Yup, I'm back in action against SorcererDave and the Cadian 404th. If you didn't know already, we are doing a narrative campaign, playing out the war over Morgan's Reach, and this will be part 3. (Click for part one and two!)
In a break from tradition, I'm writing this article after I've actually played the game, but you won't get any spoilers out of me! Instead, just an army list. The narrative for the game is that with the fight for Hive Hephaestus turning to a stalemate, the Astra Militarum have committed their armoured forces to outflank the Tyranids and break through into the city from a new angle. This would play out as a Blitz mission, and opposing the Imperial armoured column would be a big mob of Tyranid monsters...
As usual, I used the Jormungandr adaptation (SorcererDave admitted that he now thinks of it as the Hive Fleet Goliath trait!). I put together a battalion and a spearhead detachment, as well as a superheavy auxiliary.
HQ:
Hive Tyrant, monstrous rending claws, heavy venom cannon, adrenal glands, Psychic scream, The Horror, Warlord Trait: Instinctive Killer, Relic: Miasma Cannon (replaces heavy venom cannon)
Malanthrope
Old One Eye
Troops:
3 Ripper Swarms
3 Ripper Swarms
3 Tyranid Warriors, Boneswords, adrenal glands, 2 deathspitters, 1 venom cannon
Elites:
Haruspex
Heavy Support:
Carnifex, Monstrous scything talons, heavy venom cannon, thresher scythe, adrenal glands, enhanced senses, spore cysts
Carnifex, Monstrous scything talons, heavy venom cannon, thresher scythe, adrenal glands, enhanced senses, spore cysts
Tyrannofex, Acid spray
Tyrannofex, Rupture cannon
Mawloc, adrenal glands, biostatic rattle
Trygon, adrenal glands, prehensile pincer tail
Trygon Prime, adrenal glands, biostatic rattle
Lord of War:
Scythed Hierodule
Hive Tyrant, monstrous rending claws, heavy venom cannon, adrenal glands, Psychic scream, The Horror, Warlord Trait: Instinctive Killer, Relic: Miasma Cannon (replaces heavy venom cannon)
Malanthrope
Old One Eye
Troops:
3 Ripper Swarms
3 Ripper Swarms
3 Tyranid Warriors, Boneswords, adrenal glands, 2 deathspitters, 1 venom cannon
Elites:
Haruspex
Heavy Support:
Carnifex, Monstrous scything talons, heavy venom cannon, thresher scythe, adrenal glands, enhanced senses, spore cysts
Carnifex, Monstrous scything talons, heavy venom cannon, thresher scythe, adrenal glands, enhanced senses, spore cysts
Tyrannofex, Acid spray
Tyrannofex, Rupture cannon
Mawloc, adrenal glands, biostatic rattle
Trygon, adrenal glands, prehensile pincer tail
Trygon Prime, adrenal glands, biostatic rattle
Lord of War:
Scythed Hierodule
So hopefully the report turns out good and you all like it. We had a lot of fun with it and got to add a few interesting little narrative twists throughout the game. With low model count armies there was a lot less of a time pressure as well which was nice. Like I said, you won't get any spoilers from me, but maybe a little sneak peak...
Dan, I need to ask, what is your complete paint scheme for the Tyranid army? Can you post a step by step process? Thank you.
ReplyDelete-Alan
I’ve had a few people ask about them, so I might have to do a step by step in a blog post sometime. For now though, the general process is:
Delete-Spray black
-Paint all the skin a dark blue (using Vallejo Night Blue currently)
-Paint all the carapace/claws either with a brown, then a dark red leaving some gaps, or just all red for smaller creatures. The colour varies here depending on how old I want the bug to look. (Vallejo Scarlet Red is my go to for this stage)
-Highlights on the skin with a lighter blue. Size of the bug determines the number of layers, usually three or four for the big boys, ending with something like Electric Blue for the very edges. Termagants can get away with a drybrush.
-Wash recessed areas with a blue or purple wash.
-Carapace/claws highlighting. I generally do 4 layers, starting with an orange of some sort, working up to bone. This has been done with Macharius Solar Orange in the past, but I’ve yet to find an adequate replacement yet, so I tend to mix up something vaguely close. The highlights take the form of several small random lines at the edges of the carapace. The lines do not have to match up, though the final layer should cover any raised areas.
-Teeth, tongue and back of the head get painted bone, then washed with a dark brown or black wash. Then highlighted with bone again (within reason - Termagants get messy teeth!)
-Finally eyes, adrenal glands etc get painted green.
-Base etc.