warhammer with Zail

I am not dead!

2011-12-30T10:45:00.001+11:00

Hi Lads

As you can tell i haven’t posted in a few days, well I am on a holiday at the moment! yay! but I will be back in a Day or two. So hold tight, more tacticas coming, tutorials and battle reports coming soon.

-Zail

Vulkan conversion (work in progress)

2011-12-27T11:36:00.001+11:00

I thought you guys might like to have a quick look at the Vulkan conversion. Obviously he is still in the works but he is coming along. I used parts form, Assault Marines, Space wolves, the commander box, Forgeworld salamander bits and the GW Vulkan model.

Ill get him painted and put him up soonish.

-Zail

Converted Chaos Chariot (MERRY CHRISTMAS!!)

2011-12-25T10:09:00.000+11:00

Hi Lads, For those of you in Australia and for those of you not in Australia MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! YYAAYY!!!

Also as i have no time to do a real post I thought I would quickly show you guys my converted Chaos Lord on a Chariot.

Now off to start my marathon of 4 Chrismas partys in one day!

Cheers Lads

-Zail

Annihilation Barge tactical review

2011-12-24T15:29:00.000+11:00

The Annihilation Barge in my opinion is probably the best vehicle in the codex. And this is why.

For 90 points you get something that can stop any dedicated transport in the game in its tracks. With 4 strength 7 re-roll able shots that gain 2 extra hits on the roll of a 6. This thing usually hits 6 times, with 4 shots! If you are shooting at a Rhino that’s going to equal at least one pen probably 2 and 1 glance. With a 4+ to hurt it, you are going to do some damage. Now it may be at -1 on the damage chart because it has no AP but with weight of fire it doesn’t even matter.

Now lets not forget its other gun, which could be a 2 shot strength 5 AP3 gun for taking out a Marine or it could be a 2 shot strength 6 Tesla.

Where these things really shine however is in their ability to put a huge amount of wounds onto just about anything. Take a squad of Assault Marines for example. This 90 point vehicle can generate an easy 5 wounds when it has moved 6 inches, if it hasn’t it can do 6-7. Not bat at all. Better yet can do the same amount of wounds to a Thunder Wolf unit.

Now if you take NemesorZahndrekh you can give anyone of your Barges tank hunter! Awesome!

4-6 strength 8 hitscan stop most things. As you can see I love these things, but don’t take my word on it. Play with at least 2 of them in your list and see how they pan out. I think you will be impressed.

-Zail

Painting a glow tutorial

2011-12-23T14:29:00.002+11:00

Hi Lads, today I thought I would show you how to make a glow effect on your models. You will need 3 paints. As I am doing blue I used Mordinan Blue, Ice Blue and Skull White.

You start by painting with the darkest colour where you want the source of the light to come from.

You then use a mix of the dark paint with a the same amount of the lighter shade. You repeat the process but you don’t go all the way to the edges.

Next you use just the lighter mixed with enough white so it appears almost white and apply it again but only on parts of the model.

Lastly you use just you middle shade paint (Ice Blue for me) and dry bush the colour on all around and in the glow area to make it blend.

Once this is done you highlight the rest of the model and in my case use some Black wash to town down and clean up the glow.

Salamander Tactical Squad with converted SGT

2011-12-22T11:21:00.002+11:00

I thought i would throw up this Tac squad I have finished for my Salamander force. I have a ML and a MM for this unit but they are yet to be painted! ..don’t worry the Necrons are still coming =)

(they have free hand painted skulls on the knees and war paint on their faces and helmets)

AOBR Salamander Dreadnought

2011-12-21T11:41:00.002+11:00

Whilst I am working away on a Wraith and glow tutorial I thought I would show you my Assault on Black Reach Dreadnought for my Salamanders. He is purely a suicide dropod Dread.

The Necrons so far

2011-12-20T21:01:00.001+11:00

I thought you guys might like to see how my Necrons are coming along as an army, well here is what I have finished so far.

1 Triarch Stalker

6 Wraiths

9 Warriors

I have 3 Annihilation Barges, 1 more Stalker, 20 Immortals, 1 Ghost Ark and Nemesor Zahndrek still to complete.

Triarch Stalker in Ice Blue

2011-12-20T09:01:00.003+11:00

As my Necron army is an ice theme, I thought you may like to see how the Stalker from the tutorial looked after i painted it in the same colours as the Wraiths and Warriors. Later today i will post the list i am planning on using with this new addition.

Scouts Work in progress

2011-12-19T10:50:00.001+11:00

I have always loved scouts… except their dam heads! They look ridiculous in my opinion, so I bought some really cool heads from .pig iron productions . They make the scouts look a little Halo-ish, which I really like. I also hate how they always seem to have the same pose, so I got out the green stuff and remodelled some arms.

These scouts are going to be a part of my Salamander army. They will be rocking the battle field in a Landspeeder Storm with twin linked MultiMelta thanks’ to Vulkan. The idea is to scout move 24 inches, Turn one charge with the Fist and MultiMelta a different target. If done right I may be able to take out 2 tanks on turn 1 with this unit. Rocking out at 165 points, not a bad investment. If I end up going second I can always deep strike down and Melta stuff, or just hang back to claim last minute objectives.

Dante Conversion!

2011-12-17T16:13:00.005+11:00

Whilst I am busy away working on the Necrons I thought I would share my Dante conversion. Made out of the Astoraths jet pack and a kit bash from the Sanguinary Guard. Its probably the easiest Dante conversion out. I will add a painted Sang Guard for you to see so you can compare the difference.

A lot of people think Dante isn’t really a worthy choice for a HQ slot. In a highly competitive field they may be right. That said some of the most fun I have had playing my Angels is with Dante. HE brings some very useful tools to the table. Throw him in a RAS squad with 2 melta and they don’t scatter!, make sure there is a priest in there and that can be 1 hard to move squad. Taking away an opponent’s WS,W,A and I can be huge when facing some of the melee monsters out there.

More importantly is how awesome Dante and a squad of Sanguinary guard look on the battle field. When ever I take Dante I always take some Sanguinary guard. For 220 points you get 1 Power Fist, 1 Infernos Pistol,4 Master crafted Power Weapons, a 2+ Save, Jump packs and! They are Scoring.

Bottom line. I think Dante and Sang Guard are good fun and if used well they can be semi competitive.

-Zail

Triarch Stalker Tactical review

2011-12-16T09:47:00.001+11:00

I have read lately quite a few negative opinions on the Necron Triarch stalker that seem to be based purely on speculation as not that many people have actually used it in game. Having played with them in most my lists over the last week I thought I would give a quick rundown of what I think they can do, both the good and the bad.

For those unfamiliar with the Triarch Stalker it is an open topped armour 11 walker, with a heat ray that acts like two multi-meltas or a heavy flamer. What makes it interesting however is the quantum shielding boosting it to AV 13 and the ability that whatever target it hits gets ‘marked’, allowing any other Necron unit shooting at the same target to be twin linked. Now the obvious use of this is to either ensure the death of your chosen vehicle target either through the multi meltas or the twin linked fire or shoot it at a large squad and then fire into it with now twin linked immortals/warriors.

The downside to this vehicle is the cost and the fact it only has one weapon meaning it is easy to make it ineffective. The thing that people overlook though is just how hard av13 walker can be to kill in combat. The ability to tie up any unit that makes it too your lines after you have shot a couple of times can be game changing. Multiple time I have delayed an assault marine squad or a unit of grey hunters from crushing through my lines, giving me time to either bring my counterattack unit (wraiths generally) into position or get my shooty elements further away.

Triarch Stalkers are great, they don’t fit into every list but they have fantastic synergy with some of our best units. They make telsa immortals incredible! And they offer even more AV 13 saturation to go along with your command and annihilation barges. I highly recommend using them and I can definitely see their place in certain competitive lists.

Specks.

Necron Wraith Tactical Review

2011-12-14T12:26:00.002+11:00

After play testing with the Wraiths in 5 games I feel I have a good idea on how they perform. I will start with the bad.

Wound generation, it’s a no brainer but at toughness 4 with a 3+ save they want to stay away from anything that can dish out a bunch of wounds in a turn. Boltguns and short range fire isn’t a problem, Its Dark Eldar Venoms and Psycannon, Storm Bolters that we hate. Also Grey Knight Auto Cannon Dreads. They reliably take out 1 Wraith base per turn. That’s pretty much it for the bad.

Now what Wraiths excel at is denying charging opportunity to your shooters. We know Warriors and Immortals fold in combat. With a unit of Wraiths near the centre of your army it becomes an issue to move your assaulters too close. Remember that Wraiths move 12 and ignore all terrain so they will always have an 18inch charge range.

Let’s say a unit of 10 Assault Marines move with 16inchs of the Wraiths in an attempt to clear some Immortals off the table. When assaulting with your whip coils positioned correctly only 4 Marines should be able to strike 1^st (If that but let’s be generous). The Marines will get 8 attacks, 4hits and 2 wounds with probably no wounds getting through but let’s give them 1 anyway. The Wraiths hit back with 24 attacks, 12 hits, 10 wounds and 2 rending, 4-5 marines dead. The remaining 6 hit back with a PF and 5 normal guys. 10 attacks, 5 hits, 2.5 wounds 1 more wound on a Wraith with a different equipment type. And then the fists, 2 attacks, 1 hit, 1 wound, Wraiths make 1 save. Marines lose combat by 2-3 reliably!

Another great use of Wraiths in to hunt Long Fangs, Devastators or anyone who likes to sit in the back field. Pair them up with 2 Command Barges and your opponent is going to have hard time with their target priority, when they have 3 painful units jammed down their throat.

Another upside to these bad boys is to use them to soak up fire. Now they aren’t cheap, but a lot of our firepower is. If your opponent is firing everything he has got at the Wraiths with multi wounds and 3+ inv then they are leaving your fire power to reap havoc on their line. And Wraiths will take a lot of fire to drop. Not to mention the cover save they will give to your infantry.

OK so this post has gotten a little big! The real message here is Wraiths are awesome! Use them.

-Zail

(man I could on about Wraiths for pages)

Necron Wraith Squad Complete!

2011-12-13T10:48:00.003+11:00

And here you have it. The whole Wraith squad finished! The squad has 3 Whip Coils, 1 Partical Caster and 2 naked. I hope you like them. I shall do a tutorial soon.

(The 3 in front are the new additions)

Bigmek Conversion by Warhammer In Progress

2011-12-12T16:03:00.001+11:00

I was emailed the other by warhammer in progress blog. And this particular model jumped out at me. It’s a very cool Bigmek conversion. Definitely worth sharing! (and consider the wheel idea stolen at some point)

Anti Necron DoA List

2011-12-12T10:00:00.001+11:00

I have seen around the internet people asking for some anti Necron lists. As a Blood Angel player I think we have what it takes to make the Necrons cry. Now there are always exceptions ie. Bad dice, bad player but I think with the new Crons and the evil Grey Knights we may see some more all Jump pack Blood Angels armies.

DoA List and why it should work.

Librarian + JP (Lance + str 10)

Troop

Assault marine x10 Melta x2 PF

Assault marine x10 Flamer, Melta PW + MB

Elite

Sanguinary Priest + JP

Honour Guard + Melta x4

=1200

I will start with a cron AV 13 spam list. One of the Necrons biggest strengths is their ability to wound gen the Christ of a unit, what they don’t have is a huge amount of AP 1-2 and only a little more of AP 3. A DoA list with 2 Priest can absorb a huge amount of Cron fire power, whilst closing the gap between the lines quicker than a Cron can handle. The only real threat would be the Doomsday Ark.

Now with the Angels deep striking shananagans they can drop and lance/Melta most if not all the biggest threats. Open top + AP1 and 2d6 pen rolls equals a lot of exploding crons. Any troops they have in an AV13 spam list will probably be warriors in Ghost Arks and it should only be 2 small units. When assaulting with only 5 marines you should still make short work of the poor robots.

The biggest issues when facing a mech spam cron army will be keeping you priest alive when the crons try to sweep over with the Command Barges. It’s because of the Barges that you will need 2 Priests. If 2 barges sweep over one unit the odds of them rolling 1 6 with 6 attacks is very likely so always have your back up! The Honour guard squad is best back up I can think of as it absorbs the priest’s kill point and you get a massive amount of melta!. Once they sweep it should be fairly easy with amount of melta in the army to drop the CCB .

The Str 10 power on the Librarian will help you assault and rip open any of the tanks + Instant kill any annoying HQs they have running around once you have taken the CCB.

So the strategy should be Drop, Pop and Assault. This type of list should eat a cron foot army too =P

I will add a spider, scarab counter soon.

Cheers

-Zail

Triarch Stalker Tutorial

2011-12-11T10:43:00.001+11:00

Hi guys, I promised to show you how to build a Triarch Stalker so here it is!

Step 1

Buy a Ghost Ark kit and make sure you have the necessary tools. You will need:

Plastic Glue
Super Glue
1 File
Clippers
Hobby Knife
Hobby Saw
Green Stuff
Ghost Ark Kit

Step 2

Follow the normal GW instructions from step 2 to step 5 (when at step 5 do NOT glue on the 6 thrusters. Everything else is ok to glue on. After you have have completed the steps you should have this:

Step 3

Next you need to cut out six leg pieces. You then need to saw the large round hole at the think end of the leg in half and file of all the parts you don’t want on you legs. Below is a before and after picture.

(I ended up even cutting off the top hook part of the leg, you will see what I mean if you scroll down to the finished picture)

Step 4

Repeat this 5 more times. You will need to have 6 legs. When you cut off the bottom part of the leg you my notice holes in the plastic, just fill these with greenstuff and file off later.

Step 5

Just under the driver are 3 square boxes that the thruster were suppose to go in. If you cut out the top of these parts your legs will slot right in.

(the big white spot on the big square is where the cut is made on each square)

Step 6

Next you want to put a layer of super glue into a square you want to add a leg. Then put in greenstuff, then more super glue. (you want to do each leg separately or your glue will dry up as you are placing your first leg)

Step 7

Squish in your leg and make sure you position it into a place that looks right for you. Continue this process until your six legs are in position and the stalker is standing how you want it to.

Step 8

Cut out 2 more legs. These ones you can cut how ever you please. these legs will be going on the front of the stalker to complete the spider image. Here is how I did mine.

(A leg I cut up to be glued on next to the Stalkers eye)

Step 9

For the last step you just need to make up the Heatray, as i have no idea what a Heatry looks like I made my own. I made the gun up out of 4 Deathmark guns. I also added a few bits to make it look a bit cleaner. This part is really up to you. I am sure you can think of some cool ways to make a Heatray!

Finished Product

If you have any questions please ask the in the comments section and I will answer them as best I can!

Cheers Lads!

-Zail

3 Converted Wraiths

2011-12-10T10:32:00.001+11:00

Today I am going to make tutorial on how to build a Triarch Stalker. Unlike the other Stalker that Specs made this one will be for the ice blue themed Necrons. So while you are waiting I thought you may like to see how the Wraiths are coming along!

The Wraith on the right is the one you have already seen, the middle and the left you have not! i hope you like. I may put up a tutorial on how to build the Wraiths as well... if you want one.

Necrons vs Mephiston Angels Battle Report

2011-12-09T13:43:00.001+11:00

Check out my 1st attempt at a battle report, let me know how you think I could make it better.

Battle Report Here

-Zail

Mephiston Conversion

2011-12-09T11:22:00.001+11:00

I made this Mephiston model about 6 months ago and i never got around to taking any pictures. So here he is!.

He is made from Astoraths torso and head and the Death Company box. His cloak came from a fantasy Marauder. (i am not sold on his paint job, i am wondering if I should strip him and start again.)

cheers

-Zail

Ice blue Necron converted Warriors

2011-12-08T09:20:00.001+11:00

Here are some Necron warriors I have finished. Now if you can’t tell I am going for an ice themed army. The idea is that the tomb world they were on has frozen over and they have just woken up. I want to build a display board of the crons coming out of an ice cave as if they have just woken up!

I have also chopped up the legs of some warriors to make them walk and be a little more dynamic as appose to the squat pose that makes them all look like they are trying to take a dump!.

More coming soon.

-Zail

Converted Triarch Stalker Finished

2011-12-07T09:12:00.001+11:00

As promised, here is my brothers Triarch Stalker painted and ready for some twin linked Tesla Immortal goodness. Later on today i will post his 1750 10x AV 13 spam list!

I must say, he has done a pretty good job!

Converted Triarch Stalker

2011-12-06T11:46:00.001+11:00

Whilst i have been busy with the wraiths my brother has been converting up a Triarch Stalker. Made entirely from a ghost ark box it was easier than it looks. If you look at the picture in the codex it’s not too far off. If you read the fluff it’s pretty much spot on! I believe it is described as a gigantic mechanical spider. He is in the process of painting it so when it’s done i will make sure i take a picture.

Necron converted Wraith painted!

2011-12-06T09:38:00.001+11:00

So here is the finished wraith! I am fairly happy with the result. Now to finish the other five.

Converted Necron Wraith

2011-12-05T12:52:00.001+11:00

Necron Wraiths as a unit in the new codex are just pure awesome! So as GW in all their wisdom decided to not make them available on release I had to make my own! So here is a picture of the 1st completed model. Made from wire, plasitcard tubes of various sizes and the Lych Guard box it’s a pretty easy conversion. I will post the other 5 tomorrow.

Cheers!