An interesting read, thank you for posting. I think it is important to be respectful of other cultures when you are borrowing their designs. Some things are easily borrowed, but others have deeper significance, and should be treated respectfully. I have seen some of my own culture appropriated, and sensitive subjects treated as some sort of bad fashion joke. The point is somewhat moot, because I have nowhere near the skill to pull it off, but do you think a Maori would be upset if a player painted a Tä Moko on a Crocman with the intention of it representing an actual Maori warrior, even if the the player themselves is not a Maori? It has been many years since I visited New Zealand, beautiful country, I would love to go back some day. To those thinking of traveling to that hemisphere, remember, don't lump New Zealand and Australia together as one, they hate that. Also don't bother visiting Australia, that is where they keep all the poisonous animals. . .
I don't think they would care about how we paint our Croc men, I'm sure the Maori people have bigger fish to fry.
This is so perfect and says so much about the infinity community. I'd imagine most other wargames communities would be a toxic wasteland by now, but this is genuinely probably the most mature and sensitive response to something, possibly in the history of the internet ;)
While response so far has been quite decent (and I commend @AdmiralJCJF for opening the topic and handling things in mature way), the response is decent (with few exceptions as can be seen). However, it is hardly worth so much selfcongratulations. We met the minimum of civilised behaviour, yay us?
I think i may hang out in much fouler forums where basic human behavior is the exception not the rule.
Actually this is the big question. If your model is a Maori, then Ta Moko is perfectly appropriate. But if they are not, then it is not. Basically, I suggest avoiding putting facial tattoos onto a model you are painting as a white dude.
I agree with you about putting the tattoos on a white guy but what can we do if someone wants to do that. That is their right.
Sure. Their right to be a culturally offensive arsehole. This would not be OK. I might actually walk away from the table.
No. And this is not helpful in the context of this otherwise mostly serious and respectful discussion.
Ok! that is your right but what if the person don't have the skills to paint dark skin figures or did not read this topic and is new to the game?
That would not matter to me, Hey! it's your figures you paint them the way you feel the need. I will not tell someone how to paint their figures and I will not walk way form the table.
Vikings extensivly used face tatoos, so you are just fielding the viking opertions crew of croc men Edit: crocs arnt even apart of maori culture, so the idea of approriation being an issue here is a little out of sorts as the moari troops involved are appropriating the culture of pacific islanders to the north, png, somoa, ect
They're the successors to the destroyed Polynesian Division, so a mix of various and sundry island cultures, and it's explicitly stated that the Croc Men carry on those traditions out of respect to the troops that sacrificed themselves to make sure the civilians and noncombatants were evacuated from Ravensbrucke in the First Paradiso Offensive. As such, you could conceivably paint them however you'd like, and have a fluff reason for it.
Worth pointing out that this is science fiction. Cultural norms can evolve. Similarly, any number of factors might mean that an accepted Maori doesn't necessarily look or conform to the aesthetic we apply today. In North America, many nations grant recognition even if your lineage is just 1/16th. As someone of mixed race, I'd caution anyone against drawing assumptions based on things like skin tone, or a person "looking" like a specific ethnic group.
Not just North America... one of my teachers at FSI/NFATC had daughters with four different passports: Brazilian, German, Turkish and US. I'd imagine things will only be more fluid offworld 175 years from now.
