Tyranid Malanthrope and Mawloc

Inger Helene and I decided to play Tyranids at the friendly doubles tournament in Warhammer world (Nottingham) in April 2016.

It has been a while since I built and painted models for this army; It was great fun when Jørn gave my son, who has participated in painting “our Tyranid army” (since the Battle for Macragge starter set came) a Imperial Armour book containing the Forge World range of Tyranid models.

After evaluating different Forge World units, Inger Helene gave me a grand birthday present, two Malanthropes! It was great fun building and painting them. However, I decided not to go with the stands/bases they where fitted with from Forgeworld, and we build our own. This is how they turned out.

Malanthropes

To get the right "team spirit" and "team feeling for the army", Inger Helene built a second Mawloc. She had great fun posing it, and I tried to create a stand/base that gives the impression of the mighty beast breaking its way up from underneath the surface.

Mawloc

After test playing, the only thing remaining to complete our tournament army is to finish some more Troops and Object Markers (and my son has started painting a mighty Tyranid beast of his own…). I will post pictures when they are finished.

Cheers,

Ørnulv

Hive Fleet Behemoth – Hive Tyrant and Tyranid Warriors update

Greetings! I have been caught up with work and miscellaneous other projects, so I have been quite unproductive hobby vice lately. Feeling my motivation is about to return, I started working on a small project, refitting a unit of Warriors and a Winged Hive Tyrant with Devourers.

Funny how “small projects” turn out to be something quite different; I had to tear of the wings in order to fit new arms, this being the old metal model with lots of pinning, green stuff etc. – well, I finally finished the monstrosity.

Since this summer I have played my Tyranid army. Although they are not as competitive as they where in 5^th edition, I still have fun playing them, much more then when I read the new Codex when it first came out, I must admit I got caught up in all the rant…

Anyway, focusing on “fun gaming”, I played a great game against a veteran Necron player a couple of weeks ago. I presented two armies my opponent could choose from, and I was really happy when he choose to go against a horde swarm.

The opposing forces

Hive Fleet Behemoth advances on the Necron line

First contact

Metal and Chitin almost annihilated each other

This was a particularly bloody battle. Almost no models left on either side. Very fun. When we left the gaming table we thought the Necrons had won, but during a drink after the game we had forgotten First Blood and Linebraker, securing a Tyranid victory by one small point. Honestly, it could have gone either way, a game to remember!

Cheers,

Ørnulv

Tyranid Harridan, Harpy and Hive Crone

Harpy and Hive Crone

I bought the new Harpy/Hive Crone set the day the new NIDS Codex was realized for sale. Other hobby projects, and all the negativity towards the new NIDS Codex, reduced my motivation to ”finish” these models. Unfair really, as I think that they are cool looking models.

I bought two models. I decided to magnetise the models so that I could field them either as a Harpy ore Hive Crone. The heads and weapons are obviously different, so I used magnets to represent the two variants. The body and tail however had to be decided upon; I chose the variants that I thought represented the coolest versions (my minds image).

I also wanted to theme the bases to the rest of my (extensive) NIDS army, so I decided not to use the standard ”flyer base” (making sure the height was correct). This is how they turned out:

Harpy configuration with Heavy Barbed Strangler Cannon and Heavy Venom Cannon (both twin linked) and spore mines

Hive Crone configuration

Harridan

I bought this model back in April 2013. When building the new NIDS “flyers” it was about time to finish this model. A massive construct. I decided to make a base/flyer stand that themed with the rest of my army, so I used the sturdiest parts from the GW building range I could think of, and used "heavy industrial magnets" as well as a centre metal spike to keep the model "steady":

The mighty Harridan

NIDS flying circus

What next? Zone Mortalis gaming table. Progress can be seen on: http://theeagleandwolf.blogspot.no/

from September 2014.

Cheers,

Ørnulv

Pre summer gaming summary and hobby challenge June

Again it has been a while since I have
played regularly, and by that I mean almost weekly gaming. However, after finishing my
Warriors of Chaos Army some time ago, I have been able to “get in” several 40K
games (and Fantasy games), so I guess I am “back in the saddle again”. Of course
focusing on 40K in this blogg, I decided to present another “quick summary” of
my recent games.

2000p Grey Knights with Imperial Guard
(Espen) vs Ultramarines

A very pleasant evening indeed! However, as
I soon discovered, my “Razorback/Vindicator list" is not the only army with decent
armour save / armour value and high output! We played two games.

Purge The Alien/Vanguard Strike. In game
one I was forced to split my units behind buildings in order to get cover first
two turns, meaning that my opponent could “castle” in one corner getting the
maximum out of each possible “fire lane” the city streets provided. I kept many
units in reserve, but when my Vindicators arrived and failed to inflict decent
damage, my army was picked apart. My opponent won a solid victory.

Crusade/Hammer and Anvil. In game two we
played on my desert gaming board. A more open battlefield, and it was time for the
Ultramarines to have their revenge…. – NOT. Again my Vindicators struggled to
get within range before they where shot to peaces by my opponents heavy tanks.
And even though I managed to hit a lot it does not really matter when that
second dice roll end up with 1-2… By all means, kudos to my opponent, his army
was “rock hard” and he played it well. My opponent again won a solid victory!

Next time Espen, next time :)

 

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2000p Chaos Space marines (Jørn) vs Tyranids

During my last tournament I played a game against a Tyranid player who fielded a horde of Genestealers. It has been a while since I played this army so I decided to give them a go.

Crusade/Hammer and Anvil. It was all in – or nothing. The most memorable moment was Jørns face when he faced 60 Genestealers infiltrating as close as possible to his gun line:) At first the Tyranids made good progress, rapidly advancing on the Chaos line. But of course, the Chaos army “backed” a litle bit, showing of an impressive disciplined bolter drill action, weathering down the advancing units. The Nids eventually reached the Chaos battle line. But striking last due to assaulting through difficult terrain, the units that did get in to combat was over powered and killed. Victory to Chaos Space marines.

Note: A fun game, but I curse the f… that deprived the Nids of their old “Flesh Hooks” (assault grenades) in the new Codex Tyranids. What is the point of having an army that is "all about assault" if they are not good at it (rant/despair/and so forth…)?

 

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2000p Necrons (Tom-Erik) vs Ultramarines

It was time to bring forth an old army list, a list I have not played since 5^th edition. Big Guns Never Tire/Vanguard Strike.

I must admit that I find Tom-Erik’s Necron list very fun to play against. With two flyers, two Stalkers, Two Barges and several “tar pit units”, it has become a hard nut to crack (for me anyway). First turn my “gun line” failed to do significant damage, and the Necrons advanced taking out over half of my tanks by the end of turn two (damn death ray, and mee not beeing more carefull)! But finally the Ultramarines remaining gun line elements rolled a decent average, laying waste to almost all but a Stalker that had advanced. The Ultramarines suddenly threatened the Necron main line and their objectives, the Necron now having to switch focus to a more defensive strategy. The game ended after turn 5, and the tally showed a victory for the Ultramarines. 

Comment: This was a game where I managed to kill 4 of my own Plasma Marines....

 

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2000p Dark Eldar (André) vs Ultramarines

Again another “city fight”. Crusade/Vanguard Strike. The Dark Eldar massed in centre of their deployment zone, but seeing the Ultramarines castling in and around the “Shrine of Aquila”, they made a tactical retreat. Taking cover out of range from the Ultramarines, the Dark Eldar was a bit surprised when the Ultramarines reserves entered the game straight into the Dark Eldar battle line. Of course the “Ultramarines spearhead” assault was destroyed, but the spearhead managed to kill/destroy a decent tally of Dark Eldar before they where shot to pieces. And by the time the Dark Eldar had re arranged their battle line, the remaining Ultramarines had gotten a good footing on three of the five objectives, threatening a fourth objective. The Dark Eldar where forced to focus on securing the two remaining objectives, managing to kill of the smaller advancing units from the Ultramarines trying to contest the fourth. The game ended after turn 5, and the tally showed a victory for the Ultramarines.

Comment: Never ever have I managed to kill of so many of my own models due to 1 – 2 rolls on armour saves, in example: two times I rolled four 1 in a row! Got to get me some new dice....

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What’s next? I pledge to finish my
Stormtalon Gunship by the end of June.

Cheers,

Ørnulv

Death from the skies

I hear a high pitch shriek ;)

And death and destruction will follow….

Cheers,

Ørnulv

40K Abroad - Games Workshop Paris "14e"

Once again, Trond and I took les Dames abroad - except it could really be the other way around. Never mind that though! Let's do a quick synopsis before we get to the object of this article.

Day one we got up almost before we went to bed to catch an early flight from Oslo to Paris. We went out for breakfast after having checked in at the hotel, and then spent most of the day exploring the spectacular example of gothic architecture that is Notre Dame de Paris. We started the second day by climbing the 660 stairs up to the Eiffel Tower's second level followed by the 130 steps down into the Catacombes de Paris. Amazing experiences both of them, each in a very different way. I can't quite seem to get my head around the fact that there's more people interred in the catacombs than there are alive in Norway today.

Anyway... We finally had time to stop by a GW store while the She-who-comes-first went shopping on their own - to make sure we didn't dare stay too long, I suspect. As we stepped through the door we we greeted by Antoine. He graciously showed us whatever we wanted to have a peek at from the cabinet. What really piqued our interest was this:

By combining an Arachnarok Spider and a Tervigon kits, they had created a rather unique creature to represent a Scythed Hierodule. I especially enjoyed how the Arachnarok face had been integrated with the Tervigon head.

Antoine also showed us the store Necron army and his own Dark Eldar; the Cult of the Bared Breast. How's that for a French Connection? ;)

D6 IN THE WARP!

Inspired by the last couple of my battle reports (Shadow in the Warp # 2 – 3), André wanted to try the same scenario. Having had great fun playing this scenario I agreed!

2000P – THREE OBJECTIVES

Primary Objective (10p); Listening Tower (on a D6 result of 5-6 a piece of area terrain reveals being a listening tower that each side wants to capture and control)

Secondary Objective (6p); Man Down (each side tries to control/rescue a strayed spy. A suitable marker is placed in the enemies deployment zone before deployment)

Tertiary Objective (4p); Grind them to a Halt (points for vehicle or monstrous creature destroyed/killed)

THE ARMIES

Craft World Eldar:

Avatar

Dire Avenger unit in Wave Serpent X 2

Guardian unit in Wave Serpent

Warp Spider unit

Striking Scorpion unit

Fire Dragon unit in Falcon

Dark Reaper unit

Tyranid Hive Fleet Grendel:

Winged Hive Tyrant X 2

Gaunt unit X 2

Genestealer unit

Tervigon X 2

Zoanthrope unit

Hive Guard

Hive Guard unit

Trygon Prime X 2

Mawlock

DEPLOYMENT

Man Down markers; Eldar places its marker southwest behind a tank obstacle. The Tyranids placed their marker (2. floor) inside the building known as “Terminatum” straight north (centre) from the Eldar marker. The markers where only 12” apart!

The 2 Dire Avenger units, embarked in their transports, enter the battlefield centre north behind the building called “Sanctum”. The Avatar emerges at the north side of “Terminatum”, threatening the Tyranid marker.

A unit of Gaunts sets up inside “Terminatum” close to the Tyranid marker. A 2. unit Gaunts enters the building known as “Auditorium” centre south. Behind it, a Winged Hive Tyrant with heavy Venom Cannon.

It is dark!

TURN 1

D6 = 6, and the Tyranids cease the initiative! Full of confidence, the Hive Mind moves all its troops onto the battlefield from the southwest, heading for the Eldar Marker and Tyranid marker at full speed. Only the Mawlock is held in reserve (deep strike). The Hive Tyrant With the Heavy Venom Cannon manages to see the closest Wave serpent, blowing of its gun turret! And know – if only one of the two buildings occupied by Gaunts to the southwest contains the listening tower, the Eldar will have to be the offensive party! D6 = 4: Damn. D6 = 2; Damn damn. The Hive Mind could be badly outmanoeuvred if the listening tower is located no the north east of the battlefield!

The Eldar force heads at full speed east, closing in on the 2 buildings to the north east of the battlefield. The rest of the force entering from north centre, preparing to set up a gun line in north centre to hinder the Tyranids from advancing north east. Since the Tyranids are out of range of the centre building, the Eldar forces flies at full speed and does not disembark and search any buildings… The Avatar heads northeast – away from the Tyranid Marker…. (boo – hiss).

TURN 2

The Tyranid army splits into 2. Hive Guard and Zoanthropes enter Auditorium and will threaten any Eldar forces closing in on the Eldar and Tyranid marker. A Trygon Prime, Genestealers, a Spawned unit of Gaunts, a Tervigon and a Winged Hive Tyrant heads north into and behind the “Terminatum” building, protecting the Tyranid marker. The rest of the force heads east and cuts of the Eldar should they decide to head for the Eldar marker south west, and trying to get closer to the eastside of the battle field should the listening tower be found there.

The Eldar Guardians enters a building to the north centre east (Sanctum), and a unit of Dire Avengers enters the massive Manifactorum structure to the far east of the battlefield. The Dark Reapers takes up a good future fire position in the north centre east. The Warp Spiders and Striking Scorpions masses behind the Sanctum building ready to strike south when the Tyranids advance. The Falcon with Fire Dragons backs up the Wave Serpent to the East. D6 = 4; Ohh. D6 = 2; What the f…. Suddenly the game changes. The centre south building (close to the Tyranid battle line) is the only structure left who could host a Listening Tower! The Eldar open fire, taking some wounds of the monsters, and the damaged Wave serpent tank shocks south re diverting a Gaunt unit from the last building who could contain the Listening Tower.

TURN 3

The Mawlock emerges from the ground wiping out most of the Guardian squad to the north centre! The Tyranid force to the east consolidates its position in and around Terminatum and the Tyranid marker. The Tervigon spawns another unit. If the Eldar decides to assault this stronghold, the counter assault would be massive! In centre south the Tervigon Spawns another unit, it reaching the last building that could host the Listening Tower. A Tervigon supports it. D6 = 2!!!! All the building in the city is empty! The two forces are almost on opposite sides of the battle field, the Eldar north centre to east with long range fire power, and the Tyranids centre west and south having surrounded both objective markers! The Hive Tyrant and Trygon Prime to the south attacks the Wave serpent who tank shocked the Gaunt unit in an attempt to prevent the Tyranids from reaching the last building. The monsters leave behind a burning wreck.

The Dire Avenger unit to the east embarks the Wave Serpent and heads south supported by the Falcon. To the north the units adjust their position around the Mawlock. As tracers the Mawlock light up the air are brought down! The Tervigon to the south is badly wounded.

TURN 4 – 5

Cat and mouse! The Tyranids consolidated position making sure al creatures where hid behind or inside the buildings close to the two objective markers, the Tervigon constantly spawning units – creating a expandable web net in front of their lines.

The Eldar strike force stared an advance southwest, killing a Tervigon and a Hive Tyrant, but where unable to find a “hole” in the defences early enough to push through when the game ended after 5 turns.

COMMENT:

Having played this scenario several times, I have found it to establish the conditions for a good battle. However, with none of the buildings turning out to be containing the “Listening Tower”, it turned out to be a predictable outcome when the whole of the Tyranid army surrounded to two object markers. Next time I opt for a different scenario!

RESULT

Primary Objective

Hive Fleet Grendel 0 – Craft world Eldar 0

Secondary Objective

Hive Fleet Grendel 6 – Craft world Eldar 0

Tertiary Objective

Hive Fleet Grendel 0 – Craft world Eldar 4

TOTAL

Hive Fleet Grendel 6 – Craft world Eldar 4

MOMENTS TO REMEMBER

Andre; Shooting down 2 monsters in one turn to the south

Ørnulv; The Mawlock finally succeeding in deep striking into a unit killing most of it!