Non-Metalic Gold WIP

The last three Exodite Dragon Riders are finally getting paint. I finished the first one (pictured on right) way back in December 2010! Excited to see that this herd monsters is finally going to get some wranglers.

Exodite Dragon Herd

Mysterious Terrain

Picture from local tournament 8/5/2012

Corsair Prince: Prancing

This is the first Eldar HQ I've painted for my Corsair army. Rules wise the Corsair Prince is mostly just a character that offers buffs to the unit he joins and his army.

Eldar Corsair Venom

Eldar Corsairs w/ Jet Packs

Corsair Prince 'dynamic base'

I just couldn't resist giving this guy a crazy base to help make him stand out.

@Aventine, I also lowered the head on his shoulders to reduce the size of the helmet.

Painted Corsairs!

Scourge/Swooping Hawk/Corsair Blade Sworn w/ Jet Pack

the more kit bashing/ambiguous my models are the more I can use them in different armies :)

Corsair Jet Pack

Finished my first Corsair Raider; still trying to figure out what Eldar Rune to put on the sail

Pilot

Gunner with Bright Lance

Corsair with Splinter Cannon/Shrunken Cannon... more ambiguity  

Eldar Corsair Prince

Fusion Pistol and Shimmer Shield; only 15pts!

With the use of Allies in 6th edition I think a mix of Corsair and Dark Eldar units will best represent my  alliance of Corsairs and Exodites. A particularly interesting combo I discovered is to attach the Dark Eldar Baron and a Corsair Prince to a unit of Beast Masters.

The Baron gives the unit Stealth, assault and defensive grenades and Hit and Run.
The Corsair Prince has a Shimmer Shield, giving the unit a 5++ save in close combat.
Although the Prince can only move 6" a turn, he can have a jet pack so he will lag behind in the movement phase and then catch up with the 2D6 movement in the assault phase if they don't charge.

Corsair 'Scourges'

I finally got around to doing these conversions today. It was really easy and they turned out better than I'd hoped! I used them as Scourges last night coming out of a webway portal with two haywire blasters. Honestly I think I'll drop the blasters because the army has enough anti-tank already and 15 poisoned shots is a heck of a lot! I look forward to painting these models soon.

Exodite Chieftain WIP

Whipped this guy up today. He will most often be used as the Baron Sathonyx attached to my Beast Master unit (giving them +1 cover save and grenades aint too bad for 105pts). I could also use him as an Eldar Autarch on a bike. The lance works for both characters because both the Baron and Autarch are S6 on the change; isn't not too much of a leap...

Eldar Corsair Raider

This model took forever to complete. Sadly it is not 100% but once I get the crew painted up I'll finish up the last few details including some Eldar symbols on the sail and prow. The sail is also the same color as the Warrior's helmet and prow tip but it was in a shadow for the picture and didn't come out.

First 6th Edition Game: 1000pts IG vs Fire Hawks

Tonight I tried out the new rules with Realgenius (Jim) tonight, and of course had lots of fun. 

Ratlings!

Since this was the first game and all I didn't have a real grasp on the wound allocation part of the game, but that will just come with practice. There were a couple of times I left important models out in cold which were quickly picked off.

I ended up winning the game but it hardly mattered as it was both our first game with the new rules and neither of us had particularly powerful lists.

Things I liked:

Cover: We didn't have any ruins so everything was 5+ save. I think most IG armies will contain at least one Battle Tank now. NTM Stealth and Camo cloaks stack now so there are a few units here and there that can still get good cover... Harker and Telion can both do this if you pay the points for it.

Wall of Death: Over watching with flamers is pretty cool! I had 4 flamers in a chimera and they killed three Vanguard Vets before they got assaulted! 

Fliers: My Vendetta didn't come in until turn 4, but when it did that Stormraven was toast. I wonder if I will ever put anything inside of it now or just use it as a gun platform? As is, it is one of the best units at shooting other fliers out of the sky.

Psychers: I took a Sanctioned Psycher as well as a Psychic Battle Squad. Combined they did a lot of damage... Psychic Shreek does 3D6 wounds minus the enemy leadership. This combined with PBS reducing the Ld to 2 made for a pretty ridiculous combo. I think the PBS will be coming back into my army. I had dropped them for a while but I can't pass up that combo.   

Deathwatch Librarian

I am kinda in-between projects right now. Without any big tournament nearing to give me motivation to paint just one army I am sure I will be painting a few new models for each of my existing armies to compensate/complement the new changes that 6th edition will bring.

Here is my Deathwatch Librarian I finished tonight to be added to my Mantis Warriors army or allied to my Imperial Guard... I used to be able to field this guy back in 4th edition but here he is finally with paint!

...and I got a little work done on this Corsair Raider

Wargames Con 2012

Wargames Con 2012 is in the books! and boy do I feel like shit but smiling :)

Wargames Con: DAY ONE!

Oh shit, day one of Wargames Con is in the books and I'm drunk and tired as hell... lets see what happened...

Wargames Con 2012 Mantis Warriors Army

Hey guys, Wargames Con is just one week away OMG! Here is the list I plan on taking to the two day, seven game, 2000pt GT next weekend. I have no illusions of going all the way, I just hope I get 7 good games against 7 opponents I've never played before!

HQ

Kahn

Cassius

ELITES

Assault Terminators*5; th/sh*3, lc*2

Land Raider Redeemer; ex armor, multi-melta

Sterngaurd*5; combi-plasma*2, plasma gun

Razorback; twin-plasma gun, lascannon, dozer blade

TROOPS

Tactical Squad; power fist, combi-melta, melta gun, multi-melta

Rhino

Tactical Squad; power fist, combi-melta, melta gun, multi-melta

Rhino

Scouts*10; Telion, heavy bolter

Scouts*5; combi-melta, melta bomb

FAST ATTACK

Land Speeder Storm; multi-melta

Stormtalon Gunship; twin-assault cannon, twin-heavy bolter

Attack Bike; multii-melta

So this list isn't anything too crazy, just my typical Kahn army (three Special Characters lol) with lots of units designed to Outflank and hit hard with shooting and decent combat. The Mission Format for all 7 games will be three equally weighted objectives: two from the book and one random one (table quarters, kill HQ exc.). I'm mostly looking forward to using the Stormtalon and Telion; my most recent editions to the army.

~the best part is that I only have one mode model left to paint!

Scout Sergeant Telion

Scout Sergeant Telion ready for Wargames Con next week! Sorry about the pics, I'll try and get better ones soon.

Stormtalon Gunship Complete!

Likely the first ever Mantis Warrior's Stormtalon is complete! Wargames Con is less than two weeks away, but I finished the Stormtalon in plenty of time. Not much left to paint before the tournament, just lots of practice games with my Kahn list.

In Defense of the Stormtalon

Okay I am pretty annoyed with all the Stormtalon hating on the interwebs, especially on BoLS. All the reviews I've read have been based on theory, not on games played or witnessed. I've now played 4 games with the new unit (one SM, one Blood Angel, and two Dark Eldar) so my review is at least based on practical application. All 4 games the Stormtalon been armed as is (twin-assault cannon & twin-heavy bolter - 130pts) and has outflanked while escorting my Landspeeder Storm.

The complaint that most people have about the ST is that it is not worth the points (130pts basic) because it is essentially a big, more expensive Landspeeder Tornado (90pts). Lets compare...

Although the ST and the Tornado are armed similarly; the ST makes much better use of them. On the ST both the HB and Assault Cannon are twin-linked which essentially gives it the fire power of TWO Razorbacks. However the biggest advantage the Stormtalon has is the 'Aerial Assault' rule which allows it to move 12" and fire BOTH weapons! When have you ever seen a Landspeeder fire both gun? This makes a huge difference, especially when you consider how short ranged the Assault Cannon is (the better of the two guns).

The other bonus the ST has over the Tornado is the 'Escort' Special Rule. which essentially allows it to show up at the same time as another unit arriving from reserve. I believe this Special Rule only makes a difference if you use the ST to escort an Outflanking which is something a Tornado cannot do.

Consider the worst part about Outflanking in a SM army; not getting any bonus to reserve rolls (possibly arriving piecemeal) and not being able re-roll what side you come in on (possibility of being unsupported or without enough strength to do anything). By Escorting a Landspeeder Storm you eliminate both of these issues. Both units arrive at the same time and on the same table edge! Individually neither is particularly menacing, but combined there is strength.

So there you have it: my reasons why the Stormtalon is not as terrible as so many people on the interwebs say it is. Granted I am not trying to say it is super amazing and belongs in every army, but what in the SM codex IS super amazing for only 130pts? The ST is certainly a unit that requires some tactical thinking and maneuvering but at the same time is a lot of fun to use and can be very rewarding to use.

Tonight I used the ST in my all Outflanking Kahn army which has lots of very short range firepower. The ST was the only unit in the army that could be considered to have "long range" firepower while still being able to move over 6". Has anyone else actuarially used or seen a ST used since it came out last week? What are people's general reaction? Sucks, okay or useful?

Eldar Phoenix

Figured out how to mount my Phoenix today by putting a small wooden dowel in the flight stem and a whole in the bottom of the model. I would have used a brass rod but couldn't find any the right size. This should work though.

Stormtalon Gunship WIP

 Just some WIP shots of the Stormtalon. I am really liking this model...

Corsair Venom

I made some excellent trades this weekend including a FW Eldar Phoenix which I plan on using as a Void Raven Bomber. I also picked up a Venom which I swapped out the Splinter Cannons on it for Craftworld Eldar weapons.

In most game this will just "count as" two Splinter Cannons. I figure there won't be any confusion because you've never seen someone NOT take dual cannons on one of these...