Cool, does he have a knack for nids or eldar? Or just a knack for 40k in general.

I have to say it was and still is the fluff for me which draws me in, am looking at getting quite a few ebooks in the near future.

I like the look of the nids but was never sure if they'd suit my style of play

Is your style of play: run, run, nom nom, run, nom nom?
if not they won't suit you.

Lol, definitely doesnt suit me then... i like to run, shoot, club things until they stop wriggling then look for something else to run, shoot and club.

If it wasnt Space Wolves, I might have become an ork player

very little shooting. Fun to play.
Marines are like tin cans in my eyes now.
Fun to open and then suck out the insides.

My little one is very much a charge forward as fast as possible and overwhelm you in hand-to-hand kind of guy. Though he's very competent playing my eldar which are by nature very shooty. He loves playing my orks and his nids... he just needs a bit better unit selection to make his nids more viable. Getting the Trygon done will help, will probably paint up a couple of brood lords for his gene stealer squads after that, then back to another monstrous creature.

After being totally obsessed with my marines for so long, Thing 2's nids and Thing 1's necrons are a welcome break.

Gald to hear your having fun with this gits.
And I'm glad to see thing2's 'nids are causing him as much fun as mine do for me.
He might enjoy the Ymgarl rules.
They come out of cover, and then after that on the same turn, they move fleet assault. Very fun int he middle of someones battle line.

THAT sounds like something he'd just love! Will have to look them up... thanks for the tip Lorna, I'm sure it'll put a big grin on his face. :-)

It's puts a grin on my face, and the pained look on the other players face.

He'll love it

Has he got any Hive Guard? Very very useful

I would like that too..... I like my models too much so I find the thought of charging through a hail of bullets trying to get to grips with my foe terrifying.... hate taking them off the board.... The ymgarl rules sound great though.

Its why I go with SW's, i can shoot move and still enjoy clubbing things plus they have a bit of personality.

Genestealers do put the fear of God into me though

They do that to everyone, i have 29 ymgarls in my 1750 list, no one likes playing that. Plus, you can give them either +1 strength, +1 attack or +1 toughness every assault phase, although not one after the other, they can take down tanks or heavily armored models. Terminator suffer terribly. Rending, going first, can wound on threes. It's awesome.

Hmmmm better get some storm shields and pray the 3+ invulnerable keeps them alive.

Yes blooming scary, sounds like they have very few weaknesses

They do, being a dedicated close combat unit, they tend to munch through units in a turn, which means they have to take a turn of shooting, and they are normally a big treat at this point, and they only have a 4+ save, so if you can't them in cover, they will probably die. But they are awesome fun.

So the key is to keep anything of value out in the open, miles from any cover in the hope that the gribblies will not get you for atleast 1 turn!!!

Or hide in tanks.

pretty much. But they can go a potential 18 inches. So, danger zone is actually quite large. And they appear in the terrain, another way to stop them is to cover all the terrain, because if they can't come out, they die.
Which can be bad.

This strategy works with horde armies only though. Ork boy armies, 'nid swarms and guard blobs. And hasn't been effective against my list.

18 inches, that is a big zone. Is that using infiltrate rules or deepstriking?

I think my thunderwolves are the only unit to rival that, but even still lower initiative would let you hit first

dantay_xv wrote:18 inches, that is a big zone. Is that using infiltrate rules or deepstriking?

I think my thunderwolves are the only unit to rival that, but even still lower initiative would let you hit first

The Ymargl Genestealers are elite choices, at the beginning of the game you take a picture of the map and pick secret locations for them to pop up in (each squad picks a single point of area terrain). Then, because they arrive via reserves, you roll for reserve and when they come in, they appear in that piece of area terrain. Its quite fun to see.

Ah right, because rune priests can take choosers of the slain.

These can be placed on the board and nothing can infiltrate within 18" of it.

Yep, they appear out of terrain, so it's kinda both, but neither at the same time.

it's amazing to run out and decimate a guard blob, or eldar unit, or 10 terminators with lysander, not even making it up. Did in my first tournament.
the guy nearly cried, one turn, he didn't eve get to hit me. His saves were fail.

Edit reply to above post: It's called dormant state, they are already in the building and awake from turn 2 and after. It's like an infiltrating deep strike, kinda. maybe not. It's unique as a rule.

I wouldnt have liked to have been there to see that.
I have never played in a tournament, I am still learning to play, only had a few games against Ultramarines Dark Angels and Dark Eldar.... I have done okay but never faced off against an army of Nid's.

The closest to a Nid army was in a GW and they needed someone to make up numbers in the academy (was take any unit, with any upgrades you wanted and duke it out). I took a unit of bloodclaws with Lukas the Trickster. Hid in a building and got charged by stealers.
Because I was in cover and he was assaulting (initiative 1 for attacking into cover, he didnt have offensive grenades). So i hit first and ended up winning (Lukas forcing rerolls on hits to himself was invaluable).

Where abouts do you play normally?

I am coming up to scotland in a couple of months and am always willing to play anyone.

I work in Falkirk and they have a big gaming club, but never been. Normally I just meet up with a few friends who are teaching me how to play.

Would be nice... let me knwo closer to the time it could be fun

Yeah defiantly, we kinda hijacked this thread.
git is gonna love us.

Lol..... he could bring thing 2 over for a game too

All the way from the US.
It would be awesome.

Plus, i have never lost a doubles game.

As long as you guys are having fun... no problem on the thread jack. Besides, it's the most action this thread has seen in months!

@Vit: Yes! Got him a unit of 3 Hive Guard... they just have to wait their turn to be painted. Might do them after we get the brood lords done for his stealer units. I think he'd appreciate some long range threats. His zoanthropes are always a decent threat but with he's just terrible at making his psionics rolls, so something that could shoot that was not leadership dependent might be a welcome relief.

Don't Zoiez get some sort of bonus to figuring out if they pass psychic tests? I remember I had a friend who played 'nids, and he absolutely wrecked with his Zoanthropes and Biovores. Had one Zoanthrope that would always, always climb to the top of the highest terrain on the board by the second turn, and just sit there blasting everything below it.

I'll have to check the dex, you might be right. Nids are new to me too so I might not be getting all the rules right. Thanks for the heads-up though, I'll be sure to check.

Progress tonight on the Trygon, think all I'll have left to do on him is airbrushing the red on his claws... then the varnish and basing and he'll be ready to go! So much fun after months of painting nothing but marines!

Can we see a pic of the Trygon? Or ar you trying to tease us?

As he's almost done, I don't want to spoil the final shot by showing a 95% done shot right before. Give me a day or so and I'll get a pic up when he's complete.

Zoeys are Ld10, so he must be really unlucky to keep failing psychic tests. Its their BS of 3 that makes them miss usually :(

Hive Guard are v. good at opening Rhinos/Razors/Trukks/Raiders etc to for the other gribblies get at the juicy contents!

Well, Thing 2 and I formed our painting "battle plan" this morning. In the following order...

- 2 brood lords
- 3 hive guard
- carnifex
- trygon prime

Any suggestions as to how best equip the carnifex??

And yes, he's been very unlucky with his rolls. I have to get him some really lousy dice for his psychic tests.

Are you using it as a gun platform to menace people while on the move or as a close combat juggernaut of pain?

Knowing the munchkin', the juggernaut of pain sounds more his style.

Yakface has a Carnifex tactica.

I think this might help with deciding how best to arm it and use it.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/yakface%27s_Tactica_Carnifex

Thats for 4th ed.

Back in the glory days when Carnifexes were awesome.

Well guys, the Trygon is done! I've got the basing grit drying as I type. I'll wash the base tomorrow morning and add the grass & other foliage tomorrow evening. So I should have a pic then. Turned out pretty nice for a reconstituted used model (though the original paint job wasn't bad to begin with).

I'm going to need an addition just to store all these painted models! Oh for the days when everything was nice, tidy little infantry that fit neatly into little storage boxes that slid under the bed.


So... does anyone have suggestions for a 5th edition carnifex? I do have a tervigon conversion kit, but then I'd have to paint a zillion gaunts which I'm just not up to at the moment. I can tackle that project later. Are fex's best run in groups or can one be useful? Should it be shooty or assaulty? While my young'un is kind of an assaulty kid, he's actually pretty flexible and wouldn't be adverse to a shooty monster if that was the best configuration.

Thoughts??

Nice one Gits!
pics please still shocked you can even manage to look at a mini yet, let alone paint!
thankfully my armies arent so big, so a couple of shelves above my desk and its all good, i dread to think how much space 6 (at least right?) armies take up...

Yeah... 6. *sigh*

Doom Eagles
Mantis Warriors (Badab War)
Craftworld Eldar
Bad Moon Orks
Necrons
Tyranids

and eventually...

Mantis Warriors (post-crusade)


Pic's tomorrow when it's finished. If I show you tonight it'll just spoinl the debut of the finished figure. It's not fancy save for a little bit of airbrushing on the big talons... just a nice tabletop standard for a young boy to play with and enjoy.

Gitsplitta wrote:Yeah... 6. *sigh*

Doom Eagles
Mantis Warriors (Badab War)
Craftworld Eldar
Bad Moon Orks
Necrons
Tyranids

and eventually...

Mantis Warriors (post-crusade)


Pic's tomorrow when it's finished. If I show you tonight it'll just spoinl the debut of the finished figure. It's not fancy save for a little bit of airbrushing on the big talons... just a nice tabletop standard for a young boy to play with and enjoy.

quite the collection! and it does seem that between the 3 of you, you've managed to cover pretty much the whole spectrum of 40k
really looking forward to the post-crusade MW's, willing to wait for it though (just ) until you get your steam back. Must be nice to not have to look at SM's?
i can wait till 2moro, ill be waiting with baited breath and dont put urself down!ive seen how your painting has progressed remember so i know the high standard you are at now
(also, loving 'spoinl' )

Well, too much coffee last night so I spent a good portion of it sleepless. What better thing to do then advance the trygon project by a day??

So, here 'tis... hope you like it!

Wow, I really like that model. You and thing 2 did a great job.The colour scheme of the claws seem to harken back to the days of very first carnifex and their colours

Plus I like the "rattlesnake" like tail & those menacing beady yellow eyes..... I wouldnt want to meet that in a dark alley, or anywhere to be honest. I pity the poor non-nid that runs into that!!

Looks awesome. Love the blending on the scything talons.

Also, for the Carnifex, I find two sets of devourers with brainleech worms to be really effective, otherwise the carnie is really just an inferior Trygon.

But with the 12 S6 shots, the carnie can be a real beast!

Very nice Gits and Thing 2, loos great!

Agree with Gutrip, the dual tl brainleech devourers can do well, best run in pairs i find but will do fairly well on its own.

If hes against that then simply a base carnifex with adrenal glands (for furious charge) and frag spines (for assault grenades, a must on a fighty fex). 5 S10 attacks on the charge, at I4, rerolling hits. Fairly cheap as well. Will not go well if he gets charged though, as then will only be I1.

Perhaps proxy for a game or two to see which he prefers? Or leave the arms pinned/magnetised.

Nice one! great looking Trygon!
really like the claws, and the eyes..*shudders*...they are creepy

I got the ideas for the eyes from actual snakes. I forget which species has the yellow iris with the + sign pupils, but I thought it was appropriately alien looking.

I like the idea of the proxy to see what he prefers. It's also possible I could magnetize & pin some options... guess I'll have to take a close look at the figure and see how it's put together.

Nice bug! How does it feel to paint without all the pressure?

Was that an airbrush or blending on the red claws and tail?

IceAngel wrote:Nice bug! How does it feel to paint without all the pressure?

Oh Ice you have no idea... well, I suppose you do! It's wonderful. And I'm really more productive now because the joy is back in the painting rather than doggedly having to paint one thing after the other. My next project (which I'll start tonight) is a Mantis Warrior believe it or not. Then some ork stuff for Arakasi, start one of my GMS builds & then go back to the next round of things for the boys! I'm just lovin' it!

Foxtale wrote:Was that an airbrush or blending on the red claws and tail?

Yes, makes things very, very easy.

Gitsplitta wrote: So... does anyone have suggestions for a 5th edition carnifex? I do have a tervigon conversion kit, but then I'd have to paint a zillion gaunts which I'm just not up to at the moment. I can tackle that project later. Are fex's best run in groups or can one be useful? Should it be shooty or assaulty? While my young'un is kind of an assaulty kid, he's actually pretty flexible and wouldn't be adverse to a shooty monster if that was the best configuration.

Thoughts??

carnifex in myectic spoor with 2 sets of scything talons, bioplasma and adrenal glands. altogether costs about 230 points. but has 5 attacks on the charge that reroll misses, at strenth 10 and I 4 as the it has the "living battering ram"rule and furios charge. that and used with a myetic spoor deepstrikes it into the middle of the enemy force, best used as a big distraction for the enemy as the rest of the swarm advances.
oh and bioplasma gives it a 12" strenth 7 ap2 small blast shot to weaken anytroops when it arrives.
it cant be ignored and its a pain in the arss to kill, if you place it stagically. hope this helps.

Gitsplitta wrote:
Yes, makes things very, very easy.

It looks flawless. I gotta get me one of those.

I would try shooty carnifexes. Take a brood of 2 carnifexes with 1 pair of Scything Talons and Heavy Venom Cannon. The small blast template str 9, ap 4 can do some damage to anything it lands on. If you give them a hive tyrant to follow behind, you've got potentially a 3rd blast coming in, and giving them Synapse is not too shabby considering they've got a leadership of 7. So A small brood of fexes and a tyrant with Scything Talons and Heavy Venom Cannons is 565 points. Thats 3 small blasts at str 9 ap 4 assault 1. So you're already doubling out most armies, Turn them to a vehicle and they're still not bad (thought you're getting a minus 1 on the vehicle damage chart, so the best you can do is wrecked).

If you want, thing 2 can take a tyrant guard with a lashhip. Taking the guard will give the hive tyrant a cover save if you stick the guard in cover. OR you could just have the Carnifexes walk a little in front of the tyrant to give him cover.

I've never found the cc fex to be nothing more than a giant point sink, considering it is a giant walking mass of wounds.

I ripped apart my 3 fexes and made them green-stuff tails.

Trygons are the better choice 95% of the time. That 5% mostly includes 2500+ point games.

That looks great! I love the eyes and talons. On the carapace, have you thought of doing the little flecks of colour along the edges of each plate, I know it's quite fiddley but it does make the carapace look ten times better...

Gitsplitta wrote:Well, too much coffee last night so I spent a good portion of it sleepless. What better thing to do then advance the trygon project by a day??

So, here 'tis... hope you like it!

Very nice. Liking the snake style eyes!

Imperial Monkey wrote:That looks great! I love the eyes and talons. On the carapace, have you thought of doing the little flecks of colour along the edges of each plate, I know it's quite fiddley but it does make the carapace look ten times better...

I'm not sure I know what you mean. Can you link me to an example (or post it would be fine). I did think about edge highlighting the plates, it's just a lot of work and something that I can come back to later. I even thought about using my air brush to highlight the plate edges... again, a lot of work involved there. Not saying I won't do it... just not something I wanted to take on immediately. BUT... I'm always open to suggestion, so please clarify what you mean and I'll consider it.

Regnak wrote:Very nice. Liking the snake style eyes!

Thanks Regnak!

Gitsplitta wrote:

Imperial Monkey wrote:That looks great! I love the eyes and talons. On the carapace, have you thought of doing the little flecks of colour along the edges of each plate, I know it's quite fiddley but it does make the carapace look ten times better...

I'm not sure I know what you mean. Can you link me to an example (or post it would be fine). I did think about edge highlighting the plates, it's just a lot of work and something that I can come back to later. I even thought about using my air brush to highlight the plate edges... again, a lot of work involved there. Not saying I won't do it... just not something I wanted to take on immediately. BUT... I'm always open to suggestion, so please clarify what you mean and I'll consider it.

Regnak wrote:Very nice. Liking the snake style eyes!

Thanks Regnak!

I guess he's talking about the lighter colour effects on edges of plates? Like the edges on the GW pic:

Uugh.

Yeah, I can look at that for a future upgrade. I do like the looks of it, just daunted by the time it'll take.

That's a very nice Trygon you've got there. I particularly like the eyes.

Thanks samwellfrm, I feel a bit guilty about not detailing him more but at this stage I want to keep them simple so that A) the painting goes quickly so my 7-year old gets more painted models on the table and B) so that I don't cover up all of HIS work on the figures with my extras.

Once we get his models (or most of them) painted up to this basic standard, we can come back together and decide how to detail them... but there won't be a big time pressure then as they'll all be painted, it'll just be a matter of how fancy we want them to look.

Thats a really good plan Gits, im sure he loves that he is so involved in the assembling and painting, and maybe when all his models are painted to a good table-top standard, then he will be able to do at least some of the detailing himself. I know i would love to be able to do that.
It does look really good though, you've done yourself proud

Thanks RR, I appreciate it. I think we'll be working on two projects simultaneously next. The two brood lords I'll probably end up doing most of the painting on myself, but his hive guard (the fun guys) he'll be able to help with quite a bit. So to keep him engaged, we'll probably do both at the same time.

Hope for an update later in the week...
Gits

looking foward to it.

Your more than welcome
ooo me too!
i love the look of Hive Guard, im sure thing 2 will love em

Well, rather than painting last night I spent the evening wrangling a trade. Think I've secured a hive tyrant and two fex's for the young'un at the cost of a few shekels and some old models. Granted I know there is debate on the utility of the carnifex... but I want to see the look on my son's face when he fields 6 MCs (3 fex, 2 trygon & tyrant) and a bunch of other multi-wound models on the table simultaneously! He's 7 years old!! What could possibly be cooler to a 7-year old than fielding a bunch of giant monsters?!

I've been trying to build him kind of a nid-zilla list, figuring it would appeal to him... and I think it's finally coming into focus.

Cool! Nidzilla always looks sweet Im sure he'll be chuffed to bits.

If you give each fex 2 sets of TL devourers with brainleech worms a brood of 3 will be pumping out 36 TL S6 shots! (at BS3!)

Plus theyll still be charging at I3 with 15 MC S9 attacks.

Downside is thats 570 pts but not too bad when you consider thats 12 T6 3+AS wounds.

Hey im 23 and a tabletop full of monsters sounds cool to me!
nice work on the trade, i would give advice but im not so up on my Nids these days. Vitruvian's idea sounds good to me though.

NIDZILLA!!! My wolves would love that. Its the kind of thing that saga's are made from.

Seriously though I am sure Thing 2 will be mightily chuffed, plus the added bonus of fewer models to paint which you and Thing 2 can do together, plus spend a lot of time on helping him perfect his techniques (and making roaring noises, and squisihing puny opponent noises).

Makes me wish I could break out my Space Hulk Genestealers

Regnak wrote:

Gitsplitta wrote:

Imperial Monkey wrote:That looks great! I love the eyes and talons. On the carapace, have you thought of doing the little flecks of colour along the edges of each plate, I know it's quite fiddley but it does make the carapace look ten times better...

I'm not sure I know what you mean. Can you link me to an example (or post it would be fine). I did think about edge highlighting the plates, it's just a lot of work and something that I can come back to later. I even thought about using my air brush to highlight the plate edges... again, a lot of work involved there. Not saying I won't do it... just not something I wanted to take on immediately. BUT... I'm always open to suggestion, so please clarify what you mean and I'll consider it.

Regnak wrote:Very nice. Liking the snake style eyes!

Thanks Regnak!

I guess he's talking about the lighter colour effects on edges of plates? Like the edges on the GW pic:

That was indeed what I was on about, from real examples I've seen it doesn't actually have to be that fine to get a brilliant effect...

Got it. Will certainly revisit the models later to add this kind of detail.

yakface's Nids show this technique really well in case you havent seen them, not as fine brush strokes but looks awesome (flagrant and unabashed flattery of the site owner not-withstanding )

Thanks Reiko, I'll be sure to check them out!

Ok so, I have to mention this somewhere... has no relation to war gaming what so ever but it does relate to thing 2...

So, the young one and I pop out to a nearby lake to try and snag a couple of white bass (kind of a medium to large sized pan fish) to gen enough for a fish fry for dinner. He catches two, which when combined with the other fillets we have in the freezer should be enough. He ALSO catches a 20" long walleye. For those of you in other parts of the world, walleye is THE prime game fish in the northern US, and a 20" one is VERY big. My biggest is 23" and I had to go to Canada for that one. To have the 7-year old bring in one 20" long completely on his own only 5 miles from home is just astounding!

What a phenomenal experience. Of course he's so full of himself right now he's completely insufferable. Thinks he's ready for the pro walleye tour or something. As walleye season doesn't start until NEXT week, we let her go safe and sound... but I did get a great picture first. So, if you're wondering why the blog hasn't been updated in a while, it's because Thing 2 is catching trophy quality fish rather than playing with his toy soldiers like a proper 7-year old.

Hehehe, sounds like you have a Natural there.

If you're ever willing to start doing some conversion on his 'nids, might want to start making them fish based. Start with those tendrilly genestealer heads as cephalopods...

Give Thing 2 my congratulations, and glad to hear you guys are getting to spend some time together after the adepticon painting madness!

Yeah, it is nice to be able to do things with the boys again. Did a little painting this morning, worked around the house & goofed off with Thing 2 at the lake, then a little building late tonight. That's more of the kind of pace I like.

I suppose for you guys who live near the ocean a 20" fish is no big deal... for for we land-locked folk... it's pretty awesome!

Hive Fleet Ichtheosaurian? Hmmm.

Can imagine a lot of tentacles, fins and crab-like claws ooh and aquatic bases with clear resin on them!

Yes, yes... more work... *sigh*

Congratulations on the fishing, sounds like you had a great time.... unfortunately fishing permits here cost a fortune :(

Hive Fleet Walleye has landed!!

LOL! Yeah, we're lucky. Fishing permits for residents are like... $20, and kids fish for free!

Congrats Thing 2

'Gratz on the Walleye catch.

Anyhow, a while back I said I would send somthing in the mail. I'll get to it eventually, but I'm uber-broke right now. It's boxed up and sitting under my desk. Sorry about that Gitz.

this is another great blog to follow cant wait to see more of your and thing 2s work. as a player i hate fighting nids (they eat my poor csm alot) but on to greater things looking forward to the broodlord post.

Thanks alabama, it's ow going at the moment but there will be more progress. Thanks for reading!

well if they ever decide to turn to the "dark side" i can help em out some. if you want i can send you one of my chaos marines for the swap

Heh. I think there's a line for Gits swaps.

And Gits? Having caught up on my reading? Nidzilla lists can be fun. The lesson though is that Carnifexes are really quite tragic now though I'm going to try new tricks with them on Thursday.

@alabama: Unfortunately DSS is right... I'm booked. BUT, I'd love trade with you. Just remind me from time to time and eventually I'll clear things enough to do a trade with you. No sweat.

@DSS: Yeah, I know they aren't the best, but I got a couple in trade & at least at the moment the little one doesn't play competitively... just plays me. So less than stellar troop choices are still cool. If you find anything out though... please enlighten me.

definately ill remind you git. i think stealers are one of the best troop choices in the nid codex mo though. i just hate them figgin bugs!! i have a horrible track record against them like 5 losses no wins or draws.

Well, my boy's got 20 stealers for troop choices.. so that should give him a good start.

[quote=Gitsplitta@DSS: Yeah, I know they aren't the best, but I got a couple in trade & at least at the moment the little one doesn't play competitively... just plays me. So less than stellar troop choices are still cool. If you find anything out though... please enlighten me.

carnifex brood with fnp that sounds like a bad day all the way around. oh git any new updates comming soonish?

Next week maybe. Sorry... last two weeks have been really busy.

its fine i was just being hopeful thats all. well it is the summer and good weather fireworks as of yesterday, family outings i know your are busy people so its ok by me.

a trick with nids is take that warrior hq dude i forgot his name. stick him with a carnifex and hide the hq dude behind a wall or other object. becaus half of the unit is consealed the fex gets a cover save. and the hq may join the fex

They also get BS 4, if your talking about a prime.
and weapon skill 6, i think.

Warriors only get the WS and BS increase.

No other unit does.

But it is the Prime he's talking about. The only other Tyranid IC out there is the Parasite and I don't think you'd attach that to a Carnifex brood.

Dammit, not quite as goo. Imagine a dakka fex brood with BS4

True, but the reason the Prime is so good....10 point regen and 3 wounds.

That in itself is obscene.

Most people use him as an AP2 regen soaker. He can take 2 wounds, T5 means he's fairly hard to instant kill and his regen is so dirt cheap. Considering you're rolling every turn for those wounds back...

It is a fair point, i run one becasue i like it, that and he makes my warriors slight more deadly.

Will admit though, the 'nid codex has some wierd balance issues with how Regen works.

10 points - Prime - 3 wounds
25 points - Carnifex - 4 wounds
25 points - Hive Tyrant - 4 wounds
25 points - Trygon - 6 wounds
30 points - Tervigon - 6 wounds

Now, the way it works - the more wounds a critter has, the more wounds it can lose and the more effective the regen is (since you roll a number of dice equal to the wounds lost and any that come up as a 6 = a wound back - every turn!). For the life of me I can't see why it spikes so high on Carnifexes compared to Primes. The HT? Fair enough for the roll it fills, same with the 6 wound Trygon. But Carnifexes? Silly.

And for 5 points extra it's a steal on a Tervigon, especially if taken as Troops!

Gits - Thing 2 wants a monster army, right? Well, if points were no issue....

23 monsters in 1 Force Org chart!

2 HTs, 3 Mycetic Spores in Elites for Zoanthropes. 3 Mycetic Spores in Troops for Gaunts, 3 Tervigons, 3 Harpies, 9 Carnifexes.

Don't forget the tyrannofex can take it, and Old one has the best regen in the game, Rapid it's 5/6 to get it back and he has 4 wounds.

Lorna wrote:Don't forget the tyrannofex can take it, and Old one has the best regen in the game, Rapid it's 5/6 to get it back and he has 4 wounds.

But is is very expensive and cant pod. Old one eye IS one of the worst unit in the codex

Yeah. Old One Eye is really lacklustre, especially when you compare it to the only other thing in the game that gets the same 'trick' as him (making attacks for each attack that hits) - The Furioso Dreadnought. He has a cap, it doesn't, it costs significantly less and has a better initiative to boot.

I also forgot to mention Harpies - but Regen on a Harpy is risky as they can be IKed by range - S10 is their bane.

Loving the discussion guys... I know NOTHING about nids so my poor son is just getting whatever models we both agree look cool.

He's got (roughly, from memory).

Tyrant
Prime
3 Zoeys
7 warriors (not optimized... just claws & talons)
20 stealers
ripper swarms (many)

2 Trygons, one T-prime
2 fex's & 1 tervigon or 3 fexes
2 brood lords
3 hive guard
box of gargoyles
parasite of mortex counts-as
3 more warriors that I can set up with lash whips & bone swords, hope to expand this brood eventually.
A number of termigants for the tervigon
3 raveners

Most of this is not painted (the things that have are in this blog), but the tyrant and 2 plain fexes are close. Once those are done, I'd like to do the two brood lords to help out the stealers. After that... I'm not sure where to put our efforts. Hive Guard maybe?

So, that's where we are at the moment.

Hive guard are pretty cool, and i think the flying things are gargoyles. seeing as GW hasn't produced stuff from the cpodex with wings otherwise.

and Old one eye does suck.
I ran him for a while, best moment was wiping out 7 squads of marines. 5 tac, 1 assault and 1 squad of thunder hammer termies.

he did then get killed by scouts.

never fought gargolyes, but i do like the raveners, the only problem i see with them is they are glass cannons. but if they can eat a unit in the first go in combat good on them. tyrants are kinda tough to kill. i think you should work on his tryrant and guard. but thats my two cents on it.

Tyrant is getting worked on now... and I'd planned on doing brood lords and hive guard next... so I think we're in synch on that pretty well.

sounds good to me oh you should check out the gms i posted two pics i also got WIP of the objectives im working on. they are in my gallery http://www.dakkadakka.com/core/gallery-user.jsp?u=44814 there if you want to take a lookie loo

I saw your guys on the GMS page... nice work! :-) I like the fist-bump beakie... just a really fun pose.

Lorna wrote:Hive guard are pretty cool, and i think the flying things are gargoyles. seeing as GW hasn't produced stuff from the cpodex with wings otherwise.

and Old one eye does suck.
I ran him for a while, best moment was wiping out 7 squads of marines. 5 tac, 1 assault and 1 squad of thunder hammer termies.

he did then get killed by scouts.

Lol fluffy. If only it was telion

the power fist is actually off the new devastator squad sgt, i dont have any cool old minis but i have the new ones. well if you want ill trade ya sgt for sgt in the gms when you are ready.

When I'm ready for new trades, we'll see what I need. I'm actually using my trades to form tactical squads for my army, so I'm pretty restricted in what I can take. We'll see.

no problem, i have a minor obsession with power fists, so every sgt has one. its my homage to the crimson fists. my vanguard vets have one too, need some more of em. well if you need a heavy weapon i got like two lcs, and two plasma cannons. I personally am just trying to have some cool other painted minis to use in a game. any way here is a Nurgle objective i was working on.

Gitsplitta wrote:When I'm ready for new trades, we'll see what I need. I'm actually using my trades to form tactical squads for my army, so I'm pretty restricted in what I can take. We'll see.

I may actually supplement your disappearing Librarians when you get round to it Currently stripping my old school Libby!

Cool objective alabama! (I just love objectives.)

@DSS: For vanilla marines, a libby is one of the best command options out there, especially for smaller games if you aren't inclined to use named characters. I'd love an old school libby, especially one in marine armor that went with my early period MW's. Going to be a while though, I make such slow progress on my trades.

Then you'll be a happy man - Image not mine but this is the model that I'm stripping - not this actual one but this is the Libby variant I have

Love that model!

I've even got one of the old school backpacks sat aside for him as well

I also randomnly have a RTB01 missile launcher in my bits.

Ah, you have a wealth of old crusty things DSS! I like those old MLs... they've got... character.

whats an old missile launcher look like?

oh yea my objectives git here were the two i been working on first is the nurgle themed one and the second is the khorne themed one. enjoy!

Nurgle:



Khorne:

My first reaction was the one I had drilled into me by a couple of years in GW retail, where under 11's were to be strongly discouraged from taking up the hobby until they were old enough to play instore.

But then I thought back to how the UK Transformers comic, under Simon Furman's creative direction, completely captivated my seven-year old self and inspired a lot of what I can look back and think of as wargames with my TF toys.

And now I'm getting broody

@alabama: They're coming along nicely. When they're all finished, let me know but don't post pics of them... just let me know and I'll get a proper thread started for them. I don't want to get this thread too far off topic or people will lose interest.

@lindsay: In over 20 years of playing 40k I've never set foot in a GW store... so I'm no sure if that means anything. While it does help if the kids are older, I think with parental involvement and guidance the can start a lot younger, plus as the parent you can guide them through building, painting, sportsmanship and competitiveness issues when they're young and interested in listening to you (before they figure out that they know everything).

git,

sorry i was just really excited about how they were comming along and since i figured out good angels for the camera i thought i'd show you whats up!

oh hows thing 2 nids comming along, any new bat reps in the works?

No problem alabama, no big. It's always good to save "the goods" for the big reveal. I have that problem all the time as I post so many intermediate steps. By the time I get the the finished product, everyone's sick of looking at it.

Kids just got back from vacation so no progress yet.

well i added more to it no pic this time . at any rate i hope they had a good time and you enjoyed some quiet time with ms splitta.

Wonderful time thank you. Love our kids, but a couple of weeks off was welcome.

good to hear.

Gitsplitta wrote:It's always good to save "the goods" for the big reveal. I have that problem all the time as I post so many intermediate steps. By the time I get the the finished product, everyone's sick of looking at it.

Not as many as me Of course, if everyone waited for my big reveal, they would all have left thinking my thread was dead... hmmm.... this isn't bringing things any more on topic is it? Ummm - look! I follow this thread too!

*chuckle* Thanks Arakasi. I'll make a big push to get a bunch of nid stuff done next week.

You may even encourage me to do the same....I have some Tyranid Warriors and a Carnifex that are looking neglected at their black carapace stage....

Hey Gits, I was wondering what things Thing 2 might be wanting/needing for his nids

LOL! He wants them PAINTED!!!

Well, since we're no proceeding in a very focused manner... it's kind of hard to say. Looking at what he's got already... he's in good shape. At least for a while.

I guess he's got two "short" squads (i.e. squads that won't be very effective without more bodies). He's got a squad of 3 warriors that I will be setting up with bone swords and lash whips... I think they could use a little more beef. I've got most of one more warrior's body, and I can get the swords & whips from CH... but I'm not sure what's optimal there. He also has 3 raveners, and I'm guessing they'd be more effective in a larger group. I suppose a lictor might be fun too.

However from the list of "haves" (see previous post)... he's actually got quite a lot. Just a matter of getting it all built and painted and fielded in some kind of intelligent manner.

That list is actually pretty balanced and dangerous once its all assembled and painted...u can field the ravenors in a larger brood but 3 works well enough just think of them as baby trygons. dont remember is its the hive guard or tyrant guard that have the guns that dont need LOS but either way 3 of those are devastating also nooticed it doesnt look like there are too many guants but ripper swarms will fill in the troop choices and are usually ignored for the bigger targets but with all thier wounds and attacks can be a headache

Hive Guard don't need LOS

Cool. Well, next week his older brother is off to scout camp, so Thing 2 will get some quality time from me. Think I'll make a push on a number of his models & see if I can't move things along.

looking forward to it.

Took a break from the endless marines needing painting to do a Hive Tyrant for my son. This is a re-paint of a used, metal tyrant. Do us both a favor and don't look too hard... definitely table top standard. Nice base though (not my work). All I need are some wings and he'll be all set.

The green armor looks a little flat, you might want to add some highlights or something. However I think your son will be very happy to recieve that piece. Nice job.

I love that Tyrant, great job and the carapace looks great!

Well done! I quite like it.

Did Thing 2 do the base? If he did, he'll have to teach me his ways.

Nope, this figure was purchased used... so someone else did the base. It's just a big sheet of cork with some gravel and grass strewn about... but I agree, they did a great job.

@40k Ninja: I agree, just trying to get his army to a basic standard so it's playable, then we can come back in and look at adding details (like highlights or fractures in the carapace).

Nice blending on the bonesword there. Airbrush job?

Yeah. Probably five minutes worth of work all together. Well worth it.

Tyrant looks good, def table top ready. have either of you had time to play a game recently?

Not sure if they'd match with current Nid's but Lindsay40k did some really nice tyrant guard I think. Could get some cool weapon ideas from her maybe?

Well, I've played my marines a bit due to a little campaign out my FLGS, but it's been a while since he's played. New figure is always a good excuse to get a game on!

Ill check that out dantay, though I've been told that Tyrant Guard aren't really very good so they haven't been on my radar. What I'm considering is converting his two carnifexes into dakkafexes... just need to snag the extra guns from a bits merchant somewhere.

The Tyrant guard are good mostly because they take your Hive Tyrant from being a big old monstrous creature and giving him the ability to take a cover save.

My Hive Tyrant is a ranged combat focus tyrant, and giving him a tyrant guard allows half of his unit to sit in cover, giving him a cover save. But for close combat purposes, Tyrant guard seem to do well with the Swarm Lord for Wound Allocation purposes, but lets let Thing 2 get the hang of the game before we introduce that stuff

Woot, I gots a fan

Wound allocation and cover saves means a single Tyrant Guard more than doubles a Tyrant's endurance. If it's packing a Lash Whip, then it can make IC's strike after a Bonesword/Swarmlord.

Termagant Devourers are ten a penny, and pretty easy to convert with plastic Fex arms.

I'm trying to imagine a termigant with carnifex arms....

.... monkey gaunt? sorry i think i need to see that one before i can say anithing about the fex-gaunt combo.

some one i know did make the gaunt spawning model (i forgot its name doh) by taking a mawloc front and a aracanok spiders rear it looks wonderfull. ill try and see if i can get a pic of it. but with my camera its a gamble how good it wil be

Dat wood be a tervy!

I have the conversion kit for a fex from Chapterhouse, that should work just fine.

It looks great!

You've nothing to worry about, you and Thing 2 make a great team

Well, wyomingfox came over the other night and we went nid-on-nid. Needless to say I got spanked pretty good but considering he has the army he wants and it took every figure we have painted just to get up to points... the result was not unexpected. He's also (of course) a much better nid player than I am which is why I took nids against him... to benefit from his advice. He looked over the figs we have available, my list, etc... and now I have a much better handle on where to go with the army and how to use it. Luckily we have almost everything we need... just a matter of getting it built and painted. I had a lot of fun though... great game!

Gitsplitta wrote:Well, I've played my marines a bit due to a little campaign out my FLGS, but it's been a while since he's played. New figure is always a good excuse to get a game on!

Ill check that out dantay, though I've been told that Tyrant Guard aren't really very good so they haven't been on my radar. What I'm considering is converting his two carnifexes into dakkafexes... just need to snag the extra guns from a bits merchant somewhere.

You should definately take a single tyrant guard if you take Hive Tyrant. Unless its a very large points game or if keeping your HQ alive during the mission is critical, I only take one. The TG grants the HT easy cover saves as long as the TG counts as being in cover (50% of a unit needs to be in cover for the unit to get a cover save). The TG also prevents the HT from being picked out in CC. Otherwise, too easy to kill off a 4 wound TMC in this edition. The HT grants the TG WS 8 due to using majority WS in CC (or highest in case of a tie).

One of your carnies you bought came magnitized, but if you are going to take the arms off your other, then I suggest you magnitize it while you are at it. You can check my nid blog out as a refresher on what magnets to use.


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Gitsplitta wrote:Needless to say I got spanked pretty good but considering he has the army he wants and it took every figure we have painted just to get up to points... the result was not unexpected.

It also helped that I played that list (or slight variations) six times already and against some the cagiest players in Madison (strong opponents help you learn the most)

It was a fun game regardless! And I do plan to take your advice.
I learned a lot from you though, really appreciate you sharing your Nid wisdom.

OK guys... I know these look *really crappy* in the photo but I needed a quick gift for a little boy's birthday & stayed up most of the knight throwing some paint on these. The look fine at arms length and the little one is delighted with them... but God they look horrible in this photo. Cool figures but unbelievably tedious to paint.

But, I believe in "truth in advertising"... so here they are.

Are those the forgeworld rippers?

Ripper Swaaaaarrrrmmmmsssss!

Now that's a swarm. Forget those little 3-4 models per base "swarms"... Piles of Rippers!

That looks like a nightmare to paint.

Tell the little one that Dakka says Happy Birthday. And give him a cookie from the users, or something.

Yes, a very happy birthday to him, and a very happy unbirthday to you and Thing 1

I'm really going to have to spruce up my old ripper bases (yes, these are FW) as they just don't measure up any more. Luckily I have some spare rippers laying about, and while they could never measure up to these pre-cast models, I think I can increase the density enough to at least make them look more compatible. Shame really, I like the old ripper bases. Here are them all together.


Thanks for the good wishes, I'll pass them on. I'll have a couple of brood lords that I'm doing for him (belatedly) up soon. Hopefully done to a higher level.

I played (in a GT) against an army that was made up of OVER 100 OF THOSE BASES + 7 zoeys+ Parasite. Bloody fun to play against.

That sounds like a lot of fun... We've got a non-GW figure that I was going to paint up as a parasite so we could play around with that kind of list... need a lot more ripper swarms before we can go that route though.

rpper swarms are lookin good cant wait to see more

ChocolateGork wrote:I played (in a GT) against an army that was made up of OVER 100 OF THOSE BASES + 7 zoeys+ Parasite. Bloody fun to play against.

Oh god. Clearly the army could NEVER claim objectives but it could contest til the cows came home and eventually would chomp anything!

Gitsplitta wrote:That sounds like a lot of fun... We've got a non-GW figure that I was going to paint up as a parasite so we could play around with that kind of list... need a lot more ripper swarms before we can go that route though.

You should look at the OOP Red Terror which you could exchange a pair of wings on him for one of its pair of scything tallons.



I have been debating whether to convert mine out of a ravenor or the Red Terror I own but I am leaning towards the Ravenor. I have all the bits needed either way.

congrats to thing 2 Git. nice rippers do you have the flying rippers too? there awesome

No, just the basics... they're cheap.

Long time, no post.

Those of you who follow my main blog know that I've been very busy painting Christmas presents for the boys. Some of which they know about because they asked for them, others will be a surprise. I have refrained from posting anything because I don't want them getting to the internet over the blog through their friends, but since school is out now I feel it's safe enough to post progress on one of the projects.

My little one has wanted a Tervigon since he started playing nids. So not having any better options (and having no natural "feel" for nids) I picked up the Chapterhouse kit which seemed as plausible as any. I knew I was going to be modifying at from the start as I did not like the positioning of the head on the model, but I hoped the rest would go together easily enough leaving my head/neck mod as the only real issue.

Now I am an outspoken supporter of Chapterhouse. Love the work they do, had them do shoulder pads for my Mantis Warriors, include lots of their bits in my models. Not too happy about this particular kit though. It comes with the parts but no instructions. I asked Nick about it but he thought it was fairly self-explanatory and referred me to the photo of the fully converted model. Unfortunately, however you're supposed to build it, I must have done it another way because I had a real time getting it together and ended up succeeding only because I have a good array of hand and powered jeweler's tools at my disposal that allowed me to make the major modifications necessary in order to get everything to fit. Still a lot of GS work was needed to fill gaps in between the fex and the kit. I'm sure the fault for this is mine... but with no instructions to guide me, it's a crap shoot.

That being said, I'm pretty happy with the end result, just wish it'd taken less than two days of work to build as I'm quickly running out of time. Here's a quick shot of the build. The rubber band is just there to make sure the head dries in the right position as the GS cures. OH, and I re-based his entire army... you can see one of the new bases here in the pic. Finally, I don't know nid war-gear from a hole in the ground... so any bits that mean anything are purely incidental... they just look cool.

Looks great Gits, the extra carapace adds much more size than I thought it would, pretty imposing!

MY god that nid looks absolutely brilliant.

Very solid, very menacing. Gives a great impression of being the nigh impenetrable tank creature it represents. Well done!

The base is really interesting, very xenomorphy. Loving the little egg.

When it's positioned right on the base, the two fore-limbs help to support the body as if it's more quadruped than biped. If I had the time I'd add some GS to the point at the rear where the "birthing chamber" attaches to the bony rear body in front of the hips as I think this is a very unnatural looking transition. However time is of the essence and I can't lose another whole day to waiting for the GS to cure. Oh, the bases are by Secret Weapon Miniatures... pretty slick and reminiscent of the original "Alien" movie where GW nicked the nid idea in the first place.

I also modified a pair of large demon wings to fit on his Hive Tyrant... must admit to being pretty chuffed about how they turned out as they're pinned and easily added or removed as needed.

Gitsplitta wrote:birthing chamber

Augh, so thats what that is D: Thats horrible and impressive at the same time. If it attached into the lower body that would make a little more sense alright, then again thats only if we applied our concept of egg laying/spawning to an alien creature. I guess it could still be logical that there are just orafices in the center of it that things.. fall out of. Eww.

Gitsplitta wrote:I also modified a pair of large demon wings to fit on his Hive Tyrant... must admit to being pretty chuffed about how they turned out as they're pinned and easily added or removed as needed.

Oh niiiice. Removal wings are a huge bonus, giant wings always look awesome but take up so much space in packaging and transporting and are so delicate. Would love to see pics

looks nice, i hope he likes it

Wow he looks very cool, one big Hulking Monster (Thats about the extent of my Nid knowledge lol) Once he has had the Gitsplitta paint treatment he will look even better i am sure that Thing 2 will be very pleased indeed.

Thanks guys:

@Ifalna: I'm still mulling over how to paint them given the color scheme. With luck I'll get them done tonight & will post then.

@M0rdian: Well, my Nid paint scheme is very basic... low tabletop level... but I think he'll get a kick out of them none the less. The Tervigon will look more sensible once he's painted as you won't have all the varying colors of materials artificially disrupting the image.

DSS- Nid Guru surfaces regarding your earlier comment about rule of cool and not sure if you've taken upgrades.

No fear, doesn't look as though you really have on there. No odd glads or toxin sacs (though when Thing 2 uses this beastie in games it is definately worth giving the Tervy either glands or sacs as the effects are given 'for free' to any gaunt units within 6", a very scary proposition!)

Awesome, may have to get that kit for meself! I dont like the way the Carnifex legs look tho, and thats on every tervie conversion ive seen, theyre just too weedy imo.

Cant wait for the big photo-dump come Xmas! Good luck Gits, Im sure you can do it!

Gits, you are going to want to add Adrenal Glands and Toxic Sacs to the Tervigon as these are practically manditory options for a build-out (granting "Poison" and FC to all termie units within 6").

@DSS: Thanks, I was actually going to ask the blog about that... What is a good way to kit out a Tervigon? I think I can easily magnetize things like that so they can be added or removed as necessary.

@Vit: I agree on the legs... the transition from legs to body is just too abrupt and the legs are too small for the bulk of the creature. Just don't have time to address it on this model. Perhaps if I do another I'll see if I can address it somehow.

@wyfox: AH, you ninja'd my response. Thanks for the pics as I don't know what I'm looking at on the sprue. I'll add those tonight.

Thanks my friends!

Oh yeah forgot to mention, the bases look sweet!

He'll be chuffed to have them all rebased, you should take some pics of their faces when they receive the pressies!

You might find it easier placing the smaller termigaunt sacs and glands on that model due to its details.






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The common kit for a Tervie is Adrenal Glands, Toxic Sacs, Cluster Spines, and Catalyst.

Catalyst is a Psychic Power, so you don't need to model that. The Cluster Spines seem to be represented decently on the model's front carapace as is. So you really only need to add the sacs and glands.

wyomingfox is spot on with that. Best thing is to make the upgrades magnetised - possibly using spare Gaunt/Warrior armour plates to cover the option not used.

Got it. Thanks guys, I can do all that.

Shame of it is there's no way I'll get any termigants built or painted up by Christmas... but it'll give he and I something to do the week after (I'm off all week, so have essentially a 10-day vacation).

Gitsplitta wrote:Long time, no post.

Those of you who follow my main blog know that I've been very busy painting Christmas presents for the boys. Some of which they know about because they asked for them, others will be a surprise. I have refrained from posting anything because I don't want them getting to the internet over the blog through their friends, but since school is out now I feel it's safe enough to post progress on one of the projects.

My little one has wanted a Tervigon since he started playing nids. So not having any better options (and having no natural "feel" for nids) I picked up the Chapterhouse kit which seemed as plausible as any. I knew I was going to be modifying at from the start as I did not like the positioning of the head on the model, but I hoped the rest would go together easily enough leaving my head/neck mod as the only real issue.

Now I am an outspoken supporter of Chapterhouse. Love the work they do, had them do shoulder pads for my Mantis Warriors, include lots of their bits in my models. Not too happy about this particular kit though. It comes with the parts but no instructions. I asked Nick about it but he thought it was fairly self-explanatory and referred me to the photo of the fully converted model. Unfortunately, however you're supposed to build it, I must have done it another way because I had a real time getting it together and ended up succeeding only because I have a good array of hand and powered jeweler's tools at my disposal that allowed me to make the major modifications necessary in order to get everything to fit. Still a lot of GS work was needed to fill gaps in between the fex and the kit. I'm sure the fault for this is mine... but with no instructions to guide me, it's a crap shoot.

That being said, I'm pretty happy with the end result, just wish it'd taken less than two days of work to build as I'm quickly running out of time. Here's a quick shot of the build. The rubber band is just there to make sure the head dries in the right position as the GS cures. OH, and I re-based his entire army... you can see one of the new bases here in the pic. Finally, I don't know nid war-gear from a hole in the ground... so any bits that mean anything are purely incidental... they just look cool.

Impressive...most impressive...

I like to think the glands and sacs are sub-dermal, for 2 reasons. 1st, and most important, I think they look utterly stupid. 2nd, I would assume as a rapidly evolving species, they wouldn't make themselves have such obvious week points.

True, but there is a WYSIWYG responsibility to your opponent...

Not that it would help me as I don't know what most of this crap looks like in the first place.

Ive played nids for a good 5 years now and never have i seen anyone leaning down to my models to check whether they have glands or not. I dont think anybody really cares, though ymmv.

Looks really nice. And yeah, no one (i've met) checks to see if they have the upgrade modelled on. And after asking some friends, people telling them at the start of the game, if generally enough for them.

Or as WYSIWYG says you can have the option modled but not pay for the upgrade and not use it in game. Thats OK too.

OK, the Nid nards are on and I grabbed a tervie gland as the big one wouldn't fit anywhere. Getting ready to prime... then we're off to the races!



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Update: Primed, first wash down... used an airbrush to apply wash because of all the odd angles, will probably need a second go-round tomorrow morning. Going to be lucky if I get this done... Made progress on wings as well. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Looking good

I also had a few issues with the kit, but all in all it comes together ok.

I'm sure he will thinks it's fantastic!

Looking forward to seeing it painted up

Gits, did you use a straight up GW wash? Or was it a home made recipe? If so, how did you make it? It would be nice if you could snap some pics of the product "washed" via an airbrush.

slice'n'dice wrote:Looking good

I also had a few issues with the kit, but all in all it comes together ok.

I'm sure he will thinks it's fantastic!

Looking forward to seeing it painted up

I think you're right... now that the base color, first highlight and the wash are finished, he'll look just fine.

wyomingfox wrote:Gits, did you use a straight up GW wash? Or was it a home made recipe? If so, how did you make it? It would be nice if you could snap some pics of the product "washed" via an airbrush.

It's tricky. I have tried to spray the GW wash straight out of the bottle but it fowls the brush almost immediately. I now dilute with water (2/3 wash to 1/3 water) and I have no problems. This does of course, dilute the impact of the wash, but if you look at that jumbled, spiky, ball of a figure, doing a good job with a brush would be nearly impossible. So I did two separate sprays with the wash, then if there are specific areas that need more work, I go in with a brush, but by-and-large it seems to work quite nicely.

Here's something else I'll share. I picked up some Balrog wings for Thing 2's hive tyrant. They are huge, but because nids are biological organisms and not "magical" like demons or technologically assisted like eldar/humans... I felt large wings would be necessary to move the tyrants bulk. I did cut the shoulders back to a narrower part of the arm and trimmed the membrane down at that area. This is still WIP & will probably get a Baal Red wash of the wing membranes in order to give them more definition from the arm/hand and to ease the transition to the red parts of the membranes.



The wings have two pins each so they can be easily added or removed & are quite stable. Note I haven't changed the base on him yet. Thing 2 has always really liked this base (we got this fig used & I just tweaked the paint job) so I may just leave him as-is for now and give Thing 2 the choice of changing out the base or not. The "arms"/wing supports are not as pure white as they look... just problems with my camera dealing with the black background. You'll also note they are not perfectly symmetrical in their arrangement. I had no intention of doing so as "sails" of that size would be constantly shifting in the wind or with changes of body positioning. I may also put a couple of the "shoulder" type caraplace plates at the bases of the wings in order to bring them a little closer to the overall color scheme.

I always thought that the larger creatures, with 4 weapons, aught to have the wings instead of the legs. Keep the whole '6 limbs' thing.

That looks pretty dope, Gits. Usually I feel like winged Hive Tyrants come off looking goofy, but not this one. This one looks down-right menacing. Good use of bits and great execution.

@Anvildude: Interesting point... never thought of that but you're right... this more spider-like an arrangement.

@Moltar: Thank you sir. When I first got the wings I thought... "Good Lord these things are ridiculous!" But after trimming them down just a bit I think they worked out well enough. I may try to sneak a bit of the pink back onto the membranes to back the red off a bit... I like it, but I don't want it to overpower the figure... then a red wash should pull everything together nicely. Certainly makes the figure more imposing... which is a good thing from a fluff perspective I think.

Can you show a pic of the back? I'd like to see how you pinned the wings?

SL

I'll take a pic when I get home SL. there are two pins in the base of the "arm" then two matching holes in one of the carapace plates. There just wasn't any way of mounting the wings without going through the carapace unfortunately. If I was going to do a permanent mount, I would try to GS a "soft" area where the wings would protrude through the carapace, but as these are intended to be added or removed as necessary, I didn't see much point to it (and don't have the time... and he wouldn't care anyway).




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OK, tyrant is done. Will change the base after all as it'll pull the colors in the wings down and finish the figure nicely.

Oh my god, the tyrant.

Freaking amazing, the red wing membranes totally set it off. You were right to go for the Balrog wings, anything smaller would look out of proportion for him.

It's a shame there arent more readily available plastic insect wings for giant nids, I've seen some conversions back in my day where the owner had gotten big cheap toy flies, snipped off their transparant wings, and created a 4 wing dragon fly ish set for his hive tyrants that just pinned in. It was a very crude conversion but the idea behind it was freaking brilliant.

The kids are going to go crazy for these guys, seriously.

Very nice - would love to see some pics of the wings partly removed to see where you joined them and the length of pin you used. I currently have a finecast Tyrant and some Balrog wings sitting in pieces in a box, and have been toying with how to make the parts interchangeable in case I want different options for my Tyrant (as I don't want to fork over the $ for a second one...)

The wing membranes have also turned out really well, will have to keep it in mind when it comes to doing my wings.

Cheers!

The balrog wings work beautifully. And for those wondering, they're about the same size as the FW Winged Hive Tyrant wings anyhow!

Ifalna wrote:Oh my god, the tyrant.

Freaking amazing, the red wing membranes totally set it off. You were right to go for the Balrog wings, anything smaller would look out of proportion for him.

It's a shame there arent more readily available plastic insect wings for giant nids, I've seen some conversions back in my day where the owner had gotten big cheap toy flies, snipped off their transparant wings, and created a 4 wing dragon fly ish set for his hive tyrants that just pinned in. It was a very crude conversion but the idea behind it was freaking brilliant.

The kids are going to go crazy for these guys, seriously.

Thanks Ifalna, I appreciate that a lot. I certainly hope Thing 2 will appreciate it. He's 8... I think he's going to look at this now *massive* appearing figure and be pretty thrilled. The dragonfly wing idea is really cool too. I keep thinking in the back of my head that I should be able to find cheap toys that I can dissect for conversion parts, but I can never seem to find the right toy in the right scale...

slice'n'dice wrote:Very nice - would love to see some pics of the wings partly removed to see where you joined them and the length of pin you used. I currently have a finecast Tyrant and some Balrog wings sitting in pieces in a box, and have been toying with how to make the parts interchangeable in case I want different options for my Tyrant (as I don't want to fork over the $ for a second one...)

The wing membranes have also turned out really well, will have to keep it in mind when it comes to doing my wings.

Cheers!

Cheers slice'n'dice! I have to confess that the idea to use the Balrog wings wasn't mine originally, got some help from a mate at our FLGS (Norbu the Destroyer) who's used them before. They weren't all that expensive to order as I recall. Wouldn't want to have to buy a dozen sets mind you... but a single set for a IC wasn't a problem. I'll get you those pics of the removed wings... hopefully tonight (by my central US clock that is).

DarkStarSabre wrote:The balrog wings work beautifully. And for those wondering, they're about the same size as the FW Winged Hive Tyrant wings anyhow!

Adding the Baal Red wash at the end served two purposes... blurred the borders of the various shades (I was a little ham-handed with the airbrushing) and added deeper shade to the little creases in the membranes, making them look more dynamic. It was a big improvement. You'll get one more set of pics of this guy when he's on his final base, which is the pic I'll allow voting on. I guess I'm not too cranked up about that as he is NOT painted to a really good standard... but he's decent looking and has good visual impact (whiz-bang factor is high... perfect for an 8-year-old) and perhaps it will provide some ides for someone who actually paints their Nids with the attention to detail they deserve.

It's not obvious but I did add a couple of "shoulder plates" along the back of the wings where they meet the body. While they kind of get lost in the overall green of the carapace, I think they do improve the continuity of the piece a bit.

Tyrant looks great. The wing coloration is very striking.

OK, the tyrant is done. Here's a shot of the wing attachment... pins in the wing and holes in the carapace (arrows).



And here's the finished piece. Decided to go with regular old flash photogrophy as it shows the colors better. Not quite full depth-of-field but good enough for a figure of this quality.

So good he showed it twice

Seriously, that looks great gits. As Iffy pointed out the red wings really work well with the rest of the scheme, and having them removable is a big plus. He's going to be thrilled with it.

Those wings look perfect on there, especially in the striking red.

I see you decided to swap the base, looks v cool Gits. Merry Xmas!

Thanks guys!

Yuletide Hive for your inspection.



And a comparison shot of the Tervigon near a Fex... the Tervi is simply massive...



Happy holidays all, have a safe and wonderful time this weekend!

Gits

That last picture you can see the leg portion of the dreaded and elusive Santafex.

Oh no, not the elusive Santafex! I heard he spawns bio-coal-spores if you've been bad or delivers toy rippers if you've been good.

I much preferred him in earlier editions though when he merely checked your army list twice.

RE Tervigon/fex parts fitting. I've had a number of badly cast Carnifex with torsos that simply don't fit together. I've had to do some heavy filing and even sawing to make the kit work as intended. It's quite possible either your fex - or the one CH used as a fitting guide for their parts - was a wonky one.

Good to see the swarm coming along!

Humor... Ar, Ar!!

Well, in the end the Tervigon is spectacular... it's just massive. Now I'm thinking long term about a second one. Right now we're up to our necks in trying to get the little termigants built so he can actually play with the Tervi.

Woof... that's a lot of little critters...

exactly how many?

Well, we have 27 at the moment... but with Alf's we'll be at 39. Considering we have to field a unit of 10 to begin with, then spawn for however long it lasts... I figure 40 is a safe number to start with. If we find out we rarely use that many, than I'll just consider them a leg-up on those needed for Tervi #2.

trust me Git you need them. a friend of mine playes with 3 tervi's and has 215 gaunts. with 3 tervies he generarly spawns 50 a piece per game (some times more some times less)

Now that I finally got my camera working properly with the light box, I thought I'd post the pictures of the Tervigon conversion for you.

First the Tervigon itself. Not a fancy paint job, but visually pleasing all the same. This uses the Chapterhouse conversion kit. My main modification to their kit is that I moved the head upwards on the body significantly so it is closer to where the spinal column would actually be on an animal like this, then worked a little crude GS-fu to re-work the front of the animal behind the head. Not really a very complicated process.



And a head-on size comparison with a fex. The Tervigon is just massive! Hard to believe one is made from the other.

Wow, that beastie turned out nice. I can't believe how huge it is. I think the paint job turned out fine. One more edge highlight on the carapace would probably do wonders. The base is a little too much, "Taste the Rainbow," for my liking, but looks much better in the group shot with the rest of the army than just under the one tervigon. Still, you continue to bust out awesome stuff. I assume the kiddos appreciated their Xmas gifts, they better have!

I think the big difference is the posture, put the carnifex more upright and it will look much bigger, as its a very hunched model. I agree, the carapace needs another highlight, looks a bit flat there, otherwise it looks great!

Actually I don't believe you can put the fex more upright... not out of the box anyway... and it's not just the posture, the Tervi is huge from every angle.

Case-in-point...

The carnifex kit can be made "taller" with very little done to the kit. Case in point: My Carnifex based on the "conversion" from Beasts of War



You have to do a little cutting to get the bottom half to fit, but it works... it just sucks because he rarely gets cover lol

I stand corrected. I never noticed the hunched over fex thing until I set it next to the Tervigon, but it does really ride low.

Wow he really does look huge! The bases have come out brilliantly, nice to see a close up of a painted one

Thanks M0rdian! I know the bases are a bit over-the-top... but keep in mind they're for an 8-year-old boy, so there's really no such thing as too over-the-top! I think they look pretty darn good on the tabletop in any case.

This blog is really starting to make me feel like building my Shadownids...

must resist...

(at least, until I make a 1500pt cron army, and a VC army for fantasy )

It's very hard for me to build a defined army of a specific size. I always want to add more or try new things. If I could just get the kids armies painted up so that what we actually already own is painted... that would be a big step forward.

I need to spend some more time working with Thing 2. He's interested but doesn't have the concentration or coordination yet to do neat work.

Same.
I'm always adding stuff to my older armies too,except my orks (they need paint first )

Did a little fooling around with green stuff tonight after my son's Nids stomped my poor Eldar. At a swap meet at our FLGS last year, someone gave my son this weird little contrivance of a fex head and a bunch of smaller arms on base. He's quite taken by it so I thought I'd paint it up for him as an objective marker... but the base didn't match the rest of the new bases, so I tried to GS something similar on my own. I also covered up the "ball" part of the Fex ball-and-socket joint for the head by making some make shift plates.

I'm not much of a sculptor... but I think these will do.

Nice! The objective looks like the spore chimney bit you got with the previous edition of 40K.

I think it will look better than you think painted up!

I believe it is. I just painted up another one that was mounted on a 25mm base (see below). I think the GS'd one will be disguised enough by the thing on top of it that it won't look too redundant.





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And here's the finished second objective with the Nid version of "The Thing" on it. I think the GS work turned out pretty well all things considered.

Wow I never knew the tervigon was so fat

That's kinda cool looking. Like the hive mind didn't really give a crap what it made that day, and "thing" was born

Those spore chimneys are cool, my brother did a little thing with it, he put a tau head and arm sticking out the top and it looks like he is being digested, hhonestly its amazing...and he's ten...did it all by himself. I'll get a apicture for you...anyway. It's a great way to spice it up as an objective (especially if fighting tau...give the mission narrative, ie. "save the poor sucker being digested"

Boys and I just got back from wyomingfox's place where we had a tremendously fun 6000 point battle. Wyfox and Thing 2 with 3000 pts of Nids (total) vs. Thing 1 and I with Necrons and Orks. We used some mission out of the battle missions book. We basically sat back and let Imotekh do his evil work. Worked pretty damn well too, which is good cause I don't think the rest of our armies did much save pick off a few gene stealers and gaunts. We only got through four turns before it was wayyyy past bed time and I had to get us home, so we didn't pick a winner... but the Nids were all over us... think it would have gone badly in turn 5. 3 bloody Tervigons on the table spawning gaunts EVERYWHERE.

Night fight lasted the entire game and Imotekh's lightning accounted for a lot of figures. Pretty dang impressive.

Hahaha! Those tervigons are mean. Necrons and orks, an interesting team

Pic of the 6000 pt battle at WyomingFoxes place. Nids vs combined forces of 'Crons and Bad Moons. Beautiful table, fun game. Didn't get to turn 5 before we had to skee-daddle so we'll call it a draw (Nids were "in the wire" when we quit though).

Is that some warmill terrain i see?

Is that some warmill terrain i see?

It sure is, painted by warmill itself. My only critisism would be that the towers are a bit too small to be of practical use for 40K, accomodating only one fig on a small base.

Mix... you'd have to ask wyfox for details.

Thought so, thats pretty awesome.

I did wonder about that, but it should okay for most things.

looks like the game was fun, and played on a pretty damn awesome board.

It was fun. Unfortunately the little one now has a pention to chant "Doom on you." whenever I try to make a saving throw. Bloody WyFox teaching my kids bad habits...

Haha thats hilarious!

Gitsplitta wrote:It was fun. Unfortunately the little one now has a pention to chant "Doom on you." whenever I try to make a saving throw. Bloody WyFox teaching my kids bad habits...

hahahahahha Nice!

Yeah, I should have thought that one out...impressionable kid and all.

Funniest part was end of game:

Kid: "Can we Doom him again?"
Me: "Nah, a little Doom goes a long way."
Kid: "But we're going to get beaten."
Me: "Yeah, but it annoys your Dad"
Kid: "Dad...Dad!"
Gits: "OK, OK, you can Doom me this one time"
Kid: "Yeah! Doom on you. Doom on you....ah! He made both saves "
Gits: "That's what you get for being a poor sport "

Karma

wyomingfox wrote:

Kid: "Can we Doom him again?"
Me: "Nah, a little Doom goes a long way."
Kid: "But we're going to get beaten."
Me: "Yeah, but it annoys your Dad"
Kid: "Dad...Dad!"
Gits: "OK, OK, you can Doom me this one time"
Kid: "Yeah! Doom on you. Doom on you....ah! He made both saves :("
Gits: "That's what you get for being a poor sport"

So awesome. Just be glad that there weren't any chairs nearby.

Truth-be-told, WyFox gets full props for putting up with both of my boys for a day's gaming. One can be challenging enough, but both at the same time... woof! The eldest starts creating stories and hypothesizing about "fluff" events based on whats happening... e.g. "Wouldn't it be cool if..." (which is fine but really slows the game down) and the little one is enthusiastic but a bit random... and still needs a lot of help with the rules.

Gitsplitta wrote: and the little one is enthusiastic but a bit random... and still needs a lot of help with the rules.

He probably needs less help than me though!

Gitsplitta wrote:the little one is enthusiastic but a bit random.

sounds like me although i am not that little

fatty wrote:

Gitsplitta wrote:the little one is enthusiastic but a bit random.

sounds like me although i am not that little

Hence the name, fatty?

Nice game.

Both your kids are young, so it should be expected. Enjoy the fact that your kids enjoy a hobby you really get into .

eagerly await a game against the thing(s) new armies.

SL

I am very appreciative... shared a different hobby with my dad in our time & even though I don't do it anymore (even though he still does) we still shared a lot of good times together and can still converse about it.

Thing 2 had a big night last night... got his Christmas presents from Solar_lion... two custom made Nid drop pods! SL did a great job on them & they'll get painted up over this weekend (which is long for us as the kids are off school for a couple days). He started painting his legion of termigants all on his own (I was out with Thing 1 at the time). Just priming... but the initiative and enthusiasm he showed in jumping right in is a really good sign.

Can Thing 2 come inspire me over my long weekend this weekend? I'm figuring I may as well dive into my resolutions feet first.

And tackle those 200 odd gaunts.............

Well, perhaps it will inspire WyFox to get off his buttowski and get HIS nids painted.

Though, he has been doing a stellar job painting his Space Wolves... so I can't give him too much of a hard time.

I don't post too many WIP shots here as my painting of these Nids is pretty basic. However, every once in a while if something is unique or interesting (like the Tervigon) I'll post something up. Which brings us to today's post... two spore pods, made as a Christmas present for my son by Solar_lion. Just the priming (bone) and basic airbrushing done so far. Plates will be green (like his nids), ooze a pinkish red.

Awesome to see the Tervigon assembled! I have 3 of these kits waiting for me to piece togeather

Too bad they are sitting on the backburner behind 2 titans

Wow they look awesome! Props to Solar Lion, they are sweet. Would like to know how he went about making them.

The mud looks ace as well.

oOoOO Nice looking Pods! Can't wait to see them painted!

Vitruvian XVII wrote:Wow they look awesome! Props to Solar Lion, they are sweet. Would like to know how he went about making them.

The mud looks ace as well.

When I do another I'll snap some pics. Originally I entended to do 3; thinking 3 is a normal drop pod number when using the DP strategy in a game.

Vitruvian.. do you play nids?


SL

Advanced one of the pods to the second stage...

Those are like gigantic hive mind-chicken eggs I like them! hats off to SL

Well done Solar_lion they look awesome. Can't wait to see them painted up Gits

@Solar, thatd be cool mate cheers! I honestly think they match really well with the FW nids imo.

Any yeah i play Nids, got about 5k with 2k painted

Vitruvian XVII wrote:@Solar, thatd be cool mate cheers! I honestly think they match really well with the FW nids imo.

Any yeah i play Nids, got about 5k with 2k painted

Thanks all, it was an impulse build ( build as you go kinda thing ) I made templates for the spines so when built they would be close to matching. Other than that its mostly modeling paste. The real art work will be the painting as well as all the consumables gathered for the hive!

If you want I'll do up a couple for you if you need them - WHEN ... I get to the 3rd one for thing 2!
I have some other designs I want to try as well, I'll need some for my eventual Nid army ( in the future) Suggestions are always welcome.- I could use some feed back on my Lamenters blog as well. http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/394207.page[/url]

SL

Nah solar dont sweat it, ive got a few concepts i want to try out myself.

I'm hoping for one to come out with the rumored February wave of nids. Though to be honest, I'm not even holding my breath there will be a February wave . The pod is certainly one of the better looking scrathbuilds Ive seen. Most are just foam eggs or kids toys painted brown.

The Nid mini-release was leaked by Warseer's Mirabeau and confirmed by Warseer's Harry and Stickmonkey. When it comes to rumor validity, that is pretty much a home run.

Model wise, rumors are less clear but Harry and Mirabeau feel that it will be 2 plastic kit releases (the Harpy and Tervigon).

More importantly, there is the GW FAQ which allows Hive Guard to bypass cover saves generated from wargear, special rules, and psychic powers. The only effective ranged anti-tank unit in the codex just got better.

Oh, and SitW now affects psychic powers cast within a transport.



Sounds like your boy need to invest in some Hiveguard.

Yeah, though at $25 a pop for HG, its a bit rough.

Tyrannofi are a pretty god anti tank when armed with a rupture cannon. 2 S10 shots a turn at 48. BS3 isn't amazing, but one with hit.

Meh, you are plunking down 275 points for a T-Fex that has subpar CC ability (3 Attacks at WS 3 = 1 dead marine), subpar anti-tank ability (a poor man's rail gun), and moderate ability to hurt light (4-6+ sv anti-infantry) at extreme short range... for which biovores can do much cheaper and at greater distances.

I believe in the harpy model. GW is releasing a lot of flyers. and yes the harpy is a flyer the fluff calls it a Trygon with wings

He's got 3 of them, we just haven't gotten them painted yet.

Solar_lion wrote:

Vitruvian XVII wrote:@Solar, thatd be cool mate cheers! I honestly think they match really well with the FW nids imo.

Any yeah i play Nids, got about 5k with 2k painted

Thanks all, it was an impulse build ( build as you go kinda thing ) I made templates for the spines so when built they would be close to matching. Other than that its mostly modeling paste. The real art work will be the painting as well as all the consumables gathered for the hive!

If you want I'll do up a couple for you if you need them - WHEN ... I get to the 3rd one for thing 2!
I have some other designs I want to try as well, I'll need some for my eventual Nid army ( in the future) Suggestions are always welcome.- I could use some feed back on my Lamenters blog as well. http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/394207.page[/url]

SL

I have the desire to mate with you. For Mycetic Spores. But I will refrain from doing so.

And wyomingfox has a point.

The FAQs sort of undid all the derp!

Yeah, the FAQ helped. I unfortunately play a lot of Dark Eldar, and have yet to come up with a good technique against them with the bugs.

Fast moving skimmers + massive poison + Invulnerable Saves on vehicles + knocking 6" off our already short ranged guns = bad matchup for nids.

I've lost track... what the hell are you guys talking about??


Thing 2 and I played another game. 1500 points, his nids vs. my Eldar. I have pics but I'm not sure I'll post it as I had to fudge some die rolls and forget some things to keep it competitive. Nothing he did wrong really, I just stole the initiative which ki-boshed an opening gambit that should have worked well for him & his tervigon produced 5 gaunts, then quit. I also think my paired-down, 1500 point eldar are actually somewhat functional... at least vs. his nids given the scenario. We had fun regardless, which is the main point.

Decided not to do the whole battle report, but will show a few highlights from it.

Nids vs. Avatar - Nids won this with 1 wound left on the fex.


Tyrant vs. Wraithlord - stalemate. Each had 1 wound left at the end of the battle.


Bad day for the Pathfinders

When I saw the "Bad Day for the Pathfinders" My first thought was, it's only three genestealers. They shouldn't be too bad. And then I scrolled down to see the rest of the pic, and saw all of those stealers at the bottom, and went, "Oh ."

Poor Pathfinders :(

Alfndrate wrote:When I saw the "Bad Day for the Pathfinders" My first thought was, it's only three genestealers. They shouldn't be too bad. And then I scrolled down to see the rest of the pic, and saw all of those stealers at the bottom, and went, "Oh ."

i did exsactly the same thing lol

very cool

How did that happen? lol

AND .. ( pods?). I have a vested intrest in it's coolness.

SL


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bigfish wrote:

Alfndrate wrote:When I saw the "Bad Day for the Pathfinders" My first thought was, it's only three genestealers. They shouldn't be too bad. And then I scrolled down to see the rest of the pic, and saw all of those stealers at the bottom, and went, "Oh ."

i did exsactly the same thing lol

very cool

As I.. and a brood lord!. someone is about to have a real bad day!

No pods in this game. have one of them mostly painted up but it needs some work... too much contrast between the carapace plates and the rest of the pod. Am thinking on it.

Wow awesome painting there! I havent seen too much of this thread but I am very impressed.
P.S: Why is one carnifex bigger than the other?

One of them is a tervigon and the other is a smaller fex


Automatically Appended Next Post:
smaller=regular carnifex lol

They look great!

Love that tervigon conversion... it's just massive. Really appropriate for the figure. I'm sure we'll get another one eventually.

Hey all! Had a game with Thing 2 this weekend. Started discussing it on my main thread, but I thought I'd move the discussion here where it belongs. While I took enough pics for a battle report, the little one didn't want me to post it, however I'll post a few pics when I get home this evening, if nothing else it makes the blog more interesting.

Here are some notes from the discussion on my MW thread... we played 2000 pts, his nids vs. my Mantis Warriors.

"Game with Thing 2 went OK. He gets so discouraged when he takes losses that he stops playing, then has to cool down for a bit before being ready to start up again. Of course with Nids, losses are inevitable. If he wanted to be able to slaughter people without taking losses he should have started Space Wolves or something. In any case he toughed it out, came back & suffered a narrow loss to my vanilla marines 5 KP to 7. Granted his army is far from optimized... but so is mine so it's a pretty fair fight. I think we need to get him another Tervigon and paint up at least one of his other Trygons... he's still way too cautious though. If he'd have just charged everything forward and not worried about the casualties, I would have been completely overrun by turn three. He just can't bring himself to do it. Best performers for me were the sternguard, scout bikes and my devs (4xML)... at least until they got eaten by rippers. His accolades were more evenly distributed, but props to his stealers with brood lord who took out two small tac squads and tarpitted my Iron Clad, after absorbing a ton of fire-power. I just hate Nids... they're such a PITA to run... a million special rules, no consistency. A mess."

-

"He's been more aggressive in the past, I just think he's so attached to his Nids he just can't stand to see them taken off the board. I should play them a few times myself to see if I can adopt a better approach with them that I can teach. Though, he was down 4-0 on turn 3 when I kind of "helped" him with his movement & really got him committed to a massed assault. If he'd hit me on turn 3 with what he hit me with on turn 4 (which he could have), I'd have had fewer KPs and he'd have had more & I think the results would have been flipped."

-

"My theory was to drop in two pods and the trygon (subterranean assault) so that he had a fair number of things that didn't have to foot-slog it across the field... they could just appear amongst my troops and it would be brown-trouser time for the Mantis Warriors. Unfortunately the rest of his army was slow to get across the field and he didn't really drop as close as I was hoping he would... so really only the trygon showed up in my backfield. The sternguard, with nothing better to do... blew it to Kingdom come with their combi-weapons.

I think I'll start encouraging him to field his unpainted figures to see if we can't explore some other military options. He has a trygon prime built and ready for painting... if two trygons show up in my backfield I think I'd only be able to deal with one, leaving the other to run amok."

-

... and finally...

Solar_lion wrote: More practice would help. very the objective and teach him the strategy behind the objective.

He's young, but catches on quickly. As his skill grows so will his confidence.

SL

"It actually worked decently, he just didn't have enough support to drive in for the kill. Trygon, fex and zoanthropes all showed up in the same turn (2). I only had the fire power (and position) to deal with one, so I took out the trygon. As a result, the Fex (over 2 turns) took out a dread & the zoey's peeled bits off a razorback & took out a LS Storm. The real difference kill point-wise were two easy pod kills by the devs & two medium sized termigant squads that were taken out by the sternguard & scout bikes respectively."


So, there you are... up to date. I wish I could say that he was painting but his week nights are filled with school work and weekends with little-boy stuff. I may try to sick him on his termagants in some kind of systematic way so we can make some progress. Unfortunately my time is pretty well absorbed by painting for Adepticon.

I promise a few pics later this evening.
Gits

It seems like her needs to learn to, to quote Jervis, Murder his Darlings.

I was the same when i started with my nids like a year and a bit ago. I didn't want things to die, but hung back from combat, relying on cover and the like. After a while I learnt that throwing 'nids in to combat tends to yield the result you want.

The big guys seem to be easier to throw into combat, the smaller guys seem that bit more fragile, when even termagants can do fairly well in combat. Also, when you get used to an army, you tend to remember it's capabilites.

It'll take time, but Thing 2 will remember 'nids are expendable, only the will of the hive mind matters. Especially if he has tervigons, just make more of them.

Here are the promised pictures... Spearhead deployment, annihilation.

This is his drop on turn 2. You can see the pods and Trygon are pretty far back from my line, meaning I get two turns of shooting before really being threatened. The Winged Tyrant is also much further back than he could have been, and the stealers aren't as far forward as they could have been, trying to hang to cover.




Turn 4: Most of the monstrous creatures have been weeded out, as have a good chunk of my units... two tac squads, libby, scout bikes, dev's are all gone with a razorback alive but stripped and immobilized. Dang stealers that I'd been shooting at all bloody game are still alive and causing problems...




Here's a close-up of the little b*starts tarpitting my Iron Clad. I could only manage to kill about one per assault phase.

Its painful to see your beautiful mantis warriors on the battle report. So many ways they can be damaged. *shudder*

Actually that Iron Clad is in need of some repair, I can see a big paint flake came off his CCW. Ah well, that's what happens with you play with them & transport them around.

It doesn't help when your genestealers are in back of your carnifex/hive tyrant.

No, they should have been a massive wave advancing as far as possible each turn that forced me to make tough choices about what to shoot at. Even so, they were a pretty big unit to start that I did shoot the living daylights out of, but the 7 + brood lord that remained were more than enough to do the job. The table was near choked with terrain, so I think they could've gotten cover saves even charging across the table at full tilt.

The carnifexes are really a let down... which is too bad because we have two of them painted and they're cool models. Low WS and Initiative are just too much of a deficit to overcome. At the moment though, we have a lack of heavy choices so will have to make the best out of what we have. Next game I'll toss in another Trygon and some raveners (unpainted but assembled) to the mix and see how it goes. We just don't have any time to work on the nids at the moment... so getting some spiffy looking help for them will have to wait a bit.

Aye unfortunately carnifexes suck a bit. However giving them 2 sets of TL MC Devourers can turn them into a nasty shooting unit, for not too much points.

I have strong reservations about the Dakkafex explained elsewhere in my blogg.

Generally for the cost of a pair of dakkafexes you can get a Trygon Prime which has a comparable amount of shots, is generally better across the board (ok, lower strength - whoop de doo), is a Synapse unit to boot and can DS.

The big downside of the Trygon is the fact that the way Tyranids work with reserves is just...sporadic at best.

Meh.