Friday 7 February 2020

Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics



It's true that you can make statistics say pretty much whatever you want.  Take the chart below for example which seems to indicate that I have painted half an army.  In reality, I have painted 15 models out of 39 which is more than a third but definitely not half. 


38% being a fairly depressing statistic, I decided to split the total by points cost rather than model count.  A Knight Warden is much larger and harder to paint than a Skitarii Ranger right?  So its got to be worth more in real terms.  Interestingly, the relative sizes suggest that the Onager Dunecrawlers look a bit undercosted in painting effort.  Maybe in gaming terms too? Should I spam them?  I've gone for 6 snipers which doubles the number in the kits I bought (more conversions. Nice.). That's perfectly acceptable cheese so why not add more Onager redundancy?  No!  No more purchases until this is done!


Anyway, I'm still dicking about and haven't finished the next squad.  The Techpriest Enginseer was lumped in with this painting batch.  The more I painted it, the more I realised what an interesting sculpt it is.  His legs are massively armoured and wide and I imagine his gait would be slow and ponderous.  His axe is actually a giant monkey wrench.  Just think of the cyclopean sized sinks he could unblock with that thing!


I decided to give him a bit more love than the standard troops.  He is an HQ after all.  So I put more spot colours in and was careful to stay in the lines (mostly).  Did a bit of recess shading, painted more details and used more washes.  I'm quite pleased with him although the maxillofacial dendrites look like a jumbled mess.  I was going for that look but could have used less tentacles.  I've got to curb my tentacle addiction.


With the Enginseer looking all nice and buff, I thought I'd give a little more love to the Alphas as well.  They're still painted in the same colours but with more detail than the job lot of Rangers.  Which are still not done!  At least I'm not muttering to myself, twitching and complaining loudly to nobody at all that edge highlighting was invented by the Devil.  So that's got to be good.



16 comments:

  1. Those came out fantastic. Let the stats be damned and keep on painting you. Tentacles and all.

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    1. But its so much more interesting to mess around with pie charts than actually get on with it! No, you're right. Thanks and will do.

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  2. They look great, not sure an Alpha can have an Omniscope? Might be any member but good to check. The Transq Arquebii are great Snipers especially in small 5 man 2 weapon Ranger Squads with a Manipulus nearby giving them an extra 6in reach. So 66in and 36in for any Galvanic Rifles.

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    1. Cheers Siph. I'm pretty sure an Alpha can't have a pistol and a rifle either so I'd just play them without. It might not be an Omnispex anyway. It could be a speed camera ray gun designed to monitor flying monkeys. I'm sure my opponents will understand.

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  3. They are looking lush!
    I particularly like the Enginseer with his facial tendrils....give us kiss darling, I promise not to be too sloppy.
    The colour scheme looks ace and imagine it will look even more striking when the army is together.
    Top work.

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    1. I've put them side by side with the knights and I'm not sure it works entirely but it's too late to go back now. I like the colour scheme anyway. The Manipulus will have both colours so I'll find out soon enough. The Enginseer is an unscrupulous brute, yes. Thanks Castigator.

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  4. With the amount of love going into your war dogs I think they are undercosted in terms of your pie chart. That tech priest and his attendants are looking great. Hopefully will see you and these beauties at maelstrom.

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    1. Yeah, it takes me almost as long to build the knights as to paint them. When is Maelstrom? I've fallen off the radar a bit and don't seem to get any invitation emails any more...

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    2. End of May, I panicked and emailed Hagen the other day thinking I had missed out but rego hadnt been called for yet. So slip him a message to make sure you are on the radar when the time comes.

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    3. Speak of the Devil and he appears! I just got the invitation email from Hagen. Signed up and going! Maybe get a practice game or two in? I don't think I should repeat my shameful performance at FoB where I played no practice games at all. Ironically, I got one of my highest placings, but that was down to painting/comp, not generalship.

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  5. They look great and I can absolutely understand the draw of statistics. By now I have not only a list of my painted models but one of all the models I still have to paint. Oh, and also two Excell sheets each attempting an overview of all my miniatures. And then there are the collector's guides...

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  6. "No! No more purchases until this is done!"

    lol, good luck with that...

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  7. Curb your tentacle addiction, what has happened to you man?

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    1. I know, I know! I need to get in touch with my Slaaneshi side!

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