All posts by KeptainKayak

Battle Report

40k Classic Tournament Debrief

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending my first tournament, the Lords of War 40k Classic.  I posted my list here. I will write detailed battle reports later, but this post will capture my initial thoughts.

In brief, I’ll just say I had a great time, and look forward the next one. It renewed my interest in the hobby, and has inspired me to continue playing.

Selfie at the Warhammer 40k classic, my first tournament
Selfie at the Warhammer 40k classic, my first tournament

The crowd was very friendly; mostly young, all white men. There were a couple POC among the tournament organizers, but mostly very white. Milling about before the tournament, people were friendly, and genuinely interested in the hobby and excited to talk about their armies and the game.  There was a variety of people from students to bank managers, many guys were married and some even had kids (this was their guys day out). The Legion that hosted us had ample parking and great Air Conditioning. I also liked the vibe that there was a bar downstairs and many people bought a beer and brought them up to sip during the tournament.

I played 4 games and thought I acquitted myself admirably: 2 wins and 2 losses. After one win I felt accomplished. The second win was a surprise and at that point there was nothing that was going to make this day bad. Well, I got massacred in the last game to an ultra-competitive player.

A few players complemented me on my Chimera/Rhino conversion combination thing. One guy was so excited that he took lots of pictures because he was going to “steal the hell out of this idea.” I was quite happy to oblige.

My Rhino/Chimera conversion that was well-received by many at the tournament
My Rhino/Chimera conversion that was well-received by many at the tournament

 

Tactics thoughts:

Oakenhawk was right about a lot of things:

Company Command Squads issuing their Senior Officer Orders of Ignore Cover or Bring It Down are devastating:  My CCS with 3 meltas was a monster-killing beast! It took down a Riptide, and one-shot killed a Vindicator!

Flamers were beautiful: There were a lot of cover-camping units, and the heavy flamers auto-hit and ignore cover. And in many cases, if the Chimera’s flamers didn’t work, there were more inside.

My vehicles are hard to kill: Surprisingly, my tanks all took a lot of beatings, but few lost hull points, and even fewer were destroyed. Having such quantity meant the damage was usually spread around.

Leman Russ Tanks were worth it: Each of my Leman Russ tanks were about 150 points, but I wouldn’t have traded them for anything else. They could move 6″ and fire everything with impunity, and unloading my Exterminator with lascannon and sponsor heavy bolters was my way of saying I wanted something to die! And the Demolisher’s  S10 AP2 large blast was the baseball bat I needed at times to batter tanks. And, their AV14 armour held up surprisingly well to most barrages. Keeping them facing the deadly threats helped, a lot!

The Wyvern is amazing! It became the highest priority target in my army in almost every game. My first opponent destroyed it in turn 1. After it decimated infantry squads in my 2nd and 3rd games, it was also their highest-priority target. That worked to my advantage in some ways because it drew their forces into a trap.
Long story short, twin-linked, 4 large blast barrage, re-rolling to wound was ridiculously good. I want another Wyvern!

Expendable guardsmen and expendable: The redundancy of that statement was quite on purpose. The blob squad of 20 guardsmen was kind of an afterthought for me, but proved to be valuable in a way I didn’t expect: Yes, the autocannons had a bit of a punch and drew attention, but I got an equal punch from my Taurox. This blob squad in cover was the first natural and obvious target for each of my enemies. The squad wasn’t worth much, but drew a lot of fire while my more dangerous units maneuvered. In the end, it didn’t bother me to lose them

Guardsmen in cover doing what the do best, distracting!
Guardsmen in cover doing what the do best, distracting!

Lessons Learned:

Finish off units: In my first game, I missed out on a lot of points because several units still had 2-3 models, or a vehicle had 1 hull point less. I should concentrate on destroying something and then move on. Part of the success in my second game was mopping up objective-claiming units, as exemplified in using my warlord’s Chimera to chase down a lone Kroot and heavy flamer it to death.

Don’t let the opponent set the terms: I made the mistake of waiting for my opponent to come to me in my first and last games, consequently I lost both games. In my second and third games I moved out of a bad deployment zone and outflanked my opponents.

Gets Hot Sucks: The S7 plasma didn’t have much impact on the game, probably because I was trying to keep my Warlord safe. And at one point, they both fried themselves on overwatch! Without some form of twin-linking or Preferred Enemy to mitigate 1’s, I don’t feel like it’s worth it.

Medic not worth it: The feel no pain (5+) granted by the medkit didn’t save one model in my command squad. Another plasma or a flamer (or two) would have been a much better investment.

Don’t fear Close Combat: Guard are pretty lousy at close combat, but in some cases, their numbers help out. The last daemon army I faced had a ridiculous cover save, but if I charged them instead I could have gotten bunch of blows in because of higher initiative and no overwatch.

Photo of the tournament underway
Photo of the tournament underway

Logistics thoughts:

A quantity-based, horde-like army is great in theory and practice, but not practical. Most armies at the tournament had less than 30 models. I had 75 infantry, 8 tanks, and a massive plane! I needed two containers to bring just 1500 points! And setting up and moving models is a drag too. I might as well have had old-school Warhammer Fantasy movement trays and square bases!

I need a display board. I discovered that this was a thing only a few days before the tournament. I almost bought a cafeteria-like tray from a dollar store right before the tournament, but decided to use my case as a makeshift display board. It didn’t work too well. And It would have been nice to display my army nicely.

My "display board" (i.e. one of my cases...
My “display board” (i.e. one of my cases…)

Several players shared their lists made with Army Builder which was really nice because it listed the stats and special rules of each model. I have never played against Tau or Chaos Daemons, and didn’t know their stats, so it was nice that they were there without me having to root through their codex. I’m thinking I’ll model my next list for sharing using the rules for Adepti-con as critera, and Army Builder lists from my opponents as templates.

There were chairs at the tables, and I should have sat more. My legs hurt by the end of the day.

Lunch at 2:15pm is a drag. I’m glad I brought snacks to get me through until then. I scooted out for lunch to get a KFC sandwich and I ate it much faster than I should have.

Tables are kind of crowded, so there isn’t really anywhere to put down your display case and/or codexes and such. In my first game there was an empty table beside us which was great, but in my last game we were in the middle of two other games and kinda stuck.

 

What’s next for me?

I want to join another tournament! I want to play more! It was all a good experience, and I like the honesty of paying to be there: Going to the store to play feels like I’m free-loading or something.

I think I need a display board. There were great ones at the tournament, and I’d like to have one that reflects me and my army. The scoring guide for Astronomi-con helps, but there are also SO many examples online of things that work too.  Maybe I can be crafty and make a display board that can also be a carrying case…

The most ridiculously awesome display board I've ever seen! Look at that plasma-webway portal thing! And it's base is a Millennium Falcon!
The most ridiculously awesome display board I’ve ever seen! Look at that plasma-webway portal thing! And it’s base is a Millennium Falcon!

I think I’m done painting Guard for a while I may paint one or two more melta infantry, but that would be it.  I have a lot of options: Inquisition, Arbites, Space Marines…
But I saw a Tempestus Scions army at the tournament and was intrigued. The Taurox Prime is pretty awesome…

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Tournament List (1500 Points) Astra Militarum

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The tournament I mentioned several weeks ago is coming up this weekend. And I think I’ve FINALLY got my whole army together for this adventure.

I posted a preliminary army list in a previous post.

I don’t have a lot of experience in tournaments, or playing 7th Edition 40k in generals, so I read up a lot of battle reports. In particular, I went through a lot of Oakenhawk’s battle reports. He even noticed that someone went through his reports and mentioned it in a blog post. Oakenhawk was nice enough to critique my list, and make constructive suggestions.

Here’s the list he suggested which he nicknamed Oakenlist LOLFIRE

  • CCS: Carapace Armour, 4x Plasmaguns
  • Chimera, Hull Heavy Flamer
  • CCS: 4x Meltaguns
  • Chimera, Hull Heavy Flamer
  • Vet 1: 2x Flamer, Heavy Flamer, Camo Gear & Trip Mines
  • Chimera, Hull Heavy Flamer
  • Vet 2: 2x Flamer, Heavy Flamer, Camo Gear & Trip Mines
  • Chimera, Hull Heavy Flamer
  • Vet 3: 2x Flamer, Heavy Flamer
  • Chimera, Hull Heavy Flamer
  • Infantry Platoon:
  • Platoon Command Squad, 3x Flamers, Heavy Flamer
  • Squad 1 (totally naked)
  • Squad 2 (also, totally naked)
  • Vendetta
  • Basilisk
  • Wyvern
  • Leman Russ Demolisher

I never thought of using so many flamers and heavy flamers. But, it makes sense for a few reasons. First, they’re kinda cheap, especially flamers at only 5 points. Many guardsmen only shoot at BS3, so they only hit 50% of the time. But template weapons like flamers auto-hit! And template weapons ignore cover, and that should help flush out units camped behind cover.

So, I tweaked the list as follows:

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Tournament Oakenfire (1499 pts)

HQ

  • Company Command Squad: Boltgun, 2x Plasma Guns, Carapace, Medic (110 points)
    Chimera “Eaton”: Multi Laser, Hull Heavy Flamer (65 points)
  • Company Command Squad: Boltgun, 3x Melta Guns, (91 points)
    Chimera “Repressor”: Multi Laser, Hull Heavy Flamer (65 points)

TROOPS

  • Veteran Squad: Boltgun, 2x flamer, heavy flamer, Carapace (96 points)
    Chimera “Mako”: Multi Laser, Hull Heavy Flamer, Dozer Blade (70 points)
  • Veteran Squad: Boltgun, 2x flamer, heavy flamer, Carapace (96 points)
    Chimera “Dauntless”: Multi Laser, Hull Heavy Flamer (65 points)
  • Platoon Command Squad: Boltgun, 2x flamers, heavy flamer (51 points)
  • Infantry Squad: Autocannon (60 points)
  • Infantry Squad: Autocannon (60 points)
  • Infantry Squad: Flamer (55 points)
    Taurox “Lechon” (50 points)

FAST ATTACK

  • Vendetta “313-PHAN T” (170 points)

HEAVY SUPPORT

  • Leman Russ Demolisher “Cyclops”: Hull Heavy Bolter (170 points)
  • Leman Russ Exterminator “Tsunami”: Hull Lascannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsors (160 points)
  • Wyvern “Hound” (65 points)

Yup, 8 tanks and a flyer, along with 65 infantry! Go Guard! That’s quantity! I imagine for the first few turns my opponents will be unsure of what to shoot at. And yes, of course all the vehicles have names.

I had to build a lot of infantry, another Chimera, and modify a Leman Russ, but I’m happy it’s all together.

Oakenhawn was a big fan of the Company Command Squads (CCS) and I can see why: The Senior Officer Orders can buff their own unit to allow for Tank Hunter or Ignore Cover. The 3 melta CCS is a going to be a heavy hitter.

Few players online are fans of the medic for the CCS. He grants 5+ Feel No Pain, which gives a little more survivability to my warlord’s squad, especially if those plasma guns have some “gets hot” shenanigans. But, I wonder how useful or valuable the medic really is… maybe I should have just gone with another plasma gun?

I plan to have the Platoon Command Squad start off in the Vendetta. They’ll make a great objective grabbing surprise later in the game. And the Vendetta’s 3 (!!!) twin-linked lascannons should do some serious damage.

The vets in Chimeras are meant to grab the objectives, and have campfires, be it clearing out enemies, or protecting themselves from close combat.

The Heavy Support options are pretty self-explanatory: Leman Russ Demolisher terrifies anything within 24 inches with its S10 AP2 large blast! The Leman Russ Exterminator is a kind of “jack-of-all trades” to pepper infantry and medium-vehicles alike. And the I’ll hide the Wyvern out of sight and shred far-off infantry in cover.

Deployment will be interesting with 8 tanks on the battlefield. Only two infantry squads won’t be in transports. I’ll “blob” them together into a combined squad and place them nicely in cover, preferably on a backfield objective.

The Taurox is my ace in the hole. I don’t expect it to be a target for the enemy, and I’ll try to keep it hidden in cover taking nice pot-shots with its TL autocannon. Late in the game it can make an impressive 18” dash for objectives.

I kind of wish I had a second Taurox. I could trade out one of the other infantry squads and get a MOBILE autocannon.

As my first tournament, I’m not sure what to expect. But, I’ll go in, try to remember the rules, play with good sportsmanship, and try to have fun. That’s a nice low baseline.

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I’ll be sure to share Battle Reports after

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Chimera “Mako”

I had a lot of fun building this Chimera.  I had fun building the Chimera “Dauntless” and updating the Chimera “Eaton,” but this one was more fun because I got to give it more personality and electronics like this Basilisk.

Like most of my models, I got this model through eBay. Actually, I think this was part of a Armoured Fist set that also included 10 guardsmen.

I’ll start this post with a photo of a toy truck. I know that must seem really strange, but this toy truck is really important. I got it at a garage sale over a year ago for $2. The buttons on top made noises so I decided to use the electronics inside to make a special tank.

 

Toy truck which the circuity was removed-from for Chimera "Mako"
Toy truck which the circuity was removed-from for Chimera “Mako”

 

Despite being such a big toy, when I stripped out the electronics I was left with very small parts. Most of this very large toy was hollow. The sound generation and buttons were on a single small circuit board. It was powered by three really small “button” battery cells. Rather than re-wiring AA batteries to match, I decided to just cut out the battery holster too and put it in the tank.

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Circuit board and battery holster scavenged from the toy truck

 

 

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Chimera “Mako” posing with a Leman Russ Exterminator and Leman Russ Punisher

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I plan on running this tank with a veteran squad I’ve called the “Irregulars”. I got most of Colonel Schaffer’s Last Chancer’s from eBay and decided they make a rather interesting composite squad. I imagine them as the remnants of a much larger company that has whittled down over the years, and they’re the remaining hardy, grizzled veterans. And I imagine their ride would be similarly non-uniform.

And, their ride has a loud horn, and plays rock music. Seemed appropriate.

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Tactically, as an objective secured troops unit, they’re going to be prettymuch auto-take for me in every game. In the pictures above I have have 3 meltaguns in the squad, which seems to be heavily preferred in the 7th edition meta.

 

 

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Name Origin

The name for this tank, “Mako,” has several inspirations:

The first and most obvious is thata Mako is a shark, and the Orky, teethy dozer blade is definitely shark-inspired.

Another part of the inspiration is the tank from the first Mass Effect Game is the M-35 Mako. It’s a jalopy of a tank that gets constantly beat up, but incredibly important in the gameplay.

One of my favourite recent TV shows is The Legend of Korra. A major character in that series was a firebender named Mako . In addition to the practicality, the fact that this tank has a heavy flamer is supposed to be a reflection of that character.

And the last reference was largely unintentional. One of my favouite recent movies was “Pacific Rim.” This isn’t a giant monster-fighting robot, but Mako Mori is a powerful character in the film and so I suppose this tank is also something of a homage to her.

With all the homages in the name of this tank, it will certainly see a lot of deployment in games I play.

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Early Draft List for Upcoming Tournament

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I mentioned last week that I’m registered to participate in a tournament on August 20. Time is ticking down and I’ve been pondering list building quite a bit.

The most interesting part of building this list is the rule that only troops are scoring. To that end, I am putting WAY more troops than usual.

Astra Militarum is not known for being very mobile, or durable, so I’m hoping the dedicated transports help buff my “squishy” infantry squads.

I have only two Psykers in this army. I worry I may be a little lean in this department. Though, part of me wonders if I’d be better off losing the Primaris and taking another infantry squad.

But, with only troops scoring and no allies, I don’t have to worry about super-heavies.

Section of my Astra Militarum Army
Section of my Astra Militarum Army. Not exactly as will be fielded.

Combined Arms Detachment: Astra Militarum [1500 Points]

HQ

Company Command Squad, Company Commander, two Veterans with Plasma Guns, Medic, Astropath, Master of Ordanance, Officer of the Fleet, Chimera with Dozer Blade and Heavy Stubber [246]

Primaris Psyker [50]

Techpriest Engiseer with two Servitors [60]

Ministorum Priest [25]

Ministorum Priest [25]

Commissar [25]

 

Troops

Veteran Squad, Veteran Sergeant with Boltgun, two Veterans with Meltagun, Chimera with Dozer Blade and Heavy Flamer [138]

Infantry Platoon [453]

-Platoon Command Squad, Platoon Commander with Boltgun and Melta Bombs, Melta, Heavy Flamer

-Infantry Squad, Sergeant with Boltgun and Melta Bombs, Autocannon, Chimera

-Infantry Squad, Sergeant with Boltgun, Flamer, Autocannon, Taurox

-Conscript Squad (50 models)

 

Fast Attack

Vendetta [170]

 

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Exterminator with Lascannon and Heavy Bolter Sponsors [160]

Wyvern [65]

Hydra [70]

 

There are 7 tanks and a flyer on this list, which I think is pretty mighty.

Everything on this list is already built except the two autocannons, one ministorum priest, and the 50 (!!) conscripts. That could be a long and tedious process, but any conscripts I don’t finish can probably be replaced with some other units I have left behind.

And, regrettably, I’m leaving  a lot of units behind. No Temptestus Scions / Stormtroopers, 2 Leman Russes, 2 Hellhounds, 2 Sentinels, bullgryns, ratlings, rough riders, Basilisk, several techpriests and servitors, and special characters Creed and Nork Deddog.

I’m considering switching the Commissar for a Lord Commissar to give the conscripts squad some heft.

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Let’s see how many models I get done in time and then I’ll re-evaluate this list.

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Escher Juve with Flamer

I got this model from eBay quite a while ago. She’s from the Necromunda game, specifically the Escher all-female gang. She was labelled on the tab as “juve” which I assumed meant juvenile or young person.

Image of painted Escher Juve model from Lexicanum
Image of painted Escher Juve model from Lexicanum

I have very few female models in my army, so I felt compelled to add more.

Her original model has her holding some sort of autopistol. I decided I wanted to make her as useful and flexible as possible, so I wanted her armed so that she could be used as an Inquisitional Acolyte or a guards(wo)man. So that end, I decided to replace her autopistol with a flamer. I borrowed the flamer from a commissar model I haven’t finsihed yet, and Commissar’s can’t use flamer’s anyways, so this worked out nicely.

Escher Juve from Necromunda below, and a Commissar's flamer arm I will graft onto her
Escher Juve from Necromunda below, and a Commissar’s flamer arm I will graft onto her

I wanted to give her a paintjob similar to the rest of my guardsmen so she’d fit in. To that end, she has a black shirt (flakk jacket?), administratum grey pants, and her knee-high boots are black.

 

Finished model with flamer
Model with flamer almost finished

 

Female Guardsman or Inquisition Acolyte with flamer
Female Guardsman or Inquisition Acolyte with flamer

 

Female Guardsman or Inquisition Acolyte with flamer (back)
Female Guardsman or Inquisition Acolyte with flamer (back)

She’s also really tiny. Most guardsmen look similar in size to Space Marines, but they totally dwarf her.

Considering that guardsmen (and guardswomen) and Inquisitorial Acolytes have a ballistic skill of only 3, the auto-hit nature of template weapons is very appealing.

I’ll probably make sure to include her in my army for the upcoming tournament.

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Tournament August 20!

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I was musing in a recent post about my massive backlog of models to paint. I was a little unfocused and unmotivated considering I had SO many models for potentially 3 different armies. Well, signing up for a tournament will certainly focus somebody really quickly!

Banner for the Lords of War 40k "Classic" Tournament
Banner for the Lords of War 40k “Classic” Tournament

I keep abreast of recent Warhammer 40k news mostly through Facebook groups. Someone was nice enough to share this event on Facebook about an event close to home! I’m excited that I’ll be joining this Lords Of War Tournament, the 40k Classic on August 20.

I haven’t played much 7th edition Warhammer 40k at all, so I’m a little intimidated by the gaming scene in general. I like that the rules for this tournament are “classic” style, with limitations to one Codex only, no formations, no special rules, and troops scoring only. There is much less chance of funny shenanigans and loads of ridiculous stacking special rules.

I’ll be participating in the 1500 points, singles, single codex event on Saturday. It looks like I’ll have four six-turn games.

Because it’s single codex, no special characters, and only troop scoring, running an Inqusition Army is regrettably out of the question.  So, all my Inquisition painting goes on the backburner for now.

I would have liked to field my Space Marines, but I have a lot left to paint. Regrettably, I don’t have the latest Codex, I’m working off of 6th edition, so that would be an additional cost too. And the rules against formations and detachments make them seem less appealing.

Which leaves me with my good old Imperial Guard Astra Militarum! And I’m quite okay with that. I have more than enough points to field 1500 points. Perhaps too many points.  That points limit gets hit pretty quickly. And I don’t have much experience playing so I’m not sure what are the most effective points investments. I’d love to run all tanks, but I need to conserve points for troops for scoring units. I’m tempted to try to build a lot of infantry models before the tournament to flood the field.

There are some absolutes I really want to field, like my recently finished Vendetta gunship, and all four of my dedicated transports. And a recently-built Wyvern. And certainly a company command squad with my Regimental advisers.

I have about two months to get my army ready. Onwards!

My Astra Militarum on display, preparing for deployment
My Astra Militarum on display, preparing for deployment
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Warhammer FOMO

So, just last week I reported that I have about 150 models in my backlog to finish, BUT, I can’t help but feel like I want, or NEED to buy more! I feel like I have the typical millennial Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) for certain models, bundles, or even Armies!

Many months ago, I was immediately interested when I heard about the re-release of Lost Patrol. It’s a standalone game that is a nice gateway into Warhammer 40k, and comes with some Tyranid Genestealers and a squad of Space Marine Scouts. I could always use more Space Marine Scouts, which are a great unit in general.

Games Workshop’s Lost Patrol

The Genestealers in this box got me thinking though. If I had 11 Genestealers, could that be the start of a Tyranid army?! All of my models are human Imperials (Space Marines, Astra Militarum, Inquisition). Though it’s not unusual to think of humans of the Imperium fighting and killing each other, I feel like they need an enemy, a “bad guy” to fight. And a ruthless alien invasion seemed appropriate.

Start Collecting! Tyranids Boxed Set

That makes the Start Collecting: Tyranids box set seem so tempting. With the Genestealers as troops, the rest of this box fills out a pretty terrifying army. Making the Hive Tyrant as a Flying Monsterous Creature actually seems really awesome! It’s like a flying alien dragon!

Flying Hive Tyrant! Like a flying alien dragon!

After getting interested in Tyranids, I was looking at other neat things in their arsenal, and I happened upon the Tervigon. It constantly produces more units throughout the battle! This ugly mamma keeps producing more termigants as the battle progresses. That’s alien and terrifying! And tactically quite interesting…

Tyranid Tervigon that keeps producing units!

But, buying and building such Tyranids would be very financially and time-consuming. I mean, a whole new army…

But, the Start Collecting: Skiitarii box catches my eye too. Their like steampunk robots! What’s not to like!? The heavily mechanized nature of this box and army really suit my interests.

Start Collecting Skitarii box from Games Workshop

Or what about the Start Collecting Militarum Tempestus box! I’m actually rather fond of my current Taurox, and adding another to the fray for a mere 50 points sounds lovely. And the more I read about Tempestus Scions the more I want to field them. With the correct supplement, I could field a whole army of JUST scions in Taurox Primes. And the sprues come with enough parts for me to customize and upgrade quite a few of my guardsmen into Scions or “Stormtroopers” too.

Start Collecting Militarum Tempestus set!

 

But, no more buying until after I’ve cleared my backlog. Then I’ll head down one of these paths.. or another path. We’ll see what suits my fancy by then.

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No More Buying; Clear the Backlog

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I made a New Year’s Resolution at the beginning of 2015 not to buy any more more Warhammer models until I cleared out my backlog. I obviously didn’t follow that. But, with my cash flow now considerably constrained, and the piles and piles of unfinished models I have, I think I’ll finally stick to this resolution.

And I do have A LOT of models left to do:

I was quite happy to snag a lot of Adeptus Arbites models off of eBay. Regrettably, and embarrassingly, I’ve only painted one! I’m still musing about converting them to holding storm bolters, or even lasguns or shotguns so they can be fielded as Astra Militarum Veterans with the Grenadiers doctrine. But, I think they will look sharp all painted and together.

18 Adeptus Arbites models to be completed
18 Adeptus Arbites models; 17 to be completed

And I have a Rhino hull I plan which I plan to put a Chimera roof on and make it into a Repressor for the above Arbites models.  I can essentially use the Inquisition Chimera rules and have a Heavy Bolter and pintle-mounted heavy flamer!

Rhino hull with Chimera Roof I plan to model as a Repressor
Rhino hull with Chimera Roof I plan to model as a Repressor

 

I have a rather miscellaneous pile of Inquisition models to finish:

  • Female Inquisitor
  • Four (4) Death Cult Assassins
  • Crusader
  • Munitorum Priest
  • Sisters of Battle Hospotalier (who I’ll probably convert to another Death Cult Assassin)
  • Escher Juve (from Necromunda)
  • Escher with two guns (who I’ll probably make into an Astra Militarum Sergeant)
Assorted Inquisition Models
Assorted Inquisition Models

I’m actually quite looking foward to finishing the Death Cult Assassins. They’ll be a nice Close-Combat counterpart to my rather “shooty” Astra Militarum army. And the Crusader (along with my previous two Crusaders) should be able to tank some wounds for them.

And the female Inquisitor model is really badass. The Hellgun is not that impressive (Heavy 1, S6, AP3), but I could replace it with a plasma pistol, or storm bolter, or something really exotic like a conversion beamer!

 

I also have 19 Chaos Cultists that would have been part of a Dark Vengeance Box Set. There were 20 but one became a techpriest. I’m not sure if I’ll make them as Astra Militarum conscripts or just a mass of Inquisition acolyte bodies.

19 Chaos Cultists, mostly still on sprue
19 Chaos Cultists, mostly still on sprue

 

As for Astra Militarum Models: I have A LOT

  • Enough legs to make 51 guardsmen models!
  • Includes 6 heavy weapon bases and parts for a variety of special and heavy weapons
The "to do" pile. Rather large and regrettably daunting
The “to do” pile. Rather large and regrettably daunting

 

 

Commissar Yarrick model new in blister with book about Yarrick
Commissar Yarrick model new in blister with book about Yarrick

I also have a new in blister Commissar Yarrick model! That character deserves a good, careful paint job.

 

Five 90's stormtroopers
Five 90’s stormtroopers

And, still going with Astra Militarum:

Work in progress of 3 of my 7 Tempestus Scions
Work in progress of 3 of my 7 Tempestus Scions

And, A LOT of Space Marines

  • 7 Space Marine Bikes
  • 1 Chapter Master from Dark Vengeance Kit (to be librarian)
  • 6 Space Marine Scouts
  • 1 Sergeant from Dark Vengeance
  • 3 Space Marines with Lascannons
Space Marine Devastators with Lascannons in progress
Space Marine Devastators with Lascannons in progress
  • 1 Space Marine with heavy weapon (to be lascannon)
  • 1 Space Marine with heavy bolter
  • 1 Space Marine with Missile Launcher
  • 8 Space Marines with Boltguns from Dark Vengeance
  • 2 Sergeants
  • 5 Terminators
  • Dreadnought
  • Rhino/Razorback
  • Dreadnought Drop pod!
Dreadnought drop pod to be completed
Dreadnought drop pod to be completed

I’m SO close to being done my Land Raider.

 

A grand total of 148 models to finish!

Yeah, adding it all up, I REALLY don’t need to buy any more…

Hobby

Custom Dwarf Techpriest and more!

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Much of my Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard) army is mechanized, and that’s the way I like it. But keeping with the theme and fluff, having such a vehicle-heavy army, they would need quite a crew to maintain it. In come the Techpriest Engiseers! I mused openly about my lone techpriest in this post, but I thought it was time he had some support.

I considered buying the new Techpriest model, but I wasn’t too excited about it. I wanted something unique.

So, I got this  model from eBay of a Dwarf Runesmith. It’s for Warhammer Fantasy Battles, but the eyepiece makes him look rather steampunk already.

eBay image of Dwarf Runesmith I purchased
eBay image of Dwarf Runesmith I purchased

Dwarves in general are an interesting topic in Warhammer 40k. The Eldar are obvious proxies for fantasy elves (and by extension Dark Elves –> Dark Eldar). In earlier editions of Warhammer 40k there were references to Squats, the future equivalent of fantasy dwarves. But they weren’t well-received and aren’t supported in current literature. But, they technically do exist in the universe, and it would make sense that a Squat could go to Mars and become a vested tech-priest!

 

The image below shows a mechanized White Dwarf which I used as my inspiration.

Example White Dwarf Techpriest (image source)
Example White Dwarf Techpriest (image source)

 

Converting this model was part of the fun. I took a few servo-arms off of a Master of The Forge techmarine model I had, and another servo-arm off of a servitor I converted to hold a plasma cannon. I used all of those bits and a Vox-Caster backpack (and A LOT of super glue) to create a servo arm.

Next, I stole a power-axe from a techpriest to replace the dwarf’s axe.

Finally, there was a wrench hanging out of a backpack of a Chaos cultists in the Dark Vengeance set. So I carefully modelled that so it looks like he’s holding the wrench in a zealous mechanic kind of way.

 

 

Partially converted Dwarf Techpriest
Partially converted Dwarf Techpriest

In the end, with the white beard and red robes, he actually wound up looking a lot like Santa Claus.

Nearly final product Squat Techpriest Engiseer!
Nearly final product Squat Techpriest Engiseer!

 

Squat Techpriest Engiseer
Squat Techpriest Engiseer

 

Dwarf Techpriest Engiseer (back)
Dwarf Techpriest Engiseer (back)

 

 

But, he isn’t alone. I converted a Chaos Cultist from the Dark Vengeance set to another techpriest.

The process was very similar: I used a vox-caster for the backpack, the searchlight is off of a vehicle kit, and the servo-arm is a combination of a lot of bits.

 

Chaos Cultists converted to Techpriest Engiseer
Chaos Cultists converted to Techpriest Engiseer

 

Chaos Cultists converted to Techpriest Engiseer (side)
Chaos Cultists converted to Techpriest Engiseer (side)

 

Chaos Cultists converted to Techpriest Engiseer (other side)
Chaos Cultists converted to Techpriest Engiseer (other side)

He actually bears a striking resemblance to the Games Workshop Techpriest.

Chaos Cultists converted to techpriest (left), and stock Techpriest from Games Workshop (right)
Chaos Cultists converted to techpriest (left), and stock Techpriest from Games Workshop (right)

 

And, to round out their team, I finally finished the servitors.

Servitors

Servitors

 

Servitors (back)
Servitors (back)

Now, with a few servitors, they’re one big family:

 

Techpriests and servitors
Techpriests and servitors

 

Techpriests and servitors with the tanks they support
Techpriests and servitors with the tanks they support

 

I expect to use this unit quite happily in games. But, they also look really cool together just for display. The red really stands out against the grey of my army.

Hobby

Returning from a Long Hiatus

It’s been a long, LONG time since my last post which was WAY back in June of 2015. I guess I got busy after that and hobby took a backseat.

I had a lot of projects on the go; my biggest was to finish an Astra Militarum Valkyrie. I’m also mostly done an Inquisitor Karamzov model. But the finishing touches on each could take a LONG time, and that was a little discouraging. Although I love vehicles and big models, they take a lot of time and if I get an hour here or there I don’t feel like I got a lot done in each little sitting.

Work in progress Valkyrie
Work in progress Valkyrie

I also have A LOT of unpainted models: Dozens of Astra Militarum infantry, 10 Space Marines, 5 Space Marine Scouts, 3 Space Marine Bikes, another Dreadnought, about 20 cultists/inquisition acolytes/conscripts, 2 crusaders, a Land Raider, another rhino, 13 arbites, Commissar Yarrick, and a handful of other characters. I’ve also started 5 terminators, a techmarine, another Commissar, and death cult assassins. It’s a long list. Perhaps it’s so long that it seems insurmountable and it may simply be easier to give up.

The "to do" pile. Rather large and regrettably daunting
The “to do” pile. Rather large and regrettably daunting

Towards the end of 2015 I hadn’t touched my models in a long time, and the unpainted masses were getting further and further buried. I even considered selling them all for a few extra bucks.

And then for whatever reason, this week I’ve felt a compelling to get back into Warhammer. Pimpcron published a timely post regarding Murdering the Hobby Slump like I was in.

So, with time on my hands last Friday night, I took the advice from that post, sat down and worked on a single model. And I finished it happily.

My painted version of Cyril the Bear, the Dwarf King's Court Royal Mascot
My painted version of Cyril the Bear, the Royal Mascot of the Dwarf King’s Court

This was a model I found on eBay about 8 months ago of a Cyril the Bear, the Royal Mascot of the Dwarf King’s Court. It is a Citadel miniatures model, but from 1982. I just kinda wanted a bear to add to an Inquisitor’s party. I thought it would be suitable as an equivalent to “Arco-Flagellant”

WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
Bear as Arco-Flagellant 5 1 5 3 1 3 4 8 –

I think this profile sits suitably because it represents a strong, dangerous animal that can hit hard in close combat for 15 points.

So, I enjoyed that hour and I think I’d like to do some more. Maybe keep carving out some evening time or weekend afternoons for personal hobby time. The dangerous question is what next?

I’m even tempted to buy some more models if I see a good deal on eBay. Okay, I probably shouldn’t, the to do list is still REALLY large. But a Stormraven, another Vindicator, Predator, or two more Leman Ruses would be really nice.