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Why do people tend to heavily distress their IG vehicles? Is it just a personal aesthetic choice because it's fun? Or is there some fluff to support the poor maintenance? I don't know much in regard to IG fluff, but it's my impression that the Imperium actually care about their equipment as opposed to their citizens.

I would assume just because of how much they are used in the field. Don't see a lot of IG armies right off the parade ground.

True. I would certainly expect there to be weathering, and more than I would expect from a Space Marine vehicle. I've seen some that I doubted would be operable. They were great looking though!

Maintaining a tank involves cleaning the vision blocks, repairing the treads and changing them routinely, swabbing the cannon's bore and checks on ammunition and fuel levels and batteries. Cleaning the thing and repainting it is kinda...optional?

Realism. Grimdark.....only war....yadayadayada. Most vehicles unless fresh from the factory would be pretty gritty. Just play one game and see how much damage your vehicles take. Now do that for a century or two or 10.

NuggzTheNinja wrote:Maintaining a tank involves cleaning the vision blocks, repairing the treads and changing them routinely, swabbing the cannon's bore and checks on ammunition and fuel levels and batteries. Cleaning the thing and repainting it is kinda...optional?

Tyrius wrote:Realism. Grimdark.....only war....yadayadayada. Most vehicles unless fresh from the factory would be pretty gritty. Just play one game and see how much damage your vehicles take. Now do that for a century or two or 10.

Haha, good points.

You can justify pretty much anything, fluff-wise, from factory fresh tanks and troops in starched uniforms to balls of mud of various sizes with either broken treads or bloodied limbs poking out. It's all down to personal fluff and aesthetic choices. Weathering can certainly look cool and realistic, but it really seems like a clean IG army has become a rarity, these days. Muddying up IG armies, specifically, does play up particular points of the fluff, admittedly - clean and happy grunts don't much feel like lambs headed to bloody slaughter in the name of an uncaring empire.

I'd argue that it's also due, and in no small part, to "painting creep," for lack of a better term. Thanks to the internet and sites like Dakka, we see tons of example models, get feedback, read tutorials, etc. This has led to a number of tools and techniques that were previously considered advanced becoming commonplace - just look at the airbrush explosion. "Throw a wash on it" is starting to be supplanted by things like "could use some OSL" (yes, I've actually seen this advice given to new painters, by new-ish painters) and, more pertinently, "needs weathering." People have seen it, people understand (or can look up) how to do it, people have come to expect it. That's my feeling, at least.

That's an interesting take. I will admit that I find armor or vehicles, even dreds and the like to look odd without some weathering. I prefer modest, logical weathering. Though sometimes logical doesn't mean modest. The two vehicles I've done so far for my SW are weathered a little heavier than I'd typically do. The first because I was learning and trying to get it right, the second because I figure, even though they won't always be on Fenris, that planet, and many others they will be sent to will have very hostile conditions. I try not to go too heavy with chipping except in access areas or leading corners and edges, but a healthy dose of grime certainly makes sense. I just can't imagine soldiers riding around in a bunch of rusted out jalopies. The exception being Orks. Though, as you say, the IG are the unappreciated military of an uncaring empire. They're not going to be around long enough to worry about their LR falling apart or rusting out, so why bother with anything beyond the most basic maintenance?

Military tanks aren't made like cars, etc. You can park them outside for decades and they won't rot.

The exception is exhausts because they are constantly heating, and cooling. Tracks should stay pretty polished since they're dragging around 100+ tons of armored steel.

What you do generally get is layers, and layers of dirt, rain streaks, mud, paints scratches in areas where the tank contacts objects like tree's, foliage, rocks, etc. Especially in war where you might do something crazy like drive it into a building.

With buildings though typically it's a no-no unless somebody goes inside to make sure it doesn't have a basement.
Basement + tank = wrecked tank. lol

I can see if your in a long sustained campane (ala Bastone back in the day) that your tank would get dirty and nasty.

But the second you got back to base that piece of Armour so crucial to your survival would be cleaned, repaired and refitted as to get back in the fight.

I know that real word has nothing to do with any of this but if you ever get drive on a military post your gonna see lots of folks around doing lots of maintenance on equipment.