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Believed to a far-flung splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Behemoth, the tendril dubbed Yaoguai - after ancient Terran monsters of myth - approaches the galaxy from the northeast. The Ordo Xenos speculates that the Hive Fleet was bogged down fighting an Ork empire in the darkness of the far galactic rim, but in the wake of the Great Rift, the Hive Fleet - either victorious or moving on to easier targets - has moved directly into Imperial space, dangerously encroaching on the already beleaguered Corstos sector.

While any splinter fleet of Behemoth naturally bears the heritage of its progenitor's hyper-aggressive tactics, Yaoguai takes things one step further, believed to be an evolved countermeasure to Orkoid mass-deployment of force field technology. Largely eschewing ranged combat, Yaoguai contests air superiority using swarms of Hive Crone beasts, before launching vast, multi-pronged frontal assaults from close-combat specialist organisms. This approach is supported by psychic leader-beasts and simultaneous flanking assaults from subterranean and stealth bioforms, aiming to crumble resistance through application of overwhelming direct pressure.

Hello, everybody! I am so excited to finally be starting this project, and it's been a long time in the making. I've always loved Tyranids, a love that was reinforced and shaped by the video game Dawn of War II (one of my most-played games). This is in truth not my first attempt - a few years ago, I briefly dipped my feet into Tyranids, but as I always wanted my project to be centred around a large core of Hormagaunts - and it turned out the old Hormagaunt kit was, uh, dated - I decided to stop there and shelve my ideas for a day in the future where the range got some updates.

That day came, and what a day it was! Amazing! In one stroke, Tyranids suddenly got perhaps the best range in all of Warhammer 40k. They still have some old models, but this isn't a problem - some of them like the Carnifexes have aged shockingly well despite being ancient, and entirely hold up in my opinion, and some others like Gargoyles I will eschew anyway due to the army's theme and so they aren't a factor.

What is the theme, you may ask? Well, when it comes to Tyranids, I have a very particular taste. I love the faction, but I don't really agree with the design choice of most Tyranid ranged weapons. The idea that the most alien race in the setting, extragalactic, almost Lovecraftian in scope and theme, would carry around suspiciously human-looking pistols, rifles and cannons in their hands never quite suited my taste. So, the concept of the project took shape easily enough. The rules are simple - no pistols, no rifles, no cannons. That means no Termagants, no Exocrines, no Gargoyles (by now you will have figured out this isn't exactly a competitively-minded project...), no Hive Guard, no Harpies, no Venom Cannons or Barbed Stranglers or anything of the sort.

But what is allowed? All melee weapons are allowed, though I will keep boneswords to a minimum as they also stray a bit close to the above 'human-style weapon' that I don't really vibe with. All psychic weapons are allowed. Spine banks, Ravener chest guns, Fleshborer Hives (this is a weapon that exists, though it's easy to forget since it's been incredibly awful for five editions straight), bio-plasma and other mouth weapons, tentaclids and toxic lashes are allowed. And that is basically it!

I have big plans for this one, my friends.

But without further ado, some models to follow below! I am always juggling several projects at once for variety, so this won't be updated at a blazing pace, but I mean to keep it slow and steady until I have just about as many Tyranids as I can fit into my house (which is admittedly less than it sounds, space is a big problem).

First up, Hormagaunts. These are a bit rough (as is the photo, my apologies!) as they were more a quick set of test models/proof of concept. I've since improved their bases, and they'll feature in a proper group shot further down the line.

Next up, Genestealers. For this photo I figured out proper lighting (turns out the fridge is an excellent impromptu lightbox) and also decided on a basing scheme - I'll be using a mix of Sector Mechanicus, Sector Imperialis and Void War bases as my core, with details to solidify the same theme even on base sizes where those three do not offer an option, and a dash of that grey rock to tie them to my other 40k projects.

Genestealers are a real menace of a kit. They look brilliant, but I needed something like six hours, across multiple hobby sessions (if not more - I don't always work with 100% focus...), to clean up all the mould lines. I am a bit obsessive when it comes to mould line and sprue gate cleanup, I really want to be neat, but still. Four arms per model, with bumps, ridges and other organic shapes to make the mould lines trickier to remove? What a mission!

And for the first leader, a Hive Tyrant. Here you can see some of that Dawn of War 2 influence. Quad talons was an iconic loadout from that game, and it's somehow still technically legal in 40k despite being absolutely terrible and you only actually getting two talons per box (luckily I plan on having a Swarmlord and a flyer as well, so I had talons to spare). Out of everything, this somehow survived the great purge of "wargear options not coming out of the box". Beats me, but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth!

This model was a bit of an eye-opener to paint. The contrast and drybrush approach works excellently on the little bugs, but the big monsters will need more shade work to bring out the depth, I think, and the black talons in particular will need more careful highlighting. Still, I am happy with the model!

Fun trivia, when I planned this project, I thought about the colours first. I wanted magenta skin, as Doomfire Magenta is one of my absolute favourite colours and I tend towards dark schemes in my projects, so here I wanted something different. Colour wheel suggested bright green to go with it, but Hive Fleet Watermelon wasn't quite the theme I was going for, so I settled for dark blue (Celestium Blue is another excellent paint).

So sat down, test painted a Hormagaunt, aaand... that's Behemoth. Yep. That was Behemoth, right there.

And that's how Yaoguai became a Behemoth offshoot! Fitting really, considering the theme I had in mind, yes? Happy little accidents.

They look nice, and I like that you have a theme for the army. Any games scheduled for these lads yet?

 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
They look nice, and I like that you have a theme for the army. Any games scheduled for these lads yet?

This is primarily a hobby project, something somewhat reinforced by me largely disagreeing with the direction 10th edition has taken, but I do have something special in mind.

People over on the Goonhammer site developed a special co-op PvE mode of 40k based around Tyranids, which looks incredibly fun and a very unique way to play. My project is very much intended to play in this format.

Just gave it a read, that's really cool. I haven't got nids of my own but I'm sure that can be done with orks if I'm too bored someday!

I'm astonished by the quantity and quality of fanmade material.

So, playing solo or coop in your case?

Co-op, in my case! I have friend who plays Adeptus Mechanicus, and who has his own Tyranids he can contribute to the game mode.

Good times ahead then!

Another ten Hormagaunts done (and more Rippers - I do the accompanying Rippers each time but I'll do a post with all of them together further down the line).

These guys were very much a process. My old trusty drybrush finally died and I had to get used to a new one, so much of the highlights were kinda messy this time, and it's a constant endeavour to balance wanting to put in effort vs needing to eventually put the brush down since I plan on 50+, maybe even 100 of these guys.

Moreover, because I had some fancy bases to use, I thought I'd remove all the ground clutter that 10th edition Tyranids have around their feet to show more of said bases. Well, unfortunately said clutter is there for a reason - it proved difficult to remove it without leaving the remaining foot too small, and the resulting contact point surely was. The next batch will have to have their ground clutter intact, it is what it is. Still, ten more is ten more and they do the job - many more to come!

Next up - Leapin' makes me feel good...

And that's Leapers done! I am especially happy with the far-left one.

This unit was a bit of an exception. As a hobbyist, I usually sternly evade ever repeating a monopose model. I love these guys, as complex as they are to paint, so I decided to actually get 2x3. At the same time, I experimented with a new skin tone that uses more shading. The result is quite a bit darker, which is fine on these as they are stealthy ambushers, but for future models I'll try veering more towards recess shading rather than washing to avoid tinting the magenta too much, and I'll stick with my old strategy for future Hormagaunts for consistency.

No more posts for a while now - we're renovating the cellar which means clearing out the hobby room. But when it's done, I think I'll treat myself to something nice...

It's a hobby update, my friends!

You know that cellar renovation I mentioned? They said it would take a month.

It didn't take a month. It took four.

Anyway, I am back in the swing of things! And that means more models to post. We're starting off with some Raveners! Old models these, they show their age with soft details, overly thick claws, and faces that don't look good from many angles. Tricky to highlight! But I love them anyway. Back in Dawn of War II, these guys (when given chest devourers) were anti-infantry ranged powerhouses, and you could make an entire ranged build around buffing up a few units of them to melt the opponent. Good times.

After the Raveners I did, you guessed it, more Hormagaunts! We're up to thirty now. These are a middle ground between the previous two, I decided to keep the clutter around their feet intact and instead added more rubble and rock to show them being in a more ruined area of the nebulously technological environment.

You might rightly wonder if painting so many doesn't get dreadfully samey, with them being monopose models with minimal options (a few of them can do a head swap, but that's it). And you'd be right to wonder, since I do dislike repeating monopose models in my projects. But it turns out, you can mix the models up far more than the instructions suggest!

Some extremely minimal knife work resulted in this model, which is meant to be built with the same pieces every time (no options!) looking very different. Left is my first unit, and right is the third and latest.




As you can see, my painting strategy also develops a lot as the project goes on. But aside from perhaps going back to add some recess shading to my Hive Tyrant (it deserves it), I don't tend to go back and tinker with models I have already finished. They are all part of the journey and tell a story from beginning to end. (Besides, I am not a fast painter, and repainting units would make actually completing projects a much more challenging prospect...)

And last but certainly not least... Norn Assimilator.

Ho boy.

I told myself I'd go all out on this one, really give it what it deserves, since it's essentially (albeit not literally) a character model.

It didn't work out that way. It turns out a model of this size is a lot. A lot a lot. I made a right mess of it, it deserves so much better. I was sloppy all over the place. It still easily took me more than 25 hours to paint despite that. Ouch!

I learned many lessons from this, which will come in handy when I eventually paint an Emissary as well - that should come near the end of the project. But I am so ready to paint something else now. This was a beast.

Really nice pieces pal, kudos on finding the courage to knife work these gaunts because starting to slash here and there such expensive models is always a bit intimidating.

Love the cluster at the back of the Norn also!

Next up, a little morsel - Neurogaunts!

Small and fiddly, so still took about 17 hours. I think I'll do a monster next.

Look at how small and cute they are!

looking nice! almost deserves a boop

Hobby update! I am still working on this project, but I am making sure to also paint other projects in between for variety so I don't burn out - no more than two units from the same faction in a row!

Today I bring monsters. Psychophage, and Carnifexes! The Psychophage was a clean affair, it's extremely monopose so I could never imagine doing more than one, but it was pleasant enough. The seam wasn't too bad to fix, and the detail is crisp as you would expect from a modern kit.

The Carnifexes are a wholly different story. Very far from my best unit, the kit is ancient so much of the detail is pretty soft and I didn't sweat it too much on trying to get sharp definition on everything. At least they were pretty painless to paint otherwise. The mould lines, though, oh boy... They are showing their age there. At least if you can manage these you are ready for anything Forge World can throw at you. Some of those mould lines looked more like the rougher end of resin mould slips than they do "mould lines" as you usually would imagine them, and the hip joints are gnarly. The teeth in particular were pure suffering.

I have an enormous soft spot for these models despite the jank though, I know a new kit wouldn't even have half so many options, and it's as iconic as ever even if it no longer towers over Dreadnoughts like it used to. I am happy to have them! I know talon + claw has never been very optimal, but it was the obvious choice considering the theme of my project and how iconic the meleefex of Dawn of War II is.

Side note, is it normal to spend like 10 hours per unit just cleaning mould lines? I do not feel like I am being overly obsessive, it takes work and care to get sprue gates smooth and clean especially on heavily curved surfaces and it looks rather hideous when painted if you neglect it, but it really does feel like drudgery at times and I am seeing people claim they somehow get models from sprue to table in 20 minutes which to me sounds like abject sorcery.

I did also go back and add improved recess shading to the Hive Tyrant I posted at the start, it always bothered me that I neglected it originally. I've no pictures yet but I think it looks far less flat now.