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 don't play this system but for the most part I have always enjoyed the look of most of the 'Jacks. These however....yikes! Someone please post a pic of them with a different paint job because right now... they look terrible. Awful looking models.

SickSix wrote:I don't play this system but for the most part I have always enjoyed the look of most of the 'Jacks. These however....yikes! Someone please post a pic of them with a different paint job because right now... they look terrible. Awful looking models.

Not a great shot but here's my Phoenix, Disco and Manticore in the aforementioned totally-not-inspired-by-Green-Lantern-colour-scheme.

H.B.M.C. wrote:Never was a fan of the Ret stuff. The artwork always made them look a lot better than they really were. The characters are probably the worse examples of this.

That's exactly right. When I see these designs, when I see the art, I say to myself "there's no reason these shouldn't look good" but somehow they just don't.

Mine are striking scorpion inspired:

Please do not take this the wrong way as I love painted minis as much as anyone else, but both Malfred's and Grimtuff's Retribution remind me of angry tree frogs. I blame the smooth, bulbous lines.



As opposed to...

One of the locals calls her Phoenix Kermit...

SickSix wrote:I don't play this system but for the most part I have always enjoyed the look of most of the 'Jacks. These however....yikes! Someone please post a pic of them with a different paint job because right now... they look terrible. Awful looking models.

Here are some non green one for you.

Well, no offense guys but I still don't like them. And those other models are worse to me. Way to bulbous, like the tree frog.

The Scyrah are different, but I think that's meant to show that they're such an incredibly different tech-base from the normal steamjacks.

Casper wrote:
Here are some non green one for you.

Wow... are they purposely scultping those things to look like giant horned and rhinoceros beetles???



Don't take this as a comment on your own skills but rather on the underlying style of the army sculpts... I didn't think I could like them much less but the pics in this thread are proving me wrong.

The problem, as has been stated before, is with smooth, featureless curves. They're meant to look flawlessly sculpted, but it comes across as bulbous and lumpy.

If they had harder angles to come off as 'ceramic' moreso than 'organic' I think they'd be much more appealing.

It's the large, featureless areas of the Retribution Jacks that cause the problem. You either need really good knowledge of freehand or an amazing grasp on shading. Painting it one color doesn't work.

Privateer Press is trying to go for the sleek-Eldar look with a touch of organic, but they end up with something that looks like a Digimon toy.

I've found that the Ret jacks usually look bad in pics, but in person, where latural lighting creates the shading, they often look very good.

I saw the PP jacks at their Gencon booth, and they looked awesome, even though they were the same ones I have seen on their site and in the book and hated.

Seeing them on tabletop makes a huge difference.

Absolutionis wrote:but they end up with something that looks like a Digimon toy.

Kind of reminds me of the vehicles of the bad guys in Robotech. Just ... not as good.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Absolutionis wrote:You either need really good knowledge of freehand or an amazing grasp on shading. Painting it one color doesn't work.

I don't know if that's even enough:

http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=4054

Contrast the Manticore to the heartbreachingly awesome Devestator further down that page.

You know, I actually like that Manticore more than the Devastator. The metallic sheen he pulled off is really nice (maybe it's just the lighting?).

The Rhinodon, though, looks ready to jump off the page and shout 'Clobberin' Time!'.

On the tabletop I still despise them. They look like giant, unlovely, ungainly, ducks. I think it has more to do with they trying to make them so alien, and doing such a good job at it, that aesthetically a good bunch of people just won't like how they look. I loved the Iosian elves before they came out with these designs.

Toreador wrote:On the tabletop I still despise them. They look like giant, unlovely, ungainly, ducks.

Toreador, please apologise to the ducks...

I usually have the opposite experience- not liking a particular model in pictures (trollbloods scattergunners, for example) and then seeing them in-person on the table and realizing they're quite decent.

Also think green makes those look better than white, particularly malfred's!

I love that metallic effect in the link to the brushthralls.

There's no way in hell you can make me attempt to do that.

Do think a Ret Jack would look better if someone did it in NMM? A silver/white Ret Jack with NMM up the wazoo might work, as it'd break up those big flat areas.

H.B.M.C. wrote:Do think a Ret Jack would look better if someone did it in NMM? A silver/white Ret Jack with NMM up the wazoo might work, as it'd break up those big flat areas.

Grey/blue?

That's certainly an improvement, but I was thinking NMM across the entire thing.

I remember there being a nice bronze-like color scheme with Cryxian-green highlights (i.e., where the blue usually goes). Was it NQ #36?

infinite_array wrote:

H.B.M.C. wrote:Do think a Ret Jack would look better if someone did it in NMM? A silver/white Ret Jack with NMM up the wazoo might work, as it'd break up those big flat areas.

Grey/blue?

I'd use that for Ret in a heartbeat, or at least shade it down to that degree.

I actually like the designs, I just think they need to shade their minis a LOT more. But I've noticed most pro photos are almost always washed out.

infinite_array wrote:I remember there being a nice bronze-like color scheme with Cryxian-green highlights (i.e., where the blue usually goes). Was it NQ #36?

It was in NQ34 and the jacks in question can be found in the brushthralls link http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=4054 that Manchu posted.

I can't find any pictures of just the Jacks off hand, but I love this guy's pink scheme on his Ret. The Jacks came out pretty darn good and they've got some great poses.

Hrm, the bubblegum army?

You know, I'm apparently really good at looking at games like this and somehow picking the one race that no one fething likes. I got into 40k with Tau, and I've been looking at Retribution again here recently...just bought the faction book for them the other day and was thinking about getting a couple of models this weekend.

Seeing as how I have no intention of putting up with that same bs again that I got for playing an unpopular 40k race, though, maybe I'll just skip Warmachine. I've never liked the attitude of most of the fanbase and I don't hear many good things about how the game plays anyway. I already play Magic and the last thing I want is a crappier version of that in wargame form that's all about "combos, combos, combos!"

H.B.M.C. wrote:Never was a fan of the Ret stuff. The artwork always made them look a lot better than they really were. The characters are probably the worse examples of this.

That's the only thing I'll agree with, the artwork for the characters looks much better than the actual models. Ravyn and Kaelyssa in particular weren't done a whole lot of justice in mini-form (which is sad since I kinda liked Ravyn the most).

malfred wrote:Hrm, the bubblegum army?

Looks like someone's Breast Cancer Brawl army to me, mal. Nicely executed colour scheme, I must say.

Sidstyler wrote:You know, I'm apparently really good at looking at games like this and somehow picking the one race that no one fething likes. I got into 40k with Tau, and I've been looking at Retribution again here recently...just bought the faction book for them the other day and was thinking about getting a couple of models this weekend.

Seeing as how I have no intention of putting up with that same bs again that I got for playing an unpopular 40k race, though, maybe I'll just skip Warmachine. I've never liked the attitude of most of the fanbase and I don't hear many good things about how the game plays anyway. I already play Magic and the last thing I want is a crappier version of that in wargame form that's all about "combos, combos, combos!"

I wouldn't say that no-one likes the Retribution - apparently PP thought they were a good enough idea to make them a fifth "main" faction, ahead of Mercenaries - but there are some people who take issue with the aesthetics of the army. Put a Cygnar army up opposite a Khador, Menoth, Cryx or Merc army, and even with the design differences they look like part of the same sort of setting. Hordes is a bit looser in that regard, but overall I think the same point holds there, too.

It is similar in a way to the Tau issue - which looked like a blatant attempt to invade Japan via an anime army - but I'd say it isn't as extreme. There are a couple of rules design points I don't like the sound of with them (Ravyn + Mage Hunter Strike Force turn 1 assassination attempts, for instance), and I'll hold my hand up as someone who doesn't like the look of the 'jacks and Houseguard troops (Invictors/Sentinels). However, the Mage Hunters, Arcanists and Mittens look fairly cool.

I'd also agree that the Sudio scheme does the models no favours. The grey Myrmidon posted above is an improvement, I must say.

When you say "I've never liked the attitude of most of the fanbase", Sid, is that based off what you've read people write online, or what you've heard people say in person? There are some people who take Page 5 as an excuse to be obnoxious twits, but is that any different to their equivalent TFGs in the 40k fanbase?

Sidstyler wrote:
Seeing as how I have no intention of putting up with that same bs again that I got for playing an unpopular 40k race, though, maybe I'll just skip Warmachine. I've never liked the attitude of most of the fanbase and I don't hear many good things about how the game plays anyway. I already play Magic and the last thing I want is a crappier version of that in wargame form that's all about "combos, combos, combos!"

You're right I hate all the 10's and 14's year old's that make up most of 40K fanbase as well, was one of the reasons that I stopped playing the game.