Dark Angels - Azrael and Company Commander TO DONE!

A final push managed to complete my Dark Vengeance Azrael conversion and my Assault on Black Reach Commander. I used some dregs from a couple of bottles of Army Painter Anti Shine and they came out all glossy so I'd definitely advise always sticking to using a bottle with a decent amount in it.

In all honesty I'm not overly happy with either of these guys, they're not my best work but I suppose they came out better expected in some places. There are definitely some bits that work but I think the overall effect is a bit confusing.

Sadly it's not helped by the pictures being overly dark, I should have tweaked these but forgot but as I'm just glad there off my To Do List I really don't want to invest any more time in them.

Azrael with his Watcher holding the Lion Helm.

I think the Commanders face came out really well but it's the freehand lettering that spoils it for me a bit

I may also go back in at some point and put so freehand patterns on his cloak or litanies on the back of the banner.

All my HQ choices togetherm makes a cool 'last stand'.

Took some pictures on my phone too, bit of a difference.

But it does do better macro-shots

And pictures that manage to capture the models as if they were life sized.

And here we go the Big Green Stamp of Approval, been a while since I had one of these and I've ticked it off my list too. Additionally I've already started compiling my review of the year for August. For those taking part in the hobby season it's easier to keep track of achievements as you do them than having to write a big old post at the end. So far I've got three things completed, which is understandable given I'm working on numerous projects at the moment which means progress is slow but I'm hoping they'll all mature within a short time of each other. Regardless I know full well I've been pretty productive and although I've had some tough times so far I've overcome a lot too.

 

Battle Report aftermath and help with my Nid list

After my crushing defeat to Ben I have serious reservations about my 1700pt list. In fairness this was it's absolute worst performance and Ben's Orks are the most difficult Orks I've ever faced, but we all know there are other armies out their meaner and dirtier than  what Ben brings to the table. So if I can be wiped out by the Orks what hopes have I against a nastier list?

I'd tried to take as much shooting power as I could must, only S6 but weight of fire was my aim. I had loads of cover saves and two lots of Catalyst and was still not able to hold out. Ben mentioned that Otty is goign with 3 Tervigon so I didn't know whether to ditch my second Flyrant and go for a second Tervigon instead. I definitely missed having a Tyrannocyte in play, scoring units are really important and those Flyrants only stay alive so long as they're not scoring! So with twin Tervigons in mind I suddenly went completely off list and did this

These were from an old ebay auction, where I picked up a load of Hormagaunts that I was going to kitbash into Termagants. They're all going to have Adrenal glands on their backs so they can join the other 20 Adrenal gaunts so I have two distinct groups of 30. Of course I have just this second realised the plan was not to have two Tervigon tax broods but I've started it now and they always needed doing. Having chopped off the SyTals the Fleshborers were a little fussy to glue back in place with out their ball and socket joint, hence why they're upside down as it helped them to glue in a better position. What's also unclear is that there aren't 10, erm there are 13... I had 8 Hormagaunts, one of which was headless so I used a Genestealer head and I also had 5 normal Termagants so why not do the lot?

The excitement for this is much like the decision to advance Old One Eye to the top of the queue for the last Blog Wars, only not to use him. But with a deadline, and now something to complete it by, it's definitely a Catalyst for sustained effort and progress [there goes any chance of an early night!]. 4 weeks is quite a stretch for me I think to get all these done. To speed up the process I've got the Army Painter Skeleton Bone Primer and will be prepping the Deathwing Knights simultaneously to at least keep progressing something Dark Angel.

So, should you feel inclined here is the list [which seems quite small now I look at it] of all my nids. If you can think of a better army list at 1700pts. I definitely want at least one Fortification in because it's a showcase but if you can find anything slightly more competitive I'm open to ideas.

2 x Flyrant
3 x Tervigon [1 magnetised so it can be a Tyrannofex with Fleshborers]
1 x Tyranid Prime LW+BS and Deathspitter
1 x Deathleaper
1 x Lictor
4 x Hive Guard
2 x Zoanthrope
1 x Venomthrope
1 x Malanthrope

Termagants [20 Devgaunts]
Hormagaunts [not sure how many, at least 24]
4 x Rippers
4 x Warriors [3 x DS and Scytals 1 x Barbed Strangler]
3 x Broodlord
Genestealers lots of them
2 x Biovores [lots of spore mines]
3 x Carnifex [Magnetised but mainly dakka]
1 x Trygon [or use as TPrime or Mawloc]
10 x Gargoyles [but don’t like to use them]

3 x Scrathbuilt tyrannocyte

1 Bastion
1 Quad Gun
1 Aegis Defence Line
1 Skyshield landing pad
[So I can run an ‘Imperial’ Strongpoint, which is a lot of points but showcases the scratchbuilt Fortifications]

1700pt battle report - Tyranids v Orks

With Throne of Skulls approaching Ben suggested we have a game, the last time I played 40k was in 2015! So I cranked out a 1700pt list of nids with Manufactorum Stealers, 2 Flyrants and 2 Carnifex, my Malanthrope for a change, Skyshield and Tevigon + tax and a unit of Rippers. I think this is my list with the most firepower 48 Brainleech shots.

Psychic Powers Winged Tyrant 1 Winged tyrant 2 Zoanthrope Tervigon Dominion Dominion Dominion Dominion Psychic Scream Onslaught Warp Blast Warp Blast Catalyst Warp Blast Catalyst

The low down:

• Into The Maelstrom - Maelstrom missions [ever decreasing from 6 cards] and 'Carnage points' for killed units. Vanguard Strike
• Warlord Trait - Move through cover [ruins], Stealth [ruins]
• Night fighting first turn, won deployment, went first, Ben failed to steal the initiative.

I set up with the Skyshield sat next to number one objective in the wood, objective 3 was in the ruins in front which I surrounded with 20 Stealers backed up by my two Carnifex.

I only exposed the five Stealers in the abandoned Ork Void Sheild Generator in Ben's DZ

Ben's Orks had these two objectives within easy distance,

with objective 4 just in front of the crashed Aquila on the right

Within striking distance of my Stealers.

Everything else of mine sat on the Skyshield.

I draw my 6 cards and luckily get objectives 1 [secured by the Skyshield], 4 [just in front of the ruins] and two copies of objective 3 [held by the Stealers]. So these four are in the bag when I venture one stealer out to get O4. I also get Behind Enemy Lines so swoop my Flyant forwards to get this [next turn I'd realise that as it was Swooping it's not scoring so I had to reclaim the card and lose the 5th VP. On the plus side he was in position to cast Warp Blast and subsequent shooting would wreck the Trukk getting me First Blood as well - a good first turn.

In response Ben drew cards and was easily able to secure objectives 2 and 4 by killing the lone Stealer holding it. In securing enough objectives he also gained Ascendency and got 2VPs from his D3 - 4VPs a piece at the end of the turn but that wasn't the headline... pot shots were taken at the Flyrant who lost a wound despite Jinking but stayed in the air.

Ben's Nobz jumped out and multi charged the occupants of the Ruins, his plan was to leverage Rampage [+D3 attacks when againsta foe of greater numbers, I think] but they didn't have that rule.

He charged anyway, taking on two Broods of five Stealers AND a Carnifex! So no Rampage and no extra attack on the charge, Ithought I could do some real damage here but the premier close combat unit of 40k managed to just do three wounds to the Nobz thanks to Doc Gotsnikk

In return the Nobz did 10 wounds on the 10 Stealers and this was my save!

The Carnifex pitched in and squashed two Nobz only to be disected by Grotsnikk and anothe Nob with a Power Klaw - 290pts in one assault gone!

Ben consolidated his 1", I guess the Orks were a little tired after killing most of middle force.

I drew my 3 cards for the turn, all pretty useless and would ultimately achieve nothing. I did however swoop my Flyrant Warlord over to cast Psychic Scream on the Nobz and bikers but typically failed to get it off. I did shoot the Bikers enoguh to cause them to flee, which was a bonus. Everything else retreated from the green tide as I hoped weight of numbers would hold them back. I spawned 10 Gaunts to add to the meat shield.

Ben would score objective 3 and 6 this turn as well as Hold the Line, taking his score to 7. He managed to catch my Carnifex who was extremely lucky with his Feel No Pain roll from Catalyst.

Meanwhile he threw everything at trying to kill my Warlord, or the Zoanthrope to get Witch Hunter. The Zoie shuck everything off but the Flyrant got hit and hit the ground but managed to descend gracefully without any successive injury.

With the Flyrant grounded the Warboss pounced but was outmatched and took a wound.

My go and I drew cards to kill a character and issue a challenge, missions that had D3 VPs for 3 of each and both missions fells short by one of those D3s leaving me with 2 VPs this turn. The Malanthrope came close to killing the Boss but the Nobz slaughtered most of the Rippers leaving them to turn their attention to bigger things next turn. The Warlord Flyrant got Psychic Scream off killing the biker boss then targetted the trukk holding O6. If I wrecked it the Boyz would have to diembark giving me something to charge. Sadly it was an 11" charge and I only made 10"

Ben's turn and he had to secure objective 2, twice which was easy as his bikes rallied next to it before exiting the table [damn!]. The Boyz in turn assaulted the Flyrant still trying to secure Witch Hunter and Slay the Warlord

Somehow the other Flyrant was on the ground, I may have landed him last turn and assaulted the Tank Busters

But he was ultimately outmatched and killed gaining Ben Witch Hunter and his 10th VP of the game.

The Flyrant manages to kill of the Boyz.

The Malanthrope and Rippers get killed and so too the Zoanthrope by the looks of it - double Witch Hunter!

After some initial success with the Termagants counter attack against the Kommandos they slowly began to roll through them.

Whittling them away.

Somehow the Tervigon also got popped, I can;t remember how, but it took a lot of gaunts with it.

The Kommandos cleared the top of the Skyshield, and I can't remember what this dice roll was for but it was clearly not good news.

In my last turn I;d managed to secure objective 5, twice and get within 12" of Ben's table edge with two remaining Genestealers who'd spent the game cowering just for this reason. With the Flyrant on the ground Ben rolled over him. He'd already got 2 VPs for two objective 6s and then got another 3 VPs from a D3 for 'no prisoners'

The warlord got a battering, down to 3 wounds and then the slower combats added another 4 saves to be made

Which reulted in the last wound

And slay the Warlord, plus Line breaker.

Final score 17-10 and Ben tabled me for the first time ever! I'm going to leave this now and do a separate aftermath post but please do feel free to comment until then about how you think it went wrong [for me obviousl] and how it could be improved.