Cancon here we come!!

Cancon- Army prep-finished!

Here's some pics of the army as it stands. Sorry for the picture quality on a few pics- the main light in my study is pretty poor, which made the pictures a bit fuzzy. Cancon prep is all done, well ahead of schedule. All in all, the minis are in base colours with a bit of detail here and there, but all of them have their bases done up, so they do look quite presentable.

Termies- shaded/base colours + eyes. Hey, its three colours and based :)

Assault Squads, Bikes, Dread, Pod and power armoured ICs (down the very end).

Stormraven is looking good!

After this I only have some small tasks to do to get the terrain all ready to go, and will be providing between four and five tables worth with medium coverage. Getting very excited at this point :) 

Game Reminders

As I'm still relatively new to this army I've forgotten a lot of key points and special rules in a couple of games. They're mainly rules that apply to either the BA models or core mechanics of the unit type. So, thinking that i'd like to make a good showing at Cancon I decided that a reminder/cheatsheet would be beneficial- i can keep this on hand and read up on things that will be helpful, as well as any ideas or planned tactics (ie refusing all Challenges!)

This is what's on my reminder sheet, hoping it helps me out somewhat!

After Deployment:

        ·         Roll for Red Thirst! (on a 1, swaps ATSKNF for Fearless, and gains Furious Charge).

Sanguinary Priests:

·         BA units attached/within 6” subject to FnP (5+) and Furious Charge.

Furioso Dreadnought:

·         After deploying from Drop Pod, pop smoke if not in range for melta/flamer shooting.

Independent Characters:

·         Librarians to cast Prescience in the majority (re-roll to hit in shooting or cc).

·         All IC’s- refuse challenges/ not to declare challenges unless absolutely necessary or heavily in their favour.

·         IC’s will be placed in the mid-rear of units to keep them alive long enough to use their buffs.

·         IC’s (and upgrade Characters- Sgs etc) have ‘Precision shot’ (allocate wound to mini of choice on ’6’ rolls to hit)

Jump Pack units:

·         Not shooting this turn? RUN RUN RUN! Get those Meltaguns/bombs in range. OR get to cover!

Jump pack charge range percentages- options:

1.       Move 6”, charge 2D6” using jump pack- get to re-roll charge dice, gain Hammer of Wrath.

2.       Jump pack move 12”, charge 2D6.

Total dist   6"%               12"%

9"              >99%              100%

10"              99%              100%

11"              97%              100%

12"              92%              100%

13"              83%              100%

14"              66%              100%

15"              48%                97%

16"              31%                92%

17"              16%                83%

18"                5%                72%

19"                                     58%

20"                                     42%

21"                                     28%

22"                                     17%

23"                                       8%

24"                                       3%              

Bike Rules

·         Movement 12”- any movement at all gives ‘Jink’ (5+ cover save).

·         Bikes have ‘Relentless’- move and fire as though stationary even when moving.

·         Bikes have ‘Hammer of Wrath when charging- 1 attack per bike at Str4 In.10 auto hit.

·         If not shooting, bike may ‘turbo-boost’ up to an extra 12”, gaining a 4+ cover save.

·       T5 is now used for ID tests- with 2 wounds per bike, can only be killed outright by Str10 hits 

So, my hope is that with these reminders I can keep on top of things, stress less about the rules and just have a great time. Does anyone else do things like this, or is it just me??

Hopefully I can get a bunch of great pics up from Cancon on each day, I know you'll all want to see the armies that come along.

Cheers,

Tempest

Modular Urban Boards- getting finished!!

Terrain Update!

In between slathering red on everything in sight, i've been trying to get my urban modular boards ready for the tourney (Cancon) as well. Been putting down the road lines, some gutter edging and some drawn on drains. The drains will all eventually have silver/orangey paint on them for a slightly rusted look, but they work okay for now. Not bad for something done with a permanent marker :)

I've also started building a whole heap of street lights, using the outside edges of sprues, a cut down Tau Drone, some surplus large dice and a round 40K base. Underneath is a thin metal square, and the boards all have magnets sunk into them at various intervals. The lights are solidly stuck to the board, but are easily moved and are very sturdy. I've also started making some road signs as well- will have a few wrecked streetlights and signs to add variety.

Intersection looks so cool. Got two X intersections, two T intersections and two straights built so far.

Here's two of the boards so far, got another 4 to finish the details on.

Street lights and signs WIP. The lights only take around 20 minutes to build, even with two parts being drilled and pinned!! I just need more sacrificial Tau Drones...  The sign in this pic is taken from the raised highways I built a while back, I'll be building a few more like it.

Its just the small simple details that really make a board stand out. I hope the players at Cancon like it :) 
Until next time!
Tempest

Dreadnought drop pod, power swords and more BA progress

Wow, its been a month since my last update- apologies to anyone thats been looking for an update- things have been very busy at home and whilst I've had a lot of time painting I've barely been on the computer at all.

With only 17 days left before Cancon i'm in overdrive trying to get the Blood Angels up to a certain level of completion. I've resigned myself to the fact that they wont 100% done- they'll most likely still have unfinished bolt pistols and chainswords, and some chest and shoulderpad details wont be completed. However, I should quite happily get all the red armour plating painted and basically highlighted. I have finished the helmets on all the Assault Marines, included their eyes- I will go back and re-line a few bits later, but they will suffice. Terminators will get some love really son, and the Attack Bikes after that. Wont be winning any awards with them in this state, but I'll have them all completed and detailed in time for Wintercon (June) without too much hassle.




All the yellow helmets done- they really stand out now


The Stormraven is getting moved along quite well- all the 90 degree edges and gaps between panels have been shaded with several coats of Carroburg Crimson, and i've started on highlights on the sharpest edges, the whole vehicle is really starting to 'pop'. I also built an overlay to go on the Raven's base, which is made from MDF and has been carved with a dremel and small cutting wheel to look like ruins just like the rest of the army's resin bases, it looks fairly convincing.




MDF is still the greatest IMHO...


I decided that my Assault Sergeants should stand out a bit, and to this end I've swapped out the one guy with a Power Axe to have a Power Sword instead. I've then painted up a scheme on all three swords that is a stylised reflective look, going from deep dark blue up to white, through 6 colours and thinning the paint as much as possible. It can take a fair bit to get right, and a lot of time is spent going back and fixing up the transitions to make them as smooth as possible.

On a gaming note, I've been doing some research concerning what Psychic discipline to roll for with my 2x Librarians- we roll for this before our first game and our opponent signs off on it, and this is what they use for the whole tournament. I was originally using Biomancy, for the potent offensive capabilities it gave, however I now believe that Divination to be the best for a Librarian, who should be used to buff an attached unit. Even if you roll for things you dont want you can fall back to the primaris power of Prescience, which provides for re-rolls to hit (shooting and cc) which really helps boost the power of an assault unit. Moreso than any other discipline these ones will keep your men alive and killing better for longer.

I'm also thinking that my Librarian in Terminator Armour will only selectively answer or issue challenges, as his axe-wielding capabilities are massively overshadowed by the 5 Thunder Hammers in the squad he's attached to- in addition he's going to be my Warlord, and will therefore have a 1VP price on his head, which I dont wish to squander. So, he'll skulk at the back of the pack for most engagements, unless circumstances are in his favour. Still working out how best to use the Terminators, I'm even thinking that I could Deep-strike them in on turn two in the vicinity of the Furioso's Drop Pod, to form a ridiculously resilient CC strongpoint.

Speaking of, here's the modified drop pod for my Furioso. Didnt want to splash out for the FW Dread Pod, so I've modified this standard troop carrying one to have a removable fin section (fluff wise- explosive bolts blow it out on landing when the doors drop) and Adiel comes lumbering out. I also magnetised the gun mount in the roof to allow me to still use the stormbolter or missile pod, and they can still articulate up and down. If one takes the liberty of assuming that the gun and its mount retract into the roof of the pod then the Dreadnought fits in quite easily!! This conversion turned out better than I expected.



Fits easily :) 



Magnets are mounted top and bottom for maximum hold.



Magnetised gun mount. Used a drill press on high speed and
 lots of care to make this fit without blowing out the sides. 



Recessed magnets with lightly filed-down outer edges. Snaps into place really solid.

Thats enough for today- got loads more work to do!

Cheers,
Tempest