A New Bloat Drone Makes Three

Hey there my fellow Chaos lunatics. Old Man Chaos is back with a rather brief update. I got a couple of goodies from Santa for Christmas. I won't spill the beans on what they all are yet (as I need much more time to build and paint them). So I will show a model that I completed- a new Bloat Drone.

I got my third Bloat Drone from my brother as a Christmas present. So thanks to Steve I now have a trifecta of drones. I imagine that three of these buggers using their plague spitters is pretty lethal to most armies (D6 per spitter- each with 2 spitters). If you're rolling hot you can deal out a lot of damage (as long as you are within 9").  Ohhh... that makes me want to try them on the battlefield ASAP LOL.

So painting-wise, I painted him just like my previous Bloat Drones- Death Guard Green with liberal washes of Earthshade. Yes, Earthshade makes everything better. In Nurgle's case it makes models look nice and dingy.

As for the rust, I followed what I did with Typhus - I did dark browns followed by a stippling of orange and leadbealcher. It looks close enough to the other drones but I prefer it- the browns add a depth to the rusty parts.

The smoke I did tan with yellow washes. It keeps it consistent with the other models for Death Guard that have smoke (or whatever disease or gas) coming from them.

The drone's flesh I did differently from my previous drones. I did Kislev Flesh with successive washes of crimson. It looks like inflamed, diseased, irritated skin. I used Blood for the Blood God technical around some of the sores and gashes in the flesh.

So, thats my new drone. I now have a complete set. I can't wait to see them liquify things on the battlefield. Until next time...

Plagueburst Crawler

Welcome back Chaos followers. I'm back pretty quick with another new addition to my army- the Plagueburst Crawler. This was my other Christmas present from my ever faithful and ever suffering wife (She puts up with my plastic crack habit! She has the patience of a saint).

I am very torn on the look of the Crawler. On the one hand, it is pretty unimaginative looking- it could be a slightly odd Imperial Guard tank. It is also supposed to be a Daemon vehicle, yet there is absolutely nothing Daemonic.

That being said, it is said that Mortarion had a hand in creating the Crawlers. It is deliberately NOT ostentatious because Mortarion is very straightforward and without adornment or embellishment. It is a slab with a mortar on it. Yep- Mortarion would approve.

Well, there is no "Chaos" adornment, so naturally I had to add something. So I did. I placed some "growths" on the tank using green stuff. I also placed Chaos Spawn tentacles in the mortar cannon- it looks like the cannon launches slimey things at the enemy.

Paint scheme is what I've been doing with all of my Drones. Death Guard green with wash of Earthshade. I highlighted with Nurling Green on the raised edges, etc. Some of the metal I did with Balthazar Gold. The rusty metals I did with Leadbelcher with spots of Ryza Rust and yet again more Earthshade. The tentacles I did with Screamer Pink with violet wash over it, giving it that deep look.

It terms of in game play, the Crawler is fairly good but it has a BS of 4 because its a daemon. I get it, but it limits its effectiveness, especially since the mortar is only 1D6. If it was 2D6 for targets with 10 models or something I'd be happier. The Entropy Cannon sponsons have been far more effective, killing a Redemptor Dreadnought in one game and killing a Hive Tyrant in another (on overwatch no less!). But I could just use a Predator for that, right?

I like the Plageburst Crawler, but it is an odd model both in look and in rules. I have taken it in all my games with Death Guard, and I find that teaming him with a Chaos Lord (re-roll 1s to hit) certainly helps.

I'll be back next time with one more "big ticket" model, hope you enjoyed this look at the Plagueburst Crawler.

Until Next Time...

Death Guard drones in all shapes and sizes

Hey there Chaos fanatics! Old Man Chaos has been busy at work in the laboratory churning out some goodies for the Death Guard. It has been drone city for me the past couple of weeks. So let us delay no longer... lets have a look...

First up is a second Bloat Drone that my wife got me for Christmas. I really like the model, and the multi-part kit is really cool- I like all the faceplate options and the weapons options.

Even though I think the Plaguespitter is the better weapon in-game (2 Plaguespitters for 2D6 auto-hits is better than one Blight-Launcher which is 6 hits but needs 4 to hit), I liked the look of the Blight Launcher- it looks heavy and being dragged around by the drone.

The armor plates are similar to the last Drone I did- Death Guard green with a wash of Earthshade all over it. It gives it that dull, dirty look which I really like (appropriate for Nurgle naturally). The weapons and spikes I did with my usual rusty metal look- Leadbealcher, with Ryza Rust orange with eathshade over it. This gives it a dull but rusty look.

The skin I did a little differently- I did Rakarth Flesh with several washes of violet to give it an unhealthy pallor. I then highlighted with Pallid Wych Flesh to give it some definition. I then used red washes around the boils/sores to complete the effect.

I do have to say that the Blight Drones usually do very well in my games. However, the random 2D6 sometimes goes bad on me (snake eyes!? Again!?). More often than not though, the Drones have been quite effective- fast, survivable and yet too much of a threat to ignore- driving my opponents mad in the process. And on more than once I had it deliberately explode, hurting the surrounding enemy forces- so even when it dies its a bastard. For me, these are a mandatory take, even if they are a bit pricey points wise.

Going from models that have become a mainstay to models I haven't used yet- the Myphitic Blight-Hauler (what a silly, yet trade-marked, name). These models are from the "easy to build" line. The model is nice enough, though it is very static and only goes together one way. Rules wise they sound pretty darn good, though to be at maximum effectiveness you need three of the Haulers.

I was only able to find two of the Haulers at first (visiting many stores near and far to boot). So I painted the two up (and I just got my hands on a third so I haven't painted it yet). I will try them soon, painted or not as I am really curious as what they can do.

Painting the models did go fairly quickly, as they are pretty straightforward to paint up. Again, the plates were Death Guard green with Balthazar Gold for the trim. The metal parts painted rusty as I described above.

The skin I did two different ways. One of them was Zandri Dust with a yellow wash over it (again a sickly yellow look). The other I did with Rakarth Flesh with flesh washes over it. They look like variations of my Bloat Drones.

Finally, as I am a crazy chaos converter, I felt the need to convert 1 of the Haulers. I used spawn bits around the mouth to give it a different look from its brother Hauler. It was just a little conversion but it helps differentiate the two Haulers.

So that's it for now. I'm working on a couple of other big ticket items so be sure to check back sometime next week for more.

Until next time...

A Double Header

Hey there Chaos friends! Old Man Chaos is back with a brief report on two battles that happened in my subterranean layer the other day. I had a three friends over and we played two 1,500 point games of 40K back to back. We were originally going to do 3 games, but we decided the two games were more than sufficient.

Game 1- Secure and Control... in Hell!

So the first game saw Brian and his Ultramarines against Nick and his brand spanking new Tyranids. Ah. Ultramarines versus Nids in the Ultramar segmentum- just as nature intended LOL. Nick won the roll for deployment and selected the map Hammer and Anvil. At first I thought it was a weird choice for Tyranids (starting so far opposite would mean a long walk to get to grips with the Ultramarines), but Nick had a pretty good plan as it turned out.

With both sides deployed, Brian had more units than Nick so Nick got plus one and won the roll off. Nick set to work immediately by sending in two Trygons followed by 2 units of Genesetalers. Brian had castled up around the objective in the middle of the table and left plenty of room in his backfield for the Trygon to tunnel in and deep strike. Meanwhile, Nick's Hive Tyrand and Swarm Lord left their side, running straight on towards the front- veering to the left flank. Suddenly Nick's deployment made a lot more sense- Brian was swiftly under siege.

Brian immediately used a command point to allow him to shoot at a unit that just arrived via deep strike. His shooting managed to kill a couple of Genestealers on the right flank. Unfortunately, that's about as lucky as Nick got on that flank. On the charge, Brian's overwatch whittled down the Genestealers further. By the time they got to combat there were only three of them, too little to damage Brian's right flank. Nick's left flank attack did better- his Trygon destroyed a Dreadnought and the Genestealers destroyed a squad of bikers. The Tyranids then consolidated into other Ultramarine units.

In the Ultramarine turn, Brian used his Ultramarine tactic to withdraw and fire. This left the bulk of Nick's Tyranids open to an intense barrage of both heavy firepower and a ton of bolters. With some great rolling, Brian whittled down the Tyranids, wiping out the Genstealers and one Trygon. On the other end of the battlefield, Brian deployed his Inceptors near Nick's objective, shooting the babysitting Genestealer squad. They survived, angry with their Broodlord right behind them.

In turn 2, Nick was rapidly running out of options. His lone Trygon was still in the fight, but was weakening rapidly. His only hope was the Swarm Lord and his flying Hive Tyrant. Sadly, he rolled to charge with the Hive Tyrant and fell short. Meanwhile he suffered a few wounds from overwatch. With his Hive Tyrant hanging out there, he would prove to be easy pickings. On the other side of the field, the Genstealers killed two Inceptors, but the third hung on.

In Brian's second turn, he wheeled his castle toward the left flank. He shot the incoming beasts to death, while also dispatching the Trygon. While he made some great 5+ saves, it was just the hail of lead that killed the beasts. The bulk of Nick's army had been destroyed at this point. The Inceptor on the other side killed all but one Genestealer, which promptly killed the last Inceptor.

Although he was out of options, Nick still had the Broodlord and a lone Genstealer. Nick had hopped to babysit on the objective behind the volcano. Unfortunately Nick's advance rolls stunk, and he couldn't make it. Brian then turned all of his heavy firepower on them at distance, slaying them. It was over, but Nick played to the bitter end.

Brian, who never played against Tyranids before said "It was epic. A heroic struggle against the xenos, and such a cunning opponent". Nick said that it was a great game and "We need more biomass". Nick also said it was the "hail of bolter fire" that did him in. As an observer, it was a blast of a game, but it all hinged on die rolls, as both sides had great strategy.

Game 2- The Relic.. and a grand return!

So game two was between me and Joe. I had decided to play my Death Guard for the first time in the new 8th edition. I still don't have all the new models, but it was time to give them a go. And no, at 1500 I didn't use Mortarion. My list included: Lord of Contagion, Plaguecaster, 3 squads of Death Guard with a Meltagun (two squads had Rhinos, the third on foot). I also had 10 poxwalkers, two Drones (with Plaguespitters), and Plague Crawler, and a Preadator with Auotcannon and Heavy Bolters.

Joe took his usual Dark Angels (though this was his first with the new codex. His force included 5 squads of Terminators, a Contemptor Dreadnought, and Azrael and Belial. I must admit that I was intimidated, as I didn't know how I was going to destroy so many Terminators. Yikes.

The mission was The Relic. Joe won the roll off for the deployment, and he decided on Search and Destroy. After placing our models, I won the roll off with a six, so I got to go first. I immediately set to work shooting at the terminators. The Crawler, which I had serious doubts about, did a good job killing a couple of terminators. My Bloat Drones raced to meet them, but still out of range of their 9" weapon. Joe's turn, all his terminators moved toward the objective. He took a lot of shots at my Drones, and their Disgustingly Resilient did a great job allowing them to shrug off a lot (though not all) of their wounds.

It became a war of attrition around that objective. My drones now took shots at the terminators, as did everything else. It was a slow grind, just whittling them down one at a time. I tried to shake up his plans but dropping my Lord of Contagion near his flank, in an attempt to draw off some Terminators. Sadly, the tactic didn't work, and the Lord of Contagion got killed quick enough by the Terminators.

As the game went on, I lost my Bloat Drones. But he was losing Terminators. I still had 21 Plague Marines ready to go, plus my vehicles. By turn three, I had killed his Dreadnought, Azrael, and scores of Terminators. Joe couldn't make a 2+ roll to save his life, and terminators died to massed bolter fire.

At the end, it came down to Belial. He had made it to the relic, with some terminators BEHIND him. It was unavoidable, but Belial was now the closest enemy target. While he endured a shit ton of firepower (and killing off my Plaguecaster), in the end it was case of a wall of lead, and Belial died.

At the end he had only 3 terminators left. He was near the relic, but I had like 19 Plague Marines, the Crawler, the Predator, two Combi Plasma Rhinos, and a handful of Poxwalkers. Joe said that he had to concede, as there was no way 3 terminators could hold off that firepower.

It was a bitterly fought contest, in my opinion. He paid for every inch he advanced, and in the end he just kept rolling two or three 1s for saves, killing off his terminators slowly but inexorably. Joe said "It was a good first time out with a new codex. I still think the key concept is unit synergy and next time I will push that synergy to the max".

The back to back games were a lot of fun. We had a lot of laughs, some snacks, and lots of gaming carnage. Next time I promise to take better pictures- I hadn't intended to do battle reports but that's OK. Next time I will do a better job of it.

Until Next Time