Maybe I Should Start Painting...

I thought I'd continue from my last post and so I created a list of all of the models that i have (and want) to paint up to at least finish my two 40k armies: Tyranids and Night Lords. My 'nids are painted in the colours of Hive Fleet Behemoth and I intend to really deck out my Chaos marines to the best of my abilities. Not to say I'm an awesome painter but I'd really like them to stand out a bit.

That'll come eventually... Anyway, another list of stuff to do. Awesome.

Oh and btw,

green = painted and based
yellow = primed
orange = bought and built
red = unbought

Tyranids

Hive Tyrant
Tyrant Guard x2
Tyranid Prime
Hive Guard x4
Tervigon
Genestealers x16
Tyranid Warriors x4
Mycetic Spore
Termagants x60
Hormagaunts x24
Gargoyles x20
Tyrannofex
Raveners x4
Zoanthropes x3
Broodlord
Spore Mines x11


Night Lords

Kados Zhal (Reclusiarch)
Talon Guard (Honour Guard) x5
Possessed Apothecaries (Sanguinary Priest) x2
Atrox Dreadnought (Furioso Dreadnought)
Raptor Squad (Assault Squad) x40
Primor Veros Squad (Vanguard Veteran Squad) x10
Rhinos x3
Predator
Chaos Terminators x5
Noise Marines x5
Khorne Berzerkers 9
Daemon Prince
Obliterator

Whew... that's not very much green. Granted most of my tyranids are technically painted. I just want to put finishing touches on the carapaces of most of them. Hopefully I can get some of these guys finished up, maybe this week at some point. I just have to learn to break things up into small chunks and not look at the big picture so often

Feel free to send a comment with what you're working on!

The Return and the To Do List

As part of my return to blogging and wargaming, I felt it would be helpful to give myself a list of all of the things that I want to get done or continue with. I love to-do and check lists for this kind of thing since crossing something off is very gratifying to me. It feels really great to finish something, take it off the list and know that you completed one of your goals. Even if it's just a small one it still feels like a victory. Ok, onto the list!

Buy the rest of my Tyranids and Night Lords armies

As always, the biggest hurdle is going to actually buy the models since I don't necessarily have the funds to spend on plastic and metal miniatures at the moment. Most likely I'll be scouring eBay for deals and this will probably mean I'll have to break out the paint stripper. This isn't so bad since it can be quite a bit cheaper than buying new models, but it's definitely much more time consuming. I don't have much of either these days with work and kids, but money is much more hard to come by.

I've got most of the figures for these armies. I'll have a future post to show what I actually have already. I've written about my 2000 point lists for both my Tyranids and Night Lords lists I'd like to try out. I'm sure these lists are going to evolve some since it's been quite a while since I've actually been able to play a game.

Convert and paint my Tyranids and Night Lords armies

This shouldn't be too bad once I get started. As I said in the previous point, I'll post on what I have finished already. Suffice to say for now that I've much more Tyranids finished than I do Night Lords.

I've mostly finished the converting for my Tyranids and they're well on their way to being finished (minus the models that I've yet to get of course). My Night Lords on the other hand still need quite a bit of work. Most of the army has jump packs. Well actually, all of them except for the one Dreadnought in a drop pod, so I still need to get at least 20 more jump pack bits or assault marines. I'd also like to have some nicer paint jobs, especially for the helmets. Reading Soul Hunter and Blood Reaver has really inspired me lately.

 
Decide on a 35 point Cryx list and paint it

Lately I've been looking into Warmachine and Hordes and my black little heart has fallen in love with the Cryx models from Privateer Press. I always seem to gravitate towards the evil side and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I never get to be evil in real life... Anyway, I've already picked up the battle box that includes Deneghra, a Slayer, two Deathrippers, and a Defiler and a box of Mechanithralls. I've not quite decided on what I want for my first 35 point list and I'd like to find a few other gamers to play a couple intro games with so I can learn the rules a bit better. I do have my eye on a few units from the army, but getting the models will take time of course. 


Build terrain (both fantasy and sci-fi)

I've never built any terrain before but I know I'd love to have some lying around for any games that I'd be playing at my place. I'm not going to be getting too fancy with this; it'll most likely be terrain and buildings made out of things like large coffee cans, plastic containers, etc. Something else that I've noticed is that a lot of pet stores have decorative pieces for fish tanks, which seems quite perfect for cheap, ready-made terrain and obstacles like trees, rocks and buildings.  

Build a gaming table

This is the one that's going to take a long while to do. Currently I don't own a house and am only renting. My current place has a basement where I could store something, but I'd have to figure out a good way to actually build a table and keep it safe/hide it from my wife. It definitely would have to be light and be able to fold up for storage. I have a few ideas floating around already, but this is most likely going to be the last thing on my list. 

  

Play more games

This is something that I've been neglecting for quite a while. I've stayed in touch with my gaming buddy over the years and we've both been itching for an all out war against each other. I've just been too busy lately with work and kids, nor have I had the time or money to get my Tyranid and Night Lords armies finished. Once I get my Tyranids finished I'm going to definitely try to make time to get in a few games against his loyalist scum.

Post more often

I've started doing this already! And this is definitely my longest post so far on this blog. Like it is with painting, as long as I start doing it consistently it'll get much easier to keep doing it. Writing these posts also helps me to collect my thoughts and provides a really good outlet to get my ideas out in the open.

I know I'm going to have much more stuff to do in the future, especially since there's always new stuff coming out that is going to distract me. I'm looking at you Dark Eldar! I'll just have to work on limiting myself to one thing at a time and actually start completing the projects that I do start.

Share any goals you might have in the comments below. I love to hear what people are working on!

A Slight Break...

Phew well that was quite the break. My son has just turned 8 months the other day and hopefully I'll have more time to dedicate to this blog. Possibly even get a game or two in with a couple friends.

Well a good thing about taking a break is that there is a ton of new stuff when you come back, so stay tuned for my thoughts on the new rumours of 6th edition, Necrons and hopefully at some point a new Chaos Marines codex. One day they'll come out with Night Lords legion rules... One day... Until then I'll just have to keep plugging away at this counts-as Blood Angels army. Maybe I'll even get them fully painted and finally post some pics! Ho ho what a thought that is!

Tyranid List Changes

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. The addition of a baby boy to my family has made life quite hectic but very much enjoyable!
Anyway, I've decided to change up my Tyranid list a little bit, swapping out the hormagaunts and changing some of the units around. Here's the new one:

Swarmlord - 280 points

Tyrant Guard x2 - 130 points
Lash Whips

Tyranid Prime - 110 points
Scything Talons
Dual Boneswords
Adrenal Glands
Toxin Sacs

Hive Guard x3 - 150 points

Zoanthrope x2 - 175 points
Mycetic Spore w/ Barbed Strangler

Termagants x14 - 70 points

Termagants x14 - 70 points

Tervigon - 195 points
Toxin Sacs
Adrenal Glands
Catalyst

Genestealers x8 - 136 points
Toxin Sacs

Tyranid Warriors x3 - 150 points
Scything Talons
Dual Boneswords
Adrenal Glands
Toxin Sacs

Gargoyles x19 - 114 points

Trygon - 210 points
Adrenal Glands

Trygon - 210 points
Adrenal Glands

Hive Guard - I added these for more light anti-tank support and I wanted to give the new unit a try.

Genestealers - These guys can outflank and hopefully wreak havoc in my opponents deployment zone.

Gargoyles - One big unit of gargoyles has to be better than two small ones right?

Tyranid Prime and Warriors - This is the main change that I feel really steps this list up. Previously I had these guys kitted out for shooting but they're much better as close combat monsters. The Prime will beef up their WS and dual boneswords will absolutely mow down whatever is thrown at them.

Should be fun! Hopefully I'll be able to test this list out next week. Look for a battle report then!

Chaos and the Night Lords - Part 2

All right, so now that I've decided on what I don't want, how do I decide on what I do want? Simple! Choose something cool. Or more specifically, decide on a theme. I've always felt that Night Lords fed on fear and terror, so therefore they should be damn scary. And what's more scary than having a hulking armored brute pounce on you from the shadowy darkness from above? Yep, Jump Packs. And lots of them. In fact, I'd like a list full of crazed warp-spawn flying at my opponent with lightning claws itching to slice and dice.

As I've said before I'd like to use the Blood Angels codex to represent my Night Lords. Since BA armies can take Assault squads as troops its very fitting for what I want to do.

Well, onto the list!

Kados Zhal, Terromaster of the 9th Company
Reclusiarch w/ Jump Pack

Noctis Talon Guard
Honor Guard x5 w/ Jump Packs and 2 power swords
Blood Champion w/ power weapon and combat shield

Cenobite Apothecaries
Sanguinary Priest x2 w/ Jump Packs

Atrox Dreadnought
Furioso Dreadnought w/ Blood Talons in a Drop Pod w/ Locator Beacon

Raptor Squad Sike
Assault Squad x10 w/ 2 meltaguns and power fist

Raptor Squad Braz
Assault Squad x10 w/ 2 meltaguns and power fist

Raptor Squad Dezor
Assault Squad x10 w/ 2 flamers and power fist

Raptor Squad Cerux
Assault Squad x10 w/ 2 flamers and power fist

Primor Veros Squad
Vanguard Veteran Squad x5 with Jump Packs, 1 power weapon and a pair of lightning claws

Primor Veros Squad
Vanguard Veteran Squad x5 with Jump Packs, 1 power weapon and a pair of lightning claws

And that's 2000 points. And almost as many jump packs. This list offers tons of conversion opportunities as well. I intend to use a combination of Chaos and Space Marine bits, Fantasy Chaos Warrior bits and whatever else strikes my fancy! Comments are welcome below as always.

Chaos and the Night Lords - Part 1

Ah, Chaos. My second love in Warhammer 40k. Or my first, depending on my mood. And an updated Chaos Space Marine codex. Many people don't really find the current version of the Chaos Marines very appealing, me included. There's just not a whole lot in the codex that really pops out at you and yells "I am Chaos incarnate!" By the time you write up your army list it feels like you've got a very generic marine list with a twist of evil thrown in. Not really what I'm looking for I'm afraid.

Don't get me wrong, I think the codex can do very well game-wise. But it has to have that crazy evil feeling to it and I'm hoping an updated codex will touch on this. Or even grab it by the tusks and throw it across the room.

So in the mean time I've decided that the new Blood Angels codex would be a good fit my Night Lords army. After reading Soul Hunter by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, I've been itching to get a Night Lords themed list out there. I intend to limit what kind of units I'll take from the BA codex, which includes:

Furioso Librarian Dreadnoughts - Chaos dreadnoughts are supposed to be crazy after being stuck in a metal sarcophagus for 10,000 years and being a psyker may not be a goog thing for these guys. Only regular, Furioso and Death Company dreads in this list.

Baal Predators and Stormraven Gunships - These two vehicles are too new fluff-wise to be common among a Night Lords fleet.

Techmarines - These definitely don't have that Chaos feel.

Sanguinary Guard - I'm on the fence with these guys. I could definitely think of a way they could be represented in a Chaos list, but I'm not entirely sure if they should be. Possibly a possessed version of assault troops.

Special characters could easily be represented in a Chaos list as well.

Part 2 will be the first version of the list I intend to build for these guys.

Tyranids!

I've been trying to work at collecting and finishing this Tyranid list. I've yet to play a good game of 40k with the new nids and I'm anxious to see how they perform. I think this list would be quite balanced and has a few good elements.

Swarmlord
Tyrant Guards x2 w/ Lash Whips

Tyranid Prime w/ Scything Talons and Deathspitter

Hive Guard x3

Zoanthrope x2 in Mycetic Spore w/ Barbed Strangler

Termagants x14

Termagants x14

Tervigon w/ Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands and Catalyst

Hormagaunts x20 w/ Toxin Sacs

Tyranid Warriors x 4 w/ Scything Talons, 3 Deathspitters and Barbed Strangler

Gargoyles x10

Gargoyles x10

Trygon w/ Adrenal Glands

Trygon w/ Adrenal Glands

Comes out to 2000 points on the dot. I've got most of these models except for the Hive Guard and Trygons, just trying to save up to afford them all in one go. I previously had another 4th edition list painted up but since then I've gotten to be a bit of a better painter so I'm slowly getting these guys back to a decent quality. Pics will follow soon, I've just got to get my camera up and running!

Comments are welcome, let me know what you think of the list.