Annihilation inevitable – Leman Russ commission

Heyooo Kriegsmen! It’s been a long time since I painted something grimdark, and since I’m off from work this week I allowed myself to sit down and fire upp the trusty airbrush. This tank is a continuation on the Krieg vehicle commission, painted in French WW1 blue, that I started for a friend last summer.

Lords of War III – the aftermath

Welcome back warmongers! What a weekend. What a weekend indeed! Two days ago me and my partners in crime hosted one of the best and most exclusive 40k event in Southern Sweden to date. Im talking about the third installment of the Lords of War series, where 16 players with beautifully painted armies fought across eight themed high quality tables. It has been a busy winter as I’ve been hauling ass to get everything together, but hot damn it paid off, and I am blown away by the appreciation we got from the community – from friendly visitors to extatic participants opening goodie bags and re-uniting with old battle brothers. For eight hours straight our players focused on conquering the title of Lord of War – the tension in the air was electric to say the least. Well, let’s get onto what you really came here for: pictures and the scoreboard.

Enjoy, and make sure to apply for the next one!

Elysian Droptroops in 8th edition – theory and practice pt.2

Welcome back trooper! In the last post I talked about my impressions of how the Elysian Droptroops have changed in the eighth edition of 40k from a theoretical point of view. While theorizing and doing your math hammer is a good exercise for deepening your knowledge of the game, at some point you really have to stick your cheek out and throw a few punches to get a feel for how your army will perform in your local meta. In this post, I’ll cover some of my experiences with taking the Elysians to the grand tournament at the convention Malmö Wargaming Weekend.

Veterans clearing out a compound. Photo by: Benny Sand.

Operation: Adamant Strike- Elysian Droptroops vs. Tau [40k 8th ed. battlereport]

The Xenos incursion was swift and resolute in this system. Within a matter of days every Imperial navy ship had been either destroyed or captured, and the local Planetary Defence Force proved little to no resistance against the superior weaponry of the Tau. Any survivors that had not accepted submission into the false Xeno empire had either fled into the wastelands, or formed small gangs of militia who spent more time fighting each other than the enemies of mankind.
Lt. col. Myron of the 101st had gone through every report and vox transmission from the initial assault on Verdis Prime in order to study the tactics of his alien adversary. Co-ordinated suppressive fire with guided targeting missiles and pulse weapons, followed by jet deployed specialist strike teams of battlesuits and drones. The Tau were a well equipped and seasoned host of warriors, but one thing they had not: the Emperor’s blessing. Operation Adamant Wedge was under way and the 101st, supported by a small group of Grey Knights, were the speardhead. The plan was as bold as dauntless: after establishing a firing line with elysian recon forces, the rest of the army would strike from above and deploy using the High Altitude Combat Drop-doctrine. Myron looked at brother Captain Severus on the other side of the briefing table. A stern warrior cleric clad in ancient terminator armor, decorated with the sacred insignias of the Inquisition, stood in silence as the staff team overlooked holographic maps and attack patterns. Myron’s requests of having a small unit of Terminators dispatched to the 101st for the initial assault had finally been granted. “Make your peace with the Emperor, brother Captain…” he said, “…we make planetfall in 6 hours!”. 

A Tauros Venator engage an airborne Tau Commander in a ruined industrial zone.

Raid on Aglaia IV – Elysian Droptroops vs. Eldar [40k 8th ed. battlereport]

Captain Ikaru Perseus personally supervised the task of rearming and refueling one of the platoon Valkyries from the vantage point of a tower at the F.O.B “White Haven” – also known as “the Marbled Hellhole” by it’s garrisoned inhabitants. He was at the end of his twenty month long deployment at this Emperor forsaken rock, called Aglaia IV, which apperantly had resources valuable enough to justify the deployment of Phantine skyborne specialists rather than conscripted colonials for protection. Resources that were needed in some distant part of the Imperium, and that would never enrich these men and women’s home system. He hated this place. The ever burning sun, the scorching sands of the planet surface, and the constant harassment by solar winds making scanners and clarion vox-nets unreliable. For some ironic reason this system was also under constant threat from Eldar piracy, as if the Xenos found some animalistic pleasure or instinct in fighting over this place of rock and sand. Skirmishing with Eldar corsairs was a daily routine for the troopers of the 101st, which is why the commanders made sure to keep response units in the air at all times – consuming fuel on a rate higher than normally accepted by the Adeptus Administratum. Perseus glanced at the red veil flickering around the sun. In an instant, a flash of pure white light pierced his vizor and forced him to avert his gaze! A thundering salvo of laser and shuriken fire blasted the surface of the colony, forcing the defenders to take cover while Xeno hover craft and jet units deployed around the perimiter in a graceful manouvre. Before his troops had time to return fire, Cpt. Perseus activated his distress beacon to signal the rapid reaction units. “Three weeks left” he thought, and the Xenos could have this hell hole for all that he cared…

Close quarter firefights echo underneath the platforms of the Imperial colony.

Welcome to this Warhammer 40.000 8th edition battlereport between my Elysian Droptroops and my good friend Simon’s Eldar army. This was a Matched Play test game of 700pts designed for us to try out the new indexes, as well as the core game rules and mechanics. We set up the game using the Vanguard deployment map and the ‘Secure and Control’ Eternal War mission. I won the roll off to set up a single objective first and placed it on the Skyshield landing pad. Simon then set up a single objective on top of one of the towers. Each objective is worth 3 victory points at the end of the game, and additional victory points can be scored for ‘slay the warlord’, drawing ‘first blood’ and securing ‘linebreaker’. Since this was a rather small test game I won’t go through the army lists, although I should point out that my army was battleforged (+3 command points), consisting of a single Vanguard detachment (+1 command point) while Simon’s army was unbound (0 command points). Units and models were selected mainly due to what we had painted from our 7th edition armies. Here’s an overview of the deployment.

700pts of Elysian Droptroops consisting of two infantry squads with one plasmagun each, 2 company commanders (one with a powerfist), a veteran squad with three meltaguns and seven shotguns, a company command squad with four plasmaguns, two Tauros assault vehicles with grenade launchers, three Drop sentinels with multimeltas, and a heavy weapons squad with one missile launcher and two heavy Bolters.

The commander in charge with a Powerfist, and Cpt. Perseus ever at his side.

Veteran Droptroopers ready for breaching action!

Fire support section.

Infantry squads make up the core of the army.

Simon’s 700pts of Eldar. A spiritseer with five Wraithguards equipped with D-Scythes, three Jetbikes all armed with Shuriken cannons, a Wave Serpent, and a Wraithlord.

The Xeno witchmaster commanding his spirit warrior warband of corsairs.

The Wave Serpent, a truly beautiful model and such a beast in the new 8th edition Index!

Simon deploys his Jetbikes outside the perimiter defenses.

The Wraithlord also deploys behind cover.

Fire support squads deploy on the landing pad around one of the objectives.

Infantry squads scale the catwalks linking two of the guard towers. Four units are deployed in tactical reserves to utilize the Elysian Aerial drop deployment. The warlord, the veteran squad, a command squad, and the Drop sentinels make themselves ready for planetfall…

Having deployed his army first, Simon takes first turn and zooms forward with his jetbikes to apply pressure on one flank.

The Wraithlord lumbers forward using the barricades as cover!

The Wave Serpent skim on top of the second objective and prepares to lay fire on the human defenders!

Shuriken cannon fire from both the Jetbike unit and the Wraithlord rips through the air but only manages to inflict 3 wounds on a Tauros.

The Wave Serpent opens up on the heavy weapon teams but only manage to down one of the loaders thanks to the teams being in cover.

The Elysians respond to the raider’s advance by moving around the flank of the Jetbikes. By moving more than 10″ the Tauros buggies get a 5+ invulnerable save until their next turn!

The Elysian rapid reaction units arrive using their renowned Combat Drop and deploy specialist weapon squads beneath the Wave Serpent.

Veteran troopers with meltaguns and plasmacarbines take aim. The Warlord drops in behind both squads to provide them with the valuable “Take Aim!” order!

A cloud of ash and red sand engulfs the troops as the grav-thrusters of the Drop sentinels secures a soft landing!

Fredrik rolls a total of six hits while supercharging his plasmaguns! Simon then show the trickery of the Eldar by saving almost every plasma and melta hit using the Serpent shields. The transport escapes death with 7 wounds left!

Combined fire from the infantry and Tauros grenade launchers kill off two Jetbikes.

Simon starts his second turn by moving the Wraithlord closer in preparation to scale the gates!

The Wave Serpent thrusts forward and lands right beneath the landing pad, preparing to disembark it’s deadly cargo in the next turn.

Fredrik starts his second turn by chasing after the Wave Serpent and prepares to unleash a second volley of anti-tank fire!

The command squad climb on top of the compound to get a clear line of sight while staying in range of the second objective.

The veterans strip another 6 wounds from the Wave Serpent, a well placed order from the 2IC allows the missile launcher team on the landing pad to re-roll a missed shot of a 1, which then scores a hit and explode the skimmer, killing two of it’s Wraith warriors in an instant! The Drop sentinels kills off another Wraith construct. Ouch!

Hungry for revenge Simon moves up his Wraithlord to clear off the pesky guardsmen who are taking pot shots at it with their lasguns.

The Wraithguards position themselves for an upcoming assault while the Spiritseer breaks off and head towards the landing pad! A great move by Simon.

Before hurling the ancient constructs into the fray, Simon heats up his D-Scythes…

…and sends five veterans to a screaming death with warpfire!

The lumbering hulk of a Wraithlord towers the guardsmen and catches them in the open…

…only to fry seven of them to death! The rest breaks off from the battlefield due to a failed morale test.

The veterans roll a heavy 6(+5) for their morale test, but thanks to the Elysian ‘Iron Dicipline’ rule they get to re-roll the test and pass it with a 2(+5). Quite handy to be a Phantine specialist!

While the Wraithguard below assaults the veteans, the Spiritseer launches himself into combat with the heavy weapons squad above!

Combat is quite unsatisfying for both parts as every combatant fail to hurt their opponents… Fredrik begins his turn by disengaging and falling back from combat.

The infantry squad and the 2IC leave the safety of the guard tower and advance ahead to reinforce the Elysian positions around the first objective marker on the landing pad. Using the order ‘Get back into the fight!’ Cpt. Perseus orders the heavy weapons to open fire on the Spiritseer after disengaging. All shots fail to hit however.

The Drop sentinels and the Elysian Warlord also joins the melee beneath the landing pad. The company commander smashes a single Wraithguard to death using his powerfist.

Starting his fourth turn, Simon advances his Wraithlord to get closer to the action.

The Spiritseer successfully harness the warp and destroys two of the weapon teams using the ‘Smite’ psychic power.

Elysian troopers advance twice using the ‘Move, move, move!” order and covers almost 18″ of ground to form a second perimiter around the landing pad.

After losing the heavy weapon teams Fredrik makes the decision to send both commanders into close combat with the Spiritseer to make sure the Emperor is still in control of his objective. A powerfist blow smashes the ghosthelm of the sorcerer and deals 2 wounds to the scum, while a slash using the force stave deals 2 wounds in return to the company commander. An epic Warlord duel takes place above the sands of Aglaia IV!

During Simon’s turn 5 the Wraithlord completes a charge into the back of the Drop sentinels, but fail to save his brethren before the veterans smash them to death using ther gun stocks and bad attitude.

In the following turn of combat the Wraithlord makes a clean sweep with his Ghostblade and destroys two sentinels, leaving the third one running off the field! Using his final powers the Spiritseer then deals a finishing blow to the Elysian Warlord and kills him for a Warlord point! Cpt. Perseus steps up and take command of the force while dealing one wound to the Spiritseer with his laspistol!

In a final move to secure the Objective, Fredrik sends up the last squad of Droptroopers and assault the Spiritseer who is stabbed to death by combat blades in the following melee!

While securing the objective on the landing pad, the command squad scales the opposite guard towe to secure the second objective. Tauros buggies hunt down the last Eldar Jetbike and get in position to score Linebreaker!

After rolling for turn 6, the Wraithlord climbs the landing pad and prepares to avenge his Spiritmaster! Simon fires one flamer into the squad on the pad, one flamer into the remnant veterans below, and the Shuriken cannon into the command squad on the far objective – hoping to force morale checks. Two guardsmen die while defending the objective with their bodies, as well as the veteran sergeant of the breacher team below. Once again the ‘Iron Dicipline’ rule turns two very ugly morale checks into good ones!

The Wraithlord then charges into combat and kills off two guardsmen, while Cpt. Perseus screams orders from the back to make sure the troopers stay in the fight!

In turn 6, Fredrik disengage and falls back from the Wraithlord on the landing pad and heats up the meltaguns from the veterans below. Landing two out of three hits (both within melta range) the veterans put the spirit warrior to his eternal sleep, all while the shambling construct body falls down the landing pad and crashes into the red sand below… The game ends with Fredrik in control of both objective markes, scoring him a total of 9 victory points (3+3+First blood, Warlord kill, and Linebreaker) to Simon’s 1 victory point (Warlord kill).

After action thoughts
Simon: It’s always a pleasure to play against Fredrik and his flyboys. This was my second game in 8th ed. and the inexperience really shows off in some of the decisions I made during the game. But that of course went both ways since it was also Fredriks first game. I love how the new edition works, and all the small tricks that we found out as the game went on. Overall the game was really close but I made a fatal mistake in the 6th turn that made it possible for Fredrik to table me. Meltaguns in melta range hurts A LOT. My unharmed wraithlord got deleted by three lone meltagunners and BOOM!, game. We were equally surprised by their effect but had a great laugh together. Next time my Ghostwarriors will return in larger numbers and claim victory.

Fredrik: Wow, what a game! The new edition is really fast and engaging. My first impression is that you are a lot more active as a player during each phase now, since every situation has modifiers that impact the game in ways you need to be aware of. This feels very refreshing as opposed to seventh edition, even though I still miss templates (but that’s another debate). I really really enjoyed how well the Elysians performed in this game. They are my favourite army both in the lore and modelwise, and it’s very rewarding to finally see how their flavour as a guard regiment impact their game style. Having the ability to reserve half your army and perform deep striking attacks with surgical precision, wherever you want and whenever you want to (remember turn 3 at the latest!) for such low priced units is very strong. I will make a more thorough review over the next couple of days, but for now I think it’s safe to say that the Elysians have gotten a new set of teeth after lagging behind with an old armylist for a couple of years. Two final points: Tauros assault buggies and Drop sentinels are way more useful now since they dropped in price and got a boost to their weaponry. They are still not cheap enough to be over powered in any way, but at least they’re an option worth considering over similar units. I would love to make use of the Elysian’s unique order(s), of using heavy weapons as assault weapons, but never had the opportunity or the model count to use them effectively in this game – thus I tended to spam the “re-roll 1s” order a lot. In higher point games I think there will be more of a choice between orders for different situations. All I can say is watch this space for more battlereports with the Phantine skyrborne over the coming weeks!

Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum Chimera conversion

I got a few hours in between all the travelling and work this week, and managed to finish a Stormchimera for the (shamefully dormant) Assault Brigade list that I work on from time to time. Being intoxicated by all the mojo, I did however forget to paint the two Krieg turrets (with autocannons) that I had lined up ready to paint as well – but I guess there’s more airbrushing ahead so getting them done won’t take long. In this article I’ll talk about how I converted a regular Chimera into a Stomchimera using some simple tricks, as well as sharing some thoughts on using pigments as part of the weathering process when painting tanks.

Reaper Squadron reporting – Converted Leman Russ HQ

I’m currently helping a friend to refurbish his Cadian Armored Company for the upcoming Cadia-campaign and to give his army some teeth. During 2016 I painted a Destroyer Tank Hunter and a pair of Bombards for him and now we’ve moved on to the heavy armor of the force – his 5 Leman Russ tanks. In this article I’ll show you how I converted and painted a pair of Punisher armed command vehicles.

The state of the tanks when I got them. The turrets had to be replaced from scratch and they also longed for a nice camouflage paint job…

Extreme Tank Makeover – Leman Russ edition
Since the tank chassis of his army are from an older (4th or 5th?) edition and we had new turret bits on sprues I had to re-fit the entire base of the turrets. The new Russ kit has a really nice and sleek turret design but it also comes with a much smaller socle than the old ones. In order to fit them on to the older tanks I had to cut away some of the plastic rims and create a makeshift base for the magnets that would connect the turrets to the chassis. 

Making a set of Punisher cannons
Punisher cannon bits are hard to get your hands on if you don’t want to spend a fortune on oversea shipping on ebay and they rarely come up in our area so we agreed to make custom punishers inspired by modern day 30mm automatic cannons. I used plasticard pipes from GaleForce9 which I cut to length and fit into the base of the regular battle cannon barrel. I also used tubes with larger dimensions to create a better transition between the gun barrels and the cannon, as well as making a reinforcing metal band at the end of the gun. These extra layers helps to blend the plasticard pipes in with the rest of the turret and gives them some decent width.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After making sure the barrels were centered and leveled correctly I set them aside and started to work on a suitable commander to be used as Knight Commander Pask. I had one of the crewmen for the IG superheavy tanks that looks really cool lying around, but I wanted to do something interesting with his pose. So, I cut up one of the plastic commander arms (the one with two fingers in the air that looks a bit silly!) and repositioned it to make it look like he’s giving orders through his helmet comms. After greenstuffing an elbow I let everything dry over the night ready to be primed the next day.

A tank commander issuing order to his company.

I also fitted some spare tank tracks to the side of one of the turrets. This adds a lot of character to the model.

The old hull mounted weapons were cut off and replaced with new, magnetized, ones.

The finished product
Here are some photos of the tanks after I re-painted them (withouth a proper pigment treatment on the tracks due to the current cold weather that keeps me from sealing it). Unfortunately I got the ISO settings on my camera all wrong so they came out a bit more yellowish than they actually are. Overall I’m happy with the result and the camo scheme ties them in really well with the rest of his tanks that I have already painted. When the dust settles, I think I’ll jump on to his chimeras! What do you think of the conversion and paintjob? Have you converted punishers of your own? Let me know and leave a little comment below, it helps a lot!