40K Eldar Fire Dragons: Finished Painting the Squad

I don't generally blog on here much anymore — moved the whole operation (and then some) to http://BrinksChaosTheory.com — but I thought I'd repost my dragons here.  This was my hobby blog for a very long time, after all.

After starting them in July, I finally wrapped up my "Black Phoenix" Aeldari Fire Dragons.  And I'm pleasantly surprised at how well they turned out!

This probably doesn't look like 3 months of work.  Because it isn't.  I stuck to a very basic concept: base colors, wash, highlight, DONE.  And I decided not to get bogged down in the fine details, like painting every little gadget on their belts a different color or whatever.  Kept it simple.  It just took forever because I went weeks between painting sessions.  Still spent plenty of hours on them, but as I did a whole squad, one color at a time, I made pretty good progress.

Still didn't master dry brushing, which I seem to think would make all this way easier, but hitting the highlights very deliberately instead still worked out well.

I also considered trying to lay some green plasma looking stuff into the grills of their fusion gun muzzles to match their eyes and give the guns a cool look.  (And tie in another color to bring them together.)  It's still tempting to try, but I'm also afraid of screwing them up in the process…

It's funny that they're done now, because I swam laps yesterday and had a flashback to 2009 or 2010 when I used to think about "How am I going to paint those fire dragons?" to keep my mind occupied while I swam.  And now, like 8 years (!) later, they're done!  (Actually, I don't think I had my "dark" aspect warriors built then—it was classic Eldar dragon models at that time.)
Almost finished with my custom Fuegan.  I hollowed out a cloak for him that I have to paint and attach.  His sword I might just keep simple too rather than try to pull off some great magical effect that doesn't turn out how I want.  We'll see.

Eldar Dark Reaper: I Painted Sumfing!

It's been a good 1.5 years since I indulged in ye ole Warhammer 40K hobby.  (With my schedule, it's either hobby or writing, not both, which is why I managed to get a lot more writing done last year.)  Yesterday I got out of work early, it was a sunny, warm day, and I decided that I was going to camp outside and do some painting, damn it!

And I did so using my new painting philosophy, which is: keep it simple, stupid! If I ever want to get even half of the irresponsible horde of models I own painted one day, I'll have to keep each one pretty simple.  That means relying heavily on washes and dry brushing for details, and keeping the perfectionist in me at bay.  Overall, I'm pretty darn happy with this guy.

I usually paint the first one by him- or herself to figure out the scheme, and then I can paint more than one at a time once the design it determined.  So hopefully, completing my squad won't be far behind.  There's only 3 more models, after all.

You might notice that these are not the Craftworld Dark Reapers you are used to.  The "new" (at that time) Dark Eldar models are just so much cooler than the old Craftworld ones, that I decided to build a lot of my aspect warriors using DE kits.  That's my "Black Phoenix" Craftworld, and these badass aspect warriors are no exception.

They are basically DE Warrior bodies with WH Fantasy dark elf masked heads.  I also added a DE accessory behind the head to act as "reaper range-finding" gear.  The weapon, I believe, is a DE dark lance.  To me, the Reaper Launchers are not mini-missiles but quick-fire railguns.  Each time they pull the trigger, two very thin, javelin-like munitions are magnetically fired in rapid succession.  The poor targets at the other side are dead before they even hear the report of the gun.

I don't know when I will get another tiny pocket universe of time to paint more, but this was sure nice.  And I completed him in only an hour and half, which is pretty good for me, especially being rusty and all.

And here are links to blog posts when I first built these reapers TWO YEARS AGO:
— Reapers
— Exarch (which I'm not sure I like anymore — may just use the female model for the exarch)

New Eldar Harlequin Rules JDK

I have mixed feelings about the rumors of a new Harlie codex.  I remember back in the day when making a harlie force was doable.  And I can still visualize the White Dwarf pages from 1980-something when they first came out and had tables to roll on for psychic powers and had all the coolest gear.  They've been really pruned back in the last couple iterations, which is a shame, though I'm not totally convinced they should have a full army codex of their own.  Though it has gotten me to thinking, and so I decided to present my own JDK (as opposed to 40K... you know, I'm J. D. Brink...) version of a quick Harlequin Codex.

Harlequins should be like mashed potatoes: light and fluffy.  I don't feel like giving them any heavy vehicles or kitting them out too much goes well with their fluff.  They should remain small, quick, and generally silent.  With that in mind, as well as the current Eldar codex, these are my fast and dirty Harlie lineup ideas:

ARMY SPECIAL RULES:

Standard special rules for the "army" are: Fleet, Hit & Run, and Furious Charge.  These are as the Harlies currently have them in the Eldar Codex (as opposed to Ancient Doom and Battle Focus) and they fit well.  Let's make that standard across all our units.


FORCE ORG:

Using the standard force org, with the following special consideration.

   -- Harlequin units (like those in the Eldar Codex) are considered Elites.  However, you may take a number of Harlequin units as Troops equal to your number of Mime (Troops) units.  Any Harlequin troupes beyond the number of Mime troupes must take up an Elite slot.
   -- Death Jesters are not a Harlie upgrade but a separate Heavy Support entry.
 

HQs:

Character models of the Rogue Trader Era included Warlocks, Avatars, High Warlocks, and High Avatars.  Of course those names are taken by others with Craftworld Eldar now, so we'd have to come up with something else.
I'm not going to go too into making up stats and special rules and all.  My basic ideas would be:

Solitaire:  Max of one on the board (not just one per detachment), an Independent Character that cannot join any units.  Stats would be similar to a Phoenix Lord (but no armor save).  They might has a short list of "warrior powers" to choose from that can make them more badass.
   -- Gear: Rictus Mask, various weapon options.
   -- Friend of the Wind: May choose one of the following: Infiltrate, Scout, or Deepstrike.  The Solitaire may also choose in the Movement phase to disappear, going back into reserve to Deepstrike next turn.  Whenever he does Deepstrike, he scatters only D6" and can do so into terrain without suffering a Dangerous Terrain test.
   -- She Who Thirsts: The Solitaire's role in the Dance comes through in his or her very nature.  He is a Level 1 psychic with the Terrify telepathy power.
   -- The Art of Disappearance:  No one uses a Holosuit like a Solitaire.  He/She has a 3++ invuln save against ranged attacks and a 4++ invuln against close combat attacks.
   -- Blade Dancer: In a duel, he/she rerolls to hit and to wound.

"High Warlock": (they used to be called that)  This would be a level 2 psychic, upgradable to 3, who can pick either Telepathy or Telekinesis as their discipline.
   -- Mind Link: All Harlequin units within 12" can use her Ld (10) when making Ld checks.
 
"High Avatar":  Some form of badass combat leader.  Like the Solitaire, he of she might have special ability and weapon options.


TROOPS:

Mimes:  Mimes are like your less experienced Harlequins, the understudies of the performance crowd.  Let's make Mimes basically the same as Storm and Defender Guardians.
   -- Gear:  Instead of armor, they wear Flipbelts and Holosuits.  Like Guardians, kit them as either shuriken catapult squads or sword and pistol squads, with similar options on gear.

Master Mimes:  These are upgrade squad leaders for Mimes, not a free-standing unit.  WS5, A2, LD9.
   -- Silence:  Master Mimes can project a psychic aura that "silences" other psychic powers.  He and his unit Deny the Witch on a 3+ and all other units within 6" can Deny on a 4+.
   -- Gear: Blades of Grace -- twinned mono-edged sabres that incorporate shuriken pistols like the scorpion chainsabres.
Weapon Profile: S(as user) AP6 Rending, A+1 (cuz there's two of them)

Skyrider Jetbikes: Mimes on bikes.  Basically, same as Windriders.  Can upgrade one to a Master Mime.
   -- Aerial Artistry: All Harlequin jetbikes incorporate a Holo-field.  This combined with their daring aerial acrobatics allow them to take a 5+ Jink (cover) save even when firing their weapons, and a 4+ if they Turboboost (like in 6th edition).  Barring that, they may take a 6++ invuln save (based on holosuit technology).

ELITES:

Harlequins: Basically as they appear in the Eldar Codex now with the Troupe Master upgrade available.  Shadowseers are also an upgrade model that can only be taken with a Harlequin troupe, but I'm adding some stuff.
   -- Gear: As normal, but I'm changing the rules slightly for Kisses and adding some other options.  (See below)
   -- Shadowseer: The Shadowseers retain the Veil of Tears power.  They can also allow the unit to Deepstrike onto the board, ignoring the Dangerous Terrain tests for terrain if they land in it.  (Seems they were there all the time, you just didn't know it.)  Also see my new Hallucinogen Grenade rules below.  

FAST ATTACK:

Harlequin Jetbikes:  Basically Harlequin stats on a jetbike (with T4 of course).  May have an upgrade to a Shadowseer and Troupe Master.  Cannot take a Kiss (moving to fast) but can take a Jetbiker Flail.
   -- Aerial Artistry: All Harlequin jetbikes incorporate a Holo-field.  This combined with their daring aerial acrobatics allow them to take a 5+ Jink (cover) save even when firing their weapons, and a 4+ if they Turboboost (like in 6th edition).  Barring that, they may take a 6++ invuln save (based on holosuit technology).
   -- Jetbiker Flail:  (Optional unit upgrade.)  These are vicious weighted flails and bolas of monofilament line.  The Harlequin Bikers tangle them around their foes then jet off again, jerking the razor-thin cords right through their prey.  These weapons are only usable on the charge and the unit is obligated to perform a Hit & Run at the end of the combat round (if they fail it only means that they didn't quite get away, but the attack is already finished).
Biker Flail profile: S+3(includes furious charge), AP3, Armorbane, on charge only, must attempt Hit & Run

Air Dancers:  Mimes with Jump Troop rules.

Vyper Squadron: Same as in Eldar Codex.  (In my opinion, about as big a vehicle as Harlies should be flying.)
   -- Aerial Artistry: All Harlequin jetbikes incorporate a Holo-field.  This combined with their daring aerial acrobatics allow them to take a 5+ Jink (cover) save even when firing their weapons, and a 4+ if they Turboboost (like in 6th edition).  Barring that, they may take a 6++ invuln save (based on holosuit technology).

HEAVY SUPPORT:

Death Jesters: As in the Eldar Codex but you can buy upto 5 at a time as a squad/troupe.  These, like Warlocks, can then be broken off to act as independent characters who can join other infantry units, or make attacks on their own.
   -- Gear: Rictus Mask and Shrieker Cannon (see both below)

War Walkers: As in the Eldar Codex but with the Harlie special rules, not the Eldar ones, and with a holofield 5++ invuln save, rather than a power field (same diff).


DEDICATED TRANSPORTS:

Pretty much DE Venoms with a shuriken cannon and the Aerial Artistry rule.  

WAR GEAR:
   -- Rictus Mask: Causes Fear
   -- Neuro Disruptor: Harking to the Harlies of old, this is a Template weapon that short-circuits the enemies' brains.  Template, S*, AP*.  Effected models make a Ld test on 3D6.  If they fail they cannot act at all next round and are paralyzed with no saves of any kind allowed.  Models attacked are treated as having WS0 and cannot counter attack.  If not all models in a unit are effects the others may act normally but may not move out of coherency with the paralyzed models.  Vehicles are not effected by this weapon.  
   -- Webber: Another weapon of antiquity.  The webber launches a sticky net that envelopes and crushes the enemy.  All models hit must make a Strength Test or suffer a wound with no armor or cover saves allowed.
   -- Hallucinogen Grenades: Act as both offensive and defensive grenades.  If thrown as a weapon, they have the following profile: Range 8", S2, AP4, Assault 1, Blast, Strikedown (halve Init and move as if in difficult terrain)
   -- Shrieker Cannon:  The rules in the Eldar Codex don't support the fluff.  Therefore:
Range 36", S6, AP5, Assault 3, Bladestorm, Poisonous, Pinning (the "genetic toxins" should be poisonous!)
And since these are one of our Heavy Choices, maybe they have the option of also buying alternate ammo, a Sunfire Shuriken that gets super-hot when exposed to the air.  The range, however, is a bit shorter because eventually the ammo burns itself up.  All Jesters in a squad must fire this in the same turn:
Range 24" S7, AP2, Armorbane
   -- Harlequin Kiss:  Again, the current rules don't support the fluff.  If the weapon turns into a visceral blender then it should have Rending and cause Instant Death.
   -- Harlequin Blades:  The whole squad has the option of paying 3 pts each to get Rending on their hand weapons.

*And for the record, I'll say again that I think shuriken ranges should be: Pistol (12") Catapult (18") Avenger Catapult (24"), Cannon (36").  If 36 is too much, then make it 30 and consistently add 6" to all current ranges.  Isn't that fair??

All in all, I'm a big Harle fan so a codex sounds cool to me, but I'm not sure that really makes me "for it".  But since I like to make up my own rules anyway, I figured I'd take my turn at a Harlequin Codex too.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Logan's Run: Space Wolves vs Eldar in 7th Edition

This weekend I played with J in my first 7th edition game of 40K.  We played 1500 points of his Wolves against my Eldar.  I think the game ended in Turn 4 with no more wolves standing on the board.  So this is less a battle report and more just me commenting a bit.

As far as the battle goes, J's biggest disadvantages were an old codex and expensive units.  I hope that the 7th ed version of Wolves gets a lot cheaper and catches up with everyone else in their badass-ery and diversity.  J basically had four units and three vehicles on his list.  I had two HQs, all six of the classic aspect squads, two vehicles, and some bikes.  He was already outnumbered in Turn 1, and then in Turn 2 I jumped out of my transport and brought three more units in from reserve--hawks, scorps, and my walker.  Not pretty.

The Avatar was without a doubt my MVP of the game.  J spent a full third of his points on two models: the Land Raider Crusader and Logan Grimnar, over priced superhero of the galaxy.  My 205 point Avatar killed both of these with one blow a piece (thanks in no small part to some great rolling on my part and bad rolling on his).  Turn 1 Old Avvie waded up to the Land Raider, threw two melta bolts at it for no effect ("fast shot" warrior power), then drove his flaming Doom That Wails monster-sword (AP1) into the assault cannon ammo mags.  This was a smash attack, which is just one attack now in 7th ed (an understandable change), but it was enough.  I rolled a 3 to hit, a 6 to pen, and a 6 for damage.   KA-BOOM.

(J's awesome Logan conversion. Super-badass!)

The explosion killed a few bloodclaws inside and pinned the squad (thanks to Lukas the Trickster being a bad influence and bringing their leadership down to 8).  Turn 2 the Avatar attacked, along with his squad of howling banshee cheerleaders.  Logan was itching for a challenge so I gave him one...  and killed him before he could even swing back.  (That's 525 pts worth of crap the Avatar killed in the first two turns.)  Lukas did kill the banshee exarch in a challenge though, and then went on to challenge Old Avvie, hoping to trap him in his stasis bubble when he died.  And he very nearly did, but I rolled a 5 vs J's 2, so Lukas was forced to die alone.  The banshees finished the bloodclaws and the Avatar went on to give Steve Austin (J's bare-chested, wavy haired, bionic lone wolf) the monster fight he was looking for.  Unfortunately for Steve, he was out matched.  He did, however, manage to inflict a power fist wound on the Eldar god, which was more than anyone else had managed at that point.

The other Space Wolf units--two grey hunter squads and their rhinos--didn't stand much of a chance against the vast number of guns and scorpion chainswords I threw at them.  By Turn 4, the Wolves were wiped out.

The score, however, was a tie!  I did like the new tactical cards and changing objectives.  We also played the secret mission, so we didn't know what the other was after, which is how I think it should be every time.  J scored more with his objective cards, but I tied it up with line breaker, first blood, and slay the warlord.  We figured tabling the wolves was a tie-breaking result.

The only other noticeable difference for us this game between 6th and 7th was in the psychic phase.  He didn't have a psyker, but I brought a farseer and a warlock (both on jetbikes) just so I could play with the new rules.  And I liked it for the most part.  It's fun to budget out your dice and decide what powers you want to gamble on.  I did end up with a perils result, but the farseer's ghost helm nullified it.  (Wasn't sure how to proceed with that either; the rule is you cancel the wound by spending a warp charge.  I figured the fair way to do it was to spend dice from my pool and roll.  So it was more like a saving throw by way of spending a warp charge.)

All in all it was a quick but fun game, and from what little I've seen of 7th (I must admit), I like it.

Eldar Weaponry: Monofilament Webbing

One of the cool, seemingly low-tech yet gracefully deadly weapons at the Eldar's disposal is the mono-molecular, razor-sharp filaments cast by warp spiders and heavy weapon batteries.  The 6th edition version is certainly effective (no complaints about that), but to me, it's not very fluffy.  Meaning, the stats of the weapons don't really match the description.  And while no one actually asked for my version or opinion, I'm going to give it anyway.

The weapon is described as a cloud of near-invisible line that is cast into the air to float down on top of enemies, and the raw power of gravity bringing this oh-so-light fishing line of death to the ground is what delivers such a high strength attack.  Really?  That graceful cloud of string falls that fast and furious?  Doesn't make sense.

So this is my version.  It may not always be as deadly (or maybe more so?), but it certainly makes more sense:

Monofilament: The enemy becomes entangled in line cast at them by Warp Spider death spinners, or find themselves trapped by drifting clouds of razor-filaments thrown over the battlefield by shadow weaver artillery and night spinner-mounted doomweaver weapons.
   * Non-Vehicle Targets: Because it is the target's own strength that causes the monomolecular line to slice through them as they struggle, the weapons Strength is always the target's own Strength +1.  (Most often, this will wound on a 3+.)  The attack is AP- (nil) unless the to-wound roll is a 6, in which case it becomes AP1.  In addition, being so entangled, the next time the unit moves all models suffer from both Difficult and Dangerous Terrain as they struggle to free themselves from the deadly web.
   * Vehicle Targets: Often times vehicles (including walkers) will ignore the entangling line, snapping it with the great strength of their mechanisms.  The razor-thin filament does occasionally find weak spots, however, slicing hoses and cutting into vulnerable areas.  For each hit against a vehicle, roll a D6.  If the result is 1-3, nothing happens and the filament is broken harmlessly.  On 4-5 treat as a "crew shaken" result.  On 6, treat as "crew stunned" with a hull point of damage.  (Note that special abilities that might normally allow vehicles to roll against or ignore crew shaken/stunned results, like possession, do not apply, as this is not affecting a crew but simply has similar effects by entangling the vehicle.)

(my spiders -- have to paint them someday...)

And for the life of me I can't imagine what a "spinneret rifle" would be.  How do you focus and fire monofilament so that it hits harder???  While I love to give my Spider Exarch a guaranteed AP1 weapon, fluffily-speaking, I think I'd have to remove this as a choice from the codex.

But since GW didn't ask me, I guess I'll just keep using them as-is. :)

Eldar Jetbikes: a Tactica

(image obtained from this site)

Eldar were my first 40K army way back in the 80s, and so I still felt an affinity for them when I started getting back into it 20 years later.  That continues today as I work to find the right way to play my Eldar.  In the 6th edition they have definitely become the fast, graceful but deadly army I want them to be, but each game I play is a work in progress on figuring out just how I want to play that out.  And obviously the fastest unit available, able to move 48" in a single turn, is the Eldar Windrider jetbikes.

Much of the talk online about playing them is all about using them at the end of the game to make fast grabs for objectives.  Okay, sure, they're good for that.  They are scoring troops and they move lightning fast.  But that's turn 5 or later, what about the first four-fifths of the game?  Aren't they good for something more?

(image lifted from here)

Yes, they are!  With the general increase in the Eldar stat line (originating, I think, in the last Dark Eldar codex in 2010, and making much better sense for a long-lived and more agile species), even Guardians and Bikers become somewhat elite.  And when joined by a Warlock they take on an even more expansive role.  Some of their potential uses I have found and been successful with include the following:

   * Escort duty.  Who else can accompany those grav-tanks as they bolt across the field?  If you have one unit in a single tank and it's driving deeper into enemy territory, it's a good idea to send along an armed escort.  The bikers can keep up, give the enemy someone else to shoot at, and return fire with a storm of armor-cutting shurikens.  This is especially important when you have an elite unit aboard with a specific mission in mind, like fire dragons or howling banshees.  You don't want to give them a taxi ride to oblivion, right?  Don't send them in alone, send them with back-up!

   * Drawing fire.  I've found that jetbikes make some people nervous.  Zooming around quickly like angry hornets draws attention from anxious enemies.  And if you pair the bikers with a warlock who has Conceal (fortunately their default power, so you can always go that route), they get +2 to their Jink cover saves.  So just moving with Conceal on gives them 3+ cover saves, and turbo-boosting gives them 2+ cover saves!  They zap across the board and all of a sudden the badguys are shooting at them like mad, cuz these space elves just appeared out of no where and they MUST be up to no good, so let's spend all our fire trying to kill them.  And yet the 2+ cover allows them to survive quite well while your opponent is ignoring your other units this turn...

   * Anti-Tank.  Yes, you read that right.  I just this weekend realized their great anti-vehicle potential.  I ran 4 bikers with a shuriken cannon and a spear-throwing warlock.  A singing spear is S9 against vehicles when thrown.  A shuriken cannon is S6, catapults fire a lot of twin-linked S4 shots, and all shurikens can come up as AP2, which is +1 on the vehicle damage chart.  The bikes can leap over vehicles and fire into their rear armor, which is usually AV 10.  Tank Hunters baby.  This last game they killed some armored-up sentinels and a Leman Russ by doing just that!  Then in the assault phase, they avoid retaliation by jetting another 2D6" out of the way.

   * Assist Unit.  Both in shooting and assaults, I wouldn't bet the game on the Biker unit.  They can be deadly in shooting, true, but I'd only initiate an assault if I were desperate.  Or if they were joined by an Autarch on a bike.  Dodging around and shooting guys up is one thing, diving head-first into combat is another.  A warlock's witchblade and special powers might help, but they aren't enough to bid a full-blown attack on unless the target is pretty soft.  They could be good for assisting other units, though, like in an assault.  Gaining those extra Init 5 WS 4 armor save 3+ models to help tip the scale is a good idea, but again, going it alone might not be good for them. 

Well, that's my take.  I feel like the Eldar players at large are generally underselling their jetbikers.  In an Eldar army (just like in their fluff), your units are few and elite by nature, so you have to make the most of each one.  We don't have throw-away units; or if we do, they are thrown away at high cost and their sacrifice better be worth it.  All Eldar units should be considered adaptable and able to function in various new roles.  We Eldar are an endangered species, after all, so we need to be able to cover a lot of bases!

(borrowed from here)

p.s. I also think each Windrider squad should be allowed to include a single Vyper for high-flying gun support.  Hey, Dark Angels can do it!

Sod Off! Eldar Jet Bikes WIP #2

Here's some progress pics on where my Eldar Biker Gang is headed.

The above picture shows my mohawk biker expressing himself as he zips by the enemy.  I carved down a hand and added some greenstuff to be the rest of his fingers curled over.  It works but would work better if that middle finger were longer.

Three riders awaiting paint.  They'll be green with black jackets overall.  These are made from various buts from various Ages of the Imperium (I've been in and out of Warhammer since the 80s).

 
The Rifleman.  I think of him as on the hunt for trophies with his long rifle across his lap.

The unit Warlock.  An old Harlequin High Warlock biker and an old Harlie lead canopy. He has a DE Wych weapon in hand as his singing spear and he steers the bike by sheer willpower.  This model may also double as a Solitaire or Farseer on bike as needed.

Of course, I do have THIS Farseer model.  Or warlock with witchblade, as needed.  This model is truly Frankensteined out with bits.  He's got parts from the guardian bikers, a foot-sloggin' guardian's back, dire avenger sword arm and utility belt (making up his lower back), a DE Reaver head, and a dark elf corsair's chest piece.  And his core is all greenstuff, around which his body's been built.  I like his look, overall, especially the dome head with flailing ponytail.

* * *

It's been great working on minis this week, but Real Life is starting to notice I've been missing, so I'm not sure when I'll get back to them again.  Hopefully in the coming weeks I can at least get them painted up and finished as a unit.  

DragonSlayer! An Eldar Battle Report

awesome image by eronzki999

Saturday night we played a two vs two 40K game of epic proportions: Space Wolves and Eldar vs Chaos Marines and Traitor Guard, a total of 2500 points on either side.  It was a big fight with way too much going on for me to remember it all.  Therefore, this is going to be a pretty self-centered battle report, mostly me recounting what happened with my own units.

The good guys:
   Eldar: Feugan with fire dragons in a wave serpent, rangers, jetbikers with warlock, dire avengers, swooping hawks, striking scorpions, and dark reapers.
   Space Wolves: Wolf Lord (all 295 pts of him) on Thunderwolf with a huge pack of fenrisian wolves, 2 grey hunter units in razorbacks, long fangs, wolf guard in drop pod.

The bad guys:
   CSM: Huron Blackheart with Khornate CSM, Lord on Juggernaught, 2nd unit of Khorne-marked CSM, 2 mauler fiends, defiler, cultists, heldrake.
   Impie Guard: Primaris psyker with command squad, 2 infantry platoons (lots of autocannons in here), Leman Russ executioner (triple-shot plas cannon), 3 armored-up sentinels, Guardsman Marbo.

At least those are the units as I remember them.  It was "big guns never tire" so heavies were scoring units with four objectives and diagonal deployment.  Good guys went first.

Turn One the wolfguard cowboys drop-podded next to the deflier, each packing two plasma pistols, and shot the hell out of the chaos engine--it exploded!  (The first of literally six or more exploding vehicles to come.)  And that was the start of a bloodbath of a game.  The Wolves drove up the middle while their sneaky Eldar allies zoomed in and outflanked as much as possible.  The forces of Chaos came head-on with their possessed daemon engines and the guardsmen defended the home turf while firing great volleys of autocannon rounds and searing lascannon beams down range.

In the end the forces for all that is just and right in the universe (relatively speaking) took the field with a 2 VP advantage.  Each side held an objective but the Wolf-Eldar alliance also had slay the warlord (CSM) and first blood.  The forces of Chaos were non-existent when the game ended on Turn Five, and while the Guardsmen were not going to give up their objective, had the game gone on the long fangs and eldar rangers would likely have claimed two more objectives as they gave up their shooting stances and moved out to do just that.

So now, the selfish Eldar highlights, including the coolest thing ever (at least I was excited about it)...

Jet Bikers:  I usually don't have much luck with these guys, but I beefed up the unit to 5 plus a warlock with conceal, so their jink cover saves would be pretty damn good.  They zoomed up and joined the wolves charge down the middle, shot up some chaos marines, and dodged back.  ...Then they got vector-raked by the dragon (heldrake) and assaulted by Huron's unit.  The CSM champ challenged and though the warlock flicked his witchblade out faster, he failed to kill the chaos marine, who beheaded the warlock and ate his brains, gaining the Witch-Eater chaos boon as a result of his victory.  Huron then killed the rest of the bikers. But don't they look nice charging into the fray??  Unfortunately these are my only shots of the actual battle.

Rangers actually managed to wound the big chaos baddies for change.

Dire Avengers had CSM coming at them.  They fired a volley of shurikens and killed three or four of the enemy, then fell back with their battle focus. It was a very quick-footed, Eldar thing to do, but they then took a lot of impie heavy fire and got shot to hell by the dragon's hades autocannon.  They lasted into turn three I think but didn't do much other than die.

Swooping Hawks had good intentions and I'm still confident I can put them to good use.  They deep-struck in and dropped their large blast (6 hawks = large blast) grenade bundle on the amassed guardsmen, killing 5.  Then they followed with their lasblasters in the shooting phase (wounded 6 but only got 1 cuz they made crazy cover saves), then fell back into the crater left by the exploded defiler.  A great, agile entrance.  But they they got shot to hell, leaving 2 of 6 alive come my turn again.  My plan was to have them then attack the sentinels (cuz killing light infantry and vehicles is their schtick), which I saw no choice but to continue with.  They threw one haywire grenade, hit... and I rolled a 1, so no effect.  Then they charged into melee...  And were shot down by some amazing autocannon overwatch before they could get there.  Hawks snuffed.  The end.

The Striking Scorpions outflanked and appeared by a motley crew of cultists.  They fired their shurikens into the mob and killed 2, then had to wait for the return fire (as we can't assault from reserve any more).  The cultists lined up a firing squad with their autoguns and killed 3 of the 6 scorpions, and an impie autocannon killed a fourth.  This left the Exarch with his claw and one buddy.  They fired and charged the next turn, the Exarch gutting the cultist champ in a challenge and the scorp killing another.  The cultists fought back but failed to kill anyone.  Scorps won by 2, cultists failed their morale check, and got caugt in a sweeping advance: two scorpions kill eight in one round of combat!  Then they moved into the cover of some ruins.  Just on the other side of those ruins was the Leman Russ tank who'd been blasting great bursts of plasma fire at our friends.  On their next turn, the scorpions broke from cover and assaulted the tank, the Exarch's great claw tearing a hole in the fuel tank--KABOOM!  But the exarch DIED in the explosion and the last scorp jumped and hid in the crater left behind.  This was swiftly followed by 20-some lasrifle shots into said hole.  Dead scorpion.  But they did damn good while they were alive.

And now for the grand finale, the hero of the Eldar force: Feugan, the Burning Lance, Phoenix Lord of the Fire Dragon Aspect.  I actually never liked him much in the last edition, but he's way cooler in this one.

So he and his five dragons were in the wave serpent.  The serpent first moved right and fired shuriken cannons at the Jugger Lord, wounding him where he was infiltrated.  Then they turboboosted the hover tank to the front lines.  It was there that one of the giant mauler fiends charged up, latched on, the pulled the tank apart with its claws.  KABOOM!  Two fire dragons died in the explosion, leaving Feugan and 3 more standing in the crater.  (By the end the board was pock-marked with craters.)  My turn: five melta shots at the offending mauler = KABOOM!  Another dragon dies in this explosion!  (ALL the fire dragons would die by fire this game!)   The Leman Russ tank then shot three bursts of plasma at them, burning another dragon warrior to cinders.  The chaos dragon (heldrake), meanwhile, comes out of zoom to avoid moving off the board and hovers low near by, hoping to shoot down a grey hunter on his way to claim an objective.  This is Feugan's chance, the one he's been waiting for!  He and the last aspect warrior move in.  They could have melta-blasted the hell out of the dragon's rear armor, and no doubt killed it (it had lost one hull point already), but that was NOT what I wanted.  I didn't fire a single shot.  I wanted to kill that dragon with my bare hands!!

Feugan had taken 2 wounds from Impie long-ranged fire now.  The coolest thing about Feugan this edition is his Hulk-like temper: when he gets wounded, his Strength and Attacks go up by the number of wounds he's suffered.  So now he's pissed off and looking for revenge.  And as I've never heard of anyone wringing the life from a heldrake in melee combat before, I damn sure want to make that happen.  Feugan and his disciple charge the heldrake.  He now has 7 attacks on the charge (4 base, +1 for charge, +2 for Hulking out) at S7 (S4 base, +1 for crushing blow warrior power, +2 for Hulk), and his relic weapon gives him AP1 and Armorbane.  Roll 7 attacks: 3 misses!  Crap!  But that's still 4 hits, and 3 of those are penetrating hits!  The dragon rolls his daemonic invuln saves... and makes 2 of them.  Damn!  It takes only one pen, meaning it might very well survive this attack and fly away!  But when I roll for damage...  KABOOM!  The heldrake EXPLODES!  And guess what?  Kills the last fire dragon!  Feugan alone come out of that terrible inferno, carrying the huge dragon's metal skull as a trophy!!!  

So the MVP heroes of my force were the Scorpion Exarch who dismantled a tank with scorpion claw(but died in the resulting explosion), and of course Feugan the Dragonslayer, the only 40K superhero I know of to have ever killed a Heldrake with his own hands!  (Above is my homemade conversion for Feugan using dark eldar parts--and he will soon be getting a dragon-scale cloak as well.)

It was a fun battle with lots of 'splosions.  Doesn't get much better than that.

Green Hornets: Eldar Jet Bikers WIP

Another project that's been off and on for years now and I'm finally making headway: my Eldar Jetbiker Gang!  These are, for lack of a better name, the Green Hornets. 

The only real technique bit to discuss is the stripes.  I decided to make a stencil to pull this off.  As you can see from the pictures, I started with a lined indiex card to make them as even as possible. I cut the stripes out with an exacto blade. 

Then I took that template to some artists' tape (like white masking tape sticks but easily removable, thus doesn't ruin what you stick it to) and again cut the pattern free with my hobby knife.  This I could then stick to the bike canopies.  I had to make two: one each for the left and right sides. 

The end result at this stage is kind of sloppy, but I'll use black and a small brush to clean them up.  Then I just need to finish making my bikers (each model will likely be unique) and paint them up. 

I'm also working on a Green Goblin bike for the unit warlock or special character models.  I've magnetized this 80's harlie canopy and the bike frame.  Only issue is that it's so heavy.  My bases are also magnetized and the weight of the lead harlie canopy topples the thing right off the stand.  Will have to work on this (probably glue the bike to a stand instead).  I've also ordered the new smaller flying bases to replace these older, wide-ass bases.  Can't be real maneuverable with these, though for weight and stability reasons I'll probably have to keep a bigger base for the harlie bike.

More to come!

Eldar Dark Reaper Conversions: "Skeletor" Exarch

Rounding out my homemade reaper squad is my primary exarch model, probably called "Skeletor" by his peers and the playground kids he bullies after school.

My idea is that he has become such a powerful vision of Death that he psychically projects the image of a skull head for all to see.  He is equipped with a homemade tempest launcher and a dire avenger spear (for that stylish grim reaper look).  It was either the spear or a pointing finger, which I also liked, but with the big blade he is truly a vision of death.

Obviously I like taking photos and playing with them, so enjoy these group photos.  Hopefully I'll get to painting this band of reapers very soon.

Eldar Dark Reaper Conversions: Continued

Amazing what a little motivation can accomplish.  I got two more models assembled today, including my secondary exarch.

What's a secondary exarch?  If I decide to run a squad of four and/or decide not to give my exarch a tempest launcher or EML, I'll likely be using this model.  But if I want to run all five, or give my exarch a bigger gun, then I'll use my primary exarch (not yet built).

Reaper #3:

Obviously I like to play with photo editing software...  These models are not yet painted, all colors added through digital shading.

Eldar Dark Reaper Conversions: WIP

Here are the first pair of my new "Black Phoenix" Dark Reapers.  I'm planning to make four, plus a fifth exarch model.  This has been a project on my list for some time and I finally decided to get something done late last night (didn't go to bed till 1am, had to get up at 6am... bad idea). 

My original concept was to use Dark Eldar Incubi bodies for these.  But my first, last, and only experience with "Fail Cast" was those incubi, and they were such a mess that I decided not to bother with them.  Instead I went with the DE Warriors (which I have also used to make my Fire Dragons).  I wanted that armored, thorny, scary look, but bulkier for the Reapers, thus the original Incubi plan.  Still, I think these worked out pretty well. 

The heads are from the new Fantasy Dark Elf Executioners.  Love these heads.  My original idea was to use actual skulls, which I may yet go with for my exarch; we'll see.  They still didn't look "big" enough so I added the little thorns behind their heads, which add height and count as their Reaper Range Finders.

Their weapons are DE dark lances.  So here's my fluff/theory on those:

Rather than being "reaper launchers," which fire a cluster of miniature missiles (which is still cool), I think of these more like man-portable (or elf-portable), rapid-fire railguns.  They use magnetic propulsion tech similar to shuriken weaponry, but instead of flinging ninja stars, these fire tiny explosive javelins at an even higher velocity.  Thus the range, strength, and AP of the weapons.  And if you equip them with "starshot missiles"--the Eldar krak version--those javelins are made of denser material that pack a greater punch and do even more damage when they explode.  Thus the weapons are more like this:

Dark Reaper "Death Wind" rail rifles:  RNG 48" S5 AP3 Heavy 2
* armed with "Dread Storm" rail ammo:  RNG 48" S8 AP3 Heavy 1, Pinning