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.

 Alpharius wrote:
But... maybe these stylistic differences just represent individuals expressing their... individuality?

A stretch for Aleph, sure, but not for Nomads!

i think as well a lot of the style differences can be mitigated by going for a unifying paint job - I think with Nomads especially, there are so many disparate styles, but I've found even between the two main ones (dome-headed, faceless sci-fi drop troopers, and 'Dominion tank police' style animals or mutants with swords) you can find some common ground with a paint job or even their bases.

For the Nomads it makes sense since they are not that unified each ship is an entire different world and units come from different parts of each ship, the fact they can be unified with a common paint theme is a testament to the units design.

Penthesilea seems about right for an ARM1 biker chick. Stunning model. May need to get one just to have.

Gao-Tarsos, Kaplan Tactical Services, Ko Dali, Bao Troops, and HMG Crusader Brethren are all now available for preorder at The Warstore.

And via Battleroad as well!

According to a different forum I frequent, rumoured releases are:

March:

HMG volunteer
Feuerbach Shasvastii
Moiras Box set (4 girls, Multi sniper, HMG, hacker and CCW)
Pano support box
Pentesilea (duuh already seen)

April:
Haiduk Shasvastii
Kirpal Singh
Chaksas
Domaru Neko Oyama
Haqquislam Support box

I'm happy about the Caliban Feuerbach. Shasvastii really need a power weapon boost.

 Alkasyn wrote:
According to a different forum I frequent, rumoured releases are:

March:

HMG volunteer
Feuerbach Shasvastii
Moiras Box set (4 girls, Multi sniper, HMG, hacker and CCW)
Pano support box
Pentesilea (duuh already seen)

April:
Haiduk Shasvastii
Kirpal Singh
Chaksas
Domaru Neko Oyama
Haqquislam Support box

This list was from Infinity O-12 originally.

The Moiras box seems to be getting a lot of gripes, which in turn makes me chuckle.
The Haiduk and Caliban are making my brother quite happy.
Singh makes me fairly excited as it could also be another Bagh-Mari model.
Pan-O and Haqqislam support boxes will hopefully have some new sculpts within.

I'm currently speculating that the reason we are seeing no Tohaa release for March is that they are trying to play "catch up" and get more Tohaa starter boxes out to market as they are inexcusably hard to find outside of directly from CB.

I'm actually looking forward to the Morias. I know some are pissed about it but it might be my chance to do my all female force with my daughter. I wanted to start a PanO force but I don't think I'm going to have the money to do it the way I want. All the boxed sets are pissing me off because I can't afford figures all at once like that. I can do a blister here and there but boxes are tough.

I will be surprised if no Tohaa show up, it was not unprecedented with Aleph when she was young though.

 Kanluwen wrote:
Singh makes me fairly excited as it could also be another Bagh-Mari model.

I guess you are thinking that Kirpal Singh is a Bagh Mari when he is an Akalis Sikh Commandos character.
The Bagh Mari hero is Stephen Rao.

I somewhat doubt the Haqqislam Support Box or any support box will have totally new sculpts. Who wants another set of Nazmat remotes?

They may do what they did with the superior Daktari sculpt though and release it separate for a limited time.

Mmmm... I'm very curiosu also about seeing how Domaru Neko Oyama will finally look like.

And the Chacksas also... no previous image of that alien race at all. No clue of how are they gonna look like.

 BobbaFett wrote:
Mmmm... I'm very curiosu also about seeing how Domaru Neko Oyama will finally look like.

And the Chacksas also... no previous image of that alien race at all. No clue of how are they gonna look like.

Actually, I believe there were some rejected Chaksas concept art at Gencon 2012...


IMG_5102 by cervantes3773, on Flickr

I could be miss-remembering though...

 BobbaFett wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:
Singh makes me fairly excited as it could also be another Bagh-Mari model.

I guess you are thinking that Kirpal Singh is a Bagh Mari when he is an Akalis Sikh Commandos character.
The Bagh Mari hero is Stephen Rao.

I always think "Bagh-Mari" for the Sikhs and hell if I know why.

 Absolutionis wrote:
I somewhat doubt the Haqqislam Support Box or any support box will have totally new sculpts. Who wants another set of Nazmat remotes?

They may do what they did with the superior Daktari sculpt though and release it separate for a limited time.

A few new doctor models wouldn't be surprising, and would let them keep them in a a box rather than fill 3-4 rack spaces.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 BobbaFett wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:
Singh makes me fairly excited as it could also be another Bagh-Mari model.

I guess you are thinking that Kirpal Singh is a Bagh Mari when he is an Akalis Sikh Commandos character.
The Bagh Mari hero is Stephen Rao.

I always think "Bagh-Mari" for the Sikhs and hell if I know why.

Possibly because the Indian origins of part of Pan Oceania, and because the unit originated in India in the background?

It was my first thought as well actually.

New miniatures!

Caledonian Volunteer with HMG




Penthesilea




Shasvastii Caliban




PanO Support Pack





Reverend Moiras

Love 'em!

Expensive month for me - everything except he PanO support pack, which disappointingly does NOT feature a new sculpt!

Sorry Kan but those Morias look awesome! Not as good as the Caliban mind you.

Oh wow. Those Moiras do look nice. They even have butt-coverings for once. Nomads can learn modesty after all.

 BobbaFett wrote:
New miniatures!

Caledonian Volunteer with HMG

Nothing special. It's a nice sculpt, fits the unit, and does what it says on the tin.

Penthesilea

She does not fit with the rest of the Steel Phalanx. I was fine with the motorcycle and the choice of a female equivalent to Achilles, but the lack of visual coherence with the majority of the Myrmidons and Thorakitai is offputting--especially when put into the context of how this will likely affect Nesaie Alkie (the Thorakitai officer) and has already spread to that godawful Myrmidon Hacker model.

Very irksome.

Shasvastii Caliban

Not sure how that is a "Feuerbach"...
It's a nice model though. I can't help but think the Feuerbach might be mislabeled.

PanO Support Pack

Lazy. The Trauma Doc and Engineer are the models which should have been resculpted, not the bloody Moiras.

Poor form, Corvus Belli.

Reverend Moiras

This is what they did as a "resculpt"?

The sculpts are nice, sure. But they are still blatantly out of theme with the rest of the Observance.
Compare these to Kusanagi, the Reverend Custodiers, or the Sin-Eater Observants. The only visual tie is the colors and the robes. Why the hell is it so necessary for the "bare thighs" motif on the bloody Moira? They clearly tried to armor up the rest of the model--but kept the stupid bare thighs. All it would have taken was an extension of the boots to make it a "full body suit" and I would not be so annoyed.

It's like the stupid Wildcat HRL. It feels like it belongs in an entirely different range, not the one it is in.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Absolutionis wrote:
Oh wow. Those Moiras do look nice. They even have butt-coverings for once. Nomads can learn modesty after all.

Not really.


All they did was shift the placement of the long coat.

 Kanluwen wrote:

This is what they did as a "resculpt"?

The sad part is that even as pin up models, they don't do anything for me. The poses are static and feel more awkward than sexy (because let's face it, no one expected good combat poses here). Not a fan.

I guess I have to settle for Penthesilea this month.

 Kanluwen wrote:

She does not fit with the rest of the Steel Phalanx. I was fine with the motorcycle and the choice of a female equivalent to Achilles, but the lack of visual coherence with the majority of the Myrmidons and Thorakitai is offputting--especially when put into the context of how this will likely affect Nesaie Alkie (the Thorakitai officer) and has already spread to that godawful Myrmidon Hacker model.

Very irksome.

What do you mean?

I feel that she fits perfectly well with both the Myrmidons in the style of her armour and the general "aesthetics" of the female models in Aleph, especially in the Indian side of the faction.

I agree that she doesn't really fit with the Thorakitai, but since those are IMO, god awful ugly models, I'm not especially disturbed by it. If anything its the Thorakitai that don't fit with the rest of the Aleph faction!

All in all, I love this model and I can't wait to get it.

She does not fit with the rest of the Steel Phalanx. I was fine with the motorcycle and the choice of a female equivalent to Achilles, but the lack of visual coherence with the majority of the Myrmidons and Thorakitai is offputting--especially when put into the context of how this will likely affect Nesaie Alkie (the Thorakitai officer) and has already spread to that godawful Myrmidon Hacker model.

Very irksome.

I think that is intentional. She's the "Amazon". She's the lowest ARM of them all. The only one with monofilament cc weapon, and a bike. She's a special character not a standard troop.

Not sure how that is a "Feuerbach"...
It's a nice model though. I can't help but think the Feuerbach might be mislabeled.

It's the Feuerbach equivalent for Shasvastii. This is the first time sculpted for them. I think Morats can take one too but no sculpt yet.

The sculpts are nice, sure. But they are still blatantly out of theme with the rest of the Observance.
Compare these to Kusanagi, the Reverend Custodiers, or the Sin-Eater Observants. The only visual tie is the colors and the robes. Why the hell is it so necessary for the "bare thighs" motif on the bloody Moira? They clearly tried to armor up the rest of the model--but kept the stupid bare thighs. All it would have taken was an extension of the boots to make it a "full body suit" and I would not be so annoyed.

It's like the stupid Wildcat HRL. It feels like it belongs in an entirely different range, not the one it is in.

They are still better than what they had. Again, just paint the flesh something else. Maybe they have spandex.

PhantomViper wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:

She does not fit with the rest of the Steel Phalanx. I was fine with the motorcycle and the choice of a female equivalent to Achilles, but the lack of visual coherence with the majority of the Myrmidons and Thorakitai is offputting--especially when put into the context of how this will likely affect Nesaie Alkie (the Thorakitai officer) and has already spread to that godawful Myrmidon Hacker model.

Very irksome.

What do you mean?

I feel that she fits perfectly well with both the Myrmidons in the style of her armour and the general "aesthetics" of the female models in Aleph, especially in the Indian side of the faction.

And that's the rub. She fits in just fine with the Vedic stuff, but not the Greek. She looks too similar to the Chandra SpecOps(which I was quite annoyed at as well after finding out that the currently existing profile is supposed to use the Thorakitai as the base profile)--which in turn looks far too much like they just found a random unreleased Posthuman sculpt, slapped a new name and the extra weapons into the blister and called it a day.

When you actually sit down with the Myrmidons and compare them to the Vedic stuff, there are quite a few aesthetic differences that jump out at you.
The first is, of course, the whole "exposed musculature" for the armor on their arms.
Then you have the style of their chestplates and the style of the leg armor.

I dunno. I might be making too much of it right now and maybe Myrmidons are in line for a resculpt to bring them into line with the characters that have been released, but it's just very irksome to see Penthesilea be released on the heels of the Reverend Moiras and the Wildcat HRL, both of which make it dramatically clear that Corvus Belli has no problems ignoring their own established aesthetics when it comes to making a female model rather than a male model.

I agree that she doesn't really fit with the Thorakitai, but since those are IMO, god awful ugly models, I'm not especially disturbed by it. If anything its the Thorakitai that don't fit with the rest of the Aleph faction!

They're not supposed to "fit with the rest of the ALEPH faction" though. Thorakitai are supposed to be primarily Steel Phalanx/Greek, not "vanilla".
We're probably going to see something with the Vedic/Indian Sectorial which will not "fit with the rest of the ALEPH faction" as well.

Personally though, I like the Thorakitai. They managed to combine a "professional military" look with a pinch of anime and some other bits(notably: the helmet crests and the exposed arm musculature) which visually identify them as being part of the Steel Phalanx/Greek Sectorial.

Nomads have long been my second choice army after Yu Jing, but I never liked any of the Nomad Faux-Catholic fetishist stuff. I'm not opposed to it being in the game, it's just a segment of the silly that I don't care to invest in.

These Reverend Moiras don't change my mind, but I do think they're a significant improvement over the old.

I love Penthesilea. She makes it very hard not to turn to Aleph.

As for the Caledonian Volunteer with HMG, I have trouble telling if they're a man or a woman, but in a good way. As in, it's not a bad sculpt, but it's a slightly androgynous figure in a kilt and covered with heavy clothes. It's actually rare to see sculptors pull off a "Hollywood ugly" face without making it look like they flubbed the sculpting job, but this figure has it. I think it's part of the charm of the Ariadna faction. In a world otherwise populated by cosmetically altered super soldiers, the folk of Ariadna are just normal people.

 CDK wrote:

She does not fit with the rest of the Steel Phalanx. I was fine with the motorcycle and the choice of a female equivalent to Achilles, but the lack of visual coherence with the majority of the Myrmidons and Thorakitai is offputting--especially when put into the context of how this will likely affect Nesaie Alkie (the Thorakitai officer) and has already spread to that godawful Myrmidon Hacker model.

Very irksome.

I think that is intentional. She's the "Amazon". She's the lowest ARM of them all. The only one with monofilament cc weapon, and a bike. She's a special character not a standard troop.

Being a "special character not a standard troop" is making excuses. Look at Ajax, Phoenix, or Eudoros. They are all "special characters" and still manage to work elements of the Steel Phalanx aesthetic in.

It's simply another case of "sexy sells".

Not sure how that is a "Feuerbach"...
It's a nice model though. I can't help but think the Feuerbach might be mislabeled.

It's the Feuerbach equivalent for Shasvastii. This is the first time sculpted for them. I think Morats can take one too but no sculpt yet.

True. The Feuerbach does seem to vary wildly from the Azrail to the Lunokhod. It just looks more like a boarding shotgun than a Feuerbach.

The sculpts are nice, sure. But they are still blatantly out of theme with the rest of the Observance.
Compare these to Kusanagi, the Reverend Custodiers, or the Sin-Eater Observants. The only visual tie is the colors and the robes. Why the hell is it so necessary for the "bare thighs" motif on the bloody Moira? They clearly tried to armor up the rest of the model--but kept the stupid bare thighs. All it would have taken was an extension of the boots to make it a "full body suit" and I would not be so annoyed.

It's like the stupid Wildcat HRL. It feels like it belongs in an entirely different range, not the one it is in.

They are still better than what they had.

Sculptwise? Sure. They're very nicely sculpted and clearly a lot of work went into them.

But that's the problem. All that work went in and Corvus Belli even hinted that the reason was to "bring them in line with the rest of the Observance".

They did not need to be wearing head to toe coverings with the most static pose ever, but it would have been nice for them to at least change the "one piece bathing suit" look that they had to the full skinsuit that the rest of the Observance (and the majority of Bakunin models for that matter) utilize.

But nope! Still gotta have dat ass.

Again, just paint the flesh something else. Maybe they have spandex.

And again, that does not always work. CB's sculptors go to great lengths to make it visually clear that it's bare flesh and not "spandex". Look at the Chandra or Penthesilea--they have "hip huggers" on, where there is a marked delineation between where their pants end and their flesh begins.

Again, Penthesilea isn't a Myrmidon. Even Phoenix the Myrmidon doesn't have the musculature on his arms; they're bare. She has, quite literally, the lowest armor in the entirety of the Steel Phalanx.

Not only that, but while the other Enomotarchos leaders barely look like the units they lead, Penthesilea is not a leader. She is a one-off loner, the only motorcycle, and the fastest unit in the army by far.

Plus, historically, Penthesilea wasn't even Greek. She was a non-affiliated Amazon that joined the Trojan War against the Greeks, fought Achilles, and lost.

Achilles is the invincible badass in the Trojan War (a Myrmidon).
Patrocles was his brother (a Myrmidon).
Eudoros was his top general (a Myrmidon).
Phoenix was a charioteer (a Myrmidon)
Ajax was the monstrous and bloodthirsty king (not a Myrmidon).
Diomedes was one of the guys in the Trojan Horse.
Atalanta was a Greek hunter blessed by Artemis.

After all that, Penthesilea was just some idiot that challenged all of them and lost. She wasn't even Greek.

Penthesilea by stats, by historical flavor, and by Infinity flavor, does not belong.

...and that's what makes her special and awesome.

"New Release" time of the month - I've come to love and hate it!

Love it - new sculpts, cool additions to existing forces, maybe a new faction to pick up...

Hate it - Kan's bordering on insane ranting about how Hawt Chiks are ruining the game! And, of course, all the money the new stuff is going to cost me!