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Really good looking dread mate! You've done a great job with the white too, I'll have to trawl back and find Ifalna's recipe.

Ifalna had mentioned how she'd done it before... but it didn't sink in until I was looking at Joske De Veteran's sternguard blog and discussing HIS crisp whites.. then Thunderhawk277 mentioned his technique, which is very simple and everything gelled. So I guess mine is really closest to Thunderhawk's recipie... but I think in general, Ifalna's approach works in a similar fashion.

To quote Thurderhawk277:
"I usually do a skull white base coat, take some badab black to it, then use water-downed skull white in layers."

So I just primed white, gave it a black wash & when that was dry, thinned out some white and when over all the surfaces 5 or 6 times... couldn't have taken more than 10-15 minutes to get the white painted up. It was easy, fast and by far the best white I've done yet. Might be worth your while to look at Joske's and Ifalna's blogs and see if you can distill some more useful information.

Is adep this weekend?
I hope you do well and get your army ready in time

and get some pics and battle reports!

No, not until April 1st... this weekend is just the first of the practice tourneys that our FLGS will hold (our store has a big showing at Adepticon). This'll be good though as I have doubts about my list and this will help me either gain confidence in it or show me where changes need to be made while I still have enough time to make them.

But, I will still give you pics and battle reports, as long as I can do it without disrupting the games.

Wow that model is stunning

@ToxicsLayer: (sorry for the late reply) Thanks! Will try and continue to entertain... tonight is the first big test as the camo goes on. Then probably won't have a chance to do the next big step until Sunday or Monday night (which is battle damage).

@IHEART: Thank you Sir. It is but a shadow of what it will become (I hope!)


Dawned on my that I've never mentioned where all this is going as far as an army list. I know this is a P&M blog rather than a tactics blog... but just in case your curious...

Gitsplitta's Badab War Mantis Warriors: 1000 pts

HQ: MoTF (stock)
Elite: Sternguard (5) w/ combimeltas, sergeant has PF, pod
Elite: Iron Clad (stock), pod
Troop: 5-man tac squad, srg w/ PW, las/plas razorback
Troop: 5-man tac squad, srg w/ PW, las/plas razorback
Heavy: Rifleman Dreadnought (stock), pod

In theory...

Razorbacks & rifleman provide long range fire support while remaining mobile (move 6" & fire). Embarked Tac squads serve as semi-hard objective holders.
Sternguard, MoTF & Iron Clad pod in on turn 1 somewhere "inconvenient" for opponent, or at worst... to shore up our own defensive positions. After disembarking can unload 6 melta shots at 2 targets (5 and 1 respectively) or sternguard can rapid fire special ammo into infantry supported by MoTF and his flamer and twin-linked plasma pistols. Anything that survives the ensuing turn either charges or rapid fires as the case requires.
Rifleman's pod comes down empty in reserve.

So, the theory is to cause disruption in the opposition by podding in some nasty melta/assault stuff right off the bat while razorbacks and rifleman cripple opposition armor or transports from the rear. Pod drop is hoped to cause enough disruption that rearward units are at decreased target priority and live longer. Most of my partners are assaulty so my *ss is really only hanging in the wind for 1 turn before I get help. So generally... it's "throw a monkey wrench into their opening gambit, then hope for the best".

Should make for entertaining games if not particularly long ones.

Advantages: not many... fun to play I guess... might be decent in a supporting role, should look great on the table though
Disadvantages: too many to list

Gitsplitta wrote:....infantry supported by MoTF and his flamer or twin-linked plasma

I was under the impression that the servo harness let him fire both the flamer and the T/L plasma pstol in the same turn, was I totally wrong there?

Cool list Gitsplitta, will definatly look great on the table, no should about it.

Also Blackhand's right, you can indeed fire both harness-mounted weapons, or one harness-mounted gun and whatever other weapon he's got.

Yay! I was looking forward to burning the living crap out anything in my path before assualting it with two normal and two powerfist attacks

Yeah it's pretty cool, I stuck a new servo-harness on my classic Iron Priest, looks pretty sweet, then read the Wolf codex and discovered I can't even get one!

Oh well looks good though.

Cool! Thanks guys! That will help a lot. I'll adjust my comments in the post above accordingly.

More pics!

Funny you should ask...

First, a surprise aquisition! So, I wrote up an 1850 point Badab War army that is mechanized & will be my ultimate goal with the early stuff. 3 predators, 5 tac squads w/ razorbacks, two lobbys & two tech marine, with the ability to swap out one libby for the MoTF. Should be very entertaining. Well, just by luck I picked up my 4th razorback from a friend at our FLGS! Here 'tis, nice and green now.



And finally progress on the dread. It was a big night (which is why it's ending at 1 AM).

- finished sepia lining (the trick with the varnish really worked!
- added camo
- did edge highlighting

Those 3 together were a lot of work! But here's the product. Hope it suits.



Next is painting the damage!

Awesome!

That looks fantastic!
The recipe for a nice clean white sounds interesting too. I shall have to give that a go next time I need something white

At last I've caught up,
it took two weeks but I've read every post from start to finish and just wanted to say...

Um...I don't actually remember,
it's been two weeks, I probably should have posted before reading the whole thing.
Still great work! It's been an inspiration and wow!

Hi Gitz,

I've been trying to work through your post, but at 104 pages and climbing it has proved far too much work! I have just started a Mantis Warriors army for a Badab War campaign that is being run by our local gaming club, it's all set during the war, so I don't have to deal with the same things you are, but it has still been fun seeing what you've done.

I have a fluffy question for you though, especially considering your current loadout for the 1000pt tournie. It's been revealed in IA10 that the founder chapter for the Mantis Warriors is the Marauders chapter, one of the successors of the White Scars. According to the White Scars fluff, they do not use dreadnoughts, the idea of a warrior being trapped inside being inimical to their beliefs. I have bought myself a dreadnought as I think they are awesome, but I am wondering whether or not I should use it in my army. Do you think that the White Scar fluff is due to the world which they recruited from, or the beliefs of Jagahtai himself, and do you think successor chapters should feel beholden to a primarch's beliefs?

I'm probably still going to use a dreadnought, and I know fluff isn't everything for an army, but just wondered if you'd considered this (if you've already spoken about it earlier in the thread, I apologise).

Love your work

Personally I'd say that the Mantis warriors have a different perspective on war than the White Scars, so to say they can use Dreads isn't a far reach.

The White Scars are recruited from a tribal, nomadic style world, which would lead to an inherent fear of confinement/not being able to see the sky properly... that sort of thing. I can't see the Mantis Warriors having the same hang ups, especially as they have (or will in your case) lose their recruiting world and become a Crusading chapter where every fighter is necessary for their survival.

Really pimping dread, love it!!

And;

"two lobbys & two tech marine,"

lol

endtransmission wrote:Personally I'd say that the Mantis warriors have a different perspective on war than the White Scars, so to say they can use Dreads isn't a far reach.

The White Scars are recruited from a tribal, nomadic style world, which would lead to an inherent fear of confinement/not being able to see the sky properly... that sort of thing. I can't see the Mantis Warriors having the same hang ups, especially as they have (or will in your case) lose their recruiting world and become a Crusading chapter where every fighter is necessary for their survival.

I did think that, but I also thought that Jagahtai was brought up in that same culture and may have held similar beliefs to the tribesmen. I know that many of the successor chapters revere their original primarch as much as the chapter which kept the name and colours (Soul Drinkers springs to mind, the long quest to find the artifact Dorn gave to them to keep safe).

I very much agree that in Gitz' case at the end of the crusade they need every body possible though, and they would have maybe even done a 'Red Dwarf' (replacing holograms if a higher level crew member died) and replaced those intered within a Dreadnought when a greater warrior died (with attrition in the ranks being so very bad).

BishopGore wrote:I did think that, but I also thought that Jagahtai was brought up in that same culture and may have held similar beliefs to the tribesmen. I know that many of the successor chapters revere their original primarch as much as the chapter which kept the name and colours (Soul Drinkers springs to mind, the long quest to find the artifact Dorn gave to them to keep safe).

Not all chapters revere the original primarch though, for instance the Red Scorpions revere no primarch at all. Instead the Emperor is the one true force to be followed and the Codex Astartes is viewed as a holy book. Of course, if any of the fluff actually mentioned which primarch they held above others, then it would reveal the secret of who their founders were... so that may not be the best example come to think of it.

I could see part of the White Scar's dismissal of Dreads being linked to their speed (or lack there of) as they wouldn't be able to keep up with the favoured bike squadrons. Oddly, this would put them in a similar mindset to the Evil Sunz Ork clan where speed is everything and taking them out of the saddle would be seen as sacrilege, or at the very least a less worthy form of battle.

From what we know of the Mantis Warrior culture and background, they have deviated quite a way from the White Scars tactics, forgoing the mass bike squads in favour of more stealthy hit and run attacks that would actually need strong anvils to use in ambush tactics. This could easily lead to a shift in cultural misgivings about being interred as they would have become a pivotal part of the chapter's tactical strikes instead of the slowest.

@Arakasi: Thanks! (and thanks for the bump!)

@endtrans: Thanks again! It's pretty easy all things considered & gave me the best white I've ever done right off the bat. Be interesting to see what your experience is with it.

@Z-Ray: LOL! That's really funny! Thanks for wading through the monster. Hope it was an entertaining journey. Sure has been for me.

@BishopGore: Hey BishopGore! Never met another Mantis Warrior player before, very cool! Please get a blog up as you build your army, I'd love to see it progress! The simple (and truthful) answer to your question is... that I've been playing Mantis Warriors for nearly 20 years, and IA 10 hasn't been around for 20 weeks... so I don't feel the least bit bound by it. I guess from a fluff perspective... giant preying manti would likely come from a jungle world (there are bilological reasons for this dealing with maximum size insects can attain in certain atmospheres and mantis biology of course) so even though the Mantis Warrior human stock might be tribal, they would probably not be used to seeing the open sky, so the dreadnought prejudice, which seems cultural and not biological... would not exist. They're also two foundings out... a lot can can change in two foundings. Unfortunately it makes using Kahn as a chapter master very problematic as he's bike bound... but I may have an answer to that eventually. But that's a future project.

@Vit: Thanks man. Still a lot to do. Damage, also all of the purity seals, crux terminatus & will sneak in a Mantis Warrior badge somewhere too.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

OH, and I replaced one of the libby's with the MoTF that I'm building for this list. The plethora of tech marines does tie in with the IA fluff suggesting that they were remote, very independent and took excellent care of their equipment (i.e. had a lot of old stuff still in good working condition), so having a lot of techs in the chapter for field repairs and maintenance seems pretty natural.

Gits, like I said, only useful stuff from me!

I don't know why, but the camo just isn't doing it for me. They look to small for the dread.
I'll have to see the finished product, but I think they could be a bit longer/wider

Luckily Kor'sarro Khan's bike is an optional extra... I too have been thinking of using his rules as a captain/chapter master (if that is what you meant), though according to the rules of the campaign I am joining I have to play with the special character Ahazra Redth present, so he gives all units Infiltrate as a Chapter Tactic.

Cheers for your thoughts, I shall be making a blog of my own as soon as I can take some good pictures of my guys.

YAY more Dread's good work on the dread

@BBL: I see your point, but the camo on my other dread... which most everyone loves, is the same size... perhaps smaller. I think what you're reacting to is the amount of empty space on the dread because of the lack of venerable doo-dads, not necessarily the size of the camo. Let me finish working on the battle damage and the extra decorations first... then see how you feel about it (because I'm having the same concerns).

@BishopGore: Cool, didn't realize that. Though... I did plan on making a couple of units of scout bikers out of old units of RT jet bikes. He might work with them nicely if I can find the right jet bike for him (and there are some off-brand jet bikes out there that might just work with a full sized marine). Have to ponder that as a modification (or fun variation) of my RT era list.

@Miss Dee: Thanks! Still WIP... more to come!

Now you mention it, it is about the open space. But as I said, I have too see the finshed product.

Gits, you should work for Forgeworld as a sales man. Seeing your dreads is making me want a FW dread SO bad.

Im thinking of getting another 'brush so I can base and wash but not soled on that idea at the moment.

Wow, Gits, that dread is just awesome. I've been out of the loop for a couple days. It's nice to come back to such greatness.