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Taste like crab, talk like people. With the God Legion head options Valrak mentioned:

Damn GW works fast when ultramarines are in question

Yes, absolutely! That's why it actually looks good.

Now THAT's a glowup

Oh good, new 13th Company Grey Slayers!

Warjack? I hardly know him! Eye of Terror book reveal next week probably, according to the article.

It's actually tragic to me such a cool concept, calling back to the glory days of the hobby, will be erased when the new edition drops. GW, you need to get back to this as the CORE of the hobby.

Isn't nature beautiful?

This has been something I've been pondering for a while and have finally decided to put into words. Quite a lot of words as it happens. Yep, that's right boys- it's time for an EEE (Evil Eye Essay)! So even as someone that has...issues with some (OK, quite a lot) of Games Workshop's modern output, credit where credit is due, the actual sculpting quality of their models is generally quite good. There are some exceptions, of course, and artistically I could list a long stream of complaints, but objectively speaking GW puts out well made models. However, whilst the sculpts are on the whole very good, in my opinion there has definitely been a decline in GW miniature design- and I don't mean subjective things like "this helmet looks silly" or "the pose isn't my favourite". I'm talking about something that affects the actual suitability of the models as gaming pieces and model kits, and that's how the parts are split up on the sprues and how they go together during assembly. This is a bit of a complicated one to explain so rather than go on a rambling diatribe I shall try and keep things organized into a few key points, and where I think GW could be doing better with the actual engineering of their minis. So without further ado, let the grumbling begin! 1: Assembly I think the first, and most obvious, problem with a lot of modern GW plastic kits has to do with how they go together as a collection of parts. The advent of full CAD sculpting and parts-splitting has enabled more sophisticated joint setups and more "seamless" sculpts, but they have IMO at least come at the cost of making models far, far less well-suited to customization and, by extension, being suitable for building an army from- and has also made the simple act of assembling the models considerably more of a chore. In the "before times", with the vast majority of basic infantry kits, the instructions were something of a formality. For the most part, you could crack open a box of Marines, Orks, Gaunts or Guardsmen etc and pretty easily put together the mini you wanted to from the parts on the sprue, without even looking at the manual. This gave two advantages; for one thing, the kits were very simple for even newer hobbyists to comprehend and quickly work out how to assemble, which means not only was the barrier to entry much lower for new players but more experienced modelers could create some really unique models with fairly little effort. The second is that no two models had to look the same; even a subtle difference in pose could make squads look quite distinct from each other. For a game where you are building an army, this is obviously something you want, as nobody wants the exact same models repeated ad nauseum through a force. The current assembly system, however, has done away with all of this, with bespoke connections for every part and a far more limited range of poses for most kits. On top of making variation in the army much, much harder to achieve, it massively complicates assembly. Before, it was quite simple to just clip the parts off the sprue and put your models together as you saw fit. Now if you try and do that you will be making things much, much harder for yourself as each arm only goes with its respective body and so on. One good example of the difference between the two design philosophies is the Tyranid Termagants kit. The last-gen kit (admittedly dating to 3rd edition and definitely showing its age) was extremely simple to build- stick body halves together, attach head and arms, add any accoutrements you might want, done. And with the balljoints for the necks and shoulders, you could get a surprising amount of variety out of a very simple kit. The new one, whilst objectively better sculpted, is I would argue a worse kit. Each gaunt is completely monopose, with static heads and fixed arm positions due to the elimination of balljoints, the heavy weapons are meant to go on specific bodies so if you have multiples of a heavy weapon in the army the repeats will be obvious, and even the RIPPERS are monopose; instead of being single models you glued to their base in whatever number or position you wanted, they now only go together in one position with dedicated peg holes. How to you monopose a swarm!?!? And given Termagants are something you will be fielding rather a lot of...oh dear. The argument I hear in favour of the newer "jigsaw puzzle" design is that it gives more seamless sculpts and allows for greater detail, as the jigsaw assembly is meant to work around undercuts. Which is partially true, however I would argue that when most of the added detail is things like Marines having sculpted undersuit-clad cheeks in positions that would never be seen in a game anyway, I would rather have a slight decrease in detail amount in exchange for kits actually being fun to build again. It should also be noted that, ironically enough, the parts breakup often leads to some very ugly seams in obvious areas, which can be difficult to deal with and are eyesores if not filled in. 2: Sprue Design I have heard GW sprues touted as the best in the industry due to the sheer amount of parts they can squeeze into a single frame. Which is sort of true. However, there is a catch; due to the prior-mentioned parts breakdown, you aren't really seeing any increase in value, as instead of fitting 4 arm options into a space on the sprue they have instead opted to consume the same space with 4 parts for a single subassembly (like an arm). Furthermore, any leftover parts you DO get are generally odds and ends with very little use. In this way the value of the kit is actually lower than an older, more "empty" sprue because not only do you get more assembly options, you also get actually useful spares for conversions. In addition to this, the organization of the parts on the sprue is completely baffling often, with no rhyme or reason to what parts are on what sprue. Different sub-assemblies have their parts scattered across multiple different sprues, again making assembly more confusing and also seriously decreasing the ability to supplement the kit via switching different frames in. For example, the venerable Falcon kit, whilst absolutely ancient and having a LOT of unused sprue space, is quite sensible in that each sprue makes a different part of the kit. The hull and turret are their own sprues and the parts for the Wave Serpent are their own sprue again (recently packed in to the Falcon box). On the other hand, the Contemptor Dreadnought- which I should add is a very nice kit- has everything scattered across the sprues to the point where the weapon sprues have a few unrelated spare parts on there too. Finally, I would argue the sprue setup is actually less efficient than older kits in terms of GW's bottom line, as shared sprues are basically a thing of the past now, and this actually leads to some missed opportunities. A common complaint with the Intercessor kit is that the sprue space is mostly wasted on different actions/receivers for the boltguns, significantly limiting the variability of the kit. And whilst GW could just nix the existing kit's gun options in the next refresh it gets, they could also use a "more shared sprues" approach, and have the Intercessor bodies themselves be constructed off one or two larger frames whilst the bolters are much smaller sprues which you get enough of in the box to arm the entire squad, much like how WHFB kits used to have shield sprues which each contained 4 shields, but due to the smaller size of the sprues you could fit plenty in the box. Not only would this allow more meaningful options to be crammed into the kit, it would save money in the long-run too; sprues could be shared between kits, reducing the amount of R&D cost on tooling a bespoke set of moulds for every new unit box. 3: Actual Miniature Design This is a more minor point but does connect with the previous paragraphs. Whilst what GW can achieve with plastic kits is very impressive, they are ironically enough not necessarily the best-suited designs for actual game pieces. I have touched upon this already (lots of detail you won't even see during a game, models being harder to meaningfully customize etc) but one other point that should be mentioned about modern miniature design is the increased detail often comes at the expense of actual playability. Exaggerated poses atop tactical rocks with weapons splayed in all directions makes storage and transport more difficult, let alone actually playing with your models; minis breaking off the tiny plume of smoke connecting them to their bases or getting their enormous weapons tangled in scenery or other minis are considerable problems with some of these kits. The desire to make every model a mini-centrepiece has compromised their function as playing pieces. And again this is without touching on my personal views on artistic merits, as I am trying to stay focused on more objective/practical concerns. 4: Conclusion Now I will say, the actual solution to these issues is quite simple, and not exactly beyond GW's means. They can and indeed do still make nice kits (the Tormentor kit for the Emperor's Children is a really nice, simple and fun to build box). The real issue is more a mindset one than anything especially practical. Realistically, all they really need to do is swallow their pride a bit on sculpting every last nook and cranny of every model (regardless of whether it can even be seen or reached with a paintbrush) and start thinking about model design with each sculpt being part of the game/kit ecosystem rather than as a standalone piece that exists in a vacuum even from the rest of its box. If they started designing kits with similar layouts to, say, Wargames Atlantic, which have similar parts-per-sprue counts but are far better value in terms of how much you get out of a kit, they could be onto a winner. And GW sculpts are generally much sharper than WGA ones (and I say that as a big WGA fan), so it isn't like slightly more consideration for modularity, ease of building and sprue ubiquity would make every model look like a 6E WHFB Clanrat. ...Of course, more efficient sprue design would give GW even less excuse to keep their ridiculously high prices, so it would never happen. Anyway. Discuss!

Do you think it's simply a coincidence that the skull on the night lords box is from an Imperial Fist or is GW sending a message to Valrak for being correct once again with his rumours?

Yeah so ive still been slowly working on these over the past 2 years the cerastus turned out pretty nice. I used a taro shield, which was great. Ive started using enamel streaking grimes and mud effects, which has been very interesting. Mostly using turps to clean it off, which has the effect of not stripping the paint underneath, but instead just kinda making it ripple a bit? idk, it just becomes a bit more textured. Obvs also i've been trying to use transfers more The above photos were taken on my phone, which doesnt have a very good camera, but the colours are probs a lot more true to life than the ones I took on my partner's phone, even if those photos did turn out a bit better. I also made a pilot for the cerastus. Haven't quite thought up of a name yet. https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:4opniyyaxdpbekg7kqdxyrqs/bafkreiecg4muawjd4m4d7sq2em32qfutjyaujyanekol7u5doq5jmzurhe@jpeg/ I also ended up making this armiger using all the space rocket pods I'd amassed. and also i put leaves on the base later But yeah, it's turned out to be a pretty good force. Me n my partner joined a local games group and i've been running knights along with some of the solar auxilia as breachers. I still want to keep on slowly working on them, maybe add another big knight at some point. It's a pity that i'm not particularly interested in the dominus chasis (aesthetically i just dont like it as much), but I'll think of other stuff to put in here. I'm less driven by getting models for playing games, as much as I just like making and painting them.

This is without a doubt one of the most over-blown complaints I have come across.

My mate Lachy from Zorpazorp was involved with the Horus Heresy 2nd edition release and needed a few models done for his Mark of Calth Campaign and hit me up regarding this Reaver Titan I've had sitting in my collection longer than I'd like to admit and agreed to paint and swap it for a replacement Reaver. He needed it painted up in Legio Suturvora and after searching that up was dead set keen at trying to do the Hot Rod Ghost Flames on this model. For my first time attempt I reckon it went pretty well but I'm convinced I can do better in the future, luckily I've a Chaos Warhound also sitting here I will be having a crack at using the Legio Suturvora scheme again.

Vow complete, photos taken and uploaded! Just in time, I must say. Here's the new model next to my old metal Emperor's Champion. Talk about scale creep... I gotta say, subjectively I feel it's one of the best models I've painted. It for sure was the most complex and fun and pushed me to try new things out (e.g. the reflections on the armour). If you're interested, more angles and close-ups are in my gallery.

See, I prefer the hinged door on the rhino and land raider- that way you can store stuff in it AND the model doesn't suck.

I do like the new Heavy unit but I can't help thinking of these guys from back in the day. Cheers Vogon

Not to be pompous and also betray my age a bit (though not as ancient as the creators), but rpg's generally, and D&D specifically actually grew out of historical table top role playing in the 70's, where Gary Gygax and the rest of the d&d crew first introduced fantasy rules for their medieval battles, then added individual heroes and leaders with more capabilities then the basic trooper, and slowly refined it down into the single character per player rpg in the original d&d releases. There's nothing wrong with playing 40K as a competitive game, using stock characters from the books, or using the chapters/warbands/legions etc presented by GW, but for me one of the biggest draws of Warhammer was the ability to create your very own army, without necessarily being held down by actual history of any sort, with leaders and units that you can theme around. In the past few editions, GW has steamrolled over the ability to customize characters and units by reducing options and seeming to concentrate on Unique Named Heroes, which definitely has watered down that part of the hobby, while also making kits themselves more difficult to mix and match then before. They've also removed numerous units from play, invalidating whole armies in some cases. It doesn't matter to me whether it's matched play available or not, my friends and I are more collectors that roll out our armies 3-4 times a year when life makes it possible to actually get together and play a game. It's exciting to see GW embracing any form of customization these days instead of further making everything cookie cutter and the same. Going forward, I hope they do expand upon it and bring a lot more of that "your guys" magic feel to making your army, even if it is "optional" or "narrative" rules , because I feel that has been withering away more and more since 8th.

I... I don't like it. It really barely resembles the classic Defiler design at all. The old one was definitely showing its age and 100% needed a replacement, don't get me wrong. But I would have preferred a proper refresh of the same basic design with refined detail, rather than this whole-cloth reinvention. Ironically this has the opposite problem of the Mutilators; it feels too much like a mass of flesh and bone amalgamated with bits of machinery rather than a mechanical beast with a daemon bound within its shell. Too much daemon, not enough engine. It isn't a terrible model, but I don't think I like it as the de facto new Defiler.

Recently, I did an interview with Graham McNeill, and I think this excerpt fits well here. For me, it’s always interesting to read – or, in this case, to ask directly – what authors themselves would like to write about. GM: Too many to list! Obviously, I’d love to continue the Uriel Ventris series and develop more Iron Warriors books. I also want to delve into more Chaos and Xenos stories too, and if there were a new Big Series to really sink my teeth into, then that’d be great too – you know, an Age of Apostasy/Scouring kind of thing. I’ve always wanted to tell the story of The Battle for Macragge, as it has everything you want for a powerful and dramatic story. From the fantasy side, I stand more than ready to write a book on the Siege of Carroburg, as well as pen stories set in the Great War Against Chaos. Some really juicy stuff there that would be awesome to see brought to life. ... And hopefully the powers that be at Black Library will set me loose on more Uriel Ventris, Honsou, et al stories. So, yeah, busy, busy, busy… You can find the full interview here (though it’s in Ukrainian, so you’ll need to use a translator): https://uageek.space/interviu-z-gremom-maknillom/

I've completed another Death Guard Legionnaire for my Plodding Along vow,

There is no chance for me to finish the remaining 6 skits, so I will call it partially done for Feb and I will continue in March

Mechanicus Jump Scare.

Dorn Heavy Tank need to finish cooking first, when we get a version with a bloody floor then we can use it as a example of a FINISHED model. People bashing open topped vehicles when GW rolled out a open bottom one.

It's a rare techno-relic, the Archaeotech Restorative Solenoid Engine (or A.R.S.E for short). It restores mechanical parts by its mere presence, and can even cause machinery to upgrade itself- some Skitarii reported merely witnessing the A.R.S.E turned their floppy discs into hard drives.

Time for an overdue update. I finished the Pathfinders, and for funsies, a turret. Next on the chopping block is their Devilfish, and then an XMas box full of suits to tinker with. Hope ya'll enjoy! Photo quality still needs a bit of work but for a cellphone and some fluorescent overhead lighting, I'll settle for what I got.

You know what made me happy about this reveal? There was no talk of it beforehand, or any potato cam images. Just a nice, unexpected surprise.

Here is the first model for my Ultramarines "Scourge of the Xenos" 3rd company collection, a nice dirty Whirlwind, I always liked the stories of the Ultramarines during the First and Second Tyrannic Wars. My exposure to this Company from the Ultramarines was the first White Dwarf I ever bought in 1998, magazine: Issue 225, and the big tease for Warhammer 40k 3rd edition was this absolute badass Space Marine Command Squad as the centerfold. While being unable to buy this set back then, about 15 years ago I managed to grab this complete boxset for not much more than the asking price from back in 1998, and has sat in a sealed box with a number of other items. I feel in the next batch of minis to do I should slip these in.

I got inspired, went overboard

courtesy of gidthedestroyer on reddit, the options we know of so far

I could've sworn I put WIPs of these up but whatever haha The Repulsors are for a local guy who regularly beats me, so I made sure to fart inside of them before sealing up And this was a used one I got locally I've done literally nothing on Disco and the Knight I'm so good at finishing things in order

Update from yesterday Need to add highlights to robes, reds, and metallics and some touch ups.

I, bouargh, engage in 12MoH 2026 and pledge for the month of February: - 1 ooP Epic Warlord Titan - 10 Dark Eldar Wytches - 1 piece of scenery made out of a cut Container Here I go!

Looks like the Catachan power fist

Well despite jetlag hitting me harder than I anticipated, I did get a couple of completions done - Moritat and Boreworms.

Unironically in the same vein as the other article claiming he is editing scripts day and night; AI generated slop articles skimmed from meme-reddits. Afaik he is currently busy with Highlander. Unless the News comes from GW, Amazon, Warhammer Jesus Henry Cavill himself, or reputable actual news sources (and maybe Valrak) it is most likely Bait.

Thanks @The Pounder and @BadgersinHills. And BadgerinHills, your protestations seem quite suspect, as they are exactly what one would expect a hill dwelling badger hive mind to say. I had originally meant to finish these last month (they've sat with the capes does since at least the new year), but got distracted by my knight kitbash. Here's my second squad of tormentors - squad leader has the whip not because I thinks it the best choice (though it was when I built the squad, which was pre-eratta bumping the S on the power sword) but because I don't like to build cookie cutter squads. And with my other tormentor squad: Seeing the two side by side, I'm really happy with the how the cloaks turned out. The main purpose of the symbols on the back of the cloaks being different colours is squad differentiation, and I wasn't sure that would be distinct enough with the slannpat. So I'm really happy that it seems to the 4 colour camo pattern, with 1 colour as base common across both squads, 2 for the slanneshi "blotches" and the 4th for the symbol (which for the other squad would be a blotch colour) seems to have worked well. Does mean that I can only do one more squad this way before I need to come up with a different slaanpat pattern, but it seems unlikely I would want more than 3 squads, so I'm fine with that. I have also mostly built 2 5-man squads of infractors - I just need to do the greenstuffing for the cloaks. As that's quite the chore, I think that will wait until I need a break from painting.

Had a productive day and finished my infernus marine. He's from the 3rd company of my void cuirassiers. With him done, I also kind of complete my plodding along vow of finishing 1+ kill teams this year. Might as well push it to 2+ kill teams now ! Using already finished models plucked from different squads, here's my take on strike force Variel :

Needing a palette cleanser after working on commission models for two weeks straight, I decided to do a TDA Imperial Fist Captain, courtesy of Combat Patrol finally hitting Oz,

Welcome to a warhammer 40k forum. If it's something new, it will automatically be hated by a vocal minority.

Hello, I've never used a forum before so please bear with me. Been a warhammer fan since I was in my early teens but only really owned a couple of metal high elf and dark elf models. I have only really been following the hobby from afar until a few years ago when a mate of mine gave me a big box of spues and old models and I decided to give it a proper go. I bought a box of blood angels tactical marines to get started ( I have only just finished them) but quickly decided that I like so many different kits out there i dont want to collect one faction. I am much more interested in the painting side of the hobby and am starting a blog to give me some encouragement and focus to finish painting what I have and to hopefully improve as a painter. I am looking forward to becoming part of the comunity!

Had a few minutes of spare time before going to work this morning so I managed to finish off the bases of my sternguard squad and to take nicer pictures

These pair of Salamander Contemptors also from that acquired lot got a fast re-paint and moved out.

During the whole 2020's surprise house party era we all experienced I managed to grab an impressive space marine collection from a friend that was leaving the hobby. This included a large number of duplicate models I already owned and decided to paint them up in random legions and move them on. This Imperial Fist Glaive was one such model, having one in my Sons of Horus this gave me an opportunity to paint something completely different.

My wife says that chess in our house is. You should see it when she moves the knights and 'neighs' accordingly.

this is perfection

Hello, just a random mini painter here, I want to share pics of finished Lorgar, hope you like it. I'm not a regular. I painted another Lorgar in almost identical color scheme few years back. I remember that I posted pics on the forum but on my Activity page there is no trace of it, has there been a cleansing commited on the forum? It is wierd because I can see much earilier posts.

I, JuliusAgricola, embark on the 12 Months of Hobby Challenge, and for the month of February pledge to complete 5 Deathwing Knights (carried over from Jan) and 5 Hellblasters by month's end.

Probably wanted a splash of yellow in there to complete the Primary Colour triad. But I choose to believe you're correct because it's funnier.

All things must end, including this build - I'm done! All that remains is the painting, which will have to wait until the snow melts, the ground dries, and I can spray in my backyard again... so, late April at the earliest. Most likely, though, I'll paint them both for Call to Arms 2026. Finished my greenstuff molding and there was a lot of flash to cleanup on the pistons, but they turned out pretty well. Not sure if I would want to use this method for finely details that are the focus of attention, but it was very serviceable for making sure that a part hardly anyone will focus on doesn't stand out. Anyway, here it is. Unlike as previously intended, I used the plastic cable cut from the original part here, and the guitar string cable on the plastic part, as the plastic would do be less likely to crack or break and therefore would better hold the metal string. Here's my imperial stance knight as a desecrator. And here is my chaos stance knight as a ruinator. I must say, I'm coming around to the unspiked shoulder pads - they kind of make him look like a meaner omnimech (of the Battletech Clans fame). Last thing I did was build one last gatling cannon - that gives me 6 total now, including 2 GW ones... so as many as I would ever need. Finally, here they are with all their parts packed away until priming season.