Shooty Black Templar

I had a great time at this last weekend playing with my Black Templar, and with the FAQ they can at least hang in this edition.  The piece that really surprised me is how much of a shooting list they can be if put together the right way.  It's inspired me to add to the list and play it some until the next version of 40k or a new codex chumps them. 

While reading the list, I could  use your thoughts on which vow to take.  My initial thought is that since the list is more geared to shooting, the extra psychic defense of "abhor the witch" with a 5+ save against psychic attacks directed at me would be the way to go.  The more I think about it though, I think it would help to have the preferred enemy vow.  That would help me actually do well in combat if forced.

I need to take the High Marshall to help with leadership 10 across the board, and he's in a rhino to keep the effect.  Having to take a leadership test to not shoot at the closest unit is rough and I need every point of LD possible.  Plus it sucks to only lose one guy and fail a leadership test and run off the board.  This happened to me twice over the weekend since my troops are only LD 8 since they can't take a sergeant. 

Here's the list I'm thinking of taking for an 1,850.

HQ: Emperor's Champion with preferred enemy vow
HQ: High Marshal with thunder hammer, storm shield and bionics.

Elite: 5 terminators with 2 Cyclone Launchers, 1 Chainfist (already modelled) with Tank Hunter
Elite: 5 terminators with 2 Cyclone Launchers with Tank Hunter
Elite: 5 terminators with 2 Cyclone Launchers with Tank Hunter

Troop: 5 Initiates with powerfist & meltagun, 4 Neophytes in Rhino with extra armor & smoke (Marshal rides here)
Troop: 5 Initiates with powerfist & meltagun, 4 Neophytes in Drop Pod (Champion rides here)
Troop: 5 Initiates with bolters, 1 lascannon
Troop: 5 Initiates with bolters, 1 lascannon

Fast: Land Speeder Typhoon
Fast: Land Speeder Typhoon
Fast: Land Speeder Typhoon

That's a lot of long range firepower.  That's effectively against tanks 14 strength 9 shots, 6 strength 8 shots, a couple of meltaguns and a lot of tank hunting storm bolters. I'm a little light on troops, but they can play conservatively.  Not the best in combat, but they can hold up against most with the exception of deathstars. The nice thing about all of the missiles is against hordes I can switch to frag missiles.  A very mobile long range shooty army. 

I'll need to paint up the rhino, 10 more assault terminators and 3 Typhoons.  I started assembling them last night. 

Additionally, I'll make a cool new cathedral display base.  This time I think I'm going to do some sort of old church / graveyard using some of the lord of the rings scenery which is awesome combined with the new garden of morr.

Templar Terminators Done

Ah, how tedious painting black is... every mistake of highlighting is magnified tenfold.  I just finished up the 5 terminators in the nick of time.  I'm now off to the 1,750 tournament, should be the last time I use power armor in awhile.  It'll be all Dark Eldar and Necrons moving forward.  Here's the finished product.

My next project that is just started are another batch of Necrons and the flying rippers that will be used as razorwing flocks.  I think the rippers really capture the feel of the flock way better then the metal birds. 

I also had the chance to base about 2k worth of Dark Eldar.  Assembly line here we come!  I'm off to the Chicago Battle Bunker.  I can't wait to get some structured games in, I really miss playing.

Adding to Black Templar for the weekend tourny

This Saturday we have a 1,750 tournament at our local GW store, one of our monthly series.  It brings a competitive group of guys and our best rule is that models have to be fully painted.  Which means that my Dark Eldar are not quite ready yet for prime time.  There has been an influx of Grey Knights players (as everywhere else in the country) so many of my armies just can't hang with the nasty Paladins.  They rule out my Blood Angel Sanguinary Guard.  I just don't feel inspired to play one of my many other armies...

So late Wednesday night I though of a fun list that would be flexible and challenging.  All infantry Black Templar.  When I tried them last I didn't have enough down range anti tank.  A little gem in the army list is the ability to take two cyclone missile launchers in a 5 man terminator squad and give the squad tank hunter.  I already had 5 of them ready to go, so it just means painting them up and I can get them on the field tomorrow.

Tonight will be spent staying away from Modern Warfare 3 (yes I'm a sucker for that series) and painting up some Black Templar.  It's funny to see how much you improve over the years.  I'm looking at how I painted this army (5 years ago) and how I'd do it different.  Unfortunately I need to keep to the same style to keep the army looking similar. Here's my close assault terminators, and the 5 regular ones I need to paint.

Here's the list I'm thinking of running.  I can't find my damn codex but luckily I still have army builder on my computer.

HQ: Emperor's Champion with the preferred enemy vow. (probably rides in the drop pod or attaches to the big infantry blob)
HQ: Chaplain with bolt pistol and three cenobite servitors (to attach to the big terminator squad)
HQ: Chaplain with bolt pistol and three cenobite servitors (to attach to the big infantry squad)
Elite: 10 assault terminators, 7 LC, 3 TH/SS. Furious Charge.  I wish I had more painted Thunderhammers...
Elite: 5 terminators, 2 Cyclone Missile Launchers. Tank Hunters
Troop: 10 Initiates (with power fist), 10 neophytes
Troop: 5 Initiates (with power fist & melta-gun), 4 neophytes in drop pod with deathwind missile pods
Troop: 5 Initiates with bolters and a lascannon
Troop: 5 Initiates with bolters and a lascannon

Nice thing is it only gives up 10 kill points in a 1,750 list.  Two nasty close combat blocks that can run in the movement phase and the chaplain with cenobite servitors really pushes the unit forward if they get shot.  I only have 6 Effective strength 9 shots and 1 meltagun, but we'll see how the list hangs.

Necron Test Miniature: Couldn't help it!

I'm such a sucker for new projects... I just had to try my hand at a Necron.  Like I did with my imperial guard project, I went with a super fast paint scheme. I'm really happy with the outcome.  I went with a patina color on the armor and a simple color scheme on the gun. 

The new miniatures are just way too tempting!  Must get back to Dark Eldar!

Wych progress & Flock of Venoms

It was a pleasant weekend at home and I was finally able to get some painting in.  I tackled 4 venoms at the same time and got the main portion done, minus the crew and gunner.  Here's where I stand right now. 

I also finished up my first set of 6 Wyches.  I think they turned out pretty well.  I am just debating on whether or not I actually paint the eyes!

I'm off to Vancouver Tuesday through Friday but I hope to make some serious progress on the ravagers tonight and tomorrow.

Off to London: Chicago Bears!

I'm just finishing up packing my bags for a 5 day weekend in London.  Being a huge Chicago Bears fan, how could I pass up getting to see my favorite team play in Europe?  I have a flight out tomorrow morning and will be staying through Tuesday morning.  We're going to try and hit up Paris on Saturday (I've never been to France).  I'm traveling with 5 football fans, one of them being a dual US/British citizen so he'll give us a full tour of the pub scene.  Unfortunately none of them are wargame fans, so I don't think I'll have any time to catch up on any miniatures. 

If any of you happen to be going to the game, let me know! 

After I get back I head straight to Toronto for work, spend some time back home and then fly the first week of November to Vancouver.  I'm getting a lot of miles up to Canada for work lately.  I'm hoping that starting mid-November I'll get some more time at home so I can accelerate my Dark Eldar. 

I can't wait for some beer and curry fries (I think that's the stuff I got hooked on last time I was there). mmm... beer!

Uncharted Seas: Thaniras Elves

I'm not going to win any awards for painting, but I wanted to do a quick and fun paint job on the Thaniras Elves so I can get them on the table.  I kept to mostly drybrush and inks and used transfers off the Dark Eldar line.  Without having standard cannons, the portals just didn't look that threatening so I did an over-exaggerated light effect coming from the portals.

When I finished painting them I gave a good clear dull coat.  It helps protect the models and disguise the decals even more.  I'm curious to see how they perform tonight!  It'll be my first game with wind as a factor, the steam power of my Shroud Mages kept it simple.  I'm sure this fleet is much more of a finesse fleet.