I'm still following you about DDakka. You'd have to be mad to not follow a Gitsplitta blog
Gitsplitta wrote:... would anyone be interested in seeing the bases as-is, with a little bit of explanation as to how I did them?
Pfft... Of course.
Good photos.
Yeah, if you can't win outright, pick the opponents favourite/best/more important model and focus all efforts on killing that one... little victories.
No one can really celebrate a victory at war if the commander is killed.
That would at least be my aim if I ever played the game.
Cracking games Gits! love seeing the models being used and having a good time killing stuff :-) although it looks like you need some more stalkers and troops! ;-)
Thanks guys, nice to know my friends are still hanging with me.
@Nerdy: Funny that, it's like you've read my mind... or maybe my PMs!
So, as to the basing... I'll give you a bit of my theory using some old models, then include a pic of my most recent effort & you can make your own decisions.
Generally, I'm a big fan of basing... not just the basics (grit)... but multi-layered, multi-texture basing. Some people believe that complicated bases distract from the figure. I respect that opinion but personally disagree with it. A good base can make a mediocre figure look good, or make a good figure look great. With a few, simple techniques you can really ramp-up the visual impact of your work (no matter what caliber your paint job is)... that's time well spent in my book.
Here's are a couple of good example of my "standard" basing style. Brown grit of several sizes, washed with sepia which gives me some variation in color. Grey rocks (these are cork, but I've used other substances), mainly to provide some contrast to the ground, with some scattered bits of grass and/or foliage of various colors. These provide a more realistic setting for the figure and more importantly, give me a chance to either add more color variation to the piece, or reinforce minor colors already in the piece.
In the case of the EC centurion, the green grass really sets the purple off, for the headless horseman below... the base conveys a very fall feel... appropriate for a Halloween army, as well as echoing the colors in the cloak.
The AdMech army provided an interesting challenge. I wanted to base to be somewhat Mars-like. Now of course, Mars in 40k probably doesn't have any exposed soil anymore... the entire surface being covered by a thick layer of Mechanicus construction... plasteel and concrete. Still, I wanted to origins of the army to be reflected in the bases. So, some kind of red soil. GW makes a very interesting Mars soil technical paint... but it wasn't really the direction I wanted to go. I adjusted my grit mix to be much finer than usual so it more closely approximated sand (actually most of it IS sand from a local beach), then experimented with a variety of washing techniques to try and get the look I wanted.
Problem is that the resulting red base, with a red figure on top of it just became a largely indistinguishable red mass. Making matters worse, I'd opted for red rocks, figuring that in many places the color of the soil tends to reflect the color of the rocks in the area... being the result of erosion of those rocks and the same chemical processes that led to the color of said exposed rocks (iron, etc). So, I needed to break up the red on the base. I dawned on me that it would be a very nice touch to use living plants (i.e. healthy green ones) to do so, and in much higher percentage than I normally would. Green and red go beautifully together, and the contrast of natural organisms vs. the mechanicum's organic/metallic nature would be a neat thing as well.
Here's what I came up with...
Lot's of green, tall grass, even flowers. I loved the effect this had on the bases. However... I still wasn't quite happy with it. The ground was just too screamingly red... While it did compliment the figure, it also competed with it. Add to this the fact that my rocks, painted to match the ground did so a little too well and completely disappeared into the base. So... not bad... but not what I was going for. Also, I couldn't remember my wash formula which was very frustrating as it was rather complicated.
This brings us to our current experiment. I like the basing grit I'd concocted, so I didn't change that. I had to change the rocks... but wanted them to stand out from the ground. Turns out that where I live, we have a native quartzite that is pink in hue, locally called "pink lady". My driveway is filled with it so I went out and scooped up a couple of handfuls, washed them and decided to try them for the rocks instead. I won't paint them, just leave them their natural color. As far as washing the basing... I came up with a simple scheme that I think works better than the last and is certainly more repeatable. I'll show you the pic first, then talk about it afterwards.
Unfortunately, dakka isn't letting me upload images from work, so you're getting a rather crude camera image. Color balance isn't right, but it's enough to give you the idea.
So here you can see the new rocks. Different from the basing color but clearly within the same theme. My new approach to washing the bases is to do the shadows (say, around anything touching the ground and the deepest parts under machines) in carbourg (?) crimson, then quickly wash the whole base in flesh wash... kind of a slightly reddish brown. Lastly, while the flesh wash is still wet... I hit random areas with the red glaze. So rather than the whole base being screaming red... it now has multiple shades, some rather muted, playing across the surface.
Once I add ample greenery, flowers, etc. to the base... I think it'll have a very nice effect.
Thanks for reading! Questions & comments welcome as always. I should have some completed bases to show you soon.
The interesting thing is that this is kind of a lead-in to a dark mechanicus, 30k army that I will be painting myself (except for 20 grunts which Nerdy is covering for me... orks have just killed my interest in painting grunts). I'm planning on using a primarily black color scheme with red and steel as major secondary colors. As this is much earlier in Mars' history, I may actually use GW's basing material, which is kind of pinkish for the ground cover. I think our native rocks will work beautifully and very convincingly with the GW basing color.
Anyway, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Hopefully soon!
Sorry I haven't gotten you a pic of the finished product with the newer basing system. Nights have been busy and I'm having internet issues at home. Really hope to have something to show off by the end of the week.
Unfortunately, no. I wish he would... he's an excellent painter. I'll try to showcase his stuff as much as I can. Hopefully he'll read the and start his own dang blog!
Wow! - Just finished reading the entire of this blog and I have to say I'm impressed. I'll have to check out your other blogs! Keep up the good work - those bases look awesome!
I really am digging those bases Git. So vibrant, I just love the brightness, it really breaks up the red. And my friends always teased me for my bright bases. I love it! Cannot wait to see more finished products.
On a side note, I'm going to have to make a trip up north some day.
Thanks guys, I'm very happy with the way they turned out. I only have one more base to do and the basic army will be complete. There will be more units added of course, but when the basing's done I'll have a solid 1850 point, non-war convo list fully painted and based. That will probably happen tonight, though I'll have to go through a stupid series of machinations to get a pic up on dakka because my internet is still screwed up.
@DemonColin: My main blog has always been "Rebuilding the Mantis Warriors" (see post sig). God help you if you start reading that one.
@Spacewolverine: Yep, you do!
@Yorkright: Just super glue. Put the rocks down first, then once dry, use PVA to put the grit down over and around them, so they have two layers of two different types of glue holding them in place. However I have no doubt that should I drop them or rap them sharply, the rocks (by their weight) would liberate themselves. Willing to take that chance for the look I want though. A little bit of insurance against this is that you'll notice there is often greenery around the base of the rocks... this additional layer of superglue infused shrubbery and grass essentially expands the foundation that the rock sits on... cradles it as it were. I'm hoping this will give them a bit more stability and resilience.
Hurray, I can get on dakka again!! No idea why... but tonight... it works!
Just as well as I've finished the basing. Frankly I love these, I may make this army bigger just so I can do more bases.
HQs & Kastellans:
Kataphrons & Dune Crawlers:
Knight & Dragoons:
You'll note the Dune Crawlers aren't on their bases. That's because the bases are the size of small dishes and placing these on a table with any amount of terrain is just horrible and completely ruins any aesthetic effect of the model (or the terrain). So, for the time being I'm leaving the off the bases, and figuring that any charge that gets anywhere near them hits the mark. I will eventually do up the bases but keep them separate. If we get to a part of the game where bases really matter, I'll just slide them underneath.
Hope you like. Nice to finally have this army table-ready. Lots more to come!
Thanks guys, really appreciate the kind comments. I am pretty passionate about basing, so it's nice to be able to contribute something substantial to the way the army looks.
Knight was painted by Ramos, most of the rest by Nerdy. I just did the skitarii infantry.
Here's the whole group together. More-or-less 1850 pts depending on options.
@Dr H: Thanks. To top the collaborative nature of the effort, the display board I'll be painting for the army was built by Camkierhi...
@WarbossDakka: Well, it worked once, broken again. Thanks though.
@Cam: Well, that's kind of the way of it. War Convocation is the best formation and what I'm working towards myself, but it limits you quite a bit & you never have a lot of figures. They are pretty hard to kill though. Not as robust as Necrons... but pretty good. That helps counteract the low model count. The 1850 point army I'm ultimately shooting for will have a different knight and a unit of rust stalkers, infiltrators and vanguard... as well as a void shield generator. All very AdMechy. Should look spectacular on that display you made for me. I've seen net lists with Tiggy and Crowe added... but to me that takes a wonderful, powerful AdMech army and just turns it into a tournament cheese factory. I have no interest in it.
Gitsplitta wrote: If there's any doubt how incompetent I am at playing this game... you can watch this video battle report by Eiluj The Farseer. My little Skitarii force with knight back-up vs. some Necrons. It does feature the use of RiTides objective marker ModCubes though. We really like them.
That is so great and the game pics last page were just beautiful! (And not only because they had ModCubes in them ). I feel like your in-game shots have gotten a lot clearer, did you change phones/cameras?
The army shots are just great, and I think your infantry really shines - very very clean work!
This is my favorite (albiet with basing added later )
I know Eiluj has featured your Modules on his YouTube channel (War gamer Shawn) several times.
Worked on some lists yesterday, unfortunately my "vision" for the army needs 2000 pts to build. I did manage to come up with a really stripped down version at 1850. It's amazing how 150 points can gut an army.
I feel your pain Git. I loved my 2k list I ran at Wargames Con. Taking out my two CC Knights made me a sad panda. Now only one Knight since we are down to 1850 again.
It's good to see someone getting some use out of RiTide's ModCubes. Unfortunately, I must have left my 40k sets at a game store out of state. Hopefully, someone else is using and enjoying them.
Love the look of the AdMech, Gits.
Made some progress on the dune stalkers' bases this weekend. Mainly adding rocks to them. The size of the bases and clearance under the vehicles meant that I was able to attach some big honking rocks... which should make for a fun final effect. Grit goes on tonight, painting tomorrow, then foliage after that.
Thanks guys, I'm happy with the way they've turned out.
Working on one of my knights which took some transportation damage (just needs re-assembly... no painting damage). Hope to install a central pin so I can swivel the upper body, then will finish the base properly.
Gits, I've been a way for a while, but your completed force, or at least how it stands now, looks fantastic. It pulls together well and from an aesthetic stand point, looks fantastic on the table with the varying heights of the models and the difference in unit composition. As always, love your stuff brother. Hope all is well.
By the way... have you seen the Forgeworld Upgrade kits coming out? The Hoplites make me want start an army
I have. They're neat. My concern, playing in a pretty competitive area... is that they'll be difficult & expensive to work into my army... which is already stretched pretty thin. They're also not a lot different (strategically speaking) than what I can put together already.... fragile infantry with above-average shooting capability. Lack of firepower isn't the AdMech's problem. Lack of mobility, durable infantry & good assault troops are.
Aside from the Cataphrons (destroyers & breachers), infantry is all T3, generally 4+ save. So easy to pen armor and double-out. The robots & HQ are pretty durable. Vehicles can be slightly more durable than normal (some have invul saves or can self-repair).
All things considered however... glass hammer sums it up pretty well.
Actually have an update with a little bit of substance. Firstly, I got the last components of my 40k AdMech army from the brilliant Nerdfest09 just in time to use them in a local, Highlander-style tournament. I'm still working on the basing for most of it but will post good pics when I'm finished. If you've been following Nerdy's blog, then you've already seen them. These units will probably bring this army to a conclusion with a few exceptions. I have two different knights that I'll be basing especially for this army. Might also tweak some of the paint on them. Not that Ramos didn't do a beautiful job painting them, but I asked him to keep all the mechanical bits very simple & I'm thinking it might be worth it to add just a little bit of color on some pipes & hoses so they're a bit more interesting from the back. I'm also going to work on my Void Shield Generator which looks good, but is basically just a solid gold color. Personally I think the AdMech wouldn't be much for adding color... just reveling in the natural beauty and glory of the metal... however it's a bit boring so I'll make some careful additions here and there to give it some interest without (hopefully) changing the character of the model.
Nerdy also gave me a good start on my next project... a 30k dark mechanicus army. Nerdy painted up 20 adsecularis covenant... kind of grunt infantry. I'll be doing the rest of the army myself, but this gives me two blobs (or one big blob) of fearless troops (with the right upgrade) that can be very useful based on the YouTube videos I've been devouring.
I do have a photo for you... my 1650 Aonius Forge army. I'll detail a bit about how the tournament went below if anyone is interested. Sorry for the rather uninspiring pic. Just something from my phone on my home table as I was getting things packed up for the day.
The army won best painted... so I'm sending the trophy to Nerdfest. It is indeed, beautifully done.
It was a fun and interesting tournament. Highlander-style which means you can't duplicate any units except for troops, and you need to take one of each available troop before you can double up on them. There were some other rules as applies to army construction that I didn't rightly understand... but this was a legal build. You were also supposed to build a fluffy army (as opposed to just a powerful one). This resulted in some really neat, unusual lists in what was for us, a very well attended tournament (20 people).
I think my army was a bit "harder" than it should have been given the emphasis on fluffy lists for this tournament... unfortunately when you set out to build a war convocation... you're pretty much left with nasty units. I don't have any priests or anything like that, and my army (with no SH's allowed in this tournament) is actually pretty shy on points so getting to 1650 was a challenge, hence the VSG. The only other odd thing was that due to the build restrictions & the fact that this army is split into two codecii, the only figure I have in my army that makes a reasonable warlord (the Tech Priest Dominus) was not allowed to be the warlord... so my warlord was a 1W, T3 skitarii vanguard sergeant who spent most of the tournament hiding in reserve with his unit trying not to get killed. (this didn't work very well, he died 2/3 times anyway).
Game 1 was against a nice, varied Black Templar list. Biggest threats were a unit of terminators and a unit of grav cents (I'm not very good in assault and with the exception of my 3 grav servitors have little AP2). Luckily for me the terminators came in late and the grav cents scattered on their drop and ended up just outside the VSG bubble on the other side of a tall wall. This prevented them from being a major factor and I was eventually able to tarpit them with my two dragoons. My heavy arc rifle servitors were the star of this game... taking out a vehicle on nearly every turn. I was able to infiltrate my infiltrators into a piece of terrain in the center of the board where they accounted for themselves well & were a general annoyance to the marines trying to get around the large LOS blocking piece of terrain to get into my lines. In essence I was able to shoot my opponent back just enough to earn a minor victory. Fun game, great opponent.
Game 2 was against a friend running a very fluffy demon list. Lots of infantry, small units, very few upgrades. We each picked 3 units to kill of our enemies for the primary, but because we had to share this information before the game started... it made it tough for either of us to actually win the primary because we both did our best to hide our key units. Honestly, this game came down to my opponent's reserve rolls. Once again I got my infiltrators into some excellent LOS blocking cover in the center of the table where they did a good job of harassing weakened units that were moving by. Unfortunately for my friend, most of his army started the game in reserve & he was never able to bring in more than 2 or 3 units at a time and the first units to come in were his weakest. Thus I was able to concentrate enough firepower to eliminate each wave before the next arrived. By the time his good units arrived, there was nothing left to "occupy" me and I was able to shoot up the last wave before it could do a lot of damage. Even so, he managed to kill 2/3 of his target units (as I did mine)... so it was close near the end. We tied the primary, but I won the secondary. Another minor victory, another fun game with a great opponent.
Game 3 was against an army I'd never played before. A massive AM horde. Over a hundred infantry figures and tons of special weapons teams. They filled his side of the board. He'd rolled a warlord trait that allowed him to infiltrate 3 units forward. Luckily, I won the infiltrate roll-off & sacrificed my Infiltrators by placing them 18" away from him in as long a line as possible. This froze most of his army in place, though he did a good job stretching a huge blob along one of the table edges. What followed was simply a race... could I keep shooting the hordes back before they overran me? Because I had a lot of vehicles and high T models I focused on the heavy weapon squads early, then got lucky mid-to late game when some assaults against the two big blobs really paid off. Biggest moment was when a 30-man blob in assault with my robots. The IG lost assault, failed morale twice (commissar), and got run down... giving me access to an objective that eventually won me the primary. So yes... luck once again. Very cool army, great opponent.
I ended up third overall, which is definitely my best placement given the size of the field. The AdMech are a bit confusing, primarily as everything (guns, special rules, etc.) is new and unfamiliar... but it's an interesting and fun army to play. Pretty darn powerful too.
I was at the tournament with Gitz, his army is beautiful and deserved best painted. That red with the gold flecks in it looks even better in person. Gitz's second opponent is one of the best players in our area, beating him is quite an accomplishment!
Thanks for the comments guys. Not having regular access to Dakka has really impacted my hobbying... even I'm surprised at my lack of motivation when I don't have the support and feedback from you all. I'm starting to get the itch again though. Have some smaller projects to work on and I think if I can get through those... I'll be able to tackle the bigger projects again.
Posting and especially uploading photos is a major problem, but I should be able to keep you guys updated from time to time.
Thanks for staying with me. I really do appreciate it.
Probably. I checked my security settings and that doesn't seem to be responsible. I'm going to be contacting my provider to see if they can help me sort things out.
Gitsplitta wrote: Thanks for the comments guys. Not having regular access to Dakka has really impacted my hobbying... even I'm surprised at my lack of motivation when I don't have the support and feedback from you all. I'm starting to get the itch again though. Have some smaller projects to work on and I think if I can get through those... I'll be able to tackle the bigger projects again.
Posting and especially uploading photos is a major problem, but I should be able to keep you guys updated from time to time.
Thanks for staying with me. I really do appreciate it.
That is rough, my company is throttling me at the moment because I use a phone sim card with unlimited data for my internet. I feel your pain. Also, without Dakka I notice the motivation goes away like you said, and instead I generally just feel guilty because that means life is getting in the way.
I guess we'll be waiting for some cool AM guys here quietly, unless you are done with the army for now.
@graven: Nice to be seen. Hoping it happens more often.
@Stormwall: I hear you. I can still post (on a limited basis)from work, but no photo uploads from there & nothing from home... so the only way I can currently get a pic onto Dakka is from my phone. So I take a pic with my good camera, fiddle with it on my PC, upload or e-mail it to my phone, then upload it from there to Dakka. Then I have to wait until the next work day to make a post including the uploaded photo (because I suck at texting from my phone). Really sucks the joy out of the whole process.
@nerdfest: Ahhhhh no. But it is my little contribution.
Thanks guys. Just realized the stupid auto-correct had changed "Damo" to "Damond"... in case some of you were wondering who the heck that was... it's Nerdfest09.
Such a beautiful army. Basing is really setting them off.
That does need a splash of colour to the back of that knight doesn't it, It is wonderfully painted as is, but needs some extra touches to break it up a bit.
I want to point out that there's nothing wrong with Ramos' paint job. He did exactly what I told him to do... focus on the big plates and the customization and leave the rest simple. I just thought that since this was going to be a focal point of one of only two decently competitive armies I currently have... it might be worth tricking out the back a little bit.
Plus this is probably the first thing I've painted in 6-8 months... so starting with some basics is a comfortable way to start. My red parts aren't as good as Ramos'... but trying to match airbrushing with brush painting has never been something I was good at.
I've since brightened up the piston shafts.... which helps the legs a bit. Unfortunately there's nothing else on the legs that really lends itself to detailing & I don't want to ruin Ramos' beautiful paint job. So I'll call this part done. I'll be adding some very minor energy effects to the lance. Not OSL as I don't want to overpower the weapon and it doesn't really go with the "clockwork" theme of the knight... but something that indicates an internal power build-up. We'll see how that goes... I've been putting it off for days now because I'm nervous about it.
@RiTides: We all win! Actually, I got the impression that you and Paul were going to have a set-to with your Nerdfest painted armies. I'm trying to figure out how to get myself into that little fracas as well.
Gitsplitta wrote: ... Unfortunately there's nothing else on the legs that really lends itself to detailing & I don't want to ruin Ramos' beautiful paint job. So I'll call this part done. ...
There's always little warning signs and markings that you could add to break up a large area. They are not just for realism.
So... the latest in Dakka connectivity weirdness. Apparently I CAN upload photos from home. Basically I can do everything except actually enter a blog... when I do that, I get kicked out. *shrug*
My son and I are embroiled in a robot battle at the moment in the midst of all this cool new terrain that I got from a kick-starter and that I'm paying him to build. We'd actually like to do an all-robot Adepticon team some year... two Necron & two AdMech, but for now we have to satisfy ourselves by kicking each other's teeth in. In any case, I've been taking photos and I thought I'd share a few.
Right center table, AdMech turn 1: Skitarii rangers move up access bridge to claim a 3-point objective.
Center table, Necron turn 2: All of the night scythes arrive delivering their payload of 30 warriors (total). The warriors open up on the AdMech knight, glancing it to death. The resulting explosion kills two skitarii rangers.
Center table, Necron turn 2: Soul-less machines in the form of Necron warriors observe the results of their handiwork as the titan explodes.
Right center table, AdMech turn 2: The Skitarii rangers continue to move up the access way, one short move and they'll be on the objective, though dangerously exposed!
Left flank, Admech turn 2: A pair of Skitarii dragoons try to mop up the last of a unit of Necron bikes that had come under early fire. The bikes are tenacious, but are slowly losing the combat.
Right flank, Necron turn 3: Skitarii rust stalkers form a picket line in front of a pair of Dune Crawlers. Luckily the wraiths were too far away to charge, so settled for a run move to guarantee combat by the next turn.
More to come...
P.S. Yeah, I know... kind of an odd post. It's just such a cinematic battle with the cool terrain, painted armies and all... and I'm kind of reveling in the fact that I can put photos up on Dakka again, even through I can't really post them with regularity yet.
Thanks! I do have more pictures for you as the game is progressing, just didn't have time to upload them as I was out Christmas shopping last night.
I thought... if you guys would indulge me... that I'd post a few thoughts on playing the army now that I've got a handful of games and a tournament behind me. Just in case some of you don't have your own admech or haven't had the chance to play them yet.
1. Playing AdMech is complicated for a variety of reasons. First, they have very few standard weapons the likes of which exist in other 40k armies. So you have to learn an entirely new set of terms and special rules. This is certainly doable... but takes time and practice. The units themselves have a lot of special rules, as do the formations. Layer after layer of things to keep track of... it can be somewhat overwhelming. While I am getting better at it, constantly having to dig around in the 4 books it can take me to run the army (Skitarii, Cult Mech, Knights & Rule Book) is a pain in the butt for both me and my opponent. The approach I've adopted is simply not to worry about the rules or special abilities I don't remember. Stick with what I know... as I get better at running them and memorize the most critical stats and abilities, I can over time... start adding the rest. Eventually I'll get to the point where I should be able to remember most of it without delaying the game needlessly.
2. The big formation for the AdMech is the War Convocation. This is a basic Skitarii formation, a Cult Mech formation (really more of a CAD) and a Knight. Your upgrades are free with this formation... which in a normal size game gets you around 300 pts of extra gubbins. Not bad. However, you don't need to run the War Convocation in order to have a decent army. I was running just a Cult Mech CAD & Skitarii battle maniple and having good success. Most of the units are pretty solid so if you want to run this army in a casual game but still have a good list... you can do it.
3. If you do run the War Convo, don't be tempted to buy the most expensive war gear just because it's free. Take what your army needs, even if it isn't the most expensive thing on the list. Two things I've found true when you have unlimited war gear.... 1) you'll forget you have half of it... and 2) you won't actually get the opportunity to use half of it in any case.
4. I really balked at the 30 pt cost for the plasma calivers.... basically 3-shot plasma guns. I'm still not sure they're worth it under normal circumstances as your odds of killing the gunner from an over-heat are pretty good. In the War Convo though, they're free and don't get hot. Definitely worth taking. Other than that I wouldn't upgrade the guns on the skitarii troops as they're basic guns are pretty solid.
5. One of the things I really like about the AdMech is that most of their units are really solid. You don't have to spam things to be good. I've seen a lot of people spam the grav servitors... but there are a good number of opponents for whom that's not really helpful. As I see it, the real beauty of an AdMech army is the sheer variety of units you can field and still have a really good chance to put up a hard fight. In my full list I have 3 dedicated assault units, 4 dedicated shooting units and 3 units that can do both competently and I have NO duplication of units.
6. There are still a lot of armies that give me fits. Mostly so far... I've come out on top... but it's rare that I wipe someone out & far more often it's a really close battle and I just happen to carry a narrow margin to victory. Thing 1's flyer/infantry heavy Necron army is really challenging me at the moment. Lots of infantry, high model count armies are tough to deal with. Also I really only have 1 AA option, so if I don't take it (I didn't this time)... dealing with flyers can be a real nightmare.
7. Lastly, and GW this is for you if you're out there... The AdMech need to be reduced to one codex... please. The skitarii with no HQ just makes list building so much more complicated than it has to be. I bought both books... you have my money... if you want more of it please combine them into one, sensible dex.
So, while the AdMech are complicated to run, they're fun and reasonably competitive... even for a schlub gamer like me. They look great on the table and are a very significant part of 40k history and lore that has been missing until recently. I'm very happy that I jumped on the wagon when I did.
I am still painting. I'm working on adding detail to my void shield generator.... kind of the last piece of AdMech puzzle as far as I'm concerned. The amount of detail on the model is just... stupid... and I don't want to change it's character with too much crap. When I have enough done that it's worth showing off, I'll post my progress and you can let me know how I'm doing.
Thanks Dr H. Having really nice terrain is just fantastic. Even though most of it is still unpainted... it's still fantastic. Changes the feel of the game and makes everything seem more cinematic and epic.
Thing 1 is just about done building everything. We've just been cramming more and more pieces onto the table as he finishes them (in areas where they aren't likely to affect the battle). We were admiring his work last night and he said... "I'm SO glad I don't have to paint all this."
I'll start out with some more shots of the ongoing battle. We're just doing a turn when we get the chance... so it's been slow going. Let's see, where did I leave off? Oh, yes, the sides were about to get stuck in.
On the right flank, AdMech turn 2: I decide to play the odds and send my rust stalkers after the Necron sniper guys who just deep struck in. The combat goes well and I drop 2 snipers, they fail morale and the rust stalkers run them down.
This exposes the dune crawlers to a wraith charge, so instead I move them up and charge the wraiths myself. This gives me an extra attack at S10, which means I'll be doubling out the wraiths IF I can get past their 3+ invul & 4+ FNP. High risk, high reward. Really at this point I have no choice... I've got nothing else that can deal with the wraiths. Before I charge, the rangers up on the gantry unload their plasma calivers into the wraiths... killing 1. Squad of 6 is now down to 5. The dune crawlers and wraiths exchange wounds. Lead DC is immobilized and shaken, but two wraiths pay the price.
On the left flank the two dragoons finish off the last bike and follow-up towards a 2-point objective. In the center the servitors shoot one of the warrior units and kill a few guys.
Necron turn 3: All of the warriors load up into their transports and the planes scatter. Two make a hard right and gun down the dragoons on my left flank with Tessla fire. The third plane takes out a haywire servitor.
On the right a spider moves up to support the wraiths in assault (it's too far away to join the combat though). The wraiths and dune crawlers belly-bounce with no damage taken on either side.
Here's the way the table looks and the end of Necron turn 3.
The Mechanicus are in a serious predicament. With 3 loaded aircraft the Necrons are in position to drop on to all the best objectives in force, including those on the AdMech side of the table. The AdMech's only hope is to be able to knock down one or two of the aircraft so his warriors have to move on from the back board edge. With no AA, I don't like their chances.
That's all for now... more as we continue to play.
In painting news, I've started working on adding detail to my void shield generator. It's tricky business because I don't want to drown the model in detail. I'm starting with just steel cables, copper pipes & a few bits of red (an experiment with the blood "technical" paint).
Gitsplitta wrote: This gives me an extra attack at S10, which means I'll be doubling out the wraiths IF I can get past their 3+ invul & 4+ FNP.
Unless Necrons get some special thing (or the rules changed and I missed the memo), anything that instakills doesn't get feel no pain. So S10 would just need to break past the 3++. Can someone confirm?
I really like the generator. The added details make it pop much more. The blood paint looks almost ceramic, which is an interesting juxtaposition to the metal on metal on metal.
They actually get -1 to it from instant death so they had a 3++ and a 5+ RP.
The trick here is to kill the spyder. If you kill him they lose the RP. You should try and shoot him early in the game so when CC happens with the wraiths you have a chance.
Sorry for the confusion, my bad. Icelord has it right. Reanimation acts like FNP but doesn't have the doubling out restriction.
@Icelord: Unfortunately the spyder was completely hidden behind some large storage tanks until just his last movement phase. I could shoot at him in my next turn though... and probably will with the plasma caliver rangers on the bridge. Does the weapon need to say it has the ID special rule to reduce the reanimation roll, or does it just had to cause ID due to doubling toughness?
Taking a couple of days off to actually get a game in with a friend. Trotting out my Halloween army for giggles and a change of pace. Should be back at it tomorrow and fully expect to have the VSG completed this weekend.
I promised you a progress shot. At this stage it's done down to the main platform. Still need to do the base section.
At this point I'm actually finished with the first round of upgrades. I'll get you some final pics soon, hopefully uploaded tonight and posted tomorrow. Not sure, my home computer crashed hard last night and I'm still not able to bring it back up. :/
There will definitely be a second round of updates for the VSG to cover things like lights, lenses, buttons and the wired-in servitors... i.e. hapless human chattel. I want to get some other things done first though. At least for the moment I've made significant improvements.
Thing 1 and I finished our game last night and the bugger beat me! Very close game, he just out-thought me at the end and snagged the extra point he needed for victory. Couldn't be more proud of him.
The blue orbs really do draw the eye and look sharp. But the silver bits do a good job of breaking up the structure, and I like what you’ve done with the red.
Sorry to hear about the loss. But if fun was had, I guess it’s OK. While it’s good for young whippersnappers to get in a win in now and again to keep their interest up, you need to make sure they never learn everything from you. Or at least think you still have tricks up your sleeve. It can only end one of two ways:
They strike you down and steal all your power. (if you are raising a Sith)
-or-
When they are in the middle of their epic quest, they return to you on your deathbed, and you teach them the final ultimate move. If you don’t actually have any secrets left, you just tell them the power was within them all along. (most other kids)
There's copper on it too. Unfortunately the glare of the flash washes it out so it doesn't look much different from the rest in this pic. When I get the final shots done tonight I'll take them in a proper photo booth. Hopefully everything will show up then.
Got a few more photos for you from the battle with the Necrons... just for fun.
The struggle continues on my right flank. The dune crawlers are slowly whittling down the wraiths. Slowly.... In the mean time the rust stalkers try to take out the canoptic spyder that's providing the FNP for the formation.
A night scythe drops off a group of warriors, temporarily taking over the 4-point objective and putting themselves into a position to score an extra point for being in my deployment zone (I can't for the life of me remember the official term for that objective for some reason). The Necrons dig in like ticks amongst the plasma generators.
Back on the right, next turn. The dune crawlers are down to the final wraith.
Right next to the above melee', the rust stalkers and spyder continue the battle of attrition. You can see another group of freshly deployed warriors running into a fortified tower.
In spite of all the shooting I can muster... the warriors in the plasma generators survive... though I was able to bring a unit of skitarii vanguard out of a building in order to contest the 4-point objective.
This picture actually documents an error on my part which we did catch in-game. After finishing off the last wraith, the two dune crawlers wall off the 2-point objective from the warriors in the tower. In actuality the crawler on the left was immobilized so couldn't have moved. The one on the right could have clambered over a pillbox though in order to accomplish the same thing.
When all was said-and-done... we were tied... EXCEPT that Thing 1 had remembered to get the point for being in my deployment zone and I (even though I'd had a unit that could have easily done it) did not.
Have been having a LOT of fun playing my AdMech lately. Had 3x 2000 point games with my War Convocation last week... all against excellent opponents with really interesting armies.
Game 1 was against a Genestealer Cult army. Really interesting with their ambush rules. Came down to a roll at the end of T5. If the game ends, he wins, if the game goes on, I would probably table him. The game ended.
Game 2 was against another AdMech army... but one very different from my own. A Cult mech army with lots of robots and servitors as well as an electro-priest formation (he just wanted to try it out). I've got some photos from that to share. In the end we tied... Once again my army proved to be very killy... but I'm not quite good enough yet and grabbing those maelstrom objectives.
Here's the set-up from my opponent's point of view. He's running Ryza. I apologize for the quality of some of these pics. My phone camera broke... then I sort of fixed it... so the quality of the pics now is a little hit-or-miss.
Here's his deployment from the side view... yes, that's Cawl in the foreground. It's worth noting that he's got 6 robots and 9 heavy servitors, far more of both than I did. As a result I effectively surrendered the left 1/3 of the table to him as anything that got near the tall building in the background was going to get annihilated.
Some of his electropriests coming out to play.
My rangers hunkering down by a ruin.
My two Kastellans... outnumbered 3 to 1.
I added the techpriest enginseer guy and some servitors from the "Imperial Allies" book. They had a marvelous hiding spot inside a LOS blocking ruin, on an objective, next to the void shield generator, right underneath the two dunecrawlers that they were tasked to keeping in good repair. I also like this photo because it's very dramatic. It also features one of RiTides ModCubes which I use exclusively as my objective markers.
My Knight Lancer started the game in a ruin to give him a little better chance of surviving... Still by the end of turn 2 he only had 2 HP left. Knights are cool, but they just aren't survivable... Funny to think about paying a "knight tax" for this formation.
The first real action of the game. My infiltrators stupidly come out of their *perfect* hiding spot in a LOS blocking ruin on an objective to play with some electropriests. They uzi'd the first group into a fine red mist... then got gunned down on the following turn by my opponent's Kastellans & his heavy servitors in that tower I talked about earlier...
He had his two units of Kastellans pushing hard down each flank, this is the group on my right, opposite my knight and my dragoons.
The second engagement of the game, my damaged knight and the dragoons assault the robots.
Knight goes boom after taking out a robot and the tech priest, leaving the dragoons to hash it out.
The Dragoons get some help from my rust stalkers who were dealing with some electropriests in the center and finish up the Kastellans, only to be charged by Cawl. They do OK given the circumstances. This is the pic *after* their first round of combat.
Here's the end game shot from my perspective. As you can see it's mostly my units on the table at this point. Yes, I could have kept everything safely behind the VSG and yes, I could have easily avoided Cawl... but this was supposed to be a fun & casual game... so I brought my toys out to play. As it was I *nearly* killed Cawl... but not quite. He survived the final assault phase of the game with 1 wound left.
Really fun game. Two very different armies given that they were from the same (or similar) factions. Cawl is definitely a beast... but he's not as unkillable as most folks are making him out to be. I made some cheat sheets for each unit which has made a huge difference in the playability of the army, especially in the war convocation. While the cult mech army is definitely very powerful, you don't have a lot of options as to how to play it. I like the mix you get in the war convo (or even if you're just taking a Skitarii detachment with a Cult Mech CAD) much better. Your speed and assault punch are all in the skitarii... as well as some brutal shooting.
All this gaming has gotten me inspired to actually do a bit of work on my models. I'm in the process of converting the 4 transgenic arquebus ranger models (useless) into either regular rangers or plasma culverns. Am re-basing said models and finishing up the basing on those servitors you saw. That should be done today. Also sending a number of things off to Nerdy for painting... Cawl, one more set of robots and a few vanguard so I can fill out a squad of 10. On my own I'm thinking of doing 2 more each of the infiltrators and rust stalkers. Having 7 of each gives me a little more flexibility in my list building.
I should have some pics of the models when finished & pics of my 3rd game vs. the Fire Hawks first company very soon.
Game 3 vs. Fire Raptors First Company with a crap-ton of air support. Going to start this one with a bit of fluff. Don't get your hopes up... this is just a quickie.
The adepts of the AdMech exploratory fleet had identified an anomaly on a small planet in a system not very far away. An extraordinary anomaly. The tech priest dominus was immediately notified and the fleet's course modified to investigate. When they arrived at the planet designate XV-1953-S, known to the greater Imperial citizenry of the area as Geiger VI... they found it had been devastated by war. The cities lay in ruins and most of the population had been killed. The cause wasn't hard to discern... the signs of Necron activity were everywhere. Scanners showed there were still Necrons on the planet, but they had long abandoned the area the anomaly was discovered in and were currently engaging elements of the Fire Hawks astartes chapter for the last, surviving civilian areas of the planet. That is as may be, but they were not here to help save this planet... they were here for something far more valuable. A malfunctioning Necron wraith. "Just think what we could learn from this thing." ...the dominus thought to himself. Indeed, the wraith was wandering randomly thoughout a several block area of a bombed out city. Not interacting with anything, just randomly moving. It also appeared to be "stuck" in physical form... not being able to phase through objects but bumping into them before eventually re-routing itself to the clear. To the dominus' eyes, it looked for all the world like a malfunctioning robot... and THAT was something he'd had some experience with.
"The Mechanicus may never get an opportunity like this again!" he snapped to his attending adept. I want a full-strength retrieval convocation on the planet as quickly as possible!"
"But what of the Fire Hawks still fighting the Necrons?" asked the adept.
"They are no concern of ours. Ignore them. We MUST get that wraith!" replied the dominus.
The mission was "the relic" as primary with kill points as the secondary (in order to help even out the fact that my opponent had such a small army). Also the usual tertiaries. My warlord trait allowed my warlord, if he was with a unit that discovered a mysterious objective, to pick which effect it had. While the game had no typical MOs, we decided to make the relic (wraith) one & whomever got to him first would roll on the MO table. In the case of my Dominus... he would essentially "hack" the wraith.. being able to choose the effect it had.
Unfortunately the pics I have aren't as narrative friendly as the last game. My army was the same as the last time. I'd intended to switch the guns out on my dune crawlers from the S10 blasts to the AA packages, but I forgot. This was an error.
My opponent John was running his Star Hawks (another Badab War chapter) First company. It consisted of a 10-man terminator squad, a land raider, an assault terminator squad, a chapter master in terminator armor and a librarious conclave ... oh... and Tiggs... oh... and a 4-flyer strong attack wing of some sort. Did I mention that I had no AA at all?
Unfortunately, I don't have an early table-wide shot. Suffice to say we set up in our corners... John with his death-star in the land raider (nothing else was on the table) and me in a loose aggregation around my VSG. My infiltrators were able to infiltrate onto the relic, and my dominus joined them in his first movement so that he was with the unit when the "discovered" the relic. I did the only thing I could think of doing... I proclaimed the relic was a "skyfire" objective.
So, the day started badly for the Fire Hawks as the land raider deployed in a ruin for protection decided it wanted to stay there.... for the whole game. #nodozerblades That meant that the super-killy death star of INVISIBILITY was legging it across the board. Thank the Omnissiah!
Does my heart good to see Astartes getting in their morning exercise.
So... my first turn consisted of trying to get the skyfire wraith into the hands of a unit that could use it... that being my Kastellans. John's first turn consisted of a loot of foot-slogging.
By my half of turn 2, I'd succeeded in passing off the wraith to the robots. The Fire Hawks then succeeded in trying to throw a monkey wrench into my plans... a 10-man, tactical dreadnought armor wearing, monkey wrench.
OH, and did I mention that all of his flyers showed up this turn as well?
Then a miracle happened. Everything opened up on the robot carrying the relic. EVERYTHING. And he tanked it all. Could not roll less than a 5 twice in a row, which means he made all his saves/FNP rolls. Not only that, but his field reflected shots that put a hull point on one of the flyers and killed a terminator!
Then, during my turn 3... a second miracle happened... those dune crawlers with the "wrong guns", the uzis from the infiltrators & anything else I could bring to bear just shot the crap out of the terminators... then the infiltrators charged in and nearly finished them off. One threat down.
It had to happen though... the Fire Hawk's invisible death star reached my line... and started killing things.
... and then they killed some more stuff...
Funny thing was... even though they were going through my units like crap through a goose... they were still loosing guys... one terminator here, a wound on a character there. I was having an effect... but it was almost unnoticeable. By John's half of T5 (bottom of 5), we both thought he had it in the bag. All that stood between John and the relic were 3 infiltrators and my poor little unit of 2 Kastellans and their tech priest. And then everything went horribly wrong for the Fire Hawks... the overwatch killed marines, AP2 his from the robots killed marines, AP- hits from the infiltrators killed marines. When it was all said and done... the infiltrators were gone... but the robots with the relic were completely unscathed. All the Fire Hawks had left was an immobilized land raider, one healthy flyer and one damaged flyer.
My hero! He's getting some kind of special paint job/kill marks. He was unbelievable!
Last but not least... after 2 games of doing NOTHING... my little engine seer / servitor group finally fixed a hull point on one of my vehicles. Huzzah! He's "the little engine seer that could".
Got a new photo background via a Kickstarter from the same people who brought you the Fat Mat. Think the figure is too close to the background... will have to fiddle with it.
Here's a good picture of the new Dominus Damo did for me. I intend for him to be pinned to a base or removed and pinned directly to interesting places on a display board, which is why he's not on a base yet.
These little guys were donated by RiTides and painted by Damo for my 40k army. thanks to the "Imperial Agents" book I can finally field them! Thanks guys! I just finished the bases on them, though unfortunately this isn't really a good angle to see it.
... and the first step of changing the transgenic arquebii into something more functional (and re-basing). I'm thinking that two of these guys are going to have their guns swapped out entirely for plasma culverns.
The other thing I've been doing is repairing figures... a LOT of figures. Skitarii look great but they are pretty flimsy. My little observation... If you didn't pin it when you built it... you're sure as heck going to pin it when you have to repair it.
@Cam: Thanks, and I agree completely. Wish I had more to do with that, but I'm delighted to be able to play with it.
@EDC: Thank you sir!
@MA: It's not all that hard... I just do a bunch at a shot, one step at a time... makes things go a lot faster.
Had another game last night vs. yet another AdMech army. Here's a little report.
Scenario: We played the eternal war mission with the objectives of various values (1-4) and extra points for killing fast attack.
Here's the table, kind of a medieval theme... we won't know what the objectives are worth until we discover them.
Deployment, my opponent John goes first. white dice denote extent of VSG. I do try to make a point each battle to put some units outside of the VSG. Hiding the entire army behind it isn't much fun for anyone.
Battle line of the "dark" mechanicus. I think John might have done better if his army wasn't already black & blue...
My battle line.
Heroes of the Mechanicus.
Right off the bat, shooting takes out a robot and rust stalker, even though they're in ruins and it's night fighting.
Here's the fight on the right. Started well as I took out his dune striders without casualty... but hell was coming to dinner in the form of a full squad of vanguard and some rust stalkers.
These guys...
Think this is the end of T2. The center of the table is a complete kill zone. Nothing that enters it lives. My left flank has a nice little no-man's section at this point and my right flank, and the 3-point objective there... are up for discussion.
Two squads of weedy gits (infiltrators and rangers) are lurking through the grave yard on my left flank.
My guys protecting an all important patch of woods on my left flank. This is the second game where I "refused a flank" rather than trying to plow ahead into heavy gunfire.
My little vanguard squad camp out behind a bridge and hold a 3 point objective the entire game... good job boys! How's the fishing?
At this point the most interesting stuff is happening in the center and my right flank. The large squad of vanguard push forward, shoot up then charge my infiltrators. What ensues is a long, bloody battle of attrition.
The early returns are good, but there is a full squad of rust stalkers hard on the heals of the vanguard.
Majestic... isn't it?
The "tower of power" (see previous pic) along with the two dune crawlers have 2 jobs... destroy the opposing dune crawlers... and keep that darn unit of grav kataphrons on the bridge busy. They do both (T3 I think).
Crawlers go boom.
PITA Dominus keeps going to ground on the bridge which somehow works out to a 2+ cover save (gear, canticles... who knows?). My only hope is to pound them with enough scary stuff to keep them going to ground... which freezes the unit in place and means they're snap-firing. I do manage to take him down to one wound... but that's as close as I ever got to threatening him.
Here's a good table view. You can just barely see his infiltrators moving into the ruins on the left. My knight took out two of his oncoming rust stalkers on the right and has scooched over to help with the right flank. He's just out of range of the GtG grav servitors.
In the next turn, John's rust stalkers move like the wind and join in the combat on the right.
The table starts to turn!
... oh wait... then the knight charges in... (D-weapon, Stomp, Stomp, Stomp!) Problem solved. (sorry, no pics)
On my left flank, the infiltrators skitter through the ruins to threaten my rust stalkers who are cleverly placed just behind the void shield.
The sides engage... and John's infiltrators do a good job taking care of my rust stalkers (they go first with AP3 weaponry).
However the damaged Kastellan unit charges in to keep the flank from falling (just too many S6, AP3 attacks).
A final look at the board. Both flanks are under control, the center is a wasteland no one dares enter and I control the majority of objective points.
Every unit did something to contribute to the ultimate victory so I was pretty happy. The knight played a pivotal role in securing the 3-point objective on my right (finally he does something) and as usual, the VSG pays for itself over and over again in units protected. John did eventually take down the shields but it just took too long and too much of his fire-power. His rust stalkers, infiltrators and vanguard all did really well with their assaults and pressured my flanks far more than I thought they would. I think I ended up with a 11-6 victory (8 points of objectives + STW & FB and one FA unit kill vs. John's 5 pts of objectives + LB).
Automatically Appended Next Post: Actually have some work to show you. Like... almost *real* work... almost.
Having some games under my belt, I wanted to get my two infantry squads (rangers and vanguard) up to full strength and with the proper weapons (read as "plasma culverns"). So having 4 useless arquebii ranger figures, I re-based them, cut the gun down a bit so they'd blend in with the squad more and switched out two of the for plasma guns. I also intensified the glow on the plasmas so they'd be easy to identify on the tabletop. You'll note that one of the plasma gunners is a vanguard (painted by Nerdy). He's on loan to the rangers as I'm too darn lazy to paint up a whole ranger just to change the gun.
This next batch of vanguard were obviously painted by Nerdfest09. This time I converted and extra sergeant I had him paint for some reason back into a normal trooper (the guy all the way on the left), then added glows to all the weapons simply to make them easier to play. Red for "rad", blue for plasma... and green for anything else (alpha's pistol). The unit is still one guy short so Nerdy's getting the last one to paint up shortly.
So... nothing really exciting. Just some tweaking. Good to be back fooling around with my models though.
Have a tournament tomorrow. Here's my army (war convocation) on a new display board made by Cam that I'm painting up. Definitely still a work in progress. Going to try and get an astropath painted tonight... we'll see how that goes. Otherwise I'll just add in a couple of extra vanguard to make up the points.
I love how so many pieces painted by different people with their own tricks can come out so coherently.
Must be all those years of practice for the Adepticon Team tourney.
Brief tournament report... sorry, no pics. It was crowded, competitive & fast so there really wasn't the opportunity.
Game 1: Friend of mine crushed me with two knights and 8 grav destroyers in his war convo. I made 3 mistakes right off the bat and my dice were completely dead the whole game. I think I had 2 figures left when we ran out of time.
Game 2: Eldar opponent crushed me with two wraith knights... but somehow we tied across-the-board. He would have tabled me in two more turns... maybe one. I would have been tabled already except he had two units that tried to deep strike onto the same, very safe spot, right after one another that mishapped into oblivion.
Game 3: I tabled a Salamanders player (T5). He was winning until T3 when I managed to kill his knight, then everything went my way.. He said he'd never seen anyone roll so many sixes.
Painting:
My army tied with Thing 2's army for best painted, so they gave it to him. (The lead judge pulled me aside ahead of time to let me know.) Thing 2... unlike me. had played really well and had 2 wins on the day. He was ecstatic (and he does have some of his own work in on the army... so he's got some ownership in the painting process). It was a pretty big monetary prize... enough to bring home a shiny new harpy for his Nidzilla list. I couldn't be prouder of him. he conducted himself very well throughout a very long day while playing a non-competitive army vs a bunch of competitive adults (who were dropping F-bombs constantly... really guys... is that necessary??). We played next to each other all three games (just worked out that way), which was really cool.
Pub Quiz: I think I got 1 question right, but got a second point by answering "Richard Gere" to one of the questions which tickled the TO. Funny thing was about 30 seconds after turning in my quiz, I thought of the actual answer for the Richard Gere question... so I suppose it all worked out.
This was a new store for me... little over an hour away. Really nice bunch of folks, both in players and store ownership. Definitely have plans to go back. Plant Chaos in Ft. Atkinson WI... thank you!
I've got a little 1500 point game set up for tonight. Thought I'd try something goofy and non-war-convo-like. Try taking advantage of all the fun little formations you can have that I can never take to tournaments because somehow limiting the number of formations prevents really powerful builds and balances the game.
Space Marine Allies:
HQ; tech marine
TP: 5 marines in pod, melta
HV: TFC
Inquisitional Representative:
Astropath, L1
Inquisitional Representative:
Astropath, L1
Inquisitorial Representative:
Coteaz
Assasinorum:
Callidus assassin
Coteaz pods in with his marine bodyguard. Astropaths with divination buff the heavy servitor squads. Assassin does her thing. Techmarine and Dominus could play multiple parts... either pod it or hang out near the vicinity of the two dune crawlers keeping them in good repair.
Should be amusing and unorthodox at the very least. Opponent is bringing Necrons, but I have no idea what variety.
Today's battle report is brought to you by.... the ghost of Spuds Mackenzie!
1500 point game last night. Didn't know what I was facing... but it was supposed to be "casual" AND "competitive". Since my opponent is a regular Tau player... I assumed I was supposed to be casual and he was going to be competitive. In any case, I threw together that goofy list above, just to try things out. I don't have a lot of pics of the game... but I'll try and string the few I have together as best I can.
Mission: Big Guns Never Tire
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil
Table: Winter themed, mostly ruins and LOS-blocking rocks with mid-sized LOS-blocking rock in the center.
No night fight.
Necrons go first.
My opponent Andrew had a new Necron army he was trying out. Not optimized, but not bad either. Had the two main formations giving everything resurrection protocols. Unusual bits were a monolith & 2 units of flayed ones. In deployment, we both set up across our short board edges taking advantage of whatever cover we can find. I deploy to try and make deep striking difficult as he's the flayed ones and the monolith coming down.
Part of the experiment is finding a good use for the Astropaths as I'm kind of thinking I'm going to make them a permanent part of the army. Even at L1 it gives me back the psychic phase and two extra dice... Astropath #1 is escorted by the Arc Breachers, while Astropath #2 supports the TFC. I would normally have put one with the grav destroyers... but since I had Coteaz that was covered. BTW I'm guessing the two astropaths (old D&D figures) were probably painted over 35 years ago... so don't be too hard on me.
My astropaths seek the Emperor's light for guidance (literally... as they'd be casting prescience all day).
Pseudo-Coteaz wants YOU... to report heresy wherever you find it!
The Necrons lead with two groups of 4 or 5 scarabs which will be an immediate threat to several of my units (including vehicles) on turn 2. The warriors (save for the group sitting on their objective) move forward as does a small unit of wraiths and a Canoptic Spyder. As there is nothing really in shooting range... that's pretty much it.
Data from the Dominus overseeing the operations screams through the vox units built into all the AdMech's armor. "Eliminate the scarabs"... "Help is coming." Out of the sky a supersonic green streak plummets towards the planet's surface. Just before impact massive rockets decelerate the pod, and it lands with tactical precision in-between the two units of scarabs. The "help" has come in the form of the Mantis Warriors... lead by their tech marine. A short burst of code comes from the controlling Dominus through the vox... it can only be described as... a feeling of satisfaction.
The sudden roar and lurch of heavy, tracked vehicles is a startling new experience for the two astropaths who have never seen a battlefield before. Their alarm bearing on panic is so psychically palpable that it strikes Coteaz like a blow... and all three miss their opportunity to use their psychic powers. (Yes... I forgot that I had a psychic phase.) The entire army opens up on the two units of scarabs, and in spite of doing considerable damage... can't do enough to either to eliminate it (LOS considerations prevented me from concentrating my fire on either unit). Unfortunately, most of the scarabs were able to reassemble themselves. On the AdMech left, the two dragoons prepare to move over some ruins and charge in to finish off one of the scarab units. One vehicle moves into the ruin only to find that the footing is far too unsteady to make for a good charge. He is unfortunately... dangerously exposed at this point. The other dragoon wisely decides not to follow.
The Necron lord signals for his reserves to arrive, and two units of flayed ones answer. One erupts out of the ground in the AdMech right rear flank (white, armless unit at the very top of the pic).
The other however is subjected to an error in translation, and appears in the far corner of the Necron deployment zone... never to be seen again. (Whew!)
The Necron forces continue to advance down the AdMech left flank, threatening the drop pod that is securing the central objective.
Shooting ensues and the lead dragoon is destroyed. One unit of scarabs (2 left) charges the pod, the other (4 left) charges the Mantis Warriors. One marine exchanges his life for a swarm.
Everything in the mechanicus' deployment zone turns to fact the newly arrived flayed ones and give them a proper Admech welcome... which they do. The lone surviving dragoon moves to join the marines in assault with the scarabs. Having finished off the flayed ones, the dune crawlers turn back towards the Necron lines.
The Mantis Warriors (with the help of the dragoon) are ultimately successful in getting rid of the scarabs, though they eventually get gunned down by massed warrior fire. For a little group of 6 guys... they really made a mess of the Necron advance.
Unfortunately the other group of scarabs finally finish off the pod. Fortunately my Arc Breachers do their job as well on the monolith.
The Callidus came on in T3. She didn't really do much as Necrons are a very bad match up for her. I chose not to infiltrate her as I figured she'd just get gunned down.
In the end... we shot the livin' bejeezus out of each other. Center table with the all-important center objective became a death zone. The Necrons were in a pretty good position to take the center until my last two shooting phases... which were more vacuum cleaner like & eliminated the threat. The Necrons end the game considerably shot-up... but that doesn't matter in the final tally. They win by getting first blood... 5-4.
Hope you enjoyed it! I learned a lot. Think the two little psychers are going to have a permanent place in the army.
Really enjoy reading your batreps Gitz, always fun too see your armies clashing with someone elses. Your use of older models for the astropaths is a good one and I may steal that idea for my own.
I think this picks out some of the best elements of the first version & lets me bring back a fast assault unit, which I was clearly needing in the last game. Unfortunately I didn't have anywhere near the points I needed to bring back the robots. I was also able to beef up my tech marine with a full harness, which will help boost the impact of the marine shock-troops.
It's been interesting the one time out. We'll see how tomorrow night goes. I'll be sure to take pics again... hopefully better ones so I don't have to do as much writing!
So... the inquisitor and assassin can certainly be nice additions, but they're expensive which costs me my own admech units that I really like. The marines and psychers give me something I don't have otherwise... extreme mobility and access to the psychic phase. I think that's a good deal for the points.
Here's the touch up on the first of the astropaths. I'm naming her Esmeralda. Still needs a bit of touch up on the eye and a few facial highlights... but she's basically done.
She's like, 5 times life size on my screen but does the hair need anything? Then again, the stark difference between the white and black might work best on the table.
What's she doing hanging out with all those robots!
This missive is to let you know that for the time being, my 5 P&M blogs (Mantis Warriors, Bad Moon Orks, AdMech, Halloween themed Chaos and 30k EC) will have all their updates appearing on a single blog (my “Rebuilding the Mantis Warriors” blog… which will get a new name). Why? With my interests so scattered across multiple armies and terrain & the fact that I’m just not painting at the hundreds of figures a year rate that I used to… I’m not making enough quality posts to keep 5 different blogs going. I’ve got a few die-hard friends and supporters that still post… but not enough to build or maintain the community that has always been the strongpoint of my threads in the past.
If my circumstances change and I start painting enough to warrant re-opening one of the specialist threads, I’ll do so... they aren’t closed, just inactive. In the meantime, as of today (Feb 11th, 2017) I’ll be making all of my P&M posts (for all armies) on what has always been my “home” on DakkaDakka, my Mantis Warrior thread. I hope you’ll join me there for the latest updates!
Here’s the link:Gitsplitta's Unified Painting Theory
all round.
