Hive Fleet Solerön

[WarriorFish]

Pictures always helps, and you can't go wrong making a tutorial on something as chances are someone else will want to do it at some point ;)

[Brother Nathan]

Will do. Might b getting another kit soon for a conversion to a bigger gribble so may be able to do a full tutorial... it'd not the greatest fit doing it but it's still both models... Will show you tomorrow when I can get a chance to upload it

[Brother Nathan]

ill put it in my blog too so as not to take over your blog. excuse the half finished paint job

 

kit options iv magnitised

tyranno fex options fitted. for the main thing not done is the chest spikes are not fitted. this does leave dimples that i do need to fill with greenstuff but seems relatively minor to give the option

if you can make it out i rotate the belly up and on to get it on. its not as flush as if it were glued on and any basing in there needs to be low profile to allow fit in. failing that it should be possible to magnitise the two sides of the sack together for a better fit. am getting another tyranno fex kit to convert so should have another belly spare to try that with 

hopefullly that helps and gives an option for assembly that helps

[WarriorFish]

I'm thinking I'll just do the Tyrannofex bits and leave the Tervigon for a new model. What size magnets did you use and how well do they hold the arms, especially the Rupture Cannon?

[Brother Nathan]

i use 5x1mm neo. 200 was £9 off amazon. one in each socket holds it no issue, i think you can see in the blury pic its not even touching the ground. i just cut the shoulders senough to give a good flat surface for gluing.

[WarriorFish]

That's good, thinner magnets require less work to put in too. I didn't expect a 1mm magnet to be quite so strong so that's good to know - I've been thinking of restocking my magnet supply so maybe I should be seeing what else is out there. They're not that expensive in the grand scheme of things so having options isn't a bad thing :)

[Brother Nathan]

exactly my logic. they sit in alright too. didnt widen the socketand covered the ones in the socket in glue to give a bit more rotational grip and painted over them too i dont see any issue with any of them rotating with weight even the single limbs. will try it on the big crusher claws i just glt but recon theyll be the same. 

maways a use for the magnets somewhere too... ive been playing around with making full sized purity seals and will be doing a few as fridge magnets lol. (do need to figure a nid equivilent...)

[WarriorFish]

The Hive Fleet grows some more with some Zoanthropes!

Does anyone use Venomthropes or is the packaging optimism from GW? I'll probably do the Tyrannofex next, then these I reckon but I'll keep my plans flexible as to any particular order

[Xenith]

Woop, more brain bugs! Venoms are pretty useless - the points are better spent on more of the thing you're trying to protect. Zoans are money though. 

[WarriorFish]

Yeah, Venoms are one of the units I forget exist because they're bad... but who knows what the next codex may bring? I look at the tendrils and think about transporting them also, but when isn't that a concern for nids

 

I need to finish the replacement work on the Trygon as it's holding up my nid progress, as I will also be gap filling it and the Broodlord prior to priming. I do have a good block of holiday in at the end of the year though so I hope to be able to make ground then

[Brother Nathan]

ive only ever gotten a single venomthrope model... fail to see any purpose or them and dont wish to buy anymore specially this edition rules.in contrast ive 6 or so zoans and still want another set of them... seems to be quite a few parts left over from them though... should be possible to make something interestingly malenthrope like using em and the left overs from the hive tyrant kit... 

[WarriorFish]

It has taken a while, but the Broodlord and Trygon are ready for priming:

I think the gap filling went nicely, and the replacement chimney piece should hopefully not be too obvious once it's all painted up. Quite a large model at least in terms of how upright/tall it is so I'm looking forward to getting to the painting stage:

I've been working long enough to reach it I am in the process of mixing up a large pot of the thinned Agrax wash, once I've got the ratio matching a bit more I should be able to make speedy progress as I have always been better at larger models. I'm focusing on my Sons to try and complete the Rubrics this year but I'm sure I can get some decent progress in on these too as breaks from all the detail

[WarriorFish]

Busy time of the year as always but I have sneaked in some hobby time here and there. I've got the basic colours on ready for some white layering so things should start coming together soon:

I may focus on the Broodlord first to split the work up a bit, as he shouldn't be too much work once I've got the white done.

I should have grabbed a picture of the carapace for the sculpting work, but maybe it's best to wait for a more finished article? The replacement chimney piece turned out well as it doesn't stick out I also realised too late that I glued too much of the model together on the base. I reasoned correctly that there was enough room to get to the sides of the tail to paint the Rakarth Flesh... but neglected to take into consideration the spikes

Fortunately an old dry brush came to the rescue to allow me to reach everything ok which was lucky. I've also rediscovered my original thinned Agrax wash pot which has some in so I'll be using this as a reference on my new large mix to help get the consistency right as it hasn't quite been there. So while progress maybe be slow I can't complain as things seem to be coming together

[The Pounder]

Looking good!

 

Can’t wait for the end product.

[WarriorFish]

It has been a while since I've updated, progress has been slow with limited time but I have made it count when I got it Got to the texturing for the bases so only a few more steps to go:

The Broodlord shouldn't take too long to finish now so he may still get a priority finish. The Trygon is starting to come together nicely:

The replacement sculpted has turned out better than I expected now it's all painted up, I don't think anyone would notice if they weren't looking closely While the remaining work doesn't involve many pots it of course involves a lot more on the Trygon, not looking forward to all that white edge highlighting but I'm confident of getting them done in the week.

It's strange to think that the full return to work is what marks gaining more available time, but that's the time of year for you Once these are done I think I should drop back into the odd handful of nids here and there to help recharge after the Trygon, I really should get the Rubrics done before I start any larger projects. Once these and a few more gribblies are done I'll be attacking the thropes or Tyrannofex

Oh and as a bonus I sorted the big pot of thinned Agrax too so it has a better consistency - though it was literally full to the brim for it Luckily I had quite a bit of nid waiting for splash so the lid closed ok in the end

[Brother Nathan]

Can't tell which one it was so good job. Looks sweet

[WarriorFish]

Thanks! It's the top right one on the inside, you can see it's a bit thicker - I was lucky in that it wasn't a particularly special part that people would look at, more of a background part I got some more work done yesterday with a quick stint over lunch and more on the bases in the evening. I plan to finish the highlighting today which would mean I have a clear path to finish this week as it'd just be the teeth, eyes, and claws

 

For the next gribblies I think it'll be more Genestealers after hearing of how they good a much needed boost in the GSC codex. They were planned anyway but this is good motivation for painting so they get to move to the front of the queue I'll probably attack a few more Termagants afterwards then be ready for a more substantial project

[WarriorFish]

Been a while coming, but the end result is what matters - both the Broodlord and Trygon are done

Both models are quite impressive in their relative size, looking forward to seeing them together with other models for the complete picture.

Magnetised shot as I didn't put all that effort in for anyone to forget

The low sun was somewhat of a pain, but you have to take what you can get this time of year. Feels like some time since I finished a model, or is that me thinking of nid models? There's something about the scheme where it doesn't come together until right at the end so I was wondering if the Trygon was going to work, but it turned out well. I'm pleased with how my first large nid model has turned out so looking forward to the next one, which would be the Tyrannofex as my only other large model

Before then some smaller models I haven't forgotten my plan. I will see what the future holds Though I do have the other two fail weapons to magnetise and paint up that can site alongside one of the small batches easily

[WarriorFish]

In the nick of time for their inaugural game:

Soler

[Brother Nathan]

This is how I feel fighting. You loose more than you can kill it will just keep going against you in battle. Fexes seem overpriced fir what they deliver. I'd suggest looking at leviathan as the new strats etc and such may make the differance. I had to make a chary to compare hive fleets and was going with the more cc bosting fleets til I realised most good nid units are shooty so it's better imo one that improve lifespan and use a strat or such to say increase charge range. Also the gland on the trigon prime I can't remember exactly but I think the normal gland may deliver better and allow the inv save thing instead or a durability buff

[WarriorFish]

Yes, I could see the scales increasingly tipping early so it wasn't a surprise to run out of juice near the end :confused: A lot of nid bigger critters are T6 which really doesn't help on durability.

 

I am exploring options to see what I can shake up, unfortunately my available models are what they are so there's only so much I can do at the moment. My focus should be in shooting I think too as a clear weakness so maybe the Tyrannofex can make it not quite so limiting?

[WarriorFish]

No point hanging around, as the Zoanthropes should be reasonably quick to paint up as they're not that big best start now:

Weren't much work to assemble which is a bonus, the heads aren't glued to make them a bit easier to paint :tu: I'll take my nid projects as I go especially as I've yet to do my list review so I might go in a different direction but realistically the Tyrannofex is either next or near to it :P

[Xenith]

Tough game! I think the terrain very much helped your opponent as it was clear and open in the middle - exchanging positions of the tank traps and the ruins might have helped with more obscuring in the middle. I do feel Nids have to play the movement and table denial game at the moment to win games. Looking at the final positions, you might have done well with raise banners, as the marines didnt make it across the table. A lictor or 3x rippers would also be great for engage, and Retrieve data/scramblers/linebreaker. 

 

More mortal wounds are a great tool to deal with anything - between the broodlord, neuro and zoans, you're looking at ~6 wounds on stuff, which is 2 dead eradicators, or half the wounds off the redemptor. 

 

In terms of the list, metamorphic regrowth used to be one of the best choices, if you had a lot of monsters, but I think straight Leviathan beats it now. The 6+ feel no pain is definitely better than the 6++ on gaunt species, especially with the other benefits you get from being leviathan. The broodlord gets nothing from enhanced resistance as I recall, so it's better on the warriors who actually become quite tough then. 

[WarriorFish]

I should have poked the terrain yes, but still getting back into regular games and of course the army! I will be doing a top to bottom review to see on improvements, the upgrades and the like in particular as I'm still finding my way around them so I need to spend the time reading them all in detail and planning better.

 

I was hoping to keep the Broodlord going but we can see how much that helped. There's a thought too, I have a boat load of Rippers and they'll be quick to do - the type of unit I need to sit on home objectives. I'll need to juggle my Troops but I'm always running out of them anyway Maybe try a large gaunt squad so they have more staying power, and might absorb more small arms from the rest of my forces?

 

Feedback is appreciated as always, I feel like I'm starting to get a good handle on things - though there's a way to go yet (but learning never ends anyway)

[Xenith]

Yea man, glad to see you getting a hold of the army and back into games. 9th is an uphill struggle, especially when playing multiple armies as you;re doing, but it's rewarding when you have chunkc os the codex commited to memory/know your standard go-to strats. 

 

Key nid players for me are (in kind of a favourite order):

• Hive guard - A+ damage dealers. Non-LOS shooting is so powerful in 9th, and they have great guns. 
• Zoanthropes - dont do massive damage, but really tough to shift, and will tie up opponents. 
• Lictors - awesome for getting engage, ROD, linebreaker/whatever. These will likely win you the game, or 70pts of lictor will likely translate into 15VP's for a secondary. Great ROI. 
• Neurothrope - awesome cheap HQ, hard to target, hard to kill, can chuck out ~4MW per turn, or catalyst on something. 
• Hormagaunts in synapse range. Amazing tarpit - run/advance/stratagem them to 4" away from your opponent if possible and dont charge (gives your opponent free attacks). This ties up your opponent's move phase. 
• Rippers - more of the same, hard to see, innate deepstrike, but are beasts/swarm so cannot perform actions. 
• 1 biovore - that free spore mine placement if you miss will mess with the opponent. 

Love the idea of but not used:

• Exocrine - never used but on paper the shooting is great, but it's a bit vulnerable. Needs strat support to stay off board, but will kill things dead. 
• Devilgants - with the latest point change these seem strong. 30 of them in strat reserve with rerolls from Jormungandr, or somewhere else is crazy.