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In case it hadn't been mentioned, the Skullvane Manse is up for pre-order as well.

And for anyone thinking that it didn't quite have enough skulls on it, it has another huge on on the back:



I count 11 skulls in that picture alone...

The "anatomy" of the Doombull's legs are 7 kinds of horrible.

Sidstyler wrote:...They only have so many sculptors, and each one likely has a ton of projects they're working on at the same time, with strict deadlines to meet. That right there probably explains why we're getting so many sub-par kits (or at least in my opinion they're sub-par). I just wanted to get that out of the way so people will know that I understand corporate is asking their sculptors for a lot. That said though, GW should probably get a few more sculptors if getting these things out quickly is such a high priority: lessen the burden on the ones they have and give us better kits as a result, hopefully. And I think that's probably what they're doing, since one of the sculptors working on the Maelstrom Banebeasts got hired by GW recently, along with one of the former Rackham sculptors if I'm not mistaken (or were they the same guy?...

I think that it's more likely that they are going through a transition stage in the technology. When the Warhammer giant first came out it was a big deal. Something that large in plastic was a huge task to undertake. For people used to sculpting 28mm figures it must have taken a lot of head scratching to make it work. Nowadays they have computer aided sculpting and I think that this too must be a difficult thing to get their heads around. I know that I feel intimidated by current 2D computer art having learned and trained in traditional painting. I can get my head around it but it's a huge skill set to learn just to do a simple splash of water colour that looks natural, whereas with traditional tools it's intuitive and I don't have to think very hard about it. I imagine it must be hard for sculptors who have used traditional techniques to be confronted with new technology, be that computer aided sculpting or just translation form the original sculpt to plastic. Part of me wonders if the lack of detail in some of the newer bigger figures is because they were designed while people were learning the technology. (Just because a model comes out today doesn't mean it was designed this year). GW have also been hiring new sculptors. I think they hired one last summer.

As for the scales you mentioned. They did all the scales on the red Lord of the Rings dragon and it doesn't look that great to me, the lizardmen's stegadon and carnosaur have a bit more scaling but it still looks odd. Also in game terms the jabberslythe doesn't have an armour save. This clashes with the game rule of 'scaly skin' giving an armour save. I think it's more of a suggestion of texture rather than something meant to convey a rule for the creature. I've not painted may big creatures before Warhammer 8th ed. and I have had some difficulties even painting minotaurs because of comparatively large smooth areas of skin. Incedentals like the scales help to break up the surface and I appreciate them.

spyguyyoda wrote:I think that the Cygor/Ghorgon kit suffers from the biggest flaw the Minotaurs have...poor paintjobs. Oh, sure I can't paint that technically well, but they look terrible. Giving Minotaurs a decent paintjob goes a long ways towards respectability. Also, they have horrible hands (check out the Doombull).


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@ Sid: I think you have succeeded at toning it down. I, for one, appreciate the efforts to have an adult conversation. Thanks

I really agree, I don't know why GW feel like they have to give the models of the BM range a certain paintjob, because it litterately highlights the flaws and weaknesses of the models (weird looking musculature). I have painted my minotaurs in a much darker and therefore more discrete paintjob with few highlights, and I think they look great and fit well in with the rest of my army. I'm sure the Ghorgon I will be getting will fit in aswell after it gets a darker paintjob. Of course you can fix some of the sculpting issues with greenstuff, but I guess that it is a bad thing when people feel like they have to "fix" the new model they just bought. I'm just glad that the BM players finally get the official models that have been in their armybook for years. I don't know if I should take this as a test and try to sculpt some more bulk and a secondary mouth on the Ghorgon to fit the art in the armybook better, as the only thing I have sculpted so far is fur on Ghorros Warhoof.


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H.B.M.C. wrote:In case it hadn't been mentioned, the Skullvane Manse is up for pre-order as well.

And for anyone thinking that it didn't quite have enough skulls on it, it has another huge on on the back:



I count 11 skulls in that picture alone...

Well it is called Skullvane Manse for a reason

I just love the little milk bottle at the door.

While most of the models are no must-haves for me, I'm surprised at how this release caught me completly off-guard. The December WD was the first time I ever heard about this release.

Guess you mean the book.
Because the terrain was already featured in WD November and this thread:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/403835.page

Yup, I meant the book and especially the creatures.

That mangler squig seems direly expensive to me/

Holy gak that mangler squig costs $60? It doesn't even look that big ...

Wow a really substancial set of December releases from GW.
They have never done that before tbh.
Change of policy or just a mestake in the release schedule meaning things have been pushed back?

That mangler is horrible! manglers are supposed to be smaller then giant squigs as their stats are worse then the giant squigs yet the model is much bigger then the giant squig... i will be buying 1 mangler, taking the squigs apart so that i have 2 and i will plop a goblin onto it making it a giant squig so i will have 2giant squigs! i will probably use either the metal "giant squig" model as manglers or everblight shredders which look good also with a few conversions they'll be good to go.

Anung Un Rama wrote:Yup, I meant the book and especially the creatures.

The Beastman second wave has been in the rumour roundup for months, predicted by Hastings to include Ghorgon and Cygor.

I'm interested about he contents of the book. They've got Dwarfs on the cover, but no kits spoiled for them; I'd hate to trade off all my Dwarfs just to have them get something cool/something I actually want >.<'

Like the Ghorgon as it would make a nice KOS and the Jabberslythe but seriously the amount of 'skullz' on that model is ridiculous.

I think the mangler is a lot bigger than it looks in the picture. It's on a 60 mm base and it's taking up a big chunk of that base...

Still pretty expensive for a 65 pt model though.

I feel the amount of skulls on the 'Manse is not excessive, as "Skull" is in the name.
Also...

Beware the Jabberslythe my son!
The tongue that bites, the ridiculous horns that catch!
Beware the Cygor's rock and shun
The overpriced Mangler Squigs!

Cryonicleech wrote:Not gonna lie, the Ghorgon looks like a Giant with an Ox head and 2 extra arms. Looks sloppy, IMHO, the concept art was way cooler.

Yeah... Others seem to have captured the image a lot better. Maelstrom for one, or some others...



The corpses in his hands are pants (but easy enough to remove) and it's a tad large, but it captures the artwork in the Army Book very well... A bit spendy though...

Valete,

JohnS