'nids part 136 - Dakkafex go boom!

About 90 minutes of striation work here. Once again I'm feeling really good about this. Way back when I was more concerned about fading some of these highlights and how dark the washes were so they aren't so harsh but I've not done the spots yet which will make it less 'contrasty'.

I do suddenly have a love of the Carnifex [that reads SO wrong!] the model is great, even if I've totally distorted it's silhouette with the massive Devourers. Stupidly I let an ebay auction slip away for another one. I seller had three Carnifex auctions finishing in the space of five minutes. not one went for more than £7, with postage about £3, you live and learn.

I may magnetize his head, currently this one is attached by the plastic tab at the back of the neck, I'm also painting the Bio-plasma head at the same time [for no particular reason] but wish I had the an Old One Eye on the go too. I have the skull half but I think the normal half was used with the other normal half that eneded up on my Quad Gun...

Some may think he's a little bit front heavy but despite the size of the Fleshborer Hives as Devourers I always imagine them potentially being fleshy, rotting bladders so they wouldn't be that heavy.

So, lots of progress, back onto the Venom/Zoan-thropes and the Lictors next.

    

Dark Angel Librarian progress

June last year may have been my last update on my Dark Angel Librarian but I realised he's another 'quick win' on my 'to do list' and I need a HQ afterall and as he can be upgraded to a Level 2 psyker which makes him both more effective and more costly, when I need to bulk out my points values it was a no brainer to spend some time on him.

The blue I am loving, so much so I kind of wish I was doing Ultramarines. Obviously I couldn't stand the ridicule so that was never going to happen but highlighting my Bahama Blue Craft Acrylic with Turquoise has brought out some really nice highlights. It also ties in the Verdigris...

... which went a bit OTT. In fact it's pretty much made any detail on the bronze pieces indistinguishable. I'm not sure it works and I'm not sure how to fix it.

The other leg is the same and I'm thinking the paint is already a bit too thick to be adding any more.

The shoulder has even more Verdigris on it but the pattern manages to show through redardless. With hindsight I can see I was much more sparing with the Turquoise on my Tactical squad. i rushed this a bit, added some thinned down Dark Angel green first, then the Turquoise so there was altogether too much going on. I also wanted his sword to be turquoise, to try and tie everything together. It's going to get a couple of coats of gloss varnish too to make it stand out.

Ultimately though I can't see me using him too much once my Azrael is finished so it may be worrying for nothing. Note I went all blue, not Dark Angel green shoulder pad. It's already quite busy so I didn't want to add another colour in. I'm not convinced about the red piping on the cloak. I just don't get how other people are able to get so much detail out of it.

    

His Chapter symbol also pretty ropey. I'm not happy about this at all. My local GW manager suggested resculpting it as Maximus armour.

Still some highlights to do but it's very close to being complete. Some better pictures may help clarify my concerns. Like I say I'm not completely happy there are some bits I love and some bits that I think are well below the standard of what the model should be,

SEVEN!

I write a 40k blog, so as we stand on the precipice of a new edition I have to make the obligatory 'you must have been hiding under a rock' reference [and indeed White Dwarf daily used that very same reference!] not to know about what is to hit us in a weeks time. Cliche I know but if you take away the cliche what will I have left? It seems only right that I close out 6th Edition with a look at my Limited Edition version.

    

I explained my reasoning behind this purchase in June 2012, sadly GW's site update means all the pictures are missing now - note to bloggers, if in doubt save a copy of the images to your own space. Of course the most amusing aspect was the deluded 'I doubt I'll regret this...'

In truth I could have made double my money back. In the week after pre-orders ebay was awash with Limited Editions. So many peaople had been unaware they were available and missed out. They quickly soared in value, selling for £90, £100, £120.

The most expensive I saw sold had a final bid for £300+ while someone managed to put quite a few on at Buy It Now for £150, which calmed the market somewhat, although probably making the £300 bidder violently sick in the process!

I was reluctant to create an auction for an item I did not have posession of so observed the mad scramble to sell 'unhatched eggs', even more ludicrous when you were unaware which numbered edition you were buying. Just imagine number 666 selling for less than 1372?!

I also had a rather dubious ulterior motive, in that I photocopied the entire book so I could use my own spiral bound copy for gaming, while keeping the Limited Edition prisitine.

As it was I was fortunate enough to get the thoroughly unique issue 0931, but by the time the pre-order week was up the ebay frenzy had subsided. I assumed that as those initial auctions went the competition between sellers would be less fierce, meaning if there was only one auction you would have more bidders fighting over your book and potentially bumping the price even higher.

How wrong was I? It turns out that those few who were desparate enough to throw fortunes at these Editions were just those few. As time went on whenever I did a search for auctions of them you would see their winning value less than the hardback standard version.

In fact, only the other week I saw one sell for £16, with about £10 postage! Prior to the rumours about the new Edition I'd actually resigned myself to the not unpleasant but certainly not the intended realisation that I will not actually part with it. I'd even considered using it for it's purpose as my gaming rulebook. However, it weighs a tonne and I've already got so much stuff in my gaming luggage I don't need have a forest to go with it.

In truth, it is a beautiful object, it also taught me a lesson about the value of the Limited Edition items, I wouldn't expect any return on the new Munitorum Edition. Although I still thinke the Gamers Edition satchel may have retained it's value separately.

As the pre-order date for 7th arrives I will even be asking myself the question - do I want this '3 book' hard-back edition? If I want to read the fluff and imagery my Limited Edition version can supply that fix. There's only so much of the fluff GW can change/rearrange/deny so much of it will remain true. The rules are another issue, I will need those. But can I hold out for the box set. Rumours suggest the Ork/Blood Angels beginners set will arrive sooner rather than later. If you recall from my post two years ago the very same thing was said then, with limited copies available on the release of 6th with the bulk of the box sets available later in the year. That ended up with no box set until September/October.

    

Saving £50 to spend on a box set with miniatures, isn't really an issue. In this instance I actually don't begrudge paying it, although £50 to spend on other hobby stuff is equally appealling. I firmly believe that those people complaining about GW changing the rules within 2 years are missing the fact most video games have a similar cycle. No one out there is bemoaning 'it's only been two years since the last Grand Theft Auto came out and they're releasing a new one'. I think the amount of pleasure and fun I've got out of 6th [taking the actual use of my Limited Edition book out of the equation, although the photocopy did get used extensively until Dark Vengeance] was well worth that initial investment and well worth reinvesting £50 now.

Personally I'm just reluctant to end up with another high-quality product that sits on a shelf when the mini-rulebook comes out with the boxset and indeed that £50 could co towards the box, or just some cool new figures. But I am also looking forward to the potential challenge of removing a slew of Blood Angel iconography, as other marine players were forced to do with the Dark Angels for Dark Vengeance. I'll probably see what the other guys are doing and decide on the day...

Flufftastic - Hive Fleet Gorgon - Ferron Splinter Fleet - Mycetic Spores

These Mycetic Spore pods are similar in intent to the transport pod of the Doom of Ferron Proxima, although it has been noted that the initial use of orbital delivery mechanisms has ceased. Does this herald the second stage in the invasion of Ferron Proxima or has the Hive Fleet decided that it now has access to sufficient resources planetside to take the world instead of investing more of the fleets bio-resources? Evidence is not sufficient to draw conclusions but the fact is the sky has stopped falling, for the moment...

One of the major difficulties for the bio-magi trying to reveal the secrets of the Xenos threat, is that threat is evolving and mutating on a daily basis. When new bio-constructs appear, getting samples, eye-witness accounts and observing their function is only the first challenge because the Hive Mind is constantly using these constructs as foundations for different purposes forcing each hypothesis to be re-evaluated. These Mycetic Spore Pods are a prime example of the bio-diversity the Tyranid threat can bring to bear. The new spore pods had originally  been seen delivering a variety of troops to the battlefield, disgorging monstrous beasts and chittering hordes as well as potent psychic terrors like the Doom of Ferron Proxima.

Most often they were discovered in areas close to the main Tyranid Hives, their designation identified through xenos bio-data sheets as the orbital transportation pods but on closer inspection some were found to be semi sentient weapons batteries. Producing fierce explosive rounds or a torrent of smaller scatter shots that whittled the eye-witnesses down to a man. These new discoveries are forcing the bio-magi to re-write their findings and reassess all their discoveries to date. What other bio-forms are being mutated into other entities to bring about the further subjugation of Ferron Proxima?

Alongside this new development there were rumours again that these pods may form some kind of Synaptic link for the Hive - extending it's range of influence as the smaller more feeble minded xenos spread out to forage for bio-matter and increase the Hive's territory. No evidence has been found to support this hypothesis but the bio-magi will not discount any possibility at this stage given the proven mutable factor of Hive Fleet Gorgon.

What has been proven though is the real change these pods are having to the surrounding landscape - they are changing the environment and polluting it with the foul alien DNA of the Xenos. These pods are effectively terra-forming the Ferron landscape to make it more suitable for the alien interlopers. Even the very aspect of the pods is against the nature of good clean Imperial design that is built on the crushed bones of the fallen, ferrocrete, steel, brass and adamantium. Alien flesh and chitin suffused with rank toxic ichor, fluids and tiny symbiotic builder organism constantly repairing the structures, it's obscene blasphemy and an affront to the Emperor's architectural tenets. These pods may yet be the most dangerous element in the alien assault, purge the alien, destroy on sight!

'nids part 135 - Yet more WiPs of Lictors and Zoanthropes

Blues and washeson the Zoie. He was mising a dorsal vent that I dropped on the floor and it disappeared into the Warp so I just decided to do without. I always like being at this stage of the paint scheme, with the washes done it's the striations next. I may not always enjoy doing them but getting that stage feels like the job is progressing well, particularly with the bases being painted in advance now.

So two striation highlights, claws, two bonewhite highlights and the fleshy bits and this baby is done. It's nowhere near the finish line but for some reason it just feels roudn the corner. I'd decided to do his brain glowing green and if I ever got a third have it glowing yellow but if you think I should keep it just fleshy pink like the 'Doom of Ferron Proxima' let me know.

The reclamation pit will have green slime like the Capillary Towers, hopefully the pin won't be too noticable. Unfortunately the first lot of super glue didn't hold it so I had to add some more in which as you can see came out a bit bulky but it's on the underneath so will be hidden a bit.

How the base should look when its finished.

    

The Lictor has also continued at the same pace.

I will proxy him as Deathleaper.

So, I had both these models and my Venomthrope and Carnifex all at the same stage. Last night I put down all the first set of Turquoise striation on the Carnifex, about 90 to 100 minutes. I'm hoping to do the other three models in an hour then my next hobby stint may be some Dark Angels to break up the Xeno-centric and do what is, afterall, my purpose these few months.

'nids part 134 - All sorts of WiPs of Lictors and Zoanthropes

My second Zonthrope has had it's base done, I didn't want to have it atop the tiny Capillary Tower they usually come with, it seems a bit odd they all float around atop a ground bursting spike. So this one is just pinned, I'll probably wish I'd added a flying base rod but it might be less conspicuous when the tiny reclamaition pool is complete underneath it.

Hand on heart there may be some modelling for advantage here. The normal Zoanthrope does not fit under my Skyshield, this is about 10mm shorter without the Capillary Tower so it might fit underneath, although it is floating. In truth though I haven't measured it so it could still fail to get underneath. Anyway, Red Planet base is painted so on with the undercoats.

My lictor has also had the base and basecoat treatment, I love this model, I actually think it's my favorite Tyranid creature. Now I have one I kind of want another 4 and Deathleaper to make up the 'Assasins' formation.

Next up - blues and washes.

Also here's where I used some Liquid Green Stuff to tidy up the magnets on the Mawloc talons for my Carnifex.

I does indeed shrink a  lot so it's best to slap it on then sand it down afterwards. I did note you can then smooth it with your fingers, the natural oils on your hands together with the recently sanded GS makes an accura

Flufftastic - Hive Fleet Gorgon - Ferron Splinter Fleet - The 'Doom of Ferron Proxima'

It has been noted recently that in many of the early Xenos incursions into occupied areas of Ferron Proxima that amongst the hulking beasts and chittering hordes there was a being of immense psychic potential. This creature could be seen floating above it's smaller brethren, an eldritch light sparking from it's immense cranium and exposed synaptic cells. Unfortunately most field reports stopped there, as whatever witchery this creature held resulted in the decimation of whole ranks of heroic defenders of Ferron Proxima. One minute they were upholding the faith of the Emperor, the next minute they were but lifeless husks.

Bio-magi have since found numerous reports from other worlds of creatures similar to these but one in particular has even more commonality with the brain beast, a creature designated the Doom of Malan'tai, although very little evidence exists of the immense Psychic Blast employed by Ferron Proxima's own so-called 'Doom'. The Ferron brain beast had instead been known to emit a piercing scream, so powerful as to render armour and defensive fortifications useless. The sonic tirade caused the heroic planetary defence forces and Astartes alike to fall to their knees as their ear drums exploded and their brains were liquefied. What is worse is that cyber skull bio-data recording of the brain beast revealed it to somehow gain strength from this wholesale slaughter.

A priority one kill order was sent to all forces, however this proved a difficult task as invariably the first sign  the brain beast was in the vicinity was when a giant fleshy pod-like creature fell from the sky and the beast burst from it's thrashing carcass into the midst of the brave defenders. Before they could react they would be overwhelmed by the brain beast's pervading life-draining ability or the writhing pod lashed out with it's tentacles spitting individuals on the serrated barbed tips. Additional ranged weaponry on the pod was often brought to bear on anybody brave enough to try and tackle the brain beast head on, but not before they had run the gauntlet of the 'Doom of Ferron Proxima'  itself.

These two Tyranid bioforms formed an unlikely but effective symbiotic relationship, often with the pod being left ravaged by defenders eager to meet out some revenge for the horrific devastation the brain beast created. Quite often the brain beast would be left untouched by the blessed munitions of the Emperor, surviving hundreds of rounds of bolter shells and high energy weapon discharges while it feasted on the life-force of anything within reach. Many reports also suggested that despite this energy field and prodigious strength one crack shot in the right place would be enough to render all this psychic energy pointless as it' vaporised into the warp. Sadly though in the early days, for every confirmed kill there was another confirmed sighting. Once again reminding us that the Great Devourer is constantly evolving, mutating and gestating new horrors that must be destroyed for the Emperor and the safety of the Imperium.

Recent field reports have shown no new sightings of the Doom of Ferron Proxima or it's transport creature. It may well be that Hive Fleet Gorgon invested too much bio-matter in replicating this one creature and can no longer support the intense psychicly attuned resources. Alternatively the Hive Fleets absorption of the naturally occurring Wraithbone shards that at first increased the Tyranids psychic potential may yet have returned a malignant weakening of their witch powers. Its difficult to tell when the enemy is changing all the time and who can fathom the alien mind anyway? All that is known is that there is no immediate threat from the brain-beast or it's spore pod, but be ever vigilant against the incursion of the xenos filth!