BloodBowl Skaven 3 - all your base...

With all 16 Skaven complete and based there was only one choice left to make - the base edges. Part of me really wanted to paint them in their 2nd edition colours of:

• White - thrower
• Yellow - catcher
• Red - Blitzer
• Green - Blocker
• Grey - Linesman

But those rules no longer fit the game, each race has it's own specific types of character that essentially fill those roles but are 'named' something else. In the end I tried three different browns and I've tried to capture the diefferences in the following pics:

On the left is Vallejo Game colour 'Beasty Brown', in the middle a cheap craft acrylic 'Burnt Sienna' and on the end a mix of black and Beasty Brown.

The Burnt Sienna was not even close, stood out too much against the board and slightly glossy too. So it was between the two end examples.

The Beasty Brown was a much more understated fit and helped the miniature blend with the board but ultimately I decided on the brown/black. The end mix was slightly more brown  but I liked the way it had high contrast, like the black edges on the squares. My son didn't agree but like I was ever going to do it someone else's way?

And once again the 'star of the show' - my Rat Ogre. Now to get all the edges done and they're complete.

'Mind the gap' - what to do when your slot doesn't fill a 'slotta base!'

A quick and dirty idea I cooked up the other day. The BloodBowl Skaven are notorious for the tiny lead [pb] slots to go in the slotta base. Ordinarily I would have used matchsticks to fill the gaps either side but I didn't really have any to hand so cast my eye around the various pieces of junk I have acquired from the wife's hobby supplies to re-purpose for my own hobby activities and the weapon of choice this time - fun craft foam.

Cut a 2 or 3mm strip and then cut it into little chunks. Add some PVA to the slot and prod the little bits of foam in with a tooth pick or other pointy device. Eventually the PVA will dry and you will be able to cover the gap with your usual basing materials without fear that the sand will droop into the slot and look all weird.

The great advantage to this material is that even if you cut the foam too large ultimately you can squash it into the gap and the foam will conform to the hole making a nice snug fit. It's amazing the things you learn through necessity!

Not the best example but as a group the 'glowing eyes' of the Skaven do look alright, at least I'm happy with them and the much needed splash of colour lifts the figure just a little bit. Nearly finished now.

'nids part 66 - Monstrous Devourers

In a recent White Dwarf the editor Jes Bickham showcased a Winged Hive Tyrant kit bash to include the ever popular double twin-linked Devourers with Brain Leech worms. I have to say I actually 'fell in love' with the end result. By utilising some spare Tyrannofex Fleshboreer Hives he has been able to keep the Tyrant to being six limbed, including the wings and legs. Monstrous Devourers have always been a problem for those who wish to do Dakka-fexes and the like. Quite often it involves combining two or more Devourers together to get the 'monstrous' part. The real issue is that the Devourers that come with a Carnifex are exactly the same size as those that come with a Termagant, only the arms are bigger! Puny little guns in fat arms...

Part of my constant study of the kit bash was trying to come to terms with the sheer scale of the Devourers and whether the Tyrant could lift off the ground with them but I started to see the sacks as quite lightweight fleshy things and the conclusion I came to was that these make much better looking MC Devourers than a Fleshborer Hive, which I was never comfortable with as a representation, although I loved the design immensely, so I ended up buying this:

www.waylandgames.co.uk/games-workshop/warhammer-40k/tyranids/tyranid-hive-tyrant-/-the-swarmlord/prod_15818.html

Now I've used the Winged Hive Tyrant a couple of times now and he's inordinately expensive and I'm not often going to use it but this I feel is my final treat to myself for painting so many 'nids, and before I fall hopelessly into Dark Angel mode - a final folly before 'the Rise of the Imperium' if you will. Saying that, I'll be looking to utilise some of the other bits and may look to magnetize them and my old Hive Tyrant so I can try out the Swarmlord too!

Anyway, a quick search on google [which you could do yourself but what the hey] and here's some other takes on MC Devourers:

http://trollapan.blogspot.co.uk

THE_ARCH1TECT's photostream

http://skanwy.blogspot.co.uk

http://skanwy.blogspot.co.uk/2012_11_01_archive.html

http://thetyranidhive.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=converting&action=display&thread=21672

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/432879.page

http://bluetablepainting.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/twin-linked-devourer.html

Dark Angels Codex and 'List maker'

My Dark Angels codex turned up on Thursday and aside from all the netspeak about typos and FAQ updates already, I'm impressed. It's a quality book, full colour throughout with some amazing artwork. It's not a thick tome by any stretch and my initial thoughts feel there could have been a little more space reserved for successor chapters but maybe under scrutiny I will find the background I'm currently missing.

However, coming from the Tyranid Codex, all black and white[space] it's an incredibly rich publication, although it seems a bit visually dense when it comes to rule hunting. Building an army list is going to be quite a challenge for me in comparison with so many options and now that Alice 40k Warhammer club listmaker is no longer doing updates I was prepared to try and rejig their unlocked spreadsheets. Thankfully though it's already been done at http://archive.foolz.us/tg/thread/22607513 don't use the first link though, scroll down and about half way they realise they need to make sure all the command squads are classed as 'bodyguards'. Not sure if it includes the FAQ amends and Chaplain Seraphicus but it's a handy start and easy enough to fix if it doesn't.

Jay Adan's take on Interrogator Chaplain Seraphicus

FAQ looky - New FAQ's

So new FAQ's came out yesterday and for Tyranids there was very little pink to get excited about boiling down to just:

Page 54 – Mycetic Spore, Transport Spore.
Change the second paragraph to read “A Mycetic Spore can carry a single unit of up to 20 infantry models or a single monstrous creature within its armoured shell. Once a Mycetic Spore has landed, all creatures within must immediately deploy – place the unit such that every model is wholly within 6" of the Mycetic Spore. If any models cannot be deployed because of impassable terrain or enemy models within 1", those models are destroyed. A unit that Deep Strikes via a Mycetic Spore cannot move or assault in the same turn it arrives but may shoot or run.”.

For some reason I immediately thought of the advantage to my Devgaunts despite not using them with the Spore Pod for quite a while. Face/palm later I'm realising just how much this impacts the Doom and how he's going to be much easier to position to maximise his leeching potential. Still no carsharing though

And still no repeal for the Broodlord Psychic rerolls

WHY?!

More importantly has my much hoped for Quad Gun mad it into the FAQ's as per this comment from the Warhammer World team:

Hey Dave - I have spoken to Simon and Jervis from Games Development (note - this isn't something we normally do, but given the pressing time limit, I went and did it!) and the answer is this - "Only emplaced weapons (such as those found on a Bastion or Fortress of Redemption) have the option to be fired either manually or automatically. Weapons attached to an Aegis defence line are gun emplacements, which cannot be fired automatically. The Tyranids FAQ document states that Tyranids cannot fire weapons manually, therefore as much as they are free to use Aegis defence lines, they will not benefit from any attached gun emplacements. We are, however, aware that this is a problem and will be reviewing the situation when we begin writing the next batch of FAQs in a few weeks." I hope that answers your question :) Nick

Erm, the answer is NO, so back in the box quad gun:

Meanwhile in the rulebook FAQ:

Q: If an attack with the Rending special rule rolls a 6 for their Armour Penetration roll against a vehicle and subsequently scores a Penetrating Hit, does that hit count as being AP2 as it would if the attack rolled a 6 To Wound? (p41)
A: No.

So Genestealers have been declawed. In fairness I can see the rules do in fact read this way, it just infers that as wounding infantry is equivalent to AP2 therefore a penetrating 'rend' would confer the AP2 +1 modifier to the damage roll. I'm obviously a bit miffed but lets face hit how many AP2 weapons are there? What is the point of having a AP2 modifier to the damage chart if you're going to only have a few opportunities to do damage. Anyway, time to re-think the old Stealers again. I think they're going to do even less now with only their Broodlord psyker unlocking potential.

Obviously there was all sorts of Vector Strike issues and only figures in weapon range being able to be wounded by the wound pool, which I kind of felt was the correct way it should be anyway. Every time I'd come to take figures off it was a double take moment of should they be wounded or not. I'm sure it'll actually impact me more than I realise but I can live with it.

Anyway c'est la vie!

1500pt battle report - nids Vs Grey Knights

A while back I promised Erle I would try to be more detailed in my battle reports and include army lists. I have to confess that may not be a promise I can follow up on as I seem to incapable of retaining enough information to match up to the number of pics I take. Even less than 24 hours later I occasionally can't seem work out why I took a photo of a specific dice roll - it must be important but sometimes it's just lost on me. Then again a battle report usually takes an hour or two to write up so I'm not sure if I can commit to any extra investment, feel free 'unfollow' me now the standards are slipping!

Anyway I finally got to go round to PeteB's for a match up with his Grey Knights. I haven't played him since before Throne of Skulls, far too long. We went with 1,500pts and the wife gave me strict instructions to begin and end the battle on the same day - so no creepign in at 1:00am. First up apologies for pics, I used my camera phone which was less receptive than usual. Also of note is I left my Trygon at home so a frankly traitorous Nemesis Dreadknight filled in. When I say traiterous you may think he was betraying the Grey Knights but as you'll see his performance was particularly dire that I think he may have been fighting for them all along.

I went with the 2 Tervigon's, tried out the Winged Hive Tyrant again and ran with 5 Hive Guard, no Warriors or Warrior Primes this time. The Trygon, Doom in a pod, 10 Devgaunts and min Broodlord/Adrenal Stealer's and Defence Line. I think my powers were as follow:

Psychic Powers Tervigon HQ Tervigon Troop Broodlord [Adrenal] Hive tyrant Enfeeble Enfeeble Enfeeble Warp Speed Iron Arm Iron Arm NA Life Leech Iron Arm

PeteB, had Coteaz with some Guard in a Chimera, a Rhino with some Heavy Weapon Servitors two squads in Power Armour, A nemesis Dreadknight and a Storm Raven with another unit inside. The Mission was Big Guns Never Tire with Hammer and Anvil setup on a 5' x 4' board [he knows he bought 8 of those 2' x 2' sheets but could only find 5 so split one]. 5 objectives, one each in our Deployment Zones - the back of the ruins top left, behind Defence Line top right, first floor balcony of ruins bottom left, between woods and ruins bottom right and the black escape hatch middle right. PeteB set up first but I won the initiative and elected to go first [?!]

Broodlord Perils for warp!

Troop Tervigon spawns 9 gaunts [and poops out] into the ruins with the objective in the bottom left and heads off. HQ Tervigon heads for the centre, Hive Tyrant swoops [Iron Armed +2 or +3 I think] Trygon supports. 3 Hive guard Advance to just short of the Defence line on the left, the other two advance into the ruins on the right, all short of range.

Don't forget, that Dreadknight is my Trygon. The Hive Tyrant manages to kill three of the space marines behind the Defence Line which I think beat the odds by around one.

Devgaunts advance into the woods.

Trygon suffers two wounds.

Hive Guard take a loss and an additional wound from the Dreadknight and Rhino.

Broodlord perils for Warps Speed again!

HQ Tervigon spawns 5 gaunts and poops out. they're going to assault the Dreadknight ahead of the Tervigon. Doom arrives spot on, sucking 1 wound of the Dreadknight. Due to Warp Quake I couldn't put it behind the Defence Line and if it had gone near the Chimera there was something else which would have allowed his unit Interceptor!

Hive Tyrant swoops above the Bastion, Trygon heads fro the Defence Line and Devgaunts move up but only first three are within range of the Grey Knights.

I'd stupidly forgotten to move the HQ Tervigon through the building to support the Termagants in assaulting the Dreadknight. The suffer one loss and despite hitting it a few times fail to damage it.

Combined fire from the Tyrant, Devgaunts and Trygon reduce the Knight squad to 3 but they stand fast.

Everything in the Rhino, Chimera and the three remaining Knights behind the Defence line let rip on the Trygon.

He dies securing both First Blood and a Heavy Support Victory Point for PeteB! [curses].

Storm Raven arrives and put two wounds on the Tyrant, but he doesn't get shot out of the air at least.

2 wounds from the Doom on the Dreadknight, here comes the Invulnerable save, which prevents it from being wiped off the board.

Hive Guard get 1 glance and 3 pens on the Rhino but none of the pens blow it up leaving the vehicle wrecked and the occupants taking cover behind it's charred remains.

The other two Hive Guard hit the Chimera and manage to blow it up, a number of the Guard inside die but some survive due to Coteaz's 4+ invulnerable save. A good turn for the Hive Guard.

The Tervigon gets off his a$$ and makes it into combat with the Dreadknight leaving only 1 wound on it.

Once again the exact significance of these dice eludes me but I think they may be saving throws because although the Tyrant is showing only two wound he doesn't feature in any further pictures so I guess he was killed at this point...

A Grey Knight squad gets dropped off by the Storm Raven, they roast the Mycetic Spore.

but then suffer the consequences of standing too close to the Doom. Meanwhile the Dreadknight finally succumbs to the combat/Doom and I gain a VP for a heavy Support kill.

The Storm Raven puts 2 wounds on the troop Tervigon.

I peril yet again though on what I'm not sure.

The HQ Tervigon moves round the wrecked Rhino, I realise the force halberds will kill him but I have no option. The two Termagants scramble over the Rhino but one dies due to dangerous terrain.

The Tervigon fails to stop the Force Weapon's doing what they do and PeteB gets Slay the Warlord.

Knights consolidate to the centre.

Another important dice roll lost in the mists of time and a brain like Swiss Cheese [apologies]

I think this was the view after the Knights eradicated the last of the Hive Guard holding these ruins on the hill in the centre.

Remaining Stealers are shot off the objective by the Storm Raven

The Doom goes for Coteaz

I think this was Coteaz's Leadership roll, which meant he didn't succomb to the Doom.

The Storm Raven shoots up the back of the Tervigon

The game ended on turn 5 with, I believe, a final score of 6VPs to PeteB and 4 to me. Once again I have to apologise for the rather patchy report. Part of me is compelled to write them but I've noticed recently they're actually getting harder to record. I'll have to find a better way, taking pictures is one thing but taking notes too, whilst trying to keep everything tidy AND play the game maybe taking the proverbial. We'll see how the next one goes... Well played to PeteB for getting the Knights to deliver on their winning potential. I'll have to think of a way to counter this now ;)