Armies on Parade 2015

 

I hadn't really been keeping up on the Armies on Parade news, apart from hearing it would follow the same format as last year from the awesome Taro modelmaker. So I didn't know when the date was but I guessed I'd still be throwing the nids down. Sure they've placed 1st and 2nd for the last two years but I keep adding to the army so I'm just not going to give up on them just yet. But I did figure the new board would still be unlikely given the timescale and all I had on my plate.

Then I suddenly had a thought about the date and it does transpire that Parade day lands on the weekend of our first ever family holiday abroad [Hallowe'en in Disneyland Paris, in case you were curious]. That would obviously preclude me from entering but I nipped to Southport at the weekend and spoke to the manager and she said she was fine me setting up on the Thursday so long as I accepted they take no responsibility for the safety and security of the models. So I'll still enter and by the looks of it there are considerably more entrants than last year, between eight and a dozen. So it should be a hard fought contest, no guarantees this time but I will try and throw all my nids at my board so hopefully it can speak for itself in my absence. Meanwhile I took this picture of the manager's Lamenters which will be parading on the day. They looked really clean and bright, not to mention Red Planet BASE! Can't wait to see the finished articles.

Whilst we were in Southport I did see Avro Vulcan alongside some of his little mates, sad to see it go but an awesome spectacle and if you want to see what a Tau Barracuda might fly like then check this out: https://www.facebook.com/dwez1/videos/10153620755548497/

1850pt NOT a battle report - 'nids v Craftworld Eldar

I had a battle with Otty the other nightbut for one reason or another I decided not to take too much notice of events to make it a battle report but I still took a few pictures because who doesn't want to see my nids versus Otty's Star Wars Empire themed Eldar fighting on the ice planet of Hoth? And boy does that snow effect Realm of Battle board bounce light back up at ya.

Otty was trying out his Blog Wars army list so we did the mnission with three objectives, your own is worth 5pts, the middle one is worth 10 and your opponents is worth 15pts to you. Now obviously the nids I took wasn't a legal Blog Wars army, because I had two Tyrants and no named character, although the Spawn of Cryptus is present he's not one of the special characters available to use, which I may petition Alex to look into for future Blog Wars. I also took a Sporefield Formation to see how it works. I was up against Otty's 'undead' list made up of many Wraithguard and a Wraithknight so, lots of D.

The first turn was pretty ineffective for both of us although my Flyrants happily dodged almost anything that was shot at them on some nifty Jink saves usually 6's, much to Otty's annoyance/amazement. I was equally flummoxed by his Jink saves, failing to destroy a Vyper with my Flyrant. It would take two turns for first Blood to finally be scored by Otty.

 

I also found his battle focus a major annoyance, it was like the Edlar get two goes each turn and when you add in psychic abilities that convey twin-linked when everything moves, shoots, re-rolls shooting and then moves again quite often it takes longer than moving my horde army! Obviously that's not Otty's fault, that's the way Eldar play now it's just part of me is hankering after a no frills gaming approach where constant re-rolls are not the order of the day but a rarity. However, re-rolls seem to be the defining mechanism now with FnP, twin-linked, re-animation protocols all being used to beat the odds of a single set of dice rolls. Maybe an Age of Sigmar simplification is about due [not that I've read the rules for AoS].

The Spawn of Cryptus got smooshed by the Wraithlord/seer but his children stepped up and avenged their daddy. I really like this unit now, they make a nice second chepaer option instead of Manfactorum Genestealers. Their greater numbers and Stealth mean they're more durable and the added Scything Talons ups their assaults to make them more killy too.

It was round about this point that I finally started to close on Otty's line and suddenly the D-weapons started to hit home. After the Venomthrope was killed pretty much all my big gribblies folded one after another - flyrants, T-fexes, Carnifex and then the Tervigon blew up.

Most of my Deep Striking spores managed to mishap, one did get to assault ssome Warp Spiders and kill two or three but as first outing I was particularly underwhelmed. I'll still have another go with them but it seems a real pain just having them to draw fire because it almost always feels like your giving him things to shoot at when ordinarily they wouldn't shoot at anything. I may not be losing VPs to them but it still feels liek a pointless exercise.

All I really had left at the end was termagants and Spore Pods. We were at the end of turn 3 iut was 1am and I couldn't foresee how I could actually achieve any type of comeback so I called the game. I'm not sure what I could have done better, perhaps kept my flyrants together to maximise their output. I knew that all that D was quite tricky, Ben and PeteB have been discussing the horrors/benefits of it for a while now. This was clearly evidence of how effective it can be because it all happened at once, which is a relief in a way because the game had been really entertaining up to then. Otty couldn;t seem to do anything and I was just Jinking all over the place, we had a great laugh.

So a disappointing result but a really fun game, what more can one ask for?

Imperial Knight - Cerastus in manufactorum pt 4

I continue to split my time between a number of projects. I doubt this makes the most efficient use of my time but I am just trying to fit stuff in so even if I just paint for five minutes I feel like I've moved things on just a little bit. Sadly I've not yet taken pictures of the bronze/brassy progress I've made. That's actually quite exciting but despite my confidence that most of it will be resolved thanks to verdigris and other metallic techniques I've adopted I'm still trying to be neat and tidy when in fact rough and ready stippling looks even more effective at the end. I'll get my head round it eventually, most likely as time runs out.

However, this update is all about the base, not rubble. Yes I've Red Planet BASED! the Cerastus and I'm really quite pleased with the results. The exposed power conduit had a coat of gun metal, devlan mud and now Typhus Corrosion before I try my hand at rust effects again, like the Chaos/Genestealer Cultists. My only disappointment was that I'd planned to also do the bases on my Genestealers. I know they're not priority but they are on my To Do List and 20 stealers based would give me a warm fuzzy feeling as that's 20% of the paint job right there. But I never got round to it so never mind, no harm no foul.

I did however continue working with the metallics on my objective markers. These are the Force Field Pylons and Teleport Homer from Battle for Macragge, and a couple of standard Teleport Homers to make the six. Still not sure how to differentiate the maelstrom numbers but I'll cross that bridge further down the line.

They're all a bit bright at the moment as I've highlighted up to gold but I have washes to add to tone it down again and then verdigris and any lighting effects on the pylons and homers.

I do have some other 'objective-type' bits knocking around that I could throw in as alternative objectives, that might help in the numbering stakes, but these would work in a pinch. They're definitely a quick win for Blog Wars at this stage.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 

40kaddict Towers - We have power!

The electrician came the other day an fitted all the electrics. The original quote we got was £500 but this was a guy who used to work for my mother-in-law and he arranged for one of the lads to come and do it. I spent around £100 on the materials and and the day-rate for the electrician and a few more bits came to a further £180 but it's all done.

I got a double socket on the right and two double sockets on the left.

You can also see I've 'laid' the carpet. I had various offcuts from my son's bedroom and our loft and landing. Unfortunately there wasn't enough of one to make it uniform but the two tone element is OK, I did consider having the beige stripe down the middle but that's in two parts so I thought it was best to have it nearer the door as I'll step over the join anyway.

I only stapled the carpet down, it's probably a major trip hazard but I'll mitigate that with a few rugs to add on top which will make it, warmer, more bohemian but a little more grungy and tatty

There are two 2' fluorescent tubes in the apex of the roof and and LED spotlight with PIR sensor above the door so I can see what I'm doing when I try and get inside. The lights were a bit dim when I tried them the other night but it could have been them warming up for the first time. I'll no doubt be needing more illuminations at some point. I've still to add the draft insulation on the door frame though.

And the first load of crap has been installed. I've so much stuff to move, my wife is already muttering under her breath it won't fit. She may be correct but I have to put in the computer desk first and as I've removed all it's contents and they're taking most of the back room I could agree that it looks like it's taking up twice as much  space as it eventually will.

Also some of the boxes on the shelf are actually empty. I'll be organising them a little better  once I've moved some of my stuff over but that'll be a job in itself.

'nids part 175 - Tyranid Void Shield Generator part 3.

I could be showing you pictures of my updated Cerastus but I'm pretty sure you just want to see a Tyranid Void Shield Generator right now, am I right? Or am I right? Here's the base, another spare piece of hardboard, this time from an old TV cabinet. I'm rapidly running out of these spare bits, I might actually have to buy some MDF soon. I scored through the template with a knife so I'll know roughly where each piece goes when I come to stick it on.

I've trimmed the noodle bowl, it would later transpire trimmed too much but  nevermind.

And the bowl in place, although the numbers don't match up.

I then realised I would need to fill the hole in the ring, preferably before I glued the ring in place. Initially I thought I'd fill it with newspaper but then remembered I had a load of high density foam in the garage from my brother's vivarium. And amzingly there was a circular core cut to form a ventilation hole in the viv. This was a perfect fit and I hollowed out the inside a bit to better form the 'trumpet' shape at the base of the VSG emitter.

And a lot of hot melt glue later and we have the basing structure, with a mechanical pencil tube for the emitter support.

I screwed up a bit on the floor, it's slightly tilted and even worse tilted up against a wall that was cut too deep but hopefully the sculpting on top will fix that, not that it matters as anything on the battlements gets a save, regardless of how much the walls obscure it.

Next step is to fill out the chitin spines with tissue and PVA and then make the chitin spines. This step and all subsequent steps are all things that require me to sacrifice Dark Angels time though, even this step was one too far, we'll see what price I'm prepared to pay...

Tyranid Void Shield Generator Chapter 1. | part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. | part 9. |

Tyranid Void Shield Generator Chapter 2. | part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. | part 9. | part 10. | part 11. | part 12. | part 13. | part 14. | part 15. | 

'nids part 174 - Tyranid Void Shield Generator part 2.

I really didn't expect to do an update so soon but it turns out this bit was quite quick to do. The noodle pot handily has six little support struts underneath the rim. Although the VSG will only have 3 chitinous elements the battlements will have six peaks in it's construction, as per the concept. So I've cut into the pot at three areas, using the struts as a guide.

Here's a look at the rough templates for the spines. The main focusing spine and a variety of little chitin nodes for the other positions, so I can pick and choose the most appropriate. Also the other piece will be the template for the base. A small building in 40k is no bigger than 6"x6" square [or equivalent 36 square inches] the base will be 35 square inches according to my area measurement tool. So unlike the crater base on my Bastion, which is not affording cover or difficult terrain this potentially could but probably would be too impractical to walk through. Bottom line the base is smaller than a small building the actual VSG is therefore considerably smaller so no one should be able to complain about modelling for advantage.

I've freehand cut various notches and trimmed in places to fit the bowl. I'm pretty sure the templates will come as is when I do them, because if you do fancy making them you're going to have to trim to fit the way you want just as I've done, there's no accuracy in this.

I have decided that the large spine is a little too fat though, I'll be trimming a centimetre off the back so I've got more space on the base. And the battlements are in place too, now to make the base.

I recently got into a debate on facebook regarding the battlements, the VSG is classed as an 'Impassable Building' which rules state you cannot enter the building but specifically states you can use the battlements. Having played Ben with his VSG we'd always played that you could climb up the outside. In this discussion someone was suggesting if they could model ladders on it and it was pointed out this is 'modelling for advantage' which I though was tosh as most ruins we can climb up only require a 3" difficult terrain test regardless of any modelled ladders or ropes. I even found reference to battlements being considered the same as the top level of a ruin. However, I was deemed to be interpreting things wrong that the building was Impassable Terrain which does not allow anyone to pass over, or through, unless they have the ability to do so - Jump, Skimmers etc. To which I disagreed as it was quite clear under the terrain rules that as a Building 'they have their own set of specific rules featured in their own section'. But it was argued that building were mentioned in the terrain rule and therefore subject to the terrain rules. I tried to just end things by saying people interpret them in different ways but my adversary had to have the last word along the lines of 'yes, his way which was correct and my way which was wrong'.

Bottom line I see the VSG as an enclosed box, you are not able to enter it to take advantage of any 'transport' protection abilities but it does have a Battlements you can access by climbing up the outside. The idea that you can also not pass over it because it has the word impassable and another different piece of terrain also has the same word in it, does that mean Impassable Terrain is also subject to the rules of an Impassable Building...

Yes, I know, message boards and forum trolling, should know better ;)

Tyranid Void Shield Generator Chapter 1. | part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. | part 9. |

Tyranid Void Shield Generator Chapter 2. | part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. | part 9. | part 10. | part 11. | part 12. | part 13. | part 14. | part 15. | 

'nids part 173 - Tyranid Void Shield Generator part 1.

 

It seems the vaguaries of the Warp ate the first draft of this but I'll persevere. My Tyranid Void Shield Generator concept has been around pretty much since Stronghold Assault came out and despite it being completely non-essential to my current hobby priorities I thought I'd crack on with it. Hopefully it'll progress, but it could easily stall [can you say Caestus Assault Ram?]. But first and formeost, should you wish to have a crack at my idea, you will need a Chef Kuo's Express Noodle Bowl. These are available from Home Bargain/Quality Save for 99p [I remember when they used to be 59p]. I like the Spicy Kung Pao, I'm eating one as I type and hopefully the spicy kick will shift this sore throught I started with today, but they also do a Sesame Seed Teriyaki flavour.

 

Once you have eaten the noodle goodness you will have a bowl, I also use one of these to store my sand mix but this one will form the basis of the VSG.

I created a ring template [whihc I will eventually share once I've ironed out the kinks] this will form the battlements. As you can see it can support the 10 models a small building battlements can hold.

And this is the battlement floor in place, it'll be textured in a similar way to my Bastion so it should look pretty cool.

Now this thing is pretty unique, so I can't expect folk to have one to hand. It's a cannon ball from one of my kids old Pirate playsets from the Early Learning Centre, I've kept it for years just for this purpose. You could easily replacy it with a polystyrene ball, around 40-50mm in diammeter, perhaphs sculpt some surfacce details similar. Alternatively a cluster of smaller balls or even lava stones then covered in tissue paper/PVA will have a similar effect for the Void Shield emitter.

Here it is in the generator, for scale, obviously it'll be mounted on a rod to match the concept above and that hole in the middle will be sculpted with suitable alien structures to support it and make it so you can't put figures in it as only the 10 on the ring will be legal.

Now this isn't a priority but I can get some of it done that won't impact my Dark Angels. How it continues once it does begin to impact, well I always say 'go with the flow' but I'm juggling about 5 projects that are on my To Do List and from my experience previously one of thos may well become a primary focus but currently I'm engoying the variety and shifting inspiration.

Tyranid Void Shield Generator Chapter 1. | part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. | part 9. |

Tyranid Void Shield Generator Chapter 2. | part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. | part 9. | part 10. | part 11. | part 12. | part 13. | part 14. | part 15. |