What I done in 2019. A review.

Greetings. As we near 2020 many blogs contain some sort of status hobby update and this one can join in. I did one in 2017 and failed to do one in 2018 so I can't call them annual. Probably Biannual at the moment.

Painting

Well I've managed to paint over a hundred models this year. Mainly Genestealers or members of the cult. I managed to get some Aeldari done too but mainly the bulbous headed destroyers of humanity. Citadel contrast paints helped me achieve this. Some of the first models completed this year was some Brood brothers and assorted humans (and not so humans) to join the glorious revolution that was the Genestealer Awakening (or whatever). Some Necromunda models were also completed including Karloth Valois who will be murdering for the Imperium when I next use Astra Militarum in a game of 40K. There was a good bit of focus on the GSC as I really like the models and they are hard as nails in the game. Quite a lot of Aeldari was coloured in also and they saw a bit of table time interfering with the lesser races. I painted up rangers (scouts) Swooping Hawks and Jetbikes. All great for being mobile and sneaky.

Modelling

Well not the catwalk kind, the making-stuff-out-of-other-stuff type thing. Can't say I've really created  much, except for the little Catachan Brainleaf over on the left. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out but it hasn't been used on the tabletop as a very dangerous plant intent on taking over the brains of sentient lifeforms to prune themselves. I've done a bit of painting some kits; Tectonic Fragdrill and the killteam terrain to name two. Both kits are detailed as fuck and took a lot of labour intensive activity to finish. The Fragdrill (on the right) is actually a weapon for use in games but as I've pretty much worked out my favourite lists for 1500 point games (my most common type) I find it difficult to shoehorn a 75 point model into it as it sometimes seems there are plenty of passengers in the list as it is! I also virtually finished a castle and some storage containers but not enough so they get their own posts. They will do of course, but not today.

Gaming

Stuart's Tyranids

Billy's Custodes

I have recently started recording my battles onto an Excel spreadsheet to keep tabs on how I'm doing with the possibility of me learning something from it, so far no insights but here are the stats; played 14, won 7, lost 4, drew 3. A 50% win average.  Not bad for a randomly determined game. 12 games were with the Genestealer Cult and two with Aeldari. There is a running joke in our group on how OP GSC are currently in 40K. Not sure how much I agree but they seem to be doing ok so far. It is probably far more accurate to say I am a military genius along the lines of Hannibal, Napoleon or Jervis Johnson. I managed 8 battle reports out of the 14 so that's an achievement in itself. Speaking of battle reports they are getting more attractive as more and more models are getting finished by myself and my opponents.

The Future

One thing I've alluded to in my last post was our gaming group starting up a league. 10 combatants each playing one another once per calendar month leading to 9 months in total with a 1st/2nd place playoff to have a grand champion. Sounds like fun but logistics will tell. Other plans for the coming year is to play a few games using a Ynnari force, hopefully with all types of the Aeldari armies. Obviously I wish to paint up at least another 100+ models but if contrast paints are willing I hope to do a lot more. Scenery-wise I want to add some more alien plant life so I can fill a table with freaky flora. I'm also trying to make a board themed around the webway but that is still very much in the scratching my head without a clue stage of the process. Whilst on the subject of modelling projects I intend to work on my scenery a lot more and one of the things I want to finish asap are two more medieval townhouses and two adobe style buildings for my sort of desert type terrain. Anyhow time will tell if my ambition once more far exceeds my focus.

All that remains for me is to wish all my fellow gamers, followers and accidental visitors a Happy New Year and a 2020 full of hobby excess.

Thanks for reading. 

Getting my Genestealer Cult On!

Bonjour. Here is probably my last post of the year with new content anyway. Having had a dose of man flu that very nearly killed me, I bravely dragged myself out of the bed to paint up some more Genestealers for something exciting occurring in the new year. That is a 40K league within our gaming group C.L.A.W. It's a 1500 point league where each participant plays every other member once. There are 10 participants. 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw. we're going to play the first 9 scenarios as they appear in the Chapter approved 2019, alternating with the first Eternal War mission then the corresponding Maelstrom of War one. The two at the top of the league then have a play off final so we have an overall champion. That should prove very exciting and I may even be able to put up some batreps about it on here. Another member of the group has decided to create a blog exclusively about the league so there will be more news on that when I get it.

The Assembly of D'Keddes

The Assembly of D'Keddes is the new moniker of my GSC army. Basically derived from battlefield banter so I thought the name is as good as any other. the aforementioned man flu enabled me to finish some sections of my army and as I'm pretty much off until New Years Eve I may even be able to squeeze in a couple more finished models before 2020. The models below are all finished with the aid of GWs contrast paints, hence the fact that there are quite a lot done in a short space of time.

Brood Brothers

Ten Brood Brothers that are armed with a variety of weapons (some are illegal, but hey, Brood brothers don't follow the rules). The sergeant has got one of those dead giveaway extra blue arms so how he managed to pass the basic medical for the PDF is testament to either the jobsworth nature of the tester or a damning indictment  of the corruption within the organisation. 

The D'Keddes uniform, brown and grey. Classically stylish.

 Aberrants

Next up is these eight window lickers. Aberrants are pretty great models that when you slather in Magus Purple they look even better. They also pack a flip of a wallop! They are also, sadly rather thick, as their constantly  questing tongues alludes to. One of the best aspects of Aberrants is their Bestial Vigour and the probably get this by constantly tasting stuff they shouldn't, building up their immunity to such an extent they could consume the contents of cattery's industrial sized litter tray with a hint of a weepy eye.

Flexing and licking things are an Aberrants favourite two things.

 Various Hybrids and Metamorphs

With the league looming and me toying with the idea of using the Twisted Helix cult I have come to the conclusion (along with the Aberrants) that the +1 strength bonus is a very useful thing to have with these extra-attack-having weirdos. To be honest having used Twisted Helix cult creed with ordinary Hybrids impressed me greatly in a recent game. They have some pretty good all round options but to me the best combo is a Metamorph claw and rending claw which gives you good versatility. In the background of this picture is an oldskool 90's Hybrid who I haven't armed with anything so he can just mill about at the back and try to not get in the way, until of course, I want him to get in the way of taking a bullet for his betters.  Or a blade, radioactive shell or whatever else the GW design team can think up.

Four Metamorphs and Glenn, the slightly blurry Hybrid.

 Legless Hybrids

As all the GSC infantry kits have more torsos than pairs of legs, it is necessary to get a bit creative with the deficiency. Of course I could always just build the correct number of models that the box says or I can get a bit more Hybrid or Neophyte for my buck. So I have three Hybrid heavy weapon operators all emerging from things. Firstly on the left is Graham who is climbing out of an Astra Militarum  green piece of Adeptus Mechanicum equipment, kindly donated by Stuart. Next is Wayne who has used a rock drill to tunnel his way out of a Killteam pillar. In the centre is Slobodan who is coming out of a manhole (possibly hybridhole) with his heavy rock saw. second from the left is Barry who is emerging from a pile of rubble where he may (or may not) have killed an Ad Mech Scitarii. Finally there is Neophyte Penelope poking out of a barrel to shot some enemies of the cult.

Five freebie models!

Also here are some more  Hybrids coming out of pipes (20mm plastic conduit) which will have some water effects applied to it (again kindly donated by Stuart) to make them look like they're sewage commandos. Also a Metamorph and my Iconward to finish the group.

The Iconward probably needs a bit more work on the banner but he's certainly tabletop ready. As far as the two pipe dwellers they may get another mention if the water experiment goes well.

Finally a group shot.

Thanks to the contrast paints these models look pretty great and are finished quickly. So quickly in fact that I may even get some more finished before December 31st. I really must create an end of year progress report and the best thing about that is I won't feel as embarrassed as usual. So until then have a great rest of the year with lots of hobby related presents or games to enjoy.

Thanks for reading.

Imperial Architecture & Some Industrial Mining Equipment

Greetings. Having had a recent spurt of enthusiasm I have finished more gaming items. not really models but terrain. Quite a while ago I bought Killteam and put the terrain together. Sadly I undercoated them grey, painted up a couple of bits in suitably drab slightly darker than the undercoat grey and stopped. Mainly because I found them very time consuming and I wasn't overly happy with the result. Then came along sorcery paints (others might know them as contrast paints) and I bashed out the stuff below in 3 or 4 hours.

Ruined Buildings

The non contrast colours I used on these lads were Vallejo Silver, Army Painter True Copper and Army Painter Gold, all drowned in Army Painter Strong Tone. The walls were Black Templar  and the floor sections were Leviadon Blue. Happy with both colours on grey undercoat, I actually thought it was a bit of a con when GW said you'd get two different effects depending on what colour you primed it with. So anyway, my battle reports will look a smidge better now.

Hiding behind the big ruins is my Mantic Landing Pad. As it's not the star of the post that's all I have to say about that.

Same model from a bit closer.

After moving slightly to the right I took another pic.

Tectonic Fragdrill

Funnily enough I finished the Fragdrill before the ruins bar the tiny wheels, I painted the drill with mainly contrast paints. Nazdreg Yellow for the platforms, Black Templar on the structure which as you can see gives a very different look as this model was primed white, Warp lightning for the drill body. Same method for the metal parts. silver and copper with a strong tone wash, voila! Some models for my tiny men to fight over. I'm not sure if I like the rules enough to actually use it as a Fragdrill but it's a class model that will see plenty of passive battlefield time.

Another piece of scenery lurking in the background is my castle, not quite finished so it may be in a post in the not too distant.

This model isn't actually glued together so I can detach the drill so it can moonlight as a deathstrike missile that burrows rather than flies to it's target. 

So there you have it, my scenery collection is getting prettier. Soon everyone will be clamoring for some batreps! Next on the scenery list is my armoured containers again with contrast paints them might see there own entry before the new year!

Thanks for reading.

Civil War, Sort Of

For some time Patriarch Vexermillidies had been troubled by doubts. For many years his cult had grown strong on Pruscilla, an Agri-world of little note. Then came the Custodes. A vicious battle had been fought and won and the invaders were eradicated. Vexermillidies had been sorely wounded in the battle by the accursed Custodian's axe and had very nearly lost his life. What had been particularly galling was the siren song of the Star Children had been growing stronger signifying their proximity. After his head wound however, the siren song had become a grating screech. Thus it had been for months and then Star Children had arrived. The nearer they came the more it pained the Patriarch, to such an extent that when the bio-forms started landing his cult, rather than aiding the invaders, they were mentally commanded to gather once more around Custrad Castille. The Tyranid creature in the temple that had been protected for many seasons had become agitated that the cult were not attacking with the Star Children. It sent out a pheromone signal to attract attention of it's peers. Vexermillidies, head pounding flew into a rage and eviscerated the creature after a brief struggle. Still raging the Patriarch removed the head of the creature and hurled it into the central square outside the temple beside a transmitting device. The pheromone  signal however, did not cease and a spearhead of Tyranid creatures arrived to find out the source of the signal. By this time a large portion of the cult had assembled and the pain in Vexermillidies was increasing, the only possible solution was to kill all the Tyranids on Pruscilla to bring relief, that was the start of second battle of Custrad Castille.

The Battle of Custrad Castille

Patriarch Vexermillidies was in a state of agitation. Agri-world Pruscilla was going to be subjugated, of that there was no doubt. The Cult had control of the small province of Custrado and was starting to send out enthralled merchants and workers to spread the infiltration. No, this wasn't a problem, what was of concern was the word that a considerable force of Adeptus Custodes had landed in the capital Demidrullio and were now speeding towards Custrado, knowing that conflict was inevitable Vexermilledies sent out a mental command to his cult to meet in the hills just outside Castille Custrad, as a distraction must be caused to protect the contents of the temple. It would be vital to neutralise the force before they could discover what was in the Castille, no matter the cost.

Greetings, back in August I had the pleasure of a game of 40K against Billy with his very nicely painted Adeptus Custodes army. Having never played them before, I was rather looking forward to it. A quick look at the codex was pretty interesting reading. Everything is T5 (or above) with 2+ armour saves and other de-buffs to make killing them difficult. The best thing about them though is they come in small numbers. They also are very tasty in close combat. Pretty good at shooting too. So the main feature of these guys are they plod forward killing the enemy at will shrugging off lots of small arms fire and probably a fair bit of slightly bigger arms fire. So the battle will be all about will my expendable hordes be up to the task of killing 25 or so unexpendable warriors of the Emperor.

HQ;
Shield Captain in Allarus Terminator Armor: Castellan Axe
Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike: Hurricane Bolter, Superior Creation, Warlord. Auric Aquilis
Troops;
Custodian Guard Squad. Custodian: Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield. Custodian: Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield. Custodian: Guardian Spear
Custodian Guard Squad. Custodian: Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield. Custodian: Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield. Custodian: Guardian Spear
Custodian Guard Squad. Custodian: Guardian Spear. Custodian: Guardian Spear. Custodian:Guardian Spear
Elites;Allarus Custodians . 5 x Allarus Custodian: Castellan Axe.
Vexillus Praetor: Storm Shield, Vexilla Defensor
Fast Attack;
Vertus Praetors. 9x Vertus Praetor: Hurricane Bolter.
Total: [110 PL, 8CP, 1,997pts]

Brigade Detachment
Cult Creed: Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor
Stratagem: Broodcoven
HQ;Jackal Alphus Mary
Magus Frowl: Familiar, Power: Mass Hypnosis, Power: Might From Beyond, Warlord, Warlord Trait: Inscrutable Cunning
Patriarch Vexermillidies: Amulet of the Voidwyrm, Familiar, Power: Mental Onslaught, Power: Might From Beyond, Warlord, Warlord Trait: Shadow Stalker
Primus Pincus Wrex; Bonesword, Warlord, Warlord Trait: Alien Majesty
Troops;
Acolyte Hybrids [6 PL, 95pts]: Cult Icon
. 6x Acolyte Hybrid
. Acolyte Hybrid (Heavy Weapon): Autopistol, Demolition Charge
. Acolyte Hybrid (Heavy Weapon): Autopistol, Heavy Rock Drill
. Acolyte Leader: Autopistol, Cultist Knife

Acolyte Hybrids : Cult Icon. 6x Acolyte Hybrid. Acolyte Hybrid (Heavy Weapon): Autopistol, Heavy Rock Saw. Acolyte Hybrid (Heavy Weapon): Autopistol, Heavy Rock Cutter. Acolyte Leader: Autopistol, Cultist Knife
Brood Brothers Infantry Squad : Brood Brothers Leader. 9x Brood Brother
Brood Brothers Infantry Squad : Brood Brothers Leader. 9x Brood Brother
Neophyte Hybrids: Cult Icon. 10x Neophyte Hybrid. Neophyte Hybrid: Grenade Launcher
. 2x Neophyte Hybrid: 2x Mining Laser. Neophyte Hybrid: Webber. Neophyte Leader: Autogun, Autopistol, Power Maul.
Neophyte Hybrids. 9x Neophyte Hybrid. 2x Neophyte Hybrid: 2x Grenade Launcher
. Neophyte Hybrid (Mining): Mining Laser. Neophyte Hybrid: Seismic Cannon. Neophyte Leader: Autogun, Autopistol, Chainsword
Elites;
Aberrants. 4x Aberrant (Hammer): 4x Heavy Power Hammer. 4x Aberrant: 4x Power Pick. Aberrant Hypermorph: Heavy Improvised Weapon
Clamavus
 19x Purestrain Genestealer
Fast Attack;
 Achilles Ridgerunner: Flare Launcher, Heavy Mining Laser, 2x Heavy Stubber
Achilles Ridgerunner: Flare Launcher, Heavy Mining Laser, 2x Heavy Stubber
Atalan Jackals . Atalan Jackal: Demolition Charge, Shotgun. Atalan Jackal: Demolition Charge, Shotgun. Atalan Jackal: Demolition Charge, Grenade Launcher. Atalan Leader: Demolition Charge, Power axe. Atalan Wolfquad: Atalan Incinerator, Shotgun
Heavy Support;
3x Brood Brothers Weapons Team: 3x Autocannon
Goliath Rockgrinder with Cache of Demolition Charges, Heavy Mining Laser, Heavy Stubber
Goliath Rockgrinder with Cache of Demolition Charges, Heavy Mining Laser, Heavy Stubber
Total: [112 PL, 14CP, 1,998pts] 

To provide a bit of narrative, as part of Rouboute Gullimann's new Imperial policy of the Indomitus crusade (or whatever it's called) and the fact that the Adeptus Custodes have abandoned their laissez faire attitudes, a large force of them (25 is large by their terms) ave been dispatched to investigate and probably kill anything out of the ordinary on Pruscilla, a relatively prosperous agri-world.  What isn't know is there is a fairly well established  genestealer cult on the planet. To add a bit more spice to the story Stuart decided to place a Hive Tyrant within the temple of the Castille. As I can't go round using Hive Tyrants in my games willy nilly, it's assumed (by me anyway) that somehow this creature was seperated from it's Hive Fleet but somehow the pod containing it latched onto the cults psychic spore landing  pretty close in Custrado. The cult recognised the Hive Tyrant as a star child and is currently protecting him until they can find a female Hive Tyrant and breed them. Now as I'm struggling to keep up to date with my batreps, I will try to keep waffle to a minimum and try to keep the prose succinct and impartial. Lets see how I get on;

Some sneaky Custodes. Not happy with having T5 2+ armour they are hiding in the woods. What's a self respecting Patriarch to do? 

As if that wasn't bad enough! The Emperor's favourites on jetbikes are shivering in the Castille. There are also three Custodian Guard lurking behind some rock formations. SPOILER ALERT; I get first strike by killing those three.

My deployment zone has a veritable patchwork of painted and unpainted models. Purestrains and Patriarch on the right. Rockgrinder/Chimera hybrid next to it with Ork Trukk/Achilles hybrids to it's left. There are also Brood Brothers and Neophytes bravely taking position behind some walls.

On the landing pad is another Brood Brother unit with more Neophytes and Jackals behind them. Aberrants and Hybrids are using tactical brilliance to hide underground, ready to spring a trap on the Custodes later.

A Rockgrinder's-eye-view of the preceedings. 

The Neophytes and Brood Brothers heroically defend some sort of transmitting device. If the Custodes get hold of it the entire globe will drown in a sea of baby oil and bronzer. Incidentally as previously spoiled, the combined might of numerous mining lasers and other nasty weaponry got a first strike VP on the central Custodes unit.

To the left the Magus offers encouragement in a safe position. Also in a safe position are the Jackals. They're so safe they will have to do quire a bit of maneuvering to get round the dim witted Neophytes standing there like, well cattle.

The Custodes objectives.

With the help of the Clamavus the Genestealers get into long charge range. Incidentally the Clamavus failed to keep up with them as he has a 'bad knee'.

The Custode bikers are worst than their footslogging companions as they seem to spend a lot of time 'lubing' rather than getting into combat.

The Custode Guard with Vexillus Praetor amble toward objective 2. They don't need it I think, just like the way the sun shines down on it so they can get some great selfies for the communal Adeptus Custodes instagram account.

Shit gets real! The Aberrants suddenly appear, Probably from the large Chapel type building that the Custodes forgot to look in.  

Some Hybrids appear out of nowhere ready to dish out some death and destruction to the rear ends of the Custodes!

A long charge is made. Cult Of The Four Armed Emperor be praised for the Cult Of The Four Armed Emperor's +1 to charges.

The Aberrants  manage to make their charge! Scratch one large unit of Dawneagle Bikers (or whatever). The Aberrants kill a few bikers then I find to my amazement their spears give them a ludicrous strength bonus even when the aren't charging! I also totally forget to decrease any damage by one in this combat.

The Custodes appear to be ignoring the Hybrids as they try to chop them up!

This rather arty picture was taken by Stuart. The Dawneagle riders trundle over the Castille walls to shoot some Hybrids in the back. Not very sporting is it? 

Oh no! Some flying cavalry appear. They left two remaining Aberrants coughing on diesel fumes as they try to be heroic elsewhere.

Some Allarus Custodians appear from their super oily teleportarium/tanning booth and attack the Patriarch with big throwing axes I think. This is one of those times where I'm sure I could have postioned him a bit more safely.

Having kicked the shit out of the Aberrants leaving two behind as they weren't of any consequence, the bikers go to inflict stupid amounts of firepower on lightly armoured Hybrids.

Quite a lot of the senior members of the cult try to look as unthreatening as possible as some mini Primarch takes a good hard look at the aliens. Another thing I forget in this turn is my bikers are -1 to hit. 

When this happened I was quite confident that my guys had this covered....

A while later I wasn't so sure.

The closest target to a considerably large part of my army is the aforementioned demi-Emperor revs his Rhino sized jetbike. Shortly after this the Rockgrinder charges into the Dawneagle bikers, failing to kill many but in the returning  fight gets destroyed but that was ok as they self detonated causing petty revenge mortal wounds. It was all part of my plan. Probably.

Turn three and I have a healthy lead.

Most of the Allarus Custodians are gone, as are most of the Genestealers and the Primarch. Highlight of this scrap was when the Primarch made one of the Custodian hit his mate. Didn't kill him but it was funny.

These guys walk right past the Ridgerunner to shoot my Clamavus skulking in the woods.

Two combats that didn't exactly go my way. The Rockgrinder, Brood Brothers and Primus all carked it this turn. 😩

There are now considerably less bikers and aliens in this area. Testament to the brutal nature of the game.

Due to the superior numbers of the Cult I manage to score quite a few objectives and rolled a maximum for Supremacy. Stuff like this skews the scores a bit.

"DIE COMMIE SCUM!". Or "YOU THERE! FILTHY XENOS ABERRATION WITH THE SOUND SYSTEM. KINDLY SHUFFLE OFF THIS MORTAL COIL! THANKS!". So ended the saga of the Clamavus 😟.

Either the Vexillus is dry humping the wreckage of the Ridgerunner or the crew have made peace with him and have kindly offered to take him down to the offy for 20 Dunhill and a bottle of Pinot Grigio. 

Meanwhile two callously dismissed Aberrants climb the Castille walls to overlook the carnage (and grab an objective).

The tactical objectives fell redonkulously kindly for me. The opposite could be said about Billy's.

Final Score. 20 - 2 to the bug eyes.

Meanwhile Back In The Temple.....

That was a fun game. Totally skewed victory points wise but rather enjoyable to play in. After fighting the Custodes I have a new found respect for anyone playing them. When every game you play you are outnumbered, severely, it will make any game involving VP's challenging. They are bloody hard to get rid of though. Custodes are absolutely lethal in combat too. If I was to critique Billy's tactics he probably should have flown his bikes over the Castille first turn. Perhaps because we have a running complaint about mining lasers in the group Whatsapp, that might have delayed him. I don't complain about them at all. Once again though I forgot vital rules in my army, namely the Aberrants reduction of wounds thing and the Jackals -1 to hit. In the end neither really were game changing but had the cards been kinder to Billy, it would have been a different story. Billy put my army to shame with his paintedness. It has, however spurred me on to get cracking with my Cult, and now most of of Purestrains are done, so there won't be any more united colours of Cultetton pictures in the future. So there you have it, the cult defeats the Custodes and the planet of Pruscilla under threat of insurrection. Also will Patriarch Vexermillidies find a playmate for the Hive Tyrant? Only time will tell, or not if I get bored.

The real reason the Cult led the Adeptus Custodes away from the temple.

Despite suffering massive losses the remains of the cult were victorious. Patriarch Vexermillidies had been severely wounded but survived (barely). Only a hand full of  Custodes managed to leave the battlefield. It was now imperative that they were hunted down before they could bring more meddlesome Imperial agents to Pruscilla. As a matter of course cultists had attempted to sabotage the Custodes transport even as the main force was engaging them. This should buy enough time for a second assault and a relocation of Tyranid life form in the temple.

Thanks for reading.