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When 10th Ed dropped I decided to try and paint up the nids as an exercise in painting quickly and efficiently with good results. Heavy use of Contrast and Xpress paints. Here are the results of my Labour.

+DataRequest: HIVEFLEET\NIHILUS\LEVIATHAN\JABBERWOCKY... ... ... +INQUISITORIAL SANCTION REQUIRED.... ...=][= +ACCESS GRANTED. WELCOME BACK INQUISITOR... ++HIVE FLEET JABBERWOCKY++ Welcome to my attempt to get into the Hive. I have a small Tyranid army from a long time ago that never really got off the ground when I discovered chaos, but I've always wanted to have one. Now, 8th 9th ed, and being out of uni and having a real job means all my wishes come true. After reading the WHCommunity article on nids, and feeling some of the buzz, I went and picked up a Start Collecting! set from a GW, and then managed to score the last Brood Progenitor in stock at my FLGS. Between these and all the Tyranids that come bundled with Blood Angels boxed sets, I have a decent force to start me off. ++The Current Disposition of Hive Fleet Jabberwocky++ Assembled/Undercoated/Painted Leader Beasts (HQ) 'The Consuming Wraith' - Hive Tyrant Warrior Prime (1) 'The Wail of Ballan'Tar' - Neurothrope Trygon Prime (1) Tervigon (1) Neurotyrant (1) Tyranid Prime with Wings (1) Ymgarl Strain (Genestealers) Brood Lord 'The Icharan Dread' (1) Genestealers (16) Brood Beasts (Troops) Warrior Brood (3) Termagant Brood with Fleshborers (20) Termagant Brood with Devourers (16) Hormagaunt Brood (25) Gargoyles (10) Ripper Swarm (3) Barbgaunts (5) Neurogaunts (11) Specialist Genus (Elites) Lictors (3) Zoanthrope Brood (6) Venomthrope on foot (1) Venomthrope Brood (3) Von Ryan's Leapers (3) Maleceptor (1) Harassment Species (Fast Attack) Spore Mines (24) Ravener Swarm (6) A Parasite of Mortrex (1) Destroyer Beasts (Heavy Support) Hive Guard (3) Screamer Killer (1) 'The Elder Talon' - Tyrannofex Hive Guard Alpha Pack - note dermal enhancements (3) Carnifex (1) Belial's Bane - Exocrine/Haruspex (1) Mawloc (1) Screamer Killer (1) Psychophage (1) Flyer/Transport Harpy (1) Tyrannocyte (1) The following Imperial forces have lost troops and materiels to the onslaught of the Hive Fleet Leviathan Tendril designated 'Jabberwocky': The Blood Angels; The Grey Lizards; Drukhari Raiding Force; Custodes; The Emperor's Children; Cadians; Orks Imperial Knights My big grey pile of Nids to paint ------------------- Original First Post My initial messing around with schemes, which are spoilered below if anyone wants to see I ended up settling on the blue skin, white carapace scheme, but with a little purple in the recesses. Currently to my name, I have a painted Hormagaunt, Warrior and Ripper Swarm. Thanks for looking!

Hello folks, It's been a while. Haven't had much time or drive to do anything 40k-related in the past couple of years but I made a few purchases here and there, and the Pile of Grey grows larger. To try and combat that, I've set myself the task to paint every couple of days and to paint the stuff that I feel like painting. In the past, I've always pushed myself to paint models for a specific project with a relatively strict deadline and it never really worked out. I'm hoping this new, more fluid/flexible approach will work better. Anyway, to start us off, I've been painting some Tyranids recently. I got the Leviathan box last year and slowly built up a 1000-point army list for an escalation league in the late summer that petered out after a few weeks. Now, in 2024, a friend of mine is getting into 40k with a fledgling Deathwatch army and I've felt motivated to put some paint onto my Tyranids with the hope that we'll be able to organise a game for some point next month. Here's the result of the first few painting sessions: - 10 Termagants - a Winged Tyranid Prime I'm currently working on the Screamer-Killer from the Leviathan box. I've also got plans to work on some Adeptus Titanicus scale models, some Necromunda gangers, and some Space Marines for both 30k and 40k. Thanks for reading this far; take care!

++Parasite of Mortrex++ Better late than never, and thanks to @Brother nathan for suggesting this unit, one that I admittedly forgot during the UotW series, we finally get around to discussin the Parasite of Mortrex. 10th edition looms large, however there is maybe 2-3 months of 9th left to play with, so lets talk about the ripper-father. What are you thoughts, and how best would you use it? To compliment a list, or to build a list around? Will the beta rules affect your list(s)? What size unit? Will you be running multiple units? What Hive Fleet Traits, Adaptative Physiologies and Stratagems do you prefer and how much does it depend on the above choices? Are you buffing this unit? If so, how? Uses in Matched, Narrative and Open Play Over to you.

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.

So, after several months and a handful of terrible looking models on my desk, I think I have settled on a scheme for Hive Fleet TBD. That's about the only thing I have settled on, though. No name, no fluff, no idea how to base. I am not in much of a hurry, though. I want to take my time and just paint for the sake of painting more than trying to finish a list. That always leads me to make stupid mistakes.

Well, it's over. Took a week longer but.. My Call to Arms Vow is complete! A few closer looks... Yup, still haven't fixed that Barbagaunts Of course, the Parasite of Motrex was just sitting there, begging to be let in on the fun. So here it is, my full Tyranid swarm (was worth over 900pts but now has dropped below this.. Thanks GW! ) For even better pictures look at the included galleries. These past few weeks have been eye opening for me and for what I can accomplish. It also was the realisation of a goal I had over 20 years ago but never did back then: a painted Tyranid army. What was once a pile of grey plastic, is now a hungry swarm, wanting to consume as much biomass as possible! To say I've had a blast would be an under statement. Till next time, Keep on hobbying!

I wanted to show you a completed vow this week. I wanted to show you my swarm as it stood at the moment but alas, I can't. Why not? I ran out of Valhallan Blizzard! So, guess those pictures will be up next week. However, I'm pleased to say that all the bases are now Ice Blue! Termagaunts and Rippers Neurogaunts At least I got something done. Non-nid related though, I've gone back to my Bladeguard and got them all shaded, and I've started re-layering the blue. It's funny going back to the Ultramarines, as I could the Tyranids a vastly different experience with how quick I was able to get them painted. Till next time, Keep on hobbying!

Well I did it. Last Saturday, I posted this picture of the Screamer Killer: Then, a few days later... And now... The Screamer-Killer was the model I was most looking forward to painting on the Tyranids side of Leviathan. I was a little nervous, as while the others had painted up well (see the attached gallery), this guy was bigger. I've also had some trouble recently with my drybrushing, in that I wasn't getting consistency with the amount of paint on my brush. The large carapace on the back was a prime target for mucking up. Luckily it didn't turn out too badly. From several comments, it seems that my decision to do the white teeth and tongue (white scar and Screamer Pink respectively, followed by nuln oil) has added to the figures, which was a relief. While the Ice Storm was out, I sorted the base rim out on a few other units, resulting in these boys being completed (and added to the gallery): All thats left with the white rims is 9 Termagaunts and 8 Neurogaunts. I expect these to be changed within the week. What does this mean for the blog? Well, next week will be another Call to Arms piece as the Vow won't be complete till they're all based! Of course, I'm thinking ahead about a 2nd Vow but it would all depend on other factors... Otherwise, it's time for the Ultramarines to take centre stage as my Bladeguard have been sitting patiently, waiting to be finished...alongside a lot of other minis! Call to Arms Statistics 47/47 Given what I said above, you weren't expecting anything less were you? Of course, there is 5 figures left to base. Till next time, Keep on hobbying!

These weeks are flying by it seems... No rest for the wicked! This week was a marked change of pace, not least because I didn't get many painting sessions in. Like the Winged Prime last week, this past few days belonged to a single model... The Psychophage! At this point, all it had was Ork Flesh, Dark Angels Green and Leviathan Purple on it (all contrast paints, all a godsend for a scheme like this). The patchiness aside, things look OK already! What it needed, was details! A dead space marine's arm and a mouth filled with more teeth than the osmond family (virtual cookie to anyone who got that refrence). With details done, it was off to the last step. You know what it is...Drybrushing time! An alternative angle: Aside from the usual (moot green/ White Scar + Moot Green etc etc) I also attempted to get a nice fade to black going with the smoke, drybrushing with Dawnstone, then manufactorum grey before a last going over with Abaddon black. I may have over did it with the black. As I had Ice Storm out for the base, I took the opportunity to redo some of the other base rims, getting them to match the new style. You can see some of these in the gallery linked to this post. Some that I did, you'll get to see next week when everything will (hopefully) be based. With the Psychophage done, let's have a look at the stats: 46/47 One model left to do...Wonder who that could be? See you next week to see how he turns out! Till then, Keep on hobbying!

Week 6 of Call to Arms has come and gone, and if my maths is correct, this is the half way point! This week I technically didn't get that much painting done, but I finished stuff, like these Von Ryan's Leapers: I tried to have a transition going on with the top most scything talons, and it sort of worked, well, worked enough that I set about trying it again on this fella: Can't see it at this angle but I darkened (with extra layers of Leviathan purple) the points of its claws, the edge of it'd knife horn, and the tops of its spine ridges. A session, some syabrite green (I keep spelling that wrong), and a helping of Nuln Oil later, I had this: Around about this time, I did a small test to find the new base rim colour I was going to use following several helpful comments. The choice was between Administratum Grey and Arky Painter's Ice Storn, the one I went with was... Ice Storm. Its really effective at catching your eye and goes well with the rest of the colours. Then it came to Friday, and I got my basing groove on. Barbagaunts Termagaunts I've started the long process of changing base rims over to the new colour, a little work here and there. Call to Arms stats: 45*/47 miniatures painted *3 aren't based yet, and that is the Von Ryan's Leapers. I suspect they'll be finished with the Screamer-Killer and psychophage. So close to finishing now, so close in fact that I've already been thinking about what to paint afterwards! That will be a topic for another time. Till next time, Keep on hobbying!

A quick update this week! Last week was spent working on batches of Termagaunts and a couple of Barbagaunts, and this week....I spent working on the last batches of Termagaunts and Barbagaunts! The 3rd batch begins: By now, everything is running like clockwork on these, so within a day, I had them at this point: and then the 4th batch from here: to here: By the end, It took me two sessions (roughly 1 hour a session) to get one batch done (5 Termagaunts and 1 Barbagaunt). If you're wondering why there is no group shots of them all together, that would be because I didn't get any basing done this week so hopefully next week I can get the full 20 Termagaunts up here in their glory. Same for the Barbagaunts. What else did I do this week? Well, last week I actually got a game in! It was only a 750 pts a side game against my sons blood angels and most of my units performed really well (the Von Ryan's Leapers were men- Err things! Of the match). My Winged prime however, didn't do so hot. In fact, he landed like a wet squid and failed to do anything. As I look to the future, it's not looking like he'll have a place in the army list unless something changes (like shrikes). Other than that, I started these 3 bad things: an hour and a half to do 3 lots of purple armour! Lets hope it was worth it! My Call to Arms total then is as follows: 41*/47 The end is in sight! * okay, 12 of them aren't based but you know, the main painting work is done. Till next week, Keep hobbying!

Week 4 has come and gone, so what did I do? Paint gaunts. It took one session to complete the 1st batch (of 5 Termagaunts and 1 Barbagaunt) from where I left them last week: So with reckless abandon, I started the next batch straight away There was nothing new that happened with the 2nd batch other than deciding to do two Barbagaunts now instead of later. I spent a lot of time going around and fixing mistakes where I found them, trying to eradicate white gaps in the green flesh. Eventually though (after 3 tedious sessions), I got them complete as well. I want to point out here about the white base, specifically the rims of the base. Given that I was going with a snowy theme, I thought it made sense to go white. Little did I realise how much of a headache it was going to be. I've been using white scar as Mt go to white for a little while, finding it superior to Crovax White as that one was a chalky mess. The colour though is very transparent, and that's before it's thinned down. Given that, I wanted to look at an easier way to do it. I tried Army Painter Lawful White (and ran into the exact same problem). Then I tried store brand paint (in this case Wilkinsons) and found it even worse. Until I can get a different brand White again, I'm stuck using 4-6 layers of White Scar. Friday came, and with it... Basing. That's 10 Termagaunts and 3 Barbgaunts based which brings the Call to Arms total to: 29/47 I'm officially half way through! Next weeks update will probably be a short one as I've still got plenty of gaunts to get through! Till then, Keep on hobbying!

Another week gone, another week bites the dust! You get the idea... In some sense, I didn't get too much done, but in another, I got a bit done! From my last blog post, I started the week by continuing with the Neurogaunts and Ripper Swarms: At this point, all their base colours were done, which meant time for fun with drybrushing! Here, I pressed ahead with the Ripper swarm and got them finished. The Neurogaunts also had their flesh drybrushed like the Neurotyrant before them, though I added an extra stage here where I mixed more White Scar in. Didn't quite go the way I planned in my head but that's life! Seeing that the finish line was close for these gaunts, I pressed forward! Heres the completed Neurogaunts, standing proud, despite their likely hood of being used on the tabletop being quite low at the moment. Having them done meant I could turn my attention to the Termagaunts. I decided on a different approach with these guys, in order to preserve what little sanity I had left, I moved to paint them in small batches of 5...and I threw in a Barbagaunt for good measure! Wasn't long before they were at the drybrush stage as well! I added a new shade of green to the mix here to help differentiate the normal flesh from the guns. I used Dark Angels Contrast for this task, and it appears to do the trick. Of course, the biggest news this week? I got things based! Neurotyrant (and Neuroloids) Ripper Swarms Neurogaunts I can officially say that I've now fully completed 16/47 miniatures! With any luck, I might be able to push that to 28 by next Saturday...wish me luck! I'm hopefully taking better pictures of the completed units this week, and I'll add them to the Tyranid gallery. Till then, Keep hobbying!

Week 2 as come and gone! While I'm aware that this blog is going up later than it should, I'm still covering the same time scale, and I'll promise to do better next week! Anyhow... When I left it last time, I'd done the task of covering every flesh with Ork Flesh (and knocking it over in the process) while also starting on the neuroloids. I promised a Neurotyrant afterwards, and here we go: The aethermatic blue came to the rescue again and I also put colours on the base (including the poor space marine who lost his body at some point. I also used white scar on the teeth, followed up by a coat of nuln oil. As I was going for a unit by unit approach, it meant I could go to the next step for this three, bring on the drybrushing! My drybrushing recipe is simple. For the flesh, it's a go over with moot green, going pretty heavy with it. After that, I mix some white scar in there, approx a 3:1. Usually, that's enough but looking at some figures ahead, I'll probably go further by adding in more white scar. The purple parts is actually the same except instead of moot green, I use (rather fittingly) Genestealer Purple. These new tyranids are made for drybrushing, the texture on them catches the brush at the right points and it looks great. The brains, I was initially going to leave, but in the end, with the white scar still out, I gave them a drybrush on the top most part of the brain. It's subtle in the pictures but more noticeable in person. All that's left now is basing, which is what I'm hopefully doing this soon, taking these three and this next squad I'm about to talk about. The Neurogaunts, the purple on these seemed to take forever, and while it probably didn't help that I added the Ripper swarms, the amount of time it took to get these done was a bit much...Knocking over the Leviathan Purple over twice (twice in one session!) added some salt into the wound. As of the Friday (the day I'm using as the cut off for these blog posts) this was the state of things: I gave the rippers some tongues using Screamer pink, and I had to keep going back in to what I'd done with the Neurogaunts as I noticed gaps of undercoat everywhere. It drove me mental. Goals for week 3? Neurogaunts done. Neuroloids, Neurotyrant and Neurogaunts based Termagaunts started. I'm going after the Termagaunts in blocks of ten, but I may revise that given how much of a pain the Neurogaunts were. We'll see. Till next week, Keep hobbying!

I managed to get my first game of 10th Edition in on Weds night and thought I'd report back - there was a lot of on the fly learning going on, so I forgot to take photos from the start, and only remembered to get them well into the game. This was a 1500pt battle missions/temptest of war style game, we both picked random objectives. Mission - Supply drop - 3 objectives in no mans land, one dissappears in t4, the other in t5. Diagonal deployment. I don't remember the exact secondary objectives, so wont list them. Tyranids Hive Tyrant, lash whip+bs, venom cannon Parasite 20x termagants - fleshborers 20x termagants - devourers 10x horms 10x horms 5x barbgaunts 3x VRL's 3x venomthropes 3x zoanthropes 3x zoanthropes 3x raveners with thoracic weapons Screamer Killer Exocrine 160w Dark Angels Belial (w/knights) Vindicare assassin Judiciar - heavenfall blade (w/bladeguard) 10x hellblasters 6x aggressors with flamers 6x bladeguard 5x deathwing knights, master with flail 1x landspeeder hailstrike 3x eradicators 113w DA won the roll off for T1 and went first. DA T1 Remarkably little died, maybe 10-12 gants, a few gaunts. They played devastator doctrine for advance and shoot, so the aggressors sprinted 10" towards the objective on the top right, one stepping onto it, and then flamed one unit of gaunts T1, killing 9/10. Hailstrike fired the grenades into the gaunts and the rest into the screamer, doing a couple of wounds to the screamer and thankfully rolling low on the shots to the gants, despite getting +8 shots for the 20 of them - maybe 8 died. The venomthropes had a lot to do with this, giving the gaunts stealth and cover for a 4+ save at -1 to hit. Las-fusils shot the screamer, doing loads of damage, they're somehow D6 damage this time instead of the 3 they were before! Screamer is on 6w. DA achieve both secondaries, one of which was hold most of the no mans land objectives, and hold the one nominated by me. Nid T1 In my command phase I endless swarm the mauled hormagaunt unit bringing 6 back to life, then use it a second time with my tyrant on the termagant units , restoring 4 to one and 5 to another. As units were above half strength, no battleshock tests. Screamer moved forwards towards the aggressors, who overwatch it, lots of hits, 3/4 wounds with twin linked, no damage. Screamer shoots them and kills one, then charges in and bounces off with shocking rolling, killing one, before getting punched for 4W in return - I'm crucially holding the objective though vs the one aggressor on it. Exocrine shoots the eradicators and rolls a one, killing one. devilgants shoot them putting a wound through. I give up and charge them with the horms who do some damage and drag one down, however a couple get punched to death in return. I still hold that objective. Zoans shoot the bladeguard, killing maybe 1. VRL's get onto the middle objective, taking it, but dont charge due to the players whose turn it isnt having the advantage on the charge. I get the secondary for taking an objective from the opponent and one other. DAT2 Belial appears behind my exocrine, who overwatches and doesnt do anything. Belial fails the charge into the exocrine, needing a 10 for terrain. Eradicator falls back and the hellblasters shoot the horms, wiping them. Bladeguard charge the VRL's, who strike first and do nothing, getting killed in return.Aggressors punch the screamer to death (twin linked). Speeder moves onto central objective and shoots the tyrant and gaunts. NidT2 I drew defend stronghold and somthing else, so had to hold my home objective v belial. I used shadown in the warp to force break tests, and absolutely everything passed with marines Ld6+. pointless exercise. Heal the terms back to full with endless horde strat and moved the borergaunts onto my home objective to tie up belial, hopefully for the game. Zoans move forwards and opponent uses overwatch to put the lasfusils into them,killing one. This allows me to move my horms onto the objective held by the aggressors, denying it to them. zoans and gaunts put shots into bladeguard reducing them to one guy + judicar. Tyrant multicharges bladeguard and speeder, murdering both bladeguard and judiciar, despite them striking first (T10, 2+, 4++, 4+++). Exocrine kills the last eradicator. DAT3 Belial move toward the exocrine, ignoring the gaunts, who scuttle towards him to try and block the charge, but also getting most on the objective, staying within 6" of zoans and venoms for the boosts. Belial gets the charge and poor rolling sees only 4 wounds knocked off the exo. Aggressors flame then punch the horms, taking back the top left marker. hellblasters pop the right hand zoans. no primaries for DA. Nid T3 Exo falls back to thwart belial. Gants shuffle more onto objective to stop them from toeing onto it and shoot belial, doing nothing. barbs shoot belial, doing nothing. devilgants shoot hellblasters, amazingly killing 4. With all my bad luck with zoan shooting, I forget about the blast warp blast and go straight for lance, with CP rerolls to protect me. Left hand zoans lance the aggressors, hitting, wounding, killing. The D3 shot blast is a trap, as you might just roll a 1 anyway, so 1/3 time you're better off with the better shot, even moreso against 3+ wound targets. Reveners pop up on the bottom right objective to hold it, out of LOS of the hellblasters. Start of DA T4 - the alpha objective in the top left has been removed from no mans land. After this photo, Belial moved towards the exocrine who opten to overwatch. To counter all my bad luck in this game so far, I rolled a 6 on the attacks, for 9 shots, then amazingly this: From 9 shots, I rolled 5 6's, garnering an additional 5 hits. So 10 exocrine hits on belials knight unit, which was enough to wipe the remaining 2 and the grandmaster. That was pretty much game over right there. My opponent didnt have that much to threaten me, and no objective positioning, while I was all over the board. Mop up time. Evrything shoots the hellblasters and the raveners charge in finishing them off. Overall this was a fun game, with a lot of swings, however we spent a lot of time checking and double checking rules. This will get better hopefully as we get more used to the game. I'm not 100% sure it's less complex than 9th - each unit now has a bespoke rule that triggers all the time, as opposed to a set of universal special rules that are easy to remember. Some of the time consuming decision making still exists, like bladeguard having to choose whether to attack or defend, and then additional reactions like overwatch, while cool, slow the game down when you have to measure who is in range of what etc. It works in heresy as heresy is a faster system with pass/fail for saves, and no modifiers. In terms of unit performance, this is what I think: Hive Tyrant, lash whip+bs, venom cannon - B+ - Venom cannon is pointless in this edition, ill go full melee next time. The free strat per turn is amazing. Parasite - D too weak, too slow, cant join gargoyles, sub par melee. Should be 50pts or so. 20x termagants - fleshborers - B- Solid unit, output ws poor, but kept in the game with strats and held them objectives 20x termagants - devourers - B+ decent output, did some good damage, took up a lot of space. Better with a tervigon to proc lethal hits. 10x horms - A - cheap, cheerful, fast, did the job of dropping OC20 onto objectives, surprisingly good in melee with 30 attacks per 10. 10x horms - as above 5x barbgaunts - C - poor positioning from me meant they couldn't hit the opposing moving units. Considering the points they cost, I'll give them a C for performance, but a B+ for being 5pts per wound, and 10W and putting out average 18 shots. 3x VRL's - C - in this matchup. Good for a speedbump but not much else, they can't break through power armour. 3x venomthropes B - flat -1 to hit on everything is great, however they have zero damage output of their own. 70pts is a tricky investment. definitely if you're running more monsters, as the -1 will hurt lot shot stronger weapons more, also a good pick for infantry for the +1 save. 3x zoanthropes -C+ Undecided. The blast version was underhwhelming, the lance was ok, but on BS3+. The battleshock thing never came up nd is too close range to ever have an impact on zoans, who want to be at 24" range. 3x zoanthropes 3x raveners with thoracic weapons - A- great unit for the points - same cost and identical statline to VRL's however with deepstrike and twin linked instead of stealth and infiltrate. Deepstrike allows stealing of late game objectives, and twin linked is worth it's weight in gold with the increased T across the board. Screamer Killer - D+ - T10 and 3D is about the only great thing about this. It seems overshadowed by carnifexes, who despite having 2D are...1/3 cheaper at 120pts. I think 3 carnis are better than 2 screamers, and they get the blistering assault rule, and you can add OOE. Exocrine B+ - Blast means it cant shoot in combat, gun is still swingy from 4 - 9 shots (100% variation) At 135pts though, this is a good option, and T10 to boot, so overall a solid pick. Tyranids overall Adapations: The 3 'options' to privide to nids at the start (sustained, lethal on vehicles or precision hits) is silly, and only sustained hits to me is a good choice, outside of playing knights, which is never fun anyway. Precision is dumb as you'll put the odd single shot into a character, that likely wont kill them. Maaaaybe it'll have some use against stuff with really weak characters in...tough units? I haven't read all the indexes yet, but I don't see any characters so far that buff their units to such an extent that you need to kill them asap - in this game, perhaps the judicar, which would have stripped FF from the bladeguard? In my opinion, 90% of the time you'll be taking sustained, it's just so good, as exemplified by the exocrine above. Shadow in the warp was poor, which you can realise just by reading the rule and looking at Ld stats in the game. My opponent did, however only just pass many of the rolls, so I think you'll need to bake a neurotyrant into every list if you want to have a hope of this having an effect - even then it just takes marines from a significantly above average chance to pass (Ld6), to a very above average (Ld7) chance to pass. I wouldn't even think about this, never mind building around it. A flat -Ld when within 12" would have been nice, thematic and useful.

Last week, like many of the people here, I embarked on the Call to Arms forum event, (perhaps foolishly) vowing to paint the Tyranid half of the Leviathan box. This is 47 miniatures in 3 months...easy right? Let's see how I got on... The painting started on Saturday night as I drybrushed all the models with White Scar, this didn't take too long and I was set up to move to stage 2 of my process, the green flesh. I use Ork Flesh Contrast paint here: This was the first batch painted, and as the week progressed, more and more were done. So stage 2 is done...and I think I'm going to be focusing on squad level from here on out...as seen with these two: I used Leviathan purple contrast for the bone/armour and aethermatic blue for their brains, which worked out well. End of this week, I'm hoping to have these two ready for basing with the Neurotyrant on his way at the very least. Let's see if I make it that far! Till then, Keep on hobbying!

With a crestfallen heart, I must announce that we've come to the end of this little Building Leviathan series. I mean, It's hard to continue something when it's all built! Today, all I had to do, was 10 Infernus Marines and 1 Dreadnought... First up: These went togethed easy enough, though I did wonder about why GW designed them to go together as they did. Like the one Marine where you put the pieces together verticality. Still after an hour or so, I had the full squad ready to do some burning. excuse the fact I'd already clipped some parts out, got a bit eager to complete the last model. The build was straightforward but not without problems, namely that nothing wanted to fit securely. There was a definite wobble within the torso and the legs. With the dread complete, we get a final day's group shot. and here's all the marines: and here's everything for a glorious mayhem! Overall the box delivered what it promised, 72 models with some classics amongst their number. I'm itching to get started on painting duties. From now until the end of September, I'll be using this blog to catalogue my Call to Arms attempt, so expect the first post about that soon! Till then, Keep on hobbying!

Day 5 of building the Leviathan box and I finally reach an important milestone! I started off by going back to the last Tyranid sprue (the one with the Neurogaunts and Barbgaunts) and started clipping off the Barbgaunts. This was a unit that had piqued my curiosity during the reveals, and their unique ability to slow down opponents (doubtful they would actually kill anything but luckily that isn't their primary function). Some of that enthusiasm was drained away by the build as several pieces refused to fit together properly, leaving the worst gaps on any of the Leviathan models so far! I did manage to finish them, and I still like them, just the torso gaps annoy me. With the Barbgaunts complete however, it means I can do this... The Hive Fleet grows ever more. Painting will start for them Saturday where I may (or may not) have pledged them for A Call to Arms! It felt really good to pass this milestone and to see the beginnings of my revitalised Tyranid collection. With the Nid side of the box complete, it meant I had to turn my attention to the Space Marines... As it was getting late, I only did the Apothecary Biologis and the Phobos lieutenant but both seemed to have their own little niggles. For the Apothecary Biologis, it was a problem of my own making as I made an error when cutting the head off from the sprue, taking some of the helmet detail off along with it! Guess it's battle damage now... With the Lieutenant, not of his parts seemed Stable (and the strap never wanted to reach the weapon). I may try and fiddle with him a bit more before he's primed up. Not a lot done I think you'll agree: Looks like five dead xenos! Current totals are: 7/12 sprues done. 47/47 Tyranids (Woo!) 4/25 Space Marines (not so woo) 51/72 total. Tomorrow I'm hoping to have the Sternguard and the best unit of all, the Terminators, done, that'll help even the score some what! Keep on hobbying!

Day 4 of building Leviathan and the end is in sight for the Tyranids. I should point out that on average, I get about an hour and a half of free time a day, which isn't a lot for building a box of Leviathan's size! However the building today was focused on the gaunts. My first task was to get the lsst sprue of Termagaunts done and dusted, bringing the total to a healthy 20. Needless to say, these will not be the last Termagaunts I'll ever build. With them done, I turned my attention to some other gaunts... First up was the Neurogaunts, and while small and simple, boy were they annoying! The issue I was finding was that, for whatever reason, they refused to sit flush on the base, and I found little room to apply pressure to make them fit. The Nodebeast was the only one of them to consist of more than two parts. I had wanted to get the Barbgaunts done but as I almost fell asleep holding the clippers, I knew I'd have to leave them... So end of Day 4 added these: I really underestimated the size of the Neurogaunts on their itty bitty 25mm bases. Tally so far: 7/12 sprues done. 44/72 figures built 42/47 nids Just five more nids till prime time... The Space Marines however...I'm sure 2 very 42 is fair! Till next time, Keep on hobbying!

So Day 3 of building Leviathan and what did I do today* Well, I was through messing around...It was time for the Screamer Killer (oh, and I guess the Neurotyrant + drones) The Neurotyrant was a smooth build and i was surprised by the detail that was just covered up by the 'armour', the designers really went to town on him. The Screamer Killer on the other hand, seemed to have developed a case of gapitis. No matter how much I filed down the contact points the two body pieces would not meet flush in the chest area. The back was fine as was the tail. Another problem was its right leg (the one standing on a bit of rubble) at first I thought it was fine, the most minor of gaps but when it came to putting it on the base, the leg pieces seemed to push each other apart! Took some effort to get them back together. With plenty of time, I decided to not stop there... it was time to really bulk up the numbers! Building the Termagaunts was simplicity in of itself as each model was 4 pieces (two body pieces and two arms). A better builder than me could probably customise further to really make each figure unique. Building this first sprue (you get two in the box) didn't take that long, I think I spent more time fighting to get the Ripper swarm in its base than it to build a single gaunt. I still don't understand why GW made it legal to have a minimum of 3 bases per unit for Rippers yet only included 2 in the box! At the end of Day 3, this was what I built: and this is how Hive Fleet Boreidas is looking at the moment... As for now, I've completed 6 out of 12 sprues (apparently I can't count) and 20 models out of 72 (20 out of 47) on the Tyranid side. The space marine side is looking quite outnumbered now at 2 out of 25. Funny to think that the remaining 27 nids is on two sprues... Till next time, Keep hobbying! *- I write these a day after the fact, so Day 1 was the 24th etc etc etc. Expect to see more gaunts tomorrow...of all shapes and sizes.

Day 2 of Leviathan building...Let's get to it. I had a bit more time and more choice, so I decided to get the large, multi-tooth elephant muncher out of the way: The psychophage wasn't a bad build persay but there was some annoying parts. First off, the little legs/arms it has. Unlike the four bigger ones that lock in place, these two little ones don't and they got annoying when it came to putting it on its base as I had to keep adjusting it to make sure it was flat. Secondly, as reported elsewhere, there was gaps where the two halves of the body met on the back. I had filed down the nubs already and it was seamless every where else. With this psyker eater done, I thought it made sense to do his meal... No complaints here with this guy, and somehow, only my second Librarian. he was a quick build, and since I had some time left... I let the swarm grow some more with the addition of Von Ryan's Leapers. Only trouble I had with these guys was the number of times I pricked myself when attempting to push their arms in, those spikes aren't just for show! So, at the end of Day 2, I'd added these to their respective forces: thats one dead Librarian if I ever saw one. Roll on to Day 3! Keep on hobbying!