Tervigon Project

Nick speaking,

With my good old Carnifex model currently filling in for a Tervigon, I thought it was about time I let it be a Carnifex again, and make myself a Tervigon model. I will need to make it on a bit of a budget, and with my Carnifexes being the old school models, it seemed obvious to me that the current Carnifex sprue would make a great base for a Tervigon conversion...

First stop, was to check out eBay for a cheap Fex. I managed to get one for £12.00, which I thought was quite reasonable considering it had magnetised talons. As it turns out, the magnetised talons were very poorly done, as you can see from the pictures below, but that's OK, as I am going to change it about anyway...

The Tervigon picture in the Codex clearly shows it with two back legs and four Scything talons, and that is what I decided to base my model around. I wanted to use the old school talons so that it would match into the rest of my army a bit better. I wasn't aiming for my Tervigon to be too fancy, I just wanted to run with the description and picture in the Codex.

Using Blu-Tack as stand in, removable green stuff, I got to work on the basic pose of the model and mocked up a swollen abdomen, with a Termagant being spawned out of it...

Ideally, I would like to have the third set of spines in the middle of the model like in the picture, but buying the spine sections by themself seems to be a bit expensive. I could of course try and green stuff them up, but I don't know how well I could do that...

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Eldar Shining Spears

Nick speaking,

There is something about the Shining Spear models that really appeal to me. I know it's nothing to do with how they perform on the table, which although they can be fun to use, are simply not worth the points in a competitive list. No it has to do with, well, just liking the pictures in the Codex!

I think it's mainly the Aspect Warriors colour scheme that does it for me. The Blue and white theme looks so cool. I love the stripes on the bikes, with the Exarch colours being the opposite way round, and with the rest of my army having a purple and white scheme, I think they would compliment  it nicely.

When I first got my Eldar together, and before I had finished the large Eldar learning curve (OK, I probably am still on that curve) I used to try and play the Spears whenever I could. Sadly though, I have to admit it's been a very long time since I got them out of my case, or even considered painting them! With a family and all the things that go on in ones life, painting time is very precious to me, and I tend to stick to the things that I know I will use the most.

At one point, I even considered converting the Spears into a Seer Council, but in the end I just couldn't bring myself to do it. One day, Eldar will get a new Codex, and with a few tweaks here and there, and a bit of a reduction in points, they could all of a sudden become workable. Sadly until then, I will just have to keep them on the back burner!

Do you have any units that you love, but never got around to painting/playing because they suck on the table? Do you play that overpriced under performing unit, just because you love the models so much? Should I just say no, sod it and paint and play the Shining Spears anyway?

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Painted Seer Council First Battle Report

Nick speaking,

With my Seer Council all finished, and the rest of my first Saim Hann styled, IDIC Hann army painted (except for five Dire Avengers), I couldn't wait to get the army on the table for a game. Win or lose, I just wanted to see the Seer Council in action...

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Guide, Doom and Fortune - Markers?

Nick speaking,

How do you remember where all your Eldar psychic powers are?

At the moment I use some token marker that I made up in Photoshop, nothing fancy, but when laminated and cut up they work pretty well at reminding me, and my opponent, where my Guide, Fortune and Doom powers are. I find them very handy, and I can have as many tokens as I need. Here are the markers I currently use and how they look on the table...

Although my markers are great, I am just wondering if I could come up with something a bit better! I am thinking of an actual model marker on a base of some description, but the question is what to use? I did see a very old Eldar model with a musical instrument once on eBay that looked interesting, but that was just a one off and it was just a single model. I would have to have at least three of each marker for when I am using both Eldrad and a normal Farseer in the same list!

I am sure that there must be a whole bunch of people out there that have come up with some cool ideas for this, so does anyone out there want to share them with me please! Full credit and link back for the best suggestions.

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Curiosity killed the...Vectored Engine!

Nick speaking,

I have been playing Eldar for a while now, and right from the begining, I have always geared my Grav Tanks up with Spirit Stones, Star Engines, Holo-Fields and Vectored Engines. I knew that popular believe was that Vectored Engines were a waste of points, and that I could buy another basic Fire Prism for the points I spent, but I just couldn't bring myself to drop them, and here are the reasons why...

The way I saw it, if I was going to spend all those points on a tank to make it last for as long as possible, in order for it to use it's movement and Star Engines to contest or Capture end game, then Vectored Engines would fall into that catagory nicely? After all, once I have moved fast, the last thing I want is to be immobilised and wrecked, and then to lose the game! I might as well pay the extra points and have them 'fully loaded'...

Game after game, I watched my tanks zooming across the board to capture objectives. Knowing that sixes were needed to hit me, then the protectin of the Holo-Fields, and if you do manage to wreck me, I will still be there with my Vectored Engines to contest. The trouble was, those Vectored Engines have never been used, I have never been immobalised after moving fast! This got me thinking that maybe I was wrong about Vectored Engines, so out of curiosity I started to experiment...

It all started when I played a casual four way game with my buddies, I thought it would be fun to get as many tanks down on the table as I could for the 750pts! Taking the tanks bare boned, I managed to get a list which included two Fire Prisms, one Falcon, two Wave Serpents with Dire Avengers and and a Farseer. It was at this point that I started to consider the things I really do need to have on my tanks, and the things I don't!

Needless to say, Vectored Engines were out! and my curiousity litarally did kill them off, well, in a way! Actually, I do still take Vectored Engines on certain tanks, like my Howling Banshee tank, where I know it is going to be moving fast to get the girls into position to assault, but generally, I don't waste the points on them anymore.

Vectored Engines have been an experience for me, and I have learnt that it is best to have something bare boned first, and see what upgrades are needed as you play, rather than take something fully loaded and not realise you are wasting points on things you don't really need, or at least, not very often!

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Melted Tank Markers!

Nick speaking,

We are all used to tanks that are destroyed by Melta guns, but what about having a melted tank marker to represent the damaged tank?

Not so long ago, my buddy found these toy tanks in his local pound shop, although not pretty, they are about the same size a Predator/Rhino/Razorback, and we thought with a bit of work, they would make great stand in markers for destroyed tanks...

He took a blow torch to them, and on this subject, I have to say he is experienced with using tools like this, and I would not recommend anyone and everyone to start playing with blow torches! Here is what it looks like after he had melted it and with a coat of Chaos Black...

Add in a few flames and even without a paint job it makes a great looking 'wrecked' marker...

If your tank gets an 'explodes' result, it easily comes apart, and using the bottom half up side down does the trick nicely, and allows your models to be able to stand on them as well..

Not bad for a pound!

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Eldar City of Death Battle Report

Nick speaking,

After upgrading my Cities of Death 1500pt Eldar list to 1750pt, I was all set to start playing with my buildings again for some fun. As it turns out, I had even more fun than I expected, It was such a pleasure to get my Cities of Death terrain back out on the table..

Most of the units I use in CoD, never really come out to play that much because they don't tend to fit into my other lists easily, hence I haven't got around to painting them. After this game though, and once my Saim-Hann themed army is done and dusted, I will work on some of these models, starting with the Avatar...

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Varnishing Flying Bases

Nick speaking,

When I first started painting my 40k models, I will always remember something a friend of mine told me "If you can see it, then you can paint it" and that is one reason why I always tend to base my flying bases rather than just leaving them clear...

I am also a bit of a fussy person, and I have to admit that I do prefer them based over being clear, on top of that, I always spray varnish them as well. When you spray varnish the base, it is a good idea to stop the varnish getting onto the flying base stem, as It tends to tarnish it and makes it look a bit odd rather than see through. I know that some people just mask up the stems with tape, but I use a different technique with something that can easily be kept and reused! I use an old large paint brush top and place it over the stem with a bit of Blu-Tack on one end to stop the varnish getting in... 

Of course like me, you may not have enough large paint brush tops around, but don't worry, it's very easy to make your own version up. Just roll a piece of paper around a paint brush or pen, and Sellotape it together. Cover the whole thing in Sellotape so the varnish does not make the paper wet, cut it to length and put a piece of tape over one end to stop the varnish from getting in the top...

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750pt Nids List

Nick speaking,

Every so often my buddies and I will get together for a fun four way battle. We find the easiest mission to play is Space Junk, where you have random, centrally positioned objectives that scatter about. We tend to play 750pts with a minimum of one troop and one HQ, and of course random player turns. Usually, it is a great time to field something that you just want to try out for a bit fun...

Imagine a Deep Striking BA's Land Raider into the middle of the board, or six bare boned Eldar Grav tanks for some fun. Actually, it was one of these games that I first used a Tervigon, and this is what I want to use to expand my 750pt list, after all why play with 750pts like everyone else? Lets get two Tervies on the table and play with 1000pts instead! Well, I don't know what the mathammer is on how many Gants two Tervies will make on average, but you must be able to get 50 out on a good day?

This is the list I have come up with...

1 x Tyranid Prime
1 x Tervigon
1 x Tervigon
10 x Termagants
10 x Termagants
2x Hive Guard
2x Venomthropes

I deploy the two Gant broods up front and around the sides, the two troop Tervigons go behind them, and the Prime joins the Venomthropes behind them, with the Hive Guard deployed to one side, keeping within range of the Prime in case he has to join them. Prime will move between these units depending on who needs help with wound allocation.

Unlike my previous list where I have DoM coming in with a pod, this list will have to move as a massive blob, generating as many disposable troop choices as possible. Hive Guard pop vehicles, and Venomthropes does the usual with the 5+ cover save etc. I basically start off the game moving towards the nearest enemy, and by mid game start getting into position for the objectives in the centre.

What would you use in a 750pt, all on all, fun game?

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Tyranid Stinger Assault Battle Report

Nick speaking,

After talking about My Winged Hive Tyrant and how so far, I haven't got around to using her since fifth edition came out, I was really looking forward to playing her in my new, reserve all, deep strike type army list. As it turned out, I got passed first turn against an all reserve Blood Angel army, but I still had enough fun with the list, that I am now thinking it's about time I got her painted...

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IDIC Seer Council Jetbike Conversions Painted

Nick speaking,

At long last I can finally reveal my painted and completed Seer Council conversions, they were a long time coming, but I really enjoyed getting them done and with a bit of help from Ron, over at From The Warp with the Farseers hair, I am very happy with the results...

More to come on the Farseers hair later...

Until then, here is my traditional painting project video that I did, where you can see the process of them being painted...

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