KirigakurenoHaku

Impossible to pronounce. I've been trying to figure this one out for a few days now. o_o I enjoy how useful our relationship is. Thank you very much, Mr. Haehl. (On a side note, I am noticing how abundantly it is that I use emoticons. o-o) (Did you see that!? There was another one! ºOº)

So here, I present to you, my work space: From left to right, there is Niño Ortega for some size comparisons for proportioning my hound in Wyrd scale, a piece of paper with some preliminary sketches and a 30 mm circle drawn on it, the compass that I used to draw the circle, an old CD case for working on (polymer leaves a residue), a block of yellow polymer clay, and a pair of files to be used for sculpting. This is the beginning of sculpting my first hound. Here it is, taking form. After taking this picture, I repositioned the head and neck, tweaked the hind legs, and put the front legs on. The hound has just been placed into the oven, laying on a piece of aluminum foil. The legs opposite the foil are being supported, here by more foil. And it is done! (Mostly.) The dog is free-standing. All this one needs now (as far as the sculpting goes) is the addition of what the hound will be wearing. I'll probably end up sculpting the leather, goggles, and bite-mask on with some flour (or greensyuff, if I can steal some away from a friend). That is not a concern as of now, though, as I have more hounds to sculpt! Oh-- and those burn marks, they're not from the oven. Rather, they are from a lighter. I used a lighter to heat up some of the hardened plastic to soften it up for a bit of minor reposing. (I turned the head just a bit to the side and shifted the front leg to look a little more natural.)

I really like the color scheme on your Seamus! Very nice!

What are your plans for getting these guys painted up? Any particular schemes or themes?

Thanks so much! ^o^ If I can find some batteries, I will certainly take some progress pictures. What I use for sculpting is a polymer clay (most commonly known as Sculpy, another large brand is Fimo). I hope that this will still be a help for you. I will likely be starting my first sculpt tonight or tomorrow, so progress pictures will probably start popping up tomorrow afternoon or the next day after.

So, I've been proxying some of my friend, THaehl's, Canine Remains in lieu of the Guild hound which I am so eagerly anticipating. I've been planning on sculpting some Guild Hounds for my Ortega crew for a little while so I've decided to start this thread up as incentive to do so. Here is what I want to do specifically: Four hounds are to be sculpted. One hound I want in motion, lunging from his base, steel maw open. This dog will be painted dark brown in color with a black leather harness trimmed in red and studded with gold. It will also wear the same red bandana and knee pads as my Santiago. The next hound I am planning on having standing straight up, ears at attention. The color of the body is to be black with some tan spotting on its underside. The harness is to be painted in a dark plum similar to my Perdita. The studs are to be done in gold. The muzzle might also be painted gold instead of silver on this one. The last two are still being decided on. They might end up being sculpted and painted in a manner that will suit Sonnia Criid, who I wish to pick up pretty soon. If I do that, they will end up having arcane symbols carved into their leather. There are other possibilities with the other two hounds, if they are Ortega themed like the first pair. I may put one in a poncho with a skull on the neck (Abuela and Papa's dog) and the other could be poised low to the ground, as if skulking, and wearing goggles (to reflect Niño's image). This is the breed of dog I plan on emulating for the Family's dogs-- the Mexican Hairless, or "Xolo". Here are the Ortegas that will be adopting these pups.

Alright; awesome! ^o^ I'm anxious to see this crew all finished up! The cohesive scheme is looking good! Best of luck!~♪

I go in to Tempe every day. (I attend class at ASU.) I might be able to get to an event should one be arranged. If it is close enough in proximity...

I think this all depends on the situation. With how insanely fast they are, they're wonderful for moving at the end of a turn and tearing through your foe's greatest menace. However, in a match where counters play a strong role, I think that their high speed would allow them to dart around between hiding places while relieving your foes of their counters. The speed is definitely something that should be used wisely and applied in the manner that best satisfies the circumstances surrounding.

For Pandora's "boots" (they're actually socks from the ankle up, covered in belts), I think that you could benefit by painting them white and making all of the belts your purple. That way, the white shouldn't be too overpowering.

I have made a Carver mini that I'm pretty proud of. I am really enjoying your conversions and terrain. please, keep it up! The original Niño sculp was a pretty cool find, too!What other plans do you have for the future?

In favor of Niño, though, getting him high up on some sort of sniper's nest will give him an advantage in seeing over some obstructive terrain. I think that a balanced table in favor of both the Ortegas and an enemy crew would be plenty of obstacle to obscure line of sight with a few elevated perches to give Niño the opportunity to fire off some rounds. Too much obscuring terrain will give your melee models too much of an advantage without that balance of elevated positions as it will prevent the ranged gunners from being able to target anything at all before the heavy-hitting beatsticks get within an arm's reach. The elevation should create an equilibrium of ranged and close-quarters combat.

Everything stated here is really omething to consider. When it comes to ranged fighters like the Ortegas, line of sight is always something that the guner is going to try to obtain, and with Niño's 16" range, be sure that you'll be spotted in any opening. Terrain is going to be your greatest ally in avoiding the kid's rounds.

Also, you were asking about how many hounds to run at a time, I prefer four, but I think anything more than two should be sufficient. The hounds should always act as a unit in combat, and you should expect to at least lose one hound during an encounter. Running three or more helps you out in dealing with that loss since the hounds remaining won't lose any of their benefits having another hound nearby. I prefer four, though, as it allows me to split my pack into two pairs for claiming objectives. (Treasure hunt is great for the hounds as is destroy the evidence. They are so fast!)

I proxy hounds with my Ortegas quite a bit and I love them! That extra soulstone for every pair lets me run four of them at a cost of ten stones. The dogs get nimble (can take an extra walk) when they're near another hound and they're crazy fast with their six-inch walk. Guild hounds companion eachother as well, which is awesome! They don't deal out a whole lot of damage when they hit, but the pack of hounds together, all doing small increments of damage, can take out big guys on one turn. When I run hounds, their favorite treat seems to be the Hooded Rider and Lelu. Here is how I usually run the four: Start out with two separate pairs. They will triple walk 18" after everybody else in my crew has gone, converging upon a target, taking routes around terrain to keep out of range or LoS from some particular enemy models. The pairs' (or pack's if they have all met up with eachother) can now double walk (a walk and their walk with nimble) to get within an inch of their target, then they'll each attack once. The next turn, they'll all attach twice and, if their target is killed, they'll take a six-inch walk towards some objectives or find safe cover. (The dogs lose insignifigant when they are near eachother. Don't forget about that. It makes them absolutely wonderful in claiming objectives!) Now, the dogs are easy to kill, but if you can get initiative while in melee, you can take down your target and run for cover before your opponent makes their first activation.

I love the nose! XD I would like to see some fluff sticking out of his ears when you're done. Do you think that you'll be doing that?

The way you have these girls painted up is kind of creepy. Their pallor is so pale and with all of the darks are emphasized in that mannor, it seems so macabre.

This is absolutely wicked! Very cool! I really like where the Dreamer's base is heading as well!

I enjoy you purple-black color scheme and those bases that tie the team together. Nice work!

Your minis are looking good. I really dig the terrain that you have there!

Miyazaki's films are wonderful! Did Totoro have a tail? I don't recall much of one. That is the most horrifying picture of Totoro that I have ever seen... º_º If the movie was styled like that throughout, I think I would have never waited at that stop for the Nekobasu to come.

You have a Candy! Good! ^o^ I do enjoy her so. ♥ What character is the terror tot supposed to be?

There are a lot of models there! You must be a very patient man to have painted some many of the same thing so uniformly.

I love what you've done with Kade. The hat on his bear is delightful! So, about your Teddy... is he going to be a chinchilla? If that tail of his gets covered in fluff, I will be very pleased. As a Pandora player, I offer my seal of approval. Very nice! Now, I expect to see a painted Candy model amoungst your ranks in the time to come. Okay? -EDIT- Nevermind that about Teddy-- you posted about that while I was typing... o_o

I think that I've encountered your Nicodem, unless PlacidEmu plays Nicodem too. If so, then I am not sure. And thanks! I appreciate the kind words. When Wyrd releases the avatar forms' stats (hopefully in book 3) then I would certainly enjoy a game with Pandora's avatar on the board. We'll have to do something about those Peacebringers, first, though, before this prospective game. They are not kind to my sorrows.