Hive Tyrant... with magnetized wings!

Hive Tyrants are without a question my favorite commander units in Warhammer 40.000. Yes, that's right, not just Tyranids, but the whole 40K. Why? They are imposing, psychic yet still excelling in combat, and they have so many different weapon options, something that is becoming a rare sight in post-Primaris Warhammer. This is why decided to at least partially magnetize my own Hivefleet Leviathan Tyrant.

I actually went only with magnetizing the upper arms, so that I can provide my Tyrant with a variety of melee weapons (and wings). The venom cannon is fixed as I consider it both visually appealing and satisfying on the battlefield. With a Tyrant, shooting is only a bonus, anyway.

Magnetizing the arms is actually very easy, you simply drill a hole where the joint connections would be and place magnets inside. Only problems is with the wings, which are simply too heavy for most magnets (see more on that below).

I went with my usual Leviathan paint scheme - with Ceramite White (White Scar) basecoat, Screaming Skull undercoat, Carroburg Crimson wash and Ceramite White drybrush. The bioweapons are painted with Mephiston Red basecoat, Carroburg wash and Evil Sunz Scarlet drybrush/highlights.Carapace is basecoated black and then highlighted with multiple strokes of Xereus Purple and Genestealer Purple.

One of my favourite looks is with the Scything Talons for upper arms. Unfortunately this combination seems illegal in the 10th edition. Don't get me started on that.

 

The most impressive way to build the model is with the wings. I love the way the miniature looks with feet stamping on the ground and the wings spreading! The wings are painted with a Kislev Flesh equivalent and, of course, they are too heavy to hold on just the magnets. I've fixed them in position using short pins protruding from the wings and fitting into rather inconspicuous drilled holes above the magnets. 

For best results, I recommend starting by drilling inside the wings just behind the magnets and fixing the pins with super glue and/or green stuff. After that, then try the wings on the model and watch where the pin scratches the model. Then drill a hole there. Be careful while drilling that a proper direction is mantained.

Take a look at the pictures below to see how the pinning sytem works:

 Anyway, hope this post is helpful! Let me know if you want help or could use more pictures.

Mechs from Battletech: Introductory Box Set

In last couple of months, I've committed a heresy: I took an indefinite break from Warhammer 40K and instead embraced the first wargame I ever played back when I was a kid, Battletech.

Battletech is a pretty unique 6mm scale gaming system, an oldschool hybrid between a wargame and a boardgame played on a 32mm-hex map, with a very detailed combat system. As a friend put it, "in Battletech, you can almost see the nuts and bolts fly with every hit." The rules are almost the same as in the 1980s, which is a welcome change from all the errata and edition cycles of some other wargaming systems out there.

The first two mechs I would like to present here are from Battletech: Introductory Box Set. This small 15 USD set includes simplified rules, double-sided hex map and two classic mechs - WVR-6R Wolverine and GRF-1N Griffin. It's an ok-ish start with the universe, although I would recommend to get the large box (Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat) first and buy the Introductory Box Set as an expansion. Mostly because the simplified rules take out the most interesting elements (critical hits, heat) out of the game.

The mechs above are the ones you can find in the Introductory Box Set - Griffin on the left, Wolverine on the right. Unlike 40k, Battletech factions use rather similar units, and each faction uses dozens of different color schemes, so you can just paint your mechs in olive green or camouflage and you are good to go. I prefer to paint my mechs in colors typical for the factions in which the mechs are most common, but this is really just an artistic choice.

GRF-1N Griffin is a medium mech, agile and well-armed for long range combat. Since this mech is pretty common in nearly every faction, I've chosen to paint it in the white and blue colors of the Lyran Guards simply for the looks. The whole miniature is finely drybrushed in Leadbelcher to give it a metallic look, except the cockpit, which has been painted with varying degrees of blue (and a tiny bit of white). I plan to use this "metallic" look on most of my mechs.

 WVR-6R Wolverine is another medium mech that can be found across the whole galaxy. This time, I've chosen to paint in the colors of the Taurian Guards, as the Taurian Concordate is not only one of my favorite factions, but also the faction me and my friends are playing for in a RP campaign. The paint scheme features three colors - XV-88 brown, Mephiston red and Retributor Armour gold. As the paint scheme already features a metallic color, I've decided against doing the Leadbelcher drybrush. Like this, the gold really stands out on the miniature. The cockpit has also been done using a different technique - painting it silver, then black, and finally coating it in Ardcoat varnish, which gives a nice, almost realistic reflection to the surface.

In case you would be interested in Battletech, you might want to check out the awesome Clan Invasion Kickstarter campaign, which has Pledge Manager currently opened. The campaign has a Late Backer option, so you can still join in and get any Battletech stuff for extra-low prices! According to the Catalyst Gamelabs, the Pledge Manager will be open at least until the end of January.

More The Pyre cultists!

Just a couple of quick pictures of the rest of my Chaos Cultists. I had these painted for quite some time but never really got to taking pictures of them.

 The paintjob is nothing special, these guys were rushed so I could put them on the tabletop as soon as possible. The modelling is more interesting though - I didn't want to have any clones in the army, so each of these guys had at least a hand- (or arm-) swap done, excluding the cultist champion. It went pretty well.

The most fun model to convert was the flamer guy, who wielded a heavy stubber originally. The Pyre is known for its heavy use of flame weapons, so this conversion was a nobrainer. The flamer and backpack comes from the Cadian troops kit - a very simple yet effective kitbash. It's kinda shame Games Workshop doesn't sell all these original Cultist models, since these guys had a huge conversion potential. Oh well.

The miniature above is a Renegade Militia soldier I got for free at a gaming convention. It's a pity Forge World doesn't produce the Renegade infantry anymore, this army had lots of atmosphere. Good thing is that he goes well with the cultists, so sometimes I use it instead of one of the Champions when I want to field a 20-men sized cultists blob.

Anyways, thanks for reading and see you soon! Now back to working on Shadowspear...

The Pyre Raptors

Raptors. These models come from the Dark Vengeance era (or 6th edition) of 40K, and in regards of Chaos design, I believe it was one of the best editions: one of the reasons being the plastic models of Chaos it brought us, including the Raptors.

I remember these guys were criticized by part of the community for being too over the top, too ornamental and even too big. Looking back, I don't really get this criticism anymore. Sure, the models have plenty of detail and decoration, but they still look so much more grim than the new, supersized, comics-like Chaos models we are getting now (I'm looking at Death Guard, of course). If only Games Workshop would have given us more models with this look - especially the basic Chaos Marines and the Berzerkers, who are both atrociously old and unfortunately, will probably get replaced with Primaris-sized monstrosities.

Anyway, let's get back to Raptors. As my The Pyre warband uses only flame and melta-based weapons, they are an ideal unit for me. I've decided to equip this squad with anti-tank weapons, and went with a Power Fist on my Champion. The specialists were equipped with Meltaguns - one of them comes from a loyalist kit.

I had real fun both assembling and painting these guys, and have even more seeing them on tabletop. I really hope Games Workshop have not lost their minds and will supply us with more "regular" Space Marine and (especially) Chaos Space Marine models, although I fear we are really going to only see Primaris-sized models since now on. I hate to sound jaded, but this really feels like a stab in the back for a long-time fan and customer. Bah, maybe it's time for me to finally write an Anti-Primaris Manifesto or something.

Leviathan Raveners

Ah, Raveners, the relentless burrowers of Tyranid hivefleets. When I was looking for ways of expanding my Hivefleet Leviathan, they were among the first on the list - not because they have great rules or new models, but because of their lovely classic feel.

These guys really do look like Hydralisks from Starcraft - except with four more claws and thorax-mounted weapons! I was tempted to model these guys with hand-held devourers or spinefists, but instead went the thorax route and armed them (no pun intended) with rending claws. I really like the look of Tyranid Warriors, and these guys look like Warriors on steroids - love them!

There are some problems with the kit too, though. It's an old one, and it shows - there were quite many mould lines present, there are no real cosmetic extras included (except an extra tail), and positioning these guys can be a little bit tricky. None of the problems is too serious though, and the kit can be easily bashed with the newer Warrior kit.

Anyway, happy Hivemind Day, and thanks for reading!