Terrain WIP- Giant Robots and Scratch Built Bastion

First of all thank you to Ranter McRanterson for his post this week.

As well, I managed to get a bunch more work done on Terrain and my Genswick army (post tomorrow).

Today's post is exclusively about the terrain progress though. And it features giant robots.

Like this guy. He is a Bandai, Master Grade 1/100 scale MS-06J Zaku II (Principality of Zeon Mass Productive Mobile Suit). Otherwise known as a Zaku from the popular Japanese Animated Mobile Suit Gundam series. You can get these pretty cheap here in japan (approx 2000 JPY) and you can get them at department stores like Aeon (their version of a Super Target I guess). I picked up 2 of these, but have only really experimented with building one. I went ahead and followed the instructions, which are self explanatory and have no need to be documented here. BUT I will say that a Master Grade model is awesome and very cleverly constructed. It has like a million points of articulation and was pretty fun to build and play around with. Once I was done I figured out what pose I wanted my Zaku in roughly and cut foam to fit and support it. All my terrain will ultimate be winter scape, so the little bits are actually going to be built up snow drifts.

Once I had those in place and glued down I began going to town on my Zaku to make it a wreck, blown out at the waste. A pin vice, pair of clippers and some random bits of wire did the job just fine.

I also completed my scratch built bastion first seen in this post. Really all I did to finish it was reinforce the edges with some odd Japanese epoxy and add on firing points.

Next piece of terrain is actually my least favourite and really only seems good for games of Apocalypse. It is way too large and really not that model friendly in terms of usable space.

As you can see it is a trench embedded into a hill. I added a small bunker and fire point on opposite ends. I wish I had done it slightly differently, like doing 2 firing points instead of a bunker and having an L shaped trench.

The final piece was actually built by Mrs. Gothmog. And I have to say it has a brilliant simplicity to it, and a lot better than my obscene monstrosity of a hill above. Not too large, reasonable amount of space for models to stand on and reasonable cover from multiple angles but exposed from others.

So that is all for now, but I will have a significant post on Genswick tomorrow. One Veteran Squad and Infantry Squad built this week, plus some command squad elements.

6th Mumers - Discordian

First off Sorry Mr. Flappy Mc Flapperson, I’m lazy and the other jerks didn’t do anything so I got lazier.

So there are these rumors of 6th edition hitting the streets next spring. There are also a lot of people popping up chirping in about crazy rules that will change the game. If you want to read about them I’m sure you can find one of the main 40k forum sites, they have tons of rumors threads dedicated to this. One thing that really makes me happy is the mention that upon 6th edition release errata updates will be done for each of the older books like they did in fantasy. Wow its like someone decided to do work or something.

They couldnt have fired everyone uselful

One of the big questions is how the current codexs be affected by these rules. And I’m beginning to think there are subtle hints hidden inside most of the 5th edition codexs pointing to things to come.

Deepstrike PUNCH!

Like This But Far More Effective

This is a big one. The rumor is you will be able to assault out of deepstrike, Wow. There are a couple of downsides to apparently. If your within 6 inches of a enemy you scatter 3d6, 6 to 12 inches 2d6, 12-18 inches 1d6, and outside of 18 no scatter. One of the other mentions is if you’re within 6 you always scatter using the small arrow on the hit as your direction, so it will be very dangerous to just pop up on the table and go to town on some poor fool walking in the middle of a peaceful field.

I’m beginning to think this is somewhat if not all true. I play Grey Knights and when the new codex came out I was super happy to have a new shiny book with a competent army, a break from my poor poor Tau.

One of the first things I noticed that did piss me off in the new book is that the Callidus Assassin can no longer assault the turn is shows up, instead she has this deepstrike with no scatter rule (she also lost “A Word in your Ear” dam it).

Another unit that I heard early rumors about was Mordrak and his buddies. I loved the idea of this unit simple because this guys imaginary friends are in fact a unit of Terminators. When I looked him up in the book you get this weird realization that his ghost can’t buy any gun upgrades. So they show up storm bolter some shit, they don’t even get Psybolts, and hope enough of them are left next turn or your opponent didn’t just simply drive away. They do get to deepstike without scatter first turn.

See the key phrase here there? Deepstrike without scatter. Here’s couple of other guys with similar rules.

Dante: A guy in army that already scatters only 1d6 less when deepstriking has this ability to just be placed, how he is used now is simply a safe melta gun deployment method which when you scatter only 1d6 in the rest of the army isn’t to special. Also notice how descent of angels is 1d6 less, not just 1d6, see what they did there and how it could be applied to the rumors heard.

Imotekh: The new jerk on the block has this ability to pick one unit on the table and all flayed ones deepstriking around that chosen unit don’t scatter. Doesn’t sound like much because flayed ones are terrible. No rending, no fleet, no power weapons without a babysitter, no guns, 4+ save, and cant be freakin troops like everyone hoped. Now imagine if these guys could burst out of the ground and give you a big hug. Makes them make more sense right

Marbo: really doesn’t need it because he can do something the turn he shows up. Cool story, I’ve seen him blow himself up….. it was great.

Lictors and Deathleaper: yes there rules say they can’t assault the turn they show up but that’s something that could be changed in one of the codex updates mentioned above. I bring these guys up because I only saw lictors played once and that was mostly because my friend played nine of them as a joke. Hilarious yes, effective not so much.

Kheradruakh the Decapitator: Same deal as the Lictors. Can’t assault the turn he shows up because of his personal rules, but would so make sense if he could because he is not an independent character. Also read his fluff, its awesome, he’s like making a stereo system based on human eye sockets or something. You’ll want to play him until you realize he literally does shit nothing and doesn’t even unlock Mandrakes as troops.

Caw CAW

probably going to be just as annoying

Almost every new codex has gotten giant fast skimmers. No surprise people have been guessing flyers will not be restrained to the open skies of apocalypse. One thing that really caught my eye is the new “Aerial Assault” and “Supersonic” rules mentioned both in Darkeldar and Necorns. Both these rules kind of give their respective fast skimmers plane like abilities. Generally that didn’t perk my interest too much until I read about the new Night Scythe from the Necorn Codex.

It has both of these rules but one of them doesn’t make sense. “Aerial Assault” allows the Night Scythe to fire all….. ONE of its guns if it moves 12 and under inches. It doesn’t have the option to get a second one which is making me guess that Aerial Assault will have added functions come spring.

Preferred Headshot

BOOM

I heard about the rumor of Preferred Enemy applying to shooting before the new Necorn codex. Then when destroyers showed up hating “Everything!” It kind of makes the rumor seem super plausible because these guys really don’t seem to be the touchy feely type of close combat.

 This might just be wishful thinking but imagine if this was true and it was applied to a Hive Tyrant escorting some Tyrannofexice across the board with his nifty little aura ability.

Tiered USR

Some raise your hand if you hate how everyone has felt no pain. Okay well imagine if only a few people had 4+ feel no pain and everyone else had varying versions that where either 5+ or 6+. Sound a little fairer? I do because I’m super annoyed of having to tell my fire warriors it’s not their fault.

One thing that makes me feel GW if willing to adjust the issue of spammed FNP is the introduction of the Assassins Synskin 6+ feel no pain. Super shitty for them but super awesome in pointing that there is totally the possibility of different versions of feel no pain. And for that matter different levels of other USRs like instant death, eternal warrior, stealth, etc……

Bugs with Goggles

So acute senses/night vision has been seen added army wide to both Space Wuffs and Dark Eldar. Not too odd, one is a bunch of underrepresented werewolves struggling not to become mounts of mounted cavalry. And the other is a bunch of emo elf douches who like to cut themselves in the corner and attach arms where arms shouldn’t be. Awesome fluff right, that’s one of the main reason I love this game.

Now I want to take a look at the Raveners from codex Tyranids. WTF. I hope this points to a change in the general mechanic of Acute Senses, otherwise I think GW is just screwing with us or kind of doesn’t understand the game they make.

I do Say Buzz mm'yess

So if you have a new codex and want to believe GW can write a decent rule system, take a look. Look for things that don’t make sense in the current game system. Find anything?

6th Edition Codex Space Marines: What I'd Like To See

So rumours of 6th edition are floating around. Due to the nature of my location and work I haven't been able to follow them with the diligence they are due. BUT this has not stopped me from thinking about what the Staple codex of every edition release should look like.

For the first time in release history I think the codex is "Complete". By this I mean there are almost no additions that can be made in terms of new units. At most something like the Storm Raven, but I'd rather NOT see that, because as I have said in the past there really needs to remain a distinct difference between the Vanilla SM codex and the divergent chapters. And GK are already in their own way super Blood Angels, we don't really need more Blood Angel-eque elements brought into another codex.

But continuing on down this train of though, there are not many units to be added. I see people asking for Contemptors in the main codex, but I disagree with this. They should remain a Forge World item to be added by people who want a to add a touch of pre-heresy. Sure some beefing up of the standard dread would be nice, but there is no need to add yet another variant of Dreadnought.

There will likely be something "new", and personally what I would like to see is Deathwatch Space Marines if anything is to be added to the codex. They though are unfortunately are alot like Sternguard, and therefore not a likely candidate. Plus there is already Legion of the Damned filling out the "Outside" orginization type squad.

But instead of focusing on the potential (or lack there of) for new units, lets focus on what changes can be implemented and what aspects I want to see come forth.

1- The rebirth of the Space Marine Captain: This is critical. Fluff wise, this guy should be the man. He in all respects is a BA. And he is suppossed to be most commonly seen leading large forces of Space Marines (multiple squads and tanks) into battle. As is stands right now, why take him when there are perfectly good characters (Vulkan) or Librarians and such. Well then, lets give the player reason to take them. This ties in with the next bullet

2- Chapter Tactics/Traits System: Okay, the old chapter traits system was a little odd, people picking strengths and weaknesses, and often mitigating the weakness so they didn't matter at all. But switching from that to a completely character driven chapter themes. So what we do is put a list of chapters in the back, each with a chapter tactic. No advatages or disadvantages, just clever rules for a large list of chapters (more than just legions and popular ones). At least 20 IMO. When you take a captain, he HAS to choose one of these. You obviously would still have a generic one like what he currently has in the Codex (Ultramarine Tactic), and you don't HAVE to play the chapter that it is listed for (how many Ultramarine Vulkan's are there). The special characters would then just take their respective chapter's tactic to an extreme, or add some other little bonus to it.

3- Make normal terminators worth taking again- I am not sure how to do this, but right now they are not worth taking versus Assault Terminators. Possibly a cost decrease or cost increase on storm shields, or the ability to take special ammo on storm bolters.

4- Make Landspeeders cooler/more reliable- As well make the storm a dedicated transport for scouts, but otherwise the normal speeders, IMO aren't anything to be particularly envious of, especially when a Razorback can do their job just fine and don't die nearly as easily. Maybe if their weapons weren't as expensive, or the options were expanded (wouldn't Plamsa Cannons be nice). Give them teleport homers possibly.

5- Cheaper bikes- I just think they are too expensive for what they do and are so seldom seen as a result. Actually I think the Fast Attack section is as a whole.

6- Assualt/Special Weapons Devastators- Why are devastators ONLY heavy weapons. They seem like they should be masters of destruction at range in any form. Many other armies have special weapon squads of sorts, why not make devastators capable of the same- Flame Throwers, Meltas, Plasma Guns, some form of Grenade Launcher and Storm Bolters as a set of choices rather than just heavy weapons or as an alternative to them.

7- Plastic Veterans- I think that is pretty self explanitory. Really an entirely plastic range would be most excellent, even things like Techmarines, Librarians and Chaplains. I think it was successful as the Captain, and can be done with other character types too. Then make the current range ones finecast in case you still want those specific models.

That's all I can think of for now. If I have more ideas I will append them here. Happy New Year all!

Hopefully mine New Year brings my orders (and a couple posts on terrain I am working on, the Ogryns I ordered and will convert up as well as my Genswick and their Savlar Chem Dog Penal legionaires!)

Imperial Guard "Genswick" Army Project- 9 Lists to work from

First off, may the Great Leader RIP.

Thank goodness the Golden Throne doesn't actually exist

So this weekend as I was going over my Genswick stuff I broke out the Army lists and made some adjustments.

First of all, let me clarify, these lists are in no way shape or form to be competitive. My Genswick plans are for a fun, fluffy army with lots of character rather than power. Even if they rarely win, to bring such a hobby intensive army to play will be fun. As well, the idea is to overlap as many units as possible at the fundamental core of the lists, while including aspects both fluffy and presenting unique hobby opportunities (Savlar Chem Dogs, Ogryns, etc. etc.)

List 1- 2000 pt Krieg Siege Regiment
HQ- Co Command Squad: 115- Master of Ordinance; Regimental Standard; Vox; Power Weapon
Elite- Grenadiers(10): 200- Melta-gun x 2
Elite- Heavy Mortars(3): 150
Troops- Infantry Platoon
-Platoon Command Squad: 75- Melta-gun x 2; Power Weapon, Vox
-Infantry Squad: 80- Plasma Gun; Vox
-Infantry Squad: 85- Melta Gun; Power Weapon; Vox
-Infantry Squad: 80- Flamer; Power Weapon; Vox
-Heavy Weapon Squad: 65- Mortar x 3
-Heavy Weapon Squad: 95- Lascannon x 3
-Heavy Weapon Squad: 80- Autocannon x 3
Troops- Engineers(10): 130- Gas grenades
Troops- Engineers(10): 130- Gas grenades
Troops- Hades Breaching Drill: 50
Troops- Hades Breaching Drill: 50
Fast Attack- Death Riders(10): 180- Power Weapon
Heavy Support- Leman Russ Battle Tank: 200- Lascannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Extra Armour
Heavy Support- Leman Russ Battle Tank: 200- Lascannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Extra Armour

Pts: 1965 (30 pts to play with still) Scoring Units: 9 KPs: 19
Model Count: 98 Infantry, 10 Cavalry, 3 Artillery Pieces, 4 Tanks (115 models)

List 2- 2500 pt Krieg Siege Regiment
ADD THE FOLLOWING TO LIST 1
Troops- Infantry Platoon
-Platoon Command Squad: 75- Melta-gun x 2; Power Weapon; Vox
-Infantry Squad: 85- Melta-gun; Power Weapon; Vox
-Infantry Squad: 80- Grenade Launcher; Power Weapon; Vox
Fast Attack- Banewolf: 130
Fast Attack- Banewolf: 130

Pts: 2465 (30 pts to play with still) Scoring Units: 12 KPs: 24
Model Count: 123 Infantry, 10 Cavalry, 3 Artillery Pieces, 6 Tanks (142 models)

List 3- 1500 Point Imperial Guard Variant 1
HQ- Co Command Squad: 110- Master of Ordinance; Regimental Standard; Vox; Power Weapon
Elite- Stormtroopers(10): 185- Melta-gun x 2
Elite- Ratlings(5): 50
Troops- Infantry Platoon
-Platoon Command Squad: 65- Melta-gun x 2; Power Weapon; Vox
-Infantry Squad: 70- Plasma Gun; Vox
-Infantry Squad: 65- Melta Gun; Vox
-Infantry Squad: 60- Flamer; Vox
-Heavy Weapon Squad: 60- Mortar x 3
-Heavy Weapon Squad: 105- Lascannon x 3
-Heavy Weapon Squad: 75- Autocannon x 3
Troops- Veteran Squad- 100: Demolitions, Shotguns
Troops- Veteran Squad- 100: Demolitions, Shotguns
Fast Attack- Rough Riders(10): 115- Power Weapon
Heavy Support- Leman Russ Battle Tank: 200- Lascannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Extra Armour
Heavy Support- Leman Russ Battle Tank: 200- Lascannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Extra Armour

Pts: 1500 Scoring Units: 9 KPs: 15
Model Count: 94 Infantry, 10 Cavalry, 2 Tanks (106 models)

List 4- 2000 Point Imperial Guard Variant 1
ADD TO LIST 3
Elite- Ratlings(5): 50
Troops- Infantry Platoon
-Platoon Command Squad: 65- Melta-gun x 2; Power Weapon; Vox
-Infantry Squad: 65- Melta-gun; Vox
-Infantry Squad: 60- Grenade Launcher; Vox
Fast Attack- Banewolf: 130
Fast Attack- Banewolf: 130

Pts: 2000 Scoring Units: 12 KPs: 21
Model Count: 124 Infantry, 10 Cavalry, 4 Tanks (138 models)

List 5- 2500 Point Imperial Guard Variant 1
ADD TO LIST 4
COMBINE RATLINGS- Ratlings(9): 90
Elite- Ogryns(5)- 130
Troops- Penal Legion (Savlar Chem Dogs): 80
Troops- Penal Legion (Savlar Chem Dogs): 80
Heavy Support- Basilisk: 140- Enclosed Crew Compartment

Pts: 2500 Scoring Units: 14 KPs: 24
Model Count: 148 Infantry, 10 Cavalry, 5 Tanks (163 models)

List 6- 3000 Point Imperial Guard Variant 1
ADD TO LIST 5
INCREASE RATLINGS- Ratlings(10): 100
VETERAN SQUAD ADDITION- Melta-Gun x 3: 30
VETERAN SQUAD ADDITION- Melta-Gun x 3: 30
INFANTRY PLATOON ADDITION-
Troop- Heavy Weapon Squad: 90- Missile Launcher x 3
Troop- Veteran Squad: 135- Las Pistol and CCW; Melta-gun x 3; Grenadiers; Vox
SQUADRON LEMAN RUSS BATTLE TANKS
Heavy Support- Leman Russ Vanquisher: 205- Lascannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Extra Armour

Pts: 3000 Scoring Units: 16 KPs: 27
Model Count: 165 Infantry, 10 Cavalry, 6 Tanks (181 models)

List 7- 2000 Point Imperial Guard Variant 2
HQ- Company Command Squad- 115: Power Weapon, Regimental Standard, Melta-gun, Master of Ordnance
HQ- Lord Commissar- 80: Power Weapon
Elites- Storm Trooper Squad- 195: Power Weapon, 2 x Meltagun
Elites- Ratlings (5)- 50
Elites- Ratlings (5)- 50
Troops- Infantry Platoon
-Platoon Command Squad- 55: Power Fist, Melta-gun
-Infantry Squad- 110: Commissar, Power Weapon; Power Weapon, Melta-gun
-Infantry Squad- 65: Power Weapon, Flamer
-Infantry Squad- 65: Plasma Gun
-Heavy Weapon Squad- 105: Lascannons
-Heavy Weapon Squad- 75: Autocannons
-Heavy Weapon Squad- 60: Mortars
Troops- Veteran Squad- 130: Demolitions, Shotguns, 3x Melta-guns
Troops- Veteran Squad- 130: Demolitions, Shotguns, 3x Melta-guns
Fast Attack- Rough Rider Squad- 115: Power Weapon
Heavy Support- Leman Russ Demolisher Squadron (3)- 600: Heavy Bolter Sponsons; Lascannons

Points- 2000 Scoring Units: 9 KPs: 18
Model Count: 101 Infantry, 10 Cavalry, 3 Tanks (114 Total Models)

List 8- 2500 pt Imperial Guard Variant 2
ADD TO LIST 7
ADD Commander Chenkov- 50
ADD Commissar- 35
Troops- Conscripts (20)- 155: Send in the Next Wave (Savlar Chem Dogs)
Fast Attack- Banewolf- 130: Extra Armour
Fast Attack- Banewolf- 130: Extra Armour

Points- 2500 Scoring Units: 10 KPs: 21
Model Count: 122 Infantry, 10 Cavalry, 5 Tanks (137 Total Models)

List 9- 3000 pt Imperial Guard Variant 2
ADD TO LIST 8
COMBINE RATLINGS
ADD POWER WEAPON TO 2nd COMMISSAR- 10
ADD PLATOON STANDARD TO INFANTRY PLATOON- 15
Elites- Ogryns(5)- 210
Troops- Infantry Platoon
-Platoon Command Squad: 60- Melta-gun x 2; Power Weapon
-Infantry Squad: 60- Melta-gun
-Infantry Squad: 55- Grenade Launcher
- Heavy Weapon Squad: 90- Missile Launcher x 3

Points- 3000 Scoring Units: 14 KPs: 26
Model Count: 158 Infantry, 10 Cavalry, 5 Tanks (173 Total Models)

It is late here now and I have an early day tomorrow (Off the ship, on leave, on vacation, exploring Kyoto, no less than 4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites to visit tomorrow). BUT I will be back to post more tomorrow night. Ideally the follow up lists.

Cool conversion ideas

Just some cool conversion brainstorms that I thought I would share. No reason to hog awesome ideas, especially if I can't afford to do them or have the time to do them as of now.

So had this cool idea which I think would be great to make any of the following
-Blood Angel Terminators
-Word Bearer Terminators
-Custodes Terminators

What you do is take this body and death masks of Sanguinary Guard

And put them on Terminators/Chaos Terminators/GK Terminators (I think they would be the best frame). Some FW shoulder pads or MKI terminator armour conversions for shoulder pads would even further enrich the models. Scrolls and tabards as well. Suggest you make the CC termies. Some fancy Storm Shields from Chapterhouse studios would probably be good too.

Next idea: Brass Beasts of Khorne Army
Take a mix of Khornate chaos daemons and Necron arms, chests, and legs. Instead of wings on Blood Thirsters and DPs, use Sonic Blasters and engine exhausts and some green stuff to make large jump packs. Dreadnights, Killa Kans, Dreadnoughts and Sentinels also provide good bases to work from for these larger models. Like I would like the do a Blood thirster with said jump pack, the body of a soul grinder, two sets of defiler claws for arms and GK dreadknight legs. Basically mash as much metal with daemon flesh as possible. Don't think it is fluffy, go read Daemonworld. That book set the standards on chaos. Blood Crushers and Soul Grinders are very appropriate additions.

Fantasy Ogre Orc Maneater- Surprised I have never seen this. Ork glyphs on the belly plate and big choppa for his weapon. A grot minion. Big iron jaw like Gazskull Thraka. Horned helmet. Paint it like it obviously is from a major clan (Bad Moonz, Speed Freaks etc. etc.)

Howling Griffons- Those new FW Mk II, III and IV kits are just begging to be combined with Brettonian bitz, scrolls, medieval iconography and a red/yellow quartered colour scheme to create this classic chapter.