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I received Leofwen, yet to assemble her though.

 cincydooley wrote:
Has anyone gotten leowen or Belech yet? Waiting on those, I think, to have my dragons shipped. Anxiously awaiting.

I received both last week, and I have to say that Leofwen is exceptional. ..I wish I had ordered another now as a display model.

I've got both of them too, and they look great in pieces in the bags (no time to assemble them yet, sigh)

Soooo, I'm gonna get a little burned I know, BUT, I've been looking at these models and not actually realising they are actually part of a game system! so, where can I find more information of the factions I could potentially use? I've had a look at the KS page but i'm after a more normal style of page :-) I am a huge fan of the monster type creations and honestly the designs and sculpting by Mierce are the first non GW mini's i've really wanted to purchase and paint just because the sheer skill and beauty (evil beauty..... but still beauty)

 nerdfest09 wrote:
where can I find more information of the factions I could potentially use?

http://mierce-miniatures.com/forum/

The info is still pretty scattered at this stage, but take a look at the latest KS update for the quickstart rules (all we have so far), muster rules (how to build your forces) and individual musters (troops you can buy)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mierceminiatures/darklands-a-world-of-war/posts


map of the Darklands world

For information on the many factions go to the mierce website http://www.mierce-miniatures.com as each has it's own bit of background eg

ALBAINN
Known to the Byzantii (and the Romanii before them) as the Pictii and renowned for their fierce savagery, the Albainn resisted their invasions for hundreds of years but resist those of others still, for many yet covet the lands in the north, wild as they are. The brutal Norse raid the coasts of Alba with increasing ferocity, as they do most lands, yet the Fomoraic and the Érainn and the Angelcynn pose a greater threat to the seven kingdoms as their kings well know. It is the reason Fortriu and Cait and Circin and the other descendants of Cruthin call upon their ancient pacts with greater frequency now more than ever, pacts that ensure the Oghu stones they revere awaken with primeval might and the Oghur and the Oghurüc and the Oghurithne descend from the mountains to turn back the hordes of their enemies.

Many of the individual minis also have bits of background attached (the plan is for all of them to have this, but that depends on Rob having time to write it, so the older the mini the more likely it is to have info)

eg albainin, Drast the Hunched, Hound of Dun Durn

Drast the Hunched is that rarest of warriors, one whose physical impairments have not halted his reputation nor blunted his prowess on the battlefield in the slightest. A hunchback since birth and shunned by other Albainn until - aged only fifteen - he saved the life of Dúngal, Mormaer of Dun Durn, in the wilderness of Fortriu during a Dál Riatan incursion, he became a member of his host and worked his way from scout to warrior to veteran in as short a time as any had ever done so. Impressed by his skill and courage despite his physical limitations, Dúngal bestowed upon him the highest honour he could; that of Hound of Dun Durn, the bearer of his personal mark into battle, and that which would be carved upon his oghu stone in memory of his deeds and life. For Drast, a warrior born into a shameful body, bearing Dúngal's banner into battle is a glory that means more to him than anything he could ever have dreamed of, and only in death would he relinquish it; and even then grudgingly, as some amongst the Albainn say.

I have to say, if the rule book is chock full of that kind of background info, I'm really going to have no choice but to get one. It's quite entertaining stuff. Doubly so if that book is jammed full of awesome artwork.

I may not be able to get in a game proper for a considerable amount of years (kids too young despite being quite interested in the figures), other family members not being into fantasy, and a general lack of venues that are supporting it), but I'll be damned if I have not been totally impressed by everything Mierce has done so far.

Thanks heaps for the info and links! :-) i'll have a good browse when i've a little more time on my hands as it seems very involved in a good way!

 Wehrkind wrote:

yxalitis wrote:

 Wehrkind wrote:
Is it just me, or does the first werewolf there have a horse tail? Maybe not, but something about the model seems really off, and I am guessing that is it. The tail doesn't look like a continuation of the spine, but rather loose with no substance after the first bit.

The other models look fantastic though. I may well break down and get in on this KS!

My dog has a tail just like that (Samoyed), most dogs that haven't been bred down to lose their tail hair (Most of them, sadly) also have that sort of look.

Even a quick Google image search would have answered your concerns:

I know what wolf tails look like Yxalitis. Unfortunately your rush to white knight you missed my point about the tail not looking like it has substance below the fur, which is probably a bit long.


Note the wolf's tail has a fairly straight column of bone from the base to nearly the tip, and the shorter hair is aligned with it pointing radially outwards. Compare to the tails on the horses that start to curl and flow past the first 6 inches or so where the bone ends, and the longer hairs that move largely of their own accord, especially at the end. Especially considering the hairless body the tail seems to have far longer and more flowing hair than fits for a wolf.

Oh well, I guess you're entitled to your opinion, I can't see your point, the tail looks fine to me
The hair curling and moving of it's own accord can happen with bone or not, as I stated, my dog's tail looks like the mini's unless I brush it, the hair sticks out and curls in all directions*.
If the sculpted tail was thinner, with longer hair, maybe i could understand your POV, but it's not.

*My dog is not a horse, by the way.

Myrinna, Avenger of Khthon

Speaking of revelatory sculptors... Hector Moran has guaranteed himself more work from us in the future, because the lady-snakes - starting with Myrinna here, the champion - are going to be absolutely superb.






Myrinna is complete, but won't be with us for a while as Hector's got the rest of the unit to sort out, of course!

==== Boobs on a snake? Is there a background to this - nursing with snake teeth is bound to be a tad difficult. Yes I know it is fantasy and yes I do think this looks like being a great model ( and yes I like boobs on models - just asking why is all.

Atlantean sex slave snake people, who have revolted.

All the Khthones were (I believe) created by the Atlanteans as slaves. If you need reasons why people would put boobs on a snake person then I present to you...the internet.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ever vigilante, the Defenders of Snake Boobs (DoSB) are perched, cat-like ready to fulfill our weird oath.

So yeah, there is a background for them, as goofy as it may or may not be.

Plus, there's always that other reason...

Snake boobs are weird, I agree, but lets not start the same argument we had in the PP new hordes book thread. Darklands is much more about Magic and 'Folklore-ish' stuff than the PP universe, so Science really has no place here.

I feel like the Atlanteans would have made the snake people to be somewhat in their image, or perhaps the Khthones were once human? Look at Medusea in (the original) 'Clash of the Titans', she had boobs and a snake-like body, but according to legend, she was once a regular(ish) woman.

It seems just as weird that she'd have arms and still be called a snake. how many appendages does it take for a snake to be called a lizard?

Besides, Torku has like 18 Boobs. And a filth template. no one questions it.

Not a huge fan of the snake model- besides the point already discussed, what stands out more is the "hourglass" figure that is evident from the pictures showing the back of the model in particular.

That just doesn't make sense, is it a curvy female in a snake costume, or a snake warrior? Well, in this case it kind of looks like a cross between the two

It's March, though, so I'm on the lookout for the Axeman Belech to be released so I can snatch it up

Seriously - in Darklands World those crazy Atlanteans bio-engineered the Snake People to be slaves.

All kinds of slaves.

And they made them look like that, because that's what they wanted.

I'm not saying I'd like it, or approve of it, if, you know, the Darklands World was real and I was living in it.

But there you go!

I think?

I'm not referring to background though (I'll give them that) just looks. And it looks "off" to me, for the reasons above. No problem if others like it but I think it is lacking compared to some of the other excellent designs here.

The 'look' reflects the 'background' though.

So, there is a 'reason' that it looks like it does - no matter how silly it might, or might not, be!

Well, as I said I'll give them that

To consider this more generally- I'm not at all opposed to the concept of a human-esque form on a snake body, I just don't think this one works as well as some others. I think Arena Rex's model (the last one in the montage spoilered below) pulls this off more convincingly. I think it has to do with the fact there are more visual cues in the model below that the figure is transitioning from a snake to a human form. Whereas in the above model, visually I can't make sense of it, as those "transition" visual cues aren't there.


I.e. both models imply a bit of human form in the shape of the snake- Mierce's with the "hourglass" shape, and Arena Rex's with the slight impression of a leg in the transition area. But it just doesn't come together on Mierce's as a whole, as the model isn't actually transitioning to a human form (it still has a snake head, etc)... so visually the concept doesn't work as well.

I get that that's their concept being executed by the sculptor, but just wanted to elaborate on why I think it isn't as effective while being somewhat similar to Arena Rex's concept. Snake people are still cool, but it's more of a miss to me whereas many of Mierce's models are homeruns, imo.

Leave my people alone!

Some serious anti- snakism going on up in here!

Don't forget that there's actually various races that make up the Khthon. They do have the more humanoid ones as well, but those tend to have four arms like Ophios, Sthena, and Xontor. I can't remember but weren't the four arms called the Gorgons, while the snake head girls were the Gorgorares? Then there's the Liskars, the Hhydrax(?, the Savrar... I'm sure there's more I'm either leaving out or misspelling.

Need more though!

I was recently able to pick up a Creoda and Tarask model via eBay, but I think I remember reading somewhere that the base sizes for some models changed.

Is the Mierce website up to date in terms of what the 'right' base is for everything?

these are the changes (the plan was to have updated the wesite but not sure if it happened).

H"ere's a list of what will change - there's not much, although I'm very sure the Tarvax will be a pain as we've done so many of them:

Angelcynn
•Cearl - 50mm
•Guthwulf - 80mm
•Beowa bear form - 50mm

Fomoraic
•Ckaarakk (Tarvax Untain) - 50mm
•Tarvax - 50mm"

Thank you Orlando!

 fullheadofhair wrote:
==== Boobs on a snake?.

Coincidentally, that's the name of my new movie!

Are boobs stranger than fingers when found on a snake?


Side note: as a new parent I was surprised to find breast feeding is no picnic, fangs or no. Never seen a nipple leak blood before... pretty creepy :(

It sort of is. Reptiles with limbs are less of an evolutionary leap than reptiles with mammaalian reproductive traits.

True, I'll give you that. Still, if I were a mad scientist sticking random new parts on snakes (which I am totally not! I don't have ANY thing like that in my basement! It is locked for entirely unrelated reasons!) boobs would be pretty high on my list. After like a bell and some flags to keep the little buggers from hiding.

...Well, disturbing as that sight into your psyche might be, I believe Mierce have a faction for you to back their next KS for

Fingers/hands and breasts were clearly high on the "To Do" lists for the Atlanteans.

Obviously!

 Wehrkind wrote:
After like a bell and some flags to keep the little buggers from hiding.

Nice