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 am currently reading through the Prime Book while preparing my models for the first encounters - But I have run into a problem. You see, I like dynamic poses. My three 'Jacks are all placed in such a way that their head is pointing some other way than directly forward. This is because I like to make my battles look dynamic and flowing, and not just like plastic figurines standing on a table - As an example, my Ironclad is plased so it looks like it is about to strike - It's head is placed almost 45 degrees from the center.

Here is the gist of it - If I follow the rules, the 'Jacks' shoulders will be facing directly forward in combat, but the heads will be looking away or to the sides instead. I could also disregard the rules and make it so my 'Jacks' sight determines where the facing is. I then risk running into some rule-nazi, who find that I should use the rules of the book, and therefor make my 'Jacks look stupid on the battlefield.

I know this sounds like whining, but it really is important to me that it all looks great. The Rule of Cool is important to me, and I really don't know how I will work this out.

What would you do?

Basically, the shoulder rule is dumb and imprecise and the widely-accepted way to go is to paint the front arc on the lip of your model's base.

Here's a link that has a nice picture in it showing the general way people go about it - just colouring in 180º on the base with an appropriate colour, usually one related to your faction.

There are people who see painting those arcs as an essential assembly step, pretty much on par with gluing the model together. Facing is really, really important in Warmachine and it's good for it to be completely unambiguous even when you have models that make their facing pretty clear.

 HiveFleetPlastic wrote:
Basically, the shoulder rule is dumb and imprecise and the widely-accepted way to go is to paint the front arc on the lip of your model's base.

Here's a link that has a nice picture in it showing the general way people go about it - just colouring in 180º on the base with an appropriate colour, usually one related to your faction.

There are people who see painting those arcs as an essential assembly step, pretty much on par with gluing the model together. Facing is really, really important in Warmachine and it's good for it to be completely unambiguous even when you have models that make their facing pretty clear.

Thanks for the reply! I won't be drybrushing, but I will paint the bases up one of the days.

You're welcome. Good luck!

 The Wise Dane wrote:

 HiveFleetPlastic wrote:
Basically, the shoulder rule is dumb and imprecise and the widely-accepted way to go is to paint the front arc on the lip of your model's base.

Here's a link that has a nice picture in it showing the general way people go about it - just colouring in 180º on the base with an appropriate colour, usually one related to your faction.

There are people who see painting those arcs as an essential assembly step, pretty much on par with gluing the model together. Facing is really, really important in Warmachine and it's good for it to be completely unambiguous even when you have models that make their facing pretty clear.

Thanks for the reply! I won't be drybrushing, but I will paint the bases up one of the days.

No need to paint the base, just put lines/shapes. I've never had any problems with mine.

 Platuan4th wrote:

 The Wise Dane wrote:

 HiveFleetPlastic wrote:
Basically, the shoulder rule is dumb and imprecise and the widely-accepted way to go is to paint the front arc on the lip of your model's base.

Here's a link that has a nice picture in it showing the general way people go about it - just colouring in 180º on the base with an appropriate colour, usually one related to your faction.

There are people who see painting those arcs as an essential assembly step, pretty much on par with gluing the model together. Facing is really, really important in Warmachine and it's good for it to be completely unambiguous even when you have models that make their facing pretty clear.

Thanks for the reply! I won't be drybrushing, but I will paint the bases up one of the days.

No need to paint the base, just put lines/shapes. I've never had any problems with mine.

Is she.. Facing away from the battle?

 The Wise Dane wrote:


Is she.. Facing away from the battle?

Miniatures in Warmahordes have a 180º arc of sight, so people usually use those lines to identify the edges of the arc, not the front of the miniature.

The back line seems like its part of an "L" and that is probably to identify the miniature as the leader of the unit.

To be fair, you do actually need to use the front of the miniature an awful lot for things like charges, slams, etc. where the phrase "directly towards" comes up.

PhantomViper wrote:

 The Wise Dane wrote:


Is she.. Facing away from the battle?

Miniatures in Warmahordes have a 180º arc of sight, so people usually use those lines to identify the edges of the arc, not the front of the miniature.

The back line seems like its part of an "L" and that is probably to identify the miniature as the leader of the unit.

Bingo


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Laughing Man wrote:
To be fair, you do actually need to use the front of the miniature an awful lot for things like charges, slams, etc. where the phrase "directly towards" comes up.

I'm actually in the middle of re-marking the bases for all my armies with a middle front for no questions on Directly Towards.

Actually, you only use the shoulders if there aren't lines painted on the base. its a fall back mechanism.

Every base should have both 180 degree markers and a marker at 90 degrees to indicate directly forwards after you've painted it up.

PhantomViper wrote:

 The Wise Dane wrote:


Is she.. Facing away from the battle?

Miniatures in Warmahordes have a 180º arc of sight, so people usually use those lines to identify the edges of the arc, not the front of the miniature.

The back line seems like its part of an "L" and that is probably to identify the miniature as the leader of the unit.

Oh, right! Didn't see that before!

 The Wise Dane wrote:
Ithen risk running into some rule-nazi, who find that I should use the rules of the book, and therefor make my 'Jacks look stupid on the battlefield.

Yeah... that doesn't make them a rule-nazi. Facing is important and you shouldn't be eyeballing it. The rules exist for a reason and it's considered a basic courtesy to mark your front arc somehow.

Seeing as being millimetres outside of an arc can mean the difference between victory and defeat, it is very important.

For example, one of WarGamerGirls videos had Irusk hiding behind a conquest, the troll player was able to skulk around the base of the conquest (because you can't leave the front arc without getting a free strike, from a conquest that is pretty bad.) and hit Irusk.

I think they said that the positioning was down to about a 1/16th of an inch, so it is important that those bases are accurate!