I know that I will probably be in the minority on this and I know some folks might not like this at all. I am first and foremost a collector of models more than a tabletop game player. If I see a miniature sculpt I like, I might buy it even if I do not collect that Army per se. I was quite excited for the "Snake Eaters." I love the concept and really looked forward to not only new rules but some tough, dynamic sculpts of elite soldiers. I could also not wait to see how the Kamau and Crocmen evolved with sculpting technology. And then VIRD released and the rules looked great. I quickly pre-ordered everything and placed it on hold to get free shipping. To this day it still sits on hold as other orders have been shipped to me. I just cannot commit to investing in VIRD. I have asked why that could be as my new IA and RTF prep minis stream into my stockpiles. The fact is, I find VIRD to be decidedly visually boring. Their rules and abilities seem very strong and appropriate to the theme, but visually they fall flat for me blending into a generic meh. Orcs - have always loved their look and always will (the Feuerbach Orc is the one gem so far in VIRD for me) Kamau - sadly just too generic in posing. The skin/scuba suit is nice, but the blocky knee armor and boots predominates too much. The HMG pose at least looks tactical, but the best are just pure vanilla posing. The Kamau hacker looks especially odd with chest armor and posing that is awkward. Echo Bravo - something is just off with the paramedic's pose. The whole model could also use some increase in physique and once again the armor looks mostly like just another trooper including the head. Recommend having him hit the weight bench, fix the pose and create a unique helmet and armor. Zulu Cobra - I do not mind the tactical ponchos and the poses are okay (just okay), but the masks are just not my thing. I could not imagine an elite trooper suffering through a halloween mask. Tactical goggles, night vision and IR vision, okay, but the mask is just off Crocmen - Nothing to see here to set him apart...standard hacker pose and generic PanO stripped down armor. Sorry for the long post, but I had to get some of this out. Thanks for the therapy:)
Shrug. I find a lot of Yu Jing units kind of ugly. And yet obviously many people love Yu Jing's aesthetic. *shrug
I like Varuna from a visual point of view. They have overall only little strange poses (yes, I mean you little Kamau hacker who's running with open helmet and hacking at the same time) But I think I expect exactly the opposite than you.
Not too hot on the starter Kamau, but I'm in love with the Orc Feuerbach and the Zulu Cobras. Helots better be good :P
PanO has always given me that "One of many" vibe. I'm content with having non-dynamic poses, it gives the models less character which is suiting for their aesthetic. I do like the Kamau hacker though, so long as you cut that pistol off of her belt
I'm of the same mindset as well Ghost. More concerned with the lore/converting/building aspect than the gameplay.
In defense of the EB... I actually like the physique of the Echo Bravo. His level of fitness looks more practical than most miniatures. The bulkier you are, the harder it is to haul your own mass around, and can also reduce agility. Speaking personally, at 6'2, 215 lbs, I can squat twice my weight, but I can't run the 5 and a half minute mile I could when I was 185 lbs. The EB looks lean like an athlete, not big like a builder His helmet even looks like it contains a human head, and is actually one of PanO's completely unique helmet designs. Most helmet sculpts are slightly too small to fit a skull into, but the EB looks right. Overall... Personal preference. I love VIRD's look, but I also love PanO's uniform tactical aesthetic.
Yep. I am honestly very happy to see all the opinions. Everyone has their own tastes, which is great!
Agreed. Though I will point out that you may have a skewed view of what a military-issue body looks like, @Ghost_X . At ~6' and 192lbs, I was on the tall and broad-shouldered end of the height-line in boot camp. Most of the guys were much smaller across the shoulders than I was (I wear a 50 suit). Even the guys that were a lot stronger (I can't do a pull-up to save my life. Literally!) I was broader-shouldered than almost everyone on the Sub, too. The only guy wearing the same size suitcoat as me was 5" taller and weighed about 280. And was permanently banned from the Base weightroom for throwing a loaded Olympic bar across the room(!). A friend of mine that is now a Major in the US Army wears a 42-long suit (my 3-point-slung airsoft FAMAS fit him like a tent). For that matter, so did the hero character in the most recent Predator movie, and he doesn't look small. But to tell you the truth, I'm holding off on Varuna too, and even on IA (and on JSA, I do need to get the new Tanko so that the Haramaki stop looking absurd next to the new Domaru...). I think my next CB purchases are going to be Tohaa. Specifically, Gorgos, Sukeul, and Kotail (which are going OOP but have Symbiont Armor, as Symbiont Armor is my Tohaa theme).
I was an infantry paratrooper in the US Army (now proudly retired after 20+ years on active duty)...I know what soldiers look like. I also am not a 6ft something beast. I was more speaking from a game aesthetics standpoint. P.S. at Airborne school, we had to do 5 pull ups just to get into the chow hall :)
@Ghost_X Apologies if I'm reciting old news here, but one point worth mentioning is that the proxy rules make life pretty easy if you don't like how a particular VIRD model looks. Don't like the Echo Bravo? Run an Akalis. Don't like Fusiliers? Run Acon Regulars. Not into Kamau? Run Bagh Mari (not sure that's a huge improvement if you think Kamau don't look exceptional, but you get my drift.) Generally with PanO minis, everything's so uniform, so it's all in the details of how a unit looks. I really like that Kamau have hydrodynamic helmets and rebreather units, rather than the conventional PanO Backpack. The diving knife is a nice VIRD signature detail. If you want to get really involved too, arm swaps are definitely possible among most of the PanO units. The Croc Sniper (a miniature whose particular appearance I feel especially loyal to, by the way) definitely got a pair of Combi arms, because 95% of the time, that's what he's carrying. The kneeling Kamau takes a set of Multi Sniper arms really nicely too, so he and the stock female Kamau MSR look great as a team.
in general I agree that the aesthetic of Varuna is not so different from other PanO sectorials, but for me it is not a problem because I like the aesthetics of this army. Now, about the Kamau are things that I do not like: 1. the pose of the Kamau HMG is very similar to that of the Kamau with a combi rifle, it seems a bit simple and repetitive 2. The position of the Kamau sniper is ugly. She is probably (one of) the best ARO piece of the game, so she could have had a more interesting position, like the Bagh-Mari sniper. for this Kamau it seems that the rifle is very heavy and could not lift it, this miniature could be much better .... the rest seems great to me. Maybe a new Orc is missing with HMG since the current one is horrible. About the proxys I’m agree with Barakiel , its is good if you like to use more “aesthetic” models.. for example I always use the bagh-mari hacker as my machinist in Varuna, “its looks like using a D-charge”
Good thing we can switch loadouts with some conversion work. This is the reason I went with a full male set of Kamaus. The female is the weak point of the starter's Kamau and the loadout needed a better miniature than what we got. CB said that an Orc box is incoming. Hopefully it will be released this year and soon for that matter. I'm pretty surprised we didn't get any Helots yet especially since we just need one box to cover every loadout that the unit can provide us PanO players. Not to mention the new Spiral Corps Tohaa army can use PanO's Helots in their lists. So at least that box should be coming out in the near future.
I absolutely agree that proxies and conversions are a way to overcome some of these issues, just wish I did not have to. I already have several converted Orcs to cover all of their loadouts and then some (like I said I love the Orcs). For Kamau, I have a set of Druze that I will slight modify. I may also try some conversions to the sniper's pose if I actually complete my purchase of the starter. I also may use some converted Bagh Mari that I use as locusts (hate that sculpt thoroughly) to cover down on echo bravos. I can live with the zulu cobras. For Patsy, we will see what she actually looks like, the render pose looks a bit odd, but I have a Nomad missile launcher female and a Dart SMG that just asks for a conversion.
