Tuesday 26 June 2012

Infinity June releases

     
       

Well this month is a bit of an odd one for me. There are two units in it that we don't have the rules for, for a start off and a Muyib option we haven't seen in the rules before. So I'm not going to be able to do any tactics for them yet, but when I know what the rules look like I'll try and dissect whether they're any good and how I'd use them. It is also yet more evidence that the new missions book can't be that far away... so where is it Corvus Belli? Some of us have been waiting for roughly 4 years for it to arrive and... I'm getting impatient now, and I really don't mind saying it. They've taken far too long to get this book out and I'm getting annoyed with them now. This has been the missing piece of the Infinity jigsaw for five years now, and for five years I've waited patiently for them to get their arses in gear. Too long Corvus Belli, far too long. While I still love the core game, until they get a proper missions book out I'll be shelving Infinity for a while... yep I'm board of the published missions and pitched battles already.


Shaolin Warrior Monks

When Angel Giraldez gave us all a sneak peak at these miniatures I have to say I gave a huge sign of relief. The original sculpts were utterly pants and dire. I hate cartwheeling miniatures, they always look awkward and lame and 9 times out of 10 should never have been attempted. When I become Emperor of the Universe it'll be once of the first things I ban... and any sculptor attempting such poses will be flogged to death with a ribbon... and yes I know that'll take a very long time, that's sort of the point! These bad boys though blow their lame counterparts out of the water the two with the shock CCW's look all badass and Jedi like, while the Chain Rifle Monk looks like he's in charge. The Combi Rifle chap looks like a spec-ops temple guard, I love him. All of them brilliant miniatures. So are they any good? For the points they're not bad actually. They have CC 19 and Artial Arts L3, so being able to pick them up for between 5 and 14 points looks pretty dan sweet, they even have smoke grenades to cover their advance, they're also Religious Troops so that's an even bigger bonus in their favour... but they irregular and impetuous. You can still make them work and tehy're worth the effort, but these are for experienced Infinity players only, because they are easy for your opponents to tempt into the open and blow them away. Their PH 13 isn't great either when chucking those smoke grenades down in ARO, and their ARM 1 does mean they're very squishy. I'm a fan, but only every now and then.

Metros HGM

I really like the Merovingienne forces stuff on the whole, and the Metros have very nearly tempted me on a number of occasions to start an Ariadna force. If any of you have played the computer game [Prototype] then I think the look of this chap might be a little bit familiar. The hooded pose is ever so slightly reminiscent for me of that games central character Alex Mercer... which by the way I heavily approve of. As always I love the utilitarian look of the Ariadna weapons and this HMG does not disappoint. So for me this sculpt is a bit of a home run, I really like him. He's also a bit of a home run in terms of getting him on the board as well, especially for the Merovingienne sectorial players. He's a cheap linkable HMG at 20 points and 0.5 SWC. That's pretty much all you really need to know about this guy. The Multiterrain comes in handy, but otherwise his stats aren't anything to write home about, BS 10 is a bit of a pain when you've got a HMG in your hands, but as I say as a linkable trooper you can overcome many of the downsides and really make him work.

Hassassin Muyib Heavy Rocket Launcher

This guy actually wins Brownie points for being a Haqqislam sculpt that isn't a static pose, or wildly energetic. It's fully in keeping with the other Muyibs with their cool 'bug eye' visors, which I happen to like, but there is't really anything new in this miniature, which is kind of the way you want it because you don't want your Muyib with Heavy Rocket Launcher looking significantly different to all the rest of them. Speaking of the Rocket Launcher... I don't like it. The muzzle looks a bit wrong to me and it just seems overly fussy, it's not terrible, but its also not great. Still it's more than passable. I'm going to be honest and say that I wouldn't take Muyibs in a normal Haqqislam force, it's not that they're not good, they are, but they're expensive as a basic trooper and you can eek more out of cheaper troopers with similar weapons. But in an Hassassin Bahram force they're actually worth taking and linking. Possibly even round this chap once we get the weapons load out for him and see how much he costs. Until then he'll remain an average looking Infinity miniature. Hopefully Corvus Belli will have the rules on the website shortly.

Riot Grrls

This weekend Sunday Sermon will be an interesting read, regarding our hobbies portrayal of females and treatment of them in general. Much of what Corvus Belli does with it's female sculpts falls into thre categories; firstly they're really subtle and well done, and you often don't realise the miniature is female at first look. Secondly there are the obviously female miniatures, but with strong poses that aren't there to accentuate their feminine wiles, they have parity if you will with their male counterparts in that sense. Then finally there are the furries and cheesecake poses. They're not as bad as some firms, but some of them do make you raise your eyebrows. This miniature though is weird insofar she doesn't really fall into any of those standardised categories. Obviously she's female, the boobs with nipple armour (sorry Corvus Belli but WTF is up with that?) give that away. But she's not in action pose, or cheescake. I like the armour and the look of the miniature on the whole, I'm not too sure about the I'm a little teapot pose, but on the whole I'd have given it the thumbs up... but that nipple armour looks dumb. Sorry, but it does, it looks like the sort of thing a 13 year old boy would do. In terms of tactics I can currently tell you bugger all about these either, because they're a new unit type. Here's hoping they're good though, Nomads could do with some decent HI troops.

Cadamus-Naish Sheskiin

I love this miniature to bits, she fits into the clearly female, but with a decent action pose category for me. She looks a little bit like the twi'lek's from Star Wars, but obviously with one head tail thingy instead of two. She's carrying a wicked looking futuristic naginata like weapon, that I just think rocks. She's pointing a nanopulser out at some unsuspecting victim. She looks totally confident striding forward and totally in charge. I think I'm right in saying this is teh first female Cadamus we've seen in the Combined Army. Again like the 'Riot Grrls' I can't really tell you too much about how they will perform on the tabletop because bugger all is known about them as of yet. Hopefully Corvus Belli will update their website soon and we'll know a bit more and I'll be able to let you know what I think. For now though Combined Army players should content themselves with the fact that they have yet another nice looking mini to add to their ranks.

So in conclusion I am yet again disappointed we've heard no noise on this mission book. While I've been willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and let them get on top of it as a product and refine it so it's perfect, I think they're rapidly heading into taking the piss mode now. Get it released already guys. Peace out!

45 comments:

  1. Oooooh, shiny..
    When I looked at the 'group shot' picture, I thought this month had nothing for my beloved Nomads, but I guess I'm wrong :)

    I do agree on the nipples though.. I probably file them off or something. It's not something I like to do, especially with Infinity mini's. But hey, desperate times and all that.

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    1. Yeah on the whole there's something about the Riot Grrl I'm not quite loving. I have to be honest, I think its the lack of Armour around the vital organs section as Ant points out below, plus the Vagina and nipples on the body glove armour. Just WTF were Corvus Belli thinking? The more I look at her the less I like her actually.

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    2. I really like her.
      Couldn't care less if their are nipples of doom or not. I really had to look twice to notice those tiny bumps...
      But then again I am a married man of a certain age an well used to these vile female charms... After having watched two kids being breast-fed you either loose your sentiment of bewilderment or you get some serious mental problems :)
      Either way the nipple armor seems to work, if you would have faced the girls in combat it would have left you starring at them (with added gapping jaws for effect) and she could have shot you without provoking an ARO... Cunning plan, isnt't it?


      I would like to add that there are of course historical examples of depicting nipples

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    3. Well I've lived with Dr Brainiac for about a decade now, but the issue with the nipples and landing strip armour is that they're just not needed, Plus the armour around the none vital organs seems a bit redundant. Just looks weird and is a bit childish for me. Plus I have to be honest if I faced her in combat I'd be shooting at the non-armoured bit and laughing after I'd blown her to pieces at the idiot who'd designed her armour.

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    4. Lol, it's not that I'm shocked to to discover that women have nipples and breasts and I'm sure the same applies to Frontline Gamer.

      I just can't work out why they would be present on a heavily armored combat suit? Ant describes it perfectly 2 comments below. It messes with my suspension of disbelief.

      To me it looks like she is wearing the kind of skintight bodysuit with sensors you would wear under the armor. And one of the Nomad engineers saw a furrie walking by and got so distracted he forgot to bolt on the chest armor.

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    5. Lol, ninja'd by Frontline :p

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    6. Maybe its just a difference in our ability to read the design-language... For me the bodyglove armor screams heavy armor... The shin and arme gaunlets are just a bit too much for me.

      For you the body glove communicates weak or non-existent armor....

      Your mileage may vary.

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    7. I take your point... BUT... bollocks!!! :P

      It's out of keeping with how the rest of the factions heavy armour is portrayed on other mini's, and indeed how the game shows heavy armour off for all factions. So I think we can safely say that what you suggest is not what the designers were going for.

      Obviously you're free to interpret however you like. I interpret it as a really feeble attempt at trying to get away with a 'naked' torso sculpt, but doing it in a suggestive way. That's how I choose to interpret what they've done.

      ;)

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    8. Gotta tell ya, I can't get past what an amazing paintjob that model received!
      The non-metal-metal technique is just...my goodness it's just amazing for a 28mm 'human' (not 'heroic') scale.
      The scratches on the boots, the glowing eyes- beautiful.

      The level of detail on the fig itself is impressive, as well. The cock of the hip and tilt of the head are definitely feminine, but this is a pose I've seen male figs do. It's also nice to see they got the face right. She sort of reminds me of the character Void, from the comic book Wildcats, by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi, for some reason.

      I'm sorry, Frontline- I have no issues with this fig.
      I won't call bollocks on you, I'll just say that different people will interpret things differently.
      *shrug*

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    9. On the paintjob and indeed the detail of the sculpt (one of Navarro's best) I can not fault either. The levels of artistry and talent put into this miniature are truly mind boggling. I just think it's a shame that the artistic direction is a bit 'off' for my liking.

      People will always interpret things differently SinSynn, I have no issues with that. I would however like you to be able to see that the way her armour is pieced together, with no heavy armour around her vital organs is very, very different to the way male HI troopers are dealt with in Infinity. The question is was this deliberate because they wanted a sexy female, if so then there's an inbuilt inequality to what Corvus Belli have produced... and that brings out the dreaded S&M... Sexism and Misogyny!!!

      Had you fooled for a second. ;)

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  2. Nice... Cadamus-Naish Sheskiin... is that a special character for CA?

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    1. I had wandered whether it was actually a special character myself, although that would be a break from the norm for the CA wouldn't it? It might just be a new unit type. We'll see shortly no doubt.

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  3. Those Riot Grrls better be from Bakunin, Christ I need more options (though the white and orange scheme, plus the "moderator" armband make me hopeful).

    I agree with you on this though - I really dislike uncharacteristic "sexytime" stuff showing up. I guess with Nomads they're always teetering on the line of honouring the anime roots or just being plain out of place. The nipples I can probably sand off (out of context that sounds nasty), but the weird "LOOK AT MY CROTCH" bit is just...

    That's not even mentioning the armour-plated versions of the "Fuck me" boots.

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    1. Also:

      "Dear Bakunin High Command,

      SQUEEE! Thank you for my new powered armour. I really like it ^^;

      However, I have a little problem with it. See, my major organs are located in my torso which this design does little to protect. If anything the patented NIPPLEBLASTS™ draw the enemy's eye naturally to my chest area. I'd rather they were shooting elsewhere, if I'm honest.

      I am very fond of the boots, which were clearly made for walkin', and they have the kind of armour I'd expect from our kawaii military machine.

      Yours,

      Soon To Be A Smoking Pair Of Boots"

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    2. All I can say is I agree Ant. It was almost very, very good, but then the tight fitting body armour just ruins it with the manicured public hair look around her crotch and the armoured nipples. Honestly just WTF.

      *shakes head*

      Maybe I'll let them off this once but on the whole I think it's a really juvenile idea and sculpt. Not impressed. Gets worse the more I look at her.

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    3. I get what they were going for, and they were close. Trying to build a space-marine version of Tank Girl is going to be hard, but they were doing kind ok.

      The key was to leave the nipples/pubic area out and just buff up the armour on the Torso a little. She'd look great with some plates (even if they were shaped to be obviously female) with "BITE ME" graffiti'd on them.

      Maybe the other weapon loadouts will have better sculpts - they've made some real standout additions to awful sculpts before. I'll let them off this one time, especially after they replaced the Daktari.

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    4. I love the guys at Corvus Belli and I love Infinity. So for me this is just a missed step for them. But it would be remiss of me not to let them know I am disappoint! x_X

      On the whole everything they do is splendid and the majority of their female sculpts are respectful and stay on the sexy side of the sexy / sexist debate for me,

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  4. Well I was looking forward to Riot, but it was quite dissapointment. It reminds Posthuman Proxies quite much..I expected some furry punk..

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    1. YEah it is a bit Posthuman esque, but in my opinion a pretty darn poor posthuman. Sorry, this might say more about me than it does the sculpt but I just can't see past her nipples... o.0

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  5. I'd say they look suspiciously Jedi like. Specifically like those Jedi you find in The Old Republic. So much so that I'm tempted to get some and replace their weapons with lightsabers. I am playing Yu Jing after all....

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    1. I think with a bit of work they culd actually make pretty damn good Jedi's actually.

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    2. Well I managed to pull this out of a spare Dark Elf Shade ages ago, so I think I'll manage to make one of them look like this or this without too much difficulty.

      Hell even the paint scheme screams "WE LOVE TOR!" :p

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    3. Do post links when you've done it buddy, I'll be keen to see what you've done.

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  6. Once again Ariadna gets a sweet sweet new model. Add that to the fact that pretty much everything Ariadna can pretty much be used as a stand in for a modern-day zombie game, and i find myself incredibly happy that I play them.

    It really does seem that the Riot Grrl model is going "cheesecake" but with a name like that... of course they're going to be silly looking. And just you watch, they will have fantastic rules and no matter the naughty-bit exposure, they'll see mad usage on the table. And hey, at least they didn't give her some kind of pubic design or a landing strip
    ;)

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    1. Vitamin Bean I'm in 100% agreement with you over Ariadna. They keep on getting awesome stuff. when I first strated in Infinity they were the faction I was least interested in. I liked the mini's but if I was doing a sci-fi anime game I wanted a sci-fi anime faction... but they're looking better to me by the day.

      As for the 'landing strip' check the picture out again... she HAS a landing strip. It's just a bit cringe worthy for me and not at all well done.

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    2. After close review (that doesn't sound creepy at all) i realize that perhaps i should wear my glasses when i look at models and it does indeed have a strip.
      this caused me to laugh for a good 5 minutes.
      then i spent 5 minutes questioning why on earth they would sculpt that.
      then another 5 minutes laughing at the image of a person spending large amounts of time sculpting it just so... like a botanist.
      then i cried.
      It's been a rollercoaster night.
      :P

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    3. lol

      It's not as bad as some in the range, genuinely. I just rolled my eyes and thought... lame. If she kicks ass in the rules I'll either have to produce some decent armour for her or proxy something else as her. I just can't bring myself to buy miniature I think are 'lame'.

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  7. As an aspiring Combine player I can't say I'm a fan of the new cadmus. Don't like the pose, it's wearing high heels and the spear just screams "BREAK ME!". And male shavastii have hideous clawed mouths but apparently females look like anorexic humans?

    But on the other hand it really makes me want to break out the greenstuff, bulk it up, give it clawed feet, put on a gwailo-style helmet and repose it so the spear doesnt break as easily. :)

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    1. I believe in the fluff the Cadmus can actually mimic the look of their pray, to appear more like them etc. so I think it's in those realms. I quite like the spear weapon... or nagitana. That's a weapon with some serious reach to it. But as always with these things each to their own. I can see some of your criticisms, just not all. :)

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  8. Oh my god there's...sorta nipples.
    Hand me my pitchfork, granma, and my rope....I'mma go string up some fool.
    If god had meant for people to see nipples, he wouldn't have invented...shirts.
    Or something.

    -_-


    Someone form a committee, immediately...this kinda thing has gone on long enough.
    And by long enough, I mean forever.

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    1. Weel done SinSynn, once again you miss the point. Would a male version of that mini have heavy armour on his legs up to his thigh, like fuck me boots, then heavy armour on his fore arms and then a skin tight body suit around his crotch and torso? I think not. Also the I'm a little teapot pose? Oh please tell me that's not treating the miniatures differently based on gender. PLUS the nipples and landing strip crotch just look pathetically lame.

      I have no problems with miniatures being nude, having nipples or showing of a vagina or a penis, if it's done tastefully. See here:

      http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=artemis-%28blue%29~hf4001b&category=miniatures~40mm-%26-54mm-scale

      There's a virtually fully nude female who isn't looking all doe eyed and legs akimbo wobbling her boobs for your viewing pleasure.

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    2. You don't remember the movie batman returns, where the batsuit had batnipples?
      Say, wadda they call that Blood Angels army people run featuring a bunch of Sanguinary Guard?
      Oh yeah...nipplewing.
      Yeah...nipples. Men have 'em too...on their armor.

      My president once put on a flightsuit and stuffed a giant sock in there to bulk up his nether regions. He did this in front of the international press.
      So, no...I'm not gonna look at this model's armored crotchguard, or whatever it is, and get offended. In fact, I think you're projecting a bit here by calling it a 'landing strip.'
      If it wasn't there, would you see a 'brazilian'?

      I'm sure Batman and the Sanguinary Guard have like, reasons to have nipples on their armor, right? Maybe her armor nipples are like, some kind of holo-projector thingies, or sumpthin.'

      Either way, I think you're over reacting here.

      And btw, that model in the link isn't 'virtually nude,' she IS nude, and she DOES have a brazilian!
      Would you proxy that one for the Riotgrrl at the gamestore, if you could?

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    3. I'm going to try and be as polite as I can SinSynn here. Because I know that having read your thoughts on this topic elsewhere you simply don't 'get it'... and I'm sorry you come across on this topic as a bit of an ignorant chauvinist. Who is unwilling to listen and learn, I can understand people being ignorant, I can't understand people being unwilling to learn. So please listen up.

      Like I said to you the issue isn't the fact there are nipples, or indeed the landing strip. If you continue wanting to debate this please learn to read and comprehend what people are saying. It's the basic prerequisite for any debate and discussion. Simply put buddy if you're too dumb to read what others are saying and comprehend it, you shouldn't be opening your mouth.

      So I'll restate my objections yet again and see if you can read and understand them this time.

      1) Her vital organs aren't protected by the same heavier armour her extremities are. Why? Is it because she's female and they want to show off her curves with a skin tight suit? I think so. Other heavily armoured miniatures in the Infinity range have the armour all over... not just on their arms and feet. This is a break with that design aesthetic for no other reason than the fact she is female. Is that a problem? No, is it lame? yes.
      2) I'm not overreacting, I don't like the design decisions because it looks stupid. Really stupid. Soldiers are taught to aim at the mass of the body, that's why flak jackets aren't worn on soldiers hands and feet.
      3) The nipples and landing strip are there because it's a female. Show me a miniature with an armoured penis holder in the Infinity range and fair enough I'll hold my hands up and admit defeat, and acknowledge Corvus Belli have treated both men and women equally in terms of their depiction. I happen to think Corvus Belli are far better than most by the way.
      4) The POSE man look at the POSE. Would you see many males leaning forward pushing their boobs out hand on hip at a jaunty angle? Why isn't she running or kicking ass like most HI infantry seem to be in Infinity.

      Again SinSynn if you want to debate things by all means you're welcome to do so. But debate the things that are there, do not bring things into it that aren't. Because trust me and I don't want to sound like a jackass here, I'll turn you around, upside down and get you making U-turns quicker than a Tory Minister at the treasury... an in joke for us Brits... or I'll just make you look like a bit of a dick.

      Continued…

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    4. Let me tackle Sanguinary Guard and their outfits shall I? The armour is still heavy and consistent with the pauldrons greaves etc. etc. There is a history of armour from ancient times being 'sculpted' to look like the perfect idealised form of the masucline figure. That's fine, and I'm OK with any company bringing that theme forward and doing so with females. I note GW stopped short of penis armur though. Had Corvus Belli done the same with the Riot Grrl and kept the armour consistent across the limbs and torso I'd have been fine with it. They didn't, that's where the problem arises. Either you can see that or you really are unobservant.

      Lets tackle your president and the sock incident... what does that have to do with the Riot Grrl miniature? I'm sure you meant it to sound pithy and clever... it didn't. Sorry it made you sound a bit stupid, and totally out of your depth in this debate. So a President makes a public joke about his junk not looking big in a space suit? How is that the same as the objectification of the female form by men for commercial profit? Draw a pararllel if you can but it'll be weak. Plus your president chose to do that, he didn't have a women walk on and point and laugh tell him his penis looked small and that he should pad it out. Seriously you should steer clear of 'example' because the ones you pick out of your ass only weaken your stance.

      That brings me to Batman... oh boy you picked the wrong super hero universe didn't you? Look at the way Batman is portrayed in the comics and drawn and then compare that to Poison Ivy, Cat Women, Harley Quinn, Bat Girl (why not women) and many others. Your attempts at cross pollinating one discussion about a distinct fantasy world with another are also an epic fail. Batman doesn't exist within the Infinity universe, and therefore any attempts by you or others to bring examples from this other universe into it will fail hard too.

      Step back read, comprehend and learn. Because without learning you'll remain the same ignorant fool on this issue SinSynn. I didn't take you apart in your 'House' as that's not polite... but in my home I play by my rules and I will have no worries about making you look foolish, stupid and hopelessly out of your depth on here... so be careful what you start.

      Just to be clear I haven't even thrown any punches yet!

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    5. Oh, Frontline....ever so serious.
      Since you're entirely convinced you're right about this, and entirely convinced I'm wrong, I won't do the 'point by point' rebuttal thing.

      Sorry I'm not a sycophant, that I have an opinion that differs from yours. I...realize that makes me stupid, and I'm sorry.

      I'll leave now, cuz I seem to be out of my depth.
      Where's the door?
      Dumb people like me get lost easily....
      Lil' help?

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    6. Sigh...
      Couldn't find the door.

      So, Frontline, at the risk of looking a fool (you DO realize that's my gig, right), I'll just ask you flat out-

      Why are you mad at me over this?
      I need to 'step back, read, comprehend and learn'?
      Why? Because my opinions on these matters differs from yours?
      Because I don't find the Riotgrrl offensive?
      Am I 'part of the problem' you see when you look at that model because I LIKE IT, and you don't?
      Good.
      I was the target audience for this product, then.
      They've failed in your eyes, and succeeded in mine.
      They won't sell this model to you...guess what? They don't care.
      Nor do I.

      Tell me, does that offend you more than the actual model does?


      As I said at the House, not everything has to be for everybody.
      This model isn't for you. It's for me.
      Oddly enough, YOU will go on making purchases DESPITE the fact that you take umbrage to the way they're marketed.
      I, on the other hand, will go on making purchases, while ogling the cheesecake and laughing at the silliness of it all.

      I may be a dumbass, but my way sounds like more fun.

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    7. Tackling the first message... that's beneath you and beneath me, you can disagree. I don't edit or delete posts that disagree... EVER. I've been respectful of those who disagree with me on here and have given reasoned response to what I've written. If you don't give reasoned responses expect short shrift.

      I've sent you a long email explaining exactly why I'm mad at you SinSynn... and it's because you are unwilling to actually tackle the points and issues people are raising. You are side-stepping points and raising issues that aren't even there and trying to bring all sorts of crap into a debate that actually has not place in it.

      Why am I mad at you over this? I'm not, I'm disappointed you seem unwilling to engage.
      You need to comprehend and learn, not because your opinions differ but because your position is so weak on this broader topic because you clearly don't know what the issues are. If you did you might be better able to articulate your points.
      I don't find the Riot Grrl offensive... I find it a little bit lame. Those are the words I've used. Please don't try inserting words in my mouth.
      Are you part of the problem because you like the mini? No you're part of the problem because you remain ignorant of wider issues and you seem unwilling to engage with that.
      I'm perfectly OK with things not being designed for me SinSynn (40K anyone?), and I'm perfectly fine with sexy miniatures. I just don't want to see that creep out across their entire range as despite Corvus Belli producing some very cheescake mini's on the whole they represent females pretty darn well compared to some.

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  9. Wow that CA model is awesome. By the way Frontline, my hardcover Infinity rulebook is on the way. I have an idea I'll email you about when it gets here...

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    1. I look forward to hearing what you think of the game. The translation can make reading the current rulebook a little hard going at points, but you'll get there no doubt. ;)

      Any question please feel free to ask.

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  10. I actually didn't notice the nipples and crotch area until people pointed it out on different forums, blogs etc. Compared to other cheesecake Infinity miniatures, this one would fall in the rather tame category (Moira anyone?).
    Does it emphasize some female attributes ? Yes. Does it emphasize them more then necessary? I have no idea. For all we know, the miniature has iKohl and uses the nipple and crotch focus as a tactical advantage. Gender equality is not about giving women a male suit, it's about providing equal opportunity without the need to give up the things that make you female. As the Riot Girrls take pride in their sex, one could understand the insistence on displaying the physical features that differentiate them from the other sex as part of their ideology.
    I'm not denying the sexual stereotypes common in Infinity and other games, but it's not just *sexual* stereotypes that are prevalent. What is however true in my opinion is that most of these stereotypes are based on a male mindset/viewpoint (not surprising considering most sculptors are men, and most of the customers as well) - male stereotypes of sexy women, male stereotypes of handsome men, male stereotypes of fat men, male stereotypes of old hags and so on.

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    1. SinSynn this is the sort of response I'm talking about. Differing opinions but explained themselves around the issues.

      Which Moira we talking about. lol.

      I gender equality isn't about giving a female a male suit, or indeed treating men and women exactly the same, because well we're not. However I think the Riot Grrl deserves the same protection afforded to her male colleagues. She has as much right to not have her internal organs eviscerated as anybody, and the Nomad high command have clearly let her down.

      On the second paragraph... I wholeheartedly concur, and unless some of these men wake up one morning and say "hey, perhaps we could give her some decent armour and pose her as we normally pose action sculpts, she can still be sexy and attractive as a by-product of what she is. Rather than that being the only reason for her existence" things won't change and the status quo will continue and possibly get worse. That's normally the trend in these things. Without somebody saying hey guys we I think we're going too far down this track, they normally continue until they get to a point where the readjustment is sharp and painful because there's a backlash.

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    2. Frontline,

      I think you are looking at this from a biased point of view. Maybe the Riot Girrl and the female blacksmiths that made her armour just prefer more "statement" and less "protection" in their combat gear. There are people blowing themselves up to make a statement (lets leave the whole socio-psychological analysis of such phenomena aside), so I think it's not hard to imagine that an ultra-radical feminist group might indeed prefer less protection in order to emphasize their sexuality (the word "sexuality" not being used in an erotic context here) - it might even be their way of proving the superiority of their own sex.

      I also think you are somewhat taking sides in a discussion that will lead you further down the rabbit hole than you are yourself aware of. Sure, men have a lot of stereotypes, especially sexual ones as it could be said that they are more driven by their primal instinct then women (although many would argue otherwise), but women are full of stereotypes as well. In short, stereotypes are affluent in this world, and if you want to really be an anti-stereotype partisan you should be aware that most miniature games are full of all type of not really favorable stereotypes - Infinity is full with a whole lot of national and racial stereotypes that the one or other person might find offensive depending on her point of view.

      To finish it off, I like the way you are passionately arguing the female stereotypes in miniature games, but you should be aware that you are about to open a huge can of worms. Better be ready for it. (^_^)

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    3. Honestly I am ready for it. And the fact the miniature was concepted by a male, sculpted by a male, and painted by a male and is clearly designed for a male audience walks all over your argument about feminist armourers... sorry I just think it does. You can come up with as many back story justifications for why the miniature looks the way it does, and you are fully entitled to project whatever you want onto the piece. It just so happens I think it's codswallop. Are games full of stereotypes? Yes. Life is full of stereotypes, in fact the human brain is hardwired to stereotype. It's how we know to sit on a chair, their are though positive stereotyps and negative stereotypes and I'm choosing to highlight potential misogyny in our hobby because I happen to think it's important. for me to not do so because it might make my life easier would be cowardly of me... and it's cowardly of others to pass the buck and say 'just leave it'.

      Personally I'll tackle one problem at a time, and right now the issue of gender inequalities in our hobby has raised it's head quite a bit recently, so it would be remiss if me not to tackle it.

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    4. As you seem willing to take the argument quite far and wide, I think trying to highlight potential misogyny might be a long shot as you'd have to prove that the companies are willingly hiring male staff over female candidates without regard to skill. The best argument you can probably make is that they are willingly ignoring a potential female audience, and indulging male fantasies that some might find show a degrading view of women. Again, whats degrading can be argued about for a long time, and this been discussed quite a lot between female radical feminists, moderate feminists and egalitarians, with no firm conclusion. With our particular Riot Grrl example its a simple questions of did they sculpt an sexually attractive (perhaps vulgar to some) miniature and then make a story to justify it, or was the story already there and the miniatures was sculpted to fit it. While the former is not misogyny, it is sexist in nature, but the latter is somewhat in a gray zone open for interpretation - is the story itself sexist or not, couldn't they have asked women for their opinions on the miniature during the design stage etc.

      I think it best we call it a day here, as you'll probably write an article about this sooner or later and any discussions can be continued there.

      Last but not least, even though I might come over not supportive of your cause, I actually agree with your idea that awareness has to be raised on this topic. Living in Japan I have seen first-hand how a non-challenged "Cheesecake is great! Man should have their fun." ideology can increase the objectification of the female sex to unprecedented levels. I really wouldn't want the miniature wargaming hobby to go that way.

      PS. You might be interested to hear about some of the problems of female gamers in the online gaming world that were presented in a recent BBC article (was quite shocking for me as I don't play any online games and was not aware of the amount of idiots out there).

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18280000

      The blog in the article can be found here:
      http://www.notinthekitchenanymore.com/

      Looking forward to your article sometime.

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  11. As you seem willing to take the argument quite far and wide, I think trying to highlight potential misogyny might be a long shot as you'd have to prove that the companies are willingly hiring male staff over female candidates without regard to skill. The best argument you can probably make is that they are willingly ignoring a potential female audience, and indulging male fantasies that some might find show a degrading view of women. Again, whats degrading can be argued about for a long time, and this been discussed quite a lot between female radical feminists, moderate feminists and egalitarians, with no firm conclusion. With our particular Riot Grrl example its a simple questions of did they sculpt an sexually attractive (perhaps vulgar to some) miniature and then make a story to justify it, or was the story already there and the miniatures was sculpted to fit it. While the former is not misogyny, it is sexist in nature, but the latter is somewhat in a gray zone open for interpretation - is the story itself sexist or not, couldn't they have asked women for their opinions on the miniature during the design stage etc.

    I think it best we call it a day here, as you'll probably write an article about this sooner or later and any discussions can be continued there.

    Last but not least, even though I might come over not supportive of your cause, I actually agree with your idea that awareness has to be raised on this topic. Living in Japan I have seen first-hand how a non-challenged "Cheesecake is great! Man should have their fun." ideology can increase the objectification of the female sex to unprecedented levels. I really wouldn't want the miniature wargaming hobby to go that way.

    PS. You might be interested to hear about some of the problems of female gamers in the online gaming world that were presented in a recent BBC article (was quite shocking for me as I don't play any online games and was not aware of the amount of idiots out there).

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18280000

    The blog in the article can be found here:
    http://www.notinthekitchenanymore.com/

    Looking forward to your article sometime.

    ReplyDelete