Spikey Bits

Well I'm putting the finishing touches on my Ork Guard army and getting ready to to battle this weekend in the Cabin Fever '10 GT.  This event is put on by Rich Ditzler of Adventurers Guild Gaming in Harrisburg, PA.  For those of you that don't know Rich, he is both a great guy and a competent tourney player himself!

I last played in the event in 2005 and I was definitely impressed by it. So it's good to finally be going back to the frozen tundra of Central Pennsylvania.

Check back here next week for bat reps galore!

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My 1850 list for the event.

• Co Command Squad, Chimera 4x Melta Astropath
• Inquisitor Lord w/ Hood 2x Mystics 1x Hierophant
• Veteran Squad, Chimera 2 Plasma, 1 Lascannon
• Veteran Squad, Chimera 2 Plasma, 1 Lascannon
• Veteran Squad, Chimera 2 Plasma, 1 Lascannon
• Veteran Squad, Chimera 3 Melta Demolitions 
• Veteran Squad, Chimera 2 Melta Flamer
• Vendetta
• Vendetta
• Hydra x2
• Maticore x2

That's it. Lots of synergy, disruption and firepower.  What do you think of the final list?

Hey checkout all the great new Tyranid articles over at From The Warp. Inside the Hive Mind

Its a great page of blog compilations from around the web, all dealing with the new release of the bugs.

Be sure to check back here later this week 1/29 for my big Tyranid Playtest report.

-MBG

Well I'm back again, taking a break from playtesting and converting up my Waterbugz, to take a closer look at the new big nasty Trygon.  I had the good fortune to purchase one from Forgewold a few years ago, but never got around to painting it. So now we can compare these two close up!

First off you can see the new plastic model comes with the new oval Valkyrie base which is definitely better for games of regular 40k.  The Claws on the FW Trygon are way better looking both detail wise and size.  I realize its a burrowing creature, BUT I just like sharp objects to impale my enemies with.

I think the Tail section of the plastic one contains more detail, however the ribbing on the FW one has better detail/ depth.  The torso spikes were much easier to glue and position in plastic than the resin one even though there were many more to attach.

A quick look at the back profile shot shows that the carapace is waaaay better detailed on the FW model, and it's claws look even awesome as well from this angle.   It almost makes me want to run and putty up the vents on my plastic model.... almost.

The jaw details looks better on the plastic one, but you can still see more depth on the FW model. The depth, however, may go away with I paint it, or I may even be able to pull it off with shading on the plastic one.

So that's it overall. I think detail wise the FW is better as a whole, but for assembling and converting the new plastic kit is the clear winner.  Resin or plastic what do you prefer?

A long time ago in the midst of the rise of "Zillanids" I started my Tyranid army. One of the things I wanted to do was make my bugs look different that anyone elses. I had seen some people convert their Canifexes by mounting them on their short shaft of a tail, and remove the legs.

I really liked that look, but thought I could do better than that.  I wanted them coming up out of the water like they would have done during their first contact battle on Tyran Prime.  So I scowered the Internets and my bits catalogs and came up with the old High Elf Dragon body, the one that is curvy and looks like Trogdor.

From there I had to plane down the bottom of the body to a flush surface to fit on the base. Then I added the standard Carnifex nipple to the top of this assembly, so I could connect the Carnifex torso to the HE Dragon torso.

Now for those bug fanatics out there don't worry- I also added a third set of appendages (for a total of six) to the model to keep the fluff and synergy intact. To finish off the model, I added extended carapace bits down the back of its spine to make the two pieces cohesive, and work together.

Fortunately I had magnetized the weapon arms, so now all I have to do is paint up some new arms and hit the base up with some water effects and it's done.

What kinda of Tyranid conversions would you like to see come out during this re-release?

Here is my WIP conversion of the new Tyranid Harpy model.   It's basically supposed to be a flying monstrous creature, so I figured I'd base it off the Carnifex and let the rest just materialize as I go.  I'll be working on cranking out all the special Tyranid creatures over the next few months, this guy being the first.

So I started off I with the Carnifex top torso, but flipped it so the bottom of the torso is where the head would go.  Then I used the Hive Tyrant legs to give slim it down a bit and separate it from the two distinct profiles of the Carnifex, and Tyrant. The wings are from the new High Elf Dragon model, and work quite well to open the model up and draw attention to it. I drilled a hole for the shafts to plug into on the carapace, and magnetized the ends for extra support. Having the wings seperate makes for much easier transportion and storage, believe me.

I had the rest of the dragon kit left over, so I thought the huge rock will go great with my swarm's theme (more on that later) and make a kick ass base to mount this baddie to. I attached the model to the base with some pins, and paused to reflect on my progress.

I think it's coming along quite nicely, what you do you think?

Here is my current 1850 Imperial Guard Army List. This is a pretty competitive list and won't make you a lot of friends in casual play. 

I took the Pysker Battle Squad out because I feel the Psyhic Hood is a better buy for the rise of Tyranid powers and proof against the standard threats of Space Wolves, Eldar, and Chaos. All four of those factions seem to dominate the Tournaments I go to.

If you encounter a rogue Nob Biker list just use your Chimeras to box them out and hit them with all the firepower at your disposal. 

If you have the new Army Builder 3.2 be careful because there are several errors encountered when making this list. It charges you more for Hydra Squads, and defaults to mortars on the Heavy Weapon Teams, and does not make you take 3 henchmen for your HQ Inquisitor.

1850 Pts - 5th Edition Roster

HQ: Company Command Squad (7#, 175 pts)
   4 Company Command Squad Meltagun x4; Astropath; Chimera
      1 Company Commander

HQ: Inquisitor Lord (3#, 77 pts)
   1 Inquisitor Lord [OM] @ 77 pts (Psychic Hood)
     2 Mystic [OM] (Laspistol; Close Combat Weapon)
     1 Hierophant [OM] (Laspistol; Close Combat Weapon)
     
Troops: Veteran Squad (11#, 175 pts)
   7 Veteran Squad @ 175 pts Shotgun x5; Plasmagun x2; Veteran Weapons Team Lascannon; Chimera

Troops: Veteran Squad (11#, 175 pts)
   7 Veteran Squad @ 175 pts Shotgun x5; Plasmagun x2; Veteran Weapons Team Lascannon; Chimera

Troops: Veteran Squad (11#, 175 pts)
   7 Veteran Squad @ 175 pts Shotgun x5; Plasmagun x2; Veteran Weapons Team Lascannon; Chimera

Troops: Veteran Squad (11#, 175 pts)
   7 Veteran Squad @ 175 pts Shotgun x5; Plasmagun x2; Veteran Weapons Team Lascannon; Chimera  


Troops: Veteran Squad (11#, 185 pts)
   9 Veteran Squad @ 185 pts  Demolition Charge; Melta Bombs; Shotgun x6; Meltagun x3; Chimera; Demolitions 1 Veteran Sergeant
-----------------) Fast Attack: Vendetta Gunship Squadron (1#, 130 pts)

Troops: Veteran Squad (11#, 150 pts)
   9 Veteran Squad @ 150 pts Shotgun x6; Flamer x1; Meltagun x2; Chimera  1 Veteran Sergeant -----------------) Fast Attack: Vendetta Gunship Squadron (1#, 130 pts)     

Heavy Support: Manticore Rocket Launcher (1#, 160 pts)
   1 Manticore Rocket Launcher @ 160 pts (Storm Eagle Rockets; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Heavy Flamer)

Heavy Support: Manticore Rocket Launcher (1#, 160 pts)
   1 Manticore Rocket Launcher @ 160 pts (Storm Eagle Rockets; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Heavy Flamer)

Heavy Support: Hydra Flak Tank Battery 21#, 150 pts)
   2 Hydra Flak Tank Battery @ 75 pts
      2 Hydra Flak Tank (Auto-targeting System; Heavy Bolter; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Twin-Linked Hydra Autocannons x2)

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Here is another set up for pitched battle. I bunched up in the middle because of an outflank threat. I try to screen the Maticores with the Hydras.

Okay so that's my guard and how I set it up. Hit me up if you have any questions about the new guard.

Hope everyone had a happy holiday!  Well I'm back with a full belly and some new conversions for everyone to checkout.

Here are some Imperial Guard Greatcoat / Traitor Guard conversions that are easy to convert and will  really make your foot troops stand out. You can really have some fun with these conversions because a lot of the parts are 100% interchangeable, and even if you don't use certain parts on your stock troopers, the extra trimmings can make command sections and sergeants really stand out.