Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I use the gw stuff. purity seal i think is the matte

Just dawned on me that I forgot to add the limb blades and purity seals. I was rather punchy last night by the time I decided to post the pics. I'll get those done this weekend... maybe tonight if I'm lucky.

Have a couple of Aard Boyz games over the next two days with a 2500 point mek ork list I cooked up. Should be total suicide... but totally fun, and a nice break from painting.

I may be wrong and if so i apologize but wouldn't there be a lack of purity seals in your army to begin with? Given that its basically the emperors blessing on paper, and the Mantis Warriors were once traitors?

It's semantics... but I've always considered "traitor" marines to be those chapters tainted with chaos. If that was true of the Mantis Warriors (and Lamenters) they would have never been sent on crusade, they would have been exterminated. They were rebels aligned with a tainted chapter... but I suspect they did not realize the taint in the Tiger Claws at the time.

To be honest, I'm not sure how that would work... I just figured as veterans if there were purity seals in the chapter this is where they'd reside. Keep in mind that in my "vision", the chapter has been under constant scrutiny by the inquisition... and at the point that I'm modeling they've been back "within the fold" for a number of years. I imagine that the Inquisitorially-assigned Cannoness could "issue paper" to deserving marines as she saw fit. Would the chapter have lost all of it's seals when they rebelled?? I don't now... makes a certain amount of sense. Would they be allowed to earn them back? That makes sense too, otherwise why bother sending them on a crusade in the first place... just declare them traitor and do your best to wipe them out.

I love the sniper. I'm glad when you decided on painting the camo you didn't go over board. A lot of times you see camo with WAY to much going on and you really kept to the old pictures. Nice job.

Have fun with the Ard boyz games!

Hey Gretar, lookee what I did!!



Got my pens... sweet!

Very good! A+

The Camo on the sniper looks ace, I really like it. However the grass is a tad tall, maybe snip a little of it(unless the planet's plants are supposed to be big, or the marines are midgets )

nice work, just keep rebuilding this chapter, SM's can sometimes seem boring, but these look to be highly interesting.

Definitely like the writing on the purity seals!! Good Job.

Hmmm if you decide you want some sculpted/cast shoulder pads, email me. I have always like Mantis Warriors since I read Warrior Brood.

We could sculpt something up and mass produce them for you for something less then $125 or so.

Nick

Just want to say, I love that sniper. Very cool

Well, had my first experience with 'Aard Boyz. Two practice games on Thursday (demons and nids) and the tournament itself on Saturday... which in itself was a practice for the real 'Aard Boyz tournament next weekend. As I've never been much of a power gamer, I didn't really expect to do well, but I did want the experience of playing in that type of atmosphere... and I like the folks in our group, so I knew I'd enjoy the day. Pulled out my orks, tried a couple of new configurations... couple of new figures, some new tactics (for me anyway). Split the practice games (got slaughtered by Norbu the Destroyer's demons, comfortable victory against the nids). In the tournament proper, I had a minor loss to marines in round 1 (though it felt like I was never in the game... I just kept making stupid mistake after stupid mistake), had a major loss to khanaris' Evil Suns bike army in round two (great opponent/modeler, my mentor in playing orks) and a major victory against a couple of young kids playing a mixed ork/SM army.

That being said... I learned a lot & save for Round 1 where I made so many stupid mistakes that I just hated myself, I had a good time. I am clearly not... however, a power gamer. I used a set of Dugg's resin craters throughout to great effect. They look great and you can stand guys on the rim of the crater as well as the interior, which actually makes them useful as "combat terrain". And of course with orks... things are blowing up all over the place, so you need a *lot* of craters.

As some of you know I also have a blog on my experiences with my two small boys in 40k, a blog which hasn't gotten a single post since I started the MW blog. http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/285111.page So, I'm going to spend a little time with my boys and get them rolling again. The 6-year old is painting a gretchin and the 9-year old is building a nob from the ground up. Thus it may be a bit before I have anything to show on my MWs. The next project will be the Vanguard prototype... a specialized assault troop with preying mantis arm-looking blade attachments that function like either power claws or chain swords depending on how I model them. I'm also talking with Nick at Chapterhouse about making molded Mantis Warrior shoulder pads... which would solve a lot of problems for me.

So that will be coming... but there will be a bit of a pause while I spend some quality time with "da grotz" (they're a little too old to be snotlings).

gretar wrote:Very good! A+

The Camo on the sniper looks ace, I really like it. However the grass is a tad tall, maybe snip a little of it(unless the planet's plants are supposed to be big, or the marines are midgets )

Punk.... *grin*

Actually the tall grass in on purpose. It's part of the "illusion" that they are actually snipers (even though they are Sternguard on the table). Snipers in the tall grass seemed like an appropriate image. So they'll each carry their "cover" with them in the form their basing. The style of base is consistent with the rest of my army, just taller grass. If they turn out well I may even make a little display base for the unit with tufts of tall grass all round, which will put the whole thing in context.

It does challenge me however on the basing for my sniper scouts... hmmmmm.

Is there a set colour scheme for the Sniper scouts?

If not, I see this!



Apologies for the image size

Ewww that is a really old M16. Minus that and the Beret I'd agree, not sure how tiger stripe will work in mini form tho

Gitsplitta wrote:

gretar wrote:Very good! A+

The Camo on the sniper looks ace, I really like it. However the grass is a tad tall, maybe snip a little of it(unless the planet's plants are supposed to be big, or the marines are midgets )

Punk.... *grin*

Actually the tall grass in on purpose. It's part of the "illusion" that they are actually snipers (even though they are Sternguard on the table). Snipers in the tall grass seemed like an appropriate image. So they'll each carry their "cover" with them in the form their basing. The style of base is consistent with the rest of my army, just taller grass. If they turn out well I may even make a little display base for the unit with tufts of tall grass all round, which will put the whole thing in context.

It does challenge me however on the basing for my sniper scouts... hmmmmm.

I'd love to see a display base with a lot of that tall grass

Sniper scouts you say? how about a swamp theme, while still being on the same planet?

Swamp theme... cool idea. I could give them green stuff hoods as well with all kinds of leafy bits attached like a modern sniper...

As far as the photo goes, doesn't all that bright red defeat the purpose of the camo?? Oh wait... that's his skin color. Oops!


Automatically Appended Next Post:


Just for giggles... a side-by-side with the original artwork. I did try to stick to the original camo pattern as much as possible.

whalemusic360 wrote:Ewww that is a really old M16. Minus that and the Beret I'd agree, not sure how tiger stripe will work in mini form tho

Yeah I know. He has a rather nice CAR-15 though. Which is good. I agree with you, maybe it would fit better on a Guardsman?

Apologies for thread jacking

LOL! No problem. Thread hasn't been very exciting lately... More to come, got to take care of my boys first though...

Good to hear!

Snuck in a little work on the Vanguard squad. These are my "mantis arms" for them. Even though they are made from chainswords, I'll count them as lightening claws. I have a way in mind to cover up the seam... when I get that done I'll post it. The final prototype may take a while to build because I'm waiting on some parts to come in... but I'll keep you updated on whatever progress I can make.

I like them.

Are they designed to open and close at the bend ? if not, the left one looks better than the right. It just looks like it would be able to hit more.

Yes, the idea is that there's a hinging mechanism at the bend that transferrs power and allows the arms to open and close with the movement of the arms. I'm not going to dwell on modeling the mechanics too much... not my cup of tea. That being said I won't ignore it completely either... I may have some time to fiddle around with it this weekend and see what I can come up with. That's why I call 'em prototypes after all! *grin*

You should ditch the handels to make them less chainswordish

Well, I put the handles back on just for visual balance as the motor part of the chainsword ended rather abruptly, and I couldn't figure out how to model the rest. They can be easily taken off, but then I still need to come up with a better way of "completing" the motor.

I'd use some wire, maybe into the backpack or under the shoulderpads.

I'll play around with it... I have some cabling that I've been dieing to use... that and some wires might make a convincing image. That's the beauty of the WIP posts... lets me float things out into the internets so I get good feedback from people who's opinions I value before I'm irrevocably committed. I may try to do something similar with power swords... but I'm not sure how that would come out... they aren't anywhere as dynamic as the chain swords are... would be more easily believable as lightening claws though, and it would allow me some weapons diversity in the unit (some guys have chain swords, some lightening claws), keeps the unit from getting crazy expensive... and Vanguard are already crazy expensive to start with. Most of the power swords are just so bloody big... maybe I can find something amongst one of the other army's that is a little more sanely proportioned.

Ok, in that case they are AWESOME !

I would definitely say you need to model something that suggests hinging, but like you said , it doesn't have to be much.

Give me the weekend to play around with them.... I have some ideas in mind... think I can come up with something that will be a convincing conversion... and look cool to boot! You guys have any more good ideas or comments, just throw them up on the blog... I'll take everything into consideration as I model.. Unfortunately I just ordered the legs I want so it'll be a while before they arrive, but if I get the arms and torso done I may proxy in some temporary legs just to get some feedback.

Tonight I get to play a very good opponent with my Bad Moons (1850 pts). Really looking forward to a fun game. I kind of backed off from a lot of the gimmicks that I tried for the 'Aard Boyz warm up tournament last weekend and came back to the stuff I feel more comfortable running. So win or lose, I should at least have fun. Not that there was anything wrong with the army I chose last week, it just had a lot of unfamiliar stuff in it so I spent my time hunting down rules rather than focusing on playing/enjoying the game.

Looks nice. Only issue that I have is that it seems a little long and heavy to use effectiley in battle.