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A super stretch Stormraven will be a good thing since GW really shouldn't have run with the first idea the design intern came up with that year...

No but seriously, for all it's cool capabilities, one would think that the Stormraven should have had as much mindful attention to detail lavished upon it as the Valkyries. Their lines are blockish yet functional, whereas the design oozes grimdark while still looking believably "human". The Stormraven looks like a flying a brick that could only fly if launched from orbit, i.e.: it's not flying, it's controlling it's descent...

What kind of scheme are you considering for the Warriors? Any ideas yet?

This update isn't so much about building Nids, it's more a story about building the community. So please, bear with me.

First, a question. Do you remember your first game of 40k, the one that that actually really got you into the hobby?

Did you walk into a FLGS and see 2 people playing a game with a bunch of models and start quoting Keany Reeves, as in, "Whoa!"

Last weekend, that's what happened to a someone who walked into the store where I was playing Dark Eldar vs. Eldar. Contrary to most curious walk-ins, this person actually asked if it okay to watch while we played. He mentioned he'd heard of the game before but he'd never actually seen it being played. It was a short game but he stayed nearby, observed and asked a few questions at various times, getting into the action as it played out. Once the game was over he asked something that I hadn't heard in a while, especially since the GW have closed en masse in the Vancouver area: "Do you know where I could a demo game?".

Here's where this story actually starts.

Without hesitating, I said the only that seemed right.

"Right here at this store.

His eyes lit up.

"I don't have an army or anything like that!" he said.

I asked him if he might have an army he had in mind at which he replied he was considering Nids, because they looked really cool. I guess he picked the right person to tell that to... Next thing you know, I tell him Nids are one of my 4 armies and offer to give him a demo. All he needs is a tape measure and I'll take care of the rest.

I don't know about you guys but when I first started off, back in the Rogue Trader days, I did what most first time players do, I went for Marines. Over time the fascination wore off and Xenos (Eldar to be exact) became the new favourite. Thankfully I never went back to Imperial armies, in spite of the nerfs to Xenos races over the years. What many players who've only ever played Imperial forces might not realise is that Xenos codiices are much better balanced against each other than Xenos vs. Imperial codices. Odd but true. If you were given the opportunity to teach someone who knew practically nothing about our favourite addiction how it works, how would you do it?

Given the opportunity, I went with what I figured would give this new player a balanced view of the game, Xenos vs. Xenos. Let me explain what I mean by "balanced". When 2 extremely shootie lists yet fragile armies face each other, attrition is about equal on both sides. Blunders cause casualties that may or may not cost you a game. With Marines, blunders are permissable due the armour but not so much with any 5+ save army. If both armies are equally susceptible to breaking due to a series of blunders or bad dice rolls, they are balanced against each other. If one army can run headlong into blunders and shrug off bad dice more effectively than the other, regardless of the build, these armies are thus unbalanced against each other. Mech IG vs. DE would be a perfect example of an unbalanced match-up (don't get me started on Dark Glances). Not impossible, just unbalanced. One list is definitely going to have more of an uphill battle on their hands than the other in this case. DE vs Nids however becomes more even as the strengths and weaknesses of each army seems to have an effective match-up to the opponent's.

Fast forward to today.

After wracking my brain regarding a "lesson plan", I finally settled on the following 750 point lists, in order to teach a newcomer as many new concepts as possible, without overloading. The idea being that Tyranids would be a good intro to army synergy, moving large squads, moving through cover with various units, basic psychic powers (Catalyst being easy to track). Dark Eldar (played by myself) would teach about vehicle armour values without being discouragingly tough, Wyches would teach assault mechanics and wound allocation.

Dark Eldar

1 Haemonculus, liquifier, agoniser.
8 Wyches, Shardnet, Hekatrix, agoniser, PGL
1 Raider, FF, NS, GT

5 Trueborn, 2 Lances, 3 blasters
1 Venom, SC, NS

5 Kabalites, 1 blaster, 1 Sybarite
1 Venom, SC, NS

Tyranids

1 Tyrant, TLBL, S&W, AG, OA
2 Hive Guard
1 Tervigon CS, AG, TS, ScyTal, Cat
15 Devilgaunts
2 Biovores

Before you start thinking that teaching is easy, consider the following. I've been to tournaments. I know how to play quickly with 1750 points of Nids, i.e. less than 2 hours per game. All of that goes out the window when you're teaching someone, if you want to do it right. Our game took 5 hours. That's ok and here's why.

The first hour was spent going over basic list building, the FOC, the 5 sections of the chart, unit types, weapon types and vehicle types.
After that we covered the turn structure of the game and how a unit's stats come into play during those phases.
Once all the bases were covered, with a promise that we would go over it again once we were playing, we went over how to actually start the game. How to setup terrain, rolling for mission and deployment, and then how to deploy. Some of the most in-depth articles you will ever find online cover how to setup terrain and how to deploy, describing these 2 activities as the game before the game before the game. Many people don't think of these facets of the game because their poorly deployed 3+ armour or AV 12 boxes will not cost
them the game (in non-comp games) even though they are the first opportunity you have to help tailor the odds in your favour. This is a game of chance after all...

Speaking of dice rolling, if ever you teach a new player the ropes, now is the perfect time to teach them the polite way to roll dice. This may sound wierd at first but I guarantee you, the odds that anyone will argue about your dice rolls will dramatically drop once you start doing the following:

1. Declare who's doing what to who. (Unit A shoots Unit B with gun X at BS of Y)
2. Make sure your opponent is watching.
3. Roll the dice in an open spot of the board.
4. Pull out the misses, put them aside.
5. Declare the strength of the weapons, the toughness of Unit B and your target roll (3 or whatever).
6. Make sure your opponent is watching.
7. Roll the dice in an open spot of the board.
8. Pull out the failed wounds and put those aside.
9. Call out how many saves he needs to roll.

The follow-up to this is to always declare who you're rolling saves for before you roll the dice. Don't be that guy... You know, the guy who rolls one die at a time for a squad of Marines, and the first failed save is the one that goes to the bolter marine, even though it's declared after the roll.

Ask yourself this. If, as a Nid player, you don't know how to stack cover saves in your army such that everything has at least a 4+ and FNP, including your MC's, what's that advice worth to you? What if you could learn that in your first game? Gaunts give cover to the Hive Guard and the Biovores, which give cover to the Tyrant, which gives cover to the Tervigon, which gives bubble wrap to the flanks and FNP to the first rank of gaunts, which also get a 4+ cover because 50% of the models are in terrain. It may seem really simple now that you've put in your time (and your losses) but wouldn't it have been nice to know exactly how to synergise the army to its fullest in your first game?

Admittedly, you can't teach all the tricks in one game. That's not the point. The point is to impart some "advanced" knowledge as you play so that the new players realises they have to think tactically about their choices and actions, rather than just run in like bullet-stopper Marines because the Emporer Protects, uh... I mean their armour save is that good.

When teaching shooting, make sure you show your opponent that rushing foward isn't the only option. Sometimes going backwards is an even better move if it buys you an extra turn of high ST shooting. You'd be surprised how long it takes for some players to realise that movement is key.

When teaching assault, make sure you show your opponent how to disembark units on one side of the enemy unit that's in cover, the side that has the few models that are not in cover. Did you know if an assaulting unit does not cross into terrain when it charges it isn't considered as having charged "into cover" and therefore your initiative stays intact? Depending on the position of your enemy's models, there's actually a chance that you could force him to "pile in" completely outside of cover, which could be devastating to your opponent if your unit has hit and run, as you've now just pulled him out of cover and into your waiting guns. Again, it's a rule that not everyone knows which can come in handy.

Incidentally, we rolled annihilation for our game. My opponent was playing Nids and was also totally enamoured with the Tervigon's ability to poop out gaunts. It helps that he spawned 25 before rolling doubles, finishing the game with 39 spawns in total. He did follow my advice about not spawning every turn and it paid off quite nicely for him. He won his first game 7KP's to my 5. Sure, there's a couple of times where my target priority might have been a tiny bit more focused but that's the thing about teaching another player. What's the point in wiping a whole squad in 1 turn of shooting? All that would do is discourage the new player. Shooting it just enough that it takes massive casualties yet doesn't die makes for a much better lesson about the use of cover because he's seen the effects. I've played Nids long enough to know that even 4 Devilgaunts can pose a threat as long as they're in range yet to someone who's just seen a squad of 14 be ground down to 4 in one round of shooting, that's scary.

I'm sure a lot of you have read some articles about "clubbing seals" and how some people feel that it's fine to teach new players in such a way because "they have to learn the hard lessons at some point". When teaching a new player via a demo game, seal clubbing should be the furthest thing from your mind. Unlike a standard pick-up game where someone claims they know the game only to reveal they know nothing as the game unfolds, the person you're teaching admitted they knew nothing from the start. In such a case, it's your responsibility to make sure they get a good introduction to the concepts of the game, the hard lessons of the game, some canny tricks of the game and most importantly of all, they need to see it's just a game. Teach them to be competitive is fine right from the start, but that being WAAC, well, that's just not the way this game works,

So there you have it, not to get too philosophical but, sometimes building up your army isn't so much about tweaking your list or doing an insane conversion. Sometimes it's about giving some of your time to the community so that a new player gets going on the right foot.

Hope you enjoyed this post and that it gave you some worthwhile food for thought.

*standing up*
*applauding*

Good job

Very interesting indeed. I agree with you on everything i think! Well done for stepping up (and enfolding another into the arms of the Hive.. potentially )

Great stuff, introducing new players is one of the most satisfying things I've done in the hobby. I particularly make an effort to make the game tell a narrative, Jervis's recent article on dissociated game mechanics rang particularly true in this regard.

Dark_Gear wrote:Speaking of dice rolling, if ever you teach a new player the ropes, now is the perfect time to teach them the polite way to roll dice. This may sound wierd at first but I guarantee you, the odds that anyone will argue about your dice rolls will dramatically drop once you start doing the following:

1. Declare who's doing what to who. (Unit A shoots Unit B with gun X at BS of Y)
2. Make sure your opponent is watching.
3. Roll the dice in an open spot of the board.
4. Pull out the misses, put them aside.
5. Declare the strength of the weapons, the toughness of Unit B and your target roll (3 or whatever).
6. Make sure your opponent is watching.
7. Roll the dice in an open spot of the board.
8. Pull out the failed wounds and put those aside.
9. Call out how many saves he needs to roll.

The follow-up to this is to always declare who you're rolling saves for before you roll the dice. Don't be that guy... You know, the guy who rolls one die at a time for a squad of Marines, and the first failed save is the one that goes to the bolter marine, even though it's declared after the roll.

Every gamer would benefit from reminding themselves of this from time to time. My most frustrating opponent was a guy who would stoop over his dice, roll them a few times, and then point at one of my units and tell me how many are dead.

I was an GW outrider for a short time back when the starter set had marines and dark eldar (third edition I think). My FLGS sold me a starter box at cost. I painted the forces and terrain up and did demos on a small card table. I used army builder to print off army lists using the number of available minis with codex wargear you could get both sides to an equal number of points. I painted the minis with the paints colors available in a starter set of paint.

I learned how to loose with either force while keeping the game close and interesting. This is important most people enjoy their first games more when they win, but it should not be obvious that you are holding back or throwing the game.

Veterans of this hobby are our ambassadors, how we introduce new players to plastic crack influences all of our gaming experiences in the future. So teach them good things like Dark Gear wrote about. I would also say carry around a few balanced or even under powered lists at different points levels 750 to 1500 to play the new guys without trying to table them by turn 2.

The store owners are still good friends, I know for a fact that the store made a killing on starter sets and battleforces off of demos and I know of 2 local players still playing that I demoed to years ago.

Thanks guys, glad to hear this tale of training resonated with some of you.

While It wasn't the first time I've helped a beginning players with the game, it was my first actual demo game with a "blank slate" player. The experience was especially fascinating because I realised early on that the first game really shapes them and how they'll play from that point on. For example, going into turn 2 I realised his movements were done being using the dreaded "front of base to back of base" method, a.k.a. the Eldar Inch. Rather than tell him he was doing it wrong right off the bat I did what we do at work when it comes to training new staff members.

*** Short rabbit trail ***

FYI, I work for a consulting company that teaches customer service. Not how to get the sale at all costs, customer service. Some of what we teach seems like common sense once it's been taught but at times, I swear it seems like rocket science to some people because it's so different from their current practices.

One of our guiding principles, in short, is that we're all human and we all make mistakes. This doesn't give anyone the license to make the same mistakes over and over again but serves to establish that, unlike what they taught us all in school, mistakes are a normal part of learning, so just relax as you will be making mistakes.

If the same mistakes start happening over and over again, then it's time to start digging. As we like to say it, there are 3 reasons why mistakes should be repeating.

1. They weren't trained properly. (your responsibility)
2. They don't have the mental capacity to the job. (shared responsibility)
3. They don't care about the job. (their responsibility)

If it's the first time you address the situation you just assume the mantle of responsibility and train them some more, because you may have glossed over something the first time. The second time this happens you ascertain what they're not understanding about the task and you either teach them a new way to do it, give them a lateral transfer inside the company or you let them go. The third time you have to address the situation you have to assume that their hearts just isn't in the job so you either determine why that is happening and resolve it or you release them to find happiness elsewhere.

You'd be surprised how well this works when you apply it in training others. Once people realise they can make mistakes, their attention is more focused on listening to the trainer as opposed to listening to their own internal monologue about how much they suck at learning. It's really cool when you see this work.

*** End of rabbit trail ***

My first question was: "I forget, did I cover how to measure movement in detail earlier?". He admitted that he wasn't too sure since we'd covered so many rules. So we covered the movement rules and the proper to measure once more and something cool happened. He realised he'd been measuring wrong all along and he apologised. I told him not to worry about it since I probably should have spent a bit more time on that aspect of the game the first time around. Besides, there's a lot of rules to remember so it's totally fine to make mistakes anyways. Total time spent on correction: 5 minutes. Number of times he moved too far afterwards: 0. Time well spent.

@Vitruvian: I can only hope he comes into the open arms of the Hive as he did mention a certain attraction for GK's before we started playing I may have stacked the odds in favour of the Nids by bringing the Harpy, the Tervigon and the Winged Tyrant to watch over the game. He couldn't stop drooling over the models. hehehe Now I just need to teach how to use GS and we're set.

@Lindsay: Is that article on game mechanics online or is it in the last WD? Sounds like an interesting read.

@Unicorn: I really like your advice about learning how to lose with either force while keeping the game close and interesting while making sure that it's not obvious that you are holding back or throwing the game. Give them enough of a challenge that they feel they had to work for the win as opposed to giving a chance to roll dice and move a steamroller across the board unimpeded. At one point in the game he was at 0 vs.3 KP's and things looked grim. Judging from the smile on his face at the end of the game, I'd say that having to claw his way to a victory (literally) made him appreciate the win that much more.

If he doesn't end up going for Nids I hope he at least heeds my advice and goes for a Xenos race, such as the new Necrons. The world doesn't need another Imperial army...

Step away from the naughty space elves!

I'm in danger of committing threadomancy but i was promised pods and i expected paint. I'm sure you haven't abandoned this project, well i hope. Also check your pms.

Oh, i hope you had a nice primary gifting period, and of course enjoy the auxiliary generosity zone.

Y U NO COMPLY?!

It's been a long time since I said I'd take a "short break" to work on Dark_Eldar, too long.

After a good hobby break I'm back in the saddle and, thanks to Casey and his suggestion of a "Nid Year Resolution", the Spawning Vats' waters are churning again.

The goal therefore is to finish at least one project per month, from here until June. Some monsters might be doable 2 in a month since they are almost completed but the goal is still to stick to one beast at a time until it's done. Should I get ahead of myself with a Nid project, I'll jump over to the Dark Eldar in order to balance things out. Here then are the major milestones, in no particular order.

Flying Tyrant (70%)
Harpy (80%)
Tyrannofex(90%)
Tervigon 1 (95%)
Tervigon 2 (5%)
12 more Devilgaunts
2 Venomthropes
Bone Swords and Lash Whips for 17 Warriors.

To add further fuel to this fire I played a 4k game against Chaos over the weekend and it was a blast. Not only because my opponent is a great guy to play against but also, because it was a very large game, I got the chance to put all 8 (yes, 8) of my Monstrous Creatures on the table. Even in their current state, the game was a showstopper at the store.

For the time being, no pods, just Monstrous Creatures and proper kit for Warriors but it'll be well worth it.

Stay tuned.

Sweet, cant wait to see what else you spawn!

I'm glad your back on the yellow chitin road, so to speak. I hope i wasn't to pushy, the plan was to badger you enough that it'd get you musing again but not so much that you wanted to beat me over the head with an old metal Hive Tyrant. Mission accomplished?

I have to say, i'm really looking forward to working adjacent to you on a similar project. For me, it gives me a chance to pick up tips and try and develop my skills, i'm not sure what you get out of it though. Haha! I know i haven't started a thread yet but i'm pretty busy for the next few days, i have lots of free time after that so i'll be hot on your tail. I'll send you a quick snap of my Hive Tyrant in it's current state, it's not much to look at though as the green stuff needs smoothed out; i had to deconstruct it to and extent(the legs and base are now a separate piece); and it's still in it's early stages. But less of the excuses, , i'll take a few snaps and pm you them.

Oh a 4k game?! That must have been great fun, i can imagine the crowd that would have gathered, may i ask for a short summary? Did you win?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Scratch that, i don't have any AA batteries, i stopped buying them when i got a rechargeable pack for my xbox. Though, it turns out, i could open a shop with my collection of anonymous remote controls and AAA batteries.

What do I gain out your friendly (cattle)prodding? Simple. A clear set of goals to finally finish my conversions. Thanks for that btw.

Ironically, the first model I also picked to work on was my Tyrant. He had minimal GS required in order to finally be completed, namely, a little bit of gap filling around the edges of the base, at the tail joint and the 2 joints on the top of the torso armour plates. Once I get back from work, I'm hoping I have the time to post up the quick series of pics showing my step-by-step approach.

As for that 4k game, it was nuts. Rather than go for an Apoc style everything-but-the-kitchen-sink list, we agreed on 4k and 2 force charts. My army list was roughly:

1 Tyrant
1 Flyrant
1 Harpy
1 TyrannoFex
2 Tervigons
2 Dakka Fexes
4 Shrikes
6 Hive Guard
6 Biovores
20 Genestealers
30 Gargoyles
30 Devilgants
Also produced about 47 Gants from the Tervigons over the course of the game

Setup was pitched battle and seize with 5 objectives.

Once my opponent's army was in range the amount of firepower it had to endure was quite staggering. He typically plays guard and yet he just couldn't understand how it was possible that nids can throw that many shots down range.

The game had to be called in turn 4 and finished as a draw. Had we had time to keep going it would have been dicey for him as the 2 objectives he held were only protected by 2 and 1 marines respectively wheras I was camping out on 2 objectives with 10 Genestealers, 15 Devilgants, 9 Gaunts, 1 Tervigon, 3 Biovores and 3 Hive Guard. All my biovores, hive guard and 3 Monstrous Creatures were either within shooting or charging range of his 3 claiming marines. Not a good position to be in for him, no doubt.

His army is brilliantly converted and painted, in sharp contrast to mine, which is only converted, thereby lighting a fire under my ass to get back to work on my beloved gribblies.

Break time's over, ttyl

Beautiful work, I love how you capture the organic feel in your green stuff. Amazing ability and a great looking army.

@ Gaussguy: Thank you very much. In spite of what GW did to the Codex, they also graced the 40k line-up with the most rewarding army for sculpters when they came up with Nids in their current form. I'm just gleefully following the creative path that was laid out in front of me.

Speaking of which, here we go back into the rabbit hole.

To start off this Nid Year Resolution, I'm starting at the top in 2 ways. First, finishing the lynchpin unit of my army, the Tyrant. Second, I'll be showing a basic step-by-step for filling gaps.

Step 1.



Once you have your ball of GS well mixed, stretch out a corner and twirl it between your fingers until you get long and thin hairs of putty. Think roughly spaghettini or angel hair pasta thin. Drape the material very loosely over the intended so you know you have enough and repeat on the side. For tools, I can't speak highly about the soft paint shapers. GS does not stick to the tools, even when they aren't wet. Another tool I strongly suggest is a stainless steel dental tool. Both ends have a the same shape but they are different gauges of wire, therefore you have 2 "dimple makers" in one tool. This is just what I use at this stage. If you're comfortable with anything else, don't worry about changing. The main idea of this step is just to get the GS loosely where it needs to go.

Step 2.



Using the tools from the previous step, start at one end of the spaghetti and press it into the creases of the gap and the model's details. Work from one direction to the other rather than starting in the middle or pressing a bit here and there. By going "down the line", you're basically slowly working the GS all the way down the model and pushing any extra GS down its surface as though squeezing toothpaste out of the tube. Those areas where you had undercuts in the model will need the extra GS as filler because the strand was only loosely draped over the model's surface remember? The main idea behind this step is to roughly fill in the gap. Don't worry about detail just yet.


Step 3.



Depending on a whole bunch of factors that I won't get into right now, if your GS is starting to not be too pliable, you might need a stiffer tool than the acrylic shapers I was showing early. This is when the rubber grip on a needle file comes in really handy. The tip has just the perfect ratio of stiffness to pliability to be a great shaping tool. Contrary to shapers however, you'll need to keep it wet as GS sticks to it like mad. Anyways! At this point you'll be wanting to push the GS into the gap while also, in some areas, draw the GS thin in order to smooth out the transition between the lump of GS and the surrounding. Pardon the bad "visual image" here but, the technique is not alike scraping dog poo off your shoe. No seriously,think about it for a minute. The first step you take your shoe is loaded with crap so your treads barely make contact with your scrubbing surface but after a few passes, you're smearing thinner and thinner layers until you finally get rid of most of sticky substance. Smoothing out GS is exactly like that. The first dip of the shaper feels like you stepped in poo, the next few dips, prods and pulls are when you actually spread the GS in a thinner and thinner film until it creates a very smooth transition from the patched up area and the surrounding area. Keeping your tools wet at this stage will allow to draw GS layers that are thinner than a human hair yet still stick to the surface of the model.

Step 4.



Once you've smoothed in the GS as well as possible, it's time to rough it up a bit. Basically, now that you've made sure the GS is covering the areas that needed to be covered, you're now going to go back and add some surface detail to the GS in order to give it character. Notice the carapace dimples that were added back into the left hand stripe, close to the chimneys. In contrast, notice the smoothness of the transition over on the right hand side where the GS actually changes color because it's been spread so thin.

This is also the step where you sculpt the sharpness back into armour plates and other details as the GS isn't so sticky and it's starting to establish a shape memory. Basically, assuming you went with the usual 1 part blue: 1.25 part yellow, 45 minutes after you mixed the GS it's almost hard-set and you can doodling scratches into the surface. Pressing hard will barely do anything because GS will "heal itself" and smooth the groove you did, leaving just a shallow scratch instead. With experience you'll learn how to time this part of the sculpting phase and also how much pressure you can use as it's almost impossible to describe what to do or how to recognise the correct phase in the GS curing process. Just remember what I wrote when you're experimenting and at some point, it'll click, trust me.

And done.



All this guy is a bit of extra attention on the base, such as sand and maybe and enemy corpse and then he's finally reading for priming and painting.

And to think it's taken me longer to post what I did on him than it actually took for doing it... I really need to work on my writing!

Enjoy and stay tuned

Nice tutorial, dude.

Lol, , lame response! Too tired right now but i'll write something better once i've slept, whenever that will be. :(

I have just been looking your amazing models and this really inspires me to try more things with my new nid army, good work keep it up!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, i'm rested and it's time for a response more worthy of your update.

Firstly, its nice to see the 'Nid Year Resolution taking it's first steps on your side. I'll be joining you shortly.

I really enjoyed reading your tutorial, your process is very similar to mine the main difference being that yours has a definitive plan to it. As much as i do pretty much the same thing, i tend to just do it without walking through step by step. It's nice to finally see it written down, it reveals where i can avoid errors and improve my technique.

One part that i found particularly interesting was Step 4. I've always attempted to follow the natural shape and keep the GS as smooth as possible. I never thought of this stage as the perfect opportunity to cram in some extra detail. Good thinking, batman!

You mentioned basing, i'm going to be stealing an idea from insaniak for mine. What do you think?

P.S. Is there any chance of a quick shot of your Tyrant's neck? I had to GS a whole new, much longer, neck for mine and i'm quite happy with it. I actually put my own stamp on it by adding detail i hadn't seen in any of GW's stock biomass.

Firstly, its nice to see the 'Nid Year Resolution taking it's first steps on your side

Thanks it's good to be back.

I have just been looking your amazing models and this really inspires me to try more things with my new nid army, good work keep it up!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that right there is why I love posting on Dakka! Thanks for the support, the appreciation and letting yourself be inspired. I wouldn't be half as far with my Nids (or the Dark Eldar) if it weren't for the tons of great people on here.

In regards to basing, I took an easy night yesterday after posting the pictures and revisited bases of the Tervigon, both Tyrants and all 6 Shrikes. Courtesy of the pummice gel and some local beach sand I used in the Dark Eldar thread, all bases have got a new coat of texture that should look much better than what I had before. I won't be doing anything near as involved as Insaniak but his basing is definitely inspiring to say the least.

The Foot Tyrant is well and truly finished, modeling wise, and thus in a holding tank until I start painting the lot of them.

More news once I get home.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Last quick update of the day.

Working on the Flyrant's wings according to the 4 steps I spoke about in the previous tutorial.

Step 1.



Step 2.



Step 3.



Step 4.



Total time: roughly 30 minutes.

Stay tuned.

Whoa, they look really fantastic, man, i particularly like the little bits of raised scar tissue that break up the surface. Also it ages the wings without you having to fill them with holes.

30mins! You work so quickly i spend 5 hours staring at it until i am sure i know what i want to do then it takes me 10 to do it! Well, maybe i'm exaggerating a bit.

P.S. If your interested i wrote some fluff for my 'Nids and a couple of other things. Link's in my sig if you have time.
...I'm shameless.

Excellent!

Can't wait for more progress in this log, one of my all time fav nid armies.

Those wings are absolutely amazing!

Flu Days,
Sick Daze,
Sculpting Haze

Stay Tuned...

I'm sure your work will amaze

@Sheep, Prime & Wyomingfox: Thanks guys, it seems that taking a break with Dark Eldar was a good thing as I don't feel like I've lost any of the ideas regarding the Nids, just a bit of sculpting ability, and it's coming back quick thanks to the wealth of projects and comments.

Get comfy folks, it's going to be a long one. Having been sick for the past 2 days, I put my time to good use and worked on the Nid Year Resolution.

Wednesday is when it all began. Looking at the completed Tyrant and his touched up based it became obvious that the Warriors, Tervigon and Tyrannofex were in dire need of a base makeover.

Step 1. A generous coat of resin sand, a.k.a. pummice gel.



Step 2. Sprinkle with beach sand. Shake off excess. done. In 5 minutes.



A quick tip to beginning modelers in 3 parts. Firstly, green stuff is the basic tool of conversions, if you don't have any, do yourself a favour and buy some. Secondly, that being said, don't buy it from GW or Dream Pod 9 as they just repackage 36-inch strips and charge you 6 times the price, literally. Go online and buy it either in tubes or in 36-inch strips and on average it will cost you 10$. Thirdly, even if you think you'll be doing a lot of conversions, don't buy six boxes of green stuff like I did 3 years ago. Just buy 1 box at a time or you'll end with a desk that looks like this 3 years down the road...



Over time the yellow strips, which are a resin that harden when mixed with the blue catalyst, will form a skin on their surface. If you don't remove that skin prior to mixing you will get yellow chunks in your GS, making it really difficult to get a smooth finish. Thankfully it isn't hard to remove that skin, but it a painfully slow process which eats into your creative time. Today I decided to just clean up a batch of GS so I wouldn't have to do this annoying task for quite a while.

Another thing to keep in mind when you're working with GS is that it's quite likely you'll mix more GS than you actually need for a particular project. The solution? Always have at least 2 projects on the go at the same time so you don't let the extra GS go to waste. Case in point: the Tyrannofex. While working on the Flyrant's wings today I had enough GS to add detailing on either side the big gun as well as finishing off an extra top armour and closing gaps on the Warrior's legs.

A small strip can go a long way when detailing gaps.


Voila.


Speaking of Warriors, while working on their bases I ended up reposing and repositioning almost all of them so they'd be both more stable and dynamic as well as filling in a bunch of gaps that had been staring at me for the last year.

Exhibit A.



Exhibit B.

This one needed some ankle surgery due to the reposing so I figured I'd also show you a pic of how I assemble the legs so they don't snap off. In short, fine brass rod to pin the Genestealer claws to the ankle. Quick yet finicky.



But worth it in the end.





Exhibit C.

This one had large gaps to fill where I pinned the leg sections together. Start off with a small ball of GS and shove it in with your finger. You're better off starting with less than you actually need and add as required than try to remove some GS later as it's very like you'll pull off the GS off.



Using your wet tools, start wrapping the GS the pin until you loop all around. In this case I realised I needed more in the back of the knee (because he took an arrow...).



Once the GS is filling the gap, add in the details. It was also time to finally GS the tail that I snapped off 2 years ago. My approach to wrapping an armature is to create thin ribbons of GS and then twist it around the wire. I've found this makes it easier to get an even thickness of GS over the wire, minimising the chances that it will poke through the GS as smooth it out.



Keep wrapping until you get to the end.



For long smooth yet circular objects like a tail, I prefer using my finger to smooth GS as with tools it's too easy to press too hard and create creases or indents that then become a pain to clean up. Smooth the GS by dragging from thick area to thin area until you get the tail to the desired length. Remove any excess with scissors so you don't pull extra GS off the tail.



Enjoy your successful tail surgery.



And now finally the star of the show, the continuing saga of the Tyrant's wing. I'll keep the comments to a minumum and let the step-by-step images do most of the talking.

Spreading GS into the corners.


Smoothing and spreading uniformly over the area.


Adding detail, starting from the edges.


Done.



Starting the next wing section. Filling in the area with strips due to the width that needs coverage.


Smoothing and spreading.


Smoothing completed. Excess GS removed with fine detailing tool.


And done.


That's all for tonight, hope you enjoyed the show.

Questions and comments welcome as always.

Whoa...

Okay, first up, i hope you feel better soon dude, being ill's nae fun. Lemsip/paracetamol and ibuprofen at two hour intervals. Rinse and repeat.

You have really made massive headway while you've been struck down by Papa Nurgle, even a god of Chaos can't stifle your creative genius!

Right, spill the bea. ...pumice gel. Whats the low down on this stuff? Do i need to order some?

The warriors are looking even more dynamic than before, they look great, man! Their new bases really add something to them. Just one question there, is the last tail picture the wrong one or have you just not finished?

The Tyranofex and Flyrant wings are coming on in leaps and bounds too! Looks like i need to work hard to keep up with the pro.

On that subject, i have a conclusive date for my first update. Come rain or shine i will be starting my P&M blog on the 1st of February. That'll also be the online debut of my miniatures, safe to say, i'm bricking it. The date for finishing the green of my Hive Tyrant will still be the end of February but i'm planning to get it done quicker than that.

I'm quite looking forward to the flyrant. The wings are coming along nicely.

really great, keep up the awesome work!

amazing greenstuff work. you really inspired me for my next project

Front page once again Dark_Gear! ^These comments are why i kept nudging you to get back to your 'Nids.

Hey Dark_Gear- those wings look fantastic! I also have just read through your new player introduction - what a great effort, well done! I feel this is exactly what I need since I don't think I've played in three years!