The Horrors From Ymgarl

I decided to crank out something special for this coming weekend's finale to our multi-week Tyranid Invasion event, the Perfect Swarm. A few weeks back I got hold of Chapterhouse Studios excellent Alien Heads pack. These tentacle-faced heads are perfect for the Ymgarl Genestealers Elites choice from the new Tyranids codex.

Having recently traded for a box of plastic Genestealers, I blocked out some time to hammer a unit of 8 out for this Sunday's mega-battle.

























The heads are cast in pewter, and are quite heavy for plastic bodies, so I took the precaution of gluing the plastic slotta base to a washer for extra heft. I also had a bit of green stuff handy when attaching the heads to create a more seamless join and allow the super-glue to setup better.

In all, this unit will be a blast to field, and I am very pleased with their look.

--Scott

The Perfect Swarm Week 1

My FLGS, Phantom of the Attic (Oakland) in Pittsburgh is hosting a 3 weekend Warhammer 40K event featuring a Tyranid invasion. We're calling it The Perfect Swarm because it involves about 10,000 pts. of Tyranids from 4 different armies (mine included). All of the beleaguered denizens of the Emperor's Hope system must combine their resources to halt the 'Nid advance.

Here's a shot of my proxy Venomthropes on the move:




You can see shots of all of this past Sunday's games here.

We've got two more Sundays to go, and the Tyranids hold a slight edge. We'll see what happens!

--Scott

A Versatile Monster

As I come closer to finishing my Tyranid force for Warhammer 40K, I am looking to fill out my list with some of the special options available. I love the rules for the Venomthrope, but I am not a big fan of the official model, a complex, multi-part metal model. I think I found a solution. It's the Devourer from Reaper's Warlord line.

I painted him up last night and here are the results.














And here are some scale comparison shots:






I can also see using this monster in D&D RPG action and other sci-fi and fantasy skirmish games. Of course, when I finally get around to trying the new Warlord game, I can use him in that too!

--Scott

Brood Lord

I had been using a regular Genestealer for my Brood Lord, but I realized a model that was that cool and tough in the game needed a more appropriate representation.

I used parts from the Tyranid and Chaos Spawn plastic kits, and the head from an old Genestealer, and kit-bashed him together. I am very pleased with my results!

















I need to do some clean-up and tighter blending on the highlights, but he gets the job done!

--Scott

Mycetic Spores!

Once I began working on my Tyranids in earnest, I knew I wanted to do some Mycetic Spores. These alien drop pods allow you to Deep Strike one Monstrous Creature or a unit of up to 20 infantry behind enemy lines. And they themselves can fight once they land, though they are immobile.

A lot of folks are using various toys to model the Mycetic Spore--GW has no official model on its release schedule. I decided to go a different route and visited Michael's. In their artificial fruit aisle I found this:



It's a pineapple. It's made from foam, and coated with a thin, rigid plastic. Here I have already cut off the leaves. With this basic shape, I had something to work with. I used a hacksaw to slice a portion off of the bottom so the Spore would sit at an angle on its base (an old audio CD).



After mounting it on a CD, I used my Delight air-dry clay to sculpt some crude organic orifices on the Spore to give it additional character, and define a clear doorway that the creatures could exit the pod from.







The Delight clay has some decent adhesive properties, but I also painted around the rim of the shapes with white glue to give it extra purchase. I prepared a second Spore in the exact same manner as this one.

Then I primed them white and went to work. I'd like to say that the painting process was one of discovery, elegant and relaxing. Actually, it was a near disaster, but I recovered and painted two spores to an acceptable table quality.





Twenty Termagants will ride in style in this baby!



This second Mycetic Spore is slightly more reclined than the first. Just a different cut with the hacksaw. I do like the fact that it is at a different angle.










Here you can clearly see my Carnifex, the "Drop-Fex" could easily curl up inside this Mycetic Spore. Also, I tried to weather the bottoms to model the friction and pressure of an orbital drop.



Above you can see how I tried to include some 'Nid bits where I could.

That's about it. I'd like to make a few more now that I have my method down. Too bad the Michael's I visited only had two of them!

--Scott

Carnifex--The "Drop-Fex"

Once I started working on a second Carnifex for my Tyranids, I thought I would Deep Strike him using a Mycetic Spore. Originally, I thought I might give the second 'Fex a Heavy Venom Cannon and have him hang back and snipe. But I just couldn't do it.

This second one I did, the "Drop-Fex", possesses two pairs of Scything Talons for max re-rolls, and leaving off the Crushing Claws allows me to take advantage of his Initiative bumps if he can get an assault off. I'll also be kitting him out with Bio-Plasma so he can do something when he lands (if he can resist his Instinctive Behavior), and Frag Spines so when he moves through cover he can still enjoy those Initiative bumps when he reaches close combat.









Have I mentioned how much I like this model?

Later this week I will show off my Mycetic Spore model solution, as GW makes no official version for the 'Nids.

--Scott

Objective Markers in Tabletop Miniature Games

I think well modeled objective markers make for better miniature games. Whether you're playing Warhammer 40K or FAD, good objective markers allow players to more easily immerse themselves in the flavor of the game. And it doesn't take that much effort to make decent ones.

I've come up with two pretty appropriate markers for my 40K Tyranid force, both courtesy of the older Battle for MacCragge boxed set.



The above spawning pods are mounted on a wooden base from Michael's and flocked in the same manner as my army bases.



I confess I don't know what the heck the above thing is--but it is Tyranid terrain, and man does it look cool. So on a Michael's base it went!

Obviously, I will need more for 40K. Some scenarios call for as many as D3 + 2. So I need at least one more. I've been thinking of doing something with this piece from Heroscape:



It's the spawning terrain piece from the Swarm of the Marro boxed set for Heroscape. It certainly looks Nid-like, and it really doesn't even need re-painted. I might put it on a proper base, likely an old compact disc.

Anyway, objective markers can help make a game look better.

Tyranids Go To Battle

I was at the FLGS today and took my Tyranids out for a spin against my buddy Mike's Eldar. Danny Microwave took some nice phots of the pre-battle line-ups. He was later engaged with customers, so he did not get any shots of the actual battle. Fun was had by both players, and the Tyranids managed a convincing victory.



Above you can see one of my objective markers in the lower left corner of the photo.




In the center of the above photo is my scratch-built Zoanthrope. My very first psychic test with was box-cars, and he took a wound! After the in-auspicious beginning he recovered to blow up the Eldar's Wave Serpent hover tank.



In the lower center of this pic is my HQ, A Tyranid Prime with twin boneswords. Today I realized giving him those Rending Claws was a bit of a waste, so off they came tonight, replaced with a pair of Spinefists. They're not the best ranged weapon, but I like their cool look.



Here's a slightly closer look at the back-side of the Zoanthrope. I'll do a separate post on him this week.



It occurs to me I'll need to get some shots of the force from the front.



Here's a shot of some of Mike's well-painted Eldar. It was a good-looking game on my jungle-terrain bases.

I am now working on a second Carnifex. And looking for Mycetic Spore proxies!

I'll share more when I have more pics!

--Scott