40k Maelstrom lists released

Next weekend we have the (now) annual Maelstrom tournament in Wellington.

Hagen the TO has put together a great players pack with some tidy comp.

Here is the link to the lists

There is a large amount of MEQ lists so I'm quite happy with my Daemonic army selection.  The Exalted Flamers putting out S6 AP3 torrents due to their formation will be gold.

The 2 Knight lists will be rough for my Daemons but after a practice game against Wil's list I have some ideas on countering them.

New Gaming Mat

Fellow 40ker Gareth ordered and received a fantastic new Mars themed gaming mat recently. It is one of the those mousepad style ones and came with a fancy carry case and is really nice.

So last Tuesday we gave it a run. We rolled it out then got some terrain on it in the appropriate places. Noted that it might be time to paint a few more buildings (probably red!).

I played Tau and he played Ad mech - 1500pt. I have been running bikes for some time so wanted to show Gareth what a true firepower army was.

My three Riptides (that's fluffy right?) were doing very well early on - the Nova re rolls from the wing formation saving me a wound almost every round.

Meanwhile some sneaky crises suits deep struck in the enemy lines to secure objectives.

The Crises team's intial drop went well but then they all forgot they had decent armour and disintergated quickly to basic fire.

While at my end of the table, fire warriors were doing what they do best now - sitting back on objectives and dying as slow as possible.

At the end Gareth grabbed a small win thanks to some good late game moves. The ad mech pulled out all the stops to hold the red planet! Looking forward to many more games on the mat. Need to do some terrain work as this will be very nice once covered in all painted items.

40K Daemons of Chaos - Dark Mechanicus Exalted Flamer #2

The second Dark Mechanicus Exalted Flamer is complete.

This fine fellow was built mainly from the Chaos Spawn kit with a Crypt Horror head and a massive Ork Mek Flamer.

I painted it using the same techniques as the previous one.  It involves a lot of Pallid wych Flesh, washes, glazes and Blood for the Blood God technical paint.  With the large areas of skin to paint I really got the hang on the scheme.  Painting spots and moles onto the skin breaks up the larger patches nicely.

Yesterday he joined the rest of my proposed Daemon list on the table.  I hosted a practice day for some local gamers including John from stumpy heaven.  Everyone was able to get two games in and I think it proved valuable for all.

I played John's Khorne Daemonkin list.  My Herald of Nurgle with Plague Drones were fantastic even taking out his D-Thirster in one round of combat.  The Exalted Flamers dealt with the Gorepack bikers as well so that gives me some counter to popular bike lists.  The result was a big win for me.

After lunch I played Wil's four Knight list.  I knew I would struggle against them but made moves to cause some damage.  Wil was familiar with what I could do and did not take the bait.  He did a lot of damage at range and even though a buffed Plague Drone unit took 1 Knight down in melee and seriously damaged another, stomps cleared the Daemons off quickly.  Wil got a clear win, I have had a good think about how to deal with super heavies and smart use of Daemonology  seems to be the answer.  We will see how it goes in practice.

One last Dark Mechanicus Flamer to go.

40k Daemons of Chaos - Dark Mech Exalted Flamer

For Maelstrom in four weeks time I am leaving the Eldar on the shelf - gasp!!! I am taking Daemons of Chaos instead.  I really like the formations in Curse of Fenris and the advantages of the Daemonic Incursion.

One of these formations requires Tzeentch Horrors and Exalted Flamers.  As I don't want multiple Burning Chariots (only source of Exalted Flamers) I thought I would build my own.  As I have been playing fun narrative games with a Heretek list it made sense to build some Dark Mechanicus monsters.

Going through my many bits I put this chap together.  The skull head is from Arcane Fulcrum terrain, body and barrel from an Ogre, vial and tentacle from a Dark Eldar Talos and the Flamer is from a Kataphron Destroyer.

I have two others on the painting table and three suitably large Lovecraft creatures already painted, so they should all look the part amongst hordes of Tzeentch Horrors on the tabletop.

Painting - 40k Daemons of Chaos - Plague Drones

Here we have my completed unit of Plague Drones which the previously seen Herald will take to the table with (c'mon GW give Heralds a Drone or Beast to ride).

I had previously started painting some of them in the more traditional green tinged necrotic flesh like the Plaguebearer riders have but after indulging in a lot of Bloodborne on PS4 last year, I took inspiration from the Bloodsucking beasts.

Where the skin is grey toned in the video game I went for a cold blue tone to contrast more with the riders and the blood bruised abdomen.

The abdomens were given a light spray of gory red with the airbrush then the exposed wounds were painted twice with the GW blood paint and a touch of Nurgle's Rot.

Painting - 40K Daemons of Chaos - Herald of Nurgle

Since finishing my initial Word Bearer pledge I thought it time to give my Daemon army some attention.

I had played a competitive Daemon army at the end of 8th edition Warhammer Fantasy but since it's demise the Daemons (and undead) have been languishing in the display cabinet.  So with the Curse of Fenris campaign book giving the Daemons some interesting formations I thought I'd get some ready for the table and round bases.

The Herald of Nurgle finally received a decent paint job.  It had been hastily made tabletop ready a couple years ago, though all that had been was a couple base colours and wash.  This time round I did it properly using layering, washes, glazes and technical paints to complete it.

With the variety of details over its rotting form, it was very enjoyable to paint.  I used careful line work and shading to break up what could have been flat segments of skin.

Next... Plague Drones

Delving into Malifaux - Neverborn starter set

Malifaux is a game I have been looking at since about 2010.  Back then I bought the rulebook, I loved the setting and themes but never played it.  Over the years I have watched games at tournaments between 40k rounds and even picked up a few miniatures if I saw a bargain.

Last year Wyrd Miniatures released the Malifaux 2 player starter set and about a month ago I finally bought it.  I have found the introduction rules and scenarios within the set a great way to learn the rules and it's one of the better starter sets in that regard.

In the set you get 8 miniatures, 4 Neverborn and 4 Guild.  All these have the mercenary trait so they can be hired by any crew which is a smart move.  You also get 2 Fate decks and 2 tape measures, so everything you need.  I have played it through a couple times with the other guys and we really like the mechanics.

The plastic miniatures are highly detailed and of realistic proportions unlike the normal heroic scale of war games.   Pictured here is the Neverborn starter crew consisting of Angel Eyes, 2 Bloodwretches and the Scion of Black Blood.  I painted them to match the artwork on their cards.

For basing I put grey stuff into the recess and fit tiny ceramic bricks into a rough pattern leaving an area on each base clear.  Once the brick work was painted I did a dull green base coat in the clear area then 2 coats of Nurgle's Rot and a layer of gloss varnish.  Tufts, dead leaves and a bit of blood finished them off.  

I will finish the Guild miniatures next before working on my main crew, the Torch and the Blade Guild Crew set.  A very nice set to start playing full games with.  This has also lead to others in my gaming group buying crews for Resurectionists, Outcasts and Neverborn with a couple of the others eyeing up Gremlins.  So more to come.