Jain Zar and Drazhar

 It’s taken a while to get my finances back in order to do some real hobby investment, but now I’m ready to start building up a set of “studio” armies and really expand the channel.

I’d like to introduce the new style Drazhar and Jain Zar!

With them now ready to duel, I’ve been hard at work building the background for the slowly growing Drukhari force and in a change for me, instead of leaning into the Grim Dark I’m going with a more comical bent.

I’m excited to try out Drazhar, even if he is facing off against a character in my previous Ulthwe force.

Old Banshees Newly Painted

A couple months ago I finally got around to working on some new (2006) banshees for my Ulthwe warhost to update my squad.

With a bit of green stuff I strengthened the base and gave the models some height. I also made sure that the arm placement kept every mode in the unit looking looking slightly different. At the time I started the project I thought it could get my motivation charged up so I could complete the new Spiritseer behind them.

I started to paint them and in a couple days made some pretty good progress (for me).

Then it happened. Before the unit was fully done GW announced new plastic Banshees and a new Jain Zar. My motivation was gone, for weeks. But then, GW announced they would only be in a boxed set I can’t really afford right now. So with months to wait until they are released and the book out now I got off my ass and put on the finishing touches.

And now they are prepared for war, and inspired a tweak to the way I paint power weapons to give them some punch. I’ll do a seperate article about which Exarch powers I’ll use for which units and why.

Kabalite Bomb Squad Completed!

Well I finally got around to finishing this massive unit of Kabalites.  Oddly enough I was working on a Corsair conversion and wanted to buy six Splinter Cannons.  This resulted in the bitz company accidentally sending me 20 Kabalite Warriors.  I offered to send them back but they told me to keep them since it was an error on their end.  For about seven years they have just been legs on bases... but a few months ago I got off my butt and got around to putting them all together.  While having one token Kabalite unit for Ynnari is okay, I feel like they deserve the same kind of potential game play as my Harlequins.  That means I need to start focusing on completing the Drukhari units I have unbuilt and unpainted.  I just got one large step closer with this unit:

At 20 warriors strong my aim is to use the webway stratagem to pop this unit in at about 15 inches from the enemy and unload.  15 inches is because my paint scheme really fits Obsidian Rose, and since there's no fluff about a specific Kabal working with Ulthwe or Midnight Sorrow I'm going to move forward with that as my Kabal.  With two shredders in the unit I might be able to get lucky and pack two or three reliable kills to the units firepower, compared to my pitiful rolling for poison wounds.  With the way I roll for poison weapons I might as well only wound on a 5+.

At this point I still have ten more Kabalites to assemble and paint, an Archon, a Succubus, and three bikes to paint.  At some point I need to grab three more bikes, and one more court member, and then I can look at picking up two more Raiders.  From there I'll have a functional battalion from a Kabal to build off of, and a patrol of Wyches.  Technically I can make a Vanguard of Incubi and Mandrakes as well, but I much prefer my Mandrakes as one menacing unit rather than two small squads.  It's just a way of farming CP while my force grows.

While I like the idea of a fluffy raiding force with a coven splitting the difference I am not enthused about the amount of work it will take to get there since a coven doesn't play well with Ynnari.  Every time I try and build a 2k force around a raiding force I find myself padding out the basics so much that the force really feels like it suffers against too many army types.  The prevalence of Knights in particular is a worry for that type of classic force.  Don't get me wrong, Knights are not a weak point for the army, but it certainly is for the raiding force, because it emphasises a splitting of resources that dilutes the type of focused list that really competes with knights.

Wyches Complete

As I slowly disassemble my Corsair force and tweak the models I have completed a 10 model Wych squad:

I'm happy with how they came out considering they were recovered from being corsair conversions I made some years ago.  In their revamp I decided to give them a feature forearm in red to acknowledge their allegiance to and worship of Ynnead.  I'm not certain what cult I'll run them as, but as a start I'm noticing with almost 30 Kabalites and 10 Wyches painted, 5 Incubi, 10 Mandrakes, painted, and a couple Archons and Coterie just about ready to roll I'm feeling both like I don't need any more infantry, but also that I could use a small contingent of a Haemonculus coven.  What I really notice, however, is that I very much lack vehicle support for these units.  I only have a Venom and a Raider.  I think I need 2 more raiders, and then Ravagers and at least one more Venom.  It's a daunting future just to make them feel like a cohesive force.  At the very least, if I'm running Ynnari I can go nuts mixing and matching them since they lose their obsessions anyway.

I'm looking forward to pushing some fun lists forward.

How Often Do You Revamp Your Army?

With the crash of Corsairs from Forgeworld I'm thinking they'll be shifted to Kill Team at some future point.  Thus I'm slowly adapting mt old units that will never again see the table to play other roles.  This means I can find new ways to expand out existing units, such as below:

The two flamers were part of the original squad, and when the unit had templates they were an ideal way to make the unit a surprise impact squad that could spring out of a transport and lay waste to a massive infantry squad.  In 8th I haven't been able to fire the flamers a single time either on the charge or when being charged.  With the reduction in cost of the Fusion guns reduced along with the overall cost of the Storm Guardians it seems like a more tempting choice.

Fire Dragons still feel vastly too expensive, but this gives me an option to deep strike a massive unit and stretch it out enough so that the bulk of the unit can do something helpful like hold an objective, while these two models are stretched out to be close enough to add some potent firepower to a vulnerable target without wasting a ton of points.  With the 1-2 punch of Discipline of the Black Guardians and Celestial Shield they can provide an unexpectedly devastating hit, and then be surprisingly tough to shift.  If you somehow drop Protect on them at the same time a unit that is positioned well can become a nightmare to deal with, and one that your opponent never conceived could give them issues when overlooking your army at the start of the game.

All that said, I can switch out as I see fit, and I accomplished this by revamping an old unit to something I can make the most of now, the same way I scrapped two old bodyguard conversions to become Swooping Hawks again.  In some ways it just feels incredibly exciting to find new uses out of classic models I hadn't been able to run in what feels like forever.  It's bringing the fun back.

Ulthwe Family Photo

It's been a long time since I did one of these, a single photo of my whole craftworld army:

This shot realistically covers over 25 years of collecting.  Ulthwe has kept along with me through a lot in my life, including a bout with cancer in which I sold off nearly all my models to help pay my medical bills.

Other units have been retired like the original Eldrad, but the first model I ever purchased is still there and still used.

Here's the inventory of the photo:
50 Guardian Defenders with 5 weapon platforms
Autarch
24 Storm Guardians
10 Howling Banshees
Jain Zar
10 Striking Scorpions
Karandras
8 Rangers
8 Warp Spiders
6 Fire Dragons
16 Warlocks
3 Farseers
Eldrad Ulthran
1 Avatar
20 Dire Avengers
10 Dark Reapers
Maugen Ra
Yvraine
Yncarne
Visarch
6 Windriders
3 War Walkers
Skyrunner Warlock
Skyrunner Farseer
Skyrunner Autarch
3 Vyper Jetbikes
2 Night Spinners
3 Warp Hunters
2 Fire Prisms
Webway Gate
Star Striker (unique conversion)
2 Falcons
3 Hornets
4 Wave Serpents
2 Hemlocks
2 Crimson Hunters
Crimson Hunter Exarch
Nightwing
Phoenix Bomber
Vampire
Scorpion
Cobra
Void Spinner (unique conversion)
Storm Serpent (unique conversion)
Lynx
Support Weapon Battery
Autarch with Wings
6 Shadow Spectres
10 Wraithguard
6 Wraithguard with D-scythes
Spiritseer
7 Wraithblades
2 Bonesingers
7 Wraithblades with axes
Wraithlord
Wraithseer
Skathach Wraithknight
2 Wraithknights
2 Revenant Titans
Phantom Titan

I highly recommend people have a bit of fun and put their largest army out all at once and see how massive your collection has grown.  One day I'd love to use the force all at once, though I doubt I'll ever be able to.

Harlequin thoughts, and the Unplayable Webway Gate

With the release of the new Harlequins codex I picked up the stunning new Webway gate. With a few extra models painted and the gate I completed my Harlequin force and added them up to a surprising 2500 pts exactly! It's a massive allied force to my Ulthwe warhost.

I've gotten in a few games with them, tabling an Imperial Soup army consisting of Greyknights and Gulliman. I tabled them in turn 4. An opponent using 1ksons conceded halfway through his shooting phase on turn 1 as I played the 2 CP Stratagem to get them -1 to hit, on top of the psychic power.

For people excited to try out the "Great Harlequin"Stratagem... I've found it overpriced for its effect. I expect in future games I'll skip it and make use of the CPs in game. If it had a more profound effect, or only cost a single CP I'd reconsider and use it again.

Sky Weavers with Haywire Cannons are surprisingly versatile and I highly recommend them.  Neuro Disruptors are still disappointing and should wound on a 2+ against infantry.

One of the things I did in these games is test out the Webway Gate. It's a beautiful model, but it's rules are a hot mess. These are the problems and solutions as I see them -

Issues:

1) Asuryani and Drukhari do not ave access to gate stratagems.

Give them access to generic versions.

2) deployment for gate is too restrictive.

Reduce distance from other terrain features to 1" rather than 3" and reduce the 12" distance from enemy deployment to 3", as it becomes all but impossible to actually place on most boards.

3) deployed units are stranded with no protection and are unlikely to contribute.

Allow units to move after deploying as if they disembarked from a transport.


4) gate has no use beyond first or second turn as it provides no cover.

Make gate offer aura of protection, +1 to save, for units wholly within 3"


5) it's too easy to cheaply prevent large models like Wraithknight from entering play with a single cheap model.

Instead of deploying "wholly within" 3" change the rule so that all deployed models must be within 3", this forcing an opponent to have a tough choice about how they're willing to stop you deploying.


No single one of these changes is really sufficient to make the gate attractive. It really needs all 5 to make it viable for play.

Flying Mote: Complete

back when I was working on my Vampire I had a lot of spare Acrylic rod, so I thought about how I could finally complete a Flying Mote I had dreamed of adding to my Aeldari table as terrain for some time. I started working on the Mote over a year ago and put it aside. There were moments I almost abandoned it because I worried I wasn't going to do it right, but now I convinced myself to work on it and I'm very happy with the results!

The starting place:

From the top down there's a craft "coaster", a large styrofoam cone with three small foam cones attached with toothpicks, pva, and wall patching putty. I drilled through the large cone to fit large clear acrylic rod. At the bottom of the base I glued two thick foam discs together and drilled through the centre to fit the rod. I used putty to strengthen the fit of the rod and hold it steady. Once dried I glued that to a Dinner Plate sized craft coaster. I then chipped away at the foam to get it most of the way to the shape I wanted, carved some lines in the cones like areas eroded from rain, and then lathered it all with PVA glue. Once dried I was able to spray primer it without it eating the foam. After that it's all about painting it to taste, and adding some of my basing kit stuff to taste. I looked up images of "flying motes" to get some visual inspiration for the painting. Here's the final product:

I was incredibly happy with this piece, and I think it should be fun to have a piece of terrain that realistically only Fly units can get up to it during a game (or a unit like Reivers with their grappling hooks). 

Thank Ynnead, My Hornets are Done!

With the release of the 8th edition codex I finally finished one of those thorn in my side units that had been hanging over my head for some time, the Ulthwe Hornet squadron.  Oddly I'm not even that crazy to use them in a game, I just wanted them painted so I didn't have to think about them anymore.

I'm happy with how they've come out and at some point I will give them a go on the field to see if they still have the punch they once had in prior iterations.  But, for the mean time, they're done and I can now move on to the model tweaks I have to do to convert models to be 8th edition compatible.

Engines of Vaul Complete Set

It all started with me getting a broken Cobra kit from FW and them sending me a replacement hull.  It triggered an idea in my head about creating conversions for the Storm Serpent and Void Spinner.  Once I saw an old Night Spinner kit go up on ebay I knew I had to do it.  Now that I finished the Scorpion, over 3 years after this whole project started, I have now completed the fourth and final Engine of Vaul.  As far as I know I'm the only person with all four Engines of Vaul in 40k scale.  It still surprises me that FW hasn't released kits of these on their own.  They seem like low hanging fruit.  In the mean time, Enjoy:

I'm pretty happy with the two converted kits, though I may bring in the rear fins.  I'm not certain yet.  That said I certainly feel like a burden has been lifted now that these are completed and the project as a whole is no longer hanging over my head.

Another Aeldari Unit

I've been slowly getting to some of the units I've had kicking around that I really wanted to finish and get out of the way.  In this case it's one of the most beautiful units in the game... Mandrakes.  These models were originally made in metal, and they did not fare well in the transition to finecast, predominantly because their feet are such a thin and frail connection to the base, so they consistently break at the feet.  In addition some of the weapons are extremely thin and removing thicker flash can break them.

With 8th allowing Keyword Aeldari and no real reason to build to a deeper keyword right now it's opened up the units I can take.  In addition the rules for Mandrakes are quite sexy.  Having them painted means my Ulthwe force can benefit from a thematic game wherein the warp is being abused and Mandrakes can represent an Aeldari style lesser daemon that isn't affiliated with Slaanesh.  In their 5th edition book they were daemons.

In the hands of a better painter I think the unit would look absolutely gorgeous, but for my own skill level I was very happy with them and feel like they captured the feel I wanted them to have.

One thing you'll note is that similar to my Ulthwe Craftworld units no two models are exactly the same.  For this squad I made sure their weapons were more varied, and I used a piece from a Venom to make sure the Night Fiend is properly recognisable in the squad.

The GW Technical blood has felt very appropriate for the Dark Eldar units, but none moreso than the Mandrakes, who I wanted to be if not bathed in it then definitely as stained as a butcher's apron.  As for the bases, I made sure all of them had tufts of dying grass to thematically represent plants dying in their proximity (similar to what I did with Ynnead).

Reinforcing My Ynnari

I've finished some long term projects.  The first is my second Hemlock, painted roughly 4 years after painting the first, and I've had it for over 6 months so it's about time I got to it.  I'm happy with how similar they look.  I'm hoping they are good in the new edition because I love the concept behind them.

Otherwise I've finally finished off the Incubi squad I started in 2012.  They are lead by Drazhar (whom I converted to look like the 5th edition codex artwork).  There is also a Klaivex with Banner (Crimson Moon Temple).  I love the aesthetics of the unit and really hope they're fierce in 8th.  To be honest I always had a bit of a sad run with this unit (they had three painted Incubi and I'd run them in a Venom with Drazhar and an Archon.  That unit never made it into combat.  They always died an ignominious death well before getting in to combat.  However, with Strength from Death in the Ynnari rule set I had the chance to run them even without Drazhar and they royally kicked ass.  The extra speed and out of sequence assaults made them an impressive threat.  I had so much fun using that particular unit it inspired me to actually get around to painting the whole unit.  With that in mind, I will need to get a raider if I ever intend to get them all in one transport at the same time.  So many units waiting to get painted.  I wish I was quicker at it.

Triumverate of Ynnead, Deathworld Forest and Ynnari thoughts

As you can see I finished the Triumverate and the Deathworld Forest kit.  As a painting project I found them models challenging in the way that they're layered, and in some ways they're easier to paint before being put together than when they're done, but the final product is striking on the table top.  As far as the Forest, I opted for bright colours for most of the build as it is a stronger contrast to my army.  I may even go back and add some further detail work on the terrain if I get bored enough, but even completing the main roots and trunks without picking out the fungi with a different colour than the rest of the trunk they look great.  If the vines didn't cover the giant runes on the Eldritch Ruins you could probably get away without painting those if you wanted to (though I chose to paint them).

Having used the Deathworld Forest in a game we decided that if you were in overlapping areas that you had to take the effects of both pieces of terrain, which means in some areas you were taking AP 3 wounds on a 1-3.  Over the course of a game the Deathworld Forest managed to kill 2 of my Scythe-Wraithguard, wounded a Wraithknight and took out both a Jetbike AND a Warlock (with sanctuary and Fortune).  It was pretty harsh for me.  My opponent, on the other hand, suffered a total of 0 wounds.  While the 3+ save was handy (or a 2+ for the Nightfight turn) I'm not sure it balanced out the sheer destructiveness it unleashed upon me.  This is definitely NOT to be confused with army friendly terrain such as the Tau wall or any of the slew of imperial stuff.  That said it does look pretty.

Recently I got to play an 8k game against a Castellans of the Imperium force that included Guilliman as its warlord.  We also tried out the Empyric Storm cards and the Balewind Vortex rules we'd come up with (the rules can be found here).  While I did try out some new formations like the Ulthwe Strike Force and Triumverate, the game was big enough for me to include old favourites such as Crimson Death, Aspect Host, Wraith Host, and Seer Council.  I added in a small cad as a complement and I was ready to set the world alight.

Things I learned:

The Visarch is better than I'd anticipated.  Lacking an invul and being... not quite enough of a beat stick in my eyes I didn't have much in the way of high hopes, but the warlord trait that works when he's not the warlord was pretty useful, and since I had him in a small unit of Incubi it became clear to me that it was a substantially good way to deploy him.  He took the first two wounds in the squad and then, as other models in his unit died, he'd regain a wound and gain an attack.  I maxed him to the +3 attacks pretty quickly, but with Rage he really shines in a small unit taking on a greater foe.

The Revenant Discipline doesn't tickle my fancy.  For me the best spell is the one that triggers a soulburst at 24" and all the others are forgettable.

Harlequins feel so much more formidable as Ynnari.  The ability to pull off charges in an early phase, do some damage in an assault in the wrong phase, and then Hit & Run, followed by another charge in the same turn makes even a small squad a bit of a nightmare for opponents.

Wraith blades feel more viable with Strength from Death.  Cannon and Scythe guard, however, feel too good.  I paired up 10 standard wraithguard with an Archon with portal and when they entered play they were effectively guaranteed to trigger themselves for a soulburst.  This meant the moment they drop down they wipe out two priority targets, assuming I place them correctly.  That doesn't even include how likely it is for the scythe guard to self trigger.  I had average luck with the heavy wraithcannons, but the Suncannon firing effectively 3 times every turn was an unholy terror on the board.  I could see people using that build again once they see how effective it can be.

Strength from Death seems to move the game forward at an insane speed, making time to play the game all the way through exponentially quicker based on the game size.  It really is an amazing defence against drop pod armies as they can lose units that haven't even fired yet to either assault or return fire.  In some cases I was able to do more damage to my opponent in his turn than he was to me.  We called the game after 2 1/2 turns when he had somewhere between 700 and 1500 pts left and I had roughly 6,500 pts left.  I had roughly run through the equivalent of 5 turns of shooting in that time.  It was absolutely ludicrous.  Playing against Ynnari will require completely different tactics than playing against any other force in the game.  One thing to recognise is that once the force gets rolling it's an absolutely juggernaut.  In many ways if you're caught off guard it doesn't just feel like you're playing against a new army... It feels like the two players are playing different games.

The Ulthwe Strike Force is interesting, but my predilection for large units means I actually find Battle Focus more helpful to the unit than Strength from Death.

I really, really want to try Shining Spears out in the Ynnari list.  I think they are one of the units that is potentially terrifying.

Yvraine: The Emissary of Ynnead

Another week passed and Another member of the Triumverate is completed.  In this case Yvraine.  I'm a big fan of the model as I really like its  over the top elegance.  To keep the model as a unifying choice between the factions I opted to use some of the blood technical paint to help it bridge the gap.  I gave it a second coating post Matte spray in order to keep it glistening and fresh looking.  In reference to her arc in the book I made her left hand, the restored hand, coloured with the blood paint as well, almost as if it's a bridge between Ynnead and Khaine.

One of the real joys of these Ynnari models is that they allow me to splash more colour in to my force.  I've built the Visarch and I've also started the Deathworld Forest.  Seems odd to have an obviously themed terrain set that is actually deadly to the force using it as cover.  Especially considering it doesn't actually block line of sight.  In fact, I just don't know how much I like that it is so porous.  I might try to find ways to amend that issue, which would also make the terrain more tactical in its implementation.  We'll see how it goes.  In the mean time I'm back at the Triumverate and I've been crafting my first list.  

The Yncarne

It took me about a week, but I finished the Yncarne (pictured next to the FW Avatar of Khaine for size comparison):

I have real respect for the people that could put the whole model together and paint it as one piece.  I simply couldn't I found there were too many details hidden in the parallel pieces that were too close together for me to either 1) get my brush in there or 2) not ruin another part of the model.  I had to keep in in five pieces.  The left and right parts of the lower part of the soulstream.  The add on section of soul stream at that goes high, the head with top part of the hair, and the body.

I actually quite disliked the model when it was all grey.  It looked far too busy and seemed to lack definition to me.  That said, the fully painted version of the model feels far more elegant.  There is a lot of detail, but it doesn't feel overwhelming.

It doesn't have the pure centrepiece size one might expect, but it with the vibrant colours it should still stick out on the tabletop.  More pics below:

Balewind Vortex Conversion

I was always a fan of the Balewind Vortex,a nd was a bit bummed that it was essentially AoS only.  Seemed like a missed opportunity.  As such I have converted one to fit my army theme and we've created some test rules for it (below).

Summon Terrain, WC2, any unengaged psyker or brotherhood of psykers (i.e. not locked in combat) may cast the Balewind Vortex.  Psykers with the Monstrous Creature or Vehicle type cannot cast the Balewind Vortex.  Units on the vortex receive 4+ cover, are immune to nova, template and blast attacks, cannot move, assault, or be tank shocked, moved, or assaulted.  The vortex doubles the range of witchfires, blessings, and maledictions for units casting from the vortex.  At the start of the controlling player's next turn the vortex automatically dissipates.  Any perils of the warp suffered while on the vortex result in a -1 to the roll.  Once per turn psykers on the vortex may harness the power of the vortex, capturing warp charge on a 2+, but any doubles result in Perils of the Warp.

Cegorach's Jest: The Danse Macabre

It took more than a year, but I finally finished:


When I first painted a single squad of Harlequins I tried as much as possible to make them all individuals.  With the release of the new book I spent a while contemplating how I'd like to use them going forward and what possible masque would be best paired with Ulthwe.  There was one little mention of Midnight Sorrow coming to Utlhwe's aid early in their big reveal, but no real notes since.  Finally Death Masque came out, with a new plastic Eldrad and cementing a tenuous bond between Ulthwe and the Midnight Sorrow, so my decision was made.  While I haven't gotten around to painting the Death Masque Harlequins yet I have painted all the ones I'd previously bought and built.  1750 worth of Harlequins in a full Cegorach's Revenge formation.  In the years since I've first painted them my tremble has made the diamond pattern a bit more difficult, but I approached it as best I could.

I've even gotten to run the formation in a game so I can start understanding them a bit more.  My thoughts on that below:

I played in a game against Minotaurs with a unit of Custodes acting as a bodyguard to their Chapter Master, supported by a Leviathan dread.  My thoughts are, super elite forces are absolutely murdered by Harlequins.  I was worried to start the game, but quickly found that I was able to focus on units and remove them.  The Leviathan was a model I simply avoided, as I had the speed to do so, negating the futility of trying to take it out.  I focused on taking objectives whenever I could, even when it prevented me from being able to engage my foe in the manner I wished.

Keeping the Death Jesters and Shadow Seers as separate units worked well.  While it made them easy targets for First blood or wipe out a unit victory points it also means my opponent is wasting an entire unit's worth of firepower to wipe out a single T3 model.  I really wish the ability to reroll 1's for the invul was somehow built in, because it felt so necessary as the game went on.

Grav Centurions are totally wasted against Harlequins, and since they're such a no brain force you're likely to see them on the table, and boy does it feel good running them down.

I finally lost my solitaire in a game, but my opponent came at him with a drop pod filled with 10 marines and rapid fired at point blank range.  It was mostly a moral victory for my opponent as the marines did not survive to see their next turn.

Overall the Harlequins have a number of weaknesses, primarily flyers and massed small arms fire, but in the right situation they're clearly a dangerous tool.

Light Troupe

Another step towards completing a Masque.  Shaking off the rust to get these Harlequins up to snuff and a playable force on the table top has been a struggle for me, in part because my hands are far less steady compared to when I originally painted the single unit, but in part because it's a very daunting prospect to pick up a full army and suddenly need to paint them before I let myself use them on the table top.  Hopefully they'll be a bit of a surprise to my opponent the first time I crack down with them, but until then I'll labor away and try to pain them as well as I can with the goal of unleashing an unexpected challenge upon my foe.

This unit is filled with Harlequin Kisses, in part because when the unit was first introduced I converted the unit so every model, except the seer, jester, and master, had kisses.  I really felt that the whole unit (my only one in the army) should have the quintessential Harlequin weapon.  Now I've maintained a unit entirely featuring the weapon for the new rules.  Note that the Masque is Midnight Sorrow due to the fluff connection between that Masque and Ulthwe.

Harlequin Revamp Continues

My work to bend the Harlequins to the Masque of Midnight Sorrow has taken another step forward, with a full size troupe all painted / repainted.

Coming in near 300 pts despite having 3 ablative wound harlies shows how expensive the unit can get to do what you want it to do. Eventually I'll actually get my whole 1750 that's built all painted up. I'll probably play through that a few times before I figure out what I need from the extra Death Masque stuff.

For a while I thought I'd paint them up very quickly and have the first online battle rep that was all harlequins and all painted using Cegorach's Revenge. My laziness cost me and now that's been done, so I've still got to see my way through it. With the biggest unit done I feel a major step has been taken.

The death Jesters and Shadowseers will remain in unique raiments compared to the rest of the masque, denoting their special role. At this point I just need to paint up a second Shadowseer and I'll be able to start using the cast of players along with hero's path, which I think is the intent of the codex, to be built in pieces, slowly adding to an existing force. The formations are great at letting you try out a piece here and there as you go, with the big payoff being Cegorach's Revenge supporting an apocalypse force of Craftworlders. They are more likely to avoid being an early target on that type of field.

One step closer to fun.

Shining Spears Complete

I'm In April I'd finally started converting my Shining Spears and Biketarch, but my hatred for painting white and lack of time to paint meant I've been working on the unit slowly ever since.

I had promised myself I'd finish them before my next game and I've finally met that benchmark, despite really wanting to get a game in.

I may joke that the unit's primary weapon is harsh language, but I think they may be over criticised. I look forward to trying them out and seeing if I can figure out how to get the best from them.

I think the Autarch will be the lynchpin for me to make it work, but now that the celestial lance is useable again I may try it  in place of the standard laser lance to get AP2. It seems like nowadays every MEQ has 2+ armor saves. That said, if he doesn't do the job right the first time it's just a CCW, as opposed to the basic lances now, which are AP3 in subsequent rounds.

We'll see how it goes, but I can't wait to get back to the battlefield.