GW News: magic and prayers in #NewAoS

The issue is that the starkness of contrast needed to make the slann pop is quite big.
I mean, you could paint the slann in neon green & the chair in bright pink, and it would definitly pop. But I don't think it'd be very nice to look at

Which is due to the complete lack of motion, and details that pop, on this sculpt.

Honestly it doesn't need much to fix this. Just add a few details that pop, like Kroak's decorations of his throne. Or make the skink attendant actually do something. Or even just moving the skink attendent to sit at the top of one of the bones so the silhoutte is broken up by it. All of these options would already go a long way to make it a more interesting sculpt.

Hell, even the old sculpt of Kroak is already more interesting, at least some of the throne-bones are broken & he has his funeral mask. Which is already more interesting details than the slann has. Same with the starseer, at least he has a staf, a hat & is using a seerstone.

All that's needed is something like that.

It might help, especially stuff like contrast paints. But the current slann model still fundamentally lacks bits that "pop".

Screwing up the fiddly bits is generally less noticeable though, that's the advantage of tiny fiddly bits

But yes, there's a middle ground, which is what I'd like to see for the slann. More ornamentation that "pops" easily compared to the current slann, thus providing some interesting details (and hopefully also some dynamics), and less fiddly bits than Kroak has (after all, Kroak still needs to remain the fancy one)

Katakros is definitly quite busy, I definitly wouldn't go quite that far with a Slann. I'm purely talking about the basic concept of "regal lord + attendants" which it depicts and I think would be suitable for a Slann. Which can be done with a less busy model.

For example Katakros is also depicted as if he's modelling for a painting, wearing an appropriatly fancy cloak, which I wouldn't do with the slann.
Similarly, Katakros is surrouned by relativly tall, and fancy attendants, a Slann would maybe only have some smaller, less fancy skink attendants. Or maybe only 1 fancy temple guard and 2 diminutive skinks Etc. There's ways to execute that concept while not making the model as busy.

Again, there's some older slanns I linked earlier that do essentially that but aren't anywhere near as busy as Katakros.

 

Once again, I view this as a complete non-issue. I've seen plenty of Slann paint jobs that look absolutely great, and not just those produced by the very best painters. I don't think the model suffers from this problem. I was merely suggesting that if this is an issue from your perspective, you could address it through increased contrast. By increased contrast I merely meant brightening your highlights and darkening your shadows. I'm definitely not suggesting the implementation of a garish color scheme.

Nothing needs to be fixed. The skink attendant is just fine the way he is. I don't need some ADHD skink to make the model look good.

But, again, this comes down to personal taste. I don't need all my models to be "dynamic" (or contain dynamic elements). There is room for different types of models. I like the current Slann sculpt precisely because it is not dynamic. I think it fits better with the WFB Lizardmen lore. It perfectly achieves that which it was designed to achieve.

You have the right to feel differently.

I do love that old school Kroak model. The tiny little subtle touches they added to differentiate it from the regular Slann are nice. Both great models.


After all this back and fourth, what can we conclude? Some people like the current Slann and some people don't. Just like every model ever produced. Maybe the next Slann will be better, or maybe it will not. And such a determination may vary between us. You really seem to like the new Kroak model, and while I think it is fine, it's the only GW Slann model that I haven't purchased for my collection (I have a 5th edition Slann, two 6th edition Slanns, 6th edition Kroak, Forge World limited edition Slann and both Warmaster Slann variants). Different strokes for different folks.

 

And even in its simplicity, the regular slann currently available is a surprisingly elegant model to paint. You'd have to really botch it to make it look bad, and that takes quite a bit of effort in itself.

 

True.

 

I very much agree. It is an absolute joy to paint, specifically the Slann itself. I painted mine up pretty quick and I was satisfied with the results. The big frog has a surprising amount of depth and texture to work with.

It's a lovely model that really has stood the test of time. There are quite a few 6th edition models (like the Hellcannon, Be'lakor, Glade Guard, etc.) that are absolutely exquisite. The Juan Diaz Daemonettes and their mounted sisters are in my opinion still better than any of the newer variants that have been released since. I'm not a huge fan of all the older models, as I believe that on a whole, models have gotten better over the last couple of decades, but there are standouts and exceptions. I consider the current Slann to be one of these rare gems.

 

Hell, even a slight priming accident like what happened to mine can get worked into the character. As a result of my own mess, my slann is this angry red magic space toad who ain't got time to bleed.

 

Looks good! The model has such great character.

 

Something are gone in the new Zealand shop....

 

Care to elaborate which things have gone?

 

No more slann, no more kroxigor...

 

Indeed...



Pictures above are from the New Zealand GW site. Still available on the Canadian site (at least for now).

 

I wonder how far off the new Slann and Kroxigor releases are.

 

In fairness, this happens all the time and is rarely an indication of anything other than "this particular warehouse needs to be restocked".

 

but it is also true that when a product is no longer available online, the possibility of it being remade is very, very high. this thing had also happened to lord kroak in his time

 

Usually when that happens they first go through a phase where it says "last chance to buy".
And nine out of ten times it's explicitly announced through community posts the model will be replaced long before they run out online.
Also, when they replace it it doesn't just happen for one region. And Both of those are still available for every other region I looked at.

So don't count on it, but who knows, maybe you get lucky.

 

I hope I will be lucky

 

The interesting thing is that there is a distinction between "Temporarily out of stock Online" and "No longer available Online"...




Then again, this is GW, it doesn't have to make sense. I agree with you that GW would likely tag the models with "Last Chance to Buy" before selling them out.

 

Maybe GW is just giving up on delivering Slanns and kroxigor to NZ, since they still seem to be available for the EU and US.
Probably wouldn't be the weirdest thing they've decided