baggie full of Mantis Warrior heads just arrived from New Zealand... now I wonder what I should do with those??

Heads+MOAR Combi-Meltas= win.

If your wonderin what to do with them Gits, I'd be intrested in marine swapping one of my Dark Mechanicus conversions for a MW with the cool new heads (and maybe cool wings ). I really want to have one of those BLACKHAND sculpts.

Sageheart wrote:you should marine swap them!!!!

*chuckle* Yes, well... at least a couple of them. Ice will get the prototype.

IHEARTLARGEBLASTTEMPLATES wrote:Sweet a tutorial? looking forward to it! thanks for the help!

My pleasure. Rest should be up tonight or tomorrow night.

wolfshadow wrote: Heads+MOAR Combi-Meltas= win.

Unfortunately the sternguard are based exclusively on Mk VI armor. The heads and pads are strictly for Mark VII & VIII armored troops... i.e. those that have been reequipped after their crusade into the maelstrom. Mostly assalut, devs, characters, etc. & at least 1 tac squad eventually.

Gathering Storm wrote:If your wonderin what to do with them Gits, I'd be intrested in marine swapping one of my Dark Mechanicus conversions for a MW with the cool new heads (and maybe cool wings ). I really want to have one of those BLACKHAND sculpts.

Sure GS, going to be a wait as I have a lot of promised trades already & I don't really want to take on more until I clear my slate a bit... but yes, absolutely. I should have added some winks to that post... I really DO know what I'm going to do with them... :-)

First post in thread after lurking about in it for ages.
Great army man, so happy you found the mantis bitz to fit with your minis.
I´m honoured to have them up on your little plastic marines

Thanks my friend. It will be a delight to showcase your skills in the Mantis Warriors Penitent army that develops from this point onwards.

I suspect that a lot of my GMS trading partners have been waiting for me to get the bits in (your pads, Blackhand's heads) before pushing for the trade... so I expect I'll be plenty busy and that you'll get to see your handiwork quite frequently from this point on. All I'm really missing is the Japanese weaponry I was hoping to use. I did get a shipment in from one company. Nice stuff but much too small to properly accompany a GW figure where all the weapons (especially the HtH weapons) are anime-scale. I have one more order wandering it's way across the pond... we'll see what they look like before I give up and start trying to make my own. Luckily, neither was very expensive so if they don't work out I haven't lost much.

Oh and thanks for coming out into the light... really, it doesn't burn.

@ Git. If you cant find the weapons, have you thought about talking to Chapterhouse or one of the other bitz crews about making some? I dont think you would be the only person interested in some 'vibro-Katanas'. *Cough* me*Cough*

Subltle as a heart-attack wolfshadow....

I'm already indebted enough to the good folks at Chapterhouse for sticking with me this long. God only knows if they'll actually sell any of those pads to anyone else. Much as I would love to see some design & size appropriate katanas & naginatas... I think my good will with them is probably used up. (Actually a clever sculptor would just make naginatas that literally looked like a katana on the end of a pole (which is not far from the truth) that way you'd only have to make one mold and the buyer could just cut them down to make the katana if that's what they wanted.) wait... did I just say that out loud??

Gitsplitta wrote:Subltle as a heart-attack wolfshadow....

I'm already indebted enough to the good folks at Chapterhouse for sticking with me this long. God only knows if they'll actually sell any of those pads to anyone else. Much as I would love to see some design & size appropriate katanas & naginatas... I think my good will with them is probably used up. (Actually a clever sculptor would just make naginatas that literally looked like a katana on the end of a pole (which is not far from the truth) that way you'd only have to make one mold and the buyer could just cut them down to make the katana if that's what they wanted.) wait... did I just say that out loud??

Who is as subtle as a heart attack?

I've been bugging a couple of the bitz companies to extend their range of weapons.

The 2 that I think would be really good sellers: Japanese stuff (Naginata, Katana, Dai-Katana, Wakizashi... Samurai pattern PA Helmets and shoulderpads...., and some appropreatly sized Kopeshs for the 1K Sons players out there.

Samurai pattern 40k helmets would be astounding... support them with just weapons and I bet a whole new market would open up. Easy for me to say though... it's not my family's rent on the line.

Whilst Samurai themed marine stuff would be most excellent, I don't wish to see any soon as that would mean I would probably drop everything else and start work on the long-dreamt of Jade Lotus chapter that I've been planning since, well probably since around the time you started your first Mantis Warriors

Gitsplitta wrote:

Gathering Storm wrote:If your wonderin what to do with them Gits, I'd be intrested in marine swapping one of my Dark Mechanicus conversions for a MW with the cool new heads (and maybe cool wings ). I really want to have one of those BLACKHAND sculpts.

Sure GS, going to be a wait as I have a lot of promised trades already & I don't really want to take on more until I clear my slate a bit... but yes, absolutely. I should have added some winks to that post... I really DO know what I'm going to do with them... :-)

you know how many times I have read almost these exact words from you git! what do you get yourself into!

Yes, yes... but I promised to do some trades after the Dread was done, so I'll be doing Ice's marine and an ork I owe somebody... can't remember who at the moment... *sigh*... it all just runs together in a continuous blur.

do you want me to send your marine anytime soon

Gitz, like you admit yourself, I've seen your dread floating around on a bunch of threads recently.
AMAZING

It looks absolutely perfect, puts my crappy libby dread to shame