XBA: The Spear of Telesto

[Majkhel]

Legs still have some visible streaks but the chestplate looks superb! 

[Xenith]

Yea, for some reason yellow and green hate me. No matter how much I water down, and this was with a wet pallette, I get streaks. I've given it a few more coats, and will weather the legs up a bit to hide it 

 

Eliminator with covered shoulder pad so I don't have to attempt the Chapter Badge until the sergeant. 

[Majkhel]

Haven't tried it yet, but a friend of mine recommended using a drop f Airbrush Thinner (in addition to watering down) to improve the flowing qualities of paint.

[Xenith]

Interesting, could be useful - do you reckon lahmian or contrast medium could work also? A quick google says rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol works - good job I just bought some!

[Xenith]

Here's a bit of a better pic of the model when I stopped painting last night:

Lighting isnt great, but the yellow is a bit smoother. I initially tried to shade with nazdreg yellow, which came out a bit orange, and can be seen on he left foot. I then switched to skeleton horde for the rest of the model, which is a bit hard to see on red, but works perfectly on yellow. I'll be using that as a recess shade going forwards.

[Majkhel]

Interesting, could be useful - do you reckon lahmian or contrast medium could work also? A quick google says rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol works - good job I just bought some!

No idea, sorry

Here's a bit of a better pic of the model when I stopped painting last night:

Lighting isnt great, but the yellow is a bit smoother. I initially tried to shade with nazdreg yellow, which came out a bit orange, and can be seen on he left foot. I then switched to skeleton horde for the rest of the model, which is a bit hard to see on red, but works perfectly on yellow. I'll be using that as a recess shade going forwards.

That looks like a definite improvement!

Edited February 2, 2021 by Majkhel

[WrathOfTheLion]

Looking great! The change has come out a lot better I think.

[Xenith]

And a bit more work on this guy on a work from home break...

Highlights are straight wraithbone. They may look better with a yellow glaze over. Shoulder pad was sketched on in pencil, then black checks filled in with sakura micron pen.

Edited February 2, 2021 by Xenith

[paspinall]

 

I have to say, Mephiston was a challenge. The parts fit ok, but the sculpt is pretty weirdly proportioned. I'd has really liked to use the blood wiping hand on the model as an homage to Mark Gibbons's artwork, but the hand is so small, it just looks odd, and it's covering too much of Meph's face for me. Here's how small the wipey hand is in relation to the others. It's tiny. More normal scale than the heroic scale other hands. But it seems an oversight. 

 

 

 

Its almost like that one isnt armoured the difference is so big, though why the glove would have been taken off (not to mention parts left behind look more integral to the glove than not *shrugs*   Love the Deathwatch Bladeguard though, so tempted to buy a few deathwatch just to sprinkle through my normal army 

[Xenith]

 

Its almost like that one isnt armoured the difference is so big, though why the glove would have been taken off (not to mention parts left behind look more integral to the glove than not *shrugs*   Love the Deathwatch Bladeguard though, so tempted to buy a few deathwatch just to sprinkle through my normal army 

 

 

 

Yea, my only thought is that a heroic scale gorilla hand would look odd next to the face,so they reduced it slightly. Also maybe the other hands are bigger as they're wrapped around pistol grips, etc. I might get another to paint for display only and use the wipey hand. I'd go for the deathwatch kit. I have a few DW veterans scattered through my army, they add a nice bit of flavour!

 

In other news, I hopefully have a game tonight, uncertain of points, but probably 1000-1500. I spitballed a couple of 1500pt lists:

 

170 - Captain on Bike: WARLORD Chapter Master, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Angels Artifice, Gift of Foresight, Angel Exemplar (Artisan of Baal, MC Hammer)

130 - Sanguinary Priest: Jump pack, chainsword, Artificer Armour, Selfless healer (2CP)

135 - Captain de Bossola, The Lost: Jump pack, chainsword, power sword, Burning Blade, Imperium's Sword (2CP)

 

130 - 5 infiltrators, helix

105 - 5 incursors

105 - 5 Tacs, grav cannon, storm bolter

 

150 - 5 Sanguard, 2 axes, 3 swords

120 - 5DC - Axe, maul

 

150 - 3Outriders

145 - 3 Attack Bikes: Multimeltas

165 - Bike Squad: 2x Grav guns, attack bike, multimelta

 

1500, 8CP. Basically, there's a lot of tough, multiwound stuff that the priest can res, he'll hang out somewhere between the captain to heal and attack bikes. Might swap the grav cannon for a lascannon to reach out and touch things. 

 

 

The other list was a bit more silly:

 

Elite choice detachment:

 

155 - Librarian Furioso: WARLORD Heavy Flamer,

135 - Death Copany Dread: melta, SB, talons

155 - Venerable Dread, lascannons, SB

140 - Ven dread, multimelta, SB

120 - Stalker, SB

185 - Stormhawk: Icarus, skyhammers

150 - Contemptor Dread: Multimelta

150 - Ironclad, meltagun, seismic hammer, hurricane bolters, 2x HKM's.

 

1290pts so far. I'm thinking of a librarian for psychic fortress or a techmarine for repairs. Maybe just another dread...

[Karhedron]

130 - Sanguinary Priest: Jump pack, chainsword, Artificer Armour, Selfless healer (2CP)

If it is not being used elsewhere, I prefer Armour Indomitus over Artificer armour. You get +1W over the Artificer Armour and you get a one-off 3++ if something nasty hits you. You don't get the 5++ but you only need that vs AP-4 or higher. If you Priest is regularly taking AP-4 to the face, maybe try playing him slightly more conservatively.

[Xenith]

Good point, forgot about the extra wound, I was factoring a one time 3++ vs an always on 5++.

 

I was also going to give teeth of terra to the second lost captain, then swapped for the burning blade - I could always give it back to the priest. 

[Karhedron]

Teeth of Terra is nice, and pretty much the only offensive upgrade available to the Priest. I guess it depends how you plan to use him. I tend to run mine to lead and buff the Sanguinary Guard. They generally hit hard enough so I go defensive on the Priest but other options are available.

 

Of course if you make the Priest your Warlord you can have it both ways. WLT - Selfless Healer, Relic - Teeth of Terra, Angel Exemplar > Artisan of War > Artificer armour.

 

Kinda a lot to stack on one Character but actually worth it in smaller games if you are only running a small number of characters and making sure they can fight effectively as well as buffing.

[Xenith]

Very true - teeth of terra+arty armour on the priest will probably have a greater return than master crafted on the thunder hammer, I think. I think I'll make that change. 

[DistractionTacMarine]

2+ save is almost always better than +1 wound, mathematically speaking

[Rhavien]

2+ save is almost always better than +1 wound, mathematically speaking

Well, then it's good that you get both from armor Indomitus.

[Xenith]

Looking at expanding my 1st Co list to 2000pts.

 

For reference, this was my original list:

 

 

My list - Combat Patrol - 6CP.

TDA Chaplain, storm bolter, relic crozius, WARLORD, Gift of Foresight. Litany of Hate, litany of focus (+1 to hit with ranged).

10 Tactical Terminators: Cyclone, asscan

10 assault terminators: 4x TH/SS; 6x LC's.

5 Tactical Marines: Grav Cannon, Storm Bolter

 

I think I 'd want to add a TDA captain and Librarian in there, and maybe shunt it to a Vanguard detachment so I don't need the troop tax (can't believe I didnt think of this last time). What I need is more THSS termies. Probably another 5. 

 

Bumping to 1500, I get this. The Primaris apothecary with Arty Armour is essentially weaing TDA. It can be arty TDA which gives +1 movement. Who cares. MC plasma blaster on the relic termies might be fun, and can be brought back by the priest. 

 

Forgive battlescribe. It's not helpful. No idea on how to fix the CP issues, but theres an extra WL trait on the priest, relic, angel exemplar, angel ascendant, so should be on 8 CP.

 

++ Vanguard Detachment -3CP (Imperium - Adeptus Astartes - Blood Angels) ++

 

+ Configuration +

 

**Chapter Selection**: Blood Angels

 

Battle Size: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points) 

 

Detachment Command Cost

 

+ Stratagems +

 

Relics of the Chapter: Number of Extra Relics

 

Stratagem: Angel Ascendant

 

+ HQ +

 

Chapter Master in Terminator Armour: 5. Gift of Foresight, Chapter Command:  Chapter Master, Rites of War, Storm bolter, Stratagem: Angel Exemplar, Thunder hammer, Visage of Death, Warlord

 

+ Elites +

 

Primaris Apothecary: Artificer Armour, Chapter Command:  Chief Apothecary, Selfless Healer, Stratagem: Hero of the Chapter

 

Relic Terminator Squad: Grenade harness

. Relic Terminator: Combi-bolter, Lightning Claw

. Relic Terminator: Combi-bolter, Lightning Claw

. Relic Terminator: Chainfist, Combi-bolter

. Relic Terminator Sergeant: Chainfist, Master-Crafted Weapon, Plasma blaster

. Relic Terminator w/Heavy Weapon: Chainfist, Reaper autocannon

 

Terminator Assault Squad

. Assault Terminator Sergeant

. . Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield: Thunder hammer

. 3x Assault Terminator w/THSS: 3x Storm shield, 3x Thunder hammer

. Assault Terminator w/x2LC

 

Terminator Assault Squad: Teleport Homer

. Assault Terminator Sergeant: Lightning Claw (Pair)

. 4x Assault Terminator w/THSS: 4x Storm shield, 4x Thunder hammer

 

Terminator Squad: Teleport Homer

. Terminator Sergeant

. Terminator w/ Heavy Weapon: Power fist

. . Cyclone Missile Launcher and Storm Bolter: Cyclone missile launcher

. Terminator w/ Heavy Weapon: Chainfist

. . Cyclone Missile Launcher and Storm Bolter: Cyclone missile launcher

. 7x Terminator w/ Power fist: 7x Power fist, 7x Storm bolter

 

Terminator Squad

. Terminator Sergeant

. Terminator w/ Heavy Weapon: Assault cannon, Power fist

. 3x Terminator w/ Power fist: 3x Power fist, 3x Storm bolter

 

++ Total: [67 PL, 5CP, 1,500pts] ++

 

Created with BattleScribe

Edited February 11, 2021 by Xenith

[Karhedron]

Some Vanguard Veterans for mobility might be a good idea whilst still fitting the 1st Company theme. SS/LC is still really durable and gives you some good chaff-shredding capability in melee to help protect your Termies from getting bogged down.

[Xenith]

Good idea, I was in a bit of a Space Hulk-/DA-Only mindset, but some vanvets fit the theme also!

In other news, Ive finished the Stalker Tank 'Wrath of Heaven'

All that needs doing is a highlight on the crewmans head - that shade of blue is still in storage...

I also wrote a couple of lists involving a Contemptor, so I thought I'd get mine into a battle ready state. The old boy got mashed in a house move in 2019 and lost some of the charm when i reposed him into what I thought was right, I was never 100% happy with the pose and so he never got painted. Over the weekend I broke him down and put him back together again in a semi dynamic pose that will allow for weapon swaps to a twin weapon configuration if needs be, without firing into the sky.

As of last night, he's undercoated red.

Otherwise, I hopefully have a game tonight, a quick 1000pointer. I was going to go with:

130 - Captain on Bike, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Icon of the Angel, Gift of Foresight (-1CP)

130 - Sanguinary Priest: Jump pack, chainsword, selfless healer, Teeth of Terra, Angel Exemplar (Artisan, Artificer Armour). (-2CP)

130 - 5 infiltrators, helix

150 - 5 Sanguard, 2 axes, 3 swords

145 - 6DC - 1xPowerfist

150 - 3 Outriders

165 - 3 Attack Bikes: Multimeltas

1000 exactly with 4CP.

Same basis as an above list, basically, there's a lot of tough, multiwound stuff, that the priest can res, he'll hang out somewhere between the captain to heal and attack bikes.

Worried that this might be accidentally too strong for a fun pickup game. We'll see! I really wanted to use my freshly painted Outriders in a game, and attack bikes are always fun.

The alternative list swapped the prist for a The Lost Captain with jump pack and Teeth of Terra for the same points. I might use that instead, bit of a fun blender captain.

Edited February 15, 2021 by Xenith

[Majkhel]

Good work on the Stalker. I like the additional scripts and bits added to the rear ramp.
Contemptor's pose is quite nice too. Although the pelvis section seems weirdly positioned in relation to the right leg, but perhaps that's just the angle of the picture.

[Xenith]

Thanks! It does look a bit odd, but I think makes sense in a world of the floating pelvis robots! If both legs face directly forwards, if one leg strides forwards, the groin section has to rotate towards the leg left behind - I think that would be a more natural walk for a contemptor. A normal boxdread might kind of shuffle forwards. It looks better front-on. 

[Xenith]

I managed to get that game in last night, really good to be throwing dice again, the mission was Forward push (where you get minimum 3" advance in turn 1, and the secondary is to perform an action on objectives, closer to opposing DZ objective is the more points).

His list (I forget all the psychic powers...)

Ahriman: Warlord, firestorm, smite, doombolt, healy cult of time power

Daemon prince: Sword, talon, wings, diabolic strength, hourglass of Manat

5 Rubrics: soulreaper, glamour

5 Rubrics: Soulreaper, glamour

10 Tzaangor: Brayhorn

5 Scarab Occult: Soulreaper, Hellfyre, Glamour

Hellbrute: Multimelta, Scourge

My list - Combat Patrol - 3CP.

130 - Captain Raxiatel on Bike, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Icon of the Angel, Gift of Foresight, angel examplar >artisan> artificer armour (-1CP)

130 - The Lost Captain de Bossola: Jump pack, chainsword, Teeth of Terra, storm shield Imperium's Sword (-2CP)

130 - 5 infiltrators, helix

150 - 5 Sanguard, 2 axes, 3 swords

145 - 6DC - 1xPowerfist

150 - 3 Outriders

165 - 3 Attack Bikes: Multimeltas

Mission: Forward Push

Primary: Take and Hold

My secondaries: Relentless Assault, Abhor the Witch, Blade of Sanguinius

Opponents' secondaries: Slay the Warlord, Thin their ranks, Engage on all fronts

Deployment. Thousand Sons won the roll and chose to be attacker, so picked DZ, I amazingly won the roll for first turn.

The Death Co forlorned forwards, and I nominated my Lost captain for Blade of Sanguinius, with my opponent picking the Daemon prince. This would be an epic duel.

BA T1

My bikers pushed down the left flank, with multimeltas drawing a bead on the hellbrute something which could ruin my bikers days. The prince was reasonably hidden, otherwise would have been a better target. I also wanted to save him for melee. The MM ATB's put 6 shots into the hellbrute killing it. Bolters from the bikes and outriders went into the rubric unit in front of the hellbrute and amazingly killed them all, despite all is dust. My opponent rolled 4 1's on 6 dice. At that point I suggsted he changed to blue dice rather than the white numeral ones

Little other shooting, the DC charged into the SOT's, the powerfist missed with all 4 attacks, and the chainswords caused 1 wound. Whoops. At least I'm in the TS DZ so get 4 points for Relentless assault.

Turn 1 shooting phase, after the Hellbrute is nuked:

The Death company Forlorn fury forwards then roll high on the assault jumping over the SOT's to engage them from behind

TS T1

The prince flew forward to meet my bikes, with the aim of killing my warlord. The goats ran forward onto a central objective, and that was pretty much it. Prince got off diabolic strength, and between Ahriman and the prince killed 2 outriders with mortals, then wounded the attack bikes with the other rubric unit. The prince wanted to get my attack bikes, so multicharges them and the outrider, neeing a 5+ to fly over and engage both, which succeeded. Both captains then heroically intervened into the prince, sensing an easy kill.

TS Turn 1 movement, the prince approaches

The prince then beats my biker captain 86% to death with his infernal sword and diabolic strength. I have a 1+ save from arty armour with a reroll from gift of foresight, but a D3 sword strike and D2 talon gets past the 3+ with a reroll, putting him on 1w. Precarious. The hammer captain then misses half his attacks (I thought gift of foresight was reroll one hit, wound, OR save per turn, not AND, which is super powerful). 5 A from that captain, plus 9A from the Teeth captain, plus the outriders and 3 attack bikes takes the DP down to 4 wounds. Pretty rubbish, my opponent made an insane number of armour saves, and rolled hot all night on the 4++'s. The DC finally managed to hit and killed a SOT. 2 points for EOOF, but that's it.

End TS T1

BA T2

That didnt go too well. i'm on 2 objectives. Very little to do, as almost everything is in CC. The Infiltrators put some shots into the Tzaangot killing one, not enough to fail a Ld check. The Sanguinary guard jump forwards, staying within 6" of the warlord, put 4 overcharged plasmas into Ahriman, taking him down to 2 wounds, for the loss of 1 Sanguard, despite rerolling 1's. They then assault and wipe the rubrics, then consolidate into the spawn. The prince then kills my hammer captain, and I forgot to use only in death, but between all the models in the combat, the attack bikes knock a couple of wounds off, and the Lost captain then finishes off the prince to gain full points for Blade of Sanguinius. But the prince then stands up again on 3W using the Hourglass of Manat (we played this wrong and the prince should hav ressed out of combat, but we left him where he was). I remember a ruling on VP's for killing caracters that then resurrect, but I can't find it anywhere - can anyone recall what it was? I'm still in the TS DZ for 4 pts, and 15 from Blade, then 10 from primaries.

TST2

Little to do here again, ahriman moves to attack the SG, killing 2 with smite and firestorm, darmon prince fails malefic talons, then perils's, scoring a wound on himself. It would have been hilarious if he died and got a load of mortals on my dudes. My Lost captain was now warmed up and beat the prince to death with the blunt end of his relic chainsword, to make sure he wouldn't get up again. The Sanguard chopped the spawn up, then looked towards Ahriman. 10 from primaries, 2 from EOOF.

Prince getting mobbed

Sanguinary guard assault as Ahriman starts chanting...

While the Infiltrators draw a bead on the Tzaangor

BA T3

With the prince out of the way, it was the endgame. The Lost captain flew over to Ahriman, the sanguard jumped behind him and the outrider got near also. The ATB's got in position to charge the tzaangor. Between the infiltrators and ATB bolters, the Tzaangor were wiped, the ATB's put 6 multimelta shots into Ahriman, 2 at short range , but he passes 3/4 4++ saves and takes 2 wounds. Captain, sanguard outrider all charge into ahriman. The Captain has 10 Attacks from 4 base, shock, death co, teeth, echoes, hitting 8, wounding 7, and then Ahriman made every single damn save (see below). My sanguard with sword then attacks, 4 hits, 4 wounds...one failed, and Ahriman goes down. The death co then fist the last 2 SOT's, and table the Thousand Sons. Victory to the Blood Angels!

My opponent rolled well for his 4+ invun saves - this was after a T3 charge from the lost captain, 10 attacks with Teeth of Terra, no failed saves. Ahriman 14 out of 15 4++ saves he was required to make in T3. Truly he was blessed by Tzeentch.

End BA turn 3, wipeout for the BA.

Points are calculated as if we'd played the next 2 turns to see what would happen. Resounding victory for the BA, I'll probably take Blade and Relentless again. Abhor was niche, would have been more but there literally wasn't enough PSYKERs on the table.

Results:

My Objectives:

Take and Hold - 45

Relentless Assault - 15

Blade of Sanguinius - 15

Abhor the Witch - 10

Painted - 10

Total - 95

Opponents' Objectives:

T&H - 10

Slay the Warlord - 6

think their ranks - 1

Engage on all fronts - 4

Painted - 10

Total - 31

I think engage was maybe a mistake here, but think their ranks definitely was. They might have missed the 'divide by 10' part when choosing it.

What I learned:

Infiltrators are ok, but they're another 100pts, 10% of the army sat at the back contributing little. I think I need some long ranged firepower that can contribute more when holding an objective. I think I'm in the 'must have ObSec' mindset for any unit I want holding, when in reality, ObSec is better when contesting an opponent's objective, but not necessary on my own, particularly with an agressive army that pins my opponent down fast. Incursors might be more use for going up front. Hellblasters, Stalker Intercessors, or Eliminators might work well in the backfield.

I really need to get clued up on my stratagems and abilities. I could have used Angels sacrifice and death visions 3++ save for example on my DC captain to save my warlord from being killed. I also forgot some rerolls, but I was already winning by that point. In turn 2 I could also have disengaged the attack bikes and used the strat to let them shoot afterwards, probably wiping the tzaangor and ahriman a turn earlier - but that would be insult to injury. I think I'll also use this army with the assault after fall back chapter trait, possibly combined with the +1 to hit on the charge, or 2 hits on a 6+ one, maybe the +1 to advance and charge. That would let me penetrate deep into opposing territory.

The death co were pretty weak, though terminators are not their preferred target. They really need another power weapon in there, or maybe swapped for another 5 sanguard.

My captain is still squishy, despite the 1+, 4++, with T5 & 6W. I think I'll need the priest in larger games to keep the attack bikes running, and heal the captain up, and switch to Angel Artifice for T6 7W.

One of the guys in the club wants to play more competitively, and has thrown down a no holds barred 2k point game in a couple of weeks I think against genestealer cults. I'll chuck up some army lists here for tweaking, but I think what I have right now is a solid base for a larger force.

Edited February 16, 2021 by Xenith

[Karhedron]

Sounds like a fun game. Thanks once more for informative write-up, it is really great to see how all these theories we discuss actually add up on the tabletop.
 

Infiltrators are ok, but they're another 100pts, 10% of the army sat at the back contributing little. I think I need some long ranged firepower that can contribute more when holding an objective. I think I'm in the 'must have ObSec' mindset for any unit I want holding, when in reality, ObSec is better when contesting an opponent's objective, but not necessary on my own, particularly with an agressive army that pins my opponent down fast. Incursors might be more use for going up front. Hellblasters, Stalker Intercessors, or Eliminators might work well in the backfield.

The upcoming Heavy Intercessors also look promising for backfield support as they combine extra durability, ObjSec and longer range, heavier firepower.
 

My captain is still squishy, despite the 1+, 4++, with T5 & 6W. I think I'll need the priest in larger games to keep the attack bikes running, and heal the captain up, and switch to Angel Artifice for T6 7W.

 

Going from T5 > T6 only benefits vs S5, S6 and S8 attacks. A better upgrade might be the Relic Deathmask. -1 to-Hit will provide protection against all incoming attacks and also turn's off enemy ObjSec nearby. It also does not require to spend extra points upgrading your Captain to a Commander.

Edited February 16, 2021 by Karhedron

[Xenith]

Thanks! It did feel a little one sided as I was controlling most of the battlefield while the prince was seeing off my captain, however I think the issue is the rubrics being 1W, which let me shoot them off the table with little effort - as soon as they go to 2w, it'll be a tougher match.

 

Great point about the mask, I'll try that for sure. T6 would have made a difference here as the prince somehow got to S10 from the sword, diaboloic strength and something, so was wounding the biker on a 2+, but better to not be hit at all than have an extra wound. 

 

The 30" range 3 shot assault version on the Heavy Int's might work nicely, but I lose the denial bubble - I guess I can maybe fit both into a 2k list. 

[Xenith]

I've been brainstorming ideas for my own BA Successors as part of my Red Scar Crusade project, to go with the official ones, and have made up a few colour schemes using the B&C Space Marine Painter. These were done pretty quickly, so just go by the main colour of each armour section, and not any weird things in the wrong colour, like I wont be painting the elbow pads a separate colour etc.

I call this the 'Inverse Mentor' swapping white for black and green for red. The eagle will maybe look better in red or silver.

I'm actually a pretty big fan of this one, basically halved black and red, with black backpack.

A variation on the Inverse Mentor, same areas in different colours.

The 'Inverse Flesh Tearer' just swapping the red and black around.

Another experiment on segmenting the armour colour. Just as the Flesh Tearers have black heads on red armour from ash settling on them after the siege, I imagine these guys originally having black armour then with hands and feet painted red with the blood of their foes.

As you can see, most of my thoughts are along the red black and gold lines, but I might try some other colours also. I like the idea of a Golden Angelic Legion.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Xenith