Thursday 30 August 2012

'nids part 49 / Terrain is everything - Tyranid Aegis Defence Line Pt1

As mentioned I have started apace on my own version Last month I did all the leg work in of Mr_Pink's Tyranid defence line, My son has recently developed a taste for Pineapple Jelly Pots which are pretty much identical to the pots Mr_pink uses. I've used greyboard again, it didn't warp with my fences and I had some left so I'm hoping to get away with it again.


I've not split the pots in two, but into thirds. Handily there were 18 markings around the base so I split them every 6. I plotted my homemade Aegis [the Targus Assault Blockade] onto the board and used that as a template for where the pots should go. As Mr_pink only has single units I can see why halves fit but if you want to replicate the Aegis's shape then thirds is more than enough and makes the pots go further, I must have only used 4 to achieve a full set!


Once you cut into the pots to make the chitinous plates you will be left with the top [or bottom piece depending which way you look at it] this can be used to bridge the two pieces together. I used staples, it's a bit fiddly, the stapler slipped all over the place and you need small fingers to hold everything in place while trying to staple but it does the job.


This back view shows the Aegis outline that my pineapple pots mirror.


An individual barrier.


Now I may have made them a little too tall at the edges, well for the Termagant anyway. I may think about trimming them down a little bit, it'll save on modelling materials if nothing else but if anyone thinks I modelled for advantage tough - I modelled unlike those with no imagination and creativity who bought off the shelf. Kudos for effort, not sanctions!


And a handy little point of note, they stack really well together, making a solid mass. Hopefully they'll still do so with the 'cladding' on, now that's a point DAS air drying clay or Milliput?


Tuesday 28 August 2012

To Do List 2012/13


This time last year I set a 'to do list' lets be honest I haven't completed everything on that list BUT I put 23 items on that list and did nine of them, although I'm pretty sure there weren't 23 on the list when I started and that list doesn't include many items I did outside of the list, bits started and progressed but still to complete but decent progress non-the-less. 

It also doesn't take into account that despite suggesting I step back from the blog to concentrate on the hobby aspect to create content, I've actually posted more than last year and I believe mostly solid content not always filler. I've also actually gamed more too, which means less hobby time and more gaming content to add to the blog, so time is more precious than ever before. The irony is whatever internet tsars are in control during the day means I'm struggling to access blogger during my lunch ;) I've posts scheduled for late September but things may get a little difficult, although I've said that before haven't I!

Which leaves me wanting to take stock of the current To Do List, park some items and create a new list for 2012/13 with some priority items and then perhaps add in some secondaries from 2011 and perhaps include some specific goals for the blog so you can know what to look forward to.
  1. Finish Hive Guard
  2. Finish Tervigon
  3. Create Tyranid bio-defence line and quad gun
  4. Finish Ymgarl Genestealers
  5. Bloodbowl Elves
  6. Bloodbowl Skaven
  7. AoBR Tactical Squad
  8. AoBR Dreadnought
  9. Dark Angel Drop Pod
  10. Ravenwing bike squad
  11. STC Vent tower
  12. STC Athena plateau
  13. STC Mercury plateau
  14. STC 40k Cathedral tower [via Free Radical Collective]
  15. Create Epic building templates
  16. Plasma Hatchers Mycetic Spores
  17. 60mm Dreadnought crater
  18. Complete pot pourri vegetation [and blog posts for that matter!]
  19. New 6th edition boxset figures...
  20. See 19 cos that'll be a biggy
That's some list in some kind of priority order but I won't hold myself to it, the first ten are the priority and I think they're doable in 12 months, the next four will be a separate entity and they'll come as and when I can spend the time doing them. The blog? Well I'll try to do more Flufftastic, I've quite a few ideas mulling round and they're great in that the more I sit and think the more they feed into other ideas. I have a couple of now cursory book reviews to do as its been a long time since I read them my recollection will be hazy at best. I also need to add in some new 'art of 40k'. Then there's the treasure trove of White Dwarfs I found and I've never even shared my Limited Collectors 6th Edition, that's not turned out to be the typical market investment I thought it'd be...

...and I've got to manage doing all this with my continued playing and battle reports. If there's anything you the faithful few would like to see more of, let me know in the comments and I'll try and accommodate that too.

Sunday 26 August 2012

'nids part 48 / Terrain is everything - Tyranid Quad Gun pt1.

Last month I did all the leg work in bringing forth some ideas to make your own Tyranid defence line, you can thank me later ;) Sure I'm taking credit for pointing out someone else's, namely Mr_Pink, work but I can follow up that post with some real effort.

I actually have no idea how to use and Aegis Defence Line equivalent, that's not how I play. I've of a mind to just get stuff into combat ASAP even if that puts me out of position and vulnerable. Of course with overwatch that's even more dangerous, so some defences might be useful but more importantly it unlocks the 50pt quad gun - 4 ST7 Twin Linked shots that can target flyers - I'll take that. However, you may recall that I was of the opinion, based on the FAQ, Nids couldn't use them but having seen other posts on the subject I re-read the rules and a defence line is 'battlefield debris', not a building and the gun emplacement in such DOES NOT have the auto-fire capability, it is purely user controlled so we can use such a weapon.

Anyway so first up is my Tyranid Quad Gun I got five 50mm bases off ebay and I'll be using a plastic Bucks Fizz cork as the base for the weapon.


The weapon itself will be based on the Acid Spray gun for the Tyrannofex, handily free with my Tervigon kit. I love the item, it'd make an awesome objective marker but it'll look cool as a quad gun given the four 'barrels'. At this stage I was playing around with ideas but I have cut off the lower part of the arm with my Dremmel equivalent that I got for my birthday last year. The Dremmel hasn't seen too much use for modelling but when necessary it's been invaluable.


Having curved the arm to try and match the curve on the plastic cork I drilled a hole to pin the gun to the cork with flower arranging wire.


Here was the decision I had to make, whether to put this pot pourri seed onto the side of the 'cork' and mount the arm inside it so there would be still that tendon able to pull the weapon up or to mount a Carnifex head in place of the tendon.


My decision was to go with the Carnifex head. Unfortunately my reasoning is flawed as I've just realised in writing this. My idea was to have the head to therefore justify when it wasn't being 'manned' the Carnifex sentience would provide the autofire but as I've just pointed out above this thing won't autofire - DOH! nevermind it'll look cool.


And here's what I mean, with the head cut down and mounted on the top of the arm I will add the pin. Next I'll mount the cork onto the base, bulk out the neck area and then use Milliput to create a chitinous shell round it and try to blend it alltogether, perhaps using some toxin sacs to hid the gaps inbetween the head and the arm.


Next up to share, the initial stage of my defence line...

Saturday 25 August 2012

Forge World Deimos Pattern Predator

For some reason I'm not a huge fan of the short range limitation of flamer weapons, of course they try to make me reconsider that position when the nids face them but there's something about the new Forge World Deimos Pattern Predator that speaks to me, although perhaps not the price. Check it out!


And with the Magn-Melta turret





Friday 24 August 2012

Warhammer World - random pics

Still plenty of pics to come from my Warhammer World visit, lots of terrain photo-bombs but here's a slew of random shots to entertain. First up the Reward sign to find the Regimental mascot and the poor little tyke spotted by my son. This is one of the '10 things to do at Warhammer World'


In the entrance is this life size chaos warrior.


Also sharing the entrance is Lurtz the Uruk-Hai, one of the '10 things' is to have your picture taken with him but my son refused.


I loved this print, and it's recently surface in the new 40k rulebook.


A real-life Golden Daemon Slayer sword, you would not believe how sharp this thing looks on the edge, chunky, but very keen.


A dragon-hide map of ye olde Warhammer Worlde. Whcih covers quite a large wall and is about 6'x8'.


The last 'person' who tried to leave without paying in Bugman's Bar - be warned!


A rather more portable map of the the old world.


And a rather pointless blurred close-up.


My son finally getting into the spirit of things, holding up the Bugman's Brew and seeing how big he is compared to an Astartes.


Another life size Marine for him to make friends with.


Wednesday 22 August 2012

Tuesday night's all right for fighting [Gaming with my son!]

It's been a while but I had chance to nip up to my Local Friendly Neighborhood Gaming Club and as it's the Summer holidays I took the boy too. A couple of years ago, when I was still able to go to my kendo, I spent a wonderful six weeks taking him with me to class. Being 8 at the time I feared he wouldn't be able to fit in with the discipline but he did really well and I was immensely proud of his efforts, he didn't do it last year, obviously this is what I can only bring him to now. Saying that, he hasn't even played 6th Edition yet and didn't even realised I'd played any games.

First a note on the pics. I added a new camera app to my phone Camera360 Ultimate. I'd binned it off in the past as it can't be moved to the SD card but it does some nice effects and I hoped it would allow me to enhance images before taking the shots instead of requiring me to do it after. Now I've got to grips with it it may speed up my progress. The first two shots show the Enhanced and the Original. I love th evibrancy of the enhanced, there's actually more mid-range colours in the original but it's just too flat.

So 500 pts [sort of] of nids on each side, this is his Vanguard setup on Purge the Alien, he's got 10 Devgaunts, a Trygon, Prime and Warriors and a Biovore, which I think tips him 55pts over 500 but...


... I have a Tervigon [as Warlord], 10 Devgaunts, Hormagaunts, 2 Hive Guard and 5 Genestealers, infiltrating in the ruin to the right.


He gets first turn and setup. Warlord powers give him +1" to his charge and I get the one to add a dice to Run and Charge rolls.


And moves everything forward, the Devgaunts target the Genestealers...


Only a few Devgaunts were in range so their 12 shots take out just one of the Stealers [who was foolishly standing atop the ruin!].


The Biovore and Barbed Strangler fire - hit my Devgaunts, killing five and two Hormagaunts. In my turn everything moves forwards and the Tervigon spawns 11, without doubles.


With nothing else in range everything targets the Trygon, I think the Hive Guard wound but it's Armour protects it. The same couldn't be said for the weight of fire from the Devgaunts and I think in the end it failed one of the two or three shots that managed to wound. Another comparison shot too of enhanced and normal.


Turn two and the Warriors move out in the open and the Devgaunts advance through cover, the Biovore sits still ready to lob spore mines at any massed brood - which I happen to have in the 11 Termagants in the trench system. Five fall to large blasts and the Hormagaunts also suffer, with only one left alive. The Devgaunts target the Genestealers, they all die - First blood! The Trygon unleashes it's Bio-Electric Pulse on the Hive Guard, taking one wound off them. My son often does weird stuff I can't comprehend but quite often it doesn't harm his chances whatsoever.


I spawn another 10 gaunts but get a double. They form a protective line in front of the Tervigon so it doesn't get assaulted and they get to overwatch if they do, not like it would achieve much but y'know. The Hive Guard move back into cover as do the Gaunts in the trenches, far enough to delay charges but near enough to still shoot, pre-measuring is great.


I'm not entirely sure what put the extra wound on the Trygon. Everything fired at it I think, except the Tervigon. My son then moved his Devgaunts up and the Warriors too.


The Devgaunts shot and killed the three Termagants they could see. The Trygon fired it's pulse at some point, unleashing all 6 shots on the last Hormagaunt, overkill maybe, but it was dead and another VP to him.


There may be a lack of continuity in this pic in that the Trygon is now assaulting the Termagants in front having just shot the Hormagaunt but whatever, only two gaunts remain.


In response the Tervigon charges in, it puts two wounds on the Trygon but not before it put four on the Tervigon, this may have been a mistake!


Even moreso I see my brood approach extermination. The Tyranid Prime leaves the Warriors and assaults the Tervigon.


The lashwhip takes the Tervigon down to Initiative 1, and his Bonesword puts another unsaveable Wound on the Tervigon, I pass my Ld test. In return the Tervigon stomps two wounds on the Prime, was this a mistake? Should I have taken the Trygon? only time will tell.


Only the three Fleshborer gaunts remain in the trenches they fire at the Devgaunts, who knew Fleshborers could do so much damage? Makes a change against T3 and no save! 


My Hive Guard move thru terrain to target the Warriors, three shots, three wounds S8 vs T4 and only the far right warrior gets a 5+ save which he fails - 1KP to me!


Oh dear, the Prime and Trygon finally take out the Tervigon. It's demise feedbacks on the surrounding gaunts - the three in the trench suffer 14 wounds, the Devgaunts 8 and the two assaulting the Trygon three.


When the dust settles just two Devgaunts remain after saves. In revenge the Hive Guard target the Prime...


...and impale his a$$!


That was it, turn 5 and he beat me something like six or seven VPs to my three. My Genestealers were rubbish, that's a fact. The single biggest talking point was the Prime separating, that brought about the demise of the Warriors but if he hadn't would the Tervigon have been able to finish the Trygon off? He caused two unsaveable wounds on the Prime, I don't recall the dice but if they'd have taken the Trygon then instead the Tervigon would have survived and so too all the gaunts, there's no telling would would have/could have happened but it was a very significant tipping point.


I've some ideas for the future about a more defensive posture and perhaps not sending Genestealers forward as most times they just get slaughtered because they're too far removed from support. Lots to think about and my son did really well, the jammy sod ;)