Here Comes the Cavalry.

Here's the completed Wind Rider squadron, including 4 Guardian Jetbikes with Twin-linked Catapults, 2 Guardian Jetbikes with Shuriken Cannon, and a Warlock with Singing Spear (and Embolden).

After whining that the Warlock on bike would be so hard to model, it was actually pretty straightforward.   I started with this model and then cut it off at the waist, cut off his right arm, and cut his left arm at the shoulder.  I replaced his legs and right arm with the Jetbike Guardian versions, and repositioned his left arm so that the spear pointed forward.

The lower robes were not a problem at all, as I cut all that off anyway. The most difficult part was the right arm. The Guardian arm was too flimsy - without a robed arm the model looks asymmetrical. So I had to make a sleeve out of greenstuff. I think I did a fair job, but nothing that would pass close inspection. He won't win any awards, but he's WYSIWYG, which is important when you tell your opponent that you're putting a Strength 9 shot up the exhaust pipes of his Leman Russ.

Tactically, I worry that this squadron is too large to hide in cover, and even Turbo-boost and Embolden (which allows the unit to re-roll failed morale tests) may not be enough to keep them around. But I can break them down into two smaller squadrons if I need to. They're a finesse unit, and I'm sure they'll end up getting wiped out a few times before I figure out how to use them.

Next up: more Fire Dragons.

I Swear to God, I Paint Stuff

It’s been too long since I painted a model and offered proof, so here are the beginnings of a jetbike squadron.

The Shuriken Cannon is an extra from a Wave Serpent sprue. The only cut I had to make was shaving the ammo belt down on one side so that it would fit under the engine cowling and connect the midpoint of the gun to the bike while still fitting in straight.

I think they’ve turned out well, especially the camouflage on the cowling. The rest of the army has an implied camo scheme, but these are the first models that use an explicit pattern.

Soon I’ll add two more Guardian bikes, including another cannon-bike, and then a Warlock with a Singing Spear. The Warlock will be a project - I hope to find plastic WFB elves with robes that will work. 40K Warlocks are all metal, and I don’t want to cut one in half, fit it to the seated legs of a plastic jetbike Guardian, then balance the whole thing on a bike. Ugg.

In less lucid moments I imagine having two squadrons like this, but one will do for now while I figure out how the hell to use them.

New members of the daemon family

Here is a herald of Nurgle and some plaguebearers. The herald is a beastmen shaman with an old skeleton head and 1/2 of a great unclean one horn coming out of his head. The plaguebearers turned out ok. I mixed green and some orange to liven the unit up a little. I still have 4 more to go before getting the 3 units of 7 I'd like to have before moving on. I won't actually use the herald as I have 2 greater daemons taking up my HQ slots.

I have a Keeper of Secrets done as well. The photo doesn't do the model justice - it looks better in person. There's also a spot on his sword hand that I cleaned up. I did a poor job of removing the metal on that part of the model that has since been fixed. Joining the Keeper of Secrets will be a bunch of fiends when I can get the conversions done.

Essential Modeling Supplies - Disposable Diaper Changing Pad

What's the best bang for your buck in modeling supplies? A pack of disposable diaper changing pads. For just a couple of bucks you can get a marvel of a product. Super absorbent on one side, totally waterproof on the other. Put one of these down on any table and feel confident that the table is safe from paint, water, glue... or even baby poop. If you use the last one in your modeling efforts I don't want to know about it.

I use these to model in our kitchen on our granite counter top or our kitchen table. Also up in our office on our desk. Several years after discovering this trick still no problems despite spilling all sorts of stuff from paint to bourbon.

As a bonus, they usually have some cutesy pictures like fish or teddy bears you can deface with eye patches and horns if you are taking a break.

Happy New Year from the Great Devourer

It's been a busy week off. 2 Warriors, 1 Tyranid Prime, 3 Zoanthropes, and 16 Devil Gaunts... done!

...and it only took four months.

Like every Eldar player of low morals, I've conspired to field a three-man squadron of War Walkers, themselves wielding a six-strong arsenal of Scatter Lasers, all loitering next to a smirking Guide-seer. So it was generous (if not wise) for Necronoob and Synack to each buy me a Walker as a birthday gift. I already had one, and Zain60 compounded their error by giving me two spare Scatter Lasers and a fourth Walker- a 3rd-edition all-metal version, at that.

I haven't had time to build Zain's Walker, because it's taken me all the days between Labor Day and this one to finish the first three. I should have 2,000 points in time for the Mayan Apocalypse.  

But for now I'm content.  No more proxying tea-lights for the lithe war machines of an ancient race, even if blowing out candles to represent casualties would have made me smile.

So thanks to everyone - this unit is the manifestation of your generosity.

Squats! ...as Orks!

If you had a fully-realized collection of Warhammer 40K Squats sitting in front of you, what rules would use to represent them?

The first problem is that the Squat profile has no match in the current roster of 40K armies. Setting aside their low speed (they moved 3” per turn instead of the standard 4”), 2nd edition Squats were Toughness 4 and BS3 with armor 6. Their leadership was high, at 10.

Fifth Edition armies don’t cover this profile very well. Space Marines have T4 and a good Ld, but also a BS of 4 and, or course, armor 3. And the Witch Hunters are totally wrong, with their T3 and armor 3. Of our Imperial options, the Imperial Guard seem to be the closest fit. They have the right BS and armor, but the wrong Ld and toughness. The difference is huge – not only are you wounding the Squats more easily than you should, but they’re running away more easily.

...and these boys ain't runnin'.

You might forgive these shortfalls, owing to the Guard’s defensive mindset and heavy tanks. If the Guard don’t line up with the Squat profile, at least they match in function. Or do they? Any player of 2nd Edition Epic (the game called “Space Marine,”) will tell you that the Squats were a dauntingly aggressive force. They had their heavy vehicles – the infamous Land Train and their use of the Imperial Guard's Leviathan come to mind. But in this game they were an army of speed, with massive formations of bikes and trikes, and flyers in the form of fighters and dirigibles. Their heavy weapons were not typically on tanks, like the Guard, but on foot, in Thunderer squads where every man had a heavy weapon. There were no Leman Russ tanks, Chimeras, or Basilisks anywhere in the Squat arsenal, even in a game where such models existed and could have easily been co-opted for their use. Such a move would have made narrative sense (since the Squats were part of the Imperium with only a semi-autonomous government) and financial sense to GW (since they could have sold the existing Epic Imperial Guard tank range to the players of two armies). That these weapons were not used by the Squats means that GW saw them as something very different from the Guard.

So where is the nascent Squat army hiding, if not in the Guard codex or anywhere else in the Imperial stable? If we have to look outside the Imperium, then let’s turn the Heresy-meter to 11 and look at the Orks.

There are a few immediate problems with using the Ork Codex to represent Squats, so let’s address them first.

Orks, of course, have their abysmal BS of 2. Squats pride themselves on their gunnery, so this is a problem. Orks also have a Ld of 7, which hardly represents the steadfast Squats. And players generally consider Orks to be a close combat army. Despite their speed, this doesn’t line up with the Squat backstory.

But these problems have solutions – or at least some wrinkles that mitigate the issues.

Dakka!

Regarding the BS, it’s true that the Slugga Boy is a bad match. But a Shoota Boy is actually MORE accurate than BS3. Ten imaginary Squat riflemen with BS3 would land five hits. Ten Shoota Boys with their Str4 AP6 Assault2 shootas get 20 shots, 6.6 of which (1 in 3) hit. You can explain that accuracy through sheer volume of fire (as the Ork codex does), or perhaps as skilled gunners taking careful aim (as the Squats could). Orks have a Str4 gun instead of the Str3 lasguns the Squats used to carry, but remember that Squats always had the option to upgrade to a bolter. These “Squat bolters” are AP6 instead of the proper AP5, but they give that up in exchange for their higher “accuracy” mentioned above.

The Ork Ld of 7 is out of step with the traditional view of Squats, but this disregards the power of Mob Rule. Large Ork mobs are famously hard to stop. The Orks keep coming at you because they feel safe in numbers, but you could just as easily see this as stubborn Squats refusing to run in the face of danger.

Finally, can Squats work if they are using a close combat army? Fortunately, Orks don’t have to charge in, so neither do the Squats. Anyone who has faced a shooty Ork army, filled with Lootas and shoota boyz, can tell you that these armies work.

From here the correlations roll: Lootas become Thunderers, Koptas become Gyrocopters, warbuggies become trikes, (bikes stay bikes, nicely), The warboss is now a warlord, and his ever-present nobz become the Hearthguard. Put them in Mega-armor and viola!, you have exo-armor. Perhaps the Shokk Attak Gun becomes artillery, with the 2-wound Mek becoming a 2-man crew. Squats have plenty of techno-savvy, justifying the use of such varied Ork machines as dreads, kans, and stormboy jump-packs.

If I had some Squat models left, and if I wasn't already in possession of a sizable Ork force, I would be sorely tempted...