Back from the Dead! (plus video batrep)

Wow!  Has it really been that long since we've updated?  Can't believe it...

Hello, 2011...

Despite my vow to post at least 3 times a week, I intentionally took the holiday season off from posting. Bonus is my birthday is on the 8th of January (R.I.P. Elvis), so the "holiday season" gets an extra week in my world.

But now its time to get back to the grind. Back to my 12-step program.

First up for 2011, lay out some goals. You can call them New Year's Resolutions if you'd like.

When it comes to 40k, I'm a bit of a scatterbrain. I plan one project while working on another while neglecting at least 3 more. So many things to do, so little time to do them. So this year, rather than just letting the Year of 40k "happen," I want to take a more direct and concerted approach. So here's a few of the things I hope to achieve in 2011.


SPACE WOLVES

I've been working on my Logan's Hunters project off-and-on in 2010. For 2011, I have three goals I'd like to achieve with the Warriors of Fenris.

1. Finish the Logan's Hunters Terminator project. 3 Squads, 2 Land Raiders, and 3 Dreadnoughts remaining to complete that task. Its all in hand, all assembled, and all primed. All I need to do is paint them.
2. Expand the Logan's Hunters project beyond this initial stage. Yup, that's right, expand this army. I'm sure such expansion will involve a number of posts here at DFIR. So if you're a Wolf fan, stay tuned.
3. Assemble and Paint my Eclipse-Pattern Thunderhawk. I'll admit, I'm a bit scared by this project. Its a tad overwhelming looking, but I think once I get down to it, it will be much easier than I'm anticipating. Wish me luck with this one!

DEATHGUARD CSM

My Deathguard army has really come together in 2010. LOTS of progress on this army. So there's not all that much left to do. But there are at least a couple things.

1. Plague Tower. With my Plaguereaper completed, its now time to turn my attention to making a Plague Tower for my Deathguard force. Don't ask me why, but I am just not a fan of the existing Plague Tower concepts. I do not like the fantasy-style "wooden wheeled siege tower" nor do I like the leering faces on the front concept. Actually, you can ask me why. Its because I think those look silly for a far futuristic war machine of utter destruction. Hence, my Plague Tower will be more mechanized. The base chassis for the model will be a Baneblade, but from there, I'm still toying with a few other ideas. One is to scratch-build the tower part of the model; the other is to use something existing - maybe a Bastion or some Cities of Death panels. I guess we'll see in good time...
2. Daemon Princes. I've recently picked up an off-brand Daemon Prince from Troll Forged miniatures. Specifically "Demon Lord 2" from THIS LINK. I got him with the wings option, and also with an alternate head. So this bad-boy needs some construction (actually began last night) and painting. Related to this, my Ultraforge Plaguedemon is already painted and has seen some action on the tabletop. But he needs wings. Not sure if I'll pick up some pre-fab wings from somewhere or try to scratch-build my own. We'll see. In both cases, I want to magnetize the wings for easier transportation purposes.

MISCELLANEOUS

This isn't everything I plan to do this year. Partly because of my aforementioned scatterbrain predicament. I'm sure there's projects that will creep up during the year. If I had to guess...

1. Eldar. I don't think I can go the whole year without giving my Eldar some love. I have 3 War Walkers built and primed that need to be painted. I also have 10 Wraithguard in their blister packs that need some attention.
2. Emperor's Children. I'm still contemplating an Emperor's Children project. It is "medium-to-low" on the priority list, though, so there's no guarantee that it'll happen in 2011.
   
3. Warmachine & Hordes. Having spent the Summer of 2010 playing "Warmahordes," I'm feeling the need to get back to that game some (those games, technically). I'm actually in the process of weeding my Legion of Everblight hordes army down a taste, with the intent that what's left will be easier to tackle painting wise. I also have a handful more Bane Thralls to paint for my Cryx army - six got painted for an event this summer, which leaves me with 4 regulars plus a Standard Bearer and Officer to paint.
4. DFIR Resident MikeT. [Yes, Mike, I'm calling you out.] ;-) I hope to get MikeT to post something to this blog. This may prove to be the hardest of my New Year's Resolutions, though... (just kidding, it will only be a tad difficult...).
5. COMPLETE a league. All too often, I join a league, only to be called out into the field for an extended time. To date, I don't think I've ever officially completed a league. My goal is to complete at least one such endeavor this year.
   

So there we have it. Some - maybe even too many - goals for my 40k life in 2011. Much of this will be used as cannon fodder for this blog, so if you're really interested in seeing something from my list in particular, comment below and I'll see if I can make it a tad higher on the priority list.

So until next time, keep the Ni-Cd batteries in your Power Swords fully charged.

MJ;-) Project Log: Deathguard Terminator Lord/Sorcerer

Personal Confession. I am NOT a converter. But what I AM, is a Kitbasher.

"What's the difference" you ask?

Converters are the types that can take something and add-to or alter it through the use of scratch items - sculpting epoxy, plasticard and plastic rods, cardstock, etc.

Kitbashers are the types that can combine pieces from different kits into a single model.

So today's topic is how I recently kitbashed a Deathguard Terminator Lord/Sorcerer. The inspiration comes from the existing GW Typhus model. What I wanted was a similar looking figure, but for use as a standard Lord or Sorcerer.

Oh yeah, and my apologies for the horrible pictures. Not only am I not a converter, but I'm also NOT a photographer...



Here we have a literal pile of bits. There's a mix of Chaos Terminator Lord bits, some standard Chaos Terminator bits, a few odds and ends - mostly from the WHFB Zombies sprue, and the coup de grace - a Forgeworld Deathguard Terminator Torso and Shoulder Pads. Ultimately, I did not use all of the bits shown, but I did use most of them.



Here we have the Deathguard Lord taking shape. I glued the Chaos Terminator Lord's scenic base and also used some 2-part plumbing putty to bulk it out a tad. After all, as a Chaos Lord, the guy certainly needs something epic to stand upon.



One of my most extensive Kitbashes to date is the Lord's Daemon Weapon. This one arm and single weapon took bits from five different kits. The most stressing part of this, but by no means was it "hard" to do, was cutting the Terminator Power Mace and hand off at the wrist so that the sorcerer's staff and hand bit would join seamlessly. Mission accomplished. So anyway, with a Terminator Arm, Sorcerer's Staff, Scythe blade from a Zombie sprue, a Possessed hook bit, and a few spikey things from who knows where, I welded all these things together to form a very Typhus-like Daemon Weapon.


In the end, I used my tried and true Lazy Man's Painting Method to give this guy some un-life. At some point, I hope to create a banner for his banner pole. Speaking of which, using mostly Zombie bits, the banner pole features some rotting carcasses/skeletons hanging from the crossbar. Good Nurgle Lord, Good Nurgle Lord...






Again, sorry for the poor pictures, but eh, what can I do...

Warmaster Horus and new Knight Titan

Saw a couple of posts around the Blogasphere today about the good ole Ronin Primarch miniatures, so I figured I'd post a picture of where my Warmaster Horus is at the moment. He's assembled and pinned. He came with a different right talon, but I replaced it with Abaddon's awesome bit.

While at Toys-r-Us shopping for my son's birthday/Christmas, I saw a new line that Lego is putting out. It's called "Hero Factory." Like Bionicle from a few years ago there are several different sized lines. The $20 line is the biggest, and they are awesome! I picked up the one called Von Nebula. The legs and arms are fully articulated; as articulated as any titan model I've ever seen. Here are some pictures:

At attention (with a Farseer for scale):

Now, in what I call "Forgeworld's Bloodthirster" pose:

I need to get him in a shot with my Towering Destroyer Knight and with my Warhound. He looks a lot like a knight, but is a lot bigger. I plan on replacing the arms with a turbo laser on one side and some sort of CCW option on the other. I will be filling in the open areas and making it look more 'closed-up', but I think it is a great place to start. If a model can be posed that dynamically, it surely will look good with a better paint job on it.

The Enigma of Noise Marines (or How do You Plan a New Army?)

Having recently finished reading the Horus Heresy novel FULGRIM, I’ve been inspired to build a Slaaneshi-themed CSM army. But I’m a budget-minded kind of guy with limited financial resources at hand.

Good news for me, though. I have a bunch of Black Legion stuff ready to take the plunge into the World of Excess, so technically, I already HAVE most of what I need. (insert evil cackle here)

Recently, I turned to fellow DFIR posters MattP (our resident CSM guru, particularly in relation to Slaanesh and Khorne cults) and MikeT to discuss what I saw as the “Enigma that is a Noise Marine."

”What’s the mystery about them?” you ask? “They’re Chaos Marines dedicated to the worship of Slaanesh!” you say?

Yeah. I get that part. What the enigma is to me, though, is the marriage of the Mark of Slaanesh (increased Initiative stat) with shooting-oriented special weaponry. The former only comes into play in close combat, where the latter only comes into play in the shooting phase. In essence, 50 percent of the time, Noise Marines are “wasting half their abilities” that make them unique.

So back to my point… When it comes time for me to plan out a new army, I turn to two places. The interwebs, and my close 40k friends who know the subject. Further, I put MORE stock in the latter than in the former. You see, I’m a fluff gamer. I like to build and play for the story behind the force. Crushing Face at tournaments is not my Modus Operandi. I have much more fun loosing with a fluffy and story-driven force than I do winning with a point-and-click internet list you see at most tournaments.

After several email back-and-forths between the three of us, it dawned on me that these communications do a good job of showing how I plan out a force, and so thought I’d share that mindset with our good readers.

It’s a bonus that the communications also give one some insight into The Enigma That Is A Noise Marine...

MJ;-) starts with:

I think I'd like to whip up an Emperor's Children / Slaaneshi themed CSM force. My goals are thus:

• Primarily re-purpose and re-paint my Black Legion minis as the basis.
• Keep "new acquisitions" to $100 or less.
• Given the first point above, this will be a fairly fast/assault oriented force since it'll feature some raptors and bikes.

Theorizing about a list, it seems like the other 3 cult units are fairly straight forward tactics-wise. Khorne = assault, 1kS = gunline, and Nurgle = jack of all trades.

But Noise Marines aren't so straight forward __to me__. The increased Init for MoS is only beneficial in close combat, but noise weaponry seems to favor more of a gunline tactic.


To this, MattP replies:

Your observations on the Mark of Slaanesh not meshing with the Noise Marine weapons is 100% accurate. The best thing for someone who wants to play Emperor's Children to do is to wait for the next version of the codex. ;-P

Seriously, though. If you are inspired by FULGRIM take a look at my SYMPHONY OF PAIN [apocalypse] data sheet. I think it illustrates what the EC legion became after that music concert and the battles that followed.

So, strategy. When bringing Noise Marines, the idea is to maximize your Blastmasters. In the previous version, I would bring Havocs so I could have four per unit. In the new version, that's illegal, so you just bring min-sized Noise Marine units. The enemy tries to silence the Noise Marines with assault troops, so I usually put a good champion in there. He'll have a good initiative and will likely go first, so give him a power weapon.

Regular Noise Marines have trouble with 2+ saves and AV14. The way I used to normally beat that is just with volume of fire. I'd try to bring at least one Noise Marine squad with 10 Sonic Blasters. That will take down most min-sized Terminator squads and will utterly destroy things like Genestealers or regular Ork mobs. The problem is that this unit costs a lot more than it used to, so it isn't worth it. Chosen with Plasma Guns or Melta Guns or possibly some obliterators will be a better solution to 2+.

Did that help?

To this, MJ;-) replied:

> MattP wrote:
> Your observations on the Mark of Slaanesh not meshing with the Noise
> Marine weapons is 100% accurate.

Clearly the combo of MoS and Noise Weapons are not a good mesh; however, it seems like Noise Marines are STILL very good close combat troops. Assuming a squad of 10 men, Noise Marines are 20 points each and get +1 Init and Fearless; CSM with MoS are 17 points each and only get +1 Init. Where the CSM version excels compared to the NM unit is in the ability to take assault/heavy weapons.

MikeT joins in on the conversation...

I'm no expert at EC, but here's some TheoryHammer...

While MoS and the noise marine unit don't seem to mesh directly I think you can still make a mean army. The noise marines offer superior firepower with a great BS. Weight of fire should be your target with these guys. As MattP noted, even terminators fall when they have to make enough saves. My Lootas will attest to that, although they require A LOT more luck to pull it off.

Sonic blasters are effectively storm bolters, which are awesome. Blastmasters make EC the only cult unit that can actually take a real heavy weapon (effective missile launcher) that's also a poor-man's heavy bolter. Creating overlapping fields of fire shouldn't be a problem with these Noise Marines.

And they're still init 5 with 2 attacks. Give the champion a power sword and anyone who charges is going to get hurt. Or run champion-less to save points. OR stick a couple of squads in rhino's since you can dump out and still get 24" of fire and your champ can spray with an AP3 flamer.

I'm not as sold on the blastmasters as MattP (but what do I know, he's the expert). They’re great, but very expensive (40pts!).

So the NM are your gun line. The "hammer". They should throw non-stop punishment at any non-mech units from turn 1.

The "anvil" will be all your other non-NM units. All the other squads in the army will be pulling close combat duty. Since they all get init +1 they'll be mean. As many power weapons as you can manage. Forget fists. For high strength CC you'll be looking to a Daemon Prince. CSM /w MoS make good close combat troops.

Throw in a Las-Pred for that hard to crack armor

How about this?

• Sorcerer /w wings and Warptime (or some other single, direct action power. Even doombolt would be nice to save some points)
• 10 NoiseMarines no champ Blastmaster
• 10 NoiseMarines no champ Blastmaster
• 10 NoiseMarines no champ Blastmaster
• 10 CSM MoS Champ /w power weapon Rhino Melta Melta
• 10 CSM MoS Champ /w power weapon Rhino Melta Melta
• 6 Raptors MoS champ /w power weapon Flamer Flamer
• Las/Las Predator

Keep in mind I have no idea how any of this would actually work...

MattP replies:

> Mike T wrote:
> Sonic blasters are effectively storm bolters, which are awesome.
> Blastmastwers make EC the only cult unit that can actually take a
> real heavy weapon (effective missile launcher) that's also a
> poor-man's heavy bolter. Creating overlapping fields of fire
> shouldn't be a problem with these Noise Marines.

I wanted to clarify, even though I'm sure I don't really need to. The new Blastmaster is S8 AP3 Heavy 1, Blast. That makes it more like a Plasma Cannon than a Missile Launcher. Unlike the Plasma Cannon, it causes Instant Death on Space Marines and, importantly, Necrons. You'll miss that extra AP against Terminators, sure, but a Plasma Cannon cannot penetrate a Land Raider no matter what you do.

> MikeT wrote:
> I'm not as sold on the blastmasters as MattP (but what do I know,
> he's the expert). They're great, but very expensive (40pts!).

That's the kicker with the whole list that you propose. Yes, they are very nice, but they're also expensive as heck. You just cannot get as many good units if you stick to Mark of Slaanesh only. Yes, a CSM squad with the MoS is not as good an assault unit as Noise Marines are, but Noise Marines are not as good in assault as Berserker are.

If you want a good, worthwhile CC unit with the Mark of Slaanesh, then you are stuck with Daemonettes. Oops. ;)

(note from MJ: ZING! Good one, MattP!)

I think Mike's theory list is a good list, but you can make a better one with cheaper non-MoS units from other places in the codex. There's only so far that you can go down the single-power-path before you choose to reduce your losses over the background.

CONCLUSIONS

So that’s where we stand at the moment. The conversation continues, and maybe I’ll toss in an update to this topic in the near future, maybe… But in the meantime, what have we learned from it all?

• Noise Marine Units should either play the role of close combat (i.e., no noise weapons) OR the role of gunline troops.
• Blastmasters are good, but you pay through the nose for them.
• Pure cult CSM lists hamstring themselves by adhering to the fluff too much

Apocalypse Battle Pictures

I just realized that I hadn't posted here to announce that the pictures are up from Apoc-Eclipse's most recent mega battle. It was held on 5/22/2010 at Game Theory in Raleigh, NC. They very nicely gave up the majority of the store for 12+ hours (accidentially on a Magic release weekend). Thanks guys!

Gallery 052010

Make sure to check out the videos. They give you a great sense of the game.

Plaguereaper Project: Part 1

Although fellow DFIR poster MattP is our resident Apocalypse guru, I thought I'd share my recent (and first) attempt at something truly "apocalyptic." In all of our past Apocalypse battles (which can be checked out at Apoc-Eclipse), I had plenty of models to field a large force including several Legendary Formations. However, the only time I've fielded any Super Heavies was when they were borrowed from MattP.

Time to change that.

I was ecstatic when I received a Baneblade kit for Christmas. Kudos to my wife's family (Bob, Martha, and Kaitlin) for feeding my 40k addiction. On a side note, I should point out that they have always fed my little addiction during gift-giving occasions, but this was the first time they got me the item I had put on my wishlist, instead of a gift certificate. THAT'S SOME TRUE LOVE!

Anyhoo...

Not having an Imperial army, there was no question that this "Baneblade" was destined for greater things in the service of the Dark Lords. Given that I was also working on a Deathguard army, it was also a no-brainer that this was to become a PLAGUEREAPER (featured in the main Apocalypse rulebook), dedicated to Father Nurgle and all of his pestilent ways.

Opening a Super Heavy kit for the first time was rather daunting, to say the least. Half a dozen sprues just chock full o' parts. Thank God it came with an instruction booklet; to bad said instructions were very detailed and somewhat complex. But that was just first appearances; in the end, the thing went together smoothly, nicely, and very easily.


Here's a shot of the project during the early stages (beer label pointed away from camera to protect the innocent...). At this point, I was working on assembling the two sides consisting of the track housings and tracks.

Discussions with MattP indicated that I could go beyond the basic Plaguereaper datasheet, such as adding extra side sponsons (like an Imperial Baneblade can). So I decided early on that I would do just that, mounting sponsons on the front and rear of the three side panels. I also decided to add a Havoc Launcher to the turret. Seriously, can a Super Heavy Tank have TOO many guns? I don't think so...

In hindsight, the whole process of building the baneblade kit was rather easy, but I believe that this early stage of building the two sides was the most time consuming. Once those were complete (couple nights worth of working on them, maybe 3 hours total), the rest of the kit went together very quick (probably another couple of nights, 3 or so hours).


So all in all, it went together nicely, as you can see above. Once the basic kit was completed, though, it was time to sufficiently "Nurgle-it-up." I had a few thoughts about this part of the project. Primarily, I did not like the look of the Pus Tanks as depicted in the Apocalypse rulebook - large, open vats mounted on the sides of the tank hull.

In essence, I had several personal problems with that look. First, the open tanks. Drive over your first hill slope or bump in the battlefield and all your "ammo" is spilled-out onto the ground. Second was the pipes that feed the turret's pus cannon. What happens when the turret rotates? Expanding pipes? OK, so maybe I'm thinking too much about real life physics and mechanics for a game set in the 41st millennium and based on various races that span the galaxy...

Practically (and primarily) , though, I figured my infantile converting skills just really weren't up to the task of hacking off part of my model to put the tanks in - not to mention that it'd take away precious space where I was mounting extra sponsons!

Searching at the Papa Nurgle forums, I turned up THIS idea of how to take care of my problems with the Pus Tanks (see second post down). Thanks, Mabrothrax!!!

The other primary thought I had was to make this Plaguereaper appear to be more of a "new addition" to the Deathguard's arsenal. Not some antiquated thing all rusted and cantankerous, but something representing a "recent fall" from the graces of the Imperium. In other words, I wasn't as keen on "Nurgling-it-up" as much as Mabrothrax's Plaguereaper seen HERE (see second-to-last post on that page).

So, here's what I came up with.

1. Mildly scar up the tank to represent battle damage, and add some greenstuff (but not a lot) to create Nurgle pustules and growths to the tank. This was done with a variety of tools. Pin vice with a couple different sized drill bits to make shell holes. X-acto knife to run some 'cuts' along pieces. And the corner of a flat head screwdriver to "scratch-up" other parts. Obviously green stuff, which was sculpted with a chopstick tip (pretty much the only GS sculpting tool I've ever needed).



2. Use barrels on the back of the turret for the Pus Tanks. I used the bendy parts of several drink box straws to feed the turret (any parent with a small child will have drink box straws in spades). I used drink box straws because their smaller diameter was more in line with the scale of this tank. These were attached with green stuff.
[Side note: I took a close-up of the barrels, but managed to leave it on the wrong computer - I'll add that pic in the Part 2 update (which will cover the painting of this thing). You can kind of see them below, but not all that well. Sorry...] ;-(



3. I also swapped the lascannon barrel ends with the Chaos gorgon head gun barrels. I didn't have enough to do all the heavy bolters, so just did the twin-linked heavy bolter mounted on a mini-turret on the front (see above).

4. Add some growth to the main pus cannon barrel, but again, not to much. So as not to use up to much of my green stuff, I used an air-hardening "porcelain" clay product (the white). I rolled this out into a long sausage and simply spiraled it down the barrel from turret towards end. I also ran a second roll and spiraled it the opposite way. I added a little more of the white clay where the barrel connects to the turret and molded that into one mass - trying to go for a large growth at the turret end that is slowly snaking its way up the barrel. Finally, I did a long sausage of green stuff, but before sprialing it down the barrel like the white porcelain clay, I "twisted" the green stuff log to give it even more texture.




And there you have it. Construction of a Plaguereaper! This weekend will feature some very nice weather AND at least enough time to get this thing primed. I'll post a Part 2 in a week or so when I have the thing completed (painting Nurgle-themed stuff is easy-schmeesy - see THIS post for details.)

Happy Easter everyone! Hopefully you are NOT like me and actually have today off... ;-)