Fantasy 'Ard Boyz Report!

On Saturday I played in the Fantasy 'Ard Boyz tournament.  Here's my list:

Grey Seer on Bell, Potion of Toughness

Grey Seer, Power Scroll, Foul Pendant

Chieftain BSB, Enchanted Shield, 4+ ward save

Engineer w/ Doomrocket

Plague Priest on Furnace, Plague Censer, Shadow Magnet Trinket, Dragonbane Gem

50 Clanrats

50 Slaves

50 Slaves

30 Stormvermin (Storm Banner)

40 Plague Monks (Plague Banner)

5 Gutter Runners (slings and poison)

HPA

HPA

Doomwheel


I wanted to take a third HPA but I don't have the model.  The Doomwheel has always performed well for me despite what the Internet says, even though in the second game it nearly killed my HPA (he passed all his Regen saves).  I took some advice from Rhellion and improved my original list.  I disregarded some advice to mixed results.  I took the plague censer and though it did put a wound on an big goblin spider thing, I don't think it's worth it.  I didn't take warpstone spikes on the HPAs and it would have come in a lot of use in the first game.  This list was unusual for me in that it has very little shooting.  I did that because of the wonky scenarios.

During the course of the games, my plague furnace got charged by a lone pegasus Paladin with Heroic Killing Blow.  He only hit once, and of course rolled a 6 to wound, taking it out in one shot.  The Monks then pounded him into the ground in revenge, following through to a unit of bowmen, wiping them out, then charging into more knights, but the game ended before we could see the results.  My Monks also took out an Arachnarok spider in one round.  I never managed to get the 13th spell off, my power dice were always really low.  The one time I tried, I used the Power Scroll and rolled a perfect straight which still meets the casting value, but it was dispelled.

Now it's on to the semis, I am going to re-evaluate my list and work in a frenzy this next month to get ready.

Magnetic Screaming Bell Painted

At long last it's complete!  I have not painted the Plague Furnace options yet, but that's coming down the pipeline.  Here's the link to the tutorial on how to magnetize the Screaming Bell/Plague Furnace.

Truth be told, I'm least satisfied with the Seer.  His mantle color is too similar to his fur.  I tried making one a cool gray while the other is a warm gray, but that didn't work.  I may go back over it, but probably not.  Sometimes I just want to be done, especially when I have 100+ Slaves/Clanrats/Stormvermin still in the painting queue.  His handlebars don't quite fit around the yoke, so i have to file them down a bit to make him fit better.

I'm the most proud of the Bell itself.  It's a great bronze color and I'm proud of my ectoplasmic fade on the clapper.

The base is also pretty boring but the model is so big you can't really see it.  It's also usually surrounded by Clanrats so it doesn't matter to me.

Fantasy 'Ard Boyz Skaven Rough Draft List- Need Input

Here's what I've come up with so far.  This is a rough draft for Saturday and I'd like some input based on the missions and what I've got.

Lords:

Grey Seer on Bell
Potion of Toughness (I find he gets chopped up on the first round of combat, this should help with that)

Heroes:

Engineer with Doomrocket

Plague Priest on Furnace
Level 2
Plague Censer
Ironcurse Icon
Shadow Magnet Trinket

Chieftain- BSB
Great Weapon
Talisman of Protection (the 4++ one)

Core:

50 Clanrats
Shields
Full Command
Poison Wind Mortar

30 Stormvermin
Full Command
Shields
Storm Banner
Warpfire Thrower

51 Skavenslaves
Musician

6 Giant Rats, 1 Packmaster

Special:

40 Plague Monks
Full Command

3x Jezzails, Sharpshooter

5 Gutter Runners
Slings and Poison

Rare:

Hellpit Abomination with Warpstone Spikes

Hellpit Abomination with Warpstone Spikes

Doomwheel

Plagueclaw Catapult


Total:  3000 Points

This list isn't ideal, but it's based on what I have.  I am flexible on some of the things I can bring.  Here's what I have in addition to what's listed that I can use to tailor my force.

Engineer/Grey Seer (on foot)
Warlord/Chieftain
Plague Priest
Extra clanrats/slaves (can adjust any unit's numbers, possibly create a new one)
10 Stormvermin
Warp Lightning Cannon
At least 8 Rat Ogres
Bunch more Giant Rats
Warpfire Thrower/Poisoned Wind Mortar

I'm worried that my clanrat and plague priest units may be too large.  I may shrink the Clanrats down to 40 and the Plague Monks down to 35.

Hopefully I'll be able to focus this list and have a solid one by Saturday.

New Necron/Tau Leaks?

I don't usually post this kind of stuff but I haven't seen anyone else picking up on this.  I won't quote my source just yet until I see the usual rumormongers post it.

Anyway, here are some updated Necron Rumors.

Necrons will be getting some new plastic kits.
Warriors will be different, but still the same.
Destroyers will be modified from how they are now, but still familiar.
There will be some all-new never before seen models.
Tomb Spyders will be changed, but still somewhat the same.
Flayed Ones will be different than they are now.
Gauss weapons will work differently than they do now, but still have a similar mechanic.
Some stuff is better, other stuff is not so great.
They'll be released either this year or next.

And here's the Tau ones:

Some of the guns will be similar, but some will be different.
Kroot are still in.
Vespids still suck.

Caution When Assembling the GK Termies

As I mentioned before, I got to build the GK Terminator/Paladin set for my LGS.  I finished them up this afternoon and here are some warnings and notes on assembling them.

First off, the instructions are flat-out wrong on several cases.  The instructions tell you certain torsos go with certain legs but they're wrong.  The fiddly bits on the front of the torso such as purity seals, chains and bones get in the way on certain pairings.  Furthermore at least one of the arms doesn't fit properly on the body at all with the shoulder pad and Storm Bolter.  You should glue all the torsos together front to back, then test each one individually with the legs to see which go best together.

Also, be sure to dry fit!  It will help you make sure your arms are glued properly if you know which ones fit where and in which poses.  GW's figures are getting more and more complicated (which is good aesthetically) but it makes modeling a bit more difficult.  Always dry fit before gluing.

Also you're allowed to take two heavy weapons per 5 guys but the kit only has one heavy weapon arm (I'm pretty sure it didn't anyway, now that I returned the leftover sprues I realize I didn't really look through the extra arms, but I'm fairly confident that there's only one).  It would be very easy to convert a second out of a leftover Storm Bolter arm, but it's kind of annoying that you have to do so.

Now for the good.  There are a ton of options.  I believe that every single close combat option is on the sprues (yes, there are 5 pairs of Falchions).  There are also a ton of leftover bits.  If you're creative you could probably get another box of regular Terminators and convert them up into GKs (you'd be short shoulderpads but there's enough leftover heads, weapons and tilting shields to make up for it).

Also, these kits are packed with detail.  You will be very busy painting these guys.

Building the GK Paladin/Terminator Kit

So in addition to the Dreadknight, I get to build the GK Terminator/Paladins.  I'm going to be building them all differently for proper wound allocation shenanigans, but I just wanted to show you all how much stuff comes on the sprue.  These sprues are packed with bits, and every item is covered in detail.  Remember a while back when Space Hulk came out and we were all blown away with the level of detail and character on each Terminator?  It seems like the GK kits are the scions of that style.  I'm going to start building them tomorrow, here's what I'm thinking:

1 Apothecary
1 with Psycannon
1 with Incinerator
1 with Force Stave
1 with Banner

I really want to use the Falchions though, so if anyone can make a better suggestion for me on how to build them that would be appreciated.  This is mostly for display purposes so competitiveness isn't really the issue here.  Also if you have any questions about what's on the sprues let me know.

Oh, and for magnetizing purposes it should be pretty much like magnetizing your standard Terminator.

The Difficulty in Magnetizing a Dreadknight

I got to build the Dreadknight for my LGS.  While building it, I considered magnetizing the weapon options.  Since it's not mine I didn't do it, but if you want to do it for yourself there's a couple of major difficulties.  It's possible but very difficult.  Seems like a lot of GW kits these days are like that.

First off there's only two gun bodies with three options.  You have to magnetize all three barrels and ammo feeds which is a chore into itself.  Then you have to magnetize the gun body onto the arm which is complicated as illustrated above.  The servo arm locks into the gun, which in turn runs through the ammo feeds.  This is not a task for beginners.

Fortunately the hands are easier.  Make sure you set the magnet inside the arm before you glue it together.  It includes two right hands with three options.  It is possible to just magnetize the fingers on so you can use all three options.  I didn't glue it in because the hex arrangement fits pretty well without a magnet.

There's a piece that I can't identify.  I read through the instructions 3 times but I couldn't find where piece 75 (in the middle) goes.  It's not listed in the extras like the included purity seals and Terminator Honors. It looks important.  If anyone knows please let me know.

I would love to paint this thing up for the store but there's no way I could do it in a reasonable timeframe.  So tonight it leaves my hands but if you have any questions about the sprues themselves I'll be glad to answer them.  I might be able to get ahold of the GK squads, both the power armor and termies.