Oh My, That's a Big 'Un

...said the actress to the bishop... ;-)  Anyway, now that I've finished the base, I wanted to post a couple pics of the new addition to Hive Fleet Nostromo - the Hive Queen Bio-Titan.  I had always thought it would be fun to have a giant titan-like model for my Tyranid army, and I really like the Forgeworld Hierophant, but I just can't justify 220GBP for it...


Family portrait: (L-R) Trygon, Carnifex, Genestealer and "Mum"

Enter salvation in the form of an action figure (!).  I was at a local comic shop awhile back and noticed this amazing huge Alien action figure... inquiring, I found out that it was a McFarlane "Movie Maniacs" figure that's out of production.  Of course this is no longer a problem as we have eBay... $35 and a few weeks later a box arrives with the model.  Unfortunately it was the worst packing job I'd ever seen - a few bits of flat styrofoam and a couple pieces of newspaper, packed into a box that was two sizes too small and bulging out at the top.  Result: two busted off arms and after a fashion, a partial refund from the seller.  I pinned the arms, trimmed and textured the base and added some 'nid bits and Rippers, then painted it to match the rest of the army.  The Queen herself required no painting at all, she was conveniently pre-painted the same colour as the rest of my models!

So she will be an adequate stand-in for the Hierophant.  I've even converted, but not yet painted, two bio-cannons to plug into the chest, where the small arms are, to represent the ranged armament of the Hierophant.  Very convenient.  I'm looking forward to wheeling out this 800+ point monster in an Apocalypse game (or as we call them on Fawcett, "a pretty big game of 40K")

Alien Bio-Titan towers over Shadowsword super-heavy tank - Yikes!!

Colonial Marines...and more Eldar?!

I have been avidly following the progress of my fellow Conscripts as they paint like madmen for the Fall Painting Challenge. Up to this point I have not thrown my hat in the ring. However, I may actually get on the leader board in a small way before year's end.

Colonial Marines (from the movie Aliens)

During the swap meet at Dallas' place a couple of weeks ago, I obtained from Conscript MikeF some lead 28mm Colonial Marines that he had painted. The figures clearly represent some of the named characters from the movie, including Sgt. Apone ("There's something in my eye"), Cpl. Hicks ("Eat this!"), Pfc. Hudson ("It's over, man!"), and Pvt. Vasquez ("Let's roooock!").

MikeF executed the camo schemes very well. After I based them on 25mm rounds and shaded them with glazes of Devlin Mud, the figures are 99% done. Below are pictured some of the re-based figs.



Getting these figures was also the impetus for me to finally assemble the Marines' ride - a pewter(!) M-577 APC from Leading Edge that I've had kicking around for over a decade. It didn't go together well at all. Conscript Brian can attest to the amount of filing, sanding and putty I used on the thing. After priming, first stage highlighting, and painting with green spray, the model awaits detailing and weathering.



According to my research on the (fictional) Colonial Marine Corps organization, I have enough figures for three squads. Two of them can be broken down into smartgun teams and pulse rifle teams, plus there's a section Sergeant and a couple of incinerator armed Marines to swap for pulse rifles. With various re-based Aliens and "Hive Fleet Nostromo" provided by MikeF and Dallas, we will have some Marine vs. Aliens action over the Xmas holidays.

Eldar for Astronomi-con 2011

The new Eldar Hornet model from Forge World is a beautiful kit. I already have one from eBay, and I ordered two more from the manufacturer. I contacted the Astronomi-con tournament organizers, and the Hornet experimental rules are OK for use at Astro.

The Hornet is in all ways superior to the Vyper jetbike, for a similar points cost. If the Astro TO's are going to let me field Hornets, I certainly shall.

The main hull and tail is a single piece casting of mostly blemish-free resin. The engine/weapon mounts are another single piece. The Eldar Howling Banshee in the photo below shows the small size of this single-seat, light skimmer tank.



I have also obtained four more Forge World turrets for my Wave Serpent skimmer APCs. They'll be armed with scatter lasers and magnetized to fit the hulls. Below on painting stands are the turrets. Pictured on the right is my new force commander, a female Autarch kitted out with gear from the Howling Banshee and Fire Dragon shrines.



The Autarch started as a pewter Banshee Exarch. Both the Autarch's arms were pinned with brass wire and epoxied into place for strength. Below, the figure has already been primed black and has received its first stage highlighting with a dusting of white.




List

I've come up with the following tournament list (which scores 19/20 for Astro composition):

HQ: Autarch (1#, 93 pts)
1 Autarch (Banshee Mask; Power Weapon; Fusion Gun)

Troops: Dire Avengers (6#, 215 pts)
5 Dire Avengers
1 Wave Serpent (Spirit Stones; Vectored Engines; Shuriken Cannon; TL Scatter Lasers)

Troops: Dire Avengers (6#, 205 pts)
5 Dire Avengers
1 Wave Serpent (Spirit Stones; Vectored Engines; TL Scatter Lasers)

Troops: Dire Avengers (6#, 205 pts)
5 Dire Avengers
1 Wave Serpent (Spirit Stones; Vectored Engines; TL Scatter Lasers)

Elite: Fire Dragons (11#, 305 pts)
10 Fire Dragons
1 Wave Serpent (Spirit Stones; Vectored Engines; TL Scatter Lasers)

Fast Attack: Hornet Squadron (3#, 195 pts)
1 Hornet (2 x Shuriken Cannons)
1 Hornet (2 x Shuriken Cannons)
1 Hornet (2 x Shuriken Cannons)

Fast Attack: Warp Spiders (5#, 137 pts)
4 Warp Spiders
1 Warp Spider Exarch (Powerblades; Death Spinner x2)

Heavy Support: Night Spinner (1#, 145 pts)
1 Night Spinner (Spirit Stones; Vectored Engines)

Total Roster Cost: 1500 points

This is a "pure" mechanized Swordwind list. No psychic defense. However, I've managed to squeeze eight fast skimmer hulls into 1500 points (Serpents & Nightspinner AV 12/12/10 and Hornets AV 11/11/10). 50 Strength 6 shots are possible per turn, plus the close range anti-tank of 11 meltaguns.

The Hornets' Scout/Outflank ability and integral Star Engines, coupled with the Spiders' Deep Strike, will make this list's Fast Attack slot very interesting. The other tanks are kitted out for late game contesting/tank shocking.

***

P.S.: I've also obtained armour decals and a German bunker as an objective marker for the early war German Light Tank Company that I have on the go for Flames of War...

Review: Chapterhouse Xeno heads

As I alluded in a recent post, I've started another insane project (tm), this time a Tyranid army for Warhammer 40K. As with many of my projects, it consisted of narrowly missing a Great Deal on eBay, Bartertown, or TMP, and then being so excited about the new project that I frantically search out somewhat less-great deals and do the project anyway.

Nowadays I justify new armies by saying "these will paint up so fast" by using some simple trick or other. In this case it was to model the army after the "Alien" movie, and paint in basically monochrome with washes and gloss varnish to punch it up. Originally I was going to model the Alien heads with greenstuff, but then I came across Chapterhouse Studios' "Xeno heads" and the project just became waaay easier...

Chapterhouse Studios (http://chapterhousestudios.com/webshop/) sells a variety of different resin bits to suit 40K enthusiasts - mainly Eldar and Space Marine stuff, but there is some love for Tyranid players too, with resin boneswords and lashwhips, and most importantly XENO HEADS!

So I immediately fired up an order for 60 heads, figuring that would be enough to outfit the smaller models in my army. One of the difficulties of ordering, though, was the fact that nowhere on the website are there any pictures of how the heads fit on actual Tyranid models, to judge their scale. I imagine this may be because of intellectual property issues but it made me a bit anxious as to how they would look, since there are no pics around on the 'net either. Until now anyway ;-)

Turns out I needn't have worried. The heads arrived, after a fashion, and I eagerly tore into the package. The heads come on sprues of 6, with 3 examples of each variant per sprue. The cost is roundabout $1 per head. Well worth it in my opinion; the heads are wonderfully sculpted and the casting are crisp and remarkably free of flash. One of the variants has a subtle socket in the bottom that is sometimes helpful in fitting, but the resin is easily trimmed as needed.

The heads really suit the larger Tyranid models (Raveners and Warriors) but I think they look OK with Genestealers, Hormagaunts and Termagants also. Check out the photos and you'll see what I mean.

Verdict: highly recommended. Just the thing to set your Tyranid army apart from the next nerd's, and most importantly, sets you up for a paint scheme that is quick and easy to execute. The next you see of these models they'll be ready for the table and getting slaughtered by Dave's Eldar ;-)

Another(!) Eldar unit for the Tempest of Blades

A couple of weeks ago I played a game of 40K with Duncan (batrep to follow shortly). We played the Astro scenario "Crash Site Recovery." I was running my Dire Avengers lean, without an Exarch.

That's right, Dallas, no more "Blade-storm."

The proof of concept seemed to work out OK. So, I'm looking at a fairly radical change to my 1500-point Swordwind list . Some of the following is based on stuff I read on Warseer and on YTTH (in particular, the second small Dragon squad and the Vyper squadron):

Farseer - Doom (re-roll "To Wound" rolls); Guide (re-roll shooting "To Hit" rolls); Eldar Jetbike; Runes of Warding; Singing Spear

Autarch - Eldar Jetbike; Banshee Mask; Laser Lance; Fusion Gun

8 x Dire Avengers - mounted in Wave Serpent grav APC w/ TL Shuriken Cannons; Shuriken Cannon

8 x Dire Avengers - mounted in Wave Serpent grav APC w/ TL Bright Lances

5 x Fire Dragons - mounted in Wave Serpent grav APC w/ TL Shuriken Cannons

5 x Fire Dragons - mounted in Wave Serpent grav APC w/ TL Shuriken Cannons

3 x Vyper jetbikes - each w/ 2 x Shuriken Cannons

5 x Warp Spiders - including Exarch with dual Death Spinner

Fire Prism grav tank

Total = 41 models, at exactly 1500 points

***

A fair amount of medium strength firepower (a possible 42 S6 shots in a turn of shooting), plus 11 melta guns, a TL Bright Lance, a Prism Cannon, and lots of Shuriken Catapults. The two Fire Dragon units deal with tank spam and hunt down things like squads of Tyranid Warriors (hooray for Instant Death). The two Dire Avenger squads back up everyone else and try to seize objectives. The Farseer buffs her side's shooting, or helps them wound their enemies. The Autarch allows for putting everything into reserve, and allows heroic "Horatius Cocles at the bridge" type rearguard actions. Very little close combat ability, except for the sacrificial Autarch.

I've been working on the new Vyper squadron. I never liked the idea of a 2-man Eldar bike, with the gunner basically having his ass hanging out in the wind. So, I threw away the turrets and made all the bikes single-seaters:

(Note: click on the photo for a larger image)

The leftmost model shows the basic single-seat bike configuration, using castoff bits, putty and wire. It will eventually have an enclosed canopy. It is somewhat based on the work of a couple of modelers I saw on Warseer.

The centre model shows the pewter Shuriken Cannon upgrade used for all three bikes, replacing the bikes' original TL Shuriken Catapults.

The centre and right-hand bikes were cut down even further, to become unmanned drones. I threw their canopies into the bits box and used Eldar "command tank" bits to represent their drone status. In the army fluff, the drones are slaved to each other and to the manned bike. This represents, in model form, the vehicle squadron rules in 40k 5th. edition (i.e. ignore "Stunned" results, but "Immobilized" counts as "Destroyed") .

So, there it is. The army is still very fast, now with more firepower at the expense of reduced close combat ability.

I would greatly appreciate any constructive comments or concerns.

Edited to add: The Vyper squadron was finished and is illustrated here.

Up next for bonkers projects...space cavalry

This past weekend I joined Dallas and Curt to roll down to the local GW store for an army show-off type competition. Conscript Dave V was also there, and we proudly showed off some of our stuff. I had my "retro" Imperial Guard, Dave had his Eldar, and Dallas pulled out the ol' Chaos Dwarfs for Fantasy!

While the competition nearly prompted me to start another rant about the proilferation of absurd army base trays and overly scenic bases that in fact detract materially from the game, gaming and the minitatures themselves (maybe we can have a seperate army base competition? Because that piece really has a lot to do with the gaming and the figures, as a temple would be dropped from orbit....deep breath...deep breath...nobody cares Greg), in fact the competition has inspired another potential bonkers project among the Fawcett Conscripts.

One of the entrants - and I regret not figuring out who it was - had put together a pretty neat Cadian army, using lots of bits, and unifying scenery on the bases that was not overpowering or absurd. And coolest of all, this person had bashed together some Cadian Rough-Rider cavalry. It was a pretty cool effort, I think. The Cav looked really neat, and has inspired some plotting by Dallas, (which is about all it takes to get me plotting). Assuming we can pull it off, watch this fall for a Space Cavalry battle!

As part of the project research, Dallas turned up this link - holy cow, that is pretty awesome. What says "40k" more than cavarly equipped with a flame thrower? I'll never manage something like that neat (consistent application of green stuff across like 20 mounted figures? Not my skill set by a long shot!!!), but I hope to come up with something cool, and I know Dallas will pull off something excellent.

As for the competition, well, somehow the Conscripts lost out on the schwag. But there was a lot of cool stuff on display - lots of great painters and creative people out there in Winnipeg for sure! One army had like 10 tanks, another had a great variety of musicians - even an organ player! And while elaborate army bases and overly detailed figure bases are not my cup of tea, the painting and modeling skill behind the winning 40k entry was tremendous.

Space Cavalry - bring it on!

I've Seen the Future, and it is Dark

I feel like I'm fast becoming master of the mini-project. Stick some junk together, roll out a game on Thursday, call it done. Works for me, I guess :-)

Anyway in this case we roll back about 4 years. A local used book/comic shop had a copy of the old GW game "Dark Future", the game of future vehicle combat. It was in great shape, complete and something like $20 so I picked it up and it went in the closet, there to sit for, well, 4 years.

A couple months ago I was at Wal-Mart looking at the toy cars (like you do) and saw a very cool line of 1/64 vehicles with a unique theme: "For Sale". These were basically models of cars that you see parked in a driveway with a "For Sale" sign on 'em. Kinda beat up, a bit rusty, but the kind of vehicle that would instantly attract and induce an overpowering sense of want in a 17-year-old car enthusiast, or me ;-)

So I saw these cars a few months ago, and an idea started to percolate. Last week when I saw that they were going on sale it all came together - I would pick up these cars to use for Dark Future! They're already pre-painted with some neat paintjobs, all I have to do is some minor conversion to add the guns and hey presto! Thursday game. So tonight that's what I did...

Camaro ex-Police Interceptor

"There's no Justice, there's just us"

Datsun 510

Hood lascannon and turret MG

My favorite - Shelby Mustang GT350

Called the "GT350" because it was 350 feet from Shelby's workshop to his office... true story

1967 Chevy Nova SS

My first car was a Chevy II (lower trim version of the Nova) but it wasn't much like this one!

This was a great mini-project because of the sheer lack of effort involved. I basically blacked out the front windows, drilled holes for the weapon mounts, and installed the wire cages inside the cars. I think they look pretty cool, now I just have to paint the bikers that came with the game. I've done some minor conversions to add helmets to them and they should only take maybe one or two evenings to paint.

Cheers!

The Forge of Vaul is hot

Finished a project that's been sitting on my painting table for months - a turret to convert my Falcon into a Fire Prism Grav Tank.

The big gem-like Prism Cannon and its activating laser are rough pewter castings that together weigh more than the rest of the tank. The prism took a long time to prepare, requiring lots of putty, filing and sanding. The turret's resulting mass makes the tank top heavy, so I mounted it on a very low magnetized base. I added a resin Forge World crystal targeting matrix to represent the tank's enhanced Ballistic Skill 4. The usual stuff for the rest - pilot with two-stage highlighting finished with oil glazes, the canopy dipped in Future Floor Polish to get rid of scratches, etc.

Dr. Faust has a good tutorial on an alternate method of preparing this kit:
http://www.paintingclinic.com/operations/eldarproject/fireprism.htm

GW should make a plastic weapon fit, since this is the main battle tank of the Eldar.

This vehicle made its combat debut Wednesday night against Thurston's Saim-Hann army. Surprisingly, it weathered hits from multiple heavy weapons to survive the battle unscathed.

GünSchwarm continues expansion

GünSchwarm continues to plot a miraculous counter-attack out of New New Berlin. However, more troops, and tanks, are needed for that miracle. So with that in mind, inspired by a notion from Dallas, I have slapped some bits on a 1/32 scale Hetzer model to create some kind of Space Hetzer - with the obligatory absurd weapon (intended to be the same "calibre" as that of the Space Panthers). Since the Hetzer was so small, the off-scale version of it fits in well with the 28mm GW figures in GünSchwarm.



The Schwarm is also looking for some improved infantry. I have a Cadian "Grenadier" force for 40k, with lots of the Kasrkin troopers, so I am painting up some extras in the GünSchwarm colour scheme, to serve as elite GünSchwarm infantry, with some slight armour protection, and slightly better standard infantry weapons. The first few examples are (slightly blurry) above. Plus, they give you some idea of the size of the Space Hetzer model. Stay tuned for photos once this sucker is painted up.

Gün Schwarm Reinforcements

Following our recent inconclusive encounter with FutureKom, it was clear more reinforcements were needed for GünSchwarm. So I finished painting this on the weekend - a Mark XIV "Urban Obliterator", equipped with a semi-recoilless 275mm rocket mortar, coaxial 25mm cannon, and some slight armoured protection. Perfect for GünSchwarm urban development projects.

FuturKom vs. GünSchwarm

Last night, the irrestible force of GünSchwarm met the immovable object of FuturKom.

And there was carnage!!

Greg B. and I had the chance to roll out the new toys last night in our first sci-fi skirmish game using our house rules. And it was a blast!

We set up a simple scenario pitting the neo-fascists of GünSchwarm (aka future-retro WW2 Germans) against the neo-Red Army of FuturKom (aka future-retro WW2 Russians). Followers of the blog have seen the insane arms race building with both Greg and I assembling scores of infantry and a veritable motor pool of converted sci-fi vehicles. 1/43 and 1/48 diecast and plastic models (even an aircraft) have been hacked up and stuck back together in a frenzy of coversion activity, and last night we put it all out on the table. Great turnout from the lads, also - Cam and Frederick joined Greg B. with the Güns, and Bill and Mike F. rolled with me and the Kom. Brian, Dave V. and Kevin came along later to take parts while Mike B. played future-Sweden and stayed neutral...

The game was simple - three objective markers were placed in the ruins of New New Berlin. Since the Güns were slightly "out-pointed" by the Kom (owing mostly to my zealotry in producing converted vehicles) the Güns were allowed to place a squad and a heavy weapon on the table, in a bunker with an objective marker. The Kom forces entered on one short edge, and the Gün reserve on the opposite one. Fortunately for the Güns, Cam hot-rolled the reserve rolls and the entire Gün force was on in turn two. This was just as well because the Kom SU-300 showed up from reserve on the next turn. So the battle was well and truly joined!

Without boring you with details, suffice to say the action was furious and the results too close to call. Highlights... SU-300 blowing up a Gün-squad with its howitzer only to have Frederick roll no less than FOUR sixes to save... T-340 brewing up the Space Panther... GünFlak driving off the FuturKom flyer on repeated sorties, until its Flak guns were blown off by a FuturKom Lebedev projector... sniper duel... victorious charge of the FuturKom command group into the objective bunker... good times!

The game ended after ten turns. The GünSchwarm held one objective with three men, FuturKom held another with two men, and one objective was held by no-one at all! Check out the pics.

"It's a charge, boys!"

Awhile back I blogged about a project for this year - Great War Canadian cavalry, circa 1918, for a "Battle of Moreuil Wood" game.

Well, the cavalry has arrived from Blaze Away Miniatures in Australia (cheers Jon!) and so, as a break from painting FuturKom and zombies, I spent a few minutes this afternoon converting some of the troopers.

The Blaze Away figures are really nice but there are a limited selection of poses: officer with sabre, trooper with rifle upright, trooper with rifle across lap, trooper aiming pistol. As I'm building several decent-size units of models, I want to have the maximum variety of poses that I can, and in this case, that means converting. My sculpting skills being none-too-impressive, I'm going for the simplest conversions packing maximum impact in terms of differentiation.

The models that best lend themselves to conversion are the trooper with rifle upright and trooper aiming pistol. Both will be converted to hold sabres - a relatively simple matter (I hope) of cutting off the rifle/pistol, sculpting a hand and sabre hilt/handguard, and attaching a sabre blade.

Anyway, you can judge the success of the conversions from the photos - each converted model is pictured alongside a model in its original state so you can see exactly what was done.

More pics to come as the project progresses...