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Is the green ok? and um what did you think of said mantis arms??

Oh and I have won a few speed paint and speed conversion contests back in the day, but it's mostly an over active imagination and some freakish Frankenstein gene I think!


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I'm a big fan of my chain knife I do that on lots of Assault guys instead of a crappy bayonet

Green is fine, but very different from the way I approach mine. I start (I think) with snot green (whatever the really vibrant GW green is) washed with dilute thrakka green wash. Then blend up from snot green through the lighter shades, with the most extreme highlights in scorpion green.

Well, what I call the "Arm of the Mantis" are the hinged chain swords... as those is my vanguard's primary weapon & are mounted in a preying mantis-like configuration. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm not quite sure about the mantis arms above his head. They aren't bad... but I look at them as more ornamental than a type of functional weapon. Have to think about it for a bit & see if they grow on me.

It's just weird seeing something coming out of a SM pack and it not be chaos, originally they were more compressed but I opened them out with a hair dryer (yes I'm too cheap to buy a heat gun)
the other way I mounted them was out form the vents similar to the original wing position but it looked to much like failed wings.

He's a bit brighter in real life too I don't have a flash on my phone cam so I'm using a desk lamp to fill light the photo area and it's a yellowy bulb.

I started with Narloc then Thrakka Narloc/Scorpion re washed with a watered down thrakka and highlighted with sunburst yella.

Hmmm.... all that work isn't coming through on your photo... that's too bad. Sounds like a good approach.

My only problem with the backpack is that it is rather Chaos-y

I have been asked by various and sundry, exactly how much of my army I intend to do in the Tranquility pattern, if not all. I admit I have wondered as I appear to have a knack for it & it is rather singular. While I've seen pictures of a very few other MW armies/figures out there, but never another tranquility figure. I'm not saying none exist... but I've never seen them.

Here are my thoughts on the Tranquility camo: There are no official descriptions of the Tranquility Campaign, only the one reference under the picture in the RT rule book. The way I've come to look at it is that whatever happened at Tranquility, whatever the Mantis Warriors who were there did... it was a defining moment in chapter history. Tranquility veterans are known and respected throughout the chapter and indeed the Astartes as a whole for the service they gave on that campaign. So while at the time (hundreds of years ago) that pattern was indeed camouflage, it is now a badge of honor... a service medal of sorts associating that marine with the greatest moment in chapter history. This also brings them into alignment with the current view that a marine has no need to hide.

So, my current thought is to limit the tranquility pattern to veteran or special units, i.e. actual surviving veterans of the Tranquility Campaign, leaving the rest of the army in the original Mantis heraldry. Considering my current project, the 1000 pt army for Adepticon... I'd say that aside from the venerable dread (which in this list is not venerable as I can't afford the upgrade) and the sternguard... other candidates for tranquility status are the MoTF and the Iron Clad. The tacticals, razorbacks and scouts will be in normal Mantis colors. While I have always envisioned a "tranquility detachment"... I think that an entire army made up of tranquility vets... while stunning in some ways... would lose their visual impact and uniqueness without standard pattern Mantis Warriors with which to be held in comparison. So both from an aesthetic *and* a fluff perspective... I'd like to have both aspects represented in my army.

Those are my thoughts at present, but I welcome and will consider opinions to the contrary. - Gits

I think its a good idea, for one people will always stop and ask about them giving you a reason to talk about the background and also as you are thinking will mark them out as veterans as opposed to normal MW marines. I myself keep looking back at that WD and have to keep stopping myself going to do Raptors in blizzard suits. need to finish my Deathwing first lol. Its all your fault i lack motivation!

Awsome git but i while i was looking trough the new dark eldar book instead of watching the movie me and my girl where watching. i read the fluff of Drazhar andd how matis like he was. then i looked at the model and i thoughed he maybe git could use the pose for an honour guard.
this is the pose


and this is some artwork

Thats a really good model, though he tends to faceplant on the table ALOT. One of the few that didnt get replaced in the new line.

Hey, that looks a lot like Santobell's guy with the tingies up on top...

I like the drawing... looks like Aku from Samurai Jack in the background!

That sounds like some good justification.

What about painting some squad sergeants as tranquility vets?

Possible... I hadn't thought of that... will take that into consideration. Thanks Vit!

I agree with your idea to seperate the vets and the reg green marines. I would, over time, maybe create two detachments, both playable armies on their own which you can use to cobble up various army lists by mixing the two groups. That way you have your "detachment" of vets, and a vast amount of green marines, and you can also create an army with a mixture!

I love the fluffiness, and the thought that you've put into this.

I really do like the idea of squad seargents in Tranquility colors. Really shows the veteran status of the members wearing the colors. If you get around to doing Termies, maybe they should be in Tranquuility camo as well.

It wouldn't just be Vets that were involved though surely, and you must also remember that not all who attain veterancy will have participated in said campaign.

That is unless the scheme has become a symbolic way of showing veterancy, displaying courage in the highest ideals of the service and such.

Lots of very interesting ideas to consider... thanks everyone.

I must admit to still being a bit unsure about all of this, and I have time to make a decision on it so I don't have to decide right now... but fairly soon I'll have to figure something out. I have considered the terminator issue, but they're so far down the line that I can safely put them off for quite a while.

After thinking about this now for a couple of weeks and reading your thoughts on the matter... I think this is where I stand at the moment... partially for fluff reasons, and in part, for modeling reasons (the two are interconnected for me, so decisions about one alter the status of the other). Considering the history that I have developed for the chapter after their involvement in the Badab Rebellion, my premise is that the 100-year crusade against the Red Corsairs into the Maelstrom with no recruits and no re-supply, depleted the chapter to near extinction. Indeed the only reason they were called back from their crusade was not that they had successfully wiped out the Corsairs, but that they were on the brink of obliteration and the only way to save the chapter was to "forgive" them and call them back.

During 100 years of constant warfare in hostile territory with no support, the fundamental combat strategy employed by the Mantis Warriors changed, relying most heavily on stealth and assault elements and dropping encumbering clumsy equipment like wheeled or tracked vehicles. During this process, the elements most used (particularly the assault elements) would have taken horrendous casualties and would have had to be replaced from within, primarily the tactical squads. As time when on, the high-attrition elements of the force continued to drain personnel from the tactical squads until the chapter essentially hollowed out, with nearly no tactical squads left as everything was funneled to the assault elements.

As every battle took place in the heart of hostile territory and the chapter (to survive) had to adopt hit-and-run tactics to survive, they not only lost men but would lose equipment as there would be many cases when they would not be able to recover armor or machinery after a battles end.

So, what I'm getting at here is that due to the unique circumstances of the sternguard as long-range snipers and marines well versed in stealth (not in the rules, but in my fluff), they would have been in a good position to survive these battles relatively unscathed and in-tact. Dreadnoughts, because of their invaluable position as the only functioning heavy armor left to the chapter would also have survived or been a high enough priority to necessitate retrieval at all costs. The tranquility vets scattered throughout the rest of the chapter would have eventually matriculated forward into the assault elements and been largely lost. There may be one or two left here or there, or in a position of command, but I expect most of the surviving Tranquility Vets would have re-assigned into the sternguard to fulfill their service in this elite unit amongst their brothers.

This is also where the differences in armor come in. The tranquility vets all still wear their Mk-VI armor. The newer armor is what has been provided to the chapter since it's return from the crusade... so other elements will be wearing Mk-VII or VIII armor with the new shoulder pads, Blackhands helmets and the custom jump packs.

So, this is a long way of saying...

1. Tranquility Vets are actually only those men who served during that campaign.
2. There aren't many of them left.
3. They would be concentrated in the sternguard, dreadnought and command elements of the army.
4. They are limited to Mk-Vi armor.




Speaking of which... I think my build for the sergeant is done. I must say that I'm inordinately proud of him... even though he hasn't gotten a lot of comments. I've never completely dissected a figure so completely, added a bunch of extra bits (limbs), reconstructed him and had it turn out this well. There is also a lot (for me) of green stuffing used in ways I've never done before... so there's that too. Plus I just love the pose! Took this hunched over marine that looked like he'd been kicked in the nuts by an ogryn and have him standing proud and tall & looking like a commander of veterans.



Now that his build is done, I'm going to do a couple of marine swap projects... but luckily, one of them is a sternguard as well (though a different configuration that I usually run mine in... wonderful old figure though). So I'm going to cheat and paint all 3 sternguard at the same time! Yippie! Progress on my army AND a trade all at once!

The pose in nice indeed...

And the fluff makes sense for the Sternguard... So go with it!

Yes I agree with Yggs, it is a very nice model and pose, you pulled it together nicely.

I am assuming the spiky parts on the lgs are from chainswords?

Without being a numpty and opening a can of worms or being bludgeoned with some arms of the mantis. You put a lot of emphasis on stealth and assault..... have you considered using Shrike, as it sounds like his kind of thing?

Also scout master Stone, wouldnt he be in tranquility colours too?

He is very nice, my only comment is his upper legs look a bit ummm think. May just be me, but all you work is wonderful. Keep it up!

@Yggs: Thanks!

@dante: Thanks to you too! Good points, let me address them:

- yes, spikey bits are from chainswords, and I'm going to need a million of them. So if any of you have a pile of chain weapons lying around of any sort, I'll buy them off of you. My vanguard alone will require 6 each, and that's if I do everything perfectly. Normal marines take 2 or one chaos sword to pull off.

- I have not... is he in the vanilla dex?

- Not necessarily. The entire chapter might not have participated in the action on tranquility, so he may have been assigned elsewhere. It would be a simple matter to assign him there fluff wise, but I don't think I want to put all my eggs in one basket (i.e. have every notable person in the chapter be a Tranquility vet)

Yes Captain Shrike is in Codex Space Marines, beside Lysander and Kor'sarro Khan. He is Raven Guard.

There was a guy in our flgs who would regularly use him and Calgar combined in a 1500 point game.... ouch.

It would be pricy (maybe too expensive) but Kantor for your sternguard and Shrike in your vanguard. I think Shrike gives you extra movement before the game starts or something.

I have a ton of chainswords as I never use them for my SW's. I much prefer axes.... will be happy to send them to you. Not sure how long it takes to send stuff from the UK though.

I understand what you are saying about Stone, just curious as in your fluff he was so passionate about atoning for stuff, however veterans will have operated all over not just tranquility, so thats fine

I'd already purchased on gotten the base coat on Kantor as he was a pretty obvious selection, hadn't thought about the others though... I must admit to questioning the validity of two chapter masters in the same army. I wouldn't mind fielding one or the other... but two is pretty beardy. The Kantor/Shrike combination sounds pretty potent. Perhaps I should look at the other Ultra special characters and see if there isn't something (besides a second chapter master) that I can nick for my uses.

UK to here isn't bad... 7-10 days. It's a long term project for me so there's no big hurry. I have a small surplus I'm working through at the moment thanks to other dakkaites. I'll PM you. ... and thanks!

Shrike is in Mk6 armour (or atleast the helmet) but I am sure you could use an assault marine leader as a 'counts-as'

As for 2 chapter masters, Shrike is actually a company Captain (Raven Guard 3rd Company) but yes it is very beardy and very cheeky, but nothing in the rules to prevent it. However it is a lot of points for 2 men.

Cool, look forward to the pm. Might be end of next week before I can post as I will not be home for a few days.

I really like the sarge. He looks really cool and commanding.

On the note of chainswords...

I could provide you with 20+ chaos space marine chainswords. I would be willing to give them to you without charge if I can swap a Dark Mechanicus CSM for one of your cool Mantis Warriors.

That marine looks 100% better, really good! your gs skills are not as bad as you make out lol.

Git, don't forget Imperial Armour will have Mantis Warrior special characters in volume 10.

Admittedly they'll be Badab War era, but no-one will be able to claim they are unfluffy, and you can just change their names.

the fluff is great git and the pose on the seargeant is amazing...with shrike he gives the fleet rule to the whole force while his unit can infiltrate as well...add on to his master crafted rending lightnings claws

I'll try and think of a few chainswords along the Reaver of Tears Swap... But I won't promise for I may simply have forgotten about your need by the time I finish it & be home to ship it!

I also support you in your "not every character should be a Tranquility Vet" path, it'd lower their overall awesomeness... Better be sparse & deadly, than numerous & un-original!

Great work here, love to see SM snipers that aren't scouts!

i would like the Tranquility Vets being rare, but I don't really like how an army looks with just a scarce splattering of other colored units. I've always hated the chaplains being black, libbies being blue, and techpriests being red since it gave this one model a different color and idk just felt out of place in the army. I likked my heros to stand out due to capes, helmets, cool armor, interesting pose, etc.

So that was a bit of a tangent, I think the Tranquility vets should be like a detachment in the way a sisters of battle army can have an IG attachment. i would have the mass army be green, and then have another army in a sense of tranquility vets. This could be sternguard vets, two squads and some sort of HQ model, and maybe another unit or two. They would look rare, but also i feel like it would make the army look less like their was just a scattering of yellow models for some reason. In order for this to work you would need an army with a pretty well sized amount of marines to proportion the vets to green marines. I would say 1.5 more squads of green marines as they are of vets.

I think that would be a good way to split up the two groups and make it aware that they are scarce but also have a good little group of them so it didnt make the amry look so much as a bunch of green with yellow sprinkled in, and rather an army of green and yellow marines, the yellow are rarer..

does that make any sense, or too abstract an idea?