Monthly Archives: June 2016

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Early Draft List for Upcoming Tournament

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I mentioned last week that I’m registered to participate in a tournament on August 20. Time is ticking down and I’ve been pondering list building quite a bit.

The most interesting part of building this list is the rule that only troops are scoring. To that end, I am putting WAY more troops than usual.

Astra Militarum is not known for being very mobile, or durable, so I’m hoping the dedicated transports help buff my “squishy” infantry squads.

I have only two Psykers in this army. I worry I may be a little lean in this department. Though, part of me wonders if I’d be better off losing the Primaris and taking another infantry squad.

But, with only troops scoring and no allies, I don’t have to worry about super-heavies.

Section of my Astra Militarum Army
Section of my Astra Militarum Army. Not exactly as will be fielded.

Combined Arms Detachment: Astra Militarum [1500 Points]

HQ

Company Command Squad, Company Commander, two Veterans with Plasma Guns, Medic, Astropath, Master of Ordanance, Officer of the Fleet, Chimera with Dozer Blade and Heavy Stubber [246]

Primaris Psyker [50]

Techpriest Engiseer with two Servitors [60]

Ministorum Priest [25]

Ministorum Priest [25]

Commissar [25]

 

Troops

Veteran Squad, Veteran Sergeant with Boltgun, two Veterans with Meltagun, Chimera with Dozer Blade and Heavy Flamer [138]

Infantry Platoon [453]

-Platoon Command Squad, Platoon Commander with Boltgun and Melta Bombs, Melta, Heavy Flamer

-Infantry Squad, Sergeant with Boltgun and Melta Bombs, Autocannon, Chimera

-Infantry Squad, Sergeant with Boltgun, Flamer, Autocannon, Taurox

-Conscript Squad (50 models)

 

Fast Attack

Vendetta [170]

 

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Exterminator with Lascannon and Heavy Bolter Sponsors [160]

Wyvern [65]

Hydra [70]

 

There are 7 tanks and a flyer on this list, which I think is pretty mighty.

Everything on this list is already built except the two autocannons, one ministorum priest, and the 50 (!!) conscripts. That could be a long and tedious process, but any conscripts I don’t finish can probably be replaced with some other units I have left behind.

And, regrettably, I’m leaving  a lot of units behind. No Temptestus Scions / Stormtroopers, 2 Leman Russes, 2 Hellhounds, 2 Sentinels, bullgryns, ratlings, rough riders, Basilisk, several techpriests and servitors, and special characters Creed and Nork Deddog.

I’m considering switching the Commissar for a Lord Commissar to give the conscripts squad some heft.

image

Let’s see how many models I get done in time and then I’ll re-evaluate this list.

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Escher Juve with Flamer

I got this model from eBay quite a while ago. She’s from the Necromunda game, specifically the Escher all-female gang. She was labelled on the tab as “juve” which I assumed meant juvenile or young person.

Image of painted Escher Juve model from Lexicanum
Image of painted Escher Juve model from Lexicanum

I have very few female models in my army, so I felt compelled to add more.

Her original model has her holding some sort of autopistol. I decided I wanted to make her as useful and flexible as possible, so I wanted her armed so that she could be used as an Inquisitional Acolyte or a guards(wo)man. So that end, I decided to replace her autopistol with a flamer. I borrowed the flamer from a commissar model I haven’t finsihed yet, and Commissar’s can’t use flamer’s anyways, so this worked out nicely.

Escher Juve from Necromunda below, and a Commissar's flamer arm I will graft onto her
Escher Juve from Necromunda below, and a Commissar’s flamer arm I will graft onto her

I wanted to give her a paintjob similar to the rest of my guardsmen so she’d fit in. To that end, she has a black shirt (flakk jacket?), administratum grey pants, and her knee-high boots are black.

 

Finished model with flamer
Model with flamer almost finished

 

Female Guardsman or Inquisition Acolyte with flamer
Female Guardsman or Inquisition Acolyte with flamer

 

Female Guardsman or Inquisition Acolyte with flamer (back)
Female Guardsman or Inquisition Acolyte with flamer (back)

She’s also really tiny. Most guardsmen look similar in size to Space Marines, but they totally dwarf her.

Considering that guardsmen (and guardswomen) and Inquisitorial Acolytes have a ballistic skill of only 3, the auto-hit nature of template weapons is very appealing.

I’ll probably make sure to include her in my army for the upcoming tournament.

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Tournament August 20!

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I was musing in a recent post about my massive backlog of models to paint. I was a little unfocused and unmotivated considering I had SO many models for potentially 3 different armies. Well, signing up for a tournament will certainly focus somebody really quickly!

Banner for the Lords of War 40k "Classic" Tournament
Banner for the Lords of War 40k “Classic” Tournament

I keep abreast of recent Warhammer 40k news mostly through Facebook groups. Someone was nice enough to share this event on Facebook about an event close to home! I’m excited that I’ll be joining this Lords Of War Tournament, the 40k Classic on August 20.

I haven’t played much 7th edition Warhammer 40k at all, so I’m a little intimidated by the gaming scene in general. I like that the rules for this tournament are “classic” style, with limitations to one Codex only, no formations, no special rules, and troops scoring only. There is much less chance of funny shenanigans and loads of ridiculous stacking special rules.

I’ll be participating in the 1500 points, singles, single codex event on Saturday. It looks like I’ll have four six-turn games.

Because it’s single codex, no special characters, and only troop scoring, running an Inqusition Army is regrettably out of the question.  So, all my Inquisition painting goes on the backburner for now.

I would have liked to field my Space Marines, but I have a lot left to paint. Regrettably, I don’t have the latest Codex, I’m working off of 6th edition, so that would be an additional cost too. And the rules against formations and detachments make them seem less appealing.

Which leaves me with my good old Imperial Guard Astra Militarum! And I’m quite okay with that. I have more than enough points to field 1500 points. Perhaps too many points.  That points limit gets hit pretty quickly. And I don’t have much experience playing so I’m not sure what are the most effective points investments. I’d love to run all tanks, but I need to conserve points for troops for scoring units. I’m tempted to try to build a lot of infantry models before the tournament to flood the field.

There are some absolutes I really want to field, like my recently finished Vendetta gunship, and all four of my dedicated transports. And a recently-built Wyvern. And certainly a company command squad with my Regimental advisers.

I have about two months to get my army ready. Onwards!

My Astra Militarum on display, preparing for deployment
My Astra Militarum on display, preparing for deployment
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Warhammer FOMO

So, just last week I reported that I have about 150 models in my backlog to finish, BUT, I can’t help but feel like I want, or NEED to buy more! I feel like I have the typical millennial Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) for certain models, bundles, or even Armies!

Many months ago, I was immediately interested when I heard about the re-release of Lost Patrol. It’s a standalone game that is a nice gateway into Warhammer 40k, and comes with some Tyranid Genestealers and a squad of Space Marine Scouts. I could always use more Space Marine Scouts, which are a great unit in general.

Games Workshop’s Lost Patrol

The Genestealers in this box got me thinking though. If I had 11 Genestealers, could that be the start of a Tyranid army?! All of my models are human Imperials (Space Marines, Astra Militarum, Inquisition). Though it’s not unusual to think of humans of the Imperium fighting and killing each other, I feel like they need an enemy, a “bad guy” to fight. And a ruthless alien invasion seemed appropriate.

Start Collecting! Tyranids Boxed Set

That makes the Start Collecting: Tyranids box set seem so tempting. With the Genestealers as troops, the rest of this box fills out a pretty terrifying army. Making the Hive Tyrant as a Flying Monsterous Creature actually seems really awesome! It’s like a flying alien dragon!

Flying Hive Tyrant! Like a flying alien dragon!

After getting interested in Tyranids, I was looking at other neat things in their arsenal, and I happened upon the Tervigon. It constantly produces more units throughout the battle! This ugly mamma keeps producing more termigants as the battle progresses. That’s alien and terrifying! And tactically quite interesting…

Tyranid Tervigon that keeps producing units!

But, buying and building such Tyranids would be very financially and time-consuming. I mean, a whole new army…

But, the Start Collecting: Skiitarii box catches my eye too. Their like steampunk robots! What’s not to like!? The heavily mechanized nature of this box and army really suit my interests.

Start Collecting Skitarii box from Games Workshop

Or what about the Start Collecting Militarum Tempestus box! I’m actually rather fond of my current Taurox, and adding another to the fray for a mere 50 points sounds lovely. And the more I read about Tempestus Scions the more I want to field them. With the correct supplement, I could field a whole army of JUST scions in Taurox Primes. And the sprues come with enough parts for me to customize and upgrade quite a few of my guardsmen into Scions or “Stormtroopers” too.

Start Collecting Militarum Tempestus set!

 

But, no more buying until after I’ve cleared my backlog. Then I’ll head down one of these paths.. or another path. We’ll see what suits my fancy by then.

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No More Buying; Clear the Backlog

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I made a New Year’s Resolution at the beginning of 2015 not to buy any more more Warhammer models until I cleared out my backlog. I obviously didn’t follow that. But, with my cash flow now considerably constrained, and the piles and piles of unfinished models I have, I think I’ll finally stick to this resolution.

And I do have A LOT of models left to do:

I was quite happy to snag a lot of Adeptus Arbites models off of eBay. Regrettably, and embarrassingly, I’ve only painted one! I’m still musing about converting them to holding storm bolters, or even lasguns or shotguns so they can be fielded as Astra Militarum Veterans with the Grenadiers doctrine. But, I think they will look sharp all painted and together.

18 Adeptus Arbites models to be completed
18 Adeptus Arbites models; 17 to be completed

And I have a Rhino hull I plan which I plan to put a Chimera roof on and make it into a Repressor for the above Arbites models.  I can essentially use the Inquisition Chimera rules and have a Heavy Bolter and pintle-mounted heavy flamer!

Rhino hull with Chimera Roof I plan to model as a Repressor
Rhino hull with Chimera Roof I plan to model as a Repressor

 

I have a rather miscellaneous pile of Inquisition models to finish:

  • Female Inquisitor
  • Four (4) Death Cult Assassins
  • Crusader
  • Munitorum Priest
  • Sisters of Battle Hospotalier (who I’ll probably convert to another Death Cult Assassin)
  • Escher Juve (from Necromunda)
  • Escher with two guns (who I’ll probably make into an Astra Militarum Sergeant)
Assorted Inquisition Models
Assorted Inquisition Models

I’m actually quite looking foward to finishing the Death Cult Assassins. They’ll be a nice Close-Combat counterpart to my rather “shooty” Astra Militarum army. And the Crusader (along with my previous two Crusaders) should be able to tank some wounds for them.

And the female Inquisitor model is really badass. The Hellgun is not that impressive (Heavy 1, S6, AP3), but I could replace it with a plasma pistol, or storm bolter, or something really exotic like a conversion beamer!

 

I also have 19 Chaos Cultists that would have been part of a Dark Vengeance Box Set. There were 20 but one became a techpriest. I’m not sure if I’ll make them as Astra Militarum conscripts or just a mass of Inquisition acolyte bodies.

19 Chaos Cultists, mostly still on sprue
19 Chaos Cultists, mostly still on sprue

 

As for Astra Militarum Models: I have A LOT

  • Enough legs to make 51 guardsmen models!
  • Includes 6 heavy weapon bases and parts for a variety of special and heavy weapons
The "to do" pile. Rather large and regrettably daunting
The “to do” pile. Rather large and regrettably daunting

 

 

Commissar Yarrick model new in blister with book about Yarrick
Commissar Yarrick model new in blister with book about Yarrick

I also have a new in blister Commissar Yarrick model! That character deserves a good, careful paint job.

 

Five 90's stormtroopers
Five 90’s stormtroopers

And, still going with Astra Militarum:

Work in progress of 3 of my 7 Tempestus Scions
Work in progress of 3 of my 7 Tempestus Scions

And, A LOT of Space Marines

  • 7 Space Marine Bikes
  • 1 Chapter Master from Dark Vengeance Kit (to be librarian)
  • 6 Space Marine Scouts
  • 1 Sergeant from Dark Vengeance
  • 3 Space Marines with Lascannons
Space Marine Devastators with Lascannons in progress
Space Marine Devastators with Lascannons in progress
  • 1 Space Marine with heavy weapon (to be lascannon)
  • 1 Space Marine with heavy bolter
  • 1 Space Marine with Missile Launcher
  • 8 Space Marines with Boltguns from Dark Vengeance
  • 2 Sergeants
  • 5 Terminators
  • Dreadnought
  • Rhino/Razorback
  • Dreadnought Drop pod!
Dreadnought drop pod to be completed
Dreadnought drop pod to be completed

I’m SO close to being done my Land Raider.

 

A grand total of 148 models to finish!

Yeah, adding it all up, I REALLY don’t need to buy any more…

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Custom Dwarf Techpriest and more!

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Much of my Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard) army is mechanized, and that’s the way I like it. But keeping with the theme and fluff, having such a vehicle-heavy army, they would need quite a crew to maintain it. In come the Techpriest Engiseers! I mused openly about my lone techpriest in this post, but I thought it was time he had some support.

I considered buying the new Techpriest model, but I wasn’t too excited about it. I wanted something unique.

So, I got this  model from eBay of a Dwarf Runesmith. It’s for Warhammer Fantasy Battles, but the eyepiece makes him look rather steampunk already.

eBay image of Dwarf Runesmith I purchased
eBay image of Dwarf Runesmith I purchased

Dwarves in general are an interesting topic in Warhammer 40k. The Eldar are obvious proxies for fantasy elves (and by extension Dark Elves –> Dark Eldar). In earlier editions of Warhammer 40k there were references to Squats, the future equivalent of fantasy dwarves. But they weren’t well-received and aren’t supported in current literature. But, they technically do exist in the universe, and it would make sense that a Squat could go to Mars and become a vested tech-priest!

 

The image below shows a mechanized White Dwarf which I used as my inspiration.

Example White Dwarf Techpriest (image source)
Example White Dwarf Techpriest (image source)

 

Converting this model was part of the fun. I took a few servo-arms off of a Master of The Forge techmarine model I had, and another servo-arm off of a servitor I converted to hold a plasma cannon. I used all of those bits and a Vox-Caster backpack (and A LOT of super glue) to create a servo arm.

Next, I stole a power-axe from a techpriest to replace the dwarf’s axe.

Finally, there was a wrench hanging out of a backpack of a Chaos cultists in the Dark Vengeance set. So I carefully modelled that so it looks like he’s holding the wrench in a zealous mechanic kind of way.

 

 

Partially converted Dwarf Techpriest
Partially converted Dwarf Techpriest

In the end, with the white beard and red robes, he actually wound up looking a lot like Santa Claus.

Nearly final product Squat Techpriest Engiseer!
Nearly final product Squat Techpriest Engiseer!

 

Squat Techpriest Engiseer
Squat Techpriest Engiseer

 

Dwarf Techpriest Engiseer (back)
Dwarf Techpriest Engiseer (back)

 

 

But, he isn’t alone. I converted a Chaos Cultist from the Dark Vengeance set to another techpriest.

The process was very similar: I used a vox-caster for the backpack, the searchlight is off of a vehicle kit, and the servo-arm is a combination of a lot of bits.

 

Chaos Cultists converted to Techpriest Engiseer
Chaos Cultists converted to Techpriest Engiseer

 

Chaos Cultists converted to Techpriest Engiseer (side)
Chaos Cultists converted to Techpriest Engiseer (side)

 

Chaos Cultists converted to Techpriest Engiseer (other side)
Chaos Cultists converted to Techpriest Engiseer (other side)

He actually bears a striking resemblance to the Games Workshop Techpriest.

Chaos Cultists converted to techpriest (left), and stock Techpriest from Games Workshop (right)
Chaos Cultists converted to techpriest (left), and stock Techpriest from Games Workshop (right)

 

And, to round out their team, I finally finished the servitors.

Servitors

Servitors

 

Servitors (back)
Servitors (back)

Now, with a few servitors, they’re one big family:

 

Techpriests and servitors
Techpriests and servitors

 

Techpriests and servitors with the tanks they support
Techpriests and servitors with the tanks they support

 

I expect to use this unit quite happily in games. But, they also look really cool together just for display. The red really stands out against the grey of my army.