But I Don't Wanna Start A New Army!



They more than tempt me, they command me.

Well, they're finally here, and my ADD has kicked in again. That's right, Thunderwolf Cavalry. Now, I know the first two things you're going to say. One, if you don't want to start a new army, just don't. Two, weren't you just going on about Grey Knights a little while ago?

The answers are thus:

1.) Painting armies is what keeps me sane. I need this to keep from getting overwhelmed by work and school pretty much every day. This is my outlet, and without it I'll go a bit nuts.

2.) Yeah, but I've had a few Space Wolves minis laying around my gaming closet for a while now, and it's about time they got some lovin'.

Now, this is not an immediate thing. I still have the items listed in my "Coming Attractions" section off to the right (two Venoms, a Raider, and three Kabalite Trueborn). These minis will also need a Battlefoam bag to keep them from getting smashed into 6,450, 862 individual tiny bits during transport. What this is is a plan for the future. I've intentionally kept my list limited to as few boxes of stuff as possible. This will keep me from having any left over dudes, and I'll minimize my spending as much as possible.

Here's the list:

HQ
Wolf Lord on Thunderwolf with Frost Weapon- 180 pts.

ELITES
Dreadnought w/ 2 twin-linked Autocannons- 125 pts.
Dreadnought w/ 2 twin-linked Autocannons- 125 pts.

TROOPS
5 Grey Hunters w/ Power Fist, Meltagun; Razorback w/ twin-linked Lascannon- 180 pts.
5 Grey Hunters w/ Power Fist, Meltagun; Razorback w/ twin-linked Lascannon- 180 pts.
5 Grey Hunters w/ Power Fist, Meltagun; Razorback w/ twin-linked Lascannon- 180 pts.
5 Grey Hunters w/ Power Fist, Meltagun; Razorback w/ twin-linked Lascannon- 180 pts.

FAST ATTACK
4 Thunderwolf Cavalry w/ Thunder Hammer, 4 Storm Shields- 350 pts.
4 Thunderwolf Cavalry w/ Thunder Hammer, 4 Storm Shields- 350 pts.

TOTAL
1,850 points

The list has plenty of Thunderwolves, but they come out to an even three boxes (since I'm going to be making my Wolf Lord out of plastic) and there are no wasted parts. I will, of course, have leftover Aegis Defense Line pieces, but all I have to do is glue them down to some hardboard and they're some more (always welcome) terrain. The list is a bit light on number of models (35), but all I can do is suck it up and blame my 350 point Thunderwolf squads.

This (next) project will probably start in a few months. Stay tuned folks!

First Post From My iPhone

I'm trying something new tonight. I just finished my last squad of Kabalite Warriors, and for reasons beyond my control, I don't have access to my computer. I'm therefore trying out the functions on my phone.

The picture looks a little dark, but it's not too horrible. This spells the end of my painting infantry for a while. Now it's on to painting my last Raider!

Final Ravager Finalized

That's right, I'm done painting Ravagers. This one, as stated before, was a chore. At least it's over and done with. You may have noticed the sort of "crown of thorns" around the vehicle. It's a sharp and pokey as it looks. More than once I had to put the model down because it was becoming uncomfortable to hold. In the end, however, it came out looking pretty spiffy, so it was totally worth it.

I'm hoping to start the five Kabalite Warriors. I may or may not get through them today (having Fridays off really helps me get my painting done).

Tonight I'm running my sister through either a game of MalifauX or Warmachine. The gaming virus within my family grows stronger! I was really surprised when she texted me asking if I was willing to run her through an intro. I will have to brush up on my MalifauX rules should she decide that's what she's into, but I still have most of the rules down. I think I'll just need a quick reference sheet. We'll see how tonight goes. Hopefully I'll have a new opponent some time soon.

More Ravager Progress

Well, I finished the Jade Green layer and the Foul Green highlights. Tomorrow will see the highlights on the black panels at the least, maybe even the completion of the mini (depending on humidity). It's getting more and more encouraging to look at the end of the road as far as this army is concerned. What's next? Maybe the last five Kabalite Warriors. They've been sitting there longing for some love for a while. We'll see.

Minor Update- Ravager In Progress

Not much on the painting front to report today. I've put the first coat down on the last of my Ravagers, and it feels good to be on the final one of these nightmares. Let me tell you, reaching around all these corners is a gigantic pain. I know what you're thinking, "just save the final assembly for after you've finished painting the component pieces." That's not really an option. The sponsons need to be securely glued in place, and that means model cement. Model cement doesn't melt spraypaint so well, and I need to prime the underside of the model as well.

I also missed a couple of places with the primer, and that had to be rectified with some quick Chaos Black touchups. Luckily they were on inside surfaces that will never get touched.

Oh, hey, Demitra- I need to buy some Scurf Green the next time you place a mail order, as my bottle is almost out. Just give me a heads up the next time and I'll give you a few dollars.

More Forward Progress- Raider and Trueborn

Well, yet another vehicle done and dusted. This time I got one of the Raiders that will be transporting around my Wyches. The difference between this one and the one for my big squads of Kabalite Warriors is small, but noteworthy. The rune on the sail has been replaced with what I can only assume is a Wych cult symbol- a hand holding a barbed whip against a red field. Since my warriors all have a red tube going over their left shoulder and red eyes, I figured the transfer wouldn't clash too badly with the color scheme. I may have been mistaken. The red against the purple field just isn't doing it for me. I may paint over the transfer and use another one on one of the prow plates on both sides. I don't think the transfers clash as much on that color.

That wasn't the only boo-boo on this model. For some reason Games Workshop saw fit to have two of the engines on the back of the model be attached by a ball and socket joint. This led to the above messed up engine (it's the one on the left, circled in red). It probably won't be all that noticable on the table, but it bothers me. I wish there was some way to fix it, but once the plastic cement I use dries, it's basically impossible to pry the model back apart. Usually this is a good thing, but in this case... Not so much.

That's not all of the progress I've made over the last few days. Behold my second squad of Blaster armed Trueborn! I think these shredder-to-blaster conversions came out pretty well. It's nice to have the two different Trueborn squads toting different styles of Blaster on the two squads. This way if an opponent asks how they can distinguish between the two squads, I can just point to the Blasters. With this squad complete, I can now refocus my attention on the last Ravager. I'm really not looking forward to painting it, but once it's done I'll be nearly finished painting this army.

In other, related news, the order I placed from the Bitz Barn arrived yesterday. This leaves me with my final Trueborn squad (two with Splinter Cannons, one with a Splinter Rifle) fully assembled. That's right, I now have every last infantry model this army needs. I say "needs" because at some point I intend to add a pair of Wrack squads to my collection if only to break up the monotony of fielding nothing but Warriors and Trueborn. Incubi will also be an option, but I want to come out of the gate swinging. This may not be the "optimal" netlist, but it's very strong. I intend to learn the army with the best possible loadout in order to maximize my likelihood of winning, and thus be less likely to get discouraged with the army.

Unfortunately I'm out of Chaos Black spraypaint now. I know I could just get another, cheaper brand, but I don't want to have varied "textures" of paint between squads. This should be the last time I give GW money for paint for a while, and it should last through the painting of all the rest of my minis I intend to add to this army. Baron Sathonyx, 4 Beastmasters, 10 Khymerae, 10 Wracks, and 4 more Venoms (two for the Warriors, and two painted up for the Wracks). Oh, I also have two swarms of Razorwings made out of old metal Vampire Counts Bat Swarms. I like the minis more, as:

1. They're less expensive. $15 for two bases, whereas the real minis are $12.25 a pop.
2. They're made of metal. I really don't like the flexiness (is that a word?) of Finecast resin.
3. They're not on flight stands. I can't stand those things. Odd for a person who's doing an entire army of floating vehicles, but there it is.

Next time I'll have my last Raider to show off (probably Friday or Saturday). Hold on to your hats, folks. I almost have an entire army painted (again), and this one's not dipped!

One More Ravager (And More)

There's one thing that has remained consistent about my Dark Eldar army- it will have three Ravagers. To that end, I finished painting another today. I kind of had to trudge through this one, so I think I'll treat myself to something. I'm kind of torn between the second Blasterborn squad and the slave girls. I think I'll roll a die to choose between the two. I 1-3 gets me the Trueborn, a 4-6 means I'll go with the objective markers. Well, off to determine my destiny!

 UPDATE
I rolled a 4. That means I painted up the slave girls I had laying around in my bits bag. They're appropriate objective markers for a slave raiding army, I think. I painted them up to have the same purple cloth as the rest of my army. Next I'll be starting on a Raider for my Wyches.

Blasterization Or Splinter Cannonization

Like all Dark Eldar players, I need more of these.

I'm torn as to how or if to go about obtaining my ninth Blaster. Do I order a Dark Lance for $3-6 depending on the source, or do I just suck it up and buy another squad of Kabalite Warriors, giving me all six squads I'd need to run the Venom Spam list I swore I'd never consider (and still hold fast against fielding)? The internal debate, as always, rages. On one hand, I could just go for it and scoop up the Warriors, giving me more troops and saving me money in the long run, or I could just plunk down the few dollars (plus shipping) it's cost for the Dark Lance / Shredder. I also have been kicking around the idea of dropping one of the Blasterborn units in exchange for three Trueborn with two Splinter Cannons. That would put me firmly in the "buy another squad" camp. Or else it would put me in the "try to buy just one more Kabalite Warrior from somebody" camp. It would also add some more anti-infantry firepower to my force, which may very well be needed. Finally, it would take me one step further away from a true netlist. I've been pondering enemies like Imperial Guard Blobs (three squads with a Commissar and four Power Weapons formed into a single unit) and swarm Orks / Tyranids. Perhaps yet more bullets would work better than just covering the field with anti-armor. I think 23 Strength 8 Lance shots will work over most armored enemies...

Feel free to ignore the rest of this post, unless you're interested in yet another potential list.

HQ
2 Haemonculi w/ Liquifier Guns- 120 pts.

ELITES
3 Kabalite Trueborn w/ 2 Splinter Cannons; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 121 pts.
4 Kabalite Trueborn w/ 4 Blasters; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 173 pts.
4 Kabalite Trueborn w/ 4 Blasters; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 173 pts.

TROOPS
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 125 pts.
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 125 pts.
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 125 pts.
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 125 pts.
9 Wyches w/ Haywire Grenades; Hekatrix w/ Agoniser; Raider w/ Flickerfield- 208 pts.
9 Wyches w/ Haywire Grenades; Hekatrix w/ Agoniser; Raider w/ Flickerfield- 208 pts.

HEAVY SUPPORT
Ravager w/ Flickerfield- 115 pts.
Ravager w/ Flickerfield- 115 pts.
Ravager w/ Flickerfield- 115 pts.

TOTAL
1,848 pts.


Yet a more well rounded force? I like the idea of the Trueborn on the Venom cranking out (together with their ride) anywhere from 12-26 shots per turn depending on how fast they move and how close they are to their target. I do lose the Shardnet & Impaler on the Wych squads, which were there to heplp minimize damage taken from enemy close combat specialists (it's really funny taking a Dreadnought down to one attack) so they'll be more cautious about going after Power Weapon armed units as they'll take away the squad's Feel No Pain. That'll take them from shrugging off 75% of the wounds inflicted on them to only 50%. That's a pretty substantial loss. Hopefully Combat Drugs will help take care of that (as long as I don't roll a less than stellar "1" on the table).

Well, that's it for today's list revision. Hopefully I'll come to a decision (and finish painting my army) soon.

UPDATE: I went ahead and ordered one more Warrior from the Bitz Barn. He was only $6 delivered, so I figured why not just finish off the squad? Looks like the above list is where I'm headed. I like that it's re-tweaked from a netlist, and seems like it'll play better on the table. I only lose one Blaster as compared to the previous list, and I'm now able to lay down a lot more fire. All good as far as I can see.

Bad Vassal

Well, I folded. I threw together my Dark Eldar in a few days. I know, build one, paint one was the mantra, but there's so little there it'll be tough to get overwhelmed by the volume of stuff left.  Having finished assembling and basing the minis, I took them outside to prime them.

Over the next few days, I painted up one of the Venoms, five Kabalite Warriors, and four of the Blasterborn.

I'm most pleased with how the Trueborn came out. I decided to add bronze accents to the shoulderpads and kneepads. The Blaster-ized Dark Lances came out better than expected. I'm really a fan of the heavier look of the weapons. I wonder how the converted Shredders will look fully painted?

Next, however, it's time for a Ravager. They're the most annoying minis in my army, so I may as well get them out of the way now.

Bye-Bye Baron

Well, Baron Sathonyx is out. The main reasoning behind this is that he and his unit are just too dang expensive to build (for now). I already have a second Haemonculus and another squad of Wyches. My Trueborn are well and truly in progress now, all I need to finish this army are a pair of Venoms and a Blaster / Shredder / Dark Lance with which to arm my ninth Trueborn.

I've been going through a lot of variations on this same list, and it's been evolving constantly by listening to and reading the advice listed on the internet. This list returns to my older army list ideas, with another Wych squad in place of the Beastmasters. I decided that losing that sixth Troops choice just wasn't worth it, as if I really need to go after objectives 38 infantry is a lot better than 29 pairs of scoring boots on the ground. This army is also farther from the list I ranted about a few days ago.

Of course, as with any real Dark Eldar list, the true objective is to table my opponent, but starting out I'll just go with good ol' fashioned scoring.

That reminds me- I need to put together some objective markers for this army. I wonder if I have enough slave girl minis to use?

HQ
2 Haemonculi w/ Liquifier Guns- 120 pts.

ELITES
3 Kabalite Trueborn w/ 3 Blasters; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 146 pts.
3 Kabalite Trueborn w/ 3 Blasters; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 146 pts.
3 Kabalite Trueborn w/ 3 Blasters; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 146 pts.

TROOPS
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 125 pts.
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 125 pts.
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 125 pts.
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 125 pts.
9 Wyches w/ Haywire Grenades, Shardnet & Impaler; Hekatrix w/ Agoniser; Raider w/ Flickerfield, Shock Prow- 223 pts.
9 Wyches w/ Haywire Grenades, Shardnet & Impaler; Hekatrix w/ Agoniser; Raider w/ Flickerfield, Shock Prow- 223 pts.

HEAVY SUPPORT
Ravager w/ Flickerfield- 115 pts.
Ravager w/ Flickerfield- 115 pts.
Ravager w/ Flickerfield- 115 pts.

TOTAL
1,849 pts.

More Troops, less netlisting. It also looks more flexible. Me likey.

Spammy Davis Jr.

I know I said I'd never run a spam list, and I still intend not to, but I found a less spammy list over on "They Shall Know Fear", and I sort of liked it (as it still included a Haemonculus and Wyches) so I decided to tweak it a little and see if I could improve on it- having never played a game with my Dark Eldar, of course. I like the results, as much as one can like a Venom Spam inspired list...

HQ
Baron Sathonyx- 105 pts.
Haemonculus w/ Liquifier Gun, Shattershard- 75 pts.

ELITE
3 Kabalite Trueborn w/ 3 Blasters; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 146 pts.
3 Kabalite Trueborn w/ 3 Blasters; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 146 pts.
3 Kabalite Trueborn w/ 3 Blasters; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 146 pts.

TROOPS
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 125 pts.
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 125 pts.
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 125 pts.
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster; Venom w/ Splinter Cannon- 125 pts.
9 Wyches w/ Haywire Grenades, Shardnet & Impaler; Hekatrix w/ Agoniser; Raider w/ Flickerfield- 218 pts.

FAST ATTACK
4 Beastmasters; 6 Khymerae; 3 Razorwing Flocks- 165 pts.

HEAVY SUPPORT
Ravager w/ Flickerfield- 115 pts.
Ravager w/ Flickerfield- 115 pts.
Ravager w/ Flickerfield- 115 pts.

TOTAL
1,846 pts.

As one would expect, the Haemonculus rides along with the 9 Wyches in order to provide them with a Pain Token, thus giving the unit a 75% chance of shrugging off any non-Power Weapon wound suffered in hand-to-hand combat. They've still got a 4+ Invulnerable save in melee, which makes them rather annoying opponents despite only being Toughness 3. The Baron, of course, joins the Beastmasters for the same reasons outlined in this article. Those beasties get NASTY with him hanging around.

This list has a couple of downsides, both pertaining to it's resiliance. First off, there are now only 3 Blasterborn per squad. This turns an already frail squad into absolute tissue paper. One good volley and they're toast. The second reason is that they now only have five Troops choices. This rather reduces their ability to claim objectives, especially since I now rely on four squads of Toughness 3, 5+ save warriors and their paper airplanes to squat on them.

This list appeals as it has some rather serious flaws (making it more challenging to play than pure Venom Spam), and all it would take are a few more minis in order to fill it out. Yeah, it looks like those Incubi are fading further and further into obscourity before they even hit the table...

Of course, I'll need to try out other lists before I remodel my army completely, but we shall see what we shall see, no?

I'm really into the idea of making a bunch of conversions for this army, and the Beastmasters and Baron look like perfect opportunities. I'll go into how to convert them in a later article (once I'm done collecting bits).

Less Spam, more appealing.

Dark Eldar: Looking Into the Future

Well, I recieved a bonus check today at my job, and I, like a good little addict, am trying to decide what "plastic crack" I'm going to spend my money on. Right now (after the current shipment, of course) I'm looking at the following:

- One more box of Kabalite Warriors (to make two more five-warrior squads and one last Blaster for my Trueborn).

- A box of Crypt Ghouls and a box of Empire Flagellants from which to convert my two units of five Wracks. Also ten 25mm round bases to base them for 40k.

- Four more Venoms (one for each five strong squad listed above).

-A box of Scourges to convert into Baron Sathonyx and four Beastmasters.

-A box of Dire Wolves and a box of Hormagaunts to make Khymerae from. I'll also need some 40mm round bases for these suckers. Ten total.

-A blister of Bat Swarms to turn into three Razorwing Flocks. Also another three 40mm round bases.

That's another fairly hefty order. Luckily I'm picking up some extra hours at work this week to help cover the expense (should be worth about $70 extra). That plus my little bonus will help put quite a dent in the forthcoming bill.

I find myself in a bit of a conundrum, however. Do I put the money towards more minis, or do I put it toward that Battlefoam bag I've been longing for? Hmm... The internal debate rages.