For Your Viewing Pleasure

June 2, 2018, 12:00 am

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It's a rare occasion when the WoofBoot plugs something that we didn't create (we're insular like that), but here's something where we can all come together...

... the telly!


At the start of this year, I ran through a list of the 40k YouTube channels that had caught my eye - both for entertainment and a means of orientating myself with the game. The top of the list, Winters SEO, has just teamed up with another YouTuber, MoarHammer, to create an on-demand channel - the Deployment Zone.

It all seems very straightforward: if you like their YouTube battles, you'll get more of them. Plus narrative campaigns, tactics videos and discussion-type episode where Winters empties out his encyclopedic knowledge of the Warhammer lore. As a bonus, it's available in App form, so you can watch it on your phone (handy for the serial commuter).

It's not the only on-demand batrep channel out there, but it floats my particular boat, with focus on good narrative and variety. I've found others to be too competitive-orientated - including Warhammer TV's Twitch channel which (and bless them for trying) just doesn't translate to the 'overhead camera' tournament-style that favours, for example, X-Wing.

The cost is about the same as pot of shade, and after trawling through a lot of online battle reports, I've concluded that my most valuable resource is time. I'd much rather spend my limited time with a few high-quality batreps per week, that watch a load of sub-standard stuff for free.

Anyway, if you would take the advice of this humble subscriber (who derives no benefit from this promotion - why does no-one sponsor tiny blogs with no audience?), they're worth a look. This channel, more that any other, was responsible for getting me back into 40k (though my poor leadpile is not amused)

Visit Deployment Zone TV here

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Look Good, Pay Less

June 4, 2018, 3:38 am

≫ Next: Change It Up: Thousand Sons vs Black Legion

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Very nearly the last of the Crypt Angels!

Just three here, but quite a hefty trio. These paired Primaris Dreadnoughts came with a weapon swap and various magnetised bits, which was a blessing as it makes the gun options much easier to paint.

I didn't have space to finish the slogan on the scrollwork. 'Good Coffee' is how it's supposed to finish.

Nice big armour surfaces, so plenty of opportunities for some freehand. Nothing too surprising here, of course, just the usual toothy flappy stuff.

Same frame but with the assault cannon instead.

And some base flare - stones and tufts, plus a bit of brass in the form of a shot-up sign.

This one is the easy-fit one. There's a tiny bit of missing detail in places where you don't care (bottom of the hull has fewer control panels, the smokestacks at the back aren't hollow), but it's otherwise identical.

So far, so easy. The big flat surfaces were simple enough to do, so I took a bit of extra time on the layering and edging. Vehicles are good like that, you don't need to do anything too fancy for them to turn out nice. I splodged a couple of times with some sloppy drybrushing, but I was able to touch it up as battle damage, so no harm done.

The last guy is the very opposite of a nice, big, simple vehicle. It's Guilliman.

Jeez, this is a daunting model. The last time I did one of the super-powered names of the Warhammer world, it was Archaon. He's massive! And very expensive, so you want to do him justice. Same with Robbie here, but he's much much smaller and has a ton of tiny details. Especially on his goddamn base, which would have been much easier to handle separately. Take note, future self, don't glue the base on until you've painted it.

Not that my future self is going to stoop to buying the King of the Ultramarines. Way out of my price range for starters, but he's also devilishly fragile. Those braziers at the back came off once each, and his eagle-winged pack is held on by threads. He's not going to enjoy his ride home to the UK, I fear.

At least I'm not painting him smurfy, which meant daubing over his U symbols to turn them into maws. No painting guide here today, it's exactly the same blends as the rest of his chapter. He looks good in red, I reckon. Wonder when he'll see the table? Probably just in time to get stepped on by the new Knights, I'd guess.

Just one model left to do for the Crypt Angels!

Change It Up: Thousand Sons vs Black Legion

June 5, 2018, 12:00 am

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What's this? An actual battle report not conducted over Skype?

On the weekend, General Kasfunatu made a surprise deepstrike into Stylus Towers. Naturally, I was setting up the battle table before he could even cross the threshold.

For speed and convenience, we grabbed the exact same lists we used last time I hosted a Traitor Legions clash. I let Kasfunatu (represented here in bold type) choose his side, but it was all a piece of Tzeentchian trickery on my part: I was either going to field the side that tabled me last time, or play an army that would have learned from all its weaknesses. Victory would be mine!

Armies

The Unkindest Cut - Black Legion

As it transpired, nether of us got to choose. Stylus Junior was involved in the set-up of the game, and he's taken a shine to the Helbrute, and so he insisted I played him.

Yes, I was going to say that is wasn't much of a "choice"! Although I would have liked the Helldrake, I was happy with the pyschic heavy Tzeentch list given my love of magic in Fantasy.

And so I find myself at the mercy of Kraken's list-building. The only amendment I made was to not spend the additional CP to get a redundant Relic. It was bad enough that there was no room in the Rhinos for my characters.

• Chaos Lord with Jump Pack (HQ)
  Plasma pistol, Power sword
  Relic: The Murder Sword
• Dark Apostle (HQ)
  Bolt pistol, Power maul
• Sorcerer (HQ)
  Bolter, Force sword
  Psychic power: Death Hex, Prescience
• 10 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
  Aspiring Champion: Plasma pistol & Power maul; Bolt pistols, Chainswords, 2 x Melta Guns.
• 10 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
  Aspiring Champion: Plasma pistol & Power maul; Bolt pistols, Boltguns, Heavy bolter, Autocannon.
• 10 x Chaos Cultists (Troops)
  Autoguns, Heavy Stubber
• Helbrute (Elite)
  Helbrute Fist, Heavy Flamer, Multi-melta
• Chaos Rhino (Transport)
  Combi-bolter, Combi-melta, Havoc launcher
• Chaos Rhino (Transport)
  Combi-bolter, Combi-plasma, Havoc launcher
• Heldrake (Flyer)
  Baleflamer, Heldrake claws

Points: 1200 | Battalion: 8 CPs

Court of Miracles - Thousand Sons

This left Kasfunatu with my Thousand Sons force, which was great as I knew where all the cheat codes were.

(although since the taking of this photograph, the Mutalith has acquired a Vortex on his back. Hope that doesn't tip the scales...)

And been painted; that extra reluctance to shoot a painted mini is bound to help me.

• Exalted Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch (HQ)
  Force Stave, Inferno Bolt Pistol
  Warlord Trait: Otherworldly Prescience
  Relic: Dark Matter Crystal
  Psychic powers: Warptime, Diabolic Strength
• Exalted Sorcerer (HQ)
  Force Stave, Inferno Bolt Pistol
  Psychic powers: Prescience, Death Hex
• 5 x Rubric Marines (Troops)
  Force stave, Inferno Bolt Pistol, 4 x Inferno Boltguns
  Psychic powers: Temporal Manipulation
• 5 x Rubric Marines (Troops)
  Force stave, Inferno Bolt Pistol, 4 x Inferno Boltguns
  Psychic powers: Weaver of Fates
• 19 x Tzaangors (Troops)
  Brayhorn, Tzaangor Blades
• 5 x Scarab Occult Terminators (Elite)
  Force stave, 4 x Inferno Combi-bolters, 4 x Power Swords, Soulreaper Cannon, Hellfyre Missile Rack
  Psychic powers: Tzeentch’s Firestorm
• Tzaangor Shaman (Elite)
  Force Stave
  Psychic powers: Glamour of Tzeentch
• 3 Chaos Spawn (Fast)
• Mutalith Vortex Beast (Heavy)

Points: 1196 | Battalion: 8 CPs

Battlefield and Deployment

We went with Cleanse and Capture (three tactical objectives per turn, all the usual rules). I spread out across the field (not trying to remember what Kraken had done, honest). Cultists hunkered on one objective; Heldrake ready to race upfield; Plasma-Rhino with Dark Apostle; Melta-Rhino with chainsword-Marines; Sorcerer cowering behind them; bolter-Marines in the ruins on another objective; and Helbrute on the flank.

Kasfunatu spends three precious command points putting the Tzaangors and the Tzaangor Shaman into the webway.

I'd enjoyed dropping big units plus their associated hero during the recent SWoffboot and the Tzaangors seemed like a good option. Additionally, with their horn, the deepstriking 9" away was less of a hinderance as they'd only need an 8 on the dice.

After that, there's not much left: Rubrics and Exalted Sorcerer on one flank; Rubrics in the centre; Exalted Disc Sorcerer, Spawn and Mutalith on the other flank.

It made sense to me to put the Mutalith and Spawn together, and I though the warlord would be a good boon to assist. With all the power on one flank the other marines were dropped on objectives, and the second sorceror assisting the far flank.

Being able to drop two units with one stratagem means that Kasfunatu actually finishes first, and gets the bonus to going first. Of course, rolling a 6 for that helps too.

The Game

It's a fairly quite start, as the webway units can't properly deepstrike until turn two. The two Rubrics hold fast on their objectives while the Mutalith and Spawn surge forward. Various psychic powers are thrown around, and the Mutalith opens the shooting phase with a pair of buffs that make the Spawn into some deadly combat units.

I'd drawn a lucky objective, defending one of the spots that I was safely ensconced upon.

The only real action comes when the Rubrics on the left flank target my poor Cultists. Already softened up with Smite, they loose a handful more until the surviving four are looking at a -6 Morale check with Ld 6. I roll a four, which would cause the whole unit to scarper. After much internal debate, I decide to spend a command point and re-roll it. I have a chance to deny First Blood here, and having a sole Cultist as a cheeky objective grabber could be useful.

So I go ahead and roll a 5.

It's about halfway through the next turn when I realise two things: 1) Black Legion Cultists benefit from the +1 Ld boost, and so my original roll would have been enough to pass. 2) I am dumber than a bag of hammers.

In the same turn we would have retconned, but things had shaken up a lot by that point. Hammertime remains.

But who cares about Cultists! In my turn, I move aggressively: the Heldrake soars forward right into the squad of Rubrics (I've seen that done somewhere before), while the Rhinos charge up the midfield and the Helbrute squares off against the Mutalith.

The Heldrake burns the Rubrics into dusty ash, and then charges in to eat the remainder. Only the Aspiring Sorcerer survives (or course, he passes his Morale check), which is a bugger, as I had an objective card for killing a Psyker, and it would have shifted him off the objected that both Kasfunatu and I want to defend.

Sadly, that's the most luck I have this round: the Helbrute's multi-melta misses, and all my small-arms fire can do nothing more than plink off one wound from a Spawn.

Webway time! Kasfunatu advances the Spawn and Mutalith towards the Heldrake, but the real action is when he unloads all twenty Tzaangor and their Shaman minder in the far corner, eyeing up my Heldrake. It's a ballsy move, because if they fail their charge, they would be stranded out on the edge of the battlefield (I'd forgotten he still has a Dark Matter Crystal to get him out of jail).

The Scarab Occult Terminators also make their appearance, into the space in my backline formerly occupied by the Helbrute.

Psychic powers abound (it's tough to keep track of them when you're facing Thousand Sons - you mostly just keep your head down and pray it ends quickly), but the most significant one was the Exalted Sorcerer getting off a mega-Smite at the Heldrake, then knocking six mortal wounds off him. He also heals a wound on the Chaos Spawn, so they're back to full strength.

In the shooting phase, the Mutalith continues to buff the Spawn (in Tzeentchian style, Kasfunatu is letting Fate decide all his powers), then the Terminators open up on the Chaos Space Marines, gunning down all of them bar the Champion and two heavy weapons guys. A Helfyre missile pips off two wounds from the Helbrute for good measure.

In the charge phase, everything makes it in - yes, even that massive blob of Tzaangor against my Heldrake (who can't overwatch because he's still busy trying to eat that Aspiring Sorcerer). With buffs from the Tzaangor Shaman and Exalted Sorcerer, plus Veterans of the Long War to aid them, the wee blue birdmen tear their bigger cousin from the sky before Kasfunatu has even finished making his wound rolls.

With a final act of spite, I do manage to crash and burn my Heldrake. the Tzaangors won't notice the missing guy, but it does remove the last Rubric model, so at least I can score that point!

Desperately trying to take the initiative, I pay Command Points to interrupt with my Helbrute. I put all my attacks into the Spawn (who are still crazy-buffed from the Mutalth's powers), but only manage to score a couple of hits (with a re-roll, I'm consuming Command Points here). Even worse, because his Helbrute fists inflict a flat 3 damage, both hits get soaked on the four-wound Spawn (so that one healed wound proved significant).

Thank you - it was Stylus's sporting suggestion in the previous round to suggest I used the heal.

The poor Helbrute is torn to pieces by the gribbly tag-team, and that's the end of Kasfunatu's turn.

Time for the fightback! I unload all my close-combat Marines (with meltas) from the Rhino and start moving towards the Spawn. The Dark Apostle follows close behind to shout instructions at them. The Chaos Lord swoops down from on high, polishing up his Murder Sword, glaring at the Thousand Sons warlord and wondering what the hell's been going on in his absence.

If I don't mention my Psychic phase, it's because I'm not sure my Sorcerer ever managed to cast anything. Although Kasfunatu did have an objective to Deny the Witch, so at least my incompetence was keeping him from scoring even more.

In the shooting phase, both melta-guns somehow manage to miss the ruddy great Mutalith in front of them. At least the Rhino shows them how it's done, and meltas off five wounds. Other small-arms fire gets rid of another Spawn, while the autocannon plinks off a Scarab Terminator (I do like an autocannon).

Away to the charge phase! The Chaos Lord revs his jump-pack, then discovers he's forgotten to refuel the promethium! I fail the charge, even with a re-roll and all of a sudden, my murderous lord is looking quite exposed on the flank.

I do make the charge into the Spawn and Mutalith. The Champion decides to take on the Spawn by himself (a brave decision, also I had miscounted how many wounds he needed to chew through) while everyone else hacks at the Mutalith, aided by Veterans of the Long War.

Very kind on the "miscounted". Both Stylus and I were responsible for our own wound markers, and both knew what our own meant.. but I count wounds taken not woulds left... so Stylus thought he needed 1 when he needed 3.

The Spawn is handily slain, and I do take another half-dozen wounds from the Mutalith. This would feel like progress, only the damn beast regenerates wounds, and keeps getting healed from the Rubric on the backline. In return, his tentacled maw gobbles up a few more marines.

"Stop telling us what do to, Dark Apostle. You don't even have three colours!"

In Kasfunatu's turn, the triumphant Tzaangors manages to cross half the field, aided by Warptime and a good charge distance to swarm all over my stranded Chaos Lord. They manage to daisy-chain back to the Tzaangor Shaman for their re-rolls, but are out of re-roll distance of the Exalted Sorcerer ... except these relic-hunting beastmen can re-roll all hits when going against characters.

Already weakened by Smite, my poor Lord doens't stand a chance, and goes down to a flurry of feathers, his precious Murder Sword destined to be a trophy of the Silver Tower.

Elsewhere, the Scarab Terminators gun down the last of the bolter marines, and the Mutalith continues to chomp down, leaving only three marines left to flail away at him.

Maybe the Rhinos can save me? I order a death-charge of the vehicles: one into the Tzaangor, the other into the Mutalith. The Dark Apostle and Sorcerer also charge into the fray, although for some reason I pulled the three combat marines out. I don't know what I was thinking - there was an objective I could claim in the next turn, but making it that far seemed absurdly optimistic.

Sure enough, the best efforts of my vehicles and characters couldn't make a dent. Both characters get chewed up, and the vehicles taken down a couple of pegs too.

The Shaman had buffed the birds to a state that the Rhino could not hit them and just drove around waiting to be blown up.

Kasfunatu wraps things up in his fourth turn. The Rhino standing in the way of the Tzaangors gets Smited to pieces, and with the addition of the Scarab Occult Terminators, the other Rhino and its two supporting characters get quickly mashed. The three Chaos Marines who tried to sneak the objective get gunned down in short order, and serve them right, the cowards.

We call the game before the badly-damaged Rhino goes pop for a tabling, but it's been a massacre. While I scored on measly Victory Point for killing a Pysker (my only kill of the game), Kasfunatu's been racking up a hockey score of objectives and kill points. Chalk this one up to the Sons of Propsero.

Result: Thousand Sons Victory (11 VPs to 1)

Locker Room of Terror

Hmmm. So I play Thousand Sons against Black Legion, and I get tabled. I play the identical Black Legion list against Thousand Sons ... and I get tabled. If there was only some common factor in these defeats, but I'm not seeing it.

In truth, I got a schooling in a very literal sense. Kasfunatu demonstrated some very effective ways to use my Thousand Sons that I hadn't considered (or, had considered, but never remembered to do). Putting the mass of Tzaangor into the webway is the most obvious one. I'd considered 20 x 32mm bases a bit of a footprint to get anywhere useful on the field, but it would be a crowded battlefield where they couldn't fit somewhere. And if you want to relocate them, there's always the Dark Matter Crystal. One thing I wouldn't do is spend the extra 2CPs to put the Shaman in with them. The speed of the Disc riders should be enough to fly them into buffing range.

You are probably right. Set him up centre table and, even if does not make it straight away, will be there for the second round.

Also, putting Tzaangor into deepstrike also takes away the option to pepper them in turn 1 (something that Kraken showed me last time). Despite T4 and a 5++ save, they're not great at absorbing small-arms fire, Much better to have your opponent waste shots on the Rubricae - as I did.

The use of the Scarab Terminators was also spot-on. I always think (despite how I actually play them) that they're better at bullying weaker units. Dropping them into the backfield where they could gun down my marines and keep out of immediate danger was the right move.

I also didn't play the Black Legion terribly well (not having a plan doesn't help with that). I think a robust castle approach, screen by the Rhinos, might have helped me more - with nowhere to deepstrike in, the Thousand Sons may have struggled against my guns.

So my run of defeats continues, leaving me primed with most valuable learning. Just As Intended.

Muppet Baby Cthulhu

June 8, 2018, 12:00 am

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Or a Mutalith Vortex Beast, if you want to be pedantic about its taxonomy.

Still reminds me of a itty bitty Cthulhu. Who ya gonna call?


This holy terror has been a staple of our Skype battle reports foryears, so it's been proxied several times.

That alone should have been incentive enough for me to obtain one, and when the Thousand Sons codex imported a couple of Age of Sigmar units across to the grim darkness, there was no holding back.

Got a hankie?

Although GW's marketing department outsmarted themselves - they bring out a lovely new carrot for using one of their big, expensive models, and then run of of stock for months on end. Fate favoured me, however, and Kasfunatu was able to sort me out with one of his unwanted boxes.

BEHOLD! OCTOPUS-FACE AND HIS FLAMING KUMQUAT OF DOOM!

It's easier to assemble that it looks. Although the fact that (by design) it doesn't resemble any logical physiology can make it tricky to be sure exactly which bit goes where. To make transport easier, the tentacle-face and back-vortex are magnetised (and leaves the door open if I want to swap it around and have a Slaughterbrute too...).

No less weird from this angle.

Painting it was pretty fun too - I'm coming around to Kraken's way of thinking about painting up big monsters. The only wrinkle came, once again, from it's absurdist design - it's not entirely clear where carapace begins and underbelly ends. Still, it's not like anyone's going to point to nature to prove me wrong.

I had two tries at painting him - the first was looking too 'natural' (if that were possible) and I didn't want any resemble to biological credibility (he's not a Tyranid, after all). So I went with contrasting colours between the body and the tentacles, as if one daemon were trying to crawl out of another.

• Carapace - Black primer, Skavenblight Dinge drybrush, Icubi Darkness drybrush, Thousand Sons Blue drybrush
• Underbelly - Daemonette Hide base, Druchii Violet wash, Genestealer Purple drybrush
• Maw - Bugman's Glow base, Reikland Fleshshade wash, Cadian Fleshtone drybrush
• Teeth/tusks - Tallern Sand base, Agrax Earthshade wash, Tyrant Skull drybrush
• Hooves - Skavenblight Dinge base, Nuln Oil wash
• Spikes - Chaos Black base, Naggaroth Night drybrush, Ardcoat
• Tentacles - Thousand Sons Blue base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Ahriman Blue drybrush; Averland Sunset base, Cassandora Yellow wash, Yriel Yellow highlights; Death Guard Green base, Nurgle's Rot.
• Tail - Screamer Pink base, Pink Horror drybrush
• Vortex - Averland Sunset base, Cassandora Yellow + Fuegan Orange wash; Ulthuan grey base, Nihilakh Oxide wash. Coelia Greenshade highlights.

In-game, he's a lot of fun. He's around about the same cost as either a Defiler or Helbrute and, while he couldn't kick out as much damage as either of those two, he does bring a certain durability, plus unpredictability and the ability to crank out even more mortal wounds (Thousand Sons laugh at your invulnerable saves!).

But he is principally a buffing unit, so when you run out of things to buff, he may struggle to be effective. That said, there's always a chance he'll implode and take everyone down with him.

The Proserpine forces grow - and there's still more to come!

The Little Blue Puffer

June 11, 2018, 12:00 am

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He would have featured in this year's SwoffBoot, if only the postman had pulled his finger out, but now the Helbrute is finished, and ready to add some badly-needed artillery to the Thousand Sons!

Let's be a Really Useful Daemon Engine!

I've just painted up one Helbrute for the Black Legion, but they are a really easy and fun model to paint up. Dangerously so, in fact. I have to remind myself of my colossal leadpile to stop myself from going out and splurging on a couple more.

This unit comes with many weapon options, and I've magnetised every one of them. However, all the spare weapons have been left unpainted. Partly because I think this DakkaBrute configuration is the one the Thousand Sons needs the most to support it. Also because I'm on something of a hobby roll at the moment, and I'm moving onto the next unit before the momentum stops.

Thanks Tzeentch for big-ass decals.

Despite that, there was room for some creativity: seeing those huge funnels on his back inspired me to pinch from an online tutorial for smoke stacks. Essentially breaking apart a cotton-wool ear-bud and painting it. 

Being Thousand Sons, I went for more ethereal colours than just fire, but I like the way it's turned out. I may have to go back and add fiery ones to the Black Legion Helbrute (but not yet because, as I said, momentum).

The painting recipe is basically that of a Rubric Marine, only a hundred times easier:

• Gold trim: Retributor Armour base, Reikland Flashshade wash, Golden Griffon drybrush
• Blue armour: Thousand Sons base, Nuln Oil wash, Thousand Sons layer, Ahriman Blue layer
• Pipes, claws & gun barrels: Ironbreaker base, Waystone Green insides, Nuln Oil wash
• Skin: Rakarth Flesh base, Reikland Flesh wash, Druchii Violet wash, Pallid Wych Flesh layer
• Outside Flesh: Rakarth Flesh base, Reikland Flesh wash, thinned Typhus Corrosion wash
• Horns: Screamer Pink base, Carroburg Crimson wash, Pink Horror drybrush
• Missiles: Celstra Grey base, Ulthuan Grey layers, Wazdakka Red tips and/or Seraphim Sepia wash
• 'Eye of Horus': Mephiston Red base, Evil Sunz Scarlet layer, Carroburg Crimson wash, Troll Slayer Orange layer, Yriel Yellow layer, Carroburg Crimson wash (again).

I like the fluff behind the Thousand Sons Helbrutes too: lacking the raw materials of wounded astartes to stuff into the hellish sarcophagus, they instead have to trick other chaos marines into imprisoning themselves, by promising them arcane secrets before slamming the lid closed.

Nice to be finally packing something more than a boltgun into battle!

Last of the Mawhicans

June 13, 2018, 1:23 pm

≫ Next: Eschering in a New Era

≪ Previous: The Little Blue Puffer

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Commissions complete!

The Repulsor Tank seemed a fitting way to go out with the Crypt Angels. One of the Space Marines' newer bits of gear, it's a floating fortress of guns, sort of a levitating Land Raider. Just the ticket for your lazy Primaris chaps to lumber across the battlefield in, so they can get nice and close to the enemy. Er, for the melee combat they're pretty unimpressive at.

Calling Dick Tracy!

The turret is loose, for packing reasons. Or so you can spin it about during the game for photo ops. Same with the little side sponsons with the storm bolters. They can also be swapped with an Ironhail stubber if you want, which you can see below

Anyhoo! You're not going to be surprised if I say that this is in the same colours as the rest of the Chapter. Nor if I mention that I'm now fairly sure I never want to paint chaotic dentition again for the rest of my days.

Back end of the bus

Front end. It has a lovely smile.

Obviously I'm not going to say 'never again', that would clearly be tempting fate. All the same, I feel like the Crypt Angels are now a nice big pile of toothy laurels I can rest (slightly uncomfortably) on, and I wouldn't want to be going back to them in a hurry!

With that all sorted, and with my current list of commissions all finished, I'm going to revoke my Brush For Hire status for a bit. There's plenty of stuff I've racked up that needs finishing, mostly as payments for all this painting, and I'm going to truck through that for a while.

So, Leadpile, It's just you and me now. May the best man win.

Eschering in a New Era

June 18, 2018, 1:32 pm

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Neeeeeeeeeecromunda!

Where the slime comes seeping down the drain!
And the Underhive
Sure feels alive
When you're shot and in a lot of pain!

Yeah, I caved massively to this. It's been on my radar for a while, because I loved the original and the new incarnation has some pretty sweet models, even by GW standards. When I found it going cheap in a sale at the local gaming store, on a day when I'd just got some tax return money, I was wavering terribly. In the end I put it back, at which point my wife bought it for me as a bribe.

I will not name this ganger Robyn I will not name this ganger Robyn I will not name this ganger Robyn

This is no word of a lie! And we won't go into what I was being bribed for, that's not important. What's important here is these models!

If I'm falling off my wagon of not buying stuff, I'm afraid it's going to jump the queue massively. I'm over half-way done already, with the scenery and the Escher gang finished. Can I do the Goliaths and the objective markers in just under two weeks? Well, does Roboute Guilliman shit in a personalised Land Raider?

With the floor plans, I can cover more than half my games table with Zone Mortalis tunnels. This is going to see crossover action in 40K, mark my words. Close quarters action with tons of LOS blockage is very much my cup of tea at the moment. Not just because I have Tyranids! It makes for a better game, less First Turn-y.

Is Necromunda a good game still, I hear you ask? Well, I'm not playing it until I've painted it, so time will tell. But the rules seem in order, a nice hark-back to a time of more rules granularity and complex skirmish details. Like using shotguns to push enemies over the edge of things, or setting fire to them with template weapons. With real templates, too!

Boring conversation anyway

Not sure if I'll cave and get all the expansions, although if anyone out there wants to declare Gang War, I'm sure it'll take me about thirty seconds. Even the Orlock gang is looking good now, and I'm pretty sure that the Van Saar will be painted up as an alternate Stormtrooper squad (I need a third full infantry pack, I've decided, and it's cheaper and more interesting to paint than picking up two more packs of Scions). And god help me when the Delaque, my original favourites, arrive.

Painting the Eschers was a challenge, they have a mega-ton of fine detail going on. Much as I like the GW 'official' scheme, I didn't want to clone it too closely, so I experimented with darker skin tones and slightly plainer clothes. Job's a good 'un, I think, but there's too much going on there for a full Painting Guide, so I'll stick to the main tones. If there's anything you're desperately curious about, just ask.

Painting Guide:

• Skin - Deathclaw Brown, Reikland Fleshtone wash, Deathclaw Brown plus Tau Light Ochre then Tau Light Ochre layers
• Green Clothes - Caliban Green, Biel-Tan wash, Moot Green layers, a very little Putrid Green highlighting (and sadly, that's the last of that veteran pot, I'll miss it! Great paint) and a dot or two of Hellion Green to finish
• Bulkheads - Basecoated in Mournfang Brown, then a heavy dusting with Oxide Rust pigment powder. Over which I sprayed a heavy dose of paint fixer from a plant mister, which worked well but made a hell of a mess. Still finding that powder in parts of the kitchen now, a week later. Varnish spray to fix it further, then heavy Leadbelcher sponge stippling, Runefang light drybrush, selective Agrax and Nuln Oil treatment and a rusty workup of Deathclaw and Tau Light Ochre details. Control panels done with Skavenblight Dinge and Nuln Oil, then a variety of lights. A couple of printed signs superglued on and distressed with brown washes, then varnished again, because that pigment powder is a bitch to clean up 

Love the model kit, by the way. Very versatile, loads of options and plenty of lovely spare parts afterwards. There's only five torsos, two copies of each, but you barely notice it. I'd almost be tempted to get more, buy the Forge World weapon options, get some Bounty Hunters... Mrs Kraken? Where are you, I have a business plan to run past you.

Go Go Liath Rangers

June 23, 2018, 1:28 pm

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≪ Previous: Eschering in a New Era

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Apparently there's a World Cup on? I wouldn't know, I painted a box set in under a month.

Take that, Lead Pile! Although I guess I'm really just keeping my head above water, Necromunda wasn't exactly a planned purchase. Punting into the Done pile asap was really the only choice.

It's a really good kit, all in all. My favourite component is the box bottom, which is also terrain and floorplan all in one. This is a really sensible idea, and I'm amazed Kickstarty people aren't all over it. Miniature storage that also doubles as playable furniture? I'd shop. A hangar that opens up and stores your army, or a bunker lined with grey foam - easily made, I reckon (and I might yet).

I suppose the only thing putting people off is that if the outside is nicely painted and modelled, you'd need to put it in a second larger box for transport to tournaments.

I stuck in a couple of weapon swaps, mostly from Chaos Space Marine kit (right size and I've got tons). So the Flamer, bolt pistol, one of the plasma pistols and the chainsword are all from other homes. The hook up here is a Chaos Rhino piece.

The Goliaths were always my least favourite gang from the original kit. They looked rubbish! Big fat dudes with terrible 90s pseudopunk costumes, stodgy poses and outsize guns. I mean, okay, it's GW, the outsize guns is par for the course, but all the same. In our college Necromunda Campaign, Goliaths were woefully under-represented, and I think that was linked to the shittiness of the models. Never painted mine, never wanted to.

Not so now! These are good. The guns are still ludicrously buff, but at least their bearers are likeably outscale too. And they have motion and threat to them. I'd be much more interested in playing them, especially as their playstyle of straightforward bashing appeals to my Barbarian sympathies.

These are vaguely themed around Lesotho Basotho Blankets, after I saw Black Panther recently (visually brilliant, average otherwise). Somewhere on a forum I found a suggestion to use a dark purple wash on black skin, and that seems to work well, I'm pleased with how they turned out.

Painting Guide:

• Undercoat - Abaddon Black
• Armour - Shadow Grey, Drakenhof Nightshade, Lothern Blue with Abaddon Black and Wazdakka Red detailing. 
• Skin - Dryad Bark, Druchii Violet wash, Dryad Bark + Gorthor Brown layer up to Gorthor Brown
• Facepaint - Skull mask in Pallid Wych Flesh, Leader's stripes in Skrag Brown with Averland Sunset dots
• Metal - Leadbelcher, Gloss Nuln Oil, Stormcast Silver 
• Brass - Brass Scorpion, Gloss Agrax, Runelord Brass
• Leather - Skrag Brown, Tau Light Ochre highlight
• Pale Leather - Rakarth Flesh, Reikland Flesh Wash, Flayed One Flesh drybrush
• Reds - Got a final touch up with Wild Rider Red
• Bases - Heavy Leadbelcher drybrush, thick wash of very watered down Skrag Brown, Light Ironbreaker Drybrush. A couple of bits of Taurox undercarriage scattered about as extra details. Two guys got lights made from offcuts from the clear orange Templates sprue in the game, painted with black trim to look snazzier. I have saved that sprue for later use

Now I have to actually play the game, I suppose! Painting it made me think back to the old days, losing to the The Flumps (Orlocks) repeatedly or watching all the original gangs get scrubbed by the new release of Outlanders and the much better gangs therein. Wonder if Redemptionists, Scavvies et al will make it to the new game? No reason to think not. I'd love to see a modern sculpt of a Spyrer.

Get Down, Shep!

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Here's Looking at You, Squid

June 28, 2018, 1:18 pm

≫ Next: Ready for Defiling Cabinet!

≪ Previous: Go Go Liath Rangers

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Tyranid time, after a few months' pause!

This lot has been lurking round my in-tray since February, give or take. And for most of that time, they've been half-painted. Other stuff just kept creeping past them, Spore Mines aren't particularly inspiring models. I mean, yes, floaty death blobs, they do their job, but you don't look at them and think 'yes! must grab brush!', do you?

This one's a bit better, the slightly larger Mucolid Spore. He's got a couple of green stuff tentacles, I used the proper ones elsewhere, as well as a deathspitter for a beak for the same reasons.

Funnily enough, they're apparently quite popular in the tournament scene, as anything doing Mortal Wounds tends to be. GW only currently sells them solo as a nine-pack of resin ones, which is a funny number for a squad. And who wants to pay over the odds for resin anyway? So these are actually the freebies who come with a much larger floaty death blob, the Tyrannocyst.

The Quest for the Holy Grell! (This is a DnD joke, there's an old school monster that's a floating, tentacled brain called a Grell. And this looks a bit like a cup, and could in fact be used as one, to drink the tears of your beaten opponent or something. Bonus points if you got all that, otherwise I hope you now appreciate how hard I have to work to be funny about nerdy crap)

Of course, it's a dual kit that also makes the Sporocyte, so it makes sense to not glue the top bit on and keep my options open. What a gruelling job I made of painting it, though! I didn't glue the petal/airbrakes on (and while we're passing, I don't think airbrakes should have big chimney holes in, I doubt that really helps them function), and painting five of them got very monotonous.

Looks a lot like a drop pod from this angle. No coincidence, I'm sure.

See? Identical.

It wasn't helped by three of the main paints I was using all drying to rubber last week, Kislev Flesh, Putrid Green and Ushabti Bone. Mulching dried out paint about in Lahmian Medium gives you a heavy enough glaze that you can sort of use it like a layer paint, but it's grainy and needs several coats. Blech. Slog.

So to cap it off, I slipped in a little Massive Darkness. That's been neglected since last year, and given that I've sworn to finish it before next year, I've got a fair bit to do! This one has sneaked ahead by dint of being a good ringer for a Neurothrope. Otherwise it's a Beholder in all but name (Overlord, I seem to recall being it's MD name). Fantastic sculpt, and a proper joy to paint. Same scheme as my Hive Fleet, other than the grey stone base to go with the rest of its fellows.

Right! One final Tyranids unit to do, then it'll be Massive Darkness until I cave in and buy some Van Saar Christmas.

Ready for Defiling Cabinet!

July 12, 2018, 1:00 am

≫ Next: Ugh! How disgusting. A Space Wolf on the sole of my boot!

≪ Previous: Here's Looking at You, Squid

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On the Island of Sodor, when little engines are really useful, they are rewarded with a fresh coat of paint.

And so for the star player of WoffBoot XII, how could this fat controller do any less?

To remind ourselves of where we started, I acquired this lovely conversion from eBay, so clearly most of the heavy lifting had already been done. But it was a little missile-heavy, with an Ironstorm Missile Pod in the caboose (a proxy havoc launcher?) and some other kind of missile pod in place of the battle cannon. This was going to get confusing for me. I needed more guns.

Also, it was red (boo! Khorne!) and while it did have gold/brass effects in the right places, it wasn't *quite* the same gold as the rest of my army ...

... you see where this is going. My fleeting dreams of a quick touch-up with blue paint were dashed, and I went for the full respray. If it was going to be my paint job, it was going to be all mine.

At least it gave me a rationale to change the skin and tentacles too - since I already have a Mutalith Vortex Beast, I wanted to make this one as different as possible (while still staying within the bounds of the army's colour scheme) - the parchment skin and blood-pink tentacles matches the sorcerer cloaks, so that did the trick.

The battle cannon is a Nova Cannon from a Leman Russ, with some Orruk and Tzaangor icons added onto it. A bit perfunctory, but at least it will remind me to shoot from it.

There was an old WFB shield stuck to the very back of the Defiler. Not one to miss this opportunity to Tzeentch-ify it, I prised it off and added a Tzaangor one there.

Also reinstated was the pie-plate base. The original had some promethium pipes for the Defiler to crawl over, but that looked too cluttered (and made it hard to tell where daemon-machine ended and machine-machine began), so I just went with rocks and snow. I also magnetised three of the claws, which miraculously is sufficient to keep it on the base.

The absence of a secondary gun was something I also needed to fix. Using the Helbrute's Reaper Autocannon (he'll never need it), I put it on the back of the Nova Cannon, with a few extra skulls for decoration and a couple of magnets to give it a swivel mount (so you can move it and make 'pew-pew' noises).

Being magnetised, it can be switched out with any Helbrute weapon, so you could represent the twin lascannons etc (or just find an opponent who's not that fussy).

This project was done over the course of fits and starts, so I'm hazy on the colours used, but it's probably along the lines of:

• Skin: Zandri Dust base, Seraphim Sepia wash, Eldar Flesh drybrush, Terminatus Stone drybrush
• Tentacles: Screamer Pink base, Nuln Oil wash / Daemonette Hide base, Drucii Violet wash, Blood for the Blood God drips.
• Gold trim: Retributor Armour base, Reikland Flashshade wash, Golden Griffon drybrush
• Blue armour: Thousand Sons base, Nuln Oil wash, Thousand Sons layer, Ahriman Blue layer
• Pipes, claws & gun barrels: Leadbelcher base, Nuln Oil wash, Ironbreaker drybrush

I added a face, so the poor wee thing could see where he was going - it's one of the Helbrute's many head options, with greenstuff mechanical tendrils holding it in place. I also added some Helbrute cables leading in and out of the holes in the Mutalith's torso (where the horns usually fit).

For even more firepower, the Defiler can take a combi-weapon, so I used a magnet so one could be underslung in a very particular place.

I believe this is known as the 'ball turret'.

And that's him finally done! Every weapon is now properly represented on the model, and he now fits seamlessly into the carnival that is my Thousand Sons army. I'm going to have to use some restraint, because it's given me a taste for daemon engines!

Ugh! How disgusting. A Space Wolf on the sole of my boot!

July 16, 2018, 1:00 am

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"I shall have to find a patch of grass to wipe it on! 

"Probably get shunned in the officers' Mess; sorry about the pong you fellas, trod in a Space Wolf and couldn't get rid of the WHIFF!"

No disrespect to Space Wolf players (get a real army, ya furries), but it's not often my bases get any more detail than a small rock, so I'm having my fun with it.

This is the 30k Ahriman from the Burning of Prospero set - and it's one of the best monopose plastic kits I've had the pleasure of working on. His distinctive helmet was replaced with something more avian, likewise the headpiece of his heqa staff, but other than that, it was a breeze.

• Gold armour: Retributor Armour base, Reikland Flashshade wash, Golden Griffon drybrush
• Blue armour: Thousand Sons base, Nuln Oil wash, Thousand Sons layer, Ahriman Blue layer
• 'King Tut' headdress: Blue (as armour) + Yellow (Averland Sunset base, Cassendora Yellow wash, Yriel Yellow layer)
• Loincloths: Celestra Grey base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Ulthuan Grey layer
• Robes: Ushabdi Bone base, Seraphim Sepia wash, Terminatus Stone drybrush
• Face: Rakarth Flesh base, Drucii Violet wash, Pallid Wych Flesh layer
• Eyes: Ulthuan Grey base, Biel-Tan Green wash
• Gems: Stormhost Silver base, Waystone Green glaze
• Sorcerer's cloak: Screamer Pink base, Nuln Oil wash, Khorne Red layer + Ushabdi Bone base, Agrax Earthshade wash, Tyrant Skull drybrush

Exactly why I need another psyker in the army is a different question (I've still got two more in the queue). But this represents a Sorcerer, and my own sense of completion needed to have a stepping-stone between the Aspiring Sorcerers who lead the squads and the Exalted Sorcerers who lead the army.

Actually, I'm not sure if my original allegory holds up: in the 40k universe, the Space Wolves are more like Flashheart (boisterous, violent woof-woofers) and the Thousand Sons are most certainly Blackadder (put-upon smart-alecs).

"Magnus Did Nothing Wrong!"

Enlighten Me

July 18, 2018, 1:00 am

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Eyes to the skies, Flash - here come the birdmen!

Nothing says 41st Millennium like a beastman with a bow and arrow!

Don't be alarmed by this tide of painting updates. I haven't suddenly be possessed by the spirit of Kraken. My computer has been in a state of mechanicum mortis for the past few weeks, so now it's returned to me, I have some housekeeping to catch up on.

(although the army's looking pretty full now, which is excellent)

There's nothing about the Tzaangor Enlightened not to like: fast, cheap (cheep cheep!) with two wounds and an invulnerable save.

Their assault weapons (that would be the bows) are pretty tasty too: auto-wound on 6s to hit (which become 5 if near a Tzaangor Shaman; and 4 if hear a Shaman and Prescience is cast on them).

That's even before you use them in Age of Sigmar - where they used to be lethal (we'll see what the new landscape brings, but I'll bet they're still good).

Given all that, three models are not really enough - and should I ever loosen the purse strings to reinforce this army any further, they'll be my first pick

As these are super-Tzaangor, I reversed-out the colour scheme: pink skin and blue feathers. I swear I used highlights on the skin, although these images look like I've just slapped on a basecoat, so maybe I should have been bolder.

• Skin: Screamer Pink base, Carroburg Crimson wash, Pink Horror drybrush
• Horns, hooves and claws: Zandri dust base, Agrax Earthshade wash, Zandri dust drybrush
• Claws and beaks: Averland Sunset base (wet-blended), Agrax Earthshade wash
• Feathers: Calgar Blue base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Lothern Blue drybrush
• Dreadlock/tentacles: Druchii Violet wash,
• Cloth kilts: Celestial Grey base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Ulthuan Grey layering
• Armour and shields: Retributor Armour base, Reikland Flesh wash, Golden Griffon drybrush, Ahriman Blue layer
• Bows: Celestra Grey base, Hexwraith Flame wash, Nihilakh Oxide wash
• Weapon hafts: Charcoal Grey base, Celestial Grey drybrush
• Tongues: Pink Horror

I tried some of the new Hexwraith Flame technical paint on the bows and arrows - it's certainly effective, but it made them very, very green. I toned it down with some Nihilakh Oxide, so they still look ethereal without seeming day-glo.

The discs were almost as much effort at the riders themselves - pity the poor eyeball that has to spend eternity looking up a Tzaangor's kilt.

I wanted to magentise these models, but the feet looked so small, it would have mangled them. So I've glued the Tzanngor to the discs and magentised the bottom of the discs to their 'smoke' effect. They spin around a bit, but that's what a disc's for.

Spin on!

The Spawn Identity

July 20, 2018, 1:00 am

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≪ Previous: Enlighten Me

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I don't wanna know who I am any more!

Remember kids: perils of the Warp can happen to anyone.

Now, I already have three Chaos Spawn in my ranks, but I fancied having at least one Thousand Sons spawn who had clearly fallen to their flesh-change.

And besides, that Spawn kit is addictive - a cornucopia of tentacles, eyes, spikes and gribblies, and I wanted to use them all!

This is the first of the two new Spawn - affectionately known as 'The Retirement Plan' among Thousand Sons sorcerers. He's got a few genuine astartes pieces on him - the helm, one arm, and a pauldron that I split to have another tentacle writhing out from.

The Thousand Sons part was painted in the usual Rubric Marine colours, while the rest of the body was mostly Rakarth Flesh, Druchii Violet and a Palid Wychflesh drybrush (another plus point for spawn - they're dead easy to paint).

For his buddy, I went with showing what happens when a Tzaangor Enlightened sups a bit too hastily from the cup of enlightenment. There was already a bird head and claws aplenty in the box, and I added the 'split-mutant' head to give a second opinion, plus one of the Tzaangor axes.

Same paint recipe as the Enlightened - although it seems I ran into the same problem about not highlighting the pink skin enough. I have them blue Tzaangor extremities - party for variety, and also to show the change creeping over them (although to be honest, it looks like I've just dressed a Tzaangor in pink long-johns).

So that's two more Spawn to throw into the pit - but with all the bits and pieces left on the sprue, I can see myself cobbling together a lot more to come.

A shame that Chaos Spawn are sub-optimal. I'm going to have loads of them!

Flappy Bits

July 21, 2018, 4:59 am

≫ Next: Bite The Dust: Tyranids vs Thousand Sons

≪ Previous: The Spawn Identity

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Final clearance for Hive Fleet Afanc!

Well, as final as these things go, at any rate. This marks the end of the official models for now. Obviously I'd like to add some Hive Guard, Exocrines and a Harpy at some point, but that's going to have to wait until I can afford to buy a second bank account.

There are a few conversions left to finish off, but I'm not in a hurry to do more green right now! These twenty Gargoyles were pretty sloggy as it was. Good looking parakeets, though, the wings give a reasonable impression of bat-like flapping whilst also making them look different enough from Termagants to be worth painting.

The Afanc markings went on the wings this time. Helps break them up and look a bit more interesting. I also decided to do paler skin on the underside of the wing, which is part of why this turned from a week's worth of evening work to a two-week marathon. Still, turned out nice, and they look good in a full pack.

On the tabletop, well, I'm less sure - I think they're a bit overpriced for what they do, which is basically die in feeble droves but at least get in the foe's face as they do it. Distractions, basically. Not sure if two smaller flocks are better than one larger, in terms of controlling the field. If they were able to take a weapon option, flying termagants really, they'd definitely have my thumbs up. One previous edition had them with flamer equivalents, I seem to recall. Awesome as that would be, it's probably a bit too much for 8th ed!

Painting Guide:

• Basecoat - Corax White spray
• Shell - A straight wash of Bieltan Green, drybrushed with Rotting Flesh. The front crest got a lick of Green Ink, as did the fingernails on the top of the gun
• Face and Hands - Rakarth Flesh, Seraphim Sepia, Eldar Flesh
• Overwing - Barbarian Flesh, Reikland Flesh Wash, Barbarian + Kislev Flesh layer, Flayed One Flesh thin layer for edges
• Underwing - Rakarth Flesh, Seraphim Sepia, Pallid Wych Flesh layer, Ulthuan Grey thin layer for edges
• Gun - Kabalite Green, Nuln Oil Gloss
• Spikes - Ushabti Bone, Seraphim Sepia, Tyrant Skull
• Pipes - Xereus Purple, Drukarii Violet, Genestealer Purple, Lothern Blue
• Teeth - Nuln Oil over the skin tones, then picked out in Pallid Wych Flesh
• Stripes - White, Black and Jokaero Orange

Right. Come in Massive Darkness, your number's up.

Bite The Dust: Tyranids vs Thousand Sons

July 23, 2018, 12:00 am

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The unfathomable take on the insatiable: Thousand Sons vs Tyranids!

I, Stylus, have been taking a drubbing on the fields of 40k recently. So what better to restore my winning streak than a rematch against the most brutal, anti-psyker, and generally terrifying list in my experience - bring on the hive fleet!

Hello! Hive Mouthpiece Kraken here, translating from the overriding psychic imperative on behalf of my slavering fellows. Having just finished everything in my cupboard for the Tyranids, I wanted to put the latest squads through their paces. The armoured shells of the Thousands Sons may be short on DNA, but they do make lovely nests for our larvae. So that's nice.

Never Mind The Genotype!
It's Fight Night on Skype!

Armies

Hive Fleet Afanc

So the newbies here are the full squad of Gargoyles, padding out an Outrider detachment along with the spore mines and Neurothropes. I'm also trying out the Swarmlord for the first time, although to fit him in, I'm leaving my favourite Tyrannofex back in the hatchery. 

This means this army is going to struggle a bit with armour, which is unfortunate given I'm basically fighting animated plate mail. Mortal wounds from the psykers and the mines are my best bet, although Swarmie hits like a freight train once he reaches anyone. 

The troops can swarm across the midfield, hopefully, but really I'm aiming to rush into melee as soon as possible, backing up the specialist troops with assault firepower from the lesser gribblies. Swarmie can also slingshot nearby troops for a second move in the shooting phase, so first turn charges (especially with the Kraken keyword) are a very real threat. 

How well this will work will depend a lot on the battlefield and deployment, as I know Stylus is getting the hang of staying the hell away from early rushes. He's also certainly got the firepower to deal with me at range, particularly from the Terminators and the Warpflamer squad, so I'm going to have to think of something clever to deal with them.

The hairy proxy army.

Still, we got the numbers! So there's going to have to be some pretty impressive shooting to take us all down...

• The Swarmlord (HQ)
  Bone Sabres, Prehensile Pincer Tail
  Warlord Trait: Alien Cunning
  Psychic power: Onslaught, Psychic Scream
• Tyranid Prime (HQ)
  Adrenal Glands, Flesh Hooks, Lash Whip and Bonesword, Spinefists, Toxin Sacs
  Relic: Chameleonic Mutation
• Neurothrope (HQ)
  Psychic power: The Horror
• Neurothrope (HQ)
  Psychic power: Catalyst
• 20 x Genestealers (Troops)
  Rending Claws
• 20 x Termagants (Troops)
  10 x Devourers, 10 x Fleshborers
• 5 x Tyranid Warriors (Troops)
  Adrenal Glands, 4 x Boneswords, 4 x Deathspitter, 1 x Scything Talons, 1 x Venom Cannon
• 3 x Venomthrope (Elite)
• 20 x Gargoyles (Fast)
• Mucolid Spore (Fast)
• 6 x Spore Mines (Fast)
• Tyrannocyte (Dedicated Transport) with 5 x Barbed Stranglers

Points: 1500 | Battalion + Outrider: 9 CPs  | Hive Fleet Kraken trait

The Court of Miracles: Thousand Sons

Interesting. Kraken and I hadn't discussed this before, but it appears we've both gone for infantry-dominated lists and left the heavies at home. Should make for a good match-up. Just As Intended.

My Daemon Prince returns as Warlord. I don't usually make him one, since my standard tactic is to YOLO the big guy forward, and so I don't want to give up the Slay The Warlord points. But there are no hiding places against the Tyranids, so he'll have to get by on his 3++ save.

Speaking of no hiding places, I'm going to do my best to avoid trouble: a large pack of Tzaangor (that I'm going to pop into the Webway), Scarab Occult Terminators for the teleportarium, and a brand new Terminator Sorcerer to keep them company.

I've even broken my rule and borrowed one of the Black Legion's Rhinos to store my Warpflamer Rubrics - they're just too expensive to expose to even small-arms fire. To give myself some extra mobility, I've got the Tzaangor Shaman and Elightened on Discs.

That pretty much leaves the Helbrute, kitted out for long-range fire-support, and a bunch of Cultists for the meat-shield.

Let's burn some gribblies!

• Daemon Prince of Tzeentch (HQ)
  Malefic Talons, Wings
  Warlord Trait: Otherworldly Presence
  Relic: Dark Matter Crystal
  Psychic powers: Gaze of Fate, Warptime
• Exalted Sorcerer (HQ)
  Force Stave, Warpflame Pistol
  Psychic powers: Glamour of Tzeentch, Prescience
• Sorcerer in Terminator Armour (HQ)
  Familiar, Force stave, Inferno Combi-bolter
  Psychic powers: Death Hex, Doombolt
• 8 x Rubric Marines (Troops)
  Force stave, Warpflame Pistol, 7 x Warpflamer
  Psychic powers: Temporal Manipulation
• 20 x Tzaangors (Troops)
  Brayhorn, Tzaangor Blades,
• 10 x Chaos Cultists (Troops)
  Autoguns
• 5 x Scarab Occult Terminators (Elite)
  Force stave, 4 x Inferno Combi-bolters, 4 x Power Swords, Soulreaper Cannon, Hellfyre Missile Rack
  Psychic powers: Tzeentch's Firestorm
• Helbrute (Elite)
  Missile launcher, Twin lascannon
• Tzaangor Shaman (Elite)
  Force Stave
  Psychic powers: Weaver of Fates
• Tzaangor Enlightened (Fast)
  Fatecaster greatbows
• Chaos Rhino (Transport)
  Combi-bolter

Points: 1499 | Battalion + Vanguard: 9 CPs

Terrain & Mission

We're playing Targets of Opportunity from Chapter Approved 2017, so have but a single turn to claim any objectives drawn before they go back in the mix. Staying mobile and available to sieze objectives is going to be very important, although (as ever) so is murderating your foe.

Here's the field. Objectives placed as follows: 1 in the Parthenon, 2 in the Numinous Occulum, 3 in the middle of the ruined building to the bottom left, 4 to the left hand side of the ruins in the top centre, 5 on the hill in the bottom right, 6 slap bang in the middle of the central riverbed.

Stylus is hosting, so we've got the scorching sands of his desert wastes to battle upon. I get to pick deployment, but have no strong feelings and settle for a dice roll. Search and Destroy is what we get, opposing quarters of the field with a big 9" radius circle clear in the middle of the table.

Eschewing anything subtle, I go for a huge pack near my forward edge. Fast elements like Genestealers and Gargoyles at the front, spore mines and Warriors at the rear, Swarmlord in the middle pounding his chest like a silverback.

As I deploy, I can see that Stylus is keeping a strong reserve force in the warp for later arrival, so I decide to go heavy on the board and try and finish his forward element off before the rest turn up. The only deep striker for me is the Tyrannocyte, and bizarrely, it's coming in empty. Waste of potential? Maybe, but it can still grab an objective and shoot, and that's hopefully all I need it for.

Final deployment

As planned, I stuff as much as I can into reserve: Tzaangor, Scarab Occult and Terminator Sorcerer are off the board, so I won't see them unto Turn 2 (unless I really need to reinforce my lines). The Rubrics go into the Rhino, which ends up hugging the backline with the Daemon Prince, Helbrute, Exalted Sorcerer, Tzaangor Shaman and Enlightened.

Only the poor Cultists get pushed forward as a screen - it's fair to say that I'm playing for the counter-punch!

Having easily outdeployed my hordes, Stylus gets the first turn. Until I steal it! Ha harr!

Tyranids - Turn 1

And we're off to the races! 

Of my first trio of objectives, the two I can do are to first sieze and then defend objective 1. That's right inside my deployment zone, in the ruined temple, and suits me fine! The entire army therefore runs away from it at full speed (which, thanks to Kraken advancing tactics, is pretty full). Then I drop the Tyrannocyte down in the temple, safe in the knowledge I can squat on some safe points for a bit. 

The rest of the turn is quiet, as I'm mostly out of range. Two cultists bite it to Venom Cannon fire from the Tyrannids, which is spectacular overkill, but Stylus is very sensibly staying as far from me as he possibly can for now. I was hoping for some turn 1 charges, but I fail to get Onslaught off on the Gargoyles, who might have been able to reach and tie people up, so I hang back for now. Catalyst on the Swarmlord just in case the Hellbrute gets cocky, though...

Objectives Scored: Seize Objective 1 (1)

Thousand Sons - Turn 1

My first turn of the cards do not bode well: Secure Objective 1 and Secure Objective 6 - both out of reach and surrounded by Tyranids. I also get Big Game Hunter - theoretically possible with the Swarmlord, although I'd have to be very lucky to get him in one-turn.

So with no objectives to chase, I dress my lines and boost where I can. The Cultists move forward to screen the choke-point, and the flying Tzaangor scoot over the Ophidian Archway to get eyes on the Swarmlord.

The Psychic Phase is something of a stumble: the only noteworthy spells are getting Prescience and Weaver of Fates on the Enlightened.

In the Shooting Phase, I'm itching to try our the Enlightened's funky Fatecaster Bows: six shots that autowound on 6s, but with the modifiers from both the Shaman and Prescience, I'll be forcing saving throws from the Swarmlord on 4+. Naturally, I roll five 3s, but Kraken does fail two of his save as compensation.

When it comes to the big guns, my Helbrute lets loose on the Swarmlord. There's enough firepower in there to wipe him out, but two shots miss (maybe I put Prescience on the wrong unit) and the final one fails against the invulnerable save.

I can't even remember if I used my Cultist's autoguns. Maybe they were too busy tying white flags to the barrels.

So no victory points and no kills - a bright begining!

Objectives Scored: Defend Objective 1 (Tyranids, 2)

Tyranids - Turn 2

New objectives are to kill some Big Game and a Character, then to defend Objective 6, which is handily right in my path of advance. Right, time to get stuck in!

To Stylus's horror but not surprise, the Cultists are immediately overrun as the Gargoyles advance first up to them, then over their heads thanks to the Swarmlord. Everything else steams up, and I'm now in range for psychic powers, so I slap Catalyst on the Gargoyles, Horror on the Hellbrute and smite most of the rest of the Cultists out of the way. 

Shooting is fairly tame, as I'm still mostly short, but a pair of Tzaangor Enlightened get Deathspattered by the Warriors. Then I let rip with the Gargolyes at close range, splitting fire on the nearby Sorcerer and the Hellbrute too, and I add the Scorch Bugs strategem in to help them hurt their targets.

It goes quite well! Two wounds off the sorcerer and a scratch on the Hellbrute. I'm feeling lucky, so I go for Single Minded Annhilation too, a second Strategem to let the unit shoot again. Not so good this time, though, the Hellbrute shrugs off the beetle fire and I only get a single wound more on the Sorcerer. Probably should have concentrated on him, in retrospect.

In the charge phase, the Gargoyles flock carefully round the Hellbrute in such a way as to prevent the nearby characters intervening. Which is just what I want - they'll take a while to hack through, and keep the gunline busy until the others arrive. The Hellbrute even loses a wound to Gargoyle drool, and thrashes about ineffectually in return. Splendid!

The Genestealers are a bit too far out to make a long bomb charge, I think. But Stylus disagrees, and coaxes me into making the roll. He regrets this when I make it in!

(Typical. I'm a much better tactician when it comes to my opponent's army.)

And then fling another three CPs to the wind to let them fight twice. The Rhino is torn to shreds, the explosion kills three of the passengers, and I've got a big pack of happy 'stealers right up where I want them.

I roll eight dice for the disembarking Rubrics and get four 1s! With a CP re-roll, I manage to save one, but I've just lost 100pts worth of crucial firepower because I roll like a chump.

Objectives Scored: Big Game Hunter (1), First Blood (1)

Thousand Sons - Turn 2

My new orders are much more useful: No Prisoners (kill things), Psychic Supremacy (successfully Deny the Witch) and Defend Objective 5 (which is on my doorstep).

I need to start clearing away this first Tyranid wave, so I'd better drop the hammer quick. My Helbrute edges back out of combat, and that's him done for the turn. The Exalted Sorcerer moves within handflamer range of the Gargoyles, while the half-squad of Rubics do the same. The Shaman flies downfield to welcome the imminent Tzaangor, accompanied by the lone surviving Enlightened. The Daemon Prince steps up to the Genestealer pack, hoping he's not the only one who'll be facing them.

To close the Movement Phase, the Tzaangor drop down behind the Genestealers, and the Scarab Occult land in the centre, equidistant from the Neurothrope and Termagants.

The Psychic Phase is a bit sketchy (as I'm now within Shadow of the Warp range): I Warptime the Tzaangor Shaman closer to his flock, case Glamour of Tzeentch on the Daemon Prince and recover a few wounds on the Exalted with Temporal Manipulation. I also get Gaze of Fate, which is very handy, as rerolls will improve my odds for the charge. A few Smites here and there take up the rest of my powers.

In the Shooting Phase, I turn all my warpflamers on the Gargoyles, using Veterans of the Long War to make extra sure of my kills. With help from the Exalted's handflamer, the whole unit gets reduced to a handful. The Enlightened plinks a wound off the Mucolid Spore and the Scarab Occult hose down half the Termagants.

Off to the Assault Phase: the most important charge I need to make is the Tzaangor into the Genestealers and, with a fortuitous reroll, I make it in. The Daemon Prince joins then, while the Exalted Sorcerer and Enlightened go to mop up the charred survivors of the Gargoyles.

The Scarab Occult also make their charge. I chickened out of facing the Termagant's Devourer overwatch (possibly a mistake there, given my armour could weather it, but I've had bad luck with Terminators on the charge) and just went for the Neurothrope - although I did extend my charge so I could tie up the Termagants and shut down their shooting.

In combat with the Genestealers, the Tzaangor use Veterans of the Long War (somehow, I'm not complaining) and Kraken counters with Caustic Blood. Between some under-performing attacks from both beastmen and  Daemon Prince, plus that damn acid blood, it ends with half the Tzaangor unit slain, and all-but six Genestealers dead. The bugs are out of synapse range, and so melt away, but I spend 2 more CPs to avoid the morale check.

I could have positioned my Tzaangor charge to cover Objective 5, but I needed as many attacks as possible against the Genestealers, and I wasn't confident that they'd last two rounds on it.

Elsewhere, the Exalted rips up the last of the Gargoyles and the Scarab Occult whiff against the Neurothrope. With two units killed, I'm off the blocks in the victory points, although if I had managed to get another it would have been D3. I may come to regret not picking on the Termagants.

Objectives Scored: No Prisoners (1)
Objectives Scored: Defend Objective 6 (Tyranids, 2)

Tyranids - Turn 3

Hmm, I'm suddenly a bit thin on the ground. Worse, my new objectives are mostly land grabs - the Hive Mind simultaneously wants me on Objectives 3 and 5, with tactical priority on the latter. Well, not impossible, but it'll be a stretch. I can also pick up points for getting something to fail a morale check, which is far more likely. 

The Terminators, in the meantime, are a big problem. I don't have much in terms of weaponry that can deal with them, and weight of numbers is looking thin. Apart from Spore Mines! So I withdraw the remaining termagants and throw the Tyrannocyst towards the Termies instead, to soak overwatch. 

Elsewhere, the Swarmlord and his loyal Neurothrope/Venomthrope bodyguard slope towards objective 5. I really ought to sit on it for the VPs, but I also want to get Swarmie into combat. Preferably with the Daemon Prince, who I have no other strong counter to. Boosting myself with Catalyst (which I later forget about, of course, I realise now!), I find my other powers mostly shut down by the Thousand Sons, and dither about who to charge and whether I should.

I get my second VP for a successful Deny the Witch test - given the odds of me doing that were likely, I now wonder if Kraken would have been better advised to not cast anything this turn and deny me my denial.

While I fret over that, I at least send the Tyrannocyst into the Terminators. Its shooting against them was worthless, and I'm not expecting much from it in combat other than keeping them busy. But it's worth the cover when the Spore Mines breeze in and explode, ending half the Scarab squad straight off. 

That's what they do? Note to self: shoot, shoot, shoot the Spore Mines.

Alas, the remainers hack the Cyst up quite badly, but that's not the end of the world. 

The Swarmlord takes a deep breath and charges, aiming for both Daemon Prince and Tzaangor. He only reaches the beastmen though, and I'm out of CPs for any rerolls. Ah well! He butchers a bunch of them happily, taking a wound in return, but it's not great. Alone and surrounded, I can't see next turn being kind to him. 

The Tzaangor obligingly melt away in the Morale phase, though. Stylus does consider keeping them in, but then decides he's got better places to spend CPs than on a bunch of beakfaced losers, and off they go. Objective claimed for me!

Objectives Scored: Terrify (1)
Objectives Scored: Psychic Supremacy (Thousand Sons, 1)

Thousand Sons - Turn 3

Dead bugs litter the ground, and my castle is still untouched, but I'm still behind on VPs by a country mile. The cards help me out: Master The Warp should be a gimme for Thousand Sons and there's D3 points to be had. Supremacy is actually possible, given my manoeuvrability (not often I say that about Thousand Sons!), and I get Domination which, as ever, is useless.

Quick to secure Supremacy, I zoom the Enlightened over to Objective 2 and move everyone to charge the Swarmlord on Objective 5. Way back at the temple, the Terminator Sorcerer makes his late entrance on Objective 1.

The Psychic Phase proves to be quite an effort. With nine potential powers, you'd think getting three casts would be easy. But between Shadow of the Warp and Kraken's many denials, it's an uphill struggle, even when I switch to softball powers like Smite. In the end, I manage to cast Temporal Manipulation on the Exalted (who's now back up to health), a few Smites on the Swarmlord. The star of the show is the Terminator Sorcerer, who makes up for lost time by casting a super-Smite on the Termagants. He loses two wounds, but blasts the unit down to a single model.

There's not much going on in the Shooting Phase, other than I forgot my two warpflame pistols against the Swarmlord (I always forget pistols) and, surprisingly, the Mucolid Spore did not withstand two lascannons and a krak missile.

I throw everything against the Swarmlord: Daemon Prince, Exalted Sorcerer, Tzaangor Shaman and even the Rubric Marines. There's only two wounds left on the Swarmlord, so the Deamon Prince had better to the business before he can pick on my weaker stuff. My D2 talons wound three time, and Kraken only manages two invulnerable saves - the Tyranid Warlord is slain!

And then some interesting movement: the Rubrics charged the Swarmlord, and so they can be 'activated' to pile in to the nearest enemy model. Just because the unit they charged is no longer there does not negate this, so the Rubrics move 3" towards the Neurothrope, and now their 'combat' is over, they 'consolidate' 3" towards the enemy once again. It doesn't reach the Neurothrope, but I thought I'd highlight a little-appreciated facet of the fight phase that has allowed my lumbering marines an extra 6" of movement!

Elsewhere, the Terminators hack down the Tryannocyst, losing another of their member from the Tyranid Warriors in return.

With Slay the Warlord under my belt, I also get 2D3 points for the other objectives - a grand total of 5! I am still chasing the game, but I am back in the game!

Objectives Scored: Slay the Warlord (1), Supremacy (1), Master the Warp (3)

Tyranids - Turn 4

Eep. I feel like I'm floundering here, all of a sudden. There's not much of the army left, and my objective draw is rather confused. The Hive Mind wants me to Advance and Hold the Line at the same time, and Kill some Witches while I'm about it. Well, that's possible at least. 

The Neurothropes turn and flee back to the centre, and the Tyranid Warriors crest the hill, ready to charge the Terminators. Pick on a hapless little Termagant, will they? Time to pay. 

First off, a little psychic sniping. It all falls flat, though, I either fail or get denied. And shooting is likewise rubbish. I've been pumping Venom Cannon rounds into that Hellbrute for three turns now and not hurt it once. The Tyranid Prime fires his Spinefists into the Terminators, but it's not really the tool for the job, so it's down to hand-to-hand to finish them. And then hopefully escape before the rest of the Thousand Sons arrive to return the favour, rather the opposite of where I was earlier in the game. 

Combat goes well. The Terminators take a battering, but I don't manage to finish their leader, and I end up stuck in melee. Which I fear is exactly where Stylus wants me. 

Worse, one of the Neurothropes has moved too far, back into my own deployment area in a (failed) gambit to smite the Terminator Sorcerer, so I can't score that objective either! No points scored!

Objectives Scored: None

Thousand Sons - Turn 4

The Tyranids are on the ropes, and I need to push on! My orders agree, and give me Behind Enemy Lines (my Terminator Sorcerer just needs to stay put), Blood And Guts (kill something in melee) and Advance (my backline Helbrute is going to stop that one).

My Helbrute and Terminator Sorcerer stand still, while everything else races forward, though the Rubric Marines are still outside of flamer range. I dither about where to put my Daemon Prince: easy kills with the Venomthropes, or take on the last big threat of Tyranid Warriors. I opt for the latter, to reduce Kraken's late-game options.

The Psychic Phase is an interesting one: I really want to Warptime my Rubrics forward, and Kraken knows it. So he gives me a free reign of spells, so he can save his denial for my last spell. I Smite both Neurothropes, wounding one and killing the other, throw around a series of buffs and, when there's nothing left, go for Warptime... which I fail.

The Shooting Phase is more effective that I thought it would be: the Terminator Sorcerer plinks off a few wounds from a Venomthrope, which proves all the encouragement the Helbrute needs to blast away all three with his heavy artillery.

It gets slightly more tense in the Combat Phase: the Deamon Prince rips up two Tyranid Warriors (and doesn't take a scratch back), but the really nerve-wracking fight is the Aspiring Scarab Occult, who needs to kill that last Termagant to claim Blood and Guts. He's been whiffing until now, but he finds his swing and pulps the bug with ease. He promptly gets torn apart by the Tyranid Prime, but the damage is already done.

Objectives Scored: Behind Enemy Lines (1), Blood And Guts (1)

Tyranids - Turn 5

Run! Hide! My Objectives include killing a Character, for example the uninjured and nigh invulnerable Daemon Prince currently murdering my remaining troops, and capturing various bits of ground way out of my reach. 

It's a short and dismal turn. The DP shrugs off everything I can throw at him and nearly finishes the Tyranid Warrior pack off to boot. And the sole Neurothrope fluffs his Smite, hangs his head, and waits for a Lascannon to pick him off. 

Objectives Scored: none

Thousand Sons - Turn 5

I've got the lead, but I can't let it slip. My objectives are Scour The Skies (and there is a floating Neurothrope left), Ritual Slaughter (that won't happen: there aren't nine foes left to kill), and Defend Objective 3.

Objective 3 is a long way away, but Kraken kindly reminds me that I still have the Dark Matter Crystal - that would be a relic I've taken since the codex came out, and *never* remembered to use it. So I gratefully Shazam! my Deamon Prince over to Objective 3 - no points for it at the moment, but if the game continues, it's almost a sure-thing.

In the Psychic Phase, the Terminator Sorcerer seems determined to make up for last time: he casts he second super-Smite (without the Perils this time) that kills the Tyranid Prime, then takes away the Neurothrope's invulnerable save with Death Hex. Without that save, the floating jellyfish is up for grabs and the Terminator finishes off by blasting off half his wounds with the stormbolter.

With just two wounds and no invulnerable save, you'd think the Neurothrope would be easy pickings for my Helbrute, especially as Prescience means he can hardly miss. Well, he manages to defy the odds and fail with all of his shots - no Scour the Skies for me. The Rubrics ease my disappointment by roasting all-but one of the Tyranid Warriors.

Kraken rolls to end the game - and it's over!

Objectives Scored: Linebreaker (1)

Final Scores 10 : 8 - a win for the Thousand Sons!

Bolt of Changing Room

Well, shucks, I stuffed that up somewhat. 

After that roaring start, I got overconfident and overextended. Caught in a crossfire in the middle of the board, I squandered my board control and best attackers in that early rush, and let myself get picked apart piecemeal. All my own fault, really, although the Terminators were an excellent distraction that slowed my entire second wave down fatally. All the same, running the Genestealers out of Synapse was inexcusable!

Yes, this turned into something of a textbook Tortoise and Hare match-up (if the tortoise had heavily artillery and the hare had acid for blood). Kraken racked up so many victory points in the early stages that he seemed to get careless about claiming any more. That let me bring in a counter-punch to clean up. Despite the near-tabling, the points were close towards the end, and a VP here and there would have made the difference.

I knew armour would be a problem, and I was right. The armour-busting powers of my Tyrannofex was sadly missed. Or say, some Hive Guard, Exocrines or Biovores, all of which could have hung at the back and thrown death at the Hellbrute or the Rubrics without penalty. Ah, always, the lure for the wallet - it's as though GW have made a game that encourages you to spend money on it whenever you play.

You're telling me. I now have to buy another Rhino to paint blue.

The Swarmlord was a let down, too, although I think I misapplied him to some extend. I think I'd rather have a Flyrant with a decent gun for those points, the extra shooting is too handy. Still, if I'd splashed Swarmie down in the Tyrannocyte (and that was wasted points, paying for an empty transport), he might have been more use.

I always breathe a sigh of relief when a Tyrant list doesn't include a Flyrant. For myself, I was reasonably surprised with the newcomers: the Helbrute didn't have a wealth of targets, but it's a nice threat to keep in your backline. And the Enlightened bring a good bit of manoeuvrability. And I was expecting nothing from the Terminator Sorcerer as a solo deepstrike menace (he's not Exalted-level, so doesn't provide re-rolls, and there's not much merit to having him join the other deepstrikers).

Assuming you can keep them alive long enough to get into range, Warpflamers are excellent. A Deamon Prince with Otherworldly Presence is just unpleasant. And I'm even starting to get the hang of how to use Tzaangors and Scarab Occult - all in all, a solid game for everyone!

Still! Lessons learned, and a proper schooling in board control and caution from my erstwhile foe. Next time, Stylus, next time!

---

Here There Be Heldrakes

July 24, 2018, 1:00 am

≫ Next: Dragonslayer: Black Legion vs Salamanders

≪ Previous: Bite The Dust: Tyranids vs Thousand Sons

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Finally, my flying techno-dragon is complete!

Told you I was on a roll.

Considering this was one of the first 40k models I bought - it may even have been the model that nudged my choice into heretic Astartes - it's quite shameful that it's taken me the best part of a year to finish it (a salutary lesson in allowing yourself to play with base-coated units)

In my defence, I was progressing nicely at the beginning, then I realised I'd painted the wings the wrong shade of blue - and that is a lot of little panels to face re-painting, washing and layering all over again.

Beautiful model, but all those panels can be a pain in the ... exhaust pipe.

Anyway, I'm glad I pushed on and finished him. It let me fall in love with the model all over again, and it looks even better in proper Thousand Sons blue.

• Exterior armour: Retributor Armour base, Reikland Flashshade wash, Golden Griffon drybrush
• Panels: Thousand Sons base, Nuln Oil wash, Thousand Sons layer, Thousand Sons layer
• Underbelly: Leadbelcher base, Nuln Oil wash, Ironbreaker drybrush
• Underside vents: Celestra Grey base, Nihilakh Oxide wash, Coelia Greenshade edges
• Pipes: Ironbreaker base, Waystone Green glaze
• Flesh: Rakarth Flesh base, Nuln Oil wash
• Claws: Ironbreaker base, Charcoal Grey base
• Mouth: Averland Sunset base, Cassandora Yellow wash, Yriel Yellow highlights, Screamer Pink tongue.
• Eyes: Stormhost Silver base, Soulstone Red glaze

For ease of transport, and because I'm a glutton for punishment, I put magnets into the 'ball-and-socket' of the wings. Because the wings are so large, the only magnet big enough t support it is *'just* big enough to fit the ball and socket. It works, and you even get a few choice of poses too.

This was quite an undertaking a year ago, though I've since got a few more large-sized daemon engines under my belt, so I may shake my phobia of titan-scale models yet!

In-game, I like them. They don't tend to survive long (and if they do, your opponent is in trouble), but they work really well as an early-pressure unit. With its huge movement and durability and *potentially* devastating flamer (it only seems to be devastating when I lend it to someone else), it's a useful tool when the Thousand Sons have to slog upfield and get into close-range.

That's me all caught up on my updates, so you can stand easy. I'll be back to my usual sluggardly painting self soon enough.

Dragonslayer: Black Legion vs Salamanders

July 28, 2018, 2:00 am

≫ Next: Massive Orkness

≪ Previous: Here There Be Heldrakes

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Into a virtual world!

Nothing against Skype, but after what, six glorious years of Skype Night battles, maybe it's time to try a new tack? Behold, the glory of Tabletop Simulator! 

I, Kraken, will be putting an army through its paces in an attempt to see how 40K handles when both players can actually see the models without webcam pixellation.

I, Stylus, will be uploading myself into the Matrix and putting my finely-honed ZX Spectrum gaming skills to the test.

Does 01010011100100111011101 sound right?
It's Tabletop Simulator Battle Night!

Salamandastrom - Space Marine, Salamanders

• Captain in Terminator Armour (HQ)
  Storm Shield, Thunder Hammer
  Warlord Trait: The Imperium's Sword
  Relic: The Salamander's Mantle
• Chaplain (HQ)
  Grav-pistol, Crozius arcanum
• Lieutenant (HQ)
  Master-crafted boltgun, Power sword
• Company Ancient (Elite)
  Power maul
• 5 x Scout Squad (Troops)
  Bolt pistol, Boltgun
• 5 x Scout Squad (Troops)
  Camo cloaks, Sniper Rifle
• 10 x Tactical Squad (Troops)
  Bolt pistol, Boltgun, Grav-cannon and grav-amp, Grav-gun, Power sword (Sergeant)
• Dreadnought (Elite)
  Twin heavy bolter, Dreadnought combat weapon, Storm bolter
• 5 x Terminator Assault Squad (Elite)
  Lightning claws

Points: 996 | Battalion + Vanguard: 9 CPs  | Salamander Chapter

As this is a slightly experimental battle, I'm keeping things simple. Space Marines equate with simplicity in my mind, the vanilla faction of 40k. Perhaps that's daft, maybe I should be sticking with a faction I know better? Well, time will tell. 

There's two detachments here, one with cheap troops for board control, and then a harder-hitting elite group of assault terminators to do the heavy lifting. Hopefully I can throw enough bolter rounds out from the battalion to thin out the enemy, because Terminators are expensive! So I had to skimp a bit on heavy weapons and such. Grav guns look decent against power armoured foes, though, and a Dreadnought is a good all-rounder against most things. 

The troops will hang back and shoot, although I can stick the scouts out in front to stop Stylus deep striking too easily. And the heroes will provide close combat backup for the killing blow on whatever I can't shoot apart!

For this unexciting but capable force, Salamanders provides the perfect army trait, giving me a ton of rerolls in shooting and combat. Seriously, a free reroll to hit and wound per squad per phase? That's... that's... I don't know how many command points that comes to over a battle! 

Nobody Does!

The Congregation of Hate - Chaos Space Marine, Black Legion

• Dark Apostle (HQ)
  Combi-melta, Power maul
  Warlord Trait: First Among Traitors
  Relic: The Black Mace
• Sorcerer with Jump Pack (HQ)
  Combi-bolter, Force stave
  Psychic powers: Prescience, Warptime
• 20 x Chaos Cultists (Troops)
  Autopistol, Brutal Assault Weapon
• 10 x Chaos Cultists (Troops)
  Autoguns
• 9 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
  Bolt pistol, Chainsword, Icon of Vengeance, Flamer, Combi-flamer+Power maul (Champion)
• 3 x Chaos Bikers (Fast)
  Combi-bolters, Melta gun, Combi-melta (Champion)
• 5 x Raptors (Fast)
  Bolt pistol, Chainsword, 2 x Plasma gun, Combi-plasma+Power Fist (Champion)
• 3 x Obliterators (Heavy)
  Fleshmetal Guns
• Chaos Rhino (Transport)
  Combi-bolter

Points: 999 | Battalion: 8 CPs  | Black Legion

I almost got carried away with the idea that I could pick *anything* for my army but, like Kraken, decided to stick with something manageable.

I'm familiar enough Heretic Astartes, both rules and playstyle, not to get lost. Much of this army are current of future projects for the real-world legion. I've gone for a fast moving list: melee CSMs riding with the Apostle in the Rhino; melta-armed bikers for some fast dakka; Raptors, Obliterators and Jump-Sorcerer for deep-strike firepower, and a couple of Cultist blobs to take objectives and get shot.

Strike hard, strike fast, no mercy! It's the Cobra-Kai way.

"My team's winning, but ... do my knuckles smell weird?"

TTS - A Beginner's Guide

Tabletop Simulator, or TTS for short, is an online computer game that pretty much Ronseals its name. It attempts to provide a virtual tabletop, complete with physics, dice rolling sound effects and a button to flip the entire table. Which is handily situated in the middle of the taskbar, where you can click on it by mistake if you're clumsy. 

Originally, it was made for cards, dice, chess and Go. Tabletop game players being the enterprising sorts they are, there are tons of mods you can download for it, most of which probably fracture a number of copyright laws. Although a bit cumbersome, it's perfectly possible to get hold of beautifully crafted 40K battlefields, patch in some other mods for the army of your choice, tape on some rulebooks or datasheet cards, mix in a pair of realistic tape measures and then pray the whole edifice holds together as you abuse it with semi-competent mouse clicks. 

It's pretty cheap (especially if nice people like Kas buy a four-pack in a Steam Sale and donate one! Thanks, Kas!), and from previous experience I know it works well. Kas and I play Kingdom Death and X-Wing on it from time to time, and it usually works a lot better than trying to Skype those two. 

But will it hold out for 40K, or will Skype emerge triumphant from this titanic clash? This fight is also a reckoning for the system, and we'll hold forth on a verdict at the bottom.

Terrain and Deployment

Many and various are the terrains I could choose from. So a hearty shoutout to modder Kharn, who created this Urban 40K map mod that we used! A cheery little slice of Grimdark dystopia, some sort of hellish industrial complex, complete with a ton of tiny barrels to hide behind.

With the Objectives set up, we went straight to deployment, facing off across the length of the board with the Hammer and Anvil set up. To keep things as simple as possible, we're playing Cleanse and Capture, the least complicated Maelstrom of War battle. 

The first few drops are easy for me: Raptors, Obliterators and Jump-Pack Sorcerer into deepstrike (I was pushing the boundaries of 50% of my Power Level, but I just about managed it.

On the actual board, the autogun Cultists camped out on the building with Objective 1. The melee Cultists went on the right flank to face the Sniper Scouts. The Rhino (carrying my CSM squad and Apostle) went into the centre, accompanied by the Chaos Bikers.

And I was ready to go! My only tactical observation was that I wish I'd brought fewer Cultists, as they were a bugger to move around and I kept dropping them.

Black Legion deployment lines

For my part, I left the Scouts hanging out to dry in the middle of the field, broke the Tac squad into Combat groups and gave the heavy half a rooftop to shoot from, then protected the other half with characters. All the Terminators went into the warp, and the Dreadnought got ready to rip forward and bash tanks or bikes, depending on what got too close. 

Salamanders ready for action

Black Legion - Turn 1 

My first three objectives drawn were: Supremacy, Claim and Despoil (take an enemy objective) and Behind Enemy Lines. Unable to deepstrike this turn, the latter was not happening. But I already had one objective bagged, so if I could kill the Scouts (or just outnumber them, in the case of the Cultists), I could pull an early lead.

My autogun Cultists stayed put, my Chaos Bikers revved towards the Bolter Scouts. The Chaos Rhino advance up the parallel street, next to the Sniper Scouts, and popped smoke. 

The melee Cultists move to with charge range of the Scouts (I'm not optimistic about killing them, since there's not a lot of legroom on their position, but I need the charge to slingshot onto their objective)

I'm left with very little gun in the Shooting Phase. Luckily my Black Legion trait allows me to fire the Bikers' combi-bolters, so I open up on the Bolter Scouts, killing two. The melta guns, which would tear through their protective cover, naturally fail.

And so the turn ends: no objectives scored, and only two kills to my name. Come on you deepstrikers!

Objectives scored: none

Salamanders - Turn 1

Objectives Drawn: Overwhelming Firepower, No Prisoners, Behind Enemy Lines

Remarkably unscathed by this first turn, I feel ready to rumble. My objectives are mostly to wipe out enemy units, and seeing as I can't get into enemy territory that fast either, shooting some baddies to death seems like a game winning strategy. 

So my character-and-tac-marine blob strut forward, ready for some light shooting and then the hope of Terminator-backed charges later. The Dreadnought guns forward, backed by the guns of the other combat squad, and both scout squads cower in their respective towers. 

Shooting, sadly, is a total whiff. Between heavy bolters and a grav-cannon, I was hoping to pick off the bikers, but even with scout-tossed krak grenades, I only manage to pick one of them off. The other scouts, deprived of nice characters to snipe, make a nasty mess of the nearby cultists, shooting five and causing a few more to rout. 

But that's it - nothing destroyed, so no points for me. And I'm now rather worried about the next turn, as there's a lot of nasty men in black running straight at me. 

Objectives scored: none

Black Legion - Turn 2

I'm still on my first three objectives, but I'm more confident about getting them now and, thanks to Kraken's poor luck in the shooting phase, First Blood is still up for grabs.

I bundle everyone out of the Rhino and move them towards the small castle of Tactical Squad and Salamander characters. The melee Cultists ignore the Scout Snipers and just move to steal their objective from (literally) under their noses.

The Chaos Bikers thread the needle to move themselves into short melta range of the Dreadnought, while keeping the Scouts in rapid-fire range of their combi-bolters, and being close enough to claim Objective 4. The autogun Cultists settle down where they are and open their sandwiches.

Now it's drop time! The Raptors land behind the Dreadnought, for some plasma-gun backup. The Obliterators and Sorcerer land smack in the middle of the Salamander's backline. The Sorcerer fails to cast Prescience on the Obliterators, so consoles himself with a wee Smite on the Ancient.

The Cultist's autopistols begin the Shooting Phase and do absolutely nothing. The Chaos Space Marines split their fire: sending two flamers into the Tactical Squad, and everything else into the Scouts behind them (I don't want to whittle down the Tac Squad too much and increase my charge range). In the end, I get one Tactical and one Scout Marine for my efforts.

In the centre, I unleash both close-range meltas at the Dreadnought ... and miss. Oh dear. The combi-bolters perform a little better: hosing off two Scouts from cover, but their saves are hard to punch through with small-arms.

It's down the the Raptors to save the day. I employ the Black Legion stratagem Let The Galaxy Burn which lets me re-roll 1s - it's rapid-fire plasma overcharging time!

I score four hits (after rerolling a 1, thank you Abbadon) and they all go through. The Dreadnought is gone! And that's First Blood.

Inspired by such marksmanship, the autoguns of the Cultists plink off the last Bolter Scout, which means Objective 4 is now in the uncontested hands of the Bikers.

Sadly, the Obliterators can't keep up - they roll poorly with the Fleshmetal Guns, then whiff horribly in their shooting against the Grav-cannon squad, only felling one of them.

And now we fight! I think I need a re-roll, but nonetheless the Dark Apostle and Chaos Space Marines make it into combat, losing one in Overwatch. I play Veterans of the Long War and hack my way through the Tactical Squad - but though scoring hits and wounds is no problem, the damn Astartes armour is proof against my chainswords. I only get three Tactical Marines, with a wound on the Ancient and Lieutenant, taking one casualty back in return.

My Chaplain makes a heroic intervention, but he can't break the Black Legion armour. Even by hitting it with a skull on a stick. Oh, grimdark, you are daft, but I love you.

In the Morale Phase, I lose another Chaos Space Marine (which I now realise would have been impossible, given they would have used the Dark Apostle's leadership +1 Black Legion trait ... so maybe that one Traitor Astartes popped off to get a pint of milk).

Still, it's been a fantastic round for me! I claim all of my objectives (two of which were D3 points - I get 5 for the roll), plus First Blood. Now to weather the Salamanders' counterpunch.

Objectives scored: Supremacy (2), Claim and Despoil (3), Behind Enemy Lines, First Blood

Salamanders - Turn 2

No New Orders

Well, that's not so good. My characters are in trouble, I haven't scored anything, my Dreadnought was a total points bust and my objectives are a mixed bag. Reeling from ill fortune and a confused sense that I need to achieve things in a panic, I make some questionable choices. 

First is to throw the Assault Terminators into the enemy deployment zone. I know, I know! Terminators on cultists? It's massive overkill. But in fact, it's not really, it's a desperate measure. If they don't make it into combat, they'll almost certainly never catch the cultists, they're too slow. 

Next is throwing the Terminator Captain in behind the Obliterators. Charging them could be painful, their guns are a crapshoot, but a few lucky hits would see my Warlord dead. At least he's more likely to make it in, which is good, as if he doesn't he'll be weathering a hell of a lot of firepower. 

The rest of the round is pretty gloomy. Shooting again fails to impress - despite sniper and grav-cannon fire, I again fail to kill off the bikes. I scratch a Raptor with bolter fire, but that's it. 

Then close combat happens - sure enough, the damn Assault Terminators fail their charge, and even lose a wound to pitiful autogun fire! The Captain makes it, but I play safe and only charge the Sorcerer, who promptly snuffs it. This is good, I can overrun into the Obliterators, whose counterattacks patter off my storm shield. 

But that's the only good news. The Chaplain gets whacked by his evil Dark Apostle twin, the Tac Squad sergeant is down and the others are pretty battered. At least the Ancient's flag waving gets a few revenge hits in, but it's too little too late. 

A few victory points, at least! But I need some lucky draws next time to pull it back.

Objectives Scored: Behind Enemy Lines (1), No Prisoners (1)

Black Legion - Turn 3

All new objectives for this turn: No Prisoners, The Long War and The Warp is Your Ally. The first two involve killing things, which is simple enough (and The Long War is a cheeky bonus, since I get more points just for killing Imperium). The last card is an easy discard, as my Sorcerer currently resides on the end of a Thunder Hammer.

Lots of running around this turn: either towards the enemy or away from them. The autogun Cultists decide that, if the Assault Terminators want this building, they can have it, and promptly leg it in the opposite direction. Their melee brethren are more bold, and move into close charge range of the Sniper Scouts.

The Obliterators take their cue from the Cultists and run away from the Terminator Captain - no shooting from them. The Rhino trundles upfield in case I need a solid brick to be a linebreaker. The Raptors swoop towards the Grav-cannon squad, but ensuring the Captain is their closet target (I know the map doesn't show that) eager to demonstrate their superior shooting skills to the Obliterators.

In the Shooting Phase, the Raptor's plasma guns manage to get two wounds from the Terminator Captain, and everything else manages to survive whatever small-arms fire I have left.

In the Combat Phase, the remaining Salamanders prove tough nuts to crack. I think I eventually manage to chew through the Lieutenant and Ancient (the Black Mace is helping here), but the Chaplain still stands.

Er, no, he'd already died. And in fact the last two did get wiped out here, after which the remaining Dark Apostle and chums consolidated into a relatively intimidating gun line around the Terminator Captain. 

The Cultists do considerably worse: taking hits from Overwatch, getting pasted in combat with the Scouts (at least they dragged one down), then failing morale badly. Tide of Traitors would have come in handy except a) I have spent all my command points and b) I can't bear to move that many models again in TTS.

So I don't quite get the three units killed I'd need for the bonus, but I can still claim No Prisoners and The Long War (justice is served when I only get 1 point for it).

Objectives scored: No Prisoners, The Long War (1)

Salamanders - Turn 3

Objectives Drawn: Secure Objective 1, Domination

My new objectives are half delightful, half insulting. Domination? Claim all six objectives? Sod off, high command, you're having a laugh. Still, those cultists seem to have left objective one nicely empty in their rush for continued existence, so the Assault Termies trundle off to grab it. 

Still more whiffly grav-cannon shooting. Nothing dies to my fire despite all the rerolls, so it's left to the Terminator Captain to charge the Dark Apostle and gut him thoroughly, as the sniper scouts finish off the cultists. 

This leaves the game in an interesting position. I don't have much, but I could still swing it with either lucky draws or sheer persistance. In cover, Space Marines are very hard to shift, so as long as Stylus can't close conclusively, I might have a slim chance. But his fast assaulters are gearing for jumps, and my Terminator Captain has a lot of firepower pointing his way...

Objectives Scored: Secure Objective 1 (1), Slay the Warlord (1)

Black Legion - Turn 4

Having tossed The Warp Is Your Ally, I get three new objectives: Secure Objective 5, Defend Objective 1, Big Game Hunter.

The last one is an auto-reject, as the Dreadnought is already a smoking ruin. Objective 5 could be grabbed by the Rhino, if I can clear away the Scouts. Objective 1 is the one the Cultists had just abandoned, and it now in the custody of the Assault Terminators.

The Apostle may have fallen, but the Long War goes on! I move into shooting positions, since there's not a lot I fancy taking on in melee.

The Rhino moves to secure Objective 5, the lone Chaos Biker and remaining Chaos Marine surround the Terminator Captain. The Raptors jump behind the last Tactical Squad and the Cultists ... realise they left something behind at Objective 1.

This isn't necessarily a suicidal move for the Cultists: they have Objective Secured rule and the Terminators don't. So if just one Cultist is there at the end of the Salamanders' turn, I will have defended the objective (okay, so it's suicide for 90% of the squad, but there are two VPs to be grabbed).

In the Shooting Phase, the Raptors take out three of the Tactical Marines, leaving only the Grav-cannon. The combined forces of the Biker and Marines take off two more wounds from the Terminator Captain (the combi-melta misses again)

Best of all, the autogun Cultists unload on the Terminators and a lucky bullet finds it mark! Having already been wounded in Overwatch, this scores up a kill for the puny humans! They cheer wildly and hope that the remaining four Terminators have a sense of humour about it.

Objectives scored: Secure Objective 5

Salamanders - Turn 4

Famous jokers, Assault Terminators are not. Grimly sharpening their lightning claws, they pile angrily in, shrugging off the laughable overwatch fire. 

The last Tac marine flees the Raptors, there's nothing he can really do there. So it's down to the Terminator Captain, who massive outranks the foe in melee but has to run through the guns to get there. But I need the points, my new objectives are Psychological Warfare (cause morale tests) and Blood and Guts (kill in melee). 

That last one is worth extra points if I kill three squads, and it's a long shot, but I could do it! If the Terminator Captain can charge and murder all three Obliterators and the last Biker. Not impossible, but a tall order. 

Too tall, as it happens. The Biker Champion has failed to kill anything with his melta gun all day, and picks this damn moment to find the safety - I'm shot down before I can connect. 

The Assault Terminators start mincing cultists. And do predictably well, but not so well that fate cannot once more vomit on my cupcake - one somehow survives both melee and morale shock, and clings to both life and the ruddy objective! Gah!

Objectives scored: Linebreaker (1)

Black Legion Objectives scored: Defend Objective 1 (2), Linebreaker (1), Slay the Warlord (1)

Final Scores 14 : 5 - a win for the Black Legion!

Black Locker Room

Game analysis first: what a wild ride! I had a lot of fun with this army, even though some  units (Obliterators) really didn't perform, and others (Chaos Biker champion) waited until the last shot of the game to find his mark. Despite being brother legions, it's a very different playstyle to Thousand Sons and I'm enjoying it immensely.

The Raptors and Bikers both impressed me immensely - fast and shooty is a very dangerous trait. Wish I'd held my gun line back properly, I think I probably should have shot them apart rather more than I managed. 

Also, I'm really not familiar with the Marines. Perhaps I should have read their Strategems a bit more thoroughly before the match? There were missed opportunities in places, Death to the Traitors being a prime example I'd never heard of, and my list was rather poorly optimised and equally poorly placed. Hang back with your gunline, man! You're not Tyranids!

In terms of the game: I was very fortunate in the draw of my objectives and Kraken had some absolutely shocking dice rolls (even with the Salamanders ubiquitous re-rolls). I think the speed of my army helped me too: I was able to get units to support each other, or take objectives. Kraken's shooting troops and/or slow-moving deepstrikers were pretty much stuck where they were.

And let's not forget this hero...

Made it, Ma! Top of the World!

Tabletop Simulator assessment: it's very good. And with a game that requires a flat plane of few models (such as the aformentioned x-Wing), I think it would be second-to-none as a remote gaming system.

But for Warhammer 40k? No, not for me. The game was slow, even taking into account I was a complete novice (Kraken is much more proficient at this type of game and was helping me pick up and move all my pieces). We played a 1,000pt game for only four turns, and it took as long as a 1,500pt Skype game that went to full time. It's something of a chore to place and move all your pieces - no more accurately that guesstimating over Skype - and having to pick up the measuring stick and dice too just makes thing slower.

The dice in particular: I can scoop up and roll twenty D6s as second nature. But having to click-and-select, then roll (then pick up and re-roll the ones that went off the table), the dice in a virtual manner was painfully slow. Again, this works better in a game with only a few dice (like X-Wing).

Yep, I agree. I can mouse-and-board dice about with swift abandon, but it's still a bit hit and miss. Plus I still had to proxy models (the mods didn't have some of the newer stuff in it), and it feels deeply disloyal to my carefully painted minis to use computer sprites! Anything gained in terms of accuracy, as our Skype games are often pretty vague, is lost through mucking about with clipping figures or overall sludgy controls. It's more or less like playing drunk, only not as fun as that actually is. 

The biggest flaw was the obvious one: you're not playing on a real tabletop with real figures, rolling real dice. It turns out that is a big part of what makes these games enjoyable - even if experienced at the far end of a Skype call.

So I think we've found a good simulator for some games (and it's been so long since I played X-Wing, I'd love to give that try), but - with some relief - I don't have to pack away my miniatures any time soon.

For less 3D stuff, I think it's a cracker, and I can see new Necromunda or Shadespire both working very well. But for a big game with tons of models, nope, it's just too fiddly. So back to normal virtual reality via Skype for next time!

Massive Orkness

July 28, 2018, 11:44 am

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Aaaand I'm off, slogging through the mobs of Massive Darkness so I can get to the good stuff before Christmas.

These are (checks Kickstarter Listing) Orc Flayers, lightly armoured beserker types you might encounter in the tunnels. Quite good ringers for Savage Orcs too, I think. Been a while since I painted any Fantasy models, six months or so I think, so it felt kind of strange. I kept checking them to see if I'd missed any ammo packs or glowing LED panels.

The green came out nicely, a nice mossy shade that contrasts well with the goblins I did earlier. My rough plan is to make sure all the lowly minion types have a strong and easy to spot colour scheme to help them stand out on what can often be a very crowded board. Purple and cream for contrasts, and because I was trying to be inventive and avoid all the classic 40K Ork clan schemes. I don't think you see many orcs in purple. Shame, it suits them.

Probably could have done warpaint on that chest, but the loincloth exhausted my patience for freehand.

Because I didn't check the Kickstarter Listing soon enough, I didn't realise I was painting the wrong Bosses for these guys. So this is a pair of Orc Enforcer Bosses, and the actual Flayer Bosses will come next time, when the Enforcer minions are done.

Same again, but with a purple skirt instead. I like the way they're curtseying, very demure.

You can't do a bunch of minions and not do some heroes to kick their asses. Here are some.

Valerie, Bloodmoon Assassin. The model's a good design, but the pose is a bit weird. She's got her feet very close together and is sticking that boob plate waaay out, it's a bit pin-up for my taste.

Azrael, Noble Warrior. This is a stab at doing jade armour - that's not gloss varnish, it's highlighting. Looks good from some angles only...

...as do his eyes and spear. From this side, he's super derpy, and looks like he's been resting a bit too hard on his weapon.

Moira, Sorceress. And terrible make-up artist.

Ajax, Sorcerer. Lovely model, shame about the slightly comical staff topper.

More next time!

Law Enforkment

August 5, 2018, 12:39 pm

≫ Next: I'm Ready For My Close Up: Thousand Sons vs Primaris Ultramarines

≪ Previous: Massive Orkness

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The last of the Massive Darkness greenskins fall before my brush!

I do paint like a frenzied barbarian. An hour a half a night, almost every night, head down and in silent concentration. Frenzy doesn't have to imply loud, after all. Or in motion. Very still, very silent frenzy. The Furore Buddhisma the Romans wrote of.

These are Orc Enforcers, who turn out to be the slightly more tanky, armoured ones. Their axes are weird looking, more giant wedge than hatchet, but you're not going to quibble form if it's being rammed through your temples, are you?

Same paint job as last week, give or take. The colour scheme is reproduced here, for future generations, in the standard

Painting Guide:

• Black Basecoat
• Skin - Caliban Green, Nuln Oil, Kabal Green and Warpstone Glow layers, Warpstone Glow plus Flash Gits Yellow and Rotting Flesh final drybrush
• Purple Robes - Xereus Purple, Druchii Violet, Genestealer Purple layer and Lucius Lilac drybrush
• Pale Robes - Ushabti Bone, Agrax Earthshade, Ushabti Bone Layer, Tyrant Skull drybrush, plain Black and White detail
• Metal - Leadbelcher, Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade washes, Ironbreaker, some very limited Runefang Steel detail
• Belts, Pouches, etc - Gorthor Brown, Agrax, Tyrant Skull OR Rhinox Hide, Nuln Oil, Gorthor Brown drybrush
• Mouth - Changeling Pink, Carroberg Crimson
• Teeth - Ushabti Bone, Pallid Wychflesh detail
• Hair (where applicable) - Black, Eshin Grey, Dawnstone, Nuln Oil wash
• Eyes - Troll Slayer Orange, Flash Gits Yellow dot, Black stripe/dot (depending on how my DTs were) for pupil
• Bases - Astrogranite, Drakenhof Blue, Dawnstone, either Longbeard Grey or Terminatus Stone drybrush depending on which surfaced in my tip of a paintbox first

A few characters, to spice it up. Firstly, and for the sake of completion, this Orc Agent.

Props to Stylus, I pinched the paint scheme for his albinorc complexion from his excellent Grom the Paunch model. Really good model, this one, best of the Agents in the game I think. His pose really captures the sneer and arrogance of an evil genius.

Next, a Roaming Monster. It's the Medusa!

Or technically, the Liliarch, an eight-armed snake demon. Great Sinbad vibe from this one, takes me back to midweek afternoon telly watched Harryhausen films when I was a kid.

I went with the Coral Snake for venomous inspiration. Easily confused with similar coloured and non-lethal snakes, as you all know, hence the old rhyme about the bands - Red Touch Black, Can't Hurt Jack, Red Touch Yellow, Kill a Fellow.

Snake's Got Blades? Be Afraids!

Finally, a Hero to fight them all and/or die trying. Lil' Ned, the Ogre hero, who's another smashing sculpt.

He's a good guy, so he gets a paladin paint scheme. And an anvil on a stick.

With the traditional greenskins sorted, it's on to a very slightly less generic evil dungeon denizen for next time!

I'm Ready For My Close Up: Thousand Sons vs Primaris Ultramarines

August 6, 2018, 1:48 am

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I've spoken before about how I enjoy wargames on t'telly... well now I'm in one!

Let's play the music, light the lights and meet the muppets!

I was lucky enough to get a game with my favourite Warhammer YouTuber, Winters SEO. Winters is a veteran storyteller, using only a cameraphone and a skald's talent for narration to churn out endless battles in the 41st millennium.

The one omission on his channel was that it had never featured Thousand Sons. I duly put together 2,000pts from The Court of Miracles to face an all-Primaris force of Ultramaines.

My biggest concern (other than I would forget all my rules, or have my painting eviscerated by the kind folks on YouTube) was that the battle would be a damp squib - either I would have accidentally written a killer list, or I'd play so badly that it would end in a dull tabling. Apparently some battle reports have to end up on the cutting room floor because of this.

As fate would have it, the battle was a humdinger. A real nail-biting slugfest that had me gripped on the rewatch, despite being there first time around.

Without further ado, here it is:

The day itself was a treat, like a trip to mini-Warhammer World. Anyone who's seen the videos will know that Winters has top-notch scenery and armies, so it was a fantastic canvas to play on. Winters himself is true gentleman gamer, very generous in his play and very knowledgeable about the game.

It can be no easy task to film and narrate on the fly, plus playing your own army and proving your guest with cups of tea. It probably proved enough of a handicap that a novice like me could just about draw level (since all I had to do was drop dice at the required moment).

As an avid water of YouTube reports, it was great to see behind the curtain. The whole battle took around seven hours to complete - so even the whopping 2.5 hour report is the condensed version. I'm told it takes an hour of editing to get ten minutes of screen time, so whack on another fifteen hours right there, add in some set-up time and you've got a gargantuan investment of time and effort. So go over to YouTube and give it a like, just for that.

And so I remember, this was the force in play:

• Exalted Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch HQ (Warlord)
  Force Stave, Inferno bolt pistol, Frag & Krak Grenades,
  Death Hex, Warptime
  Warlord Trait: High Magister
  Relic: Helm of the Third Eye
• Daemon Prince with wings HQ
  2 x Malefic talons,
  Gaze of Fate, Treason of Tzeentch
  Relics of the Thousand Sons: Dark Matter Crystal
• Exalted Sorcerer HQ
  Force Stave, Inferno bolt pistol, Frag & Krak Grenades,
  Diabolic Strength, Prescience
• 5 x Rubric Marines Troop
  Force Stave, Inferno bolt pistol, 3 x Inferno Boltgun, 1x Warpflamer
  Glamour of Tzeentch
• 5 x Rubric Marines Troop
  Force Stave, Inferno bolt pistol, 4 x Inferno Boltgun, Temporal Manipulation
• 20 x Tzaangor Troop
  Icon of Flame, Brayhorn, Tzaangor blades
• 10 x Chaos Cultists Troop
  Shotgun, 9 x Autoguns
• 10 x Chaos Cultists Troop
  Brutal Assault Weapons, Autopistols
• Tzaangor Shaman Elite
  Force Stave, Weaver of Fates
• Helbrute Elite
  Twin Lascannon, Missile Launcher
• 5 x Scarab Occult Terminators Elite
  Force Stave, 4 x Inferno Combi-Bolter, 4 x Power Sword, 1 x Soulreaper Cannon, 1 x Hellfyre Missile Rack, Tzeentch’s Firestorm
• 3 x Tzaangor Enlightened Fast
  Fatecaster Greatbow
• 2 x Chaos Spawn Fast
  Hideous mutations
• Defiler Heavy
  Battle cannon, Twin Heavy Bolter, Defiler scourge, Defiler claws
• Mutalith Vortex Beast Heavy
  Enormous Claws, Betentacled Maw
• Heldrake Flyer
  Baleflamer, Heldrake claws

Points: 2000 | Level: 111 | Battle-forged + Battalion + Vanguard - Relic: 8 CPs