To Done - Dark Angel Tactical Squad

My first post on these was September 11th 2011, but as I don't recall if I'd already posted about them I may well have been working on them for months prior. Suffice to say after about 2.5 years I'm more than a little relieved to finally painting my first ever Dark Angel Tactical Squad.

I've finished them up with freehand Dark Angel symbols, pencilled in first and then painted Vallejo Stonewall Grey followed by some highlights in white.

The green is something I'm happy with, not overly highlighted, still dark in places and still obviously green in places. Thankfully these pics aren't too saturated but I think they give a decent enough representation of their true colours.

The symbols aren't spectacular but they're not bad, certainly they weren't as difficult as I expected and there isn't one that looks awful even if there are slight differentiations between the lengths of the wings on the swords. But I like that, it gives them some variety. You can also see some litanies written on to the armour. I've some awesome fluff yo go with this and why all their weapons are tarnished. When I get chance I'll tell you the tale of the 'Shards of Caliban'.

The Sergeant is perhaps my least favourite model. I wanted him dark skinned and I think it almost works but his eyes are a bit odd.

And the red Dark Angel symbol on his tabbard just sucks, the folds dont help recognising the symbols but I couldn't think of anything else so it'll have to do.

To help identify the two combat squads should I split them I put litanies on the left vent on five marines. I'd actually put quite a lot of 'text' already on the power armour and feel this may have been a bit too far but I did have fun making some strange 'illuminated' characters and typography as if each marine has decorated his armour with an oath or message from one of the many teachings important to the Dark Angels. It ties in that vibe of a knightly order - warrior priests, versed in the art of scripture as well as fighting. 

And Litanies on the right vent of the remaining five. The second from left has his litany in a spiral, to represent the Dark Angel obsession with such a shape. Don't know how they'll be perceived should I ever take them to Throne of Skulls. Not sure they'll stand out quite like my Tyranids do, even if they've been slaved over considerably more per model, we'll just have to see.

And here's there new home, a handy £2.49 craft box from Home Bargains.

All decked out with laminate floor cushioning foam, stuck in with double sided tape. Unfortunately it only takes 18 models, just short of two tactical squads :( Still, better than nothing.

Here's my big blue tick, for getting it done. Finally some Dark Angels in the bag a momentous occasion!

Dark Angel Tactical Squad update

It's been another 6 months since my last update but I've covered the why's and wherefors. Unfortunately these pics look worse than the model does in the flesh [or is that Ceramite?]. Usually the oversaturated colours make the models look very bright but in this instance it enhances the subtleties too much. However I'm sure when I do the final pics in daylight they'll look better.

Freehand DA symbol, it's but of a 'kipper' sword but I'm still quite pleased with my efforts. Penciled in forst then grey with some white highlights.

I really like the Verdigris now, glad I did it. When these are all complete I'll let you in on some fluff about it too.

FREE - Battle Mission - Ephemeral Scuffle - Knowledge is Power

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The other week at 1:30 in the morning as I struggled to get to sleep, following my epic confrontation with Ben and his Necrons, my mind was racing and in a brief epiphany I had an idea for a Battle Mission. Not only that, but I could give it away, like for FREE! Once again, who doesn't like free stuff? I do and it's the season for giving afterall. So to see out 2013 [good riddance!] and hopefully usher in a new more benevolent and fun 2014 I thought I'd make it a reality.

For all I know this mission may already exist, it's probably not the most original idea, but then again, what is? Anyway, in my typical fashion of coming up with a suitably flippant 'Aldi' naming convention for the flipside of an Eternal War mission [GW like their wordplay too] I came up with these alternative titles [and you can tell which one I chose but let me know if you prefer another]

• Ephemeral Tussle
• Ephemeral Tiff
• Ephemeral Scrap
• Ephemeral Ruckus
• Ephemeral Struggle
• Ephemeral Skirmish
• Ephemeral Scuffle
• Ephemeral Conflict

To download the first Ephemeral Scuffle mission data-blurt, point your Cogitator here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B97Rk-BalgZbOFpKamx3eDZmYkE

Let me know what you think, if I'm visited by the voices again maybe they'll come up with another FREE mission?

To Done! - Tyranid Aegis Defence Line

Don't worry, you haven't gone mad I know I've had a Tyranid Aegis Defence line for quite a while, well this is the completion of the 'spare' and it's on my '2013/14 To Do List'. All that was waiting was some Tendril Vines and the sand base. For some reason stripping string and twine apart and then soaking it in PVA before I individually position them to look like trailing alien vine growth didn't appeal to me, so I'd put this off for long time.

But I'd done the Capillary Towers vines and thought I might as well add to the two hours doing them and continue on with half an hour of pimping the walls. Additionally I added sand to the bases. In the new year I may ask my mate Liam at Blue Warp Studios to take me through the finer points of making a mould and casting these up. Escalation allows for multiple defence lines so this is a perfect opportunity to build more.

Here's my big blue tick for getting it done.

'nids part 117 - PROJECT Y Scratchbuilt Tyranid Skyshield Landing Pad pt1.

What? You really didn't think I was making the Capillary Towers as just terrain pieces did you? What's really surprised me is no one asked about the slots that have been cut into the towers from day one. I was sure if I'd released the towers templates folk would figure out what was going on and I thought even holding out would be conspicuous by it's absence.

Originally I planned to not cut slots, but embed magnets and have an additional central column that would support it underneath. But the slots would solve the problem completely even if they looked a little odd when used just as terrain, I may make some wedges for those instances. There was also going to be a swappable sphincter in the centre - open and closed to represent the landing pad sending bio-matter back into space and in doing so offering the Invulnerable Save. I thought better of that as swapping out the sphincter with models on it would be a pain in the a$$

As you can see it's quite tall but a handy height for Trygons. I will look at adding removable walls. I'm planning to make a frame and then stretch molten transparent plastic cutlery between the frame so you can see through it. I'll add magnets in the base and walls so they easily attach and stay in place.

The landing pad is a bit of a blank canvas though, I know what I want to do, just can't bring myself to do it. Still I only foresee a couple of nights work on the pad but you see how these projects just keeping getting bigger.

And in case you were wondering how it stacks up against the standard Imperial Skyshield you will note there is significantly less surface area. I may be stretching the capacity of the Imperial one, two bases do fall outside the edges but it's wall flip down. The Tyranid version will have ones that are added to the pad, which will in turn contract the available surface area. Granted I also have some impressive LoS blocking terrain in the Capillary Towers but four out of six are no bigger than the walls on the Imperial version.

Additionally my walls will hopefully be semi transparent which is a big point because on the Imperial version with them raised attacking models would struggle to see the defenders. If you cannot see them you cannot assault them. I will probably be surrendering a large advantage to make them look cool, we'll see if I can pull it off.

You can see the slots now can't you!

One other point, what if I create a smaller platform? Something that would be happy supported just by three towers, then I have two mini platforms... I'm a freakin' genius! Unless of course yesterday's rumour that we won't have access to Fortifications prove true, in which case I've wasted a whole lot of time making stuff I can't use, in which case I'm a freakin' idiot...

Tyranid Capillary Towers | part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. | part 9. |

part 10. | part 11. | 

Tyranid Skyshield Landing Pad | part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. |

Tyranids: Some Detailed Rumors - Faeit 212: Warhammer 40k News and Rumors

Please let rumour 1 NOT be true - no access to Fortifications for Tyranids! Take my Spore Pods, remove the Doom but please leave me some structures to convert and build :(

Tyranids: Some Detailed Rumors - Faeit 212: Warhammer 40k News and Rumors

Stronghold Assault may be completely redundant then and Throne of Skulls will be a completely different prospect. If one had bought the book and the rumour turned out to be true do you think you'd be able to ask for a refund as it was no longer needed?

Seems to be a very specific denial if it's correct. I know some people don't believe Nids should have access to buildings and I've gone on record as pointing out they have a Hive to Guard afterall. Additionally it's battlefield debris, they can take advantage of it if it's been left, they understand the importance of tactics and items of strategic value, if they didn't you may as well remove their ability to claim objectives too. Why not? Why not say Tyranids can't claim objectives what possible difference would that make?

You could point out that other races have specific denial of fundamental aspects of the game - Necrons don't have access to psykers, but then neither do Tau or Dark Eldar so they're not being picked on individually. Removing Fortifications from their FOC seems extremely prejudiced, verging on the current examples in our Codex/FAQ - Independent Characters joining a unit in their pod, use of quad guns, getting to re-roll witchfire spells we can't use.

I know this is still early days and I've discussed rumours already but this one chafes more than the others. Removal of the Spore Pod is a biggy, I could live with the Doom going, I half expected it but the Spore Pod was something I could adapt anyway, with them becoming Vengeance Batteries or Void Shield Generators but now you say I might not even have that!

If this rumours true it seems like this concept was just wishful thinking:

New Warhammer World order - Escalation and Stronghold Assault [what it means to me]

Recently the Warhammer World Facebook page was the forum for a 'ruling' on the use of Escalation and Stronghold Assault at their events. The question was asked very soon after the release of the two supplements, additions that at that point I really had no interest in. After a brief pause for the Events Team to get to grips with the rules themselves it seemed only one of the supplements would be in use, I forget which because pretty much as soon as it was mentioned that it was confirmed that both would be allowed.

Escalation

Suddenly I actually have to take notice of these new rules. Escalation is pretty much a non starter, the only Lord of War available to Tyranids is a Harridan from Forgeworld and that is never going to be on my shopping list. So instead I have to turn my gaze to Stronghold Assault. Now this is something I can get behind, literally! The ability to take numerous fortifications, if only I had more than one... Oh, I do! An Aegis, Bastion and Skyshield... and even try and shoehorn my redundant Mycetic Spores as Vengeance Weapons Batteries!

Stronghold Assault

There's plenty to think about and it doesn't end there because although the idea of 'fortifying' my Hive appeals, I'll still need to 'man' it with creatures and in January those options will be completely different. I'll continue to develop the buildings but I need to ensure I've actually got sufficient models to win against someone who doesn't turn up in Escalation mode, or those who turn up in Stronghold mode too.

Ultimately I believe the choice of the the Events Team to take on board the supplements is the right thing. Warhammer World is GW HQ and they should showcase all the best that GW has to offer. I'm not sure how the mission setups will go but that's their problem to overcome, its a bold move

However, I do feel that those who invest in their army will be at a distinct advantage . At this moment in time I would not be able to face any Lord of War with my Tyranids, I'd struggle to do any damage whatsoever. The prospect of spending £62.50 on a ticket to an event where I may as well leave my models in their box doesn't appeal to me, and that's not including the money on travel and hotels too. This is my only reservation, Warhammer World is supposed to be fun, competitive but not at the expense of enjoyment. Including the supplements could end up like taking a knife to a gunfight. No one wants to be outclassed before turning up and those with lots of money to buy the big new shiny toys are at a distinct advantage.

I hope the atmosphere will still be the same and there won't be those who use the supplements as a route to win at all costs. I think the advantage with Stronghold is at least my options are defensive, I'm just hoping to stay alive and conveniently showcase all my Tyranid bio-architecture at the same time