8th Ed. Let's talk models

[Qupakoco]

We have a couple threads discussing rules and potential tactics already. I'd be interested to hear what everyone thinks about the new look of the Lizardmen Army and why you think GW took the paths they did. Up front, I’ll say I’m a little sad that the Steg seems to be taking a back seat in the new Lizard show. I know the model has been out for a while, but these guys are staples of our army. I hope the book does them justice.

Here's my thoughts:

Carnosaurs; I really like the old Carnosaur model. The statline and special rules fit the creature perfectly, I thought. Powerful jaws, stocky build, big ol' hind legs for running at prey. Even had usable arms to help it tear chunks out of the thing it was biting. But the new model... I think it's too big. Don't get me wrong, I think it looks great. Sculpted very well, looks really aggressive, towers over everything. But for relating the creature to the old Carnosaur statline? Seems out of place to me. I also don't much like the quote in the WD where he states that he made the head smaller and forearms bigger just because that's what they did for the previous model when compared to a T-rex or Allosaurus. Seems like they said, "Hey, if it worked once it will work again." What do you guys think? Dare I say the new Carno looks kind of like a dog? The riders look great though. Definitely a fan of the new Kroq-Gar and the thrones the riders have. I have two of the old models already so I’m not sure I’ll be using the new one for anything but the riders.

Trogladon; Ok, probably could place this under the same entry as the Carnosaur, but the head on the Trog makes it look like an entirely different beast. It's actually proportional to how you think the head should be. I don't know about you guys, but Trog head > Carnosaur head. I think if I were to pick up the model and build it as a Carnosaur, I would modify the Trogladon head to suit the creature. But again, like I said for the new Carno model, I think it's too big for the statline it brings. Skink Oracle looks good. The Javelin arms looks a little tweaked out but we should have plenty of options to replace that so I’m not worried. Looking forward to getting a free Saurus Character out of the box too.

Bastiladon; Besides the slightly static pose, the insertion of rubble under the rear feet, and the out-of-place look of the Solar Engine; this is a great model. It's big, simple, and plastic. That will give us plenty of options to convert these things into beasts. We could even carve glyphs into the shell (which I absolutely plan on doing). Having not seen the statline for this guy, I'm not sure what to think. It looks like it actually dwarfs the Stegadon if you see the two in a picture side by side. I'm not sure if I like that very much. So again, the model seems too big for what it is supposed to be. Also, I firmly stand by the belief that the Solar Engine is made to be operated by either the left or right hand. I don't care what the White Dwarf says, lol. I might even go as far as to model a left-handed operator.

Terradons; Awesome models. And they're plastic!! They look like they'll be a lot of fun to work with. I appreciate that GW stuck with the Pterodactyl-esque head to keep with tradition of the models but added something that was missing; a harness! Now our Skinks can control where the Terradons go! Amazing what a little detail can add to a model. However they shortened their tails to little nubs which is a little silly. Physically speaking they would have a bit of trouble flying in a straight line without some sort of rudder. But they look great, so I can ignore that. They just look better all-around to me. The chest is a bit of a down-note on the model since the bone-spur looks a little tacked on. That might be something that could be sanded down to look like belly armor. Tiktaq’to looks great. He’s a vast improvement on the old model.

Ripperdactyls; On the tabletop I think they will look just fine. I know GW has a tendency to overdo things in a lot of cases. I think here it was overdone in their faces. Too much underbite for the creature to actually be able to eat with that maw. I suppose you could argue that the jaw is dislocated forward a bit to give the shovel-like face, but it just seems like too much. Still, the rest of the model looks great to me. And I like that we get a new free toad. It’s like a mini-Slann! I wonder if Ripperdactlys ever misidentify the Slann as a toad…

Skink Priest; I like this little guy quite a bit. The feathers add a lot of life to the model and his pose is much more intimidating than the old one.

Gor-Rok; I’m glad he has a model now. I’ve seen this said in a few other places as well and I’ll repeat it here. He looks a lot like a Savage Orc. That’s not really a bad thing but he breaks the mold for the usual Saurus character. He reminds me of the Scyla sculpt from the WoC line, only more static.

Tetto’eko; I know he’s like the Slann of Skinks, but he looks TOO Slann-like to me. I would have liked to see him in a more aggressive pose like the new Priest model, though that may be because of all the amazing conversions for this model that are out there. Regardless, he’s a great sculpt. I’m not sure being in finecast will help him sell very well but at least he’s not metal. I think everyone has had enough of metal flyer issues.

What do y'all think?

 

[arcabis]

well let's see i like carnauror FC.... the new one is a little.... ok let's move on
the troglodon i think i will make one for sure i think is nice except the green blah from his mouth
balistadon xmmmm i like it i would prefer it bigger
tetto eko ... i will try to make one out it's too expensice FC model and i dont know i will see base the points
the new skink priest rocks!!! i will buuy the for sure even the skink priest from EoTG is better than the metal one ...

 

[Ecomp]

The new Carnosaur model looks a lot like a crocodilian more-so than a therapod, and I think that's pretty cool, even though I wish that they would have gone with a more Tyrannosaur look to it.
Pic related, it looks a lot like Kaprosuchus.

The Troglodon does a good job of a Spinosaur, and it looks really cool, but I don't understand why it doesn't have eyes. Just because they live in caves, doesn't mean no eyes. I'd probably convert this guy a bit so the poor guy can actually see. Other than that, I like it.
The Bastillodon looks great as I think it makes itself look like the hardest thing to take down there is, which I don't mind because other armies often focus too much on my big guys, giving my infantry the break they deserve
Terradons are way better than the old models, so no complaints here!
Ripperdactyls are pretty cool, but like you said, the underbite is a bit too much.
Gor-Rok is really cool, and I'm glad they finally made a model for him. The scarring and the huge shield really help his fluff, and how huge he is makes him really stand out. I like how his pose makes him look like he's about to plunge his shield into the ground as to allow for more swinging room, and it helps as fluff with his unit counting as defending an obstacle.
Tetto'eko is aight, but he looks too feeble. I woud've preferred something where he had his arms in the air like his artwork in the 7th ed rulebook. The shadowy figure of it really obscured how you interpretted him, so I guess I thought of him differently, but I have no quarrels about how he looks other than the pose.
The new Priest is one of my favorite models released, and they made him look awesome. Absolutely no complaints here for this model.

 

[Rikard]

Here's my thoughts:

Carnosaur:
Really like the model, a few bits I'm not keen on (like the dislocated thumbs on the front arms and the boney protrusion on the sternum), but these are easily changable.

The head is nice but not what I want for my carno, so I will be scratch building a new one.

Troglodon:
Nice interchangeable mini, but the lack of eyes seems to take something away, a new head sculpt would be in order.

Terradons:
Awesome, no changes.

Ripperdactyles:
Heads, I am not sold on, I will be waiting to see what they look like rule wise though, doesn't make any sense changing them if they aren't great in CC or cost too many points.

Bastiolodon:
Not massively sold, the plates look too artificial, too smooth, kind of like a snap together kit from a kinder egg. I would have to convert the plates and add additional scales around the joining areas and make the existing ones more bulky.

Gor-rok:
Not a fan of the mini, too short legs, too bulk torso (for my tastes) and the lat attaching in the wrong place really bugs me for some reason.

 

[PlasmaDavid]

I'm disappointed by the new Carnosaur head.

The Bastilodon looks like a kids toy. Unless it's substantially better in the plastic. But I really want to do a pokemon conversion with one! I don't like the head and mouth, surely it should be a herbivore!

Everything else is mad cool!

 

[Stormfrog]

My only real issue with the new models is the ripperdactyl heads. But these should be easy to switch though, for any medium sized beastie in warhammer. Heads that come to mind out of the blue is:

- Kroot hounds
- Kroot infantry heads (Seen this done with bloodletters, really cool)
- Anything size-appropriate from the tyranid range
- Beheading your old terradon models and use them instead

 

[skillfull_dan]

My 2 cents

Carnosaur:
I have to disagree with you guys on this one. I think this is a beautiful model and I actually like the head of it, maybe its just me. I will probably sculpt some additional content around the base, but i'll mostly leave the model alone.

Judging by just the pictures, my favorite new model.

Terradons:
Look good

Ripperdactyles:
These just look to unnatural to me. I just envision them flying around makeing "Derp Derp" noises as they go. My opinion might change when I see the model up close, but I dont like it from the pictures.

Bastiolodon:
I agree that the plates make it a bit artificial and unnaturally smooth, but overall I like it quite a bit. I think it helps that the paint job in the white dwarf is gorgeous, mine might look like an armored turd.

Gor-rok:
Looks good, might get one to convert into scar vet (if foot vets are good in next edition)

Tetto'ekko
I am dissapointed by this one too. I like the feathers, but I just feel like it is basically the slann all over again except with feathers. Something is missing from him

 

[Slanputin]

My 2 pence

Carnosaur:
I would have preferred a bigger snout on it, currently the head looks somewhat squashed. However, I just keep reminding myself it's like a Snake's head and that is fantasy so I shouldn't place my hopes too close to a real prehistoric theropod. I think it's eyes look a bit too pudgy too, however this may be due to the painting.
That said I'm not horrifically underwhelmed and would quite happily field it, probably will get one at a later date. The price is what's stopping me at the moment.

Loving the character models though, definitely have a few conversion ideas in my head.

Troglodon:
Yes. This is smexy. I really like its head, its back, its sail and its tail. I like the concept behind it, and I like the Skink dude on top. I like the ranged capacity it has, and how it looks like its own monster apart from the Carnosaur. Just waiting on the rules!


Terradons:
Lovely jubbly. Best iteration so far i think: the rounded flight stands and the swinging bolas really afford them a sense of movement. Plus the Skinks look really nicely done.

Ripperdactyles:
Initially I was against these: I thought their design was facetious and generally ugly. However I've grown fond of them over time. Their piranha-like heads with their wide eyes and crunchy jaws give them the surreal, frenzied appearance the befits their fluff and rules. Now, a yes.

Bastiolodon:
Yes. The shell is somewhat wanting, however I can look over that quite easily; it's never been a such a significant factor for me to lament about. Indeed, after looking at the Ark from different angles I quite like that too, although I will probably create my own version. It's the Solar Engine that I dislike: it looks precariously balanced, as if its been tacked on without much thought, and I find the design borderline repulsive. However, I already know how I'm going to make my own so no big loss.

Gor-rok:
No. It's better than the blurry pictures, and looks a lot less primate than I feared. However, it's the pose that puts me off which is a shame as I love the detail, especially the eye and the shield. I could use it as a stand-in as an Oldblood/Scar-vet but I'd prefer the Carno' versions tbh.

Tetto'ekko
I don't use characters, so I've never been excited about the release of a model. I don't think it deserves a lot of the negative reviews it seems to have received, although I haven't been waiting in anticipation for it so it had no expectations to meet. I like the Palanquin, I like the staff, and Tetto itself looks posed as if in deep rumination over the sphere. Not bad.

Skink Priest:
My favourite model of the release: gorgeous, elegant, poised and infused with character. The issue is I already have so many Skink Priest models!!! Dilemma!

 

[Anton_S]

I like this release a lot.

Carnosaur is great if you look at it at its own merits. But the old one is one of the best models ever made, so it's hard to compete with that. Still, it had to get bigger to match the other plastic monsters.

Troglodon is my favourite of the lot, great original monster with lots of interesting features. I will definitely get one sooner or later.

Terradons look very nice and suit me perfectly since I don't have any yet. Fire bolas will add a nice spot colour so I will probably use those whatever the rules for them are. Not so keen on the Ripperdactyl heads, so I'll probably go all Terradons for my air force.

Bastiladon is nice and fun, I hope it will be easy enough to make the Engine/Ark parts interchangeable.

I love Tetto'Ekko, can't believe he's getting bad comments. Actually the only model I ordered along with the book and cards (mostly because I prefer to buy finecast directly from GW, but still).

I had hoped for plastic Kroxigor though, I suppose that's the only disappointment. I would have made a couple of skrox units with those, now I'm not so sure I'll get any.