Bloodpact N20 Half-track -Your input please

Hey all,

Today is not a post of pictures and all that jazz, but today is a post asking for input from those Gaunts Ghosts fans out there for the fluff side of things, but also for gamers in general for the playability side.

As this title suggests, I am currently working on a N20 half track conversion for my Bloodpact. Where I used the ork truck as a basis for the transports (counts as chimeras) I am using the ork battlewagon for the basis of this conversion. No WIP pics as yet, but currently the base of the wagon is built (that's all I am using from the kit in terms of structure) and I am currently making the plasticard body for it.

So far I'm happy with the progress, but I've come to a point where I didn't do much thinking beyond. In order to really keep building this thing, I need to know what I will be using it as in game terms. In the book, Honour Guard, the N20's that I'm basing this model on are armed with 70 mil Anti-Tank cannons. This leaves me with 2 most fitting options:

1. use this to represent a Leman Russ Vanquisher.
   Armour 14, 13, 10 Rng 72" Str 8 Ap 2 Heavy 1* *extra d6 for armour pen
   155pts

Or-

2. use this to represent a Medusa Siege Cannon with Bastion Breacher shells.
   Armour 12, 10, 10 Rng 48" Str 10 Ap 1 Heavy 1* Blast *extra d6 for armour pen
   140pts (155 if I give it enclosed crew compartment)

Now, that doesn't seem like much of a big deal, but in terms of how I go about making it, it brings up a few dilemmas...

My army is very strongly themed on the books, but in a few areas there is minimal detail given on certain units and vehicles beyond a minor description. When it comes to these things, like all hobbyists doing armies based on novels, movies, etc I try to keep as true to the source as I can. In the book it doesn't specify if the N20 has a fixed gun (like the Medusa) or a gun that can rotate like a turret or even if it has a turret (like the Vanquisher). It doesn't even state whether its open topped or not. In terms of reading its great, leaves a lot to the imagination. In terms of hobby design its good cause gives some freedom to go with what you think. In terms of building a unit for gaming, its giving me headaches....

Sd.Kfz. 251/22 Ausf. D

This is pretty similar to what I have in my mind when I think of the N20 half-track:

Unfortunately it is a model, but its the clearest/best picture showing the gun mount. Its not so much a turret as a pivot point, as the gun only has a 90 degree fire ark.

Sd.Kfz 250/9

The other option, which I'm not too keen on to be honest is to have the turret, such as this:

This gives off too much of an armoured car feel in my opinion, and not a tank killer like the previous.

In terms of what looks like what, the first picture I feel best represents what would be the 'counts-as Medusa' with the 2nd picture best representing (though with a much smaller barrel) a 'counts-as Vanquisher'.

Personally I am more drawn to the Medusa style look of the half-track, though perhaps making the gun smaller and more centrally mounted, so it has the full rotation ark, as well as keeping the shield around the gun.

And so I throw it out to the masses for some input on the following:

1. What do you feel this should count as in game terms
2. Model it based around the 251/22 or the 250/9
3. Any other input for the project.

Let me know your thoughts and will hopefully have some WIP pics up in my next post.

Til then.

----- I will be taking a picture of all the pieces, with list of parts (labeled by number), the quantity of each part, as well as the dimensions prior to assembly so I can make more of these, and pass on the info for anyone who wants to make 1 after seeing the finished product. Instructions of assembly with step-by-step will also be compiled into a doc. Will post up on my blog if requested. -----

Attention to Detail - Eye Catcher or Aneurysm waiting to happen?

Hi all,

today I thought i would talk about something that has been going through my mind ever since I started the hobby, something I'm sure a lot of you have thought about at 1 time or another. Its something that plagues many a painter and even a converter, and can lead to many head aches and hours of frustration.

What I'm talking about is details.

How much is too much?
Will it detract from the overall appearance of the miniature?
Will it adequately portray what i intended to achieve?

There are many ways of putting the question down to the masses, but simply its a matter of 'Where do you draw the line'. When do all the finer details take away from the miniature as a whole, and leave you looking at a mosaic that will give you an aneurysm if you look at it for more than 2 minutes.

Cool Mini or Not is an excellent site for showing both sides of this debate, where we can see how many of us either don't know when to stop or when to keep at it. The ability to leave a comment and a score on someones work on the site is a great way of getting positive and constructive feedback. The downside being its also a means of others bagging the hell out of beginners.

Personally I am still struggling to find that balance between too much and not enough, more so struggling to get out of the not enough area of things, without going into the cartoon painting style that seems to rule the competition painting seen.

This leads to another debate, NMM (non-metal metal), the 'art' of making an object look metallic or reflective through use of many many layers of blending slightly lighter/darker colours together to give the effect of light source and/reflection.

Is NMM the way to go with metals, or does this technique fuel the fire for the cartoon styled painting technique?

How do you determine what is too much or too little?
Do you believe NMM is the direction we should head towards?
Am i the only 1 out there who dislikes the cartoon style approach?