Xenith's Xenos - Eldar, Necrons and Orks

[Xenith]

I've added a Howling Banchee and a Striking Scorpion to my Contrast Aspect Warrior scheme tests:

Giving me one of each of the above. I'm pretty happy with the schemes. I could do plenty to make them look nicer, but this is really a speed test. Each of these was painted with only contrasts, and probably took sub 1 hour per model, including drying time. I've actually written down my recipes this time (!) so I'll be going back to get complete units of hawks and Banshees in the near future.

[Majkhel]

Pretty nice results 

[Xenith]

Pretty nice results

Thanks! Part of the ongoing contrast experiment. I'll probably change the Hawk loincloth to black to match the banshee.

In other news, I have been assembling parts of my Warhammer Imperium subscription, again with contrasts and just to see how fast I can paint some necrons. Not starting an army of these guys. Nope. Not at all. Maybe a 25PL crusade force.

Super fast job, leadbelcher spray, leadbelcher overbrush, all over heavy coat of basilicanum on the silver, then tesseract glow on the weapon, drybrush necron compound on the silver, then abaddon black on the gun to cover the silver/tesseract. The eyes are actually Iyanden yellow, but they havent shown up too well in the poor lighting.

All in all, probably about 20mins or less for this.

Also painted a Lictor for A Bug's Life challenge:

Doneskis!

Well, to tabletop standard anyway...

Edited October 6, 2021 by Xenith

[Xenith]

I'm getting excited for the Eldar codex, so I pulled out the remaining 9 Howling Banshees and got them primed yesterday - now I'll have a unit of almost all the aspects - still missing Shining Spears.

Also made progress on the nids, and am stockpiling primed models to see me thrugh the British winter.

So a spate of semi ok weather spurred me on to prime some stuff:

Exocrine, fully magged C'Fex and 10 ETB borergaunts added to the horde.

The Exocrine is actually magged to switch between that and the Haruspex, but I couldn't be bothered magging the forelimbs - the haruspex ones look better anyway, I'll just say they're for stabilisation. I think it looks good this way, like a giant alien crab.

[Monstra Sumus]

Oh man, this thread is making me want to start my Nid swarm again! 

[Xenith]

Oh man, this thread is making me want to start my Nid swarm again!

Do iiiit!

I honestly think Tyranids are the best looking army when on the table. The massive horde is just ace. If you take a look through my tyranid log, you'll see some in-battle photos:

[Monstra Sumus]

I'm gonna do it.

 

I have 3k points of Nids in the UK I gave to my niece when I moved to the US.

 

This gives me the perfect excuse to start fresh!

[Smoke Frog]

Tons of great work in here. Love the color scheme for your Tyrannids, very icy. And that Deathwing Terminator looks great!

[LameBeard]

Seeing those metal aspect warriors is bringing me joy. Now I think I have at least one around here somewhere …

[Xenith]

I'm gonna do it.

 

I have 3k points of Nids in the UK I gave to my niece when I moved to the US.

 

This gives me the perfect excuse to start fresh!

 

Awesome! Got a hive fleet/scheme in mind?

 

Tons of great work in here. Love the color scheme for your Tyrannids, very icy. And that Deathwing Terminator looks great!

 

Thanks! Took me a few tries to nail it down, but I'm really happy with how it's working out and how it looks on the table. Quick too!

 

Seeing those metal aspect warriors is bringing me joy. Now I think I have at least one around here somewhere …

 

Yea man, they're still gorgeous sculpts that hold up well against modern stuff - clean and uncluttered also, and they take to contrast paint well! 

[Monstra Sumus]

 

I'm gonna do it.

 

I have 3k points of Nids in the UK I gave to my niece when I moved to the US.

 

This gives me the perfect excuse to start fresh!

 

Awesome! Got a hive fleet/scheme in mind?

 

Tons of great work in here. Love the color scheme for your Tyrannids, very icy. And that Deathwing Terminator looks great!

 

Thanks! Took me a few tries to nail it down, but I'm really happy with how it's working out and how it looks on the table. Quick too!

 

Seeing those metal aspect warriors is bringing me joy. Now I think I have at least one around here somewhere …

 

Yea man, they're still gorgeous sculpts that hold up well against modern stuff - clean and uncluttered also, and they take to contrast paint well! 

 

 

Already ordered the Start Collecting box as a basis . Going to give myself a challenge and go for the Tiamet splinter fleet. 

[BadgersinHills]

Lovely painting! 

[Xenith]

 

 

 

Already ordered the Start Collecting box as a basis . Going to give myself a challenge and go for the Tiamet splinter fleet. 

 

Awesome, it's a great box, the savings are good on it - I think you basically get everything for the cost of the Trygon! Tiamet is also nice - and rare to see.

 

Lovely painting! 

 

Thanks Badgers!

 

I manage to get a great deal on some GSC from the Shadow Throne box - seems GSC players are just getting it for the Sabateur, meaning discounts for Xen! I accidentally won 2x sets of all ther other GSC stuff, so now I have a Genestealer Cults army (2x primus, patriarch, magus, 2x neophyte squads)

 

I also have a Leman Russ left over from an aborted attempt at a guard army from years ago, which could be converted to the cause. As such I'm looking at this for a Crusade force:

 

+++ GSC Crusade 25PL (Warhammer 40,000 9th Edition) [25 PL, -2CP, 475pts] +++

 

++ Patrol Detachment -2CP (Tyranids - Genestealer Cults) [25 PL, -2CP, 475pts] ++

 

+ Configuration +

 

Detachment Command Cost [-2CP]

 

+ HQ +

 

Patriarch [7 PL, 135pts]

 

+ Troops +

 

Brood Brothers Infantry Squad [3 PL, 80pts]: Brood Brothers Leader

. . 6x Brood Brother: 6x Frag Grenades, 6x Lasgun

. . Brood Brother (Grenade): Grenade Launcher

. . Brood Brothers Weapons Team: Lascannon

 

Neophyte Hybrids [4 PL, 100pts]: Cult Icon

. . 2x Neophyte Hybrid (Flamer)

. . 2x Neophyte Hybrid (Seismic)

. . 5x Neophyte Hybrid (Shotgun)

. . Neophyte Leader: Autogun, Autopistol

 

+ Heavy Support +

 

Cult Leman Russ [11 PL, 160pts]: Battle Cannon, Heavy Bolter

 

Created with BattleScribe

 

Though this sees me use a Neophyte unit as some brood brothers for a while, which is unideal. 

 

I could also do this, as the reductus looks as fun as hell:

 

+++ GSC Crusade 25PL (Warhammer 40,000 9th Edition) [25 PL, -2CP, 532pts] +++

 

++ Patrol Detachment -2CP (Tyranids - Genestealer Cults) [25 PL, -2CP, 532pts] ++

 

+ Configuration +

 

Detachment Command Cost [-2CP]

 

+ HQ +

 

Magus [5 PL, 85pts]

 

Primus [4 PL, 85pts]

 

+ Troops +

 

Neophyte Hybrids [4 PL, 100pts]: Cult Icon

. . 2x Neophyte Hybrid (Grenade): 2x Autopistol, 2x Blasting Charges, 2x Grenade Launcher

. . 2x Neophyte Hybrid (Mining): 2x Autopistol, 2x Blasting Charges, 2x Mining Laser

. . 5x Neophyte Hybrid (Shotgun): 5x Autopistol, 5x Blasting Charges, 5x Shotgun

. . Neophyte Leader: Autogun, Autopistol

 

Neophyte Hybrids [4 PL, 107pts]: Cult Icon

. . 2x Neophyte Hybrid (Flamer): 2x Autopistol, 2x Blasting Charges, 2x Flamer

. . 2x Neophyte Hybrid (Seismic): 2x Autopistol, 2x Blasting Charges, 2x Seismic Cannon

. . 5x Neophyte Hybrid (Shotgun): 5x Autopistol, 5x Blasting Charges, 5x Shotgun

. . Neophyte Leader: Bolt Pistol, Power Maul

 

+ Elites +

 

Purestrain Genestealers [4 PL, 75pts]

. . 5x Purestrain Genestealer: 5x Rending Claw

 

Reductus Saboteur [4 PL, 80pts]

 

Created with BattleScribe

 

Maybe a little character heavy to start with, but these are small games. I'm sure I could convert the reducted from something. 

Edited December 23, 2021 by Xenith

[Xenith]

I've been dabbling with some Warhammer Imperium Necrons over the break, and am liking what I've achieved. This and getting a Heavy Destroyer for Christmas has me wanting to do a 25PL crusade force of them - I'll be doing a 'class of 2021' photo for all the stuff I've painted last year, so will get some good pics of them then! 

[Xenith]

So with new codex/models excitement, I was motivated to try and get some more Eldar done - this time Howling Banshees, one of the only aspects I dont have painted up (the last being Shining Spears).

These are done exactly the same as the previous test model, with a 50/50 skeleton horde coat on the armour, aethermantic sword, pure skelly on the weapons, then will get gryph hound on the manes. Still havent worked out what the Exarch can get to distinguish her [further] from the rest of the unit. Maybe a white streak in the hair?

I've also made 6 Raveners for Hive Fleet Jabberwocky:

Trying to clear the backlog some more, as well as field hardly ever seen units in my crusade force, I opened up 2 boxes of Raveners I had and got them made - I've magged the middle set of arms, but only done the talons for now. If rending claws ever become sensible on them I can go back and mag those also.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Xenith

[Xenith]

Well, I am absolutely excited for this:

 

 

Warp Spiders are among my favourite units in the game along with Lictors, Hive Tyrants, and anything relating to the weaponised warp (psykers, D weapons), so the autarch with a WJG and Death spinner has me quite excited. I've already asked my FLGS to try and save me a copy of Eldritch Omens, but if they release warp spiders, 2022 is going to be veeery Eldary for me (until they release Nids).

[Smoke Frog]

The banshees look really good, is that contrast paint?

[Xenith]

I'm loving the new Dark Reaper models from GW, as I love all their Eldar stuff. That said, the helms are a bit wonky, something is just...off about them, but the bare heads looks ace - these will be my 4th Reaper unit, and might as well give them the bare heads to distinguish from the near identical 4th ed metal sculpts! 

 

[Xenith]

In other news, I got my Howling Banshees finished, thanks to contrast paints. I reckon this unit took about 6 hours total including drying time, which is something I coudn't have even dreamed of a few years ago. I think my last unit of Aspect Warriors took about a month.

Just pretend you dont see the mould line on the exarch. It was massive, I somehow missed it, and I wasn't about to go back and scrape it off after priming...

As you can see, I was so motivated that I even drew in the banshee rune with a micron pen. The addition of this unit to the army means that all I lack is a painted unit of Hawks and Spears, then I have one of each aspect. Over the weekend I broke out and based my RT era hawks, so they're next!

Edited January 17, 2022 by Xenith

[Wulf Vengis]

Looking good! Those are spiffy looking paint jobs.

[Xenith]

So in the spirit of the all new Eldar, I wanted to try out the contrast scheme on something larger, so here's a War Walker I had to sacrifice!

This guy was painted in pretty much an evening, it's straight tesseract glow over wraithbone, while the guns are wraithbone with a coat of thinned skeleton horde, then talassar blue for the coils and eyes. Now I just need to find a canopy!

The tesseract glow was built up in several layers, feather blending, to try and simulate shading - it kind of worked. There's still some pooling of the contrast in sections, which I'll try to avoid next time, but overall not a bad job for a couple of hours!

Edited February 18, 2022 by Xenith

[Xenith]

In addition to the above WW, I've got my dirty mitts on a copy of Eldritch Omens, and snagged the last Start Collecting! Craftworlds from my local FLGS at a great price - so on top of all the other Eldar I have, I now have a lot more. Hopefully with contrast I'll be able to smash them out as fast as my Nids. 

[Xenith]

Picked up the Eldar codex at the weekend, but havent opened it yet - I thought there might be a larger gap between them and Tyranids, but looks like it isn't to be! Loving playing Xeno armies at the moment, well, Nids, so might keep the Eldar codex in shrink wrap and get the nid one! My Eldar would need a lot of work to get them ship-shape, I have maybe 1000-12500pts painted, while I have much mrore than that of my nids.

[Xenith]

Batrep from my nids!

Great job! Nice colour scheme, the degraded colours, pale blue, white and shadows kind of blend perfectly.

Love your brainy tyrant and the idea of linking the conversion to the higher psychic ability of the hive fleet. Dig it!

Thanks Dogged, the comments are appreciated, that's kind of what I was going for, quite bright, and I'm glad it worked!

Some photos from a game I had at Warhammer World in Feb against 's Nurgle daemons:

Really fun game, this was 1500 each as I recall, so much death going around. The Tyrannofex shone on the smaller board and melted the faces off scores of Plaguebearers (D3d messes with disgustingly resilient) with some lucky rolling, the gaunts managed to hold the other blob up long enough for the hive tyrant to whiff against the Plague Drones, but then Rottigus came into play. I think I might have won this on points, just but would have been wiped out to a bug, good game BCC, and gorgeous Daemons, a pleasure to play against!

[Xenith]

Dusting off the old Eldar Codex after almost a decade of not playing them (I put them down after the 6th ed codex was released and never played them again), it's time to wheel out the broken space elves against all the other broken nonsense in 9th!

This army was started in ~4th ed, after getting continuously pasted by Eldar in 3rd and having a love for the models (and now a student loan). If you can't beat them, join them. Over the years I've collected so many damn eldar, I love them, and it's great to have them on the table again.

This game was against Custodes, nominally a low-competition friendly. I basically took everything I have painted (and some stuff I dont) for Elves, the army wasn't great, and I forgot I didnt have enough transport space for stuff which meant the avengers had to walk, but this was a huge win for the Eldar in Data Scry - my opponent was so afraid of the prisms he hid his jetbikes way at the back, allowing me to move out and claim all 4 central objectives T1 with no repurcussions, and I then flew away when he committed the jetbikes to one flank. I specifically chose not to Link Fire in this game, as it's pretty 'Feels-Bad, Man' for a friendly game, but when my opponent started doing transhuman and no rerolls strats shenanigans on stuff I'd guided, the gloves came off and I link-fired the terminators using my free 6's to hit and wound from fate dice. If you block my rerolls, I wont even roll.

List:

Vanguard detachment (As avengers have moved, I don't have 3 painted troops choices...)

Craftworld = hail of doom and children of the open skies

Seer, guide, doom, falchou's wing, +2 move trait (for a 16" move overall...)

10 guardians

5 fragons

10 banshees, piercing strike, mirrorswords

10 avengers, 2x shuricats

5x scorps, biting blade

vyper, shuricann

3x windriders

5x spiders

2x Prisms

2x Serpents, 2x shuricans

Opponent had:

1x Jetbike captain with salvo launcher

1x blade champion

1x banner with -1 to hit banner

2x3 jetbikes

1x5 custodians

1x3 terminators

Objective thieving jetbikes, and the serpent charged the custides bike to try and hail of doom it to death, or force it to disengage.

Some painted grav things.

Edited April 21, 2022 by Xenith