DDM Ready and Loaded.

So I had another productive weekend. I was able to put together some models from the AoBR kit and was able to paint a couple things also. But before I show you what got painted I would like to talk about something I was able to try out in a game this last week.

I was able to try out the Mortis Pattern Contemptor Dread with 2 Kheres Assault Cannons and a Cyclone Missile Launcher. It would look kind of like this...

Bad Ass!

Anyway I was playing a 1500 point game vs Kan Wall Orks list. I ran 2 of these dreads in my list and they were defiantly the MVPs of the game. By the end of the game they were able to take out or assist with taking out 3 mobs of 20 boys and 5 of 6 Killa Kans. I will have to give this build a couple more tries before I go and buy the arms and CML for it, but I think it may work very well with the type of lists I have been using as of late.

Anyway on to what I did this weekend. Lets start with the Dread.

I may need to go back over the blue highlights. I will have to take another look at it as they may be a bit to light... but they again it could be just that I can't see it because I am color blind. Let me know what you guys think.

Here is the second Drop Pod. I decided to go with a little different scheme for painting this one compared to the first.

And now for some good measure here are some comparison pics.

Special Characters for the Lions. Painted!

So I did have a successful weekend. I was able to paint all 3 of the special characters that I made last week. We will start with one of the more popular HQ's from the Codex.

Vulkan He'stan

 Vulkan was my first model of the weekend, as well as my first attempt to paint a Power Weapon in this style. Before I would just paint the weapon a plain Boltgun Metal and call it good, but I wanted to try and match The Ghost Razor on Lugft Huron that was painted by Faolain.

Next is Captain Corien Sumatris. He may end up being my go to HQ for my games that are 1500 and smaller as he is good in close combat and he also augments the close combat abilities of those units around him.

Lastly is the Librarian. I will more likely then not use this model as my Chief Librarian Tigurius or Sevrin Loth.

Yes, that is a Chaos Marine Backpack. I thought I would use it on this model to help signify the special armor if I use this model as Sevrin Loth.

Here is a nice little group shot of the 3.

On another note, Forge World released the Twin-Linked Autocannon arms for the Contemptor Dreadnought.  This got me thinking about using the Mortis Contemptor as a Rifleman Dread+. For 200 points you can pick up the Mortis Contemptor with 2 Autocannons and a Cyclone Missile Launcher. This would make a very resilient platform for taking out light and medium armor. With BS5, AV13 front, a 5++ save from shooting and putting out 4 linked Autocannon shots and 2 Missile shots per turn can almost, but not quite guarantee at least some form of damage on vehicles AV12 and lower. You can make it a little more shooty by throwing on the Kheres Assault Cannons in place of the Autocannons but do have to pay the increased price. I do plan on trying out this "Rifleman +" and I will report back with some results.

Special Characters for the Lions

Above is  Lugft Huron with his base and all his glory. I will be using him as Gaius Magnus, Chapter Master of the Celestial Lions. I have been working on some models to use as Vulken He'Stan, a Librarian (or as a Chief Librarian Tigurius/ Sevrin Loth), and Captain Corien Sumatris. I have also build several more Tac marines and 4 of 5 Scouts, one has been magnetized to change out from a Bolt Pistol/CCW and a Heavy Bolter. I also painted and based the body of my 2nd Contemptor.

Contemptor #2

Vulken He'Stan

Librarian

Captain Corien Sumatris

I am hoping to get these guys painted this weekend. I will get some pictures up as soon as I have them done.

Gaius Magnus Chapter Master of the Celestial Lions

Gaius Magnus (Lugft Huron) is done being painted by my friend Faolain. Check out his blog post about the project and see some great pics. I will have to post some pics of my own once I have him on his base.

Modeling update and my time as a new TO.

Well as I was given 11/11/11 off to honor all our great Veterans that have served our great nation I spent my time painting some Tac Marines that will one day become veterans of the 41st millennial. I got down to business and painted 6 Tac Marines that I posted some pics of in my last entry, as well as I built my 2nd Contemptor Dread but not the arms (need to order more magnets), and got some last minute items together for the first 40k tournament I would be running.

Lets start off with the Tac marines. When I first started working on the idea for this army I used the Space Marine Painter over at BolterandChainsword.com and it looked like this...

Well I think I got close to that with my actual models.

As I said as well that I put together the body of my 2nd Contemptor. I needed to make his base before I could really start putting it together as I was unsure how he would be standing on the base. I did not want to do another column on the base like I did for the first one, so I decided to go for some steps like I did for some of the Terminators. So here is a pic with the first Contemptor.

Besides all this modeling and painting I was the TO for what will hopefully become a monthly 40k tournament at my FLGS. It was a simply Win/Loss format with no battle points. I was going to make some of my own missions but with this being the first time around I figured it would be best to use something a little more established... like the AdepticCon missions. I did catch some flack for letting everyone know that I would be allowing Forge World units to be used as long as they had the model or a very close stand in (regular drop pod can count as a dreadnought drop pod), but that they must have the newest book/Data sheet for what they would want to use. All FW items would first have to be approved by me and that no formations, super heavies, or gargantuan creatures would be allowed. In the end though no one even brought any FW so it did not matter, then again only 4 people came. But even though turn out was low we were able to give out over $100 in prizes, everyone got to play each other, and I got to watch some interesting games. There were very few questions overall and everything went smoother then I could have hoped.

The tournament ended with Blood Angels taking 1st going 3-0 and received $65 in GW product. Best painted when to Necrons and received $25 in GW product, and the Best Sportsman when to a Space Wolves player who also received $25 in GW product.

Unfortunately I did not take any pictures for you guys, but if you would like me to take some of the next tournament let me know and I will be happy to show off some of our local armies. Heck maybe next time we can talk Faolain from http://awakeningynnead.blogspot.com to join in, I am sure we would be the top contender for best painted just by showing up.

Hormagaunts, Drop Pod, and Tac Marines! Oh My!

Well as I don't have a bunch to show this week I thought that I may share some of my Hormagaunts with you. I will show what little progress I have made this week on the Celestial Lions later in the post.

Well the Tyranids were my first army for 40k  when I started 10+ years ago. Unfortunately they are quite a bit out of date as I did not touch them at all during 4th edition and only really got the 5th ed codex and have not gotten any of the new units at this point. One of my favorite Tyranid units of all has always been the lowly Hormagaunt. In this edition they have really come into their own. With proper upgrades the Hormagaunt can destroy most vehicles, kill Monstrous Creatures, and wipe out groups of infantry in 1 turn of combat.

At this point my favorite unit load out for the Hormagaunts with my old 3rd ed list style is the Super-Gaunt with Toxin Sacs and Adrenal Glands. The reason this load out work well in my build is because I have very few units that can deal with tanks, and fewer that can take care of MCs like Wraithlord that are common in my area. I have read allot of forums about how useless Adrenal Glands because most people believe that Gaunt should never be assaulting vehicles. I feel that in a more of a "Horde" style list that everything needs to be able to damage vehicles as you don't want to be left out in the open with your opponents Marines, Orks or Dark Eldar staying in their vehicles and using fire ports or open topped rules to destroy you while staying safe in their boxs.

I have had several games where the Hormagaunts have paid for them selves several times over. Recently a couple of these scenarios have been game changers. In one game I was able to have my 1 unit of SuperGaunts outflank (thanks to Hive Commander) and by the end of the game vs Space Marines they were able to destroy 2 Rhinos, each with 10 man tac squads and a Whirlwind tank. In my latest 1,000 point game vs Eldar half of my gaunts were destroyed by flamers from a Wraithlord in 1 turn. But due to taking my casualties from the front I was able to deny my opponent the charge. In the following turn I was able to charge 2 Wraithlords, killing 1 on the charge and killing the 2nd in my opponents turn leaving me able to charge a unit of guardians in my next turn and wiping them out on the charge. In the last turn of the game I had the SuperGaunts back track and charge the Avatar, killing him as well.

I find it interesting that an opponent my spend 2-3 turns shooting a some Hiveguard while leaving the Hormagaunts to do far more damage then the HG could dream up. In the end I think you need to give some respect to the lowly Hormagaunt.

Celestial Lions Update:
I finally received my Battleforce from 'Ard Boys. I spent a day or 2 cutting out all the pieces off the sprue and organizing them in smaller bins. I was disappointed in the amount of ranged and melee special weapons. It looks like I am going to have to put my Instant Mold and Green Stuff skills to use. Anyway I was able to build 5 tac marines, I was also able to pick up some Mud Wash and Ultramarines Blue to put some finishing touches on the Drop Pod and Contemptor Dread. I have also started cleaning up the 2nd Contemptor Dread so that I can get it build so that I no longer have to use a Chaos Dread to stand in for it during games.

Pics!