Sternguard Prototypes Update

So I got my Dark Elf Corsair cloaks in the other day and spent most of last night trying to figure out how to fit them onto Space Marine backpacks.

Here's a couple shots on how the first came out looking.

C&C?

Edit: Added a rearview shot of the cloak

Playing Aggressively - The Key to Winning?

So I managed to get half a game in with my friend Chaos Dan yesterday before it started raining (he had the brilliant idea of playing in his backyard, so we had to call it quits). Anyways, I noticed that the one thing that he does differently from everyone else is play aggressively.

Just about everyone else I play with has a rather passive or timid playstyle - they tend to sit down where they are and rarely do anything to turn momentum in their favor. In 5th edition - this doesn't get you anywhere. By giving your opponent slack and by not keeping pressure on him, you allow him to gather his own momentum and turn the game around through either cunning (better positioning to attack) or sheer force (waiting for reserves).

By playing aggressively, by pushing where your enemy's army is weak or by making good use of whatever advantages you have, you're effectively denying your opponent the ability to fight back and you can continue to push to victory with relative ease. It's a simple idea - keep him on his toes and he won't be able to mount an effective counterattack.

Just don't get carried away with killing the ene- BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! *ahem* See? Keep a level head and think about what you're doing - if it's the bottom of turn 4 and you hold/contest no objectives, there's a huge problem. You're better off guaranteeing the win by securing more objectives than by trying to table the opponent.

Now, what do you do if you're facing an opponent that's equally aggressive or even more so? Play reactively. Many of you have probably read Way of the Water Warrior but if you haven't, do yourself a favor and read it as soon as you're done with this post. Should your opponent gain the upper hand (or start with it), the best thing you can do is to try and deny him of his advantages. Vulkan list? Stay further than 12" away and keep blasting away. Imperial Guard? Move from cover to cover until you can get into CC or disable their armor. Orks? SHOOT THEM HARDER and deny them the charge. If you can halt their momentum or at least make it ineffective (I'm looking at you, 3 Ork Boyz Mob!), then take what you have and strike decisively in order to turn the game around again.

Thoughts?

Anywho, that's my rambling for the day. I have a band concert (it's tuba time!) later tonight, so I've got to get ready for that. I'll leave you with two pics.

I got bored and slapped this badboy together. Sergeant Bamf, wielding bolt-pistol and plasma pistol. I decided to add mini-bayonets as a compromise to myself (I originally was thinking dual chain-swords for SLASHY-DAKKA action).

Vulkan He'stan. I caved and ordered this badboy. I'm glad that the spear came as a seperate piece - I'll be reposing that thing for sure. A disappointment though is the weird fire-banner on his backpack. That thing feels like it'll snap off in a breeze.

Some Salamanders WiP

Hey everyone,

Just a couple quick pics of what I've been working on.

First off - a Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer. I need to scrape away some glue residue. Wait, what's that? No sponsons or hatches...?

Behold the power of magnets!

Here, we have 27 Space Marines armed with Bolters. Bolters aren't attached yet to make the painting process easier, but you get the idea. In the back row, you can see 5 Terminators armed with Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields. Shields are to be affixed to the terminators after painting.

A work in progress Rhino. The right hatch on this badboy is magnetized, while the left one is glued on because I failed to think in advance. -_-

I still have to paint the indicators and headlights.

A closeup of the Rhino. Painting battledamage is thoroughly frustrating, but even a little bit of it goes a long ways to adding some character what would otherwise be a green box.

Space Marine Goals

1. Complete all my conversion work by the beginning of August.
2. Have everything based and primed by early August.
3. From there, paint at least 300 points a month.
4. Show off the pics.
5. Cleanse the heretic.

C&C on the Painting/Assembly welcome!

Squirrel Fish's Eldar Army Complete!

Hey all, like I promised, here are the final pics of the Eldar army. Enjoy!

Mechanized Armies - My Thoughts

It's been a while since I've posted, but life keeps us down in the form of obnoxious internet and computer related problems. But lo! They have been fixed.

I just read one of Goatboy's posts on BoLS and everything he says is really right on the dot. If you haven't read it, read it. It's worth the time.

I played a nice big multi-player game the yesterday at 3000 points each; Eldar/Tau vs. SM/SM/Dark Angels Double-Wing. The game was Kill Points with long table edges. I was expecting to get have terminators and drop pods down my throat almost immediately, but I was wrong. My Tau ally and I deployed first, placing down our immobile elements (Dark Reapers and Broadsides) in big firing lanes and then all of our tanks (1 Wave Serpent, 1 Falcon, 3 Devilfish and 1 Hammerhead) and our other mobile units (Seer Council, Crisis suits) near the middle of the table in order to respond to our enemy's deployment. Our infiltrators (Rangers and Stealth suits) sat down near the middle of the table on elevated ground for commanding fields of fire.

As our opponents deployed, my Tau ally and I looked at each other with a "...Really?" look on our faces. There was not a single troop transport on their side of the board beyond a single Land Raider Redeemer. Nearly all their models were going to be foot-slogging it across the board, with the exception of a squad of Ravenwing Bikers, Pedro Kantor + Huge Honor Guard in the Land Raider and a Ravenwing Land Speeder. Heck, even Captain Sicarius was gonna be making moves on foot.

Needless to say, our side won the final battle some 9-10 kill points to 4. However, I feel strongly that the reason is not because we used cheesy lists or because the odds were just stacked in our favor. I think it's because we had very few static elements in our respective lists - everything that wasn't sniping or toting heavy weapons was locked in a troop transport for quite some time before seeing the light of day (in the case of a Fire Warrior squad, never seeing the day at all).

Random Reader: "But Squirrel Fish! Transports give up kill points! It's not worth it!"

NO! It is worth it, even if it can give up a kill point. Even in a Kill Point game, the lone Rhino or Chimera or Wave Serpent allows its squad to choose its battles; the when and the where. By being able to maneuver around the battlefield, you can bring your fire to bear on your opponent's weak points and straggling squads. If their army is turtled up or is advancing as one solid column, your superior mobility gets you to their weak side, where you can spectacularly crush them.

However, for sheer metagame reasons I do like my long range anti-tank weapons. The current environment says that melta is the weapon of choice for special weapons teams and they're right. The only downside is that you have to be right up in their face to use it and more than likely, that melta-squad is gonna bite the dust the following turn.

Because of this, I still insist on keeping a few shots of some longer ranged anti-tank weapons on hand. As delicious as that 200+ point Leman Russ looks to kill, your first target should be the enemy's troop transports. If you cripple/hamper the enemy's able to respond to your own movements, the rest of the game becomes simply dissecting their army.

Anywho, this has turned into a much longer post that I had originally thought out. Next time, pics of my completed Eldar and pics of the WiP Space Marines.

C&C always welcome!

Squirrel_Fish

Tutorial: Combi-Melta

It's time for CONvergance down in the Twin Cities and I find myself taking a break in order to share how I make my Combi-Meltas. A minor update on some things: my Wave Serpent is finally completed, meaning that my Eldar army is (relatively speaking) complete! My Salamanders WIP is coming along as well. I have one Tactical Squad and two rhinos fully built, the Rhinos are also magnetized so I can swap out the hatches at my whim.

Tutorial: Combi-Melta

If you're like me, you don't have the money to buy a dozen or so Combi-Meltas from the Commander sprue. So here we go, a combi-melta from the tactical sprue!

Requires:

Boltgun

Meltagun

X-acto Knife

File

Super Glue

Greenstuff (optional)

Step 1) Clean both the meltagun and boltgun of any moldlines. If you like to use your pin vise to make holes in the barrels, do this now.

Step 2) Take your bolter and make the following cuts. Keep the part with the muzzle and the grip.

This is what you should have left over:

Step 3) Take your Meltagun and remove a small portion of the cabling closest to the barrel.

This should be your result:

Step 5) Dry fit both parts together; if there's odd gaps due to weird angles on the boltgun, file those down until the pieces are nearly flush. Use your superglue and adhere the two pieces together. Optionally; what you can do is use greenstuff to strengthen the hold and to fill in any weird gaps that might be there.

And there you have it, a simple combi-melta right out of the Tactical Squad box.

Space Marine Assembly Underway

Just a quick update; it's been a busy week, but I'm making some headway into my Space Marines. So far, I've assembled one Rhino and converted a combi-melta. My first Tactical Squad is currently under the knife.

I'll post a tutorial of the next combi-melta I make.

Cheers!

Squirrel_Fish