I'll be posing my Melee Contemptor Dreads in martial arts/combat sport stances

[N1SB]

I had An Idear, Imma do it...just thought it'd be funnier to share in advance, because it's actually kinda hilarious yet I think it's a sound concept.

Summary - due to the poseability of the new plastic Contemptor Dreadnoughts, I'm going to put them in martial arts/combat sport stances, like Bruce Lee's or a boxer's.

Ever since HH 1.0, I wanted an All-Dreadnought list, but the Rite of War had certain penalties (like you give up a Victory Point for every Dread you lose) that made it too prohibitive.  In the Playtest Draft documents I saw, then in the final version of the rules, they took those penalties away, so I was pumped.  Punching up (ha!) a list, I found a simple one was pure melee, just paired fists for all the Dreads with a Leviathan with paired siege claws.  A little bit 1-sided, but I was thinking of maybe a ranged Mechanicum Allied Detachment later anyway.

The poseability of the new plastic Contemptors allows for more dynamic poses.  A lot more ideas went into it, including a conversation I had with sculptor Mark Bedford 20+ years ago that I thought of in the shower (why I would think of Mark Bedford in the shower, I honestly can't tell you, I'll need a therapist for that), but I just started shifting in the shower like Bruce Lee:

The big concept (and this was the insight Mark Bedord  gave me) is that miniatures are static objects, but they should represent things going into action.  It's a balancing act, why there are famous statues of mythological heroes slaying monsters, they're still yet look like they're about to stab something.  You see someone adopt a Bruce Lee stance, you instinctively feel like he's about to do a high kick to someone's head any moment, but his feet are still touching the ground.

Then my next thought was a traditional orthodox (or Southpaw) boxer's stance.  Not sure why a Dreadnought would do that, maybe I'll do a kickboxing stance?

After that, though, I considered my Leviathan, I got a 2nd hand one with siege claws, and here's what I thought with that chonky boi of a model:

I was talking about this at my Warhammer Store and one of my friends was like, "So you're turning Street Fighter into a 30k army?"  And I guess I am.

RAW, I'll need a specific HQ.  The HH 2.0 All-Dread RoW requires a special modified Contemptor Dread HQ.  So I was thinking, Street Fighter II, boss stage, Thailand...

Spoiler

MESSATSU!

(...beats up the normal final boss, then...)

天

I actually think the Dreadnought open hands really suit this weird stance.  In fact, I think this is more of a religious art stance, because I remember see these on the 仁王 or "Two Kings", the paired statues at the gate of Japanese temples i.e. I don't think it's really real, but it's so iconic now, like Drunken Fist kung fu or something.

Not sure which Legion, but I think World Eaters for that slight melee buff.  I also understand the logic for Iron Hands and even Sons of Horus.  Open to suggestions.

Edited July 9, 2022 by N1SB

[Marshal Mittens]

That sounds very cool! 

[infyrana]

Somebody mention Dreadnoughts?  ...sounds like a fun, if not very challenging, idea!

[Gederas]

Very cool idea. Just if you plan on running the Rite of War for Dreadnoughts:

Warn your opponent, Contemptors are INCREDIBLY strong now.

[Brofist]

Hell ya dude

[N1SB]

GW's being really helpful with this guide.  I'll probably ignore it, but I appreciate the gesture:

 

[Brother Anar]

En guarde! Sounds like a cool idea, the dreadnoughts can get quite dynamic.

[lansalt]

Go full wuxia with White Scars dreads!

[Uberlord Gendo]

I want to see how this turns out- the big barrier to poses with dreads, etc, is that they can't hold their arms across their body the way we can for that Bruce Lee pose. But they could probably do something like a Muay Thai stance or something where they're square on.

Also you're thinking of door guardians. Try looking for 門神. You might also get some luck with Dharmapala, wrathful deities, and wisdom kings. (I'm blanking on any more technical term, 門神 is what comes to mind.)

[N1SB]

Yesterday at our local Warhammer Store I dropped beaucoup bucks for 4 Contemptor Dreads.

On 7/10/2022 at 6:37 AM, Gederas said:

Very cool idea. Just if you plan on running the Rite of War for Dreadnoughts:

Warn your opponent, Contemptors are INCREDIBLY strong now.

18 hours ago, lansalt said:

Go full wuxia with White Scars dreads!

Brothers, I'm seriously thinking about your points.  While I think World Eaters might be the best for this list, what you said about Contemptors being so strong, you invoked old school wuxia, and I'm seriously thinking about White Scars for a less obvious yet still useful Legion Trait.  In either case, they'll mostly be white, so I can work on them while deciding.

[Gorgoff]

[Xenith]

One comment would be that Martial arts poses are often defensive in nature, which is counter-intuitive for spacemarines, apart from when duelling - their power armour allows them to eschew cover and stride through fire/small arms as if they were nothing - and a dreadnought, I think, would largely feel the same about wading through enemy infantry - why bother with defense when they can't hurt you, and would you really need a defensive stance against that guy with a powerfist/meltabomb, or would you just keep moving and try to kill him first? The martial arts-ready stance kind of implies a contest of equals. 

Taking advantage of the poseability is a great idea, but I think the poses may not work in practice.  

[Gorgoff]

I just remembered that I made one myself a week ago... 

[Sky Potato]

On 8/14/2022 at 6:46 AM, N1SB said:

GW's being really helpful with this guide.  I'll probably ignore it, but I appreciate the gesture:

 

Great guide. First paint used is a discontinued spray