Eldar Pirates, Arrr!

Corsair Voidscarred.

Greetings. After a long lull in my painting, I've managed to get some shit done. Aeldari Voidscarred. no less, not the bespoke Kill team that recently came out but some severely mangled metal guardians that I had lying about. The cheap knock off Dremel was taken out of it's protective faux case, and heads were removed, the bits box was raided and voila! A fancy unit that can accompany (for now anyway) both Aeldari and Drukhari armies.

Felarch

First up is the leader with a slightly odd name. the model is an Aeldari Guardian model with a Drukhari helmet and a neuro disrupter from an old metal Solitaire. His sword arm is one half of a pair of Klaivex Demiklaives. I could give him a Faolchú which is Aeldari for falcon. Until then he shall be known as Faochúni the Half Klaivex.

Faochúni the Half Klaivex

Shade Runner & Grunt

Next is my Shade Runner and an ordinary pirate. The Shade Runner is kind of a Wych that got involved in thievery as far as I can tell, (I didn't read up on them so this is an educated stab in the dark). This is a bare headed guardian with a pair of Mirrorswords that I got from an eBay purchase. The other guy is an intact arm swapped Guardian. He has a Kabalite power sword and blast pistol (even though he's not allowed, but that's what living on the fringe of Aeldari society does for you).

 

Darkethá & Rebellious Zim

Grunt #2 & Way Seeker

Grunt #2 has a Kabalite helmet and has stolen a Lizardman shield to go with his power sword. I figure that his travels have taken him to some backwater planet where shields are still a thing and he's nabbed it. Of course he had to wade through dozens of primitive shield owners until he got the one he liked best.  The Way Seeker was a much more fiddly conversion as I had to line up two plastic arms with a metal Hellion glaive. A Scourge head with a Harlequin mask completes the ensemble. It also allows me to get psyker into my Drukhari armies. It's only for the Deny the Witch honest.

 

Gruchú the Saurian Slayer & Jolly Rójúú

Blaster & Wraithcannon Duo

Two more unpleasant weapons for my opponents to dislike, the Blaster is bare armed and wears the now unfashionable tanga brief mesh armour style. The Wraithcannon operator has possibly stolen it from a Fire Dragon Exarch and put some pretty feathers on his hat.

Erostika & Featherblite

 

Grunt #3 & Shredder

Lastly is a Shuriken rifle armed pirate who has spent a fortune getting it modified to look exactly like an ordinary shuriken catapult. To make him look less guardiany he has attached a wicked looking forearm blade to his left, er, forearm. Lastly is my cloaked Shredder girl. A Wych head and cloak makes her seem less like a conformist and more like a anarchistic she elf.

The Innocuous Pirate & Buini Bóyla

So this is what I done recently. I have a pirate with a sniper rifle to do and a Soul Weaver to create, in fact I might even go full retard and create a second unit. So until my next update, hobby responsibly and try not to misgender anyone maliciously.

Thanks for reading.

Don't Give Up Your Day Job

 Salutations one and all. It's that time of the year when I put some pictures up of what I have been messing about with hobbywise, and this update is pretty diverse. So what have I been up to? Read on.....

Aeldari Stabber

With the sort of imminent publication of the Codex Craftworlds I made a little effort to complete a model that has been lurking round nearly done for some months. As the codex is supposed to contained rules for Ynnari as well, this guy has been drafted in to complete a unit of Witches. The remains of a Wild Rider trumpet lays at his feet meaning a) he has arrived to avenge some bumpkin Aeldari massacre, or b) he has just been converting some Exodite Aeldari on the benefits of the god of the dead, or c) he has taken exception to some Aeldari trumpeteer. In any case he is varnished up ready for action.

Ulthwe's finest.

Inquisitor Jao

Next is an Inquisitor in Terminator armour. Armed with some sort of super spook canon and a power/force axe he can spread the good news that all aliens species are surplus to requirements in the galaxy. I've been looking forward to playing a few games featuring the Inquisition using Astra Militarum to give someone a kicking so now I have him done I think I can play some nicely themed games.

 

Inquisitor Jao, he looks a bit like the geezer on the front of the Inquisitor novel.

Some Alien Whip Technician

I can't remember where I got this model (eBay probably) but I really like it. As far as I'm aware it's a hobgoblin from the early nineties. Very Oldhammer. Of course I put him on a round base so he's not going to be doing much Oldhammering. He's also turquoise, not a very hobgoblin shade. I'm going to use him as part of my Drukhari army as party of the Archon's retinue, probably counting as a Ur Ghul.

Halitosis the Whipmaster.

Stinky Pete

Here's something odd, a model on a square base. One of my favourite models from my Warhammer Fantasy Battle days. A Nurgle sorcerer. Probably not going to see much action in a chaos army, but might lurk in some rebel force as the nemesis of the Inquisition. 

I left the cock and balls emblem on his head as subtle as I could.

Stranger Things

Some time back I decided to create some mutants for Necromunda mainly but also if I made enough and entire 40K army. This was pretty ambitious and unrealistic but some of those eight or more year old conversions have finally born fruit (admittedly freaky fruit, but fruit nonetheless). So first is a mutant with a huge head and upper body with a more conventionally sized lower half. He could also pass for a carnival goer if ever I play a James Bond verses some evil henchmen in the Mardi Gras type game. Of course with this guy the easiest way to defeat him is to trip him up. once on his back I'd imagine a 15 minute time period would allow ample time to escape this top heavy brute.  He is made from the legs of a plastic Goliath model, two ogre arms and quite a bit of milliput and greenstuff. I also used my tentacle maker to give him neck horns. 

 

This guy has a killer headbutt

Subject #4594 was the outcome of a series of experiments to create an antidote for Spiker venom. As far as Ad-Mech genomancers can be, they are very pleased with the result. He is considered quite a success, inasmuch as he didn't fully metamorphosis into a Spiker plant. He has definitely taken on  some definitely Spiker type characteristics (able to fool humanoid detection devices and the ability to pass through death world plant infested areas unscathed). This chap is made from the legs of an old Bloodbowl human with the remainder comprising of a bit of a goliath arm, some greenstuff and more tenatcles from the aforementioned tentacle maker. I may use him as a Plant Liberation Organisation freedom fighter or a practitioner of human plant relations. 

Planty McPlantface

The last of my trio of weird as fuck mutant models is Dennis. In the Rogue Trader book there is a mutation called hopper. Basically having one leg. It reduced movement by 1" but other than that not really life changing except for having to wear kilts and sarongs a lot. For those interested the top half of a chaos centaur was given an Orlock autopistol arm and a massive milliput foot. In my defence this model was constructed well over 5 years ago, and I like to think I would make a much more elegant leg next time round. This guy will  be seeking employment in any renegade army that will have him and maybe as a cautionary tale on footwear  billboards around the Imperium. If the first mutants weakness is getting tripped up. this one has the opposite issue. 

Dennis the Hopper

Odd Alien Spear Holder Guy

Lastly is my Blind Beggar Miniatures model. I have backed a few of their kickstarters and this came as a freebie in one of them. I thought it might work as some kind of alien merc in a frontier world scenario where being an alien isn't a death sentence. Of course the model could also be a human with an elaborate helmet, so not as likely to be killed. Although frontier worlds are notoriously dangerous so there could be a crime of 'wearing a helmet in a built up area'. The punishment is obviously death. A bodyguard type job is also very likely for him. In any case some contrast paints, metallics and inks got the job done.

"Careful, you could have someone's eye out with that".

So that's all folks, until my next update, hobby responsibly, wear protection where necessary and try not to fall for any conspiracy theory pranks.

Thanks for reading.

Horrible Things You Might Find In The Commoragh

 Welcome to a new semi regular feature of my blog; Horrible things you might find in the Commoragh. to the uninitiated the Commoragh is the realm of the Dark Eldat (Druchari) who are the most horrible feckers in the galaxy. Like most of the other awful denizens of said place but more into the wanton sadism for shits and giggles rather than any ideological reason. So without further preamble here is some thing you might find in the Commoragh which are horrible;

The Durgar

The Durgar are a Druchi slave race that have been a part of Commoragh life for centuries. Originally used as fodder in the arenas, Durgar became fashionable as durable fighters whose thick skin and resilient nature made for lengthy fights that keep spectators enthralled for many bouts. A stubborn nature and a delight in the vanquishing of enemies made these alien highly entertaining for the paying masses. In appearance Durgar are grey skinned stout humanoids with grey skin and bright purple hair. Durgar are sometimes confused with Squat abhumans as they have similar physical attributes but less human colouring. Durgar have a vicious temperament and revel in bloodshed making them popular additions to any self respecting Archon's retinue.

For gaming purposes I will be using this guy as and Ur Ghul.

Ynnari Warlock

Another seldom seen denizen of the Commoragh are Ynnari Warlocks. Almost exclusively found on Craftworlds. Occasionally warlocks travel to the Dark City, sometimes with high faluting ideas about redemption and such but other times they could be agents of the Ynnari and up to something more deathy. This particular Warlock is painted in Ulthwe colours with a red helmet to represent Ynnead. This particular one has a severed Astartes arm as decoration and he probably also uses it to get into cool parties in the Commoragh. worth noting is th fact I finally found a use to Aethermatic blue contrast paint. Two coats made a reasonable effect on the Witchblade. 

A no nonsense Warlock, Jistaine the Sombre likes long walks on the beach, good food and dismembering Space Marines.

Warp Spiders Webway Raiders

I recently read a 40K short story where Warp Spiders were valiant heroes. They warped in killed some marines and saved the day. Probably. I then thought I'd paint up some of mine. They probably act as pretty effective assassins in the Webway and have numerous kills in the Commoragh too. They were 90 % done very quickly with contrast paints then languished in a case while I procrastinated over the soulstones of all things. Fun fact; Aspect Warriors have average 15+ gemstones per model. Thank Odin for the technical paints otherwise I'd never get the bloody things finished!

Massive weapons on show!

Fire Dragon Lost Property Squad

Back in 1993 I purchased a squad Fire Dragons. Some twenty three or so years later I got hold of another five of Phil a member of our gaming group and semi-regular thorn in my side with regard to his Alpha Legion heretic Astartes. One of these models came to me sans a head, so an old wood elf beastmaster lost his so the Fire Dragons were up to full strength. In the last game I had against Phil I discovered that the missing helmet was adorning a Noise Marine. This has prompted me to finish these models so I can give battle to the Alpha Legion with their Slaaneshi mates and retrieve the helmet. Of course giving the helm a damn good wash as you just don't know where it's been recently. Anyway, this squad of Fire Dragons are sometimes found accompanying other members of my Ynnari faction doing clandestine stuff and looking for lost equipment. These models were some of the last ones started before I started using contrast paints and have both white and grey undercoats giving them two distinct looks. I'm not repainting them though.

Gilliard, second from left back row is eternally searching for his lost helmet. There is even a song about it.

                       

Triumverate of Ynnead

These last models were not painted by me but rather Aaron, another regular opponent in my gaming group. Using strange equipment such as "an airbrush" he got these done with very little effort from my part. Aaron does paint models for money so if you want to see more of his work and possibly get him to do something you can contact him through his instagram account. One thing I will say about these new plastics is they are very delicate. Both the Visarch and Yvraine have had some battlefield damage necessitating pinning. So far the Yncarne had stood up to the wear and tear of the 41st Millennium. 

I did the bases so some of it is actually my own work!

The Visarch's sword and Yvrainnes knife hat suffered breakage.

So that's you all caught up with what I'm doing and hopefully there will be some Wyches coming along soon. I actually have a lot of models in the tantalizingly close to completion area that I fall in and out of interest with. So next painting update could contain anything!

Thanks for reading. 

Punch Up At The Olde Shielde

The Olde Shield is a franchise of retro drinking establishments that are popular on several hundred Imperial worlds. The Olde Shield mentioned in the title is situated on a former Maiden world called Boomshanka. Legend has it that Sot, Aeldari god of wine and revelry gave his people the double edged sword of inebriation and emotional over-reaction. When the forces of two unnamed Craftworlds co-incidentally happened upon a tavern on the ruins of an ancient shrine to Sot, they decided to engage the Mon-keigh that they found there. These happened to be a force of Crimson Fists enjoying some open air mindfulness drills. This is the account of  that meeting.......

 Greetings. Today is a different type of battle report as it is a game I wasn't playing only witnessing. It was part of the C.L.A.W. 2020 League and the scenario was Scorched Earth from the 2019 Chapter Approved. The game was cool to watch but as it was part of the league, I did not offer advice, Only impartiality. Neil's army was called Prophetic Wraith Casters and can be found if you follow the link. Dylan used Strike Force Espiridion and can be found in the second link. Looking at the list I think there is a disparity in "optimalisation" one has loads of it, the other not so much. I'll let you decide which. So anyway, On with the battle.

A Crimson Fist 'castle'. They defend objective 2 with faith in the emperor and bugger all cover.

Squad 'Lucky Duck' guard objective 3. Squad 'Out in the Open' act as bullet shields for the Chaplain.

The Biel Tan deployment. Wraithblades and a Warlock in the Wave serpent on the left,  Wraithguard in the one on the right. Three squads of Rangers are lurking around til turn two (or three) to be arsey.

A big dreadnaught containing the remains of Brother  'Unpleasant Fate' stands next to Squad 'Probably Doomed'.

The Aeldari win the first turn and there was much movement. Both Wave Serpents scooted round the flanks with the Farseer on the left. Two War walkers stood on the objectives in their deployment zone while the third hurdles a wall to get onto the one in the Olde Shield. Some Smiting and Executionering saw squad 'Probably Doomed' thinned out followed by some shooting. After all his dice rolling Dylan had the sergeant left. A successful morale test (after a reroll) meant Neil just about missed out on First Strike. he had put some serious damage into two of the Intercessor squads.

Lots of shooting later Squad 'Probably Doomed' is down to their sergeant. 

Over on the left the Wave Serpent and Farseer look smarmy. A War Walker grabs the objective in the centre of the table. The two objectives in Neil's deployment zone are held by War Walkers also.

In Dylan's turn the xenos felt the wrath of the Crimson Fists somewhat. No psykers meant no Smites being hurled around. there was a fair bit of shooting which left a two damaged wave Serpents and two damaged War Walkers (the one in the pub was down to one wound). No First Strike for the Astartes either then.

The Wraithguard jump out of their ride and some Rangers creep into the picture. Squad 'Lucky Duck' are somewhat depleted. The Wave Serpent goes to make a nuisance of itself next to squad 'Out in theOpen'.

Neilcam© sees all.

Turn two was where the passengers got out of their rides. Wraithblades and Warlock on the left Wraithguard on the right. The Dreadnaught got Doomed and Jinxed. It was an unpleasant combination that took a lot of wounds off it. Master Crafters on War Walkers with Doom and Jinx is very, very unpleasant. The Wraithblades then assaulted the Dread with the Autarch tagging along. Needless to say Brother 'Unpleasant Fate' got messed up again. It is unclear whether there is enough of him left to put him in another Dreadnaught. Only time, and Dylan will tell. Over on the right flank the Wraithguard and some Rangers severely shot up the Intercessor squad codename 'Lucky Duck'. The sergeant of Squad 'Probably Doomed' died to shuriken fatigue. The Wraithseer sniped the Ancient effectively neutering the Crimson Fist castle tactic. The Wave Serpent on the right assaulted squad 'Out in the Open' causing a wound. The Aeldari scored 4 VPs  for their objectives.

At the top left of the picture Brother dreadnaught 'Unpleasant Fate' is about to get on the end of some Wraithblade weaponry. Squad 'Out in the Open' is about to be dunted by the Wave Serpent. 

Brother dreadnaught 'Unpleasant Fate' is both Doomed and Jinxed. His fate is pretty much sealed.

The view from Neilcam© shows all the bodies clustered around objective 4.

Both Brother Dreadnaught 'Unpleasant Fate' and squad 'Probably Doomed' are gone.

Getting rammed by a Wave Serpent is generally not a dangerous thing to happen. In this case Brother 'Careless' gets his knee scuffed and loses a wound.

Dylan was up against it now as he held two objectives and Neil had four. But Crimson Fists being a stubborn lot, they decided this sort of uneven fight was just their cup of Astartes tea. The Inceptors arrived to the battle on the Aeldari back line. A brief summary of the action was the War Walker in the pub was Hellblastered to death. The final member of squad 'Lucky Duck' charged the Rangers whilst still keeping control of objective three. I think he killed some and routed the rest, all the while maintaining eye contact with the Wraithguard. On the other side of the table however, the Inceptors failed their charge on the War Walker. This is, I feel, important. so at the end of turn 2 Dylan gets 2 VPs leaving the game 4 - 2 to the Aeldari.

Squad 'Lucky Duck' has officially lost it's moniker. 

Same occurence slightly different view.

Having dealt with the Dreadnaught, the restless dead from Biel Tan want some more action. Luckily for Dylan they just couldn't consolidate into the Hellblasters.

Meanwhile over the other side of the table,,,,,,,

So in Neil's turn three he moved the Wraithseer to engage the Inceptors and the Wraithblades to the Hellblasters on the hill. The third unit of Rangers appeared somewhere as well. The Wraithguard took objective three and the Wraithblades assaulted the Hellblasters on the hill. I think the Intercessors avec the Chaplain killed the Wave Serpent. The Wraithseer took the Inceptors down to two models. The Primaris on the hill took a bit of a beating but not as bad as I thought they would, the captain joined in so I think he helped turn the tide somewhat.

The Wraithseer wanders over to the Inceptors as they had stood around like cotton-headed-ninny-muggins!

The Wave Serpent and Farseer sneak round the back. Looking at the picture part of the Wave serpent is off the table. Is it important? I'm not really sure.

In a rare moment of good fortune for Dylan, the Wraithseer only manages to inflict a single wound on the Inceptors.

The Wraithseer makes the short charge and decides to flail about with his massive weapon.

Back to shit luck, a failed charge from the Inceptors.

The Crimson Fists are just about able to hold on to objective 2. 

A second flurry of good luck for Dylan. I think these were saving throws from rather unpleasant Aeldari weaponry.

The Intercessors grab objective 1. An Autarch goes to have words with them about it.

"DIE XENOS SCUM!".

The Warlock has been given guard cube number four duty. Picture courtesy of Neilcam© again.

The xenos scum is about to feel the retribution of the blue imperial fists.

And now he's gone. But another xenos bugger has crept into view.

Another view of the creepy Farseer.

Neil even buys shorter models so they can hide behind walls!

A brief summary of the rest of the game was the Aeldari re-rolled virtually everything they needed to which really hurt the Crimson Fists. A systematic eradication of all the marines only hit a few speed bumps. Objective three was destroyed by the Aeldari and they continued to hold the rest for the remains of the game. The Autarch was killed in the pub and the Farseer just outside it. The Crimson Fist Captain and Chaplain made a heroic - if somewhat doomed to failure - assault on a Wave Serpent, Kingslayer and Linebreaker was scored by the Eldar. We got to turn 7 and the score reflects this. 

Final Score Aeldari 27 Crimson Fists 7

At the end of the game this is Neil's dead pile. All except a Wave serpent that gets stored in another receptacle. Not so much a testament to his generalship, but rather a damning indictment of taking bugger all toughness 3 models in an Aeldari army.

Post Game Punditry

That game was a bit one sided and no mistake. From the view of a bystander it was a good display of the mobility  of the Aeldari. Neil's list was pretty nasty. Only three units of toughness 3 models and none of them on the table first turn. Two units of wraith constructs and a Wraithseer. Warwalkers and Wave Serpents. All tough to get rid of and very mobile. I think when you play against such a mobile army you need to get the first turn. A couple of other factors are pertinent I feel. Neil has constructed his army to fully get the most out of the Phoenix Rising book for Psychic Awakening, he has a shit ton of rerolls for shooting, wounding and psychic powers. Dylan's list had no Librarian to even attempt to deny the many Aeldari witches on the table. If I was to be critical of Dylan's game I think he didn't concentrate his fire in the first turn as he left two damaged War Walkers on objectives, had he killed one or other of them, First Strike would have been scored and 1 less VP for Neil. This in itself would not have won the game but Neil would not have been racing away so quickly. Also in turn two when the Inceptors landed had Dylan been a bit luckier he could have stolen and objective in Neil's deployment zone, destroy it and even up the score. Sadly he didn't and the extra VPs Neil got really hurt the Astartes. I think Neil played a good game and him getting first turn was a big plus. He sniped the Chapter Ancient in turn two, with a D-Cannon! D-Cannons are wonderful weapons but I think giving a model one and then giving him the ability to snipe enemy characters is a wee bit broken. Losing a seemingly unassailable character that gives casualties a dying attack was an easy way to remove a big threat. As is often the case in these games re-rolls win prizes and I think the massive number that Neil's army had against a numerically small foe had dire consequences for Dylan. So to wrap up this report I think one list was more optimized than the other and that list got first turn.

So in terms of the league, Neil is out in front with 3 games and 3 wins, one of those was against me and it may or may not get a batrep. Phil is second and the others are arrayed in order of points. It is of note that not everyone has played the same number of games and with the onset of COVID 19 it is uncertain when any more games will be played. The league is on hold but it will return!

Thanks for reading.