More war machines for the Swordwind

I am glad to be posting again after a forced hiatus of a few months. All I shall say about that is a quote from the great movie The Princess Bride,

"If you haven't got your health, then you haven't got anything."

Here's a couple of very recent additions to my ever-expanding Eldar force for Warhammer 40,000.

I played at the Mechani-Kon III tournament back last October, where I fielded one of GW's old metal Wraithlord models. At the time, Conscript BrianH opined that it would be cool if I had one of the newer plastic Wraithlords. As it happened, I had one of those kits kicking around unbuilt.



I like the willowy look of the plastic model. There is a choice of four different feet (flat and bent), but only two legs. Cut apart the originally straight right leg, bent it at the knee, and rebuilt it with epoxy putty and thin jewelry wire (for the joint covering on the back of the knee). Repositioned the gun to the middle of its "face" to make it look like one of the old Ghostwarriors.

The bending of the right leg, along with appropriate positioning of the torso and other limbs, adds a sense of motion and power to the figure.



Primed black, airbrushed zenithal highlights in white, laid in Testors Acryl Russian Armor Green and True Blue Pearl airbrush paints. Shading, blending and details with artists' tube oil paints.

The photos below shows detail, repectively, of the Wraithsword and the rune on the chassis rear.





The IED at the Wraithlord's feet is a Forge World resin bit.

The recent Forge World publication Imperial Armour Apocolypse, 2nd. Ed., has rules for some of the newer FW models, inlcuding the Warp Hunter self-propelled assault gun:



This resin and plastic model makes me think of an Eldar take on the Sturmgeschütz. The big gun is a Distortion Cannon, a reality-rending device whose rules describe it as capable of firing a large blast barrage up to 36" away, or a more focused template (called an Aether Rift) to winkle out infantry in cover.

Model primed black, airbrushed zenithal highlights in white, laid in Russian Green canned spray paint, and painted the camo using True Blue Pearl airbrush paint. The glazed shading, blending and details were with artists' tube oil paints, with Citadel washes used to pick out the panel lines.



The photo below shows the pilot detailing.



The large gem on the hull painted as a star ruby.



I finished the Warp Hunter just in time for 40Kegger III, an annual local tournament with unique beer-themed missions that take players through a full day of intense 40k action, with the welcome addition of kegs of local beer for refreshment.

Ah, drinking and gaming. Sounds just like a Thursday night!

40Kegger specifies only 1,000-point armies, to allow for several fast games. At that point level, there's no room for fat.

40Kegger III Army List

HQ: Autarch (1#, 93 pts)
1 Autarch, 93 pts = (base cost 70 + Banshee Mask 3 + Power Weapon 10 + Fusion Gun 10)

Troops: Dire Avengers (6#, 175 pts)
5 Dire Avengers, 60 pts = 5 * 12
1 Wave Serpent, 115 pts = (base cost 90) + TL Scatter Lasers 25

Troops: Dire Avengers (6#, 175 pts)
5 Dire Avengers, 60 pts = 5 * 12
1 Wave Serpent, 115 pts = (base cost 90) + TL Scatter Lasers 25

Elite: Fire Dragons (6#, 190 pts)
5 Fire Dragons, 80 pts = 5 * 16
1 Wave Serpent, 110 pts = (base cost 90 + Spirit Stones 10) + TL Shuriken Cannons 10

Fast Attack: Hornet (IA) (1#, 95 pts)
1 Hornet (IA), 95 pts = (base cost 55) + Scatter Laser x1 10 + Pulse Laser x1 30

Heavy Support: Warp Hunter (IA) (1#, 125 pts)
1 Warp Hunter (IA), 125 pts

Heavy Support: Wraithlord (1#, 140 pts)
1 Wraithlord, 140 pts = (base cost 90 + Wraithsword 10) + Bright Lance 40

Total Roster Cost: 993 points

The list has some long- and short-range anti-tank, some templates and a barrage to deal with infantry in cover and hordes, and has a fair amount of medium strength firepower for infantry, monstrous creatures, and light armour. It can reserve itself and has a good chance of coming onto the table cohesively instead of piecemeal.

Still and all, I found it a bit of a challenge to create a balanced list. Codex: Eldar is an older publication (almost 6 years old, now), and is no longer very popular among the tournament crowd.

As it turns out, when I played at 40Kegger yesterday it was the third tournament within the last year where I was the only person present playing Eldar...