Endless Spells

Hello!

As part of the Kharadron Overlords commission, I got a load of Endless Spells to do as well - so here they are! These were largely fun and fairly quick with a lot of washes, dry brushing, contrast, and of course, the mighty sponge!

First up, the Purple Sun of Shyish. This one was dead easy, sprayed purple, covered in Shyish purple contrast (appropriately), then sponged with bone. That's pretty much it! 

Ravenak's Gnashing Jaws - this one got sprayed red then heavily dry brushed, washed, and dry brushed again. Teeth got heavily sponged as well.

The Suffocating Gravetide pretty much just got painted like bases, with lots of dry brush and then texture paint and static grass applied partially over it. The spooky bits got hit with Hexwraith Flame, then sponged over with bone.

This one was pretty fun. I decided the Prismatic Palisade should be coloured like a rainbow. Sprayed purple and heavily dry brushed with white, then various washes used to get the colours, merging together to get a smooth spectrum. Finally, I sponged over it with white again.

Geminids of Uhl-Gysh. Sprayed bone, heavy dry brush, wash, more dry brush, then black templar contrast over the black one and gently washing the raised areas over the white one.

Soulsnare Shackles - nice and dirty chains with the classic combo of Ryza Rust and Typhus Corrosion, followed with a metal sponging.

Umbral Spellportal - that's Skeleton Horde over the gold and Hexwraith Flame over the magic bits - leaving some pale sections at the edges.

Quicksilver Swords and the Aethervoid Pendulum. The edges of the metal bits were highlighted white, with then a 'wash' of watered down silver painted over the top.

Emerald Lifeswarm and Chronomantic Cogs. The Swarm were painted with progressively lighter green sponging, very similar to the carapace of the sponged Tyranid project. The Cogs got some Nihilakh Oxide over a heavy metal dry brush, then some copper sponging over the top.

Finally the Malevolent Maelstrom and the Burning Head. The Maelstrom was pretty much painted as a smaller version of the Purple Sun with some magic bits covered in Hexwraith then heavily dry brished. The Burning Head is mostly sponging over a red spray base, and then contrast Flesh Tearers Red for the skull.

So there we have it. A fun little diversion before diving back in to more steampunk Dwarves. Hope you enjoyed, and stay safe out there.

Grim Dice 40k Tournament Report (May 22) - New Tyranids

Hello!

I recently attended another 2000 point 40k tournament at Grim Dice, this time with the new book Tyranids - though I don't think this is likely to be much like any of the meta topping lists at the current time! This was very much a first draft list based on precisely zero games with the new book. Still I was aiming to improve over my past two efforts, both times going 1-2 with Orks.

As before, I'll format this post with the list and some initial plans, followed by a quick summary of each of the games then some final thoughts.

Hive Fleet Behemoth Battalion - 8 CP

HQ: Winged Hive Tyrant (2x Monstrous Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands, Onslaught, Paroxysm, The Maw-claws of Thyrax, Monstrous Hunger), Trygon Prime (Adrenal Glands, Biostatic rattle, Monstrous Musculature, Heightened Senses), Broodlord (Unstoppable Onslaught, Catalyst, Direct Guidance, Resonance Barb)

Troops: 3x 10 Termagants (Fleshborers), 2x 3 Tyranid Warriors (Scything talons, 2 Deathspitters, Venom cannon), 3 Tyranid Warriors (Boneswords, 2 Deathspitters, Venom cannon)

Elites: 3x 10 Genestealers, 3 Zoanthropes (Catalyst)

Heavy Support: Tyrannofex (Rupture cannon, Voracious ammunition), Tyrannofex (Rupture cannon, Synaptic Enhancement)

So the plan for this list was to keep it fairly simple without too many different unit choices and having lots of synapse so I wouldn't be too punished if I lost some early. Two of the HQs were kitted out to be combat monsters with lots of attacks, the Tyrant rerolling wounds and getting mortals on 6s, and the Trygon rerolling hits with extra damage on the claws. The Broodlord was a buffing character, planning to use the Behemoth power Unstoppable Onslaught and his warlord trait for +1 to hit and wound on a Genestealer unit each turn. I made a bit of a boo-boo in my list in that technically all the psykers have the Hive fleet power by default, so I could have picked another for the Broodlord with the resonance barb, but I don't think I missed the extra option.

Conveniently this list was exactly 5 Synaptic Imperatives available, and gives up a maximum of 10 points for the three 'kill' secondaries Assassinate, Bring it Down and No Prisoners (unless I respawned some termagants.) Though I had heard that Genestealers were a bit disappointing now, I was fairly happy with the list going in, though I have to admit I didn't really know quite how it would actually work on the table top.

First game was against Ron and his infantry heavy Aeldari. He had quite a lot of small infantry units (including some classic metal Rangers) supported by some wraith constructs and three units of three war walkers (again, some of which were oldhammer metals). No tanks and only a few bikes. Ron was fairly new to at least this edition of 40k and was playing in his first tournament, but it was a new 9th ed Codex so I knew not to be complacent. 

The mission was Abandoned Sactuaries: long edges and five objectives in a + shape, with bonus points for holding the centre. There was a special rule to say no forward deployment, but we both missed it and filled the middle of the board with Genestealers and Rangers, so opted to ignore it rather than redoing our entire deployment.

I got first turn and all the Genestealers pushed up to cause problems. They were a little underwhelming in melee but they did the job of keeping most of the Eldar back in their deployment zone. Over the next couple of turns we exchanged kills at a fairly even rate, but once I'd pushed rangers off objectives I was scoring much better on the primary points. Highlights were Swooping Hawks bombing the Hive Tyrant, but then him soaking up loads of firepower on his last few wounds, and the Trygon Prime getting blasted in overwatch by a wraith-cannon.

With both of us relatively unfamiliar with our books, it was a slow game and ended after we both had a turn three. Neither of us did particularly well on the secondaries but my board control handed me a comfortable win in the end.

Game two was against John and his Slaanesh Daemons (last seen playing Tau in an all xenos doubles game). He was effectively running with four Keepers, including the Forge World 400+ point one, with a load of random Exalted Daemon upgrades, leaving him starting on three command points. John has been fairly out of the loop with 9th edition so he opted for a book he knows well rather than playing his Tau. I think this list would have looked pretty scary in 8th edition, but John commented that he wasn't hopeful as my list did basically the same stuff (fast, melee, monsters) but with shooting and loads more units as well.

The mission was Tide of Conviction, a six objective, hold two mission where bonus points were scored for holding objectives in your opponent's half. We both had the speed to get there!

I'd like to claim tactical superiority but this game was mostly just a new Codex bullying and old one. A single T-fex blasted a keeper off the board in turn one, and after that John was on the back foot. The daemons had a good turn one, rushing up and engaging multiple units, but I had screened out my biggest threats. The Trygon Prime made a mess out of a Keeper while the Zoanthropes and T-fexes continued to blast away from afar. One highlight for John was a turn one charge from a buffed up 'stealer unit completely bouncing off one of the Keepers, getting murdered in the following psychic phase and allowing the Keeper to make a long bomb charge into the hiding Broodlord, snipping it in half.

In the end the Slaanesh forces were tabled on turn four, while I still had quite a few key units remaining, allowing me to max the primary for a somewhat crushing final score.

So the final game was against Matt's Orks, who I'd recently faced in the Crusade League. That game was a bit one sided, so I was expecting a hard fight. Matt had a fairly tasty Goff list lead by Ghaz himself, accompanied by two Beast Bosses on Squigosaurs and two Killrigs. It was definitely going to be brutal!

The mission was Death and Zeal; corner deployment with a middle bubble of no-man's land. Five objectives and bonus points for killing opponents off the objectives.

I got first turn and immediately destroyed a Killrig with the Rupture cannons and a buffed up unit of 'stealers running in. The Orks responded with massive pressure, killing a bunch of forward units and some Squighogs making a big advance in order to charge the Hive Tyrant and cut it down (before being dispatched by the heroically intervening Trygon Prime). We exchanged heavy casualties and objectives in the first couple of turns, but by the end we were both running out of units and scrambling to find ways to score a little bit more. We knew it was going to be tight, and I thought a last minute objective dash from Matt's Gretchin might have pinched it, but it wasn't quite enough. We both maxed out the Primary but I had pulled ahead on the secondaries, mainly thanks to all his characters for me to Assassinate!

There were plenty of highlights in this game, Ghaz went on a rampage and killed both T-fexes before being finished off by the Broodlord, who also finished the second Killrig. The Trygon had a dual with a Beastboss, getting killed, then fighting on death and not quite killing the big Squig. At one point Makari had planted the banner in the middle of the board and was defending against a load of Genestealers. It was pretty epic.

(Note that for this event all armies were assumed to be painted so everyone got the 10 points regardless)

So with that I had three wins and ended up placing second (of twelve) and earning myself a sweet sweet voucher. Definitely an improvement on the last couple of events, and proof enough that this new Nid book is pretty strong!

Looking back at what went right for me - going heavy on Genestealers and winning first turn every time was probably a help, not sure it was game winning for any of them but they certainly would have been very different. In particular game three would have resulted in the Orks pushing me back initially and might have stopped me scoring a bit - though they probably wouldn't have been able to kill off the Hive Tyrant so fast. On the Genestealers themselves, I'm still undecided. Behemoth definitely suits them, and they performed well vs the Orks, but ran into hard targets in game one and were mixed against the Slaanesh daemons, when their ap was irrelevant.

I was a little disappointed with the Hive Tyrant, the loadout didn't generate nearly as many mortal wounds as I'd like and was quite squishy. I think in future he'll get a defensive buff instead of being kitted up for mortals.

As for things I definitely was impressed with - man, those Rupture cannons! They consistently got a wound in pretty much every time they fired, putting a big dent in whatever it was. The T-fex was also nice and tough, and surprisingly quick now with a much improved movement of 9 and no bonus for staying still. Of course the Zoanthropes also did some work with their smites and providing clearly the best Synaptic Imperative, and the Warrior unit with the Boneswords impressed me by cutting a big hole in a Killrig - though the taloned ones also pulled their weight by being reasonably tough and killy plus that synapse coverage. I strongly suspect the Boneswords will get a points cost at some point, they are clearly the better option if you've got the models.

In any case, I had a lot of fun and came away with plenty to think about for next time! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, and stay safe out there.

Crusade Battle Report - Adeptus Mechanicus vs Tau

Hello!

Another Crusade game for the Grim Dice league - this time the Adeptus Mechanicus of Ryza took on the Tau from a currently unknown Sept. Regardless of where they come from, those Tau holding tightly onto their strange, valuable xenotech is clearly and affront to the Omnissiah that cannot be allowed to stand. We were escalated to 75 power level now, so I once again had a few new units. The mission, once again from the Plague Purge pack, was Extermination Sweep - a six objective mission with a very complicated set up map but pretty simple objectives - hold the points at the end of the battle round. There's an action to make an objective 'sticky' and fast attack choices became ObSec.

As mentioned, the Helios Explorator fleet brought in some reinforcements. Tech-Priest Eldane Katronosa (now in the new body of a Tech-Priest Dominus) lead a new Manipulus (Gwoll Zygan), a Datasmith (Cykent Bosk), 10 Skitarii Vanguard, 5 Rangers, 3 Kataphron Breachers, 3 Destroyers, 5 Ruststalkers, 5 Sterylizors, 6 Sulphurhounds, two units of 2 Kastelan Robots and some air support with an Archeopter Fusilave.

For the Agendas, we went with Calculated Eradication (kill units on objectives - quickly becoming a go to for me from the Plague Purge options), the classic Reaper, and Break the Seals - search a random objective for archeotech - which turned out to be one that I had a chance of grabbing for once!

The Tau, piloted by Hikowa Dean (clearly a Tau name), were running a custom Sept. A mega buffed Commander led the force with special characters Shadowsun and Aun'shi but their side. Three Strike teams with a Fireblade and some pathfinders made up the bulk of the force, with Stealth Suits, Sniper drones and a Broadside for fire support and a squad of Crisis Suits kitted out with cyclic ion blasters for the 'hammer'. Lots of dakka!

Deployment - most of the units hiding behind buildings and the weird deployment setting the core of our forces quite far apart. The Pteraxii, Sulphurhounds and Crisis Suits were all in reserve, while the Stealths were taking a sniping position in the central tower.

We rolled off, and the choice went to the Tau - opting to take the second turn. A wise move since we scored at the end of the battle round.

First turn and the Archeopter did a bit of a suicide run to bomb the Stealth team and blast away at the Pathfinders. The rest of the force moved up cautiously and plinked off some wounds on the Stealths.

The return fire from the Tau took out the Archeopter and killed off a couple of the Breachers. The last Stealth Suit jumped onto an objective to put the Tau in the lead.

Turn two, and the reserves arrive, including the Ruststalkers who had previously left the board to sneak over to the other side. Operation apply pressure and kill off what we can - while Katronosa made their way to the Archeotech site.

Shooting from the Robots and the Destroyers was ok - killing off the Stealths and Pathfinders and removing a bunch of drones. The Sulphurhounds lit up the Tau commander, removing the drones. Then a disappointing charge phase - thanks to Tau charge reducing tactics all three of the reserve units failed to reach melee. A mixed turn for sure.

Turn two and the Tau suits came out to play. Shadowsun and the Crisis Suits both removed a Kastelan robot, while massed shots from firewarriors killed off the Ruststalkers and the Commander made short work of the Destroyers. My right flank just about hung in there as the Broadside whiffed against the Suphurhounds, rolling double ones to wound with the railgun. I think at this stage we were equal on objectives so the Tau maintained the lead.

Turn three saw the remaining robots make it into melee, punching out Shadowsun and most of the Crisis suits. Shooting from the Rangers with their Transuranic Arquebus combined with the Sulphurhounds to kill off the Broadside, and the Vanguard unit took out most of a Strike team. It went pretty well...

Apart from the charge of the light brigade here, when the Sulphurhounds charged the Commander, getting overwatched to death immediately, thanks to exploding sixes from multiple sources.

Once again, a mixed turn, with some good damage dealt but forces were dwindling. Though outside of the fighting, Katronosa succeeded in digging up an Archeotech weapon part - Digital Cannon acquired!

Going into Tau turn three and it was getting fairly interesting, with Aun'shi doing his agenda to hold a secret meeting in the middle of the board, and the rest of the remaining Tau forming a big firing line. The Pteraxii and Kastelan got taken out by a blistering fusilade of fire, but the Vanguard were still in play. This once again tipped the objective game in the favour of the Tau - at this point pretty much an unassailable lead.

I got a turn four to try and make a dent in the remaining Tau forces, but some excellent work from a shield drone negated most of the firepower and melee was a little disappointing thanks to the active Doctrina Imperative. Katronosa got into melee with the Commander but they both bounced off each other's armour.

With that we ran out of time - a clear victory for the Tau but an early finish probably saved a few units from potential battle scars.

This was a fairly even game in terms of damage output but I probably needed some charges on turn two to go off. Going second was definitely the right choice for the Tau, and probably made the difference. Overall though, while the Tau were clearly up to some shady business with the local populace, the forces of Ryza picked up some valued Archeotech so quite frankly the Tau can have the rest of this ruined city.

In addition to the archeotech, we also got a battle honour for the first of the Kastelan units - Elite 'Crew', meaning they would get to reroll ones to hit - very valuable for their fists in the Conqueror protocols with they hit on 2s. The next game is scheduled to be against Nick and his Custodes, so we get to be naughty AdMech going against some other Imperials again.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, and stay safe!