Happy Tyranid Eve [?]

I originally wrote this post earlier in the week, that'll learn me as many of the rumours have since been replaced by facts and plenty more facts that have come that we wish were in fact sick rumours. So please take that into account, I'm not about rewrite something already written when in fact a lot of it is still valid. Obviously the Spores ARE gone, and there's no indication we lose Fortifications [and no indication we don't get use Emplaced weapons at full BS but I expect a day one FAQ to remedy that].

The Tervigon still suffers though, only one psychic power, no ability to confer biomorphs to spawned gaunts and when it pops it does so at a 12" range - so much for that big blob of 30 that made it a troop - good luck getting all of them at least 12" away, out of Synapse where they'll revert to Instinctive Behavior, doh! Oh and the lovely spawn rush I used to do - spawn 6", move 6", shoot 12" and assault 2D6" it was awesome, it was certainly unique. Now they spawn at the end of the turn and look to have the same rules as most models arriving from reserve/deep strike. That draws it into line but does remove the 'special' ability and is less fluffy as a quickly advancing horde. Still, as they now spawn at the end of the movement phase it will make it easier to get them into range of an objective and spawn 6" and Run D6" to claim/contest. Crushing claws at least do have Armourbane and +1Swhich means I can average 13 armour penetration with a potential 18 on it's 4 attacks on the charge. I was excited about this against Lords of War until I realised the 5-9 Warp Speed Smash attacks would have been ranging from 11-16 [and we get to re-roll vehicle damage]. I'm not sure what the maths is on that but I'm thinking this was a better beast in the old Codex.

Still, the Winged Tyrant has gone pretty much unchanged but cheaper and a higher BS which is great news, although Hive Guard losing a BS?! This does make the twin Flyrant list almost mandatory, which was another issue needing to be fixed. With a Tyranid Prime now over a third more in cost I don't think I'll be fielding either of my, better than the new Official model, conversions. However, it makes it essential I put the Tervigon in troops, but with Termagants now being mix and match I'm wondering whether to have a brood with 10 Devgaunts backed up with 20 Fleshborers to save points. It'll at least be something the real nerd net-listers can work out. Anyway, on to my outdated whinge.

As I'm currently cresting the wave of my most productive hobby efforts for months I'm trying to continue the momentum as I push on with my Tyranid Skyshield. It's daunting as it's complicated, it's not 'out of my comfort zone' because before X-factor we didn't have those, it was something I was 'inexperienced in' or 'unfamiliar' now we all have these 'comfort zones', anyway I digress.

So although I'm thrilled with the hobby aspect and hoping I can continue with it, gaming wise I'm a bit down. Really all my expectations for tomorrow's new Codex have been stripped away. Surely this can't be right? Shouldn't I be really excited? Instead months of rumours followed by recent photographic facts have put paid to that. We still don't know for certain about the Mycetic Spore but I've accepted the loss, and the loss of the Doom. Biomancy too has not been completely ruled out but I think it will. Now I read Ymgarls are gone :( and by the looks of the rules in White Dwarf standard Stealers have had no extra rules that would make them the 'ultimate shock troops' so described in those pages.

If Fortifications are denied us too then that will be it but right now the thing that has upset me the most are the changes to the Tervigon. Now I know a lot of opponents will feel that these changes make them fairer. Currently you can run five of them, three as troops and when they're Iron Armed up they become nigh invincible. But you know from the blog I run two, and was considering a third just because the £ price was cheaper than the new figures. But now the deal to make them troops is 30 Termagants, not 10 and as far as the tiny little picture in White Dwarf indicates for each full brood of 30 you can unlock ONE Tervigon as troop, not all as initially thought. So the Tax got a whole lot more for these. It doesn't end there though, without Biomancy they are easier to kill with no access to Iron Arm and Endurance. Without Warp Speed I  can't get my extra D3 Smash attacks and apparently Crushing Claws are rumoured to no longer add D3 attacks but possible be increased strength so you don't need to Smash. That helps the likes of Tyrant Guard but suddenly my 5-9 S10 Smash attacks on the charge becomes 3!

The Tervigon can be played in a variety of ways, it can spawn, it can hold objectives, it can be the corner-stone of your force and it can be the spearhead. I've used it in pretty much every one of those configurations and although I've used it as a HQ choice and think it makes a great one I also know I need to take advantage of those slots with other creatures. The WD battle report also shows they now cost more, so ultimately it seems as though they've nibbled at every aspect of the model and made it worse. 

   

The ridiculous thing is that they were tough but they weren't overpowered. When you spam them, sure, it was a way of losing friends but two was always a gamble on whether I'd win or not, three was a better chance. I've no idea how I'm going to run them in the future, the brood of 30 gaunts... well I can't decide whether to mount up a further 10 Devgaunts and have a big blob, but I don't want to shoot 90 Devourer shots at one target, certainly with no way to deploy them. However normal gaunts are now 1pt cheaper so I can spend 120 pts to unlock a more expensive troop choice that's now potentially less durable and/or effective!

So, as I lay down to sleep tonight I can honestly say I am not completely looking forward to tomorrow. I know that a lot of people were let down by the 5th edition codex, but when my son chose 'nids we practically came into it new and bypassed the transition and the pain that went with it. I fear though that all the things that worked, or were eventually made to work with 6th Edition rules will have been broken and we'll have nothing left. The only thing I think that remains is maybe Devourers on Winged Tyrants but even then I've read we no longer get the -1 modifier to the victims Leadership roll! We will have to wait and see but I think this may well be a dropped ball. All those rumours of 'every unit viable' may have just been nonsense. I hope I' wrong, but my appetite for what may come is rock bottom. I've a game lined up with Ben using the new Codex a week on Sunday we will see how it fairs then. 

In the mean time I'm going to continue modelling but I've not much blog material for it at the moment, I've been 'doing' not 'recording' again, so please be patient should I miss a days posting or two.

Just clarify, I truly think we should all, as Tyranid players, be rampant with excitement. I don't feel that, I feel there are are lot of things we've been let down on. Things that did need to be fixed - Trygon tunnel rule for instance have not. There are some good things, but this is by far from a universally anticpated release. In fcat the attitude is predominantly hostile on most of the forums I've been on. I can't imagine this is what they expected. No one sets out to make something rubbish but I think the information so far is a release that will not inspire people to pick up the bug, if they haven't already and will anger those already bitten. A shame, I'll muddle through but this feels like knocking us back to January 2010

Yet more auto-awesome snow fun, watch out for the 'Polar Vortex' missile someone set off!

With Escalation setting off Polar Vortex missiles everywhere, stay toasty from the lonely Marine at Games Workshop HQ.

'nids part 118 - Scratchbuilt Tyranid Capillary Towers pt11.

There's not a lot that can be said about the painting of these that hasn't already been said before so I hope I'm excused that these pictures show a much further update than you would usually expect. I've primed and base coated everything, washed with Army Painter Soft and Strong Tones. Also of note is despite these two towers both being three tier is the subtle difference in height thanks to the different shaped foamboard cores which I'll release as a template soon.

The bases were painted with my now ubiquitous Red Planet Basing technique, only the upscaled version for larger structures, i.e. with the Docrafts Artiste Pumpkin craft acrylic mixed with the £1 Vermilion craft acrylic. It goes a long way. I also painted the Bonewhite chips on one of these bases but instantly got bored so didn't do the remaining five - I'll get to them when I do the Bonewhite highlights. I have to say though, particularly on these bigger bases those Bonewhite chips really do make a massive difference to an otherwise mediocre base.

Also all the fleshy musculature has been highlighted. Simple drybrushing of Vermilion over the shaded Vermilion then some white mixed in, drybrush, and then one final extra drop of white for extreme highlights. Considering the orangey nature of Vermilion I'm surprised how pink this comes out, I'd have thought more salmon coloured but no it's quite pleasant and does not suffer from the chalky nature adding white usually does.  

Lastly, the two bigger towers, it's also nice to see the Bonewhite spikes. It's funny how the Forgeworld models actually had these pointing upwards. They should look quite neat once the highlights go on, perhaps not as sharp and dangerous looking as I'd hoped but they still look menacing from a distance.

And a close up of all the textures. Once all the Chitin plates are turquoised up I'll do the Bonewhite and then the flesh sacks and finally the tendril vines. Lots still to do.

Lastly varnishes and then the fun of the fair with Tamiya Clear Red X-27 and try and work out some 'reclamation pool' style sludge in the three male towers crater...

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

part 10. |

Wrap up warm, 'cos it's frighteningly cold outside!

For my North American friends [that's about 50% of the folk who come to the blog] watch out for that cold weather, keep it tight and stay toasty, there's worse things out in that blizzard than just snow.

To Done - Adeptus Titanicus Epic Reaver Titan

Officially this fella isn't on my 2013/14 'To Do List' but it's been an extra thing to do to keep my mojo up by not OD'ing on just 'nids and other stuff. In truth I wimped out as I should have put some chevrons on it. I think some nice black and white ones on the carapace would have made it that bit better but I think then it would have strayed into an existing Titan Legion.

As it stands it seems a bit 'Word Bearer-ish' I know they're not a Titan Legion but I'm pleased I was able to make a new red scheme that wasn't as bright as the ones on my Chaos Cultists and I think I learned from some of my mistakes on the OSL glows. Tristan M's advice about less is more worked out a bit better, especially on the eyes.

And the white hot green glowing plasma reactor is also quite neat. The litany on the Titan breaks up the flat colours and I'm really surprised how effective that can be. I've always wanted to do battle damage but haven't been brave enough to do it. Pseudo etchings and paint work seems to be something similar but also I have a lot more control over so it may well become my 'cheat' instead.

With this colour scheme I may well try and add some darker red guys into the genestealer-cultists just to add a bit more variety.

Whilst doing all this I had a seed of fluff begin to grow in my head. This will be Ferron Proxima's own Titan Legion. They will not be a Traitor Legion but in fact during the Horus Heresy did go rogue. This will be due to some devious behaviour on behalf of the Alpha Legion that fed them lies about what was going on. This will explain any Epic battles that PeteB and I have with him using it against my War Griffons.

Once the Heresy was resolved much like the Dark Angels seeking to absolve their failings the Ferron Legion will go about trying to redeem themselves, under the watchful eye of the Inquisition. I'll write some more decent fluff  when I get the chance.

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

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.