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Like GW bundle boxes it’s a great deal *IF* you want most of the content. As I have the indominus box already (which makes up a chunk of the marines) and have no interest in the necrons or other imperial factions, it was a bit of a non-starter.

The to-prime box is very full. I need the nice weather. Fingers crossed.

Work has been very ugly, so not a lot of progress this week. Got 3/5 of the guys their second blue coats. Hopefully get some more done and maybe even finished this weekend.

Agreed. This week has been a mess so far. Also holding out hope that the weekend bears painted fruit.

Good to read your review on the Painting Challenge for another year Nev, really cranking out the minis! Cool to see your build of Eldritch Omens, it's a lovely set and I've just started painting mine. I didn't go for magnetising my Autarch in the end.

Ultras are coming along nicely as well!

Some ramblings for the morning while the coffee jitters wear down so I can start painting.

Weather is warm, snow is melting, but grey and raining today, so no priming. Soon.

So the Tyranid codex is leaked out on the web, lot of changes. Now I’m building more for theme than power, so the min/max minutia is something I’m not overly concerned with, but I do want a legal force that could hold it’s own. Some of the big changes that happened was FOC slots moving around. Both genestealers and rippers left the troop slot, while gargoyles joined it. I can still muster 3 troop picks (termagaunts, hormagaunts, gargoyles) but there are a few issues. One is that termagaunts can now only be monogun, so no 50/50 split. Also devourers were nerfed hard. The other issue is that both my stabby and flappy boys are min 10 man squads, so feel a little anemic filling troop slots. Gargs might be fine with that, I think they are more of a table corner/action monkey unit than a combat threat. And even though the hormagaunts got more lethal, I do think I need more.

Flyrant took a bit of a nerf. No Model, No Rules rearing it’s ugly head again. While it still gets some claw attacks if it takes a gun, they are kinda pathetic for it’s points/size. Might need to paint up a bonesword. Also seriously considering a foot version, which could be a duel build with the swarmlord. The extra arms not being used for wings lets it have both quality CC and shooting. It also gets a point of T and armor over it’s flying cousin.

Genestealers moved to elite and lost the advance/charge thing, but gained infiltrate. Head options became less relevant, but are still free. Oddly, the unit size is 5-10, despite them being on sprues of 4. I think I originally had plans to build extras to flesh out each half of my types to 12 each, but 10 it is I guess. I’m not doing a lot with my Elite slots, and we generally get plenty of them, so it’s more of them not being troops anymore that bugs me.

Heavy support seems kinda crowded. The hive guard got moved in, but the trygon moved to FA. Biovore/Exocrine/HG/Carnefex all going to be fighting for space. Not like I need to field them all at once, but I can’t put everyone in the same detachment.

FA again with guys shuffling around. Gargs out, Trygon and Rippers in. My collection is less focused on them, so not the traffic jam that the HS spot is. That said, I need to grab the parasite, which will take up a slot here.

My overall army goal is to have the classic swarm look. Horde of little guys, backed up by a few medium node monsters, with the Boss Monster for each line. I’m doing pretty good, with a few gaps. Getting the parasite will give me a medium flyer, and some warriors will help the mainline tyranids. Raveners would help fill out the snake line. Still want some zoenthropes for aliens psychic weirdness.

So, the plan:
Things to buy (pretty much in this order):
Codex
Parasite (Midsized flappy, fast synapsse)
Combat patrol (I want another tyrant for foot, the warriors, and another solid block of gants. Might not need 36 more, but at least a dozen or two, so why not the CP box?)
Hormagaunts (the dozen I have just doesn’t seem swarmy enough)
Zoenthropes

Lower priority things I’d like to have
Raveners (2 boxes?)
2nd box of Zoes.
Warriors (3 from the CP box might not be enough)

Build:
Stabby arms for the Flyrant. Probably the bonesword. She’s magnetized, so not hard.
Evaluate the Dakkafex build. Is it worth using them as a platform for mid-S shooting anymore? Or just field them as OOE and a SK.
Finish building the stealers I have. This will give me 2x10 bug squads, with a bunch of spares.
Clean up old metal gargs. I don’t want to buy another box of plastic ones, but the squad could be a bit larger.
Clean up old tyrant on foot. Probably works better as a Warrior Prime at today’s scale, but I could use one of those.
Evaluate old shattered wrecks of plastic warriors to see if they can be salvaged.





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WIP. Put the blue ink down on 3, other two still need their second basecoat of blue. As do all the arms. But I can start the edge highlights on these and get them moving.

Finished building a stealer. One more clipped in parts, and then another frame of 4 to finish off the squad.

Heck of an analysis. Looks like you'll adapt (heh, Tyranid evolution puns) to the shuffling well enough.

Waiting for the actual book and not just the leaks before making firm plans. Plus there is the whole Pile of Shame neutrality thing I’m aiming for with them. Kinda want to lay everyone out on a table, with gaps for things I’d like to have, just to see the shape of the swarm. That can wait till we have a better picture. Going to be an expensive year, but I knew that.

But the tax returns were good to me this year, so the hobby budget does have some flex. Although houses are holes in the ground that you poor money into, so the hobby is not the only thing with an eye on that cash.

Eldar codex showed up, started thumbing through it. Need to sit down and do a cover to cover read. But also need to sit down and paint.



Did the the blues down on the 3 sets of arms. Need to ink them. And start highlighting. Sarge also needs his eyes done.

Work also needs to ease up a little so I have more energy to do things, but not much for that.

Coming along. I look forward to the Tyranid status photo. Good luck with work!

Good progress Nevelon.

Cheers,

CB

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

Put the ink on the arms, and the gloss green on lenses/plasma. Still a lot to do and running out of time. Hopefully I can push through. Need to get at least something across the line.

Previews were cool, but mostly a miss for me. We’ll see if HH grabs me this time round. I’ve got the two prior boxes, so could make a go for it if it takes off. Plus a bucket of RTB01s.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Edit: eyes and edged the sarge. Cleanup pass and he’s done. Barring his arms.

You'll make it. You always do. And your entries are always pretty good even if they don't get as many votes as they probably should (we're in the same boat on that one).

Regarding HH, it seems like it would be right up your alley. I know you'll want to get your hands on some Mark VI armor for your Smurfs!

 ZergSmasher wrote:
You'll make it. You always do. And your entries are always pretty good even if they don't get as many votes as they probably should (we're in the same boat on that one).

Regarding HH, it seems like it would be right up your alley. I know you'll want to get your hands on some Mark VI armor for your Smurfs!

I think my consistency is actually hurting me. I’ve entered so many Ultras I suspect voters are just blasé about them. More of the same, nothing to see here, next. I know I pass on voting on some of the top guys just because while amazing, it’s nothing I’ve not seen from them before. So I vote for the up and comers, or people I know are pushing themselves, even if they fall a little short. The usual suspects hit the podium anyway.

I’d like to bring my Ultras up to legion strength, but honestly it’s more of a budget thing. And the odds of actually getting games in. How much do I want to spend on more things that are just going to warm the shelf? Especially as I’ve got a ton of bolter boys there already.

Not ruling it out. We’ll see.

The captain is and his patrol are overdue. Multiple hostile forces in the sector. Tau cadre receiving supplies near the captain’s last location, investigate and terminate.


Fast moving, hard hitting advance recon in force.


Fireblade, fire warriors, breachers, stealth suits, vespid.

Mission is supply drop, I have the first turn.

Incursors and breachers hiding in the back behind buildings.

Turn one I surge forward and unload into the filthy xenos. Many frisbees give their lives for the Greater Good. It may have been a mistake to focus on the stealth suits and ignore the breachers, but the position of the objective made it hard to be able to claim it and shoot them. Easier to get the boots on the prize and use the ignore cover/mods on the stealth, which did both. Some pretty crappy rolling overall on my part. Failed to get the litany off, and failed a charge with the bikes, even with a re-roll.


I’ve got all the objectives, but am a bit exposed.

On his turn he deletes the phobos marines and shoots up the bikes, killing one and wounding another.

Turn 2 starts with me scoring 2 of the objectives. In tactical docrine, so the supressors don’t need to deal with -1 to hit and are in range for both the chaplain’s litany of fire and the Lt’s aura. Their cannons reach out and sweep most of the fire warriors from their building in a spray of explosive gore.

Meanwhile, the bikes continue to disappoint. Their fire might have done a little work, but again, not able to get into melee. I forget if they died in overwatch, failed their charge, or what. Not doing their job, that’s for sure.

His turn things start to get real ugly for out heroes. The vespid drop down on the middle objective and cash out the suppressors. It’s a pair of glass hammers fighting. While the suppressors can dish out the pain, they take punches just like a basic marine, and the vespid are packing the right tool for that job. His breachers do some tau agenda thing on their objective. Lt. takes some hits once the troopers are dead.

My turn I’ve got my characters left, and they are MAD. They both charge into the vespid, and systematically butcher the winged aliens. A few survive the carnage, and when the dust settles one is still in combat with the marines.

On his turn the lone vespid flees combat, and heads to the objective in the ruins that I was holding. Incoming fire drops the Lt and gets some wounds past the rosarius. But the chaplain stands defiant.



“Do I need to kill all these xenos myself?” The chaplain says as he casually looks over his shoulder and puts a mass-reactive round from his absolver bolt pistol into the last of the winged vespid, splattering it’s internal organs across the ruins. He than shifted his glare to the shimmering forms of stealth fields that were unable to find cover to blend with. “Nowhere for you to hide now.” Benediction of Fury in hand, litany of hate on his lips, it was time to show the stealth suits the fury of the emperor.

So up until this point I’d not actually killed any units. That changed this turn. I used the UM strat to make one attack auto-hit, and pulped the last vespid. Stealth suits might be filled with lies and deceit, but against the wrath of a vengeful chaplain, nothing could avail them.


If I need to describe what happened next, you’ve obviously never played Tau.

Tabled bottom of turn 4, victory Tau.

Later, as the main body of the marine force arrives at the battlefield...
“He's still alive! Someone get the apothecary over here.”
“Forget him” the chaplain said. “Bring me a techmarine; I’m going to need a new skull. This one has served me well, but might not be up to the task anymore. And there are Tau that need killing in the area”

So new paint (which was everyone):
Incursors I probably misused. Forward deployed without support. Can’t really fault them for being shot off the table by tau.
Supressors can put down the fire, but are crazy fragile. I probably should have kept them in reserve. Coming in T2, in tac doctrine they can move and fire w/o issue. Did not help that I didn't really have a lot of options for other things to shoot at when the vespid dropped.
Bikes had a lot of dice failure based issues. Part of that is being fast and outside support range. I maybe should have blown more CP on them to help. Little disappointing.
Lt. did OK. Was able to buff the suppressors. Probably should have DS’d him next to the incursors, not that they lived into T2. Would prefer to have the infiltrating one, but the stupid phobos Lt. datasheets...
Chaplain was the MVP of the game. Got my only kills. Not happy with the litanies failing 1/3 of the time. Classically their advantage over other buffers (mostly libs) was that while not as powerful or useful, their buff was more focused but reliable. Still, he’s a blender in combat (helped by a WL trait and a relic) and caused some harm.

So when doing the post battle stuff, the chaplain rolled poorly and picked up a battle scar. He also got enough XP to level up. I burned the RP I got from the battle to heal the wound, and the battle honor to give him artisan bionics. So now he has +1S and a 5+++ ignore wounds check. And a grudge against Tau...

Feeling the lack of bodies in this list. Might need to swap things around a bit to get more boots on the ground.
--

Some paint:

2 guys done, barring bases and decals. One guy just needs blue highlights (arms are done) and touchup. 2 guys ready for ink. Arms need the second blue. Getting there.

Fun report. Looking forward to more from the chaplain. Nearly there on the latest boys. Need to finish up, myself.

 youwashock wrote:
Fun report. Looking forward to more from the chaplain. Nearly there on the latest boys. Need to finish up, myself.

At some point the chaplain is going to swap his phobos armor for full mk. X tacticus. Mostly so I can the indominus one to the table as well. The one with half a bionic head. Now we know why.

Got the last of the blue ink down this morning. Edges and highlights next, plus cleanup. Need to get moving quicker. Might forgo my lunchtime walk to get more layers down.

Edit: blue edged one of the marines, all the arms over lunch.

Edit2:
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And on to basing.

Great batrep and that Chaplain did good. Too bad he was a little bit let down by the other troops.

 Viterbi wrote:
Great batrep and that Chaplain did good. Too bad he was a little bit let down by the other troops.

Some of that was on me, other parts on the dice. Some was just how the battle unfolded. Trying to figure out how to change up my list. Not sure how much AV firepower I need at this point level. There is a dread kicking around, and some DG terminator guys, but no real tanks. Might be able to skimp a bit and just go for more light guns. The suppressors need more saturation if they are going to live. They are such a clear-cut fire magnet.

The bikes might work if they could have got the charge. Or some support. I need to grab that bike chaplain just to keep a HQ with them. Wish we had other options for mobility primaris HQs. Not that there is anything wrong with the bike chaplain, I do covet him. But he’s it.

In painting news I put the flock down on the marines. Decals left, and then photo shoot time.

Edit: done. Just the pics to do.

Edit2: put the second blue on one of the riflemen. Would like to finish that squad before the end of the month.

Took pics over lunch, but didn’t do the collage yet. Off to the YTD shelf. Hopefully to be joined by some other stuff before I do my Q1 review.

That's a charge for Macragge, right there. Nice stuff. It is a small thing, but the snow on the sarge's legs really helps sell the motion and setting.

 youwashock wrote:
That's a charge for Macragge, right there. Nice stuff. It is a small thing, but the snow on the sarge's legs really helps sell the motion and setting.

Dirty little secret: the snow on the legs is mostly just held on by static from the swish in the flock from basing. I guess if I wanted to make it more permanent, I could take a pin with some glue and just dot a few spots on the legs. I agree that it really helps tie everything together.

So here is the formal pic:


Going to crash now, long day.

Nicely done on those Assault guys; who cares if they are the push-fit ones, they still look good and are fun to paint. Looking forward to your Q1 report!

 ZergSmasher wrote:
Nicely done on those Assault guys; who cares if they are the push-fit ones, they still look good and are fun to paint. Looking forward to your Q1 report!

The issue with push fits is that because they are in less parts, you often get more chonky undercuts or transition blur where there should be crisp edges (shoulder pad rims are a good example of this). Also, generally harder to modify, but if you are just building them stock, not an issue. But these guys from the indominus box were great. Minimal undercut issues, and the arms/head are easy swaps.


(I need better lighting on the YTD shelf)

So a quarter of the way through the year, not doing too bad. 13 models, which is a little behind the curve, but I’ve got 5 guys and the speeder in assorted stages of WIP, 2 of which are basically finished.

Well on track for the 3rd company project. I wanted to hit 20, and once I finish the guys on the bench, that will be 10. Even if the loiter around for an other quarter, I’d still be on track.
My paint more then I buy goal is about to head straight into the crapper. Just got the notification that my Cursed City box shipped. Once I pick that up I’m going to have to add it to the tally, and there are a lot of minis in there.
I’ve not painted any spare bits. When putting together the new Eldar I made a bunch of the options, and I’m going to start cleaning up some stuff in preparation of the new Nid book. Need to keep up on this.
I started the year painting old stuff to get it out of the way, once I finish the speeder, this goal is set.
Still a good blogger, still keeping the pace.
Good variety so far, need to keep an eye out for what to do for the other options. Probably one of the heroes from the CC box, but maybe I can get the last of the Deathwatch out of the primed pile.
Still going strong on the painting challenge.
Less so for the LoER one. It’s a 2 month cycle, and I said I’d enter, but haven’t started. Some of that is weather based. I need to cut foam, and really want to do that outside, or at least in the garage with the doors open for ventilation. I’d rather not fail, even if I just phone something in.

Overall, on track for my goals. Some I need to work on more, but year is young.

So that’s the old business, on to the new.

Weather today looks like it might be suitable for priming. Which is good; lots of stuff in the box. Including all the new Eldar, some nids, and the gladiator. Hope the rattlecan has enough life in it, if not trip to the hardware store.

Still a crap-ton of stuff on my to-buy list. Going to try to spread it out over the year. No need to just have it sit in the Pile of Shame. That said, I’m probably going to grab a box of shining spears soon, and when the nid book drops get that and the parasite right off the bat. Due to trying to keep the Nids PoS neutral, I want to clear out a lot of what I’ve got. Right now that’s a lot of genestealers. I’ve got 4 being built, and more in the to-prime pile. I think there are just rippers in the ready for paint stage. The local GW store is doing a monster painting comp, so I’ll do my remaining ‘fex for that. Might change his arms around first.

So things to expect in Q2:

Buy Spears, parasite

Finish building 4 stealers
Build/magnetize spare nid arms (venom cannon, boneswords)
Start in on building Cursed City.

Finish painting the 3 ABR guys, decal/base the squad.
Finish painting the speeder. I don’t want that loitering on the bench all summer. I can push through and get it done.
This month for the comp I’m painting my TDA captain.
Two more comp entries for the quarter.
I would like to push through my Nid stocks, so I can grab the combat patrol. 10 stealers, 1 fex, 3 rippers. Should be doable.

Try to keep at the crusade league at the FLGS. Might miss a week, as I’m going to visit my folks for a week for The Boy’s spring break. Which will also impact what I do this month. But the comp goal is only one guy, so doable.


Speaking of which, this guy moved down to the paint bench.

OK, out of coffee, time to get moving. Have a great weekend all.

That Terminator captain is the exclusive Captain Centos figure, is it not? I remember when that came out, and that I mainly passed on it because it didn't look very Dark Angels-y (which obviously isn't a problem for you!). Your production for Q1 is a lot better than mine, although that isn't necessarily saying much (I'm off to a VERY slow start ).

Very excited to see the updated Terminator Captain painted.

ZergSmasher wrote:That Terminator captain is the exclusive Captain Centos figure, is it not? I remember when that came out, and that I mainly passed on it because it didn't look very Dark Angels-y (which obviously isn't a problem for you!). Your production for Q1 is a lot better than mine, although that isn't necessarily saying much (I'm off to a VERY slow start ).

youwashock wrote:Very excited to see the updated Terminator Captain painted.

Cpt. Centos was a different classic captain re-imaged. He had special rules in 7th that let you use the tactical doctrine an extra time, equipped with a bolter/powerfist. This guy I think is the store opening exclusive from 2020. That’s where/when I got him.

I was hoping for a stronger start to the year, but it is what it is. Just paint at whatever pace we can and keep chipping away at the pile of shame.

So I primed about half the box yesterday. Eldar rangers, autarch. Nid carnafex, 6 stealers, GSC cultist. Still need to do the tank, intercessors, shroudrunners. Didn’t get a lot of painting done. Put the blue on another marine and the first coat on the captain. I feel that he needs personal heraldry on his shoulder. It will either be something from the RT painting guide, or based on the quartered scheme from the old mini. Which is what I’m leaning towards.

Not a lot of work this week so far. The squad is ready for ink, arms need reds and the second blue. Layers going down on the captain.

Cleaned a bonesword/lashwhip and HVC for the nids, need magnets. Still have the stealers in blisters waiting for mold lines to be removed.

Slow progress, rough week. Might not get a lot done until the weekend.

Edit:
Put reds on the arms over lunch. Should have been getting exercise, but meh, whatever.

As always, you're doing some fine work on the Ultramarines. I'm looking forward to your UM Captain this month.

I haven't played 40K since 5th Ed, so I'm behind the current meta, but is it normal for the table to have as much open space as in your BatRep? In Frostgrave and Deadzone (the games I play most often), we try to never have fire corridors longer than, say, 6".

 JoshInJapan wrote:
As always, you're doing some fine work on the Ultramarines. I'm looking forward to your UM Captain this month.

I haven't played 40K since 5th Ed, so I'm behind the current meta, but is it normal for the table to have as much open space as in your BatRep? In Frostgrave and Deadzone (the games I play most often), we try to never have fire corridors longer than, say, 6".

No, tables should be more crowded and have more stuff that blocks LoS. These days my FLGS is a one-man GW store that’s only been open a couple years. Not a lot of terrain, and it’s spread over 2 tables (which are generally played as halves) He’s working on getting more done up, but it has to be done the official GW way(tm) which means we can’t just bring in 3rd party stuff.

I should probably tune my list to take advantage of it. Need to rework things anyway.

Went down and got a game in. Dropped the bikes and the Lt, added 2 5 man intercessors squads, one with rifles, the other with ABRs. It was brutal. Assassinate mission, I was the attacker (so went first) and he agressively lined up in the front half of his deployment zone. In this mission, there is only a 10” no-man’s land (he gets a whole half table to deploy in) Needless to say, I rush forward and blow 9/10 of a repentia squad, about half a 10 man BSS squad, and a few of the special weapon sisters off the table with shooting. I charge in and kill the whip mistress with my chaplain and the rest of the sinners with an intercessor squad. Pretty brutal start.

His turn he charges the remnants of his sisters into my intercessors after shooting them a bit, and his HQ joins the fight against my phobos marines on the other side of the table. My chaplain puts down his other support HQ, and I we both loose a few models in the ongoing fights.

Top of turn 2 my chaplain goes over to put down his target, while my ABR guys flub an easy charge to help out their brethren. His HQ has some holy relic armor which stops me from just swatting her down with the chap. Who, by the way, hits like a truck. But the incursors pick up the slack and pull the last wound off her, ending the game.

Victory Ultras.

I felt a little dirty. He deployed poorly, his dice were a little cold, and I just opened up hard. Fist volley was with the ABRs where I burned a Ultra strat to re-roll misses, and used the litany to give them +1 to wound. Vs. T3 repentia. Brrrrrt. Dead sinner bits everywhere. That last one was blessed with grace though. She should have died in the opening salvo, but lucked out with the Emperor’s grace. Then I dedicated 2 riflemen to try to put her down, and she lived. It took knives and riflebuts to finally end her, and her sacrifice helped sheild the characters behind her

Fresh paint was the ABR intercessors, who did just fine shooting, but missed an easy charge. (Which I could have re-rolled with a CP, but the game was ugly, so I just left it) The general plan is for these guys to move up with the chaplain and support him. Which they did.

I actually fielded my indominus chaplain this game, not the phobos one. Time for scouting is over, now it’s time for wrath. Against sisters it wasn’t a big deal that he’s swinging a relic around at S8 6 times on the first round CC, but he should be good for putting the smack down on just about anything.

2 units gained battle honors this game. For their part in the assasination, I gave the free honor for the mission to the incursors, and rolled for fun. The sarge just earned himself terminator honors. Kinda neat. The suppressors rolled up marksmen honors for +1BS which is a little broken, but I’ll gladly take it.

While I was down there I picked up the cursed city box. Going to start reading and looking at the cool models.

Paint is going down, will try to grab a pic later.

Getting flashbacks to 3rd edition, when a charging chaplain was something to be rightly feared.

Cursed City making an appearance is an exciting proposition.