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Another beautiful unit painted by Nerdfest09!

Very nice looking squad.

Proof that I'm painting again. Wanted to add a little color and detail to the back of the beautiful knight lancer Ramos did for me. More to go.

You gunna base that thing?

Yeah, when the painting is done.

Such a beautiful army. Basing is really setting them off.

That does need a splash of colour to the back of that knight doesn't it, It is wonderfully painted as is, but needs some extra touches to break it up a bit.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Another beautiful unit painted by Nerdfest09!

I just love this unit, the touch of green on the weapons really does the trick

Congrats on the best painted army award!! What happens if you, whalemusic and I enter mostly-nerdfest-painted armies in the same comp

I want to point out that there's nothing wrong with Ramos' paint job. He did exactly what I told him to do... focus on the big plates and the customization and leave the rest simple. I just thought that since this was going to be a focal point of one of only two decently competitive armies I currently have... it might be worth tricking out the back a little bit.

Plus this is probably the first thing I've painted in 6-8 months... so starting with some basics is a comfortable way to start. My red parts aren't as good as Ramos'... but trying to match airbrushing with brush painting has never been something I was good at.

I've since brightened up the piston shafts.... which helps the legs a bit. Unfortunately there's nothing else on the legs that really lends itself to detailing & I don't want to ruin Ramos' beautiful paint job. So I'll call this part done. I'll be adding some very minor energy effects to the lance. Not OSL as I don't want to overpower the weapon and it doesn't really go with the "clockwork" theme of the knight... but something that indicates an internal power build-up. We'll see how that goes... I've been putting it off for days now because I'm nervous about it.

@RiTides: We all win! Actually, I got the impression that you and Paul were going to have a set-to with your Nerdfest painted armies. I'm trying to figure out how to get myself into that little fracas as well.

A Nerdpocalypse of sorts...

I love the green blades on the Ruststalkers. Can't wait to see the Lancer finished.

Knight looks good so far!

 Gitsplitta wrote:
... Unfortunately there's nothing else on the legs that really lends itself to detailing & I don't want to ruin Ramos' beautiful paint job. So I'll call this part done. ...

There's always little warning signs and markings that you could add to break up a large area. They are not just for realism.

Good job though.

Finally done.

Wow. just... wow.

Oooh... That splash of color on the lance really really makes it, I think.

Very sharp looking base, too, Gits!

Thanks Ramos, no offense intended to your excellent work. Just trying to dress it up a bit now that I've had time to think about it.

Oh shoot, no offense taken.
I rather like the new splashes of color!

That's brilliant, and I totally agree about the lance and the basing! Awesome finishing touches

Really stunning. Little touches making a difference. Really stunning piece.

Awesome looking Lancer. I love what you've done with the shield. Was that originally a flamer template?

EDC

Ramos made it from scratch.

That is one sweet looking knight!

So... the latest in Dakka connectivity weirdness. Apparently I CAN upload photos from home. Basically I can do everything except actually enter a blog... when I do that, I get kicked out. *shrug*

My son and I are embroiled in a robot battle at the moment in the midst of all this cool new terrain that I got from a kick-starter and that I'm paying him to build. We'd actually like to do an all-robot Adepticon team some year... two Necron & two AdMech, but for now we have to satisfy ourselves by kicking each other's teeth in. In any case, I've been taking photos and I thought I'd share a few.


Right center table, AdMech turn 1: Skitarii rangers move up access bridge to claim a 3-point objective.


Center table, Necron turn 2: All of the night scythes arrive delivering their payload of 30 warriors (total). The warriors open up on the AdMech knight, glancing it to death. The resulting explosion kills two skitarii rangers.


Center table, Necron turn 2: Soul-less machines in the form of Necron warriors observe the results of their handiwork as the titan explodes.


Right center table, AdMech turn 2: The Skitarii rangers continue to move up the access way, one short move and they'll be on the objective, though dangerously exposed!


Left flank, Admech turn 2: A pair of Skitarii dragoons try to mop up the last of a unit of Necron bikes that had come under early fire. The bikes are tenacious, but are slowly losing the combat.


Right flank, Necron turn 3: Skitarii rust stalkers form a picket line in front of a pair of Dune Crawlers. Luckily the wraiths were too far away to charge, so settled for a run move to guarantee combat by the next turn.


More to come...


P.S. Yeah, I know... kind of an odd post. It's just such a cinematic battle with the cool terrain, painted armies and all... and I'm kind of reveling in the fact that I can put photos up on Dakka again, even through I can't really post them with regularity yet.

Looks like an exciting battle, but who won?

Cracking stuff and the glow line is excellent indeed!

2 ROBOTS ENTER, 1 ROBOT LEAVES

Love your lance touch up Gits, and thank you as always for the battle report.

Gonna get me some coffee and enjoy it.

Thanks! I do have more pictures for you as the game is progressing, just didn't have time to upload them as I was out Christmas shopping last night.


I thought... if you guys would indulge me... that I'd post a few thoughts on playing the army now that I've got a handful of games and a tournament behind me. Just in case some of you don't have your own admech or haven't had the chance to play them yet.

1. Playing AdMech is complicated for a variety of reasons. First, they have very few standard weapons the likes of which exist in other 40k armies. So you have to learn an entirely new set of terms and special rules. This is certainly doable... but takes time and practice. The units themselves have a lot of special rules, as do the formations. Layer after layer of things to keep track of... it can be somewhat overwhelming. While I am getting better at it, constantly having to dig around in the 4 books it can take me to run the army (Skitarii, Cult Mech, Knights & Rule Book) is a pain in the butt for both me and my opponent. The approach I've adopted is simply not to worry about the rules or special abilities I don't remember. Stick with what I know... as I get better at running them and memorize the most critical stats and abilities, I can over time... start adding the rest. Eventually I'll get to the point where I should be able to remember most of it without delaying the game needlessly.

2. The big formation for the AdMech is the War Convocation. This is a basic Skitarii formation, a Cult Mech formation (really more of a CAD) and a Knight. Your upgrades are free with this formation... which in a normal size game gets you around 300 pts of extra gubbins. Not bad. However, you don't need to run the War Convocation in order to have a decent army. I was running just a Cult Mech CAD & Skitarii battle maniple and having good success. Most of the units are pretty solid so if you want to run this army in a casual game but still have a good list... you can do it.

3. If you do run the War Convo, don't be tempted to buy the most expensive war gear just because it's free. Take what your army needs, even if it isn't the most expensive thing on the list. Two things I've found true when you have unlimited war gear.... 1) you'll forget you have half of it... and 2) you won't actually get the opportunity to use half of it in any case.

4. I really balked at the 30 pt cost for the plasma calivers.... basically 3-shot plasma guns. I'm still not sure they're worth it under normal circumstances as your odds of killing the gunner from an over-heat are pretty good. In the War Convo though, they're free and don't get hot. Definitely worth taking. Other than that I wouldn't upgrade the guns on the skitarii troops as they're basic guns are pretty solid.

5. One of the things I really like about the AdMech is that most of their units are really solid. You don't have to spam things to be good. I've seen a lot of people spam the grav servitors... but there are a good number of opponents for whom that's not really helpful. As I see it, the real beauty of an AdMech army is the sheer variety of units you can field and still have a really good chance to put up a hard fight. In my full list I have 3 dedicated assault units, 4 dedicated shooting units and 3 units that can do both competently and I have NO duplication of units.

6. There are still a lot of armies that give me fits. Mostly so far... I've come out on top... but it's rare that I wipe someone out & far more often it's a really close battle and I just happen to carry a narrow margin to victory. Thing 1's flyer/infantry heavy Necron army is really challenging me at the moment. Lots of infantry, high model count armies are tough to deal with. Also I really only have 1 AA option, so if I don't take it (I didn't this time)... dealing with flyers can be a real nightmare.

7. Lastly, and GW this is for you if you're out there... The AdMech need to be reduced to one codex... please. The skitarii with no HQ just makes list building so much more complicated than it has to be. I bought both books... you have my money... if you want more of it please combine them into one, sensible dex.

So, while the AdMech are complicated to run, they're fun and reasonably competitive... even for a schlub gamer like me. They look great on the table and are a very significant part of 40k history and lore that has been missing until recently. I'm very happy that I jumped on the wagon when I did.



I am still painting. I'm working on adding detail to my void shield generator.... kind of the last piece of AdMech puzzle as far as I'm concerned. The amount of detail on the model is just... stupid... and I don't want to change it's character with too much crap. When I have enough done that it's worth showing off, I'll post my progress and you can let me know how I'm doing.

Thanks for bearing with me.

Good job enhancing the knight.

Game photos look nice too.

Thanks Dr H. Having really nice terrain is just fantastic. Even though most of it is still unpainted... it's still fantastic. Changes the feel of the game and makes everything seem more cinematic and epic.

Thing 1 is just about done building everything. We've just been cramming more and more pieces onto the table as he finishes them (in areas where they aren't likely to affect the battle). We were admiring his work last night and he said... "I'm SO glad I don't have to paint all this."

Yeah.... that would be my job....

Nice to see you and the boy going at it. Terrain looks great . I haven't had a chance to put mine together. so I look forward to more pics of yours.