To Re-base or Not to Re-base?

Because I carry the geek gene, my oldest daughter has found herself attracted to 40K. Unfortunately, the cost of building an all-metal Sisters of Battle army prevented her from doing her first choice. Her second choice was Blood Angels, with her first model kit being a squad of Death Company. I've been closely following Blood Angels rumors ever since.

The Temptation of Tyranids
I admitted a while ago that the new Tyranid models had tempted me to start a Tyranid army. Not long afterward, I heard about an upcoming "Shield of Baal: Deathstorm" kit. Along with essential Blood Angels models and a paperback rulebook that my daughter could use, it would also come with several basic Tyranid models and a unique Broodlord, all for a great price. The kit was tailor-made to finally convince me to start a Tyranid army. Thanks to Jake, local HobbyTown owner and fellow Cabal member, I was even able to snag a copy of the woefully underproduced Shield of Baal: Leviathan book set.

Deathstorm and Changing Base Sizes
It wasn't long before we started getting leaked images of the Deathstorm kit, one of the first of which being this one:

Some eagle-eyed readers spotted some interesting details in this picture. One of the most obvious was the fact that the Death Company Marines' bases were clearly larger than the Genestealer bases (25mm) but slightly smaller than the Terminators' bases (40mm). Until now, all power armored Marines have been mounted on the same bases as Genestealers. [Update 11/29/14: I've since found that Ahriman and Krom Dragongaze from the Sanctus Reach: Stormclaw kit are on 40mm bases despite wearing power or artificer armor.] However, these Death Company Marines were almost certainly standing on the 32mm bases that were also supposed to become available on the same day gamers could pre-order Deathstorm.

Slightly less obvious was the fact that the Tyranid Warriors were mounted on larger bases than before. More detailed GW photos show that they're mounted on the same 50mm bases as Space Marine Centurions:

Left: Warriors on the old 40mm bases
Right: Deathstorm Warriors on the new bases

Finally, it looked like the Carnifex was mounted on a larger oval base. Again, officially released images show this to be the case:

Left: Carnifex on the old 60mm circular base
Right: Deathstorm Carnifex on the new oval base

Only the Genestealers, the Dreadnought, and
the Terminators are on their original bases

This is a good change in the long run. Jump pack Marines are notoriously unstable on the smaller bases while Warriors and Carnifexes all seem a bit too big for theirs. The latter problem can make "base-to-base contact" an impossible ideal (there are way too many things hanging off some models to ever get up next to their base) and gives some of the more creative hobbyists very little room to play with. Now GW has the option of mounting infantry on 25mm, 32mm, 40mm, and 50mm bases while Monstrous Creatures have 60mm bases and several oval bases to work with.

It's great that GW is starting to provide more appropriately-sized bases for existing models, but the big question is what this means for gamers' existing armies. Rules-wise, it doesn't seem to make too much of a difference. Page 9 of the rulebook says the following:

Models and Base Sizes

The rules in this book assume that models are mounted on the base they are supplied with. Sometimes, a player may have models in his collection on unusually modeled bases. Some models aren't supplied with a base at all. In these cases (which are, in all fairness, relatively few and far between), you should always feel free to mount the model on a base of appropriate size if you wish, using models of a similar type as guidance.

In other words, if you put your Death Company or Warriors or Carnifexes on the 25mm, 40mm, or 60mm bases they originally came with, you are in full compliance with the rules. Presumably, if you have a few Warriors on the older 40mm bases and a few on the new 50mm bases, you're still okay. But heaven help you if you're as obsessed with consistency as I am.

Even after seeing the Deathstorm photos, I was feeling pretty confident that I wouldn't end up re-basing any of my models. I haven't built my Assault Marines yet (I'm assuming the Death Company bases reflect the new base size for jump pack Marines), so it's not a big deal to buy a pack of 32mm bases before I start them. I haven't started building Tyranid models, so I won't feel it necessary to re-base any Warriors or a Carnifex. And my Daughter has yet to base her Death Company, so we can pick up some of the new bases before she gets to that point.

The only thing that would seriously affect me is if they put Tactical Marines on the new bases, and I seriously doubt that GW would ever do that...

Hello

Wait a minute. Power armored Space Marines' feet usually hang off the edges of their 25mm bases, right?

Yep

But the Blood Angel Tactical Marines shown in that recently leaked photo don't seem to have that problem. And the trend shown in the Deathstorm kit is that of mounting models to more comfortably-sized bases. Could those new Tactical Marines be on 32mm bases?

Plenty of room for an Astartes on these new bases

Shoot.

What Next?
Honestly, those Blood Angel Tactical Marines look great on 32mm bases. Guardsmen and even Space Marine Scouts are fine on the smaller bases, but power armored Marines have always looked a little funny with their toes hanging off. And since Deathstorm has shown that GW isn't opposed to re-basing existing models, I can only assume that the Blood Angels won't be unique and that all power armored Space Marines are eventually going to start getting packaged with 32mm bases.

I don't believe that there is any rule conflict with using Marines on either 25mm or 32mm bases, so I'm left with a choice: do I re-base all my existing power armored Marines, do I keep the finished Marines on their old bases and put all subsequent Marines on 32mm bases, do I continue to mount all power armored Marines on 25mm bases (including Sternguard, Devastators, etc.), or do I put all subsequent Tactical Marines on 25mm bases and decide how to base other types of power armored Marines as appropriate? Really, which choice is less likely to make me crazier?

Even with their toes hanging off, those bases don't look too bad

Most of my power armored Marines are still on plain gray bases, so I wouldn't be losing a whole lot of work if I re-based them, but my newest models have texture and static grass. I've even brought several of my older models up to the same standard. Although I've put some work into the newer models' bases, at least they would be relatively easy to dismount since they're only held in place by a small amount of glue on each foot. Unfortunately, 15 of my 19 finished Tactical Marines are from the old paint set or the Black Reach starter set. These models were designed to fit into slotted bases and I used plenty of glue in those slots to keep them in place. It would take some serious manhandling to dismount those Marines.

Eventually, I want to be able to run up to four 10 man Tactical Squads. Right now I have about half that number and I don't really want to change their bases, especially if it could mean damaging some of them. Thus, for the sake of consistency, I think I'll continue mounting my Tactical Marines on 25mm bases.

However, I still have plenty of other power armored units to build that could benefit from the new bases. I have bits set aside for a 10 man Assault Marine Squad and a jump pack Captain that could use larger bases for the stability. For a long time I've wanted to make my Sternguard something special; larger bases would go a long way toward setting them apart. And using larger bases for Devastator Marines with their comically large weaponry makes a lot of sense.

Now that I think about it, I'm kind of excited about the new base sizes and the options they present. I bet some of the Ultramarines characters like Chief Librarian Tigurius, Chaplain Cassius, or Captain Sicarius would look pretty good on 32mm bases instead of the tiny 25mm bases they came with.

The Master of Sanctity demands a bigger base!

Even More Tyranid Models!?

Dear Valued Tyranid-playing Customer:

We're sorry that you weren't happy with your last codex. As compensation, we're going to give you some awesome new models. You've already seen the Maleceptor and the Toxicrene, but we don't feel that those are enough. Remember the missing Mycetic spore that had you so upset? Well, please accept our apology in the form of the Tyrannocyte; a combination drop pod and gunship. Oh, and we might have thrown in a couple more things, too.

Sincerely,
Games Workshop

Or at least that's what I imagine GW is saying with the wave of new Tyranid models. Not a day after I suggested that GW might eventually give Tyranid players a Mycetic spore, we get leaked White Dwarf images of a replacement unit called the Tyrannocyte (source here). It has the same transport capacity as the old Mycetic spore and it won't mishap by drifting onto impassible terrain or another model. However, the Tyrannocyte also comes with five deathspitters (which can be upgraded to barbed stranglers or venom cannons) and it can move after the unit inside has disembarked.

The Tyrannocyte model can also be built as a Sporocyst (source here). This thing, which has the same armament as the Tyrannocyte, is an immobile pod with the Infiltrate special rule. Once per turn it can produce a Spore Mine Cluster or, once per battle, it can produce a single Mucolid Spore instead (this is essentially a giant spore mine).

To top it all off, the White Dwarf that introduces these new models says that the following week will bring "Psychic Horror". While writing my previous blog post, I noticed that the Venomthrope was missing from GW's web store. Now I've noticed that the Zoanthrope is missing, too. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that they'll be releasing a joint Zoanthrope/Venomthrope kit in the next couple weeks.

It must be an exciting time to be a Tyranid player.

New Tyranid Models

In one of the most unexpected moves since the introduction of the Imperial Knights, GW has just released the Toxicrene/Maleceptor kit for Tyranids. Both are monstrous creatures, with the first being a highly toxic Cthulhu-like critter while the other is a psyker with a potent witchfire ability.

Fluff and Rules
According to the fluff, Tyranid bioforms such as Warriors, Hormagaunts, Termagants, and Gargoyles are essentially more advanced and/or specialized forms of Rippers. The Hive Mind can further enhance these forms to monstrous proportions: e.g., Trygons are essentially enormous Raveners (which are themselves a variation of Warriors), Harpies are big Gargoyles, etc. The new models are no exception. According to the recent White Dwarf, the Maleceptor is an "adaptation of the Zoanthrope", while the Toxicrene is an "expression of the 'family tree' begun with the creation of the Venomthrope".

Imagine these guys, but big enough to actually need limbs

Both have the standard Tyranid WS and BS, as well as the same toughness as most monstrous creatures. The Maleceptor's strength is one point higher than the Toxicrene's, while both have five Wounds. The Maleceptor, being a Synapse Creature, has a higher Leadership. Sadly, both have a 4+ save, meaning that they won't get armor saves against the majority of weapons suited for monster hunting. A 5++ on the Maleceptor and Shrouded on the Toxicrene improve their survivability, though.

The Maleceptor is essentially a psychic assassin with a pretty mean focussed witchfire attack. This power, and the big bug's mediocre close combat ability, mean that it's designed to stand back and pick off high value targets. The cost of the unit seems too high for what it does, although I don't have a whole lot of experience with 7th Edition Tyranids. Regardless of its abilities, I find the model to be pretty boring.

The Maleceptor

It's the Toxicrene that really interests me. This bug has a very short range Poisoned (2+) large blast attack that can actually damage a vehicle that has lost one or more hull points. Where it really excels, though, is in close combat. The Toxicrene has six Poisoned (2+) attacks that strike at I6 thanks to its lash whips. Being a monstrous creature, all of its close combat attacks are AP2. On top of that, it has the Hypertoxic rule, which means that To Wound rolls of 6 have the Instant Death special rule. GW threw in Toxic Miasma and Acid Blood for kicks and giggles.

Although the Toxicrene model shares most of the same parts as the Maleceptor, the model is a lot more interesting to me. The lash whips and the tentacles around the mouth make an enormous difference.

The Toxicrene

Precedence?
Although I appreciate that GW is continuing to develop new models and rules, this release is downright odd. Tyranids got their most recent codex in January 2014, making theirs the second to last full codex of 6th Edition. (I don't count Legion of the Damned or Imperial Knights given that they aren't really meant to work as stand-alone armies.) Now, a mere nine months after getting a new codex, Tyranids have two entirely new units.

In recent years, the only new units added to an army outside of a codex release were the Stormtalon and the Ork flyer variants. The reason for this was obvious; when 40K 6th Edition introduced Flyers, the new models ensured that Space Marines and Orks would have Flyers along with those armies that had models grandfathered into the Flyer category (i.e., the Stormraven, the Razorwing, the Doom Scythe/Night Scythe, and the Valkyrie).

But the Toxicrene and Maleceptor aren't new unit types at all, they're just monstrous creatures with new abilities. So why were they released less than a year after their army's latest codex?

Third Party Paranoia
We're all aware of GW's newfound phobia of third party model makers and the crusade to eliminate any pre-existing units that don't have a model or to avoid introducing rules for a new unit unless they're accompanied by a kit. It's possible that GW wanted to release the Toxicrene and the Maleceptor earlier this year, but didn't want to introduce even more models at the time of the Tyranids' 6th Edition update. Or perhaps their manufacturing capability wasn't sufficient to simultaneously produce another large kit. Rather than risk creating new units for 6th Edition and allowing third parties to produce models of them, they simply decided to release the rules only after the models were ready.

Appealing to the Hobbyists

It seems to me that a lot of people who are attracted to Tyranids enjoy them as much, if not more so, for the modeling aspects. It's very possible that the Toxicrene and Maleceptor were thought up after the codex release as a way of interesting Tyranid players into buying even more large models. Modern CAD/CAM drastically shortens design and manufacture times, meaning that even large models could be devised and produced within less than year.

Big models seem to be the thing right now, with Imperial Knights, Wraithknights, and the new giant Fantasy models selling pretty well. Maybe GW believes that there's a critical mass of large models that will get hobbyists interested in starting a new army that can be filled with them. Two and a half years ago, I was strongly tempted to start a Tyranid army dominated with monstrous creatures. I have to admit that these new models may have re-sparked my interest.

Filling a Gap
The Tyranid codex may have been one of the most disappointing codexes of 6th Edition. After their mediocre 5th Edition codex, Tyranid players were hoping for a competitive boost. The new codex wasn't exactly what they were looking for. (Although some players believe the Rising Leviathan dataslates released afterward significantly improved the army.)

While the new units look interesting, opinion on their rules has been mixed. No one seems to be able to figure out how they're supposed to improve the army or what gap they're supposed to be filling. If GW believes that these new models fill a niche in the army, I have yet to see any guesses on what it could be.

The fact that GW is releasing models outside of the codex is a good sign, though, since it suggests that they may become more flexible in addressing armies' weaknesses in between codex releases. Maybe they'll finally release a model for the Mycetic spore along with a re-release (or an improved version) of its rules.

Preparation for a New Codex?
Not long ago, I suggested that GW would update the 6th Edition codexes to match the style and power levels of the 7th Edition codexes. I guessed that this would happen within three years of the last update of a codex. With these new models, I wonder if GW is testing the Forge World method: release a new model with experimental rules, allow the gaming community to play test it for you, adjust the rules as necessary, and publish the rules in an updated book.

Come to think of it, it's strange that GW hasn't been doing that all along.

Tyrannic War Veterans WIP, Part III: What Now?

Before the rumor of a plastic Sternguard kit had been solidified, I had pieced out the entire Tyrannic War Veteran/Sternguard Squad. Except for a late addition, all the parts were primed along with the Close Combat Terminators and the Ironclad Dreadnought. I decided to piece together a final model after I converted a highly prized combi-weapon, which wasn't until after all his squad-mates were primed.

Finding the Parts
I had had a lot of fun dredging up parts from multiple kits and a pile of sprues that Bryce gave me almost two years ago. I spent several hours going through the Commander, Tactical Squad, Assault Squad, Command Squad, and Devastator Squad boxes to gather the bits I wanted. Since I was building a squad of experienced Veterans, I wanted them to look the part.

Helmets with the Iron Skull badge were easy to find, and I was able to collect nearly a dozen of them. I got a lot of great Veteran bits from the Commander and Command Squad boxes. At the time, the Commander box was the sole source for a plastic Imperium-style combi-melta and combi-plasma. The two boxes were also my source for several unique or rare shoulder pads. I got a number of power armor-sized Crux Terminatus shoulder pads and several Deathwatch shoulder pads.

Since Veterans often wear older patterns of armor, I gathered together the bits for Mk V and Mk VI armor from various boxes. These included Mk VI Corvus helmets and Mk V/VI studded shoulder pads. Mk V torsos (i.e., the ones with power cabling instead of the Aquila) and Mk VI legs (i.e., the legs with greaves instead of knee pads) were relatively plentiful. I was able to get a prized Mk IV helmet from the bits Bryce gave me.

I was rather pleased with one Marine I pieced together who had Mk VI legs, a Mk V/VI studded shoulder pad, a right shoulder pad with the rim scraped off to match the plain right pad of Mk V and Mk VI armor, a Mk V torso, a Mk VI Corvus helmet, and one of the more ornate Mk VII backpacks.

But my proudest achievement was the construction of seven Sternguard bolters with box magazines:

and a combi-flamer of my own design:

And Then...
Pictures of the new model kits started to leak:

The Vanguard kit alone was very impressive; the helmets and shoulder pads were far more elaborate than any I had found before and were exactly the kind of thing I wanted for my Sternguard. At the same time, the rumors were saying that the Sternguard kit was even better. In fact, it was said that the Sternguard kit built 5 Marines but had 120 components; that's an average of 24 parts per model. The high piece count meant that the Sternguard kit was going to be loaded with extra bits. Many of these bits were supposed to be combi-weapons; the plastic bits that had been so hard to find in the previous edition. Finally we got to see what the new Sternguard looked like:

... and all of a sudden my Sternguard conversions assembled from a hodgepodge of Marine bits looked pretty paltry by comparison. When photos of the new Tactical Squad box leaked, I found that we now had access to two Mk VI torsos and a pair of Mk IV legs; bits that had never been available in plastic before. I had to have these parts for my squad.

What Now?
For starters, the revised points values of the C:SM 6th Edition and the greater availability of plastic combi-weapons changed my plans for the Squad. Originally I was going to build a 10 man squad carrying the few combi-weapons I could scavange or convert; i.e., one combi-melta, a combi-plasma, and a combi-flamer. I was also going to build one Marine with a heavy bolter and one with a plasma gun. All told, I would have 12 models for list-building flexibility. When I heard that the plastic kit would have more combi-weapons, I figured that I would equip nearly all the Veterans with combi-weapons.

40K Radio eventually revealed that the cost of combi-weapons was going to increase from 5 points to 10 points each; a five point change that more than negated the 3 point per-model decrease that Sternguard received in this edition. Additionally, I realized that I get the most out of a Sternguard Squad that's geared towards a generic anti-infantry role, meaning that the one-shot combi-meltas are of little use to me and that combi-gravs are a bit too specialized. I dropped the plasma Marine when I realized how silly it is to add a 15 point weapon to a model that's already paying a premium for special ammunition. Finally, the heavy bolter fell by the wayside when I soured on using heavy weapons in any squad that's supposed to maintain mobility.

Here's the revised plan:
10 Man Sternguard Squad: 230 points
1X Lightning Claw: 15 points
2X Combi-Plasmas: 20 points
3X Combi-Flamers (two from the kit plus my conversion): 30 points
Total Cost: 295 points

The Bits
As much as I love the new Sternguard models, I didn't want to spend an extra $50 to buy two kits. Not only do I want to be able to take advantage of some of my earlier work, but I also feel that bits in this new box are too distinctive to have two copies of each part without drawing attention to that fact.

Some of the bits in the Sternguard kit actually seem a little too ornate for mere Veterans. For example, the robed torso looks like it belongs on a Captain rather than a Sergeant. And the enormous Aquila found on the left shin of one of the pairs of legs is more commonly found on the armor of a Commander (e.g., Calgar's artificer armor). Thus, I'll be repurposing the robed torso and the legs with the large Aquila for a model of Captain Agemman in artificer armor. Since there's an extra torso in the kit, this leaves me with five Sternguard torsos and four pairs of legs.

This guy is dressed more like a
Captain than a Veteran Sergeant

I'll be able to get several pairs of Veterans' legs by raiding the Vanguard kit. While I felt compelled to buy the kit upon its release, I knew that I would never use it to build an actual Vanguard Squad since they now take up an Elite slot. The squad is justifiable in a Raven Guard army with the Winged Deliverance rule, but it just doesn't work for an Ultramarine army that already has too many Elite choices as it is. However, the Vanguard kit is a great source of parts, including running legs that look great on any kind of model. I'll be saving the most ornate pair of Vanguard legs for an Assault Squad's Veteran Sergeant, but the other four will go into my Sternguard Squad.

The Vanguard kit will also supply the lightning claw for my Sternguard Sergeant, as well as several helmets. I'm particularly fond of the helmets with the molded laurels. And given how much I love the look of a Marine firing a bolter one-handed, I'll be using some of the Vanguard's straight arms as well.

This leaves me with five Sternguard torsos, four pairs of Sternguard legs, and four pairs of Vanguard legs. I'll take one of the Mk VI torsos from the new Tactical box, along with the torso with the laurels in place of the wings. The three remaining torsos will come from the models I've already primed. The final two pairs of legs will probably be the Mk IV legs and the Mk VI legs with the studs from the new Tactical Squad kit.

This mixture of parts will produce a pretty varied squad of Veterans. Four will be more ornate than the others, particularly with the full-length loincloths (for obvious reasons, I won't be putting combi-flamers on any of these guys). The four pairs of running legs will be a bit fancier than the two pairs taken from the Tactical Squad, although the latter have the advantage of being from older Marks of armor.

As much as my obsessive-compulsive personality would have liked to make the Veterans a bit more uniform, it seems reasonable that there could be a lot of variety among the members of a Squad. Among the Ultramarines, you would find experienced Marines who were promoted to the 1st Company shortly after the Battle of Macragge completely annihilated the Veteran Company. Others may have been Veteran Sergeants who had been seconded to other Companies and returned to the 1st to help rebuild it. These Marines may have been Veterans for many years by this point and would probably wear armor that's picked up any number of awards, trophies, or decorations over their years of service. Some Squad members may have achieved Veteran status through subsequent wars with the Tyranids, their simpler armor indicating the recent promotion from one of the Battle Companies. Others may have been made Veterans through unique experiences, such as serving in the Deathwatch. At least one of my 10 Sternguard will be wearing a Deathwatch pad as proof of his service on the Vigil.

As for the Rest of the Converted Models...
The latest plans for the Sternguard Squad don't make use of most of my primed models or the converted Sternguard bolters I put so much effort into. However, I've been inspired to try something new by the recently released Apocalypse: War Zone Damnos. Included in the book is a Deathwatch formation that consists of 2+ Sternguard and/or Vanguard Squads and a Space Marine Captain. These Deathwatch Kill-teams have the Preferred Enemy special rule against a single Xenos codex chosen while determining their Warlord Traits. Additionally, Kill-team members with bolters or combi-bolters are able to take a type of anti-Necron round in addition to their usual special ammunition.

Although I obviously won't be able to give them the Preferred Enemy special rule or anti-Necron rounds in a normal game of 40K, I've decided to paint my extra models as a five man Deathwatch Kill-team, complete with a Watch Captain. I'll build the Kill-team as a simple (and relatively cheap) Sternguard Squad with a heavy flamer while the Watch Captain will give me an excuse to model the Teeth of Terra relic. I like the Deathwatch fluff quite a bit and this gives me a chance to add some variety to my army. Even better, although they're effectively Veterans, the members of the Deatwatch wear relatively inornate armor, meaning that my original Sternguard conversions won't look out of place.

Tyrannic War Veterans WIP, Part I: Initial Planning

I'm currently designing a squad of Ultramarine Tyrannic War Veterans (I'll just call them TWVs for short). The TWVs were introduced in 4th Edition as an Ultramarines-only squad with special abilities to help them bring down their preferred enemy; e.g., Tyranid monstrous creatures. Specifically, they could use krak grenades in close combat with non-vehicle units and their heavy bolters could fire hellfire rounds (2+ poisoned weapons). With the 5th Edition Space Marine codex, the existence of the Tyrannic War Veterans was still acknowledged, as was their connection to Chaplain Cassius. However, their special rules were removed. Although not explicitly acknowledged in the codex, it's understood by most Ultramarines players that the concept of the TWVs has been rolled into that of the Sternguard Veterans, which were introduced in 5th Edition for all Codex-compliant Space Marine chapters. This assumption is confirmed by the fact that GW's website still shows the TWV models, but the rules and stats given for them are for Sternguard.

Sternguard can't use krak grenades in close combat (given how hard it was to land a grenade on a non-preferred enemy, this ability was pointless against any army other than Tyranids), nor can they use hellfire rounds in heavy bolters. However, Sternguard members were given veteran stats as well as the ability to fire a variety of ammunition types, including hellfire rounds, from standard bolters. (Oddly enough, while Sternguard don't have a hellfire option for their heavy bolters, Scouts' heavy bolters do have a hellfire shell.) Additionally, Sternguard have the option of taking a variety of ranged weapons, including inexpensive heavy weapons and combi-weapons. Overall, the transformation of the TWVs into a themed Sternguard was a significant improvement.

The pewter TWV models are still for sale and you can purchase a Finecast Sternguard Squad. Although the models are beautiful, I'm not interested in dealing with Finecast (this is a subject that needs no elaboration) and I want to minimize how many pewter models I have to work with. Besides, much of the fun of the 40K hobby is in customizing the models, which is much easier to do with plastic bits. Just as importantly, I don't want to be limited to the wargear provided with the Finecast and pewter figures; e.g., four bolters, a single combi-melta, and a power fist on the Sternguard and bolters on the TWVs. Fortunately, GW has strewn a wealth of plastic bits throughout their model line, giving a modelling nut with a few extra bucks lying around access to an embarrassment of riches.

Tyrannic War Veterans
[Models by Games Workshop]

Although I'll be building my squad as Tyrannic War Veterans, GW's Sternguard models are my primary inspiration. The TWV models look too uniform to me and are decorated with several logos that my models will probably lack. As much as I'd love to use the Tyrannic War Veteran logo (a Tyranid skull superimposed over a short sword), it would take me much too long to try to paint it free-hand on each member of a ten man squad (I don't trust the survivability of five man non-Terminator squads). The sword with the superimposed Ultramarines logo on the chest would probably be easier to accomplish, but that would require more conversion of torso bits to create smooth chest pieces than I'm willing to do.

From a fluff perspective, it would be fairly easy to justify omitting the TWV logos. Although the existence and influence of the Tyrannic War Veterans is a deviation from orthodoxy that has been allowed by Chapter Master Calgar, you could imagine that the use of a seemingly Chapter-sanctioned logo depicting a Xenos or a preference for wearing the Chapter symbol on their chests rather than the Imperial Aquila could be seen by some within the Imperial government as implying that their loyalty to the Chapter takes precedence over the Imperium. Calgar, being a consummate diplomat, could have mandated that future Tyrannic War Veteran squads wear the more orthodox symbols used by other Ultramarine veterans, while still allowing each Marine to personalize his armor and weaponry. The example for this approach would be Chaplain Cassius, who wears standard Chaplain's armor while carrying a book bound in Tyranid hide and a Crozius depicting a Tyranid skull. Although the unit would generally resemble other Sternguard squads, each veteran could carry trophies from his battles with the Tyranids. As can be seen on the TWV models, some of these trophies could take the form of deliberately unrepaired gouges in a Marine's armor caused by Tyranid talons and claws (there are several gouges on the right arm of Cassius' armor).

Sternguard Veterans
[Models by Games Workshop]

Since I've decided my veterans will effectively be 5th Edition Sternguard with a few accents and customizations showing them to be Tyrannic War Veterans, let's look at how Sternguard veterans are distinguished from other Marine units. Like the TWVs, Sternguard veterans have white helmets and white shoulder pad rims, which is standard for members of the Ultramarines 1st Company. However, chapter logos are limited to the extremities while skulls and/or the Imperial Aquila decorate the chest plate. Sternguard veterans are also given the honor of wearing portions of ancient armor (e.g., Mk VI helmets and shoulder pads) as well as the newer Mk VIII armor (this link discusses the various types of power armor). While older models of armor may occasionally be seen among Tactical Marines, the Mk VII style is the dominant type. GW's TWV models also seem to wear slightly modified suits of Mk VII armor.

Unlike the TWV models, which are very similar to each other, Sternguard members wear a variety of symbols that show their veteran status and their battlefield honors (e.g., the Crux Terminatus, the Iron Skull, laurels). Given the fluff surrounding Space Marine veterans and their tendency to personalize their armor over years of service, I would expect very little uniformity in their appearance. This is definitely a strike against GW's otherwise excellent Tyrannic War Veteran figures, both fluff-wise as well as from a modelling perspective. It's the diversity shown in GW's Sternguard models that makes the idea of building a Sternguard-style squad of Tyrannic War Veterans exciting.

Coming soon: How I plan to equip my Sternguard Squad and the bits I'm collecting for them.

[Update 4/3/13: I failed at the "coming soon part". However, this series finally continues with a description of converting plastic Sternguard bolters.]

And My Next Army Will Be... Tyranids?

That's right, Tyranids. Now I know what you may be thinking; "Mr. Nuclear Potato... or Radioactive Tuber... or whatever you call yourself, didn't you write about how disappointing Tyranids were just a few months ago? Wasn't it so bad that Bryce even wrote a sympathetic post about how thoroughly his Guard wiped them out?" Yes, that's all true. However, my decision wasn't rationally arrived at nor does it have anything to do with the army's competitiveness (or lack thereof).

Tyranids? Wait, how did this happen?

For several months I've been thinking about the army that I'll build after I finish the Ultramarines. I've had some difficulty in this since I didn't really feel the same enthusiasm for other armies as I do for Space Marines. For a while I leaned towards Chaos Marines. Later I thought about doing Necrons and was initially excited about the last year's releases. That enthusiasm waned and I began to look at Chaos Daemons, then Black Templars, and then Tau. When rumors began to circulate about 6th Edition Chaos Marines, I had all but decided to start a Chaos Marines army if their new codex significantly improved on the previous codex. All this time I hadn't even considered Tyranids, although I often found myself admiring their models on GW's website and was impressed by the new plastic figures. My slow painting speed discouraged me from doing any kind of horde army and the difficulty that 5th Edition Tyranids seem to have competing with other armies was something I had read about over and over again. The notion was seemingly confirmed when I finally played them.

This past week, while I was recovering from gallbladder removal surgery, I found myself with some time on my hands and decided it was time to get serious about planning the rest of my Ultramarine army. With only the Codex to limit me, I began to develop a series of 2000 point lists in anticipation of future games against members of our cabal. Each of these lists included a Sternguard Squad that I've wanted to build for a while. I had decided to build this unit when I saw that a number of Ultramarines players online were building them as Tyrannic War Veterans. Since then I've been collecting fancy shoulder pads, unique helmets, and other bits with which to decorate the squad. Bryce has also given me a variety of Tyranid pieces to serve as trophies from past battles. I planned to build a suitably decorated Razorback/Rhino for them and bought a pewter Chaplain Cassius to lead them.

My fate was sealed when they released
the Hive Tyrant in plastic
[Model by Games Workshop]

After planning builds to fight horde armies (Jon's Orks), artillery armies (Bryce's Imperial Guard), and highly mobile armies (Kevin's Dark Eldar), I decided to have some fun by making a list designed to fight a force dominated by monstrous creatures. After all, you can't have a squad of Tyrannic War Veterans and not expect them to have to face the occasional army of monsters. In addition to the Sternguard and Chaplain Cassius, I included a number of monstrous creature-killing units like Scout snipers, Razorbacks with twin-linked lascannons, an Annihilator pattern Predator, a Vindicator, and a standard Land Raider. I put in a lascannon-equipped Venerable Dreadnought when it occurred to me that I could also build it to be a Tyrannic War Veteran. The list was inspired by pure Ultramarines fluff and instantly became my favorite.

There was only one real problem with my monster hunters list: none of our players actually uses an army with a significant number of monstrous creatures. Bryce has quite a few points of Tyranids dating back to the 3rd Edition, but he has no interest in playing them when he has his Imperial Guard and his Eldar. It seemed like I had a army with no one to fight. That's when the little voices in my head started to have a discussion:

I've always liked the Tyranid models. And the new plastic Hive Tyrant and Tyrannofex/Tervigon models are awesome. It probably wouldn't hurt to have one or two just to paint.

I could never paint anything like the Hive Fleet Leviathan models that GW is always showcasing, though. They look great but I couldn't ever do such a white-dominated army. But Hive Fleet Behemoth and its offshoots have the cool red, black, and blue coloring. That would be a lot easier to do and would be appropriate for an anti-Ultramarine army.

I've promised myself that I wouldn't build a horde army, but the Tyrannic War Veteran list is for monster hunting and I could load up a Tyranid army with monstrous creatures to reduce the model count.

But 5th Edition Tyranids are often considered to be non-competitive, especially Godzilla army builds.

What does competitiveness matter to me? Our group plays for fun and I like the game mostly for the models anyway. I want a Tyranid Godzilla army to fight my Ultramarines...

And maybe I could slowly expand it to include horde elements over time. Termagants and Hormagaunts look like they could be surprisingly effective...

I was doomed.

Nothing ruins your day like a horde of Tyranids
[Models by Games Workshop]

The truth is that, for me, 60% of the fun of Warhammer 40,000 is in building the models while only 40% is in playing the game. And the only reason I build the models or play the game is because I enjoy the sci-fi setting of the 40K universe. Although I've been very impressed by the models that Games Workshop has been producing for Warhammer, I would never actually buy them because I'm just not interested in the fantasy storyline. In contrast, I love the Ultramarines models and their history. And although I'm not convinced of their effectiveness on the game table, I've admired the Tyranid models since I started playing 40K and I like the amalgam of 60 years of sci-fi/horror concepts that makes up their fluff. As luck would have it, the story of the Ultramarines is directly linked with that of the Tyranids.

My previous problem in choosing a second army stemmed from the fact that I was listing the pros and cons of the other armies and was deciding to wait and see if they got better or worse with 6th Edition. I was trying to come to a conclusion rationally and never got the gut response telling me 'I want to do this army'. However, I was immediately excited by the thought of building a Hive Fleet Behemoth army. (Actually, I was giddy about the idea, but that was probably the influence of the post-surgery pain killers I was taking.) I had briefly played the 5th Edition Tyranid codex and found it lacking, yet I didn't care about the codex's weaknesses. I wanted to build a Tyranid army, both for its own sake as well as to have an enemy force to go against my Ultramarines. If 6th Edition makes the Tyranids more competitive, so much the better, but it isn't the deciding factor.

Given the recent release of Tyranid and Space Wolves models, it's unsurprising that this month's White Dwarf features those two armies. What is interesting, though, is the fact that the Painting Workshop section of this issue includes a detailed tutorial on painting a Tervigon in Hive Fleet Behemoth colors. Clearly fate (or the Hive Mind) has decided that the Tyranids will follow the Ultramarines.

Marneus Calgar/Hive Tyrant Comparison

In a previous post I expressed some disappointment in the performance of my borrowed Hive Tyrant. Although I love the Astartes, I have often wished that they had access to some sort of monstrous creature. (Yes, I'll admit that I've been jealous of the Grey Knight's Dreadknight.) But the first time I ever used a non-Marine army has made me rethink things.

Just for fun, let's compare the Hive Tyrant I played with to the Ultramarine's answer to the monstrous creature; Marneus Calgar. Calgar costs 265 points in his fancy Terminator armor, the Armour of Antilochus (I don't think they even make the Calgar model in standard power armor anymore). The Hive Tyrant I used that night cost me 205 points. For a closer comparison to Calgar, let's assume that I had paid the additional 40 points for a 2+ armor save, giving me a 245 point monstrous creature.

Did GW even try to hide the fact that they were ripping off Aliens?
[Model found on the Web]

Survivability
Both Calgar and the Tyrant have four wounds, so they're on equal ground there. Although our upgraded Hive Tyrant now has a 2+ armor save, Calgar's Terminator armor gives him the same 2+ armor save, plus he has a 4+ Iron Halo save. If Calgar takes a Broadside railgun shot to the face (S10 AP1), he still has a 50/50 chance of coming through it unscathed. The Hive Tyrant won't do quite so well. And since Calgar isn't a monstrous creature, he can be mixed in with another squad that can be used to soak up wounds. Although the Hive Tyrant's higher toughness prevents it from being instantly killed by high strength weapons, Calgar's Eternal Warrior rule ensures that he won't be instantly killed by a lucky Krak missile either. Plus, unlike the Hive Tyrant, Calgar is protected from Instant Death by Force Weapons, most unique power weapons, etc. For all intents and purposes, it looks like Marneus Calgar is more likely to survive a march across the table. In fact, Calgar doesn't even have to march across the field. He can teleport in, land in a drop pod, or cruise around in a Land Raider (one of the few cases where the Land Raider's passenger is more expensive than the tank itself).

Can you tell that Calgar is proud
of the Ultramarines Chapter?
[Model by Games Workshop]

Lethality
Calgar has a higher ballistic skill than the Hive Tyrant (5 versus 3). Although Calgar's special bolters don't have nearly the strength of a Hive Tyrants' Heavy Venom Cannon, they have a better AP value (2 versus 4). Besides, Space Marines tend to spread out their heavy weapons rather than depending almost exclusively on weapons carried by HQs or Heavy Support units. In an army that has few long-range tank-killing weapons (e.g., Tyranids), it seems like a questionable choice to put one of your precious heavy weapons on a model that is clearly designed for close combat.

In close combat the Chapter Master has an equal number of attacks, although the paired Gauntlets of Ultramar effectively give him one more attack than the Hive Tyrant. However, the Tyrant's higher skill means that he'll hit Calgar on 3s whereas the Ultramarine will need 4s to hit the big bug. Calgar will be hitting with strength 8 thanks to his power fists; the Hive Tyrant will be hitting with strength 6. This means that each will wound the other on a roll of 2+. Calgar has an advantage in the form of his Titanic Might rule, which allows him to re-roll all failed attempts to wound. The Tyrant could have the same ability, but it would have to give up its ranged weapon for it. Since the Hive Tyrant has no invulnerable save, it will be unable to save any of the power wounds that Calgar inflicts on it. Statistically, Calgar's Iron Halo will bear the brunt of half of all wounds he receives. It's the latter advantage that would probably give the Ultramarine's Chapter Master the edge.

The Hive Tyrant's biggest advantages over Marneus Calgar are 1) Calgar's initiative drops to 1 when he uses his power fists (although he also has a power sword if you're willing to lose the strength 8 attacks), 2) the bug's higher toughness makes it less likely that the weapons carried by standard troops will wound it, and 3) the Chapter Master can't hope to match the Monstrous Creature's 2d6 penetration against armor.

Conclusion
Admittedly, my experience with monstrous creatures is limited to playing with or against Hive Tyrants and Carnifexes, so it's likely that my bias is based on too little information. However, it seems that they're not quite the unstoppable terrors I originally thought they would be. It also looks like standard Codex Marines can easily compensate for the absence of such units with special characters or with elite units such as thunder hammer and storm shield-equipped Terminator squads.

First Tyranid Experience

On Monday night I played my first non-Space Marine army. Recently I realized that I should have just about everything I want to put into my Ultramarines army within less than a year (it will take me much longer than that to paint it, though). I am therefore looking for my next army and want to try out different kinds before I spend a significant amount of money.

I specifically chose to play Tyranids since I had never played with a horde army nor had I ever used a monstrous creature. My experience was... poor. Bryce's previous post pretty much sums up my experience. Even before the game I had a strong feeling that Bryce's Imperial Guard would wipe me out. This past summer, with only a couple months experience, I was able to fare relatively well against a Tyranid army that was similar in composition to the one I used last night.

Stupid bugs

I took away the following from the game:

1.) Space Marines are awesome. The worst armor save in the army is a 4+, for heaven's sake. Only the more elite Tyranid units have a 4+ or better save. Neophyte Marines still have strength 4 and toughness 4. Marines may fall back, but they never run away (unlike those stupid Hormagaunts). Heavy weapons aren't limited to heavy units or HQs; a lowly Space Marine in the basic ten man Tactical Squad can cheaply carry a lascannon and a five man Scout Squad can carry a heavy bolter or missile launcher for a few points.

As I watched my Hormagaunts and Termagants get wiped from the board by weapons that plink off Space Marine armor, and when my entire Warrior Brood was instantly killed by a Manticore's strength 10 AP4 Storm Eagle rockets, I found myself greatly missing my 3+ saves.

2.) Let me get this straight: I have a 205 point monstrous creature who only has a 3+ armor save, no invulnerable save, is very difficult to hide in cover, and can always be picked out as a separate target even if it joins another group? It has a high strength weapon (a Heavy Venom Cannon) but it's a small blast template weapon that is more likely to drift off target than to hit anything? Why am I paying so much for this thing again? Sure the thing's a bear in close combat, but what does it matter when it's forced to march across the board in the face of Krak missiles, lascannons, etc.? Its toughness 6 sounds great, but just like a power-armored Marine the creature will be wounded on a 2+ by any weapon with a strength of 8 or higher. Bryce has generously distributed such weapons throughout his Guard army.

Space Marine HQs, on the other hand, can all be mixed in with another squad (hello meat shield!). Except for Librarians, Space Marine HQs have an Iron Halo (Captains and Chapter Masters) or a Rosarius (Chaplains) that confers a 4+ invulnerable save. Granted most of them only have toughness 4 and can therefore be instantly killed by strength 8+ weapons if they fail a save, but then again unnamed Marine HQs usually cost about half as much as a Hive Tyrant. For only 125 points my Ultramarines can field Chaplain Cassius. Not only does he have a 3+ armor save and a 4+ invulnerable save, but he also has toughness 6 and the Feel No Pain special rule. And his Hellfire rounds will wound anything on a 2+. I'm pretty sure that Cassius would have gotten across the table that night when my Hive Tyrant couldn't. Or, if you have points to spare, you can spend 265 points to field Marneus Calgar; the Ultramarine's answer to the monstrous creature (more on this in a future post).

3.) Monstrous creatures don't really replace armored vehicles. Unless they can shoot directly at the rear of the vehicle, the standard weapons (lasguns, bolters, shootas, etc.) of the troops of most armies won't even go through the armor of a Rhino, let alone that of a Land Raider. However, toughness 6 Hive Tyrants and Carnifexes can be wounded even by a lowly lasgun on a roll of 6. When you have dozens of Guard firing at a Hive Tyrant, the odds are pretty good that a few sixes are going to be rolled. The high point of one of my early games was when a crippled Predator with only a storm bolter still operational finished off a Carnifex.

Additionally, a standard vehicle is guaranteed 12" of movement through clear terrain. It may not be able to fire any of its weapons, but at least you know it can move a certain distance. If a monstrous creature runs, it's a gamble whether it will move only 7", can go a full 12", or is limited to something in between.

If Chaos Daemons can manage to produce a vehicle (the Soul Grinder), then the space-faring Tyranids should be able to make a vehicle.

4.) I will definitely not be doing a horde army after I finish the Ultramarines. Not only am I too slow at painting to complete so many models in a reasonable time, but I just don't have the patience to set up and move dozens upon dozens of figures. A lot of time and care had to go into making sure that I spread the models out as much as possible to reduce the effectiveness of blast templates, which the Imperial Guard has in spades.

More and more it looks like my next army will be some sort of Marine equivalent. I'll be giving Chaos Space Marines/Chaos Legions a close look when their new codex comes out.

A Game so Horrible it's Noteworthy.

Gamers have been ranting about the 5th edition Tyranids since their release and James learned their shortcomings first hand last night. I won't go into great detail about the game (it's just to atrocious to speak in depth about; let's just say that the IG won the 1000 point game with 900 points still on the table). I have contemplated the oversights of the 5th edition Tyranids and here are my thoughts:

1.) Poor/few HQ choices. In lower point games it would be nice to have a balanced, low-point HQ choice that can be armed with long range weapon and close combat armament (maybe the Hive Tyrant just needs to be lower in cost).

2.) Lack of armor saves and invulnerable saves. It costs a Hive Tyrant 40 additional points to give him a 2+ save and he still doesn't have an invulnerable. The only two units in the entire army that have invulnerable saves are Zoanthropes and Swarmlords in close combat. Without tank armor I feel that more creatures should have better resilience.

3.) Drifting small blast template rule has DESTROYED Tyranids' ability to engage in any sort of heavy long-range combat. The only gun in the army of which more than one can be fielded is the Heavy Venom Cannon, which now drifts. James sadly felt the poor statistics of these weapons during the game. With a Hive Tryant and a Carnifex shooting the Heavy Venom Cannons for three turns, only two landed and he only scored one crew shaken result on a Manticore.

4.) Synapse is now almost worthless. That's all I have to say about that.

5.) Monstrous creatures are too slow. When a player is banking on the strength of a close combat creature that can only move a 6" + random d6 run per turn, the enemy can easily stay out of close combat for three turns if he/she is savvy enough.

In conclusion, I am an old Tyranid player and actually enjoyed the army, but I will wait until 6th edition Codex is released before I will ever take them as a seriously competitive army again.

Another Warhammer 40K Post Mortem

mon·o·ma·ni·a /mänəˈmānēə/Noun: Exaggerated enthusiasm for or preoccupation with one thing.

I just got back from yet another 40K game with Bryce. Despite the fact that I lost again (it's hard to beat someone who's been playing it since he was 12), we both agreed that it was one of our best games. For me this was due, in part, to the fact that I fully chose my army without assistance from Bryce. As usual I played my Space Marines while Bryce. played the Xenomorph-like Tyranids. We both started with about 1200 points and he won the game with about 300 or 400 points left. My tactical errors were few (I kept using heavy troops to fire fragmentation missiles against hordes of low-point creatures rather than firing high strength krak missiles against individual high-point monsters). In the end, the game was close enough that it was determined as much by lucky/unlucky dice rolls as by skill.

The results of the most recent game were in sharp contrast to my last two games, in which I felt like my performance was very poor. Unfortunately I've proven to be a very defensive player but I've chosen a 40K army that tends to work better when used aggressively. At Bryce's suggestion I've been gearing my own army towards a slightly more defensive stance than the army that I've been borrowing from him while also playing more aggressively. Thus, I've started using a Devastator squad with long range missile launchers to harass his army while simultaneously attacking at close range with troops equipped for close assaults.

Speaking of my army, it's grown substantially in recent weeks, which meant that I only had to borrow a few models to play a 1200 point game. Most recently I completed a Space Marine captain; my most elaborate figure and the one who proved to be tonight's MVP when he stood toe-to-toe with two hive tyrants (cumulatively worth three to four times as many points as the captain) and killed one of them before being messily devoured.

Soon my army will be positively monstrous. I expect to complete a five man terminator squad before next week's game and a Dreadnought before the following game. But that's just the tip of the iceberg: over the past month I've accumulated quite a sum of money from a portion of an award I received at work, a little bit of money I earned working overtime, and my usual monthly allowance. This past week my wife placed a fairly large order for me that will more than triple the point value of my army. Although I won't admit how much I spent on 40K models this week alone, an incredulous coworker commented that I could have bought a high-end video game system for that much money (I can honestly say that I've had more fun building models and playing 40K than I've ever had playing a video game). My coworker was even more amazed when I told him that I had spent several times that amount over the five years that I was collecting Star Wars Legos. And since new 40K models are released every few years rather than every few months, as Legos are, this week's purchase will form the bulk of my army. I have plans to build a few more squads, but nothing like the bulk purchase I just made.