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I think it looks ridiculous having a tail hanging off his back that ends in a little floaty crab that he is hover surfing on. I really hope this thing comes with a second set of legs as an option. Anyone else feel this way?

It looks like his tail is in the crabs backside It would look cooler if he would stand on the crab, like on a surf board. Maybe you can cut his tail and glue his foot on the crab ?

I intend to either, cut off the tail/crab and convert the legs to standing, or cut off the crab/tail and make him just floating himself.

Either way, the canoptek crab is gunna get removed.

I am not sure whether the cryptek is saying "peace out, dudes" or trying to hail a taxi...

The cloak though ... looks pretty much the same as those worn by overlords. It's a giant flying scarab attached to his spinal column making him fly, not the cloak, I am pretty sure.

"Giant flying scarab attached to spinal column" was rejected as a wargear name by focus groups...


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Lance845 wrote:
I intend to either, cut off the tail/crab and convert the legs to standing, or cut off the crab/tail and make him just floating himself.

Either way, the canoptek crab is gunna get removed.

"Crabs" was also rejected as a wargear name by the focus group...

I assume that spinal extension actually feeds into that big disk thing wired into his back that the cloak bits are hanging off of.

Thus the scarab is an extension of the whole back plate/cloak combo.

Either way... bad looking. And yeah.... bad hand too. The resin one with the chronometer was better. Lets hope he has an alternate hand too.

He is just preppin to shoot some hoops yo.

Lord Cryptek Shaq, Master of the Dunk.

 Lance845 wrote:
I intend to either, cut off the tail/crab and convert the legs to standing, or cut off the crab/tail and make him just floating himself.

Either way, the canoptek crab is gunna get removed.

then why not get the failcast cryptec before it is removed?
no need to convert that model.

 FrozenDwarf wrote:

 Lance845 wrote:
I intend to either, cut off the tail/crab and convert the legs to standing, or cut off the crab/tail and make him just floating himself.

Either way, the canoptek crab is gunna get removed.

then why not get the failcast cryptec before it is removed?
no need to convert that model.

Failcast is why. Finecast is the worst gak in the world. Plastic or good resin all the way.

 FrozenDwarf wrote:


then why not get the failcast cryptec before it is removed?
no need to convert that model.

I think your answer is in your question...

 FrozenDwarf wrote:

 Lance845 wrote:
I intend to either, cut off the tail/crab and convert the legs to standing, or cut off the crab/tail and make him just floating himself.

Either way, the canoptek crab is gunna get removed.

then why not get the failcast cryptec before it is removed?
no need to convert that model.

I guarantee you I could convert 10 of these guys to standing on foot in the time it would take you to build one failcast cryptek exactly as intended.

I kinda like it; it gives the model a bit more motion to it than most Necron models have. I'll be keeping mine the way it is, but it looks simple enough to remove, and pin the Cryptek directly to the base floor, if that's your preference.


I can almost guarantee that he won't have any optional hands or legs though, but given that the other HQ in the box is a multi part kit, it's certainly possible.

The other thing I've never liked about Crypteks in general is that they look too ornate for their weedy profile.

At any rate, I'm sure it would be easier just to convert from scratch if you had the design.
Here's some ideas:
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/752800.page

I think "most" Necron models look pretty dumb - so no.

IMHO all the models that have a pose that make them taller/bigger look dumb. Basically all the most recent characters

This croptek with some little work could be a very nice looking model actually, just remove/convert the cloak and cut that ugly scarab from the base, then cut/model the legs in order to make him stand on his feet.

Yes it is very dumn. It looks like a star wars hologram, except it was in fact not a hologram, but a star trek teleporter. Seems odd. The fact that he is attacked to the base with a stem from his back is dumb.

I like it.

 Blackie wrote:
IMHO all the models that have a pose that make them taller/bigger look dumb. Basically all the most recent characters

This croptek with some little work could be a very nice looking model actually, just remove/convert the cloak and cut that ugly scarab from the base, then cut/model the legs in order to make him stand on his feet.

Bruce Willis Archon standing on tiptoes in the mummy pose says hi.

Like I said, just get a Warrior with a Deathmark torso-back and Head + Pretorian staff and model it onto a scarab base. Either floating amongst the scarabs, or actually standing on them.

Easy fix. Probably cheaper than getting the actual model (especially if you have an existing Necron force and therefore probably have all these bits ready to use) and doesn't have the dumb spinal/umbilical cord connecting them.

-

Since I'm not a fan of any of the ornamentation tacked onto Necron bodies from 5th ed onward, and this being a particularly egregious example of that, no. I'm not a fan of the model and see no reason to buy it to replace my existing, really bland, really unremarkable Cryptek conversions.

the_scotsman wrote:

 FrozenDwarf wrote:

 Lance845 wrote:
I intend to either, cut off the tail/crab and convert the legs to standing, or cut off the crab/tail and make him just floating himself.

Either way, the canoptek crab is gunna get removed.

then why not get the failcast cryptec before it is removed?
no need to convert that model.

I guarantee you I could convert 10 of these guys to standing on foot in the time it would take you to build one failcast cryptek exactly as intended.

i took me the same time to build one as it does to build an immortal.
failcast aint harder or more time consuming to assemble thne plastic, it is harder to paint.

Well, the actual Cryptek part looks okay . . . except for that ridiculous chin.

However, the scarab ""cloak"" just looks silly and nonsensical.

Answer honestly - if you'd just looked at this model, would you really have thought 'clearly this thing is designed to fly'?

 vipoid wrote:
Answer honestly - if you'd just looked at this model, would you really have thought 'clearly this thing is designed to fly'?

Yes, but mostly through convention. GW's flying humanoids tend to have a raised knee like that.

That's also something I don't like, but then I don't like flying people in general. Where I'm from we obey the laws of gravity.

 Geifer wrote:

 vipoid wrote:
Answer honestly - if you'd just looked at this model, would you really have thought 'clearly this thing is designed to fly'?

Yes, but mostly through convention. GW's flying humanoids tend to have a raised knee like that.

See, to me it looks more like the Cryptek is pretending to fly. It's doing this dramatic flying pose... whilst being tethered to a scarab thing that's very obviously not flying.

He might as well be riding a Pogo-stick.

 Geifer wrote:
That's also something I don't like, but then I don't like flying people in general. Where I'm from we obey the laws of gravity.

I know what you mean, but I'm a sucker for wings on models.

 vipoid wrote:
Well, the actual Cryptek part looks okay . . . except for that ridiculous chin.

I think it's supposed to be a beard, because the Crypteks are supposed to be wise, and wise people are often old, and old people often have beards...

Doesn't really work for me either. When you are immortal, hairless and your "beard" is a chunk of metal...

Soooo the Cryptek has ass crabs? poor guy.

But yeah it looks silly but i like the idea.

I like it. If I played Necrons, I'd buy one.

I like the cloak, it is different and alien. Not just another sufer dude. And why are people suddenly complaining about Cryptek Beards?

 vipoid wrote:

 Geifer wrote:

 vipoid wrote:
Answer honestly - if you'd just looked at this model, would you really have thought 'clearly this thing is designed to fly'?

Yes, but mostly through convention. GW's flying humanoids tend to have a raised knee like that.

See, to me it looks more like the Cryptek is pretending to fly. It's doing this dramatic flying pose... whilst being tethered to a scarab thing that's very obviously not flying.

He might as well be riding a Pogo-stick.

 Geifer wrote:
That's also something I don't like, but then I don't like flying people in general. Where I'm from we obey the laws of gravity.

I know what you mean, but I'm a sucker for wings on models.

I don't disagree about the pretense. It's a big part of why I don't like flying people. People don't fly. They don't have the anatomy for it. Which to me means flying people necessarily look off.

You ask me, GW is trying too damn hard to make Necrons Tomb Kings in Space (with all the retro-tech look that entails) while disregarding working ideas from two decades of background. They could have given him a Wraith body (3rd ed, before they became machines) and gone with a less flying, more ignoring laws of physics approach. Triarch Praetorians already successfully float, as do Destroyers. If they wanted to be silly, they should have brought back the floating reclining chair for Old Man Cryptek there.

They could have given him a partial Spyder body, like a Spyder centaur, smaller in size (so as not to make him a monstrous creature) but with more limbs and thus both able to carry his staff and gadgets as well as having hard points for repair tools.

They could have even just put him on the damn spider thing to mirror a Lord riding a Catacomb Command Barge, although I guess that runs the risk of straying too close to Tau Ethereals in look.

They could have copied themselves and given him a Scarab body like Prince Apophas.

The options are there. Instead they went with... that. Boy.

Cheeslord wrote:

 vipoid wrote:
Well, the actual Cryptek part looks okay . . . except for that ridiculous chin.

I think it's supposed to be a beard, because the Crypteks are supposed to be wise, and wise people are often old, and old people often have beards...

Doesn't really work for me either. When you are immortal, hairless and your "beard" is a chunk of metal...

It's a pharaoh beard because Necrons are Tomb Kings in Space and it's metal because Necrons aren't just Tomb Kings in Space, they're also metal people.

I should be a GW designer.

Claas wrote:
And why are people suddenly complaining about Cryptek Beards?

What do you mean "suddenly"? I was complaining about them when they first appeared because they looked bloody stupid.

And I'm repeated my complaints because GW apparently haven't learned that they still look bloody stupid.

 Geifer wrote:
I don't disagree about the pretense. It's a big part of why I don't like flying people. People don't fly. They don't have the anatomy for it. Which to me means flying people necessarily look off.

True, though flying humans are quite common in mythology (in some form or other).

I think it's worse in cases like this - where the flying humanoid looks basically identical to the non-flying one (compared to, say, Scourges, which are still humanoid but look a bit better adapted for it).

Of course, the other aspect is that creatures adapted for flight tend to lose out in other areas (e.g. having hollow bones to save on weight), which is almost never represented.

 Geifer wrote:

You ask me, GW is trying too damn hard to make Necrons Tomb Kings in Space (with all the retro-tech look that entails) while disregarding working ideas from two decades of background.

Oh, I completely agree about GW trying too hard to make Necrons into Tomb Kings in Space.

It's particularly galling for me because I can't stand the TK aesthetic. It just looks really gaudy and unpleasant, and putting it on space-terminators does nothing to improve it.

I wouldn't have minded so much if they'd had that aesthetic when I started collecting them. Instead, GW just went "Hey, you know this army you like? The one with the simple, elegant design? Yeah, from now on every model is going to look like they're wearing a coral reef."

 Geifer wrote:
They could have given him a Wraith body (3rd ed, before they became machines) and gone with a less flying, more ignoring laws of physics approach. Triarch Praetorians already successfully float, as do Destroyers. If they wanted to be silly, they should have brought back the floating reclining chair for Old Man Cryptek there.

They could have given him a partial Spyder body, like a Spyder centaur, smaller in size (so as not to make him a monstrous creature) but with more limbs and thus both able to carry his staff and gadgets as well as having hard points for repair tools.

They could have even just put him on the damn spider thing to mirror a Lord riding a Catacomb Command Barge, although I guess that runs the risk of straying too close to Tau Ethereals in look.

They could have copied themselves and given him a Scarab body like Prince Apophas.

The options are there. Instead they went with... that. Boy.

The other aspect is whether crypteks even need to be humanoid.

I mean, Destroyers and Destroyer Lords were a great example of design in terms of how they reflected Necrons being machines. They don't ride Jetbikes (well, not until Tomb Blades came out...), but instead have their entire lower body replaced with a jet-platform.

Why not go even further? If Crypteks are acting as mechanics, why not give them extra arms or tentacles like Tech Priests and Warpsmiths? Maybe have the flying versions look like small Wraiths, except that their arms end in tools rather than weapons? There's really no reason why their humanoid forms have to be preserved - especially when they seem to be more of a hindrance than a help.

 vipoid wrote:

 Geifer wrote:
I don't disagree about the pretense. It's a big part of why I don't like flying people. People don't fly. They don't have the anatomy for it. Which to me means flying people necessarily look off.

True, though flying humans are quite common in mythology (in some form or other).

I think it's worse in cases like this - where the flying humanoid looks basically identical to the non-flying one (compared to, say, Scourges, which are still humanoid but look a bit better adapted for it).

Of course, the other aspect is that creatures adapted for flight tend to lose out in other areas (e.g. having hollow bones to save on weight), which is almost never represented..

I'm not even sure I'd go that far. I seem to recall from the reveal video that the backpack he's wearing over his cloak (the part painted black/green) extend further down and is quite substantial, so I'm not sure saying he's basically identical to a foot version. It's definitely not as obvious as wings, which as you say have a long tradition and are thus generally accepted.

To me it's more that the beetle carapace strapped to his back doesn't conform with Canoptek constructs, which generally appear horizontal when flying, while his is vertical because he's standing up straight (in mid air... with his right knee raised... ordering two beers...). So it doesn't quite evoke the same image. Strapping a spider bot to his spine doesn't make it better.

 vipoid wrote:

 Geifer wrote:

You ask me, GW is trying too damn hard to make Necrons Tomb Kings in Space (with all the retro-tech look that entails) while disregarding working ideas from two decades of background.

Oh, I completely agree about GW trying too hard to make Necrons into Tomb Kings in Space.

It's particularly galling for me because I can't stand the TK aesthetic. It just looks really gaudy and unpleasant, and putting it on space-terminators does nothing to improve it.

I wouldn't have minded so much if they'd had that aesthetic when I started collecting them. Instead, GW just went "Hey, you know this army you like? The one with the simple, elegant design? Yeah, from now on every model is going to look like they're wearing a coral reef."

I know where you're coming from. While I can't say that I'm too fussed about the changed aesthetic of 5th ed simply because we have so many nice, plain plastic kits to convert stuff from, this is actually one of the most tiresome things related to GW for me. I mean, for me it's the background that they changed with no regard for the identity of the army or the people who actually liked it, but yeah. The model equivalent of that is hardly any better.

But that's probably just GW's special service just for me. They squatted my favorite Fantasy army (Tomb Kings) and retconned my favorite 40k army beyond recognition, to the point where it might have been more merciful to let it die in peace instead.

 vipoid wrote:

 Geifer wrote:
They could have given him a Wraith body (3rd ed, before they became machines) and gone with a less flying, more ignoring laws of physics approach. Triarch Praetorians already successfully float, as do Destroyers. If they wanted to be silly, they should have brought back the floating reclining chair for Old Man Cryptek there.

They could have given him a partial Spyder body, like a Spyder centaur, smaller in size (so as not to make him a monstrous creature) but with more limbs and thus both able to carry his staff and gadgets as well as having hard points for repair tools.

They could have even just put him on the damn spider thing to mirror a Lord riding a Catacomb Command Barge, although I guess that runs the risk of straying too close to Tau Ethereals in look.

They could have copied themselves and given him a Scarab body like Prince Apophas.

The options are there. Instead they went with... that. Boy.

The other aspect is whether crypteks even need to be humanoid.

I mean, Destroyers and Destroyer Lords were a great example of design in terms of how they reflected Necrons being machines. They don't ride Jetbikes (well, not until Tomb Blades came out...), but instead have their entire lower body replaced with a jet-platform.

Why not go even further? If Crypteks are acting as mechanics, why not give them extra arms or tentacles like Tech Priests and Warpsmiths? Maybe have the flying versions look like small Wraiths, except that their arms end in tools rather than weapons? There's really no reason why their humanoid forms have to be preserved - especially when they seem to be more of a hindrance than a help.

Agreed. But they wrote themselves into a corner when they gave Necrons the insatiable desire to retain as much of their physical form as they could with the eventual aim to return to being flesh bags.

It squanders the potential of a high tech mechanical race and is one of the bigger issues I have with Tomb Kings in Space.