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 understand the point behind using WYSIWYG, but it annoys me that in order to participate in something like that, you have to have figures that are...

A. Specifically tailored to the list. Sure, some units are almost always used the same way, like lasgun guardsmen. Other units not so much.
B. Magnetized extensively enough to allow all options that you might use.

So in light of that, I'm curious about two things.

1. What if you just put all options on the model with conversion work or the like? For example that lasgun guardsmen toting a shotgun on his back, or if your that lazy, the standard model with the optional gear on the ground around it? From what I understand you get punished for not having the gear on the model, but I've never heard anything about having too much gear on a model.

2. With tyranids, the concept of the biomorph on some things is strange. Toxin sacks for example. In general real creatures don't have dangling glowing/dripping sacks hanging off of them to use venom. Snakes get by just fine with the venom created inside them. Nonvenomous snakes can look just like venomous snakes, the only difference is internals. So if I were to use toxin sacks on, say, a gaunt, would he need to have the sacks on him/magnetized to him? I can understand different weapons on other races, but with nids I just feel like not every biomorph is going to be hanging off of them somewhere, some of it has got to be internal, and this can be justified.

Clarity is the key principle in WYSIWYG.

Showing all the options doesn't help for WYSIWYG at all - a vet with lasgun and shotgun is simply a model with an illegal weapon combination - the shotgun is not an addition, it is a replacement for the lasgun.

As for 'nids - you don't have to model the upgrades the standard way as long as they're clear. e.g. If all the guys with red claws have toxin sacs - that's pretty clear.

You don't need to magnetise everything - make solid choices and magnetise the items that are likely to change frequently.