PLOG: Nicodemus Gears-up for a Tournament in May

[WarriorFish]

I think the green gives the camo the contrast it needs, so they've come out very well. Good work Nico :tu: Now finish them off so you can get to the tanks... :lol:

[Father Mehman]

Yay for camouflage! Now to do 200+ and you'll be ready for the offensive!

[elmo]

Nice work on the cloaks and a great plog

Now to echo WF... get on with the tanks already ;)

[scatmandoo]

Look great the Ratlings do. The camo is nice.

 

 

Like the extras on the tanks too. Good progress.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Thanks gents.

 

Well I guess I have no choice -- the tanks must be the next things to finish. Then all I have left are 5 scions and Lord Inquisitor Soulis' new TDA.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Man this forum is so popular these days that in only 48 hours this thread hot bumped to the second page.

 

Anyway I finished the ratlings including basing yesterday. I also did the first layer of the brown camo stripes on the tanks. Tonight I expect to be able to at least do the second layer/colour and post pics.

[WarriorFish]

Finished, but no pictures? I thought you knew better Nico! :P

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Alright alright, here are your pics :

And the tanks with another WIP shot. Just need to paint the stowage, then weathering and battle damage, then paint the commissar:

[scatmandoo]

Looking great so far Nico, love seeing your work.

[Vel'Cona]

Good stuff.  Though painting the Commissar last is probably heresy.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Saving the best for last.

 

Plus I want him to be spic-and-span so by printing him last I can endure none of the weathering sullies his uniform.

[WarriorFish]

Very nice! The tanks are looking great with the camo on :)

[Father Mehman]

Wow, that camouflage is really nice ! They really could be fighting in No Man's Land and get lost amongst the detritus of war. There, I made you a nice, flowery sentence. Feel free to use it in everyday conversation !

[Vel'Cona]

Detritus sounds like the name of an Ultramarines captain or dreadnought.  Just saying.

[WarriorFish]

More like an Ogryn...

[Father Mehman]

At least we can speak coherently: those poor Chaos followers just drool on the floor !

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

The AM forum gets so much traffic these days posting three weeks later feels like threadromancy!

 

Real life has infringed on my painting necessitating some changes to the list. Namely Lord Inquisitor Soulis' TDA will not be ready in time. The Vanquisher and platoon command Chimera will be finished tonight however (pics to follow).

 

I've re-jigged the list to give the platoon squads flamers, drop the autocannons, and add a priest. I like a more mobile/aggressive force.

 

Otherwise just minor tinkering with Soulis' warband adding a second crusader and boosting the plasma Scion squad to 7.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Alright, as promised, here are some pics an added bonus the m tank commander!

CAPTAIN-COMMISSAR NOËL LeBARBERA

As a junior commissar, LeBarbera was initially assigned to an armoured reconnaissance regiment, a major blow to his pride. But he did his duty to the Emperor and was finally assigned to a Destroyer Tank Hunter battalion attached to Lord Jagiello’s Hussars. On his first day on the front lines, he found himself alone in a forest confronted by 18 Blood Slaves of Khorne Predators. Without a thought for retreat or seeking reinforcements, he attacked, destroyed ten of the enemy tanks and chasing the rest from the field.

For two years he remained with the Destroyer Tank Hunter battalion, which won victory after victory despite being consistently outmanned and outgunned. Commissar LeBarbera would not contemplate backing down from any odds, and his steely resolve inspired the rest of the unit.

Covered in decorations he was sent by the commissariat for more advanced tank training, then promoted to full commissar, given one of the exceedingly rare Leman Russ Vanquishers in the Sorgrecian arsenal, and returned to Lord Jagiello’s Hussars as one of the regiment’s commissars.

The extraordinary rank of Captain-Commissar was given him after he had assumed temporary command of the 2nd Company, LJH, and the tankers refused to accept a replacement. For their heroic actions at the battle of Volkovysk, where their lone company had annihilated an entire Blood Pact army, they were given their wish. In the most famous action of that battle, Commissar LeBarbera had again found himself alone while scouting the city’s suburbs, where he encountered a column of some two-hundred tanks, armoured carriers, and other vehicles. Seizing the element of surprise, he charged directly into the heart of the formation. Driving down the road, he picked-off tanks and chimerae one-at-a-time. Only when he’d run out of ammunition did he withdraw, only to commandeer the company’s other Vanquisher and charge back in with the rest of the squadron chasing him into the fray.

And here's the full troop that will be rumbling into battle this weekend:

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Oh, and the PCS chimera is done too, so now Lt. Khodkievich gets to ride into battle in style as a compensation for having his power sword taken away:

[WarriorFish]

They look fantastic Nico, the extra gubbins and weathering make them pop and really fit in with the rest of your force :tu: I'm sure this will see them well on the table top :) The Captain-Commissar is a man after by own heart ;)

[march10k]

I freaking love the red/blue paint on the tanks!!!

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Thanks comrades glad you like them. I'll try to snap a picture of the whole motor pool before the tournament. I'll be bringing the three Russes, two chimeras, and a Hydra all in this paint scheme plus another Chimera and a Valkyrie in inquisition colours.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Really running out of time and it looks like it will be right down to the wire getting my last inquisitorial chimera done in time, so I don't think I'll be able to do the motor pool picture, but while you're waiting for batreps here's a link to the Inquisitorial Storm Trooper platoon who will be deep-striking into battle alongside my Astra Militarum elements (all being led by Lord Inquisitor Soulis of course):

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/294433-the-road-to-astronomi-con-2015-plog/?p=4053965

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

So I attended the tournament yesterday and went 0-2-2 against some pretty savage Adepticon level lists. Considering how many mistakes I made due to lack of experience and rust (hadn't played since July 2014 and played no practice games with my army) I think that is actually more respectable than it sounds, especially considering my two losses were with the guys who placed 2nd and 3rd in battlepoints for the tourney but were closer games than the battle points suggested.

I posted my after-action report in the Inquisition forum here: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/308111-after-action-report-3515-tournament-batreps-to-follow/

But for those who are just interested in the Astra Militarum stuff, here is are my unit reviews:

Infantry Platoon

I don't know why people say close-combat blobs are dead. Mine (20 man) was a boss with the priest. I plan to invest more into them by giving the priest an eviscerator and giving the sergeants their power swords back (this would have increased their killiness so much and I'd have been killing-off marine units rather than locking them in combat for three turns). I should never had listened to the interwebs on this score. So glad that at the last second I removed the autocannons from my platoon and gave them a priest. The PCS in Chimera was a waste though. Better to spend the points on putting a unit that's actually important in a chimera. Those 65 points would have been better spent elsewhere.

Roughriders

They were pretty good for an 88 point unit. They got the charge off in 3/4 games and over the space of four games killed their more than their own points worth. They are made of tissue paper when it comes to shooting. I wish I had a full squad of 10 so that they would have hit harder on the charge (most of the time I was charging with only 4 or 5 riders). When I didn't roll like garbage they brought the pain. The big problem is that they cannot wipe out large marine units in one turn and as I've learned, if you don't wipe them out, the damage you did to them doesn't matter a whole lot. When not fighting fearless Noise Marines I won combat by enough to break the enemy, but thanks to ATSKNF they were right back in the fight so I didn't accomplish much. Still, I'm stubborn, and they weren't nearly bad enough for me to say they're not worth bringing. They're just not show-stoppers (but is it really fair to expect a >100 pt unit to be a show-stopper?) I think bringing two squads of 10 with 2x meltaguns in each probably sounds like insanity to most here, but could actually be good since those make for very fast moving meltaguns (no one else has a 18" threat range on meltas since cruising speed = snap shots).

Veterans

I really want to love my veterans in carapace -- the DKoK Grenadier models are just so cool. But once again they just didn't do much. Drove around in their chimera and fired their meltaguns at some stuff. Not sure they're worth the points. Their shotguns did wound a Dreadknight though. I think they killed a drop pod and that's it. I should have been more aggressive contesting objectives with them.

Tanks (Vanquisher + 2 LRBT)

Tanks were okay but not enough killing power, and with the lack of tanks I faced the tank commander was stuck plinking terminators or Cenurions. The exception was the last game where my Russes caught Khorne Berzerkers out in the open and murdered them.

Ratlings

Ratlings did a nice job of plinking wounds off high T stuff like dreadknight and thunderwolves. For 50 pts they weren't bad, but I think another 10 guardsmen in the blob may have been points better spent.

Hydra

Pretty meh. It should really be a 50 pt vehicle. I faced one flyer all tournament and the Hydra hit its rear 10 armour with three shots but I only managed 1 hull point due to rubbish rolling. I was a bit surprised to see very few flyers at the tournament. Otherwise the Hydra shaved a hull point here and killed a marine there but overall was not worth it. I think the time has come to cut the barrels down to make my Hydra a Wyvern. I faced two of those things in game one and they are disgusting. I probably won't buy a second though because the nerf bat has got to be coming eventually. They're just way too good for their cost.

For those who have enjoyed my narrative battle reports and the storyline of Lord Inquisitor Soulis, you'll have to visit the Inquisition forum

[WarriorFish]

I agree with your assessments. Your first mistake was listening to people outside of the barracks ;) The CC blob o'doom has a good record here so while I don't use it I'm aware of what it can do. Same for Rough Riders - not stellar no but they can find a place. Melta is how I'd prefer to run them I think, but flamers wouldn't be bad either.

 

Hydra needs improvement or a points drop, I'd rather the former. A second Wyvern would be good though even with the inevitable nerf as they're a volume of dice tool, plus the law of returns and all that.