Do you think the newest release are goofy, grotesque, look like "cartoon" ?

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**godardc**

Hi there,
I don't know if it is me, but a big part of the newest releases look bad to me.
I mean, look at the stormsurge, with its big peni...euh cannon.

Look at the new wulfen, or the kastelans, haruspex, etc...

So, do you agree, or not ?

Feel free to explain !

To my opinion, the new models aren't as "delicate" as the old stuff. The Skitarii / Cult Mechanicus look like what I love: they have a theme, they respect it, and they don't make "too much". There was a lot more stuff like that, before.
The Tau stormsurge: weapons glued on weapons glued on weapons, (missiles pods, on destroyer missiles, on another thing) with an extra BIGGY BIG CANNON.

This is exactly what I dislike.

**MechaEmperor7000**

GW (or at least Citadel Miniatures) has been going down the more stylized and cartoony aesthetic for some time now. Take a look at the Thunderwolves' fur (which are like little doritos) and then take a look at the wolf pelt on Horus. The one on Horus looks more like actual fur.

Or look at the Assault Marine head with hair. It's completely smooth at the back like he's wearing a bald cap.

It feels like GW are hiring animation modellers rather than traditionally trained modellers. Now this isn't a bad thing, but it does mean that everything overall looks less realistic than before and far more cartoony (compare the smug grin on the painboy and Dok Grotsnik, the new painboy looks like chiseled marble! ).

**infinite_array**

MechaEmperor7000 wrote:

It feels like GW are hiring animation modellers rather than traditionally trained modellers. Now this isn't a bad thing, but it does mean that everything overall looks less realistic than before and far more cartoony (compare the smug grin on the painboy and Dok Grotsnik, the new painboy looks like chiseled marble! ).

It's the problem with using CAD. It lets you do a lot of things that traditional modelling didn't, which can be really good.

It also means you can drown a model in busy, worthless detail, or makes things too 'perfect' or unnatural.

**MechaEmperor7000**

One thing I keep noticing with the new AoS releases for Chaos is that they constantly want to do the "bubbling skull" thing. It started with The Glottkin, then the Khorgorath, then Archaeon.

That was a little too much for me cuz it seems like whenever they run out of creativity for the skin, "bubble all the skulls!"

EDIT: The three I listed are the ones I can remember. I'm pretty sure there are more examples.

**Carnikang**

Might be my taste, but they're alright. It all depends on the release of the new Wulfen, and how they look to me in hand. I like all the new Nid models though, they keep in theme with the army and add a little bit to it (Haruspex and Dima to note.)
Currently No, it on the fence more so.

**EnTyme**

godardc wrote:

The Tau stormsurge: weapons glued on weapons glued on weapons, (missiles pods, on destroyer missiles, on another thing) with an extra BIGGY BIG CANNON.
This is exactly what I dislike.

A lot of the Tau models do look like they were designed by Cobra Commander during his awkward anime phase.

**Tinkrr**

As someone who likes the Tau models as a whole, yes they're cartoony, but seeing as we view them from a distance the simple cartoony nature of them is good. It's the same reason WoW looks better than EQ2, since you mostly play zoomed out and the simpler cartoony look makes things stand out more in comparison to the brown and grey smudge that is most realistic stuff. You can even see this in some WoW items that have an old and new version, the old version might look worse close up, but at playing distance it looks significantly less cluttered.

**EnTyme**

As someone who studied animation and modeling, I can tell you the field of view wasn't the main reason for WoW's cartoony style. The cartoony style tends to age better than a realistic style. As technology and rendering improve, older realistic models and textures start to look dated.

Also, please don't mistake my comment. I do like the Tau models and may even eventual work on a Tau army. I'm already working on Necrons, so I'm dangerously close to unintentionally being TFG. I feel like have TWO armies on the OP list would push me over the edge.

**MechaEmperor7000**

That and rendering. You can usually get away with low-poly cartoony much easier than low-poly realistic, since the latter hits the uncanny valley harder than a wraithknight into the backside of a rhino.

However this is one part that I don't think is a conscious decision on GW's part, but merely the evolution of their sculptors. It seems like they've been slowly rotating out their old guard with new ones, who were more trained in the caricature-style of sculpting (emphasis on major details while glossing over minor ones). That and it's CAD over traditional putty sculpting.

**RazgrizOne**

I thought about it when I saw the new Wulfen. Tbh, I wonder if the old 13th company models from the EoT campaign were not better. It's like a trip back in the dark times of 4th edition or so. Personally, I like realism in a sense "militarily credible", but that's just a taste.

I wouldn't say GW realism in models has decreased; Adeptus Mechanicus is generally pretty awesome (except Kastellans) and I really like what has been done with new Tau infantry kits. I would rather dislike goofy stuff like TWC, Wulfen, Stormsurge or so.

**MechaEmperor7000**

It seems like Forge World retained the more traditional methods of sculpting, as a lot of their models are still on the more "realistic" end rather than stylized cartoony. Compare their Chaos Dwarves to the new Fyreslayers; the hair is the most noticable. The Fyreslayers look like they have orange grass growing out of their heads and braided buns coming out of their faces, while the Infernal Guard's beards look like actual bundles of hair. Granted, this is due to a material difference and quality, but it's still that charm.

**PrehistoricUFO**

I actually love the Kastelan robots, they've become my favorite kit. They have a very cool retro look to them, but still fit the Mechanicus aesthetic. Honestly I've actually liked all the kits from recent waves, dating back the past couple of years.

Today though, I'm browsing BoLS, and I couldn't believe this latest Space Wolf Wulfen kit:

Looks like they completely phoned it in with these sculpts. If I were a Wolf player, I'd probably end up converting my own (but then again I actually enjoy doing conversions). It would seem more like an opportunity to me knowing these won't be updated for years, if ever.

**Agent_Tremolo**

Look at the entire AdMech and Harlequins ranges. Now look at the Imperial Guard.

Cartoon who?

**MechaEmperor7000**

All of the past sculptors have made their errors before too. Remember "Bobo the Smiling Skeleton" that was the first incarnation of Nagash? :3

Not all progress have been bad.

**Agent_Tremolo**

Actually, the three kits I'd single out as the goofiest/most toylike of GW's entire catalog are the Leman Russ, the Soul Grinder and the Necron Monolith. I rarely see people complain about them, though.

**Tiberius501**

The reason they go for a more stylised look is to make them more appealing from a distance. Look at space marines compared to Death Korps. Space marines, with there big shapes and odd proportions, stick out perfectly, revealing a lot of their detail easily from above. You know that it's a marine from a room away. Looking at a Death Korps dude just looks like a blob of blue/green/whatever colour you use, from further away. Realistic looks really nice up close, but for a table top battle game, they are made more stylised to show up on the board better. Very similar to an RTS and why a lot of them use stylised graphics.

**MechaEmperor7000**

Agent_Tremolo wrote:
Actually, the three kits I'd single out as the goofiest/most toylike of GW's entire catalog are the Leman Russ, the Soul Grinder and the Necron Monolith. I rarely see people complain about them, though.

A lot of my friends complain about the russ, mainly because they're tank buffs and they realized that the Russ's design just doesn't work (every time the turret fires, it'd bisect the poor sap in the hatch, not to mention there's not that much room to load the cannon in the first place).

**godardc**

Yeah, they can still make realistic models, as you say (and they hopefully do !) but I think the frequency of goofy models has increased.
These old Wulfen are pretty amazing, to my mind.

**Peregrine**

Yep, GW has really been going downhill in model design quality for a while now. And it's not just the infantry, the vehicles look cartoonish and stupid. I'm not sure if someone is deliberately aiming for this garbage or they're just rushing stuff out too quickly for the iterative design process to refine an initial sketch, but the results are just not good.

infinite_array wrote:
It's the problem with using CAD. It lets you do a lot of things that traditional modelling didn't, which can be really good.

It also means you can drown a model in busy, worthless detail, or makes things too 'perfect' or unnatural.

And this.

**Steinwand**

To me, none of them really feel like too much of a departure from the aesthetic of their respective factions. Some of them aren't what I would necessarily consider ideal though. Namely the Stormsurge. While my preferred aesthetic is heavy mechs/monsters/man-sized armors/etc. wielding massive quantities of firepower (hence why I adore Kataphrons despite seeing disparaging remarks made against them) I feel like the Stormsurge is unbalanced in it's design. Not necessarily goofy, but just not right. Might be I'm used to seeing either the giant cannon OR the giant missile pods on a biped and not both, while having both usually meant having a non-biped form. I want to like it, and on some level I do, but there's just something about that bothers me.
Of course, a lot of my acceptance of most of the newer "cartoony" (if they can be objectively called that) designs could be due to the fact that my foundation in fiction is made primarily of video games and cartoons/anime. So I guess I could be more attuned to those sorts of styles.