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AdMech Patrol #2 - Progress report
By Bouargh
Blog entries pass and sometimes look like very similar to some previous ones. It is one of the issues when dealing with army building on base of multiples buy outs of the same Patrol Box... Yet we might eventually expect some variation if the models are fitted in different fashion, ain´t we? The Onagre DuneCrawler as already been spoiled in the FOrums, but it has been the major progress of the past week so I will "proudly" republish it there. It is also an unhonorable wa- 1 comment
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Dakota Minor Defence Corps (PDF)
By Mike Zulu
Introduction Like many established Imperium worlds, Dakota Minor has a planetary defence force simply known the Dakota Minor Defence Corps (or DMDC). Most of its number are conscripted from the local population; a small number of citizens willingly join to escape the tedium of farm life that is prevalent on Dakota Minor. The DMDC is organised in a manner similar to Astra Militarum regiments, albeit more limited in their makeup. For the most part, it consists of dozens of infantry battalions- 0 comments
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A bit of reveal
I don't how else to say this but I guess I just wanted to come out. I hope this dosen't affect your perception of me. I am a trans girl.
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"Let them argue with the barrel of gun." Canoness Sabine, Order of Our Martyred Lady
Lately I have been thinking about my Adepta Sororitas a lot lately. I don't have room to display them but I also am not getting rid of them. I need to rebase the few models done to match my other armies. I need to paint a Majority of the forces, as so little is done
So much more to do...I need to figure out a list and go from there. I do want to resume working on them. I did find my Dragon forge base and my original Canoness converted to have a combi-melta. I plan on painting her as the OG Order of the Our Martyred Lady paint scheme as display piece to go along with Mephiston and some other Characters I want to build and paint.
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Clean Up
A very brief update (The Old World has been taking most of my attention).
I got some psykers and servitors stripped of their old paintjobs and ready for cleaning.
The psykers will be used as primaris psykers or astropaths as needed, I've not got enough to field the psyker battle squad.
The gun servitors will be added to inquisitorial retinues while the tech servitors will accompany the enginseer.
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On the Iceborn Crusade
[Ref. From the personal logs of Seigfryd Kallanti, Lord Governor, Dreadfall Expanse]
On this, the 344th Day of the 23rd Year of our 42nd blessed millennium,
Let this be a chronicling of the events of the Iceborn Crusade, named for Operation Iceborn, an Inquisitorial effort to be made in tandem with Astra Militarum components of the Malchan, Rivenblight, and Ghostweave Nexus subsectors, as well as coordinated forces of the Adeptus Astartes. This collection of operations will be conducted in an effort to stabilize the Dreadfall Expanse and reunite it with the rest of the sector. Sanctioned by the Lord-General Militant Quintus Proximii and prosecuted by the Adjutant Lord-Admiral Marcus Escariot Viratius, this will be the first in a collection of broad campaigns known in the higher echelons of command as the Nihil Crusade in deference to the Imperium's broader effort to persevere in spite of the new age of darkness brought upon us by the Great Rift.
This accounting will follow the exploits of the various factions of the Imperium as they bring light to the foul darkness of the Dreadfall Expanse. Between the Red Suns of Golgotha and the gibbering, ravenous dark of the Vomit Caern, we shall sail. Our ultimate destination is benighted Port Rime, the fallen gateway to what was the Dreadfall Expanse. It is the most Coreward of Malexis' subsectors and a veritable treasure trove of riches lay between its stars. Lost histories and ancient technology abound among the ruins of the forgotten colonies of Mankind's early forays into the heavens. Much of it is riven with warp storms and plagued with ancient evils. However, those folk that have colonized the handful of worlds out here in the great vastness at the edge of the cliff of known space - and continue to choose to peer over the side - cultivate a strange sort of courage I can't help but admire.
It has been my lot to be sequestered here on Idarax, safely in the Malchan subsector, for the past 82 years, since the end of the Pilades operation, and the great failure of Rictus. The birth of great warp storms Glimmerheim, the Siren's Spiral, Golgotha, and the Vomit Caern have steeped the 'Fall in madness. Furthermore, we have seen great terrors plague our galaxy. We have seen great change change us. The twin disasters at Port Rime and the Rictus System have only echoed the greater threat of the Cicatrix Maledictum.
We have also seen the return of hope. The Avenging Son returns to lead us through the darkness. With his reinforcements, and his new appointees leading the Administratum, we have seen a wealth of production across Malexis. So bolstered, we have raised new armies to unite the sector once more. I spend many hours gazing out at flocks of frigates, packs of destroyers, and murders of interceptors stalking the void. Every once in a while I'll glimpse the vast majesty of a cruiser. It fills my breast with hope. At long last do I return home.
~SK
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(... Except if some more come on bargain inside miniature bundles.**)
Hi Folks,
Yes, these are going to be the last Kataphrons I include in my army on purpose. This addition will raise my count to a fourth unit:
- one unit of 3 Destroyers with grav cannon and flamer
- one unit of 6 Destroyers with plasma culverin and blaster
- one unit of 3 Breachers with arc gun and hydraulic claw
- and as the latest addition this unit of 3 Breachers with arc gun and arc claw
These were coming with a Boarding Patrol - on sheer discount - and were not really desired; or at least not on the top 3 of my buying list*. But, hey, here they were!
Close up are not too fancy. I sticked tio the paint scheme of the rest of the force.
My only extravagance has been for the last one, passing over a wrecked chimera panel.
This leaves me only with the Skitarii foot troopers to be painted from this box. They will be fitted with the FW Secutarii hoplite kit. The resin parts has been soaped to remove molding liquid and everything is ready to be primed. But this will go in my April pledge for 1 Year of Hobby.
Let´s see you soon once more stuff will be added to my Admechs.
* List includes Marshall, Serberys riders and Negavolt Cultists as proxi for Corpuscarii Priests.
** Just realized that these chaps' sprue has been designed in 2014. It's their 10th year birthday! It is therefore more and more likely they could be redesigned before I might buy some more "accidentaly".
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First post, Imperial Reivers colour scheme
First post trying out some Colour schemes for my chapter, looking for a deep purple with a chameleon paint feel to it. I feel the blue highlights are a bit too "bright" so maybe try a more greenish shade.
As a note the Reiver models are in no way related to the chapter title, this chapter started way back in the late 90's, and the updated colour scheme is for the Primaris marines. The first born are just Liche Purple without fancy pants scheme and will stay that way.
Currently, the colour scheme is:a base of Leviathan purple contrast,
followed by a good dry brush of Teclis Blue,
another Leviathan purple... going forward I will need to thin down the second coat as it's covering up the dry brush too much.
Finally, highlight with Baharroth Blue, but this is too blue for what I'm looking for, so will change this (and probably the Teclis blue as well).
Eventually, when/if I get round to playing about with my airbrush, I'll change the way I do this, but I'll get the colour sorted first.
thanks for reading!
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Tackling my Tau - Stormsurge Part 4
Well. I finally got up the energy to get started on the paint job on my Stormsurge. Just as well, because I've only gone and pledged it for both the 12 months of hobby, and as part of a larger bunch of t'au in the March for March. Yeah. I just hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew this time...
The first stage of my t'au scheme is always my favourite stage, as it is really fast! Several successive layers of drybrushing to build up the colours on the white "undersuit" of the infantry, or the mechanical skeleton of the battlesuits.
Stage 1 - Eshin grey:
Stage 2 - Dawnstone:
Stage 3 - Ulthuan grey:
Later on in the whole process I'll be touching up the skeleton with Corax white - but it is not this day!
I knew this was going to be a big one, as my chosen paint scheme involves painting every individual panel in the basecoat, followed by successive edge highlights. Tonight I spent two full hours just basecoating the leg armour plates. I am kicking myself for choosing this scheme now, as although I am really happy with it, it is so time consuming and is one of the reasons I only intend to collect 1000 points or so of t'au.
Leg armour plates done in Sotek green:
The Ghostkeel in the background is there as a reference point, both to help me remember which parts I typically paint in what colour, but also to give you an idea where the scheme will end up. I've made a few irritating mistakes in this first stage and ended up getting paint in some of the grooves, where I'm supposed to be leaving the black undercoat for definition. I'm going to have to go back later and correct some of the most noticeable lines. Also, as Sotek green is a layer paint, it doesn't give the best coverage, but rather than do a second coat I'll deal with that after I've done all the highlighting, because I will no doubt need to do some corrections in the base colour at the end anyway.
It's weird the effect the bright light has on the base colour actually - it makes it look very blue, when it is most definitely a dark turquoise green. Here's a darker photo that shows the colour more accurately:
I think that's all I've got the energy for today... will try and get some more done tomorrow.
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A quick visual battle report of a recent game where Legio Tempestus faed down th Evil Mordaxis.
Legio Tempestus
Corsair Maniple
Reaver - volcano, laser blaster, missile
Reaver - melta, gatling, volkite
Reaver - fist, chainfist, laser
Warlord - volvano, quake, missiles
Legio Mordaxis
Venator Maniple
Reaver - volcano, melta, lasers
Warhound - plasma, lasers
Warhound - plasma, lasers
Reaver - laser fist, missiles
Nemesis warbringer BVolcano, volcano, melta
We rolled diagonal deployment, and random missions I got hold the line (points for how far from my board edge they are, secondaries for killing) and they took kill (double scale in points for kills).
My as of yet unnamed Warlords second ever game. He's never died yet, so maybe unkillable? Or untargetable? "Neglecta Rege" is high gothic for 'Ignored King'? Either way, he sat on one side of the table and took pot shots at stuff all game.
My warlord spent the game on first fire orders as he had a decent field of view and the range to do so, and had 3 turns shooting into that impossible warhound trying to drop shields, who wound then emergency repair and somehow bring them back up as I chipped away damage. In turn 4, he finally killed the little blighter, and in turn 5 he shot back at the shield stripped venator reaver, nuking it.
Deployment - you can see my 3 reavers at the bottom, protected somewhat by the central buildings, and my warlord off image to the left.
My melee reaver shimmied sideways around the central buiildings to line up a charge on he nemesis titan and the other reaver. The silver reaver activated first and charged mine, getting within 2" to attack with the chainfist, doing some serious damage. To avenge this slight, i redirected my charge from the nemesis to the new reaver, and made contact, rolling poorly with the chainfist.
My opponent had the initiative and attacked first with the silver reaver, chainfisting my boy to death, who blew up dropping my opponent's voids.
The lone ordaxis reaver at the back then shot my meltacannon reaver, killing it. Passing my tempestus command check, I went down fighting and shot everything into the silver reaver...with it's shields dropped, the meltacannon bore a hole through the reactor and it went boom, the explosion damaging the legs on the mordaxis reaver that fired the initial shot.
In the end, I managed to take down everything but the nemesis, finally silencing the warhounds that plagued me, losing 2 reavers in return. My opponent gained 30pts for killing 2 reavers. I gained 20pts for hold the line as the nemesis was so far back, and killed 2 reavers and 2 hounds for 14pts, 34 in total. A narrow victory to tempestus - if my opponent had just moved the nemesis 6" forwards in his final turn, I'd have scored 5 less and he'd have won!
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So, January kind of put me in a small (large) hole for my plan to reduce my pile of shame. In response February has been a month of looking to redress that issue.
Hobby time has been limited unfortunately. Having a small child means living with your very own nurgling and boy oh boy did she bestow some of papa nurgle's finest blessings upon us this month.
In total I managed to complete a grand total of.....5 models. Not ideal. However on the plus side, they were all from the same army AND from the same army that I completed models for last month! This is fairly rare in Doobles-land and I'm actually a little proud of that. I even have a dozen or so more Ad Mech models primed and waiting at my airbrush station (lol it's just my desk + a mask) for March. This has the possibility of becoming that rarest of things.....a fully painted army. I've just jinxed it though I'm sure.....
Anyway, here are our completions this month:
3 Breachers. I think I enjoyed painting these? On one hand I think the OSL is much much better than the Skitarii I did last month so that feels good. On the other hand these felt like they took much longer than they needed to despite the simple paint scheme. Can't put my finger on why, but I've got 3 more part built, and another 3 still on sprue and I find myself in no rush at all to pick them up. Anyway, I think they look alright.
A Skitarii Marshall and a Techpriest Enginseer. I'm not as happy with these, although they're both lovely models. Not sure they have the presence it feels they should have as leaders but I'll reserve judgement until the force grows a bit more as I can view it all as a group. Might return to add a bit of something to them at a later date, but in the meantime I'm conscious of A) getting stuff done & B) not wanted to depart too far from the look and feel I've established and the techniques to get there. We'll see.
In other pile-reduction news there was a lot of selling this month which - in spreadsheet terms at least - more than made up for the limited painting time. An entire project has departed (Flesh Eater Courts - side note, what on earth is with the price of Charnel Thrones??) and I also uncovered a random bunch of Ultramarines things that I didn't see me going to trouble of ripping apart and rebuilding to fit in my Black Templars. So off they went.
Talking of Black Templars, and marines in general, I've found myself with less and less interest in 40K marines in the last 6 months. I love the BTs and their lore and aesthetic was a big part of what pulled me into the game back when they were the poster boys of 3rd edition. But I have no desire to paint any 40K marines or get them out for a game. Heresy is somehow different and still holds my interest, but in 40K marines are now bottom of the list out of the stuff I own. It's weird. Can't bring myself to part with them yet, but not leaving the garage for the painting or gaming table for the foreseeable future.
Anyway, enough waffle, here are the numbers!
Models IN: 12
Models OUT: 58
FEB TOTAL: -46
YTD TOAL: -30
We're back baby! Let's see what new stuff gets released in the next month, but I'm going to see if I can keep a bit of momentum going now. Marching on to March!
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Ky'Vash Recon Cadre - Pathfinder Drones
KY'VASH RECON CADRE
PATHFINDER TEAM 01 DRONE SUPPORT
Pathfinder Team 01 - Drone Support. Gun, Marker, and Recon Drone.
Techpriests of the secretive, and tightly monitored Xenocybernetica have performed extensive investigations into the 'Drones' employed in battle by the T'au Empire. These creations, seemingly autonomous or semi-autonomous in combat were initially suspected to be a budding form of Abominable Intelligence, though such fears have been largely quieted. The programming that drives T'au drones appears to be sub-sapient, and incapable of self-modification, its ability to act without direction merely the result of brute computing power, and a database of potential actions, rather than true 'intelligence'. It has been claimed, by some, that they could be a form of alien 'Machine Spirit', foul a thought as that may be.
The T'au of Ky'Vash make extensive use of these constructs in battle, especially the large and well-armed recon drones utilized by Pathfinder Teams as weapons support and communications hubs, extending the operational range of these units before and during engagements. Some, often more veteran teams are known to mark their drones with kill-counters and mottos, marking their stealth-coated casings with small signs of ownership and care.
Gun and Marker drones, directly guided by a Pathfinder Drone-Control Specialist.
Recon Drone providing fire support for elements of the Pathfinder Team.
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Finally! Took me long enough to get a warm, dry, and not too windy day to spray these little guys! I haven't painted a drone in the better part of 20 years, so it was fun to go back. The camo looks alright on the larger, flat tops, though I think I could have made the colour patches a bit larger. I'll mess around with the next set.
With that, the Pathfinder Team is done! I'm pretty happy with how they came out. I'll be grabbing a squad of Firewarriors next, though that may not be immediate. Always important to ensure the pile of shame is under control before making it larger, right? Probably some more marines in my immediate future.
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Painting the Rest of Leviathan...
Well, it's been a while since I blogged last...too long in fact. I was only supposed to have a short break while I finished my Bladeguard and Assault Intercessors (and Bladeguard Ancient, and Captain...). They didn't end up being done till late November time as other things piled up.
Here's how they turned out:
This led to me finally starting the Marine half of the Leviathan box (I think I said before I wanted it done before New Year...That didn't happen).
I started with my favourite Marine sculpts, the Terminators. While I may of saved the best till last with the tyranids, I wasn't following that trend with these. So seven models hit the table (Captain, Librarian, Terminator Squad):
and at some point I added the old Terminator Marneus Calgar finecast (I didn't know this when I bought it) model to this.
They got a coat of blue, and silver aaannnddd that was it for a month or so.
Flash forward to January (same time I revived my thread in the wip area) when I picked up the paintbrush again.
I tried something new for these which I had only done in trial cases before, and that was building up to white (and going further for the chest aquillas, up to gold). I worked through dark grey to light grey to white. With the helmets, I worked in as layers, leaving grey showing as shadows. It was a time consuming process but I liked the results.
The capes on the captain and Calgar I'm particularly proud of, more so than my primaris calgar.
I was grateful that the captain's base gave me an opportunity to do another tyranid...even if it was a dead one.
I also attempted my first free handing here, and clearly I need more practice.
The rest of the models turned out quite well, I also held back a little on the blue highlights, not sure if it was effective or not.
It was about this time I realised that Calgar's little shield wing was glued on by the previous owner the wrong way.
I didn't push myself on the Librarian as I should of but the GW standard paint scheme didn't appeal to me.
The Terminator Squad though, I'm quite happy with these guys, in fact I'm itching to get the multipart set now, just to have their various weapon options.
So, there was 25 models for the space marines in Leviathan, and I've done 7 models here. By my quick and dirty calculations, I've almost done a third.
This brings us to the next batch for this mini project:
Orto Cassius aside, it's another 7 models (one being the big boi of the Ballistus Dreadnought). Completing these will take me over the half way point. Let's see if I can get them done in under three months this time! People who follow my other thread will have an idea of where I am with these guys...
Till next time,
Keep hobbying!
ZeroWolf
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Warhammer 40k Kill Team QRC summaries
What's the problem?
Have you ever thought that relying too much on rule books and summaries makes it slow and cumbersome when playing Warhammer 40k Kill Team?
Above all when you're starting with a new Kill Team, it's hard to keep track of the different operatives' stats, all their ploys, equipment... And if you're sharing the same book with other people in the same game it makes all the experience really slow. You spend more time turning pages around than actually enjoying the game.
While there's some great aids around for printing data cards, if you have a very diverse squad you will end up with a lot of them, and if you change your weapon choices depending on the game you play, you'll need plenty of those. Furthermore, those are amazing for operatives, but they don't include any specific Kill Team ability or the Glossary with all the different weapon rules you will be using, needing to have specific documents laying around.
What's our solution?
The solution we came in is to create a summarized QRC that will fit in between 4 - 6 pages, so it can be printed or browsed directly as a PDF in a tablet or phone.
They show the Faction Archetypes, all the available options for each operative, as well as their main Stats and any special rule (Flying, Psychic...). They also include the Faction TacOps, as well as the special abilities, psychic powers and both Strategic and Tactical Ploys.
At the end of the documents you can find a whole Glossary with ALL the abilities and Special Rules that appear in the whole summary, so you can rely on those as your go-to reference during your games for that specific Faction.
How do I use them?
They're filed in PDF format and you can either print them and staple them (or any other choice) or browse them directly from your digital devices.
Where can I find them?
You can find the available ones in my page for free (or the prize you'd like to contribute with!)
If you'd like QRCs for some team, drop us a line and we'll work on it!
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Testing, testing... (again)!
Even though I've still not finished the Marines I wanted to have done by the end of last year I'm queuing up the next unit* I'll be painting - these Scouts:
*technically 2 units, one to go with my Boarding Patrol, the other for 'regular' 40k - but I'll also field them as a Kill Team
I've been thinking about how I want to paint them - specifically, their fatigues. I've had a few ideas to try - black, dark grey, khaki or military green, but I wanted to test which would go better with the grey armour of the Ashen Sentinels.
Someone at my local gaming group generously donated some Cadians to me so I could test these colour-scheme ideas; here's what I've done:
Starting right to left (to be different, or maybe awkward ) - while I think the green and khaki/tan do go alright with the Grey armour, I actually think they'd be better suited to Guard miniatures than the Space Marine Scouts. The other two are Black Legion contrast over white primer (left), and Basilicanum Grey contrast over the same grey that I paint the armour (followed with Nuln Oil wash) (second on left). I think the Black Legion doesn't leave enough lighter edges of the fatigues, whereas the Basilicanum Grey & Nuln oil do that much better; so that's the scheme I'll use - the armour is a lighter shade of grey so it contrasts well with the fatigues. Also, the darker fatigues is apt for sneaky, infiltrating Scouts, I feel
So that's what I'll go for, when I am actually able to start painting the Scouts. But first, I need to finish those other Marines..!
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First update of the year.... progress continues.
As the title says this is my first update for the new year as I finally managed to get a couple of squads finished of whilst watching the six nations rugby this weekend.
Assault squad - with custom bases made from 3d printed bits of ruins:
Infernus squad - The final miniatures from my Leviathan box set to be painted:
These should of been the final mianture to paint up for my Homebrew maine chapter, but as always I couldn't stop myself buying/prining/kitbashing new miantures, so that the realative size of my pile of shame hasn't really changed, or maybe got a little bigger. Newly added to the pile is the Killteam: salvation Boxed set, a Gladiator lancer, a few 3d pinted parts to fill out a few missing options in my army and a couple of kitbashes.
Really liked the Phobos Librarian and fancied getting a second one, but needed to make it a little different, so raided my bits box and came up with this.
With the addition of the Blades of khaine kill team I wanted to cover all the options for the exarchs, so modelled up this Dire avenger exarch from a standard body and other left over parts with the arms magnatized as I already have one with the powerglaive and shimmer shield.
Thats all for now, trying to keep these a bit more regular now.
Let me knmow your thoughts.
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Do you remove mould lines?
I've been building my Orks from my new pile of shame and it's going a lot slower than I thought it would. It takes me probably 30 minutes per model just to scrape off all the mould lines!
When you think I've got nearly a hundred models to build (2 x 20 model units of Boyz was a bad place to start) it's going to take me a millennium before I'm ready to get them primed, painted and onto the tabletop.
As frustrating as it is, I think it's a lot better than the alternative. Mould lines left on models really stick out - at least to me - and look... unfinished, even when they're painted. Some of them are really subtle or in places you'd never see unless a model was an inch in front of your face but some of them stick out like a giant neon sign. You know those people that like to watch people popping spots? I'd watch an ASMR video of someone scraping mould lines of Warhammer models.
In fact I'd consider paying for someone to do it all for me so all I had to do was assemble my models like little Lego pieces then move on with my life. I'm glad I didn't bother in picking up a mould line remover tool, there's no way that chunky tip could get into half the nooks and crannies those pecky mould lines show up. Hobby knife all the way, baby!
I'd love to know if you spend the time to remove mould lines on your models or if you're a psychopath and leave them on! Drop a comment below :)
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Grid City is the 8th 3D printable terrain Kickstarter that launches late Jan.
You can join the pre-launch Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/saucermenstudios/grid-city
Grid City is an interconnecting system of 3D printable, sci-fi cube terrain. This large collection of STL files includes highly detailed structures that seamlessly stack in diverse configurations with walkways that attach easily to create custom, hard-scifi layouts.
The variety of building shapes and multiple styles of architecture are based on a modular 3 inch cube layout for dynamic and functional setups. Components all print without supports on FDM printers and fit together without any clips. Many buildings also print great on resin printers!
The core set includes 90+ models with a huge amount of modularity, interconnectivity, and interactive features such as removable doors/shutter, floor inserts, interchangeable rooftops, connecting walkways. Combine building sections and additional components in various heights and horizontal layouts.
The additional 260+ stretch goal models and choice of add-ons expand the features and themes even more!
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Welcome back, I honestly didn't think it would take more than 6 months to get back to this, but here we are, and we'll cover my 2022 Commissions, and a little bit of spill over into the early months of 2023.
So, where was I?
Right, Belakor, dragged out for 3 months. Did I learn my lesson and take a break?
No. No I did not.
In fact, I immediatly kicked off the year with two simultaneous commissions, a long slow burn one from my regular client with the Sororitas and Drukhari, and one from a new client for some Custodes.
The Custodes commission included 8 Allarus Custodians, and Trajann Valoris (I still have my own I've yet to paint...). I was matching an existing colour scheme (the client provided a painted model as reference), and these guys turned out to be quite the contradiction for me. I liked the colour scheme and was digging it, and I really, REALLY enjoyed painting Trajann Valoris, but man, did I find the Custodians themselves quite the drag. All that tiny filigree on the shins and weapons meant so much back and forth between the gold and black, but in the end, I think the effort was worth it.
SpoilerThe very same week I set off on the third round of Commission work, expanding the forces of the the Sisters and Drukhari. As it turns out, my client is actually a family group, who are all buying the armies together, and they are adding two new armies to their collection, Necrons AND Slaanesh Daemons, and this commission will add enough models to bring these two new armies up to points to match the Drukhari and Sororitas.
It turns out I'm a glutton for punishment, and you see, I tend to make my job harder for myself. Excluding the rank and file models, personally, I *HATE* seeing the *same* model multiple times throughout an army. So I spend my time time converting the clients models, for no additional cost, because it makes me happy. This is most prevelant in the Battle Squad banner bearers, every single one of them is unique. Initially, the client was very cautious / nervous about letting me do my thing wih their models, and very hesitent with conversions, thankfully now I have erned their trust and have carte blanche to assemble models however I fancy.
The newest Adepta Sororitas expansion included Inquisitor Coteaz, Morvenn Vahl, 3 Pragon Warsuits (with magnetised weapons), 20 Battle Sisters, and a Castigator Battle Tank (also with magnetised weapons).
SpoilerThe Drukhari expansion was a much lower model count, but made up for it with big firepower. It included 1 Succubus and 10 Mandrakes, but the punch came in the form of 2 Forge World Reapers, and a Void Raven Bomber (with magnetised weapons). This Succubus is why the client became more open to conversions. You see this model started out as a Daughter of Khaine model, in fact it was one of the freebie's GW was giving out when the started the free monthly models.
SpoilerAt the start of Q4 of 2021, my health issues once again reared their ungly heads and I was forced to turn down the first of the Slaanesh commissions for the family group. It would of been for 4 Keepers of Secrets and 30 Daemonettes. I really wanted to do them, but just could not function. SO, when it came time for the first expansion, they tasked me with matching the paintworks of another commission painter. Unfortunately, despite a number of attempts at contact, I wasn't able to get a paint list or basic walkthrough of the scheme, and the pictures the client sent through didn't really provide a clear enough idea of how to procede.
When looking at the pictures below, you'll be able to see that the colours of the claws go through a few iterations and repaints until the client settled on the scheme in the top picture. The commission started with Syll'Esske and 10 Daemonettes, but with a late Q3 expansion, they added The Contorted Epitome, 20 Daemonettes, and 6 Fiends.
The late addition of the 20 Daemonettes came with a timer, they were needed BEFORE Xmas, which was complicated by a GW FAQ. Daemonette squad sizes changed, and of the 20 painted, based and varnished Daemonettes, 9 of them now had to become Champions, Musicians, and Icon Bearers.
Thankfully the clients understood that this was a significant request, whilst still needing to maintain the deadline, and offered a more than acceptable "inconvienience fee". Thankfully the Contorted Epitome and Fiends weren't included in the timer, and I finshed those in early January.
SpoilerThe Necrons were the largest of the commissions in 2022, and consisted of The Void Dragon, The Nightbringer, The Deceiver, Imotekh the Stormlord, a Royal Warden, a Plasmancer, 5 Lych Guard, 10 Immortals, 20 Warriors and 6 Scarab Swarms all in the Sautekh Dynasty.
SpoilerBUT, those models aren't Sautekh, are they?
Nope, no they're not.
Several months in to the work, (I'd been switching and changing between the factions to prevent burnout), the client dropped a bomb. They're dropping Imotekh and replacing him with The Silet King, an Overlord, 2 more Plasmancers, and 5 additional Lych Guard AND changing the entire Necron commission to the Szarekhan Dynasty....the day before I was ready to show off the completed models.
This ended up taking the rest of the year and them some to complete the repaints and additional models. Again, I was fairly compensated for the repaint AND Imotekh was mine to keep.
SpoilerThe final piece of this year long, four faction commission was a sizable chunk of terrain. 8 Ruined Sector Mechanicus Ruins, 4 Ruined Walls, 4 barricades, 4 pipe sections, 1 Ferratonic Furnace, 2 Plasma Generators, 3 Munitorum Crates, 2 tank traps, 2 trap doors, 5 3D printed crators.
Sometime about October, I completed another Hero Forge commission for 3 D&D heroes, this was my first referral client, who had seen the first Hero Forge model I'd painted way back in 2020.
and Finally, the last commission I worked on in 2022 was a triplicate of Kill Teams for fellow B&C member, INKS. There were teams for the Scythes of the Emperor, Blood Angels, Iron Warriors, and a pair of characters, Trajann Valoris (again, and no, I still haven't painted my own...), and a Sanguinary Priest (magnetised pack and weapons).
So, I've tallied up all the models I completed (I'm counting the crew/pilots etc as seperate models, as they were all painted seperately prior to assembly), and I completed 189 models in 2022. This is about ~50 or so more models than my first year.
What lessons did I learn throughout the year?
The commission WILL take longer that I think it will, because life happens, work happens, family happens. Burnout is a thing. Sometimes I just *DON'T WANNA DO IT" happens, and I'll go outside, sit down to paint, pick up the model and thhen just not.
One of the things I introduced to facilitate keeping on track was "Marvel Mondays" I began painting my Marvel United figures and posting them on Insta every Monday, I implemented Sunday as "my" day. I never work Sundays (too expensive to schedule), and on Sundays I only do personal hobby and not commission work. This little bit of structure has helped, but it was really only mid 2023 that I worked this one out.
So next time, and hopefully in less than 6 months, we'll look at 2023's commissions, and any lessons I learned along the way.
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Zahhak - Tyranid Splinter Fleet (927M41)
Introduction
Splinter fleet Zahhak was part of a much larger Tyranid hive fleet that entered the galaxy from below the galactic plane, which would be designated Leviathan in 997M41. Zahhak first entered the Matteus Subsector in 927M41 and struck the various worlds within, focusing on the worlds within the Matteus Epsilon system. However, the relatively remote location and the resilience of the native flora prevented the Splinter Fleet from breaking out into the neighbouring subsectors and the greater Segmentum. Combined with a timely Imperial response to the Tyranid incursion, Splinter Fleet Zahhak was crushed after several months, reduced it to nothing more than a seasonal pest for the two Imperial worlds.
A Tyranid swarm charges the Imperial defences on Barbed Gate.
Splinter Fleet Zahhak’s appearance, galactic movements and strategic behaviour was very similar to Leviathan, which was the reasoning for being later designated as the same Hive Fleet in 999M41. What distinguished Zahhak from the bulk of Leviathan was inception into the galaxy seventy years ahead of the rest of Leviathan. Additionally, many bioforms were identified in Zahhak that had not been recorded in the First Tyrannic War, and most have not been seen since. It is theorised by members of the Ordo Xenos and other Imperial biologists that this splinter fleet was more experimental than its bulk, and was assessing potential attack vectors before committing itself to a wide-scale invasion through the galactic plane.
Unique bioforms that have been sighted among Zahhak’s forces; some of which have yet to be sighted in other Hive Fleets.
Sometime after the galactic invasion of Hive Fleet Leviathan in 997M41, Splinter Fleet Zahhak would be re-designated as Hive Fleet Leviathan Splinter “34-Omicron”, and remembered by the Imperium as a lesser conflict with the Tyranid species. Some of the bioforms unique to Zahhak would reemerge in Leviathan and other hive fleets, albeit with variations and improvements.
A Tyranid Mawloc (above) and a Hive Crone (below), of Splinter Fleet Zahhak. Both bear similar markings to Hive Fleet Leviathan.
The Invasion of the Matteus Epsilon System
Hive Fleet Zahhak made planetfall on the two Imperial civilised worlds of Black Jewel and Barbed Gate in the Matteus Epsilon system, in 927M41. The alarm was raised by Inquisitor Malethann of the Ordo Xenos, thanks to the efforts of Kill Team Rapier on the outer reaches of the system. They confirmed the presence of a Tyranid hive fleet en route to Barbed Gate from below the star system plane.
The sudden incursion of Tyranids so far from the Eastern Fringe (the locale of what would be known as the First Tyrannic War) prompted a drastic response from Battlefleet Agripinaa and the local Astra Militarum regiments. A Black Templars crusade fleet that had been using Matteus Epsilon as a refueling and rearming station also heeded the call and declared the beginning of the "Barbed Gate Crusade". Finally, Kill Team Rapier and members of the Ordo Xenos were involved for the more complex assignments, namely assassinations and recovery of key Tyranid alphas and synapse creatures.
A Black Templars strike force engages Zahhak in a spearhead assault, in the wildlands of Barbed Gate.The Tyranid splinter fleet quickly found itself in a ruthless conflict with not only the human defenders, but also the hardy and protruding flora of Barbed Gate and Black Jewel, for which even the ravenous xenos were under-prepared to consume. These difficulties saw Zahhak easily divided and cut off from the bulk of their hive species, making them easy prey for the Imperial forces. The effective culling of the various synapse creatures and leaders, thanks to the efforts of Kill Team Rapier, also saw the efficacy of the splinter fleet's strategies and tactics significantly weaken over time. Eventually, after several months, the splinter fleet had found itself disconnected from the Hive Mind; the Tyranids bioforms of Zahhak reverted to their base instincts, and took refuge in the barbed foliage native to Barbed Gate and Black Jewel. They ceased to be a true threat to the Imperium, reduced to nothing more than a season pest to the human controlled worlds.
But with the ever increasing number of Tyranid hive fleets entering the galaxy in the decades to come, it is likely a question of when, not if, the remnants of Splinter Fleet Zahhak will rejoin the Hive Mind...
The Tyranid Prime known as the the “Caustic Menace”, is ambushed by Kill Team Rapier within the protruding flora native to Barbed Gate. -
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Inspiration for the Order
Inspiration for the Order
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The Order of the Broken Arrow (hereafter known as the Broken Arrow) is the core concept and organizing principle behind my M41 Dark Angels collection. It is entirely a homebrew concept, though I should emphasize that it is founded upon established Dark Angels lore to date as I understand it. It is very likely that as the return of The Lion and expansion of the Dark Angels Primaris marines are explored in greater detail by the Black Library and future codexes, much of what I write and do here won’t line up. The upcoming Lazarus: Enmity’s Edge will also be pertinent to my project, as the core of the Broken Arrow resides in the 5th Company and relies on Lazarus’s status as the “Keeper of the Unseen Ritual” as a major plot point. Still, one can only work with the materials to hand, to date. Besides, a little bit of mismatching, obfuscation, and fuzziness works for a Dark Angels project!
The inspiration for the Broken Arrow springs primarily from The Horus Heresy Book Nine: Crusade and Lion el’Jonson: Lord of the First, both set in M30. At the risk of oversimplifying the incredible lore of Crusade, the Dark Angels of M30 made use of “orders” that existed outside of established Legion organization. These orders were formed of individuals who possessed the knowledge and lore necessary to combat a particular threat. Members of an order carried out their assigned duties in whatever combat or command role they occupied within the Legion until they were needed, at which point the order gathered together to address the situation. Allegiance to an order was not openly declared, but members generally wore identifiers proclaiming their membership to those initiated in the order’s mysteries and arcana. These identifiers could be symbols, trinkets, or even the application of colors in a specific pattern on an armor plate or piece of clothing. The end result of the order system was an invisible infrastructure dispersed throughout the Legion equipped to deal with threats or enemies with targeted expertise, affording the First unparalleled tactically flexibility.
David Guymer’s Lord of the First explores what this order system looked like in practice. I won’t spoil anything here, but it is a good read for those looking to understand how the Dark Angels legion works. Though I should note that despite it being part of the Primarch series, The Lion ends up getting very little screen time.
Before moving on to M41, another important source of inspiration to explore is the artwork presented in Crusade. The sheer variety of colors and panoply, each accompanied with its own secret and deeper meaning, captured my imagination. The Star Burners, a specialist squad of Hellbasters serving in the 5th Company, owed their unique markings to pictures in Crusade.
So all of this is fine and good, but at the end of the day, all of these inspirations are specific to the Dark Angels Legion, which itself was a product of a discrete time, place, and context. Simply importing everything directly into an M41 setting unaltered, in my personal opinion, undoes and ignores the lore of ten thousand plus years. The Dark Angels were profoundly changed after the breaking of Caliban, the trauma of losing their genefather (temporarily, I should say), and the suffocating, omnipresent weight of guilt and shame that accompanied the spread of the Fallen and codification of The Hunt. It is only natural following these revelations that the Unforgiven adapt to a new reality, one far divorced from that in M30. After all, the Dark Angels only got to spend roughly 168 years with The Lion from his discovery in 846.M30 to the sundering of Caliban in 15.M31. The Legion itself had only been operating as a fighting force for roughly 314 years (Palace Coup in 700.M30 to 15.M31). In short, what I am trying to get at is that the Dark Angels spent a comparatively short amount of time as the Angels of Death and First Legion and that though these ancient years are the foundation of the modern Unforgiven, it is not believable that their exact heraldry, organization, and customs would survive intact to M41.
The question then became, how do I incorporate these elements into a modern Dark Angel army? The Lion had not yet returned when I started this collection, so I could not rely on the whole “the Primarch returned and changed everything, so that is that.” It was the 9th Edition Codex Supplement: Dark Angels that answered my question. It noted that 5th Company Master Lazarus was also the Keeper of the Unseen Ritual. This made him responsible for collating the ancient knowledge of Caliban’s ancient orders, and noted that those who possessed such knowledge of the orders were generally Inner Circle [1]. Suddenly it made sense how I could bring the M30 elements I enjoyed into my collection.
Lazarus, through diligent study, had unlocked some of the ancient mysteries, lores, heraldry, order, divisions, and customs of the First Legion. Armed with this knowledge, he used his own 5th Company as a way to apply what he learned. However, his understanding of the ancient past is incomplete. Data stacks may indicate that applying bone color to certain pieces of armor was an honor, but not elaborate on what exactly that honor signified. The Inner Circle also made sure to scrutinize and drip feed Lazarus only that information which they wanted him to know, though of course some things slipped through the cracks. In the end, I had a premise that allowed me to continue collecting and fielding what we understand as modern Dark Angels while also incorporating elements of the past, distorted as it were by an incomplete understanding and deliberate redaction.
With the framework in place, the next steps were to develop the lore for an order within the 5th Company, and develop unique iconography and heraldry for other special units. This of course will be the subject of another rambling blog post.
Thanks again for reading, and of course let me know what you think below!
- Company Master Holden
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[1] Located on page eight of the supplement. As someone who purchased the Dark Vengeance box set when it was brand new, I was disappointed to see that Balthazar had been killed off in such a flippant manner. That said, the Psychic Awakening series and recent Codexes have made Lazarus a more interesting character than he was before. I am hoping Emnity's Edge will continue the character development.
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Sagittarum complete
Now I've figured out the paint scheme, the process is nice and easy to get through and get good results.
Squad Celestus and their Gryph-Mastiff:
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Armiger Talon Intermission
Lil big knights!
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As a bit of an intermission, our group is doing a throwback to our classic apocalypse games with a 30k, 30k game and after a weekend with a horde adjacent Anathema army i really wanted to run something Elite, and aint nothing more elite than Knights with Custodes allies! Both forces having barely seen table time all together, essentially being allies and addons to myriad other forces over the years (Especially the Red King!). It was also a great excuse to pick up a couple of War dogs and marginally de-Chaos them as my faction of House Gevauden is technically a traitor force but the sides needed me to play loyalist, just ignore some of the heraldry ;)
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I also tried a few new techniques on these, fully switching basing scheme and trying a semi metallic metals scheme on the skeleton and trim from Eons of Battle (Check him out on Youtube!)
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This is the Talon leader, marked by the Eye of Horus and lack of chains, but still only allowed a Crescent moon rather than full house colours. Oh and a battered Eagle head :D
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The Leader also has a Claw instead of a chain cleaver because i presumably used it somewhere else, i was working with two Wardogs and a Helevrin but had spares from previous projects that provided the melta guns and one melta lance.
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On to the next doggo, the basing went a bit wrong on these when you look, i mixed some foamboard in under the basing foil and no amount of filler or glue would make it sit right! Its fine at eye level though. I hope :P
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Armiger pilots not of noble lineage are chained into their thrones, they arent trusted not to eject too early, this way the hull has to take a few good hits to make that possible...
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The aged metal effect from Eons of battle really works for knight skeletons, i hate spraying them silver and working down, this comes up from zenithal black/grey with only a sprinkle of silver/gold drybrush, i thing i did too much honestly but im quite happy with how irregular it is :D
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Their arms are technically poseable a little, if a bit stiff, but saves me a job trying to glue them mid painting!
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There is logic to all the seemingly random pauldron art, i had a depository of all my AT scale knights designs unfortunately lost in a Harddrive dying (always backup kids!) Some nice battle damage on this angle too!
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So three more Armigers for House Gevauden, hopefully the new model curse is merciful...
Im sure ive spotted a few errors of course looking at the shots, always more work lol Thanks for bearing with me! - 14
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Leviathan Librarian into...
So, I know I said my next blog post would be looking at my plans for my Canis Rex counts-as…
…but, I was looking at the sprue for the Terminator Librarian and trying to think how I was going to modify it to make it my own (I just don't like leaving stuff without any kind of conversion!) Anyway, sudden inspiration struck! This model:
…is an old favourite of mine. It's a bit dated in terms of scale and proportions, but the character of it is just so cool. So, I figured what if I converted the Leviathan mini into a Terminator Inquisitor? Ruleswise, it's still a TDA Marine Librarian, but in terms of fluff and build it gives me a bit more freedom.
A few hours of bitz rummaging and greenstuffing later and voila:
Obviously, it's not intended to be a straight up copy of the original. Rather, it's just meant to reference some of the original's lovely features; the bionic leg, the null rod, etc. The head is taken from Sir Hektur (which I won't use on my Knight pilot) as it looked about right to me with the tash/goatee? I'm especially happy with the chest icon - I managed to drill out the skull, and the centre of one of the Grey Knight backpack toppers was trimmed down and slotted right into the gap!
Painting wise, I'm not sure about scheme yet… but maybe the light blue chosen by whoever painted the version of the original mini above might make for a nice contrast with my Celebrants?
Anyway, thanks for reading! C+C always welcome. Next time I'll look at the Knight, I promise!
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Death and decay…
… the beginning of the end
Death is a doorway to a new life… death is inevitable…- Read more...
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Saracen's Tau vs Tyriks' Necrons (1000 pts)
I got in another game this weekend with Tyriks and remembered to take pictures this time. We decided to play 1000 points again because we're still getting back into 40k since a long pause during 9th and a shorter break between the start of 10th and now due to life being chaotic. The lists are in the comments below this Batrep Post to keep the clutter down.
Tyriks graciously set up the table for us after drawing a random deployment card, which was Crucible Of Battle or diagonal deployment zones on the short sides of the board edges.
1. Initial Board State
For the mission and rules, we drew Take And Hold with Minefields modifying the overall mission. Minefields causes 6's on advance roles to cause the unit damage and the mission overall is just attempting to keep objectives under your control, capping at 15 points per turn for 3 held. For our secondarys, the Necrons opted for Bring it Down and Engage on All Fronts and the Tau selected Storm Hostile Objective and Engage on All Fronts.
2. Mission rules
Deployment
We both had a generous amount of cover to deploy into and I elected to place my pathfinders in my large center ruin while the rest of my army, which could mostly not benefit from cover anyway, deployed evenly to either side of the main ruin. My rail rifle Broadsides and one squad of Breachers in their devilfish deployed to the left side of the ruin, lining up for a supported drive towards the center objective with an eye at having the rail rifles neutralize the heavy destroyers. On the right side, my tetras posted up on my objective with my high yield missile broadsides and the other unit of Breachers in their Devilfish. Finally, I placed my stealth team on the left no-man's-land objective behind the large rock so they could spot into the other objective zones.
3. Tau Deployment
My opponent placed his warriors on the first floor of his central ruin and his heavy destroyers on the second level, overlooking the battlefield. The ophidians hid behind the small ruin opposite of my tetras eyeing the other mid-field objective behind the rock closer to his deployment zone. His Canoptek Stalker and Hexmark Destroyer lurked in deep Strike waiting to jump into action where they could do the most damage.
4. Necron Deployment
Turn 1
Tyrik's won first turn and decided that discretion was the better part of valor and mostly remained for the first turn of movement after seeing a disappointing advance roll for his warriors, commenting that in prior games rash early movement had gotten him into trouble. Instead, he shuffled his warriors back to hold his home objective and instructed his Heavy Destroyers to take out the pathfinders from their second story overwatch position. A withering barrage of enmitic exterminator fire quickly yielded exactly 10 unsaved wounds for the poor pathfinders, taking the Tau's primary spotter unit out of action before a single Markerlight had illuminated an enemy of the Greater Good. Ending his turn, the Necrons scored 0 secondary points but dealt a major blow to the Tau's spotting network.
In response, Tau shuffled the Tetras over to get a fix on the Heavy Destroyer's with their High Intensity Markerlights and instructed the rail rifle Broadsides to remain stationary, anchoring their battlesuits into the ground to get every bit of stability. The stealth suit hopped out to also gain a spotting angle while the nearby Devilfish jetted onto the objective they had left. The missile-equipped broadsides strode forward and barely got one suit into range of the destroyers as well.5. Tau Turn 1 Movement
Once movement had ceased, the broadside teams opened fire on the Heavy Destroyers and their attached Lord, leading to one wound from the missile barrage and four wounding hits from the heavy rail rifles. Two wounding hits from the heavy rail rifles were absorbed by the Locust Lord, who failed both invulnerable saves but managed to save the unit from potential destruction. The remaining two wounding hits killed off two whole Locust destroyers, leaving a single, minorly damaged survivor amongst the wreckage of his comrades.
6. The lone survivor
Turn 2
The necron warriors with their attached Overlord managed to roll a respectable 3" for their advance roll this round and struck out through the ruin's windows and out onto the center of the battlefield, making a straight line for the middle objective. The living metal of one of the scrapped Heavy Destroyers crept to life and mended the clean, precise rail rifle shot that had put it out of commission only moments before, allowing it and its now-full-health compatriot to jet out of the ruin and down to the objective behind the ruin. The squad of Ophidians slithered to the nearby neutral objective and took it. At the end of all the shuffling movement, the two deep striking units emerged, hopping together on the center objective after failing to find a good backfield area to invade.
7. Necron Movement
The Necron warriors and the newly-arrived Hexmark fired into the stealth suits, managing to down one and put a wound on another despite their powerful obscuring fields. The canoptek stalker fired into the broadsides to its front and then attempted to charge, but only managed to take a wound from overwatch fire before the failed charge roll. The necrons again scored 0 secondary points but scored a single objective: 5-0, Necrons
Seeing the enemy advance into the open, the inexperienced Tau commander decided that they had waited long enough and sent forth all forces for their strikes. Both Devilfish screamed forward and delivered their breachers, sending the Gue'Vesa to confront the Necron warriors and their tau comrades to face down the Ophidians. Both broadside pairs shuffled to get better lines of sight to their chosen quarry. The stealth team jumped back to their original position to mark the Ophidians using the corridor through the the center rocks.
8. Tau Movement (Messed up framing and cut off the bottom of the board :/ )
Starting off the shooting, the Gue'Vesa in the middle of the board fired their full salvo of Pulse Blaster fire, aided by the high intensity markerlights of the Tetras and their Fireblade, and managed to down a little more than half of the block of warriors. The warriors used a strategem to return fire, felling 3 of the human auxiliaries. The Heavy Rail Rifle broadsides threaded a needle through their side of the board and wiped out the heavy destroyers over the heads of their vulnerable human allies. In an error, the Tau breachers fired before the missile broadsides, killing off the two Ophidian Destroyers that their support fire could see. This left their fire going into the Canoptek Stalker, which took no damage from the weak but plentiful missiles. Two objectives and Engage on All fronts were scored: 5-12 Tau
9. Breachers Confront the Ophidian Destroyers
10. Gue'Vesa breachers pouring fire into the Advancing Necron Warriors
Turn 3
Resurrection returned several warriors and one ophidian, leaving both units near full strength ad they advanced forward towards the breachers that had fired into them. The stalker scurried towards the broadside that it had been dueling with since it arrived from deep striking into the center. The Hexmark remained stationary to target the stealth suits.
11. Necron Movement
The Necron warriors fired into the breachers and killed six more breachers with the rapid fire gauss fire, leaving only one of the squad living alongside their attached Fireblade. The Hexmark Destroyer fired into the stealth team and easily felled the remaining two members. The stalker again fired at the missile broadsides but their armor proved fit to handle all the hits, taking no wounds. The other breachers managed to avoid any casualties to fire from the Ophidians and were subsequently charged. In response, they used Emergency Embarkation and jumped back into their transport. The Devilfish was then retargeted for the charge and took 8 wounds of damage from the vicious machines. The stalker charged into the missile broadsides, taking one damage from overwatch, and proceeded to do no damage.
Starting with two objectives and scoring no secondaries again, they gained 10 points: 15-12 Necrons
Feeling the overwhelming onslaught of the Necrons turn the tide in basically a single turn, the Tau began to withdraw as much as they could. The remaining Gue'Vesa piled into their devilfish which jetted down the top board edge towards the enemies deployment zone. The other Devilfish followed suit and fell back over the Ophidians. (I misread the rule at first and disembarked my breachers, but we double checked after the picture was taken and reembarked them.) The missile broadsides fell back in hopes that their counterparts with the rail rifles could swing back around the ruin and fell the T9 stalker for them. Unfortunately, the rail rifle broadsides who had been crack shots up until now failed to wound at all. With only one objective scored and not enough table quarters, the Tau only gained 5 points: 15 - 17 Tau
12. Tau Movement
Turn 4
With a large majority of the Tau force dead and fleeing and with time short (Dang afternoon weddings), the game was conceded by the Tau after running through possibilities for scoring with so few troops left on the board. Necron Victory.
Conclusion
Saracen: I am still learning Tau and I think I made plenty of mistakes this game. It is weird coming from GK and other former armies where 3+ was the standard across the board for shooting and fighting. Tau really need to rely on having spotters available and also need to coordinate to take opponent's down together. I thought a single breacher squad with minimal support would be enough to handle large threats and they really needed to be deployed together rather than on their own. If I would have rushed the center and shot the warriors off the board, Tyriks would have had less of an easy time figuring out how to fight back even though I would have left the Ophidians to move freely. Some lessons were learned and fun was had, though, so I think the game was a success overall.
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The Swarmlord
I haven't had much time for hobby lately, and I spent most of that time building. But I did get some time to work on my Swarmlord (which I may be using as a Hive Tyrant on foot, but the Swarmlord looks cooler so I went for that). Side note - the new Hormagaunts are SO MUCH BETTER than the old ones. I remember spending more time cleaning mold lines than everything else combined when I built them back in 4th/5th. I also have (I think) a handle on how I want to go about the background for my fleet, but I need to work on that more.
So, here's my Swarmlord. The gray I haven't started on (obviously) but the red and bone are looking good. I have tried to use bone in at least 5 armies before now, using a variety of techniques, and never got it to look quite right, so I am very happy to finally be getting smooth, consistent results with it.
My process so far is to do the red first and just be sloppy with it. Its 3:1 Flesh Tearers Red with Contrast Medium, I mixed up a huge pot so I don't have to mix it on every model and get it wrong sometimes. Then I fix the white everywhere I messed up, which is probably the hardest step because it's slow and tedious and doesn't actually make the model look more done, but I'm starting to enjoy it more and more as I get the hang of it. Then the bone parts (mixed up a huge batch of that too, 1:1 Skeleton Horde to medium) and then the gray, which is 2:1 Basilicanum Gray and Medium but painted over with ProAcryl bright neutral gray. I am considering adding some edge highlights, which I am historically not good at, but we will see. Hopefully I can finish the gray here Friday and maybe do the head at the same time.