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Nice idea for the bases Llamahead. I do something similar with my grots, though I just add dags instea dof painting the whole rim

Cheers I don't think it's a good idea aesthetically speaking but it'll make gaming an awful lot simpler. At the end of the day these guys are a gaming army so thats got to be the priority. It'll be simple and obvious from about 4 feet which is whats needed.

I understand the budget issue. My budget has been limited due to shifting my available funds in other directions. I still look to eBay for any purchases. It's less expensive for me to fix someone mess to fit my army than to spend X3 that amount for the same item new.

The base idea is a good one, especially since your force is so huge and focused on gaming.

Speaking of "huge force", how about a family photo? It's been a while.

Nice Psycher btw. Looks terrifying.

Cheers about the group photo it's on the cards for once the bases are done probably sometime in February as I'm back to my parents for most of the holidays. Got three squads done and I'm doing the repairs as I go along so they should look good for it.

pretty cool conversion ideas!,exalted

This is the first Compleat Llamahead of the year.
I've got Logistar Cuthbert's Black Scribes on show here http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/90/279068.page
Two new Escort Squadrons here http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/356363.page
The first rebased Platoon for my 24th Islandlwanda here http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/240/252579.page
And finally a new group of minions for my Forces of Nurgle (and above a new BSB) http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/150/231101.page

Thanks Zariart. Got the First Platoon based up.


Simple but it'll work.
I've found 2 rather nice papercraft kits here
http://myhobbycraft.blogspot.com/view/magazine
An APC with 8 wheels and the M977 Heavy Truck perfect for my 8x8's

Decided to put the story up on the Dakka Fiction section as well so you can read it without the large gaps between mentions. It's here it'll continue in both places mind. http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/424864.page

Fluff for you rebasings going forward. i've got everything which won't take any repainting done and only three squads left. Here you go
35th Tekla Northern Pipe Line Supply Station Three 25 Kilometres North of Alpha Complex
The waiting was getting to Refilwe. They’d made a good pace back to the main camp and got into the defense lines before the swarm arrived. The base camp was thankfully awake and alert. Refilwe was grateful for their lack of clothes as it meant it was easy to prove they hadn’t been taken by the Souleaters after a cursory expectation revealed the lack of fresh scars. Nobody who’d seen them could begrudge the time it took and the caution involved. He’d swiftly and simply related the strength and ETA of the attack force to Lieutenant Ayize. He was worried. The regiment was suffering probing attacks all along the northern pipeline. First Platoon Third Company was the furthest North of the Regiments position. To the North of this Supply Station was the barren inhospitable Drift Mountains and then the desolate Plain of St Land.

35th Tekla Northern Pipe Line Supply Station Three 25 Kilometres North of Alpha Complex
It was Dingane who spotted the first sign of the attack. The Lascannon gunner on top of the bridge sounded the alarm; The first force had been spotted to the north. Refilwe relaxed slightly that was good it was the group he’d spotted. They weren’t yet encircled. Refilwe grinned as Madla began his prayers, loudly, he and the rest of the squad joined in. From all around the prayer began the bellowing of the Litany of War heartened him as the fifty nine men of Second Company Third Platoon joined in the chant “Emperor bestow upon us your righteous fury and your furious strength. Let us become the storm that blasts the enemy from your sight”. With that the Lascannons began sounding their crackling shots and the battle began. As the enemy began to lope across the field with their agile ferocity, Refilwe began observing them in closer detail. There were obviously four distinct types. The largest were the Warriors. After that there were three groups of similar monsters. Two of these had some kind of gun growth, one a disgusting cone and the other a bizarre sphincter. Closing even faster however was a group of long clawed beasts running quicker than a horse these were obviously going to hit first. Refilwe made his decision. The big bugs he’d leave to the Lascannons and Missile Launchers of the other squads. His squad would focus fire on these clawed beasts. Quickly he passed the order around. Madla frowned slightly at him presumably as it was against doctrine not to shoot the big ones first but had to concede that the Devastator fire team was better equipped for the task. As the first wave of clawed beasts hit range the Lasguns opened fire the combination of the open terrain and the skill of the Guardsman taking a terrible toll, but still they showed no fear, no emotion at all, swiftly covering the ground. It was then that a hideous spitting sound erupted. He heard the screams of his men around him but braced himself holding his pistol and shield at the ready. He couldn’t help them braced as he was for combat waiting for the beasts to reach the trench line. He had to trust them and pray to the Emperor there was enough left to hold the line. He swiftly rapped the signal for a grenade volley on his shield. Even the dozen or so dead from that didn’t lesson the tide. Sibusiso then fired a gout of fire torching several more then suddenly started screaming as a flying wyrm ripped through his face. Swiftly the scene descended into anarchy as the tide hit them. He began to hack at the horrid bone and sickly purple flesh that surrounded him. His Sail-Croc Club began to tell the deadly venom defeating even these creatures’ alien metabolisms. He could see the rest of his squad using bayonets and spears. It became an orgy of noise bloodshed and destruction the hideous ichors of the beasts causing burns all over his skin. Then as suddenly as the tide hit it began to slack and the pressure began to die down. Suddenly none were left and Refilwe realised that only half a dozen of the beasts had managed to charge even so he could see several of his men lying on the ground wounded or worse. Quickly he began to study the situation. The larger beasts had begun to retreat leaving several carcasses. They had obviously seen what had happened and decided to hold back. The two groups of shooting bugs had begun to follow them as well they’d obviously seen the demise of their fellows and decided to wait presumably for more of their kind. Refilwe grimaced and began to laugh the crazed joyous laugh of somebody who suddenly found himself alive.

35th Tekla Northern Pipe Line Supply Station Three 25 Kilometres North of Alpha Complex
Ten minutes after the attack Refilwe was grimacing as well as Sibusiso both Phila and Buyisiwe were dead. He was in the infirmary having taken a shower on the LT’s insistence. Ayize had seen too many brave men overcome by the foul ichors’ burns that the Hungry Ones gave not to take that precaution. Dumusani and Bongai had both been seriously injured and would remain. They’d taken the brunt of the casualties and all the fatalities and still been lucky. The prepared defences had managed to kill at least thirty of the smaller bugs. However this had just been a probe. They also still had the minefields out on the flanks and the Mechanicus’s agreement to lay more on the northern road. It terrified Refilwe that the worst was yet to come. Mandla quietly came up to him “We served gloriously today Sergeant but our work is not yet done. Better we defeat the Hungry Ones here in the Wilderness than they get in amongst the Manufactoria citadels and begin to feast upon the civilians. We shall not let our friends sacrifices be in vain.”

Basing's nearing an end the only model's left are the more extreme touch up's and repair jobs.

35th Tekla Northern Pipeline Filtration Unit A 5 Kilometres N of Alpha Complex
It had become almost a game by now, a deadly game of pop the balloon. The Lascannons had been firing randomly for half an hour competing between them to see who could kill it first. None had hit home since the first although a few had drifted into range of the alert squads below. Lieutenant Ezana had made the decision to use the Lascannons to engage the spores at maximum range making them far less of a danger. Sadly it pinpointed the location of the guns to the hive mind but that couldn’t be helped. He didn’t underestimate what the hive mind could do but knew that at the centre of the position the fire team was less vulnerable to infiltrators and frankly would be the main target of the longer range bugs anyway. It was then that he heard the call. One of the Lay Brothers ran towards him holding a laspistol and clutching the vox. He grinned at the young kid and dialled it on. The strong voice of Sithembile beamed through; “We’ve been hit all along the Northern Pipeline. As well as the bombardment you’ve been dealing with the Two-Twos have been hit by aerial assailants and a preliminary attack wave has hit the Third-Firsts. In response we’ll be sending a Valkyrie up to scout and Evac wounded. What direction is the bombardment coming from?”
“It’s from the North seems to be issuing from a crevasse on 37*6.7 I’ve decided not to pin point it further as I want to keep the platoon concentrated”
“Yes the Colonel and Commissar both agree with you. No point in giving the Hungry Ones an easy meal. ETA in 30 minutes, we’ll get the intel to you as soon as possible but priority has to be the Third-Firsts their looking awfully lonely out there”.
“Roger as the Emperor wills over”.

35th Tekla Rourke’s Drip Aerodrome. Briefing Room. Alpha Complex
The eleven aircrew were prepared and ready as Wing Commander Corden entered the room. All veteran members of the Cobris PDF who had sworn blood debt to the Twenty Fourth after their defence of their home world they were all keyed up and itching for a small measure of vengeance against the hive fleet. “Defiance, Triumph stand down, Corsair we’re taking this one. “
The other two aircrews relaxed but remained. If Corsair came down with maintenance problems or an accident betrayed it they’d run the mission. The Cobris PDF also had a tradition that it was bad luck not to see a comrade of from the room before a flight.
“Air in fifteen people. This is a two part job first outs a snoop and shoot engaging targets of opportunity. In particular they want us to check out a probable Biovore nest at co-ordinates 37*6.7k from the Shrine of Saint Land’s pinnacle principalis. Apparently it’s bugging the Two Ones.”
A swift groan emitted from the audience. Corden grinned and continued.
“After that they want us to continue do a swift high flight looking for the main swarm around the Three-One’s position, we’ll then be evacuating wounded from both the Three Ones and Two Two’s. Airborne hostiles have been sighted including Harpies as well as Gargoyles and they are known to be lurking around the Two-Twos. Ground pounders have been confirmed in force to the North of the Three-One’s and several Warriors are known to be lurking around the outpost. However the bug battery is the primary target. The Colonel only wants us in the air as he’s decided to reserve two craft for other duties. In particular he wants us to be prepared for combat drops to the North as well as Hot Evacs so keep tight people we’re still on Scarlet Condition.”
The other crews grimaced. Scarlet meant staying in the Briefing Room and no intoxicants, it also meant the ground crews had to keep the planes fuelled and armed at all times. It meant mission orders could literally come in at any time and they would be expected to be in the air within five minutes.

35th Tekla Northern Pipeline Filtration Unit A 5 Kilometres N of Alpha Complex
The comforting bellow of the Valkyrie’s Vectored Turbo-Jets called through the air as it headed towards the target co-ordinates. Suddenly it dipped down toward the grounds and shut its speed down. Ezana nodded obviously it was trying to avoid being spotted and wanted to make sure it caught the foe unprepared. Swiftly it went behind the peak. A few moments later a gout of fire burst out followed a second later by a great explosion. The Vox chirped again, “This is Corsair, three hostiles engaged, Biovores, all killed continuing mission”.
Ezana grinned “Thank you Corsair good hunting”.
“No problem Two-One”.
Quickly Ezana sent the victory beat which began echoing back with glee from his men’s shields. The Two Ones triumphant defiant beat called out against the horror of the hungry ones, the sound was of hope it was however desperately lonely in the desolate wilderness.

35th Tekla Mid Air near Northern Pipe Line Supply Station Three 39 Kilometres North of Alpha Complex
Wing Commander Corden frowned there was very little sign of Tyranid activity. The valley wasn’t the swarming mass of activity he dreaded seeing. The skies were clear the horrific winged minions of the hive fleet were nowhere to be seen. This did not make him relax. He’d seen too many comrades die on Cobris to ever relax when the Tyranids were near; he also knew that relaxation was a combat pilot’s worst enemy too many things could go wrong without the enemy being involved to let his guard down in the air. Harridans were the worst common airborne menace although the intelligent Shrikes were serious foes. Gargoyles only really worried him when they got behind his craft although he’d seen them almost gleefully FOD themselves to take out a bird. Spore Mines were another menace but were too slow to be a huge peril to an observant and lucky pilot. Sky-Slashers were another threat he’d seen them actually take down an Orbital Lander during the initial guard landings on Cobris. Millions of them had swarmed over the craft until eventually enough had begun penetrating it’s mighty turbo-fans and vector thrusters to fill even that mighty machine with bits of chitin preventing the very air from getting into its mighty lungs. He’d known despair that day. Gradually however he’d seen the might of the Imperator’s glorious legions slowly take back his world liberating a tiny remnant of the once teeming population. After the campaign he’d seen only one option to swear the rest of his life and his men into the service of his world’s saviours.

It was another five minutes before he made contact with the host. They were teeming like insects down the valley. Another hundred of the Tyranids at least with only a few leader beasts within the host which was a good sign. They were spread out in the normal Tyranid manner. Before prey was encountered Gaunts often wandered almost by themselves always within about twenty yards of each other presumably to remain within communication but cover far more ground. Corden grimaced and made his order, “Corsair we continue onwards and continue scouting we’ll head higher to avoid ground fire and cover more ground. Brydon, Gervais you only have permission to engage synapse creatures within 100M with the Heavy Bolters as this is a scout mission people. Pollock be ready to take over if necessary engage only Synapse creatures within 100M as well. We’re aiming to reach 100km out and conserve ammo”.
It was then that he saw it and swore a bellowing mass of tiny creatures like bats had issued out from behind one of the peaks. He recognised the sky-slasher swarm and shuddered. Without missiles their options against the swarm was limited. “Disengage order issued by Wing Commander Jason Corden. Men we’re going home. Record that in the log Pollock and note that I take full responsibility”. He then put the pedal to the metal and accelerated like a fish from a shark.

35th Tekla Rourke’s Drip Aerodrome. Visitor’s Lobby. Alpha Complex
Corden was grateful that the Chief Commissar was a veteran he’d failed to achieve his primary objective and only achieved his secondary mission. He knew some Commissars would perceive the disengage order as cowardice but Valentinian was enough of a pragmatist to understand that the decision of an officer to protect his command was in some circumstances the right one. He hoped that would be enough.
“So Wing Commander Corden under your command the Valkyrie Corsair on this the 35th of Tekla failed to complete the assigned primary objective of a short range recon to a point a 150km north down the Northern pipeline?”
“Yes sir under my own personal command against the strenuous objections of my crew.” Valentinian raised his eyebrows at that point and frowned his grizzled scarred features possibly about to break into a look of approval at the obvious attempt to protect the Wing Commander’s men. Most Commissars wouldn’t appreciate those who attempted to shield the men under their command from official disapproval. Valentinian was known to be different. An attempt to shield a trouble maker from him would be met with rigorous censure but an attempt to cover ones subordinates from the consequences of their commander’s decisions was actually respected by the man underneath the cap Corden suspected. Not that it would buy him mercy if Valentinian decided he did not deserve it. “We had not made engagement with the bulk of the swarm when the appearance of a vanguard of Sky-Slashers appeared. Their numbers had reached at least two hundred before my decision was made and at least nine hundred pursued us as the onboard cameras will show.”
“Yet your heavy Bolters and Multi-Lasers did not discharge any shots?”
“No sir but as a veteran pilot I know they are not an effective defence against that many Sky-Slashers if I’d had Hell-Strikes I’d have expended them at range and seen the results. Against two hundred Sky- Slashers we may have stood a chance with our regular armaments and my crack crew but we’d have been badly damaged imperilling the secondary mission. I had already suspected that was just the precursors to the swarm and against the other seven hundred we’d have stood little chance of surviving due to the FOD risk.”
“Hmm that would concur with my assessment to be honest Wing Commander. It’s a shame you couldn’t recover any more useful information. Return to the Squadron for now”.
“Thank you Sir”.
“You and your men are a valuable asset and I’ve seen you operate often enough to know your no coward Corden. Can you prepare a full evacuation for the Three-One’s?”
“No Sir not without them taking significant casualties”
“Prepare for it anyway Corden”.
“Yes Sir”.

Basings finished. I'll be busy for a while with a new job starting in the West Country commute will be a pig but meh the money will be good and I like travel. The real fun is that I get to find out by 2 on Friday if I start on Monday or not. If I don't then I'll try and get a group shot done for you. If I do I'll still try.

Here they are all the basic injury done and rebased

I've still got Chimeras to scratchbuild but thats it. Thanks for your kind words and support

Heres my Tech-priest Enginseer done up although he's primarily for the Grey Knights he can turn up here if I feel like it.

I really like this recent tech-priest... he makes me think mystical spiritual, mysterious shaman. You may have said earlier, but what is the base model? I may need to use such a nice midsection for my own designs.

Kaesar II