Necron Obelisk - Superheavy Flyer

A huge offering today, I have finished my Necron Obelisk superheavy skimmer, a Necron beast that is designed to clear the skies of enemy fliers with it's Gravity Pulse out to 24 inches hitting all enemy fliers with a Strength 8 hit every turn, nice.

Top that off with 4 Tesla Spheres for self protection and more firepower, this is a cool kit with a big battlefield presence. Surprisingly though, for such a big model, it was essentially just 4 sides of a box, quite quick to paint. The inside (only seen if you look directly underneath) is simply sprayed metallic and washed with Badab Black.

I have continued my Necron colour scheme from my own Necron Flyer Doom/Nightscythe using Necron Abyss and Encharted Blue as a highlight plus the lower section as a metallic colour. The gauss energy for my army is a reddish colour and looks great against the blue as a spot colour.

One of my favourite parts is the Canoptek Guardians attached to the sides, each with another Gauss glow light for another spot colour and the 64 legs I foolishly had to paint the crevices with Boltgun Metal (Leadbleacher) after seeing the 'Eavy Metal version... but it makes the model for me.  The final photo below shows a quite 'Independence Day'-esque view of the crashed Imperial flyer. Nice.

Iron Warriors - Rhino Counts-As

Hi again. I picked up this tank as part of Ramshackle Games Brothers of Iron Kickstarter. I pledged around £30 and got the tank and some soldier figures that I will be using for Cultists/Renegade Guard (when I get around to it).

The tank is about the same size as a Rhino - so I will be using it as a counts-as  if I ever need a spare for my Iron Warriors, or for the other projects I've mentioned.

The sculpt is pretty nice - lots of rivets and the tracks are more interesting than GWs offerings, although it is a little light on weapons (you get loads in the kit, but not many hard-points to fix them to). I went with the mini-cannon so it can be a Havoc Missile launcher.

The thing weighs a ton - its mad up of 2 or 3 solid blocks of resin - so don't want to drop that on anything...

It got painted up as normal for my Iron Warriors, with plenty of weathering butI left off any sort of Iron Warrior insignia for now - it looks the part with the rest of my army but I have a theme I am going for in my head with the Renegade Guard, so am sticking to that for now.

Here is a side-by-side pic with a Rhino for some scale - pretty close eh?

Relictors vs Ultramarines - BatRep 2000pts - The Relic

Yet again the Lord Halfpenny Ultramarines were pitched against the Siph Relictors to try and claim a relic of untold power from the battlefield (the Cypher model on the Temple of Skulls below).  The two opposing forces set up Hammer and Anvil and the warlord traits were rolled, Tigurius for the UM's with Storm of Fire and Captain Blaylock caused Fear (fat lot of good with ATSKNF)...

The Relictors comprised of Capt Blaylock (FW Badab Character - Termies are Scoring), 2x Assault Termies with Landraider Godhammer and Redeemer, Relic Scorpius Whirlwind (for AP3 death), Mortis Contemptor (Kheres Ass Cannon and Typhoon ML for Skyfire), a Whirlwind Deathstorm Drop Pod, 2x 5 man Tac Sqd with Plasma Cannon and two StormTalon aircraft with Skyhammer Missiles in reserve. (12 VPs)

The UM's comprised of a FW Sicaran Battletank with Accelerator Cannons/Lascannons, Dakka Predator, Mortis Contemptor with Kheres Ass Cannon and ML for Skyfire, 5x man Tac Sqd in Ass Razorback, 6x man Assault Marine Sqd, 5x man Scout Sqd, 5 man Tac Sqd in DP, Damocles Rhino (for Orbi Bombard), 2 Laser Destroyer Rapiers, 2x Attack Bike (HB and MM), 4x 5 man Sternguard in 2 DPs (10x Grav Guns). (18VPs)

UM Turn 1 - Drop Pod Assault meant 20 Sternguard dropped into the Relictor lines, 20 Grav Gun shots where ineffective against the Landraiders, stripping a single Hull Point from the Redeemer. Sicaran, Dakka Pred and Mortis Contemptor moved forward, Scouts infiltrated and ran to the Relic Objective in the centre of the battlefield.

Here the Sternguard pour fire into the Relictor Tac Squads killing 2 marines with Vengeance Rounds and Grav glancing the Landraider. The Hellfire rounds of the Sternguard kill 3 Terminators, two with Storm Shields of Captain Blaylocks Sqd.

The two Attack Bikes zoom forward down the left flank and Rapiers take up positions in the ruins.

The Damocles Rhino uses its Comms Link to call down a Turn 1 Orbi Bombardment onto the Godhammer, but even with Ordnance double roll fails to penetrate the thick hull! Much to the relief of the Relictors.

But the Sicaran opens fire with its rending Accelerator Autocannons ripping the Redeemer apart, stripping its hull points and penetrating, wrecking the Landraider and Assault Terminator transport! The Sicaran is to be feared!

Relictor Turn 1 - The Relic Whirlwind Scorpius open fired on the Scouts claiming the Relic in the centre and wiped them out with D3+1 Blasts! The Mortis Contemptor open fired on a combat sqd of Sternguard only killing two, a Plasma Cannon wielding Tac Sqd did better, opening fire on a Sternguard Combat Squad killing 4, leaving a lone marine. The other Plasma Cannon missed. The Godhammer fired his TL Lascannons at the AV13 Sicaran but failed to even glance. The Deathstorm Drop Pod scatters but still fires and hits 5 UM units in a rain of Whirlwind fire but poor rolling see's only the Assault Marines losing 3 marines. The Assault Termies charged the Sternguard, wiping out one Combat Squad but opening up the Captain to return fire next turn.

First Turn see's the UMs with 2 VPs - Redeemer and First Blood, Relictors 2 VPs Scout Sqd and Sternguard.

UM Turn 2 - (ignore the StormTalon - I took the photo at the start of the Relictor turn) The Drop Pod UMs strike again, Meltagun and Attack bike MM kills the Godhammer, the Sicaran and Mortis Contemptor both open up on Captain Blaylock and bodyguard killing the Warlord and Termies under sheer weight of fire - 22 high strength shots! The Laser Rapiers tear through the Whirlwind Drop Pod. In assault, a Sternguard Combat sqd is defeated by the other Terminators. Unengaged Sternguard and Drop Pods kill two more Tac Marines reducing them to a single Plasma Cannon on the black ruins, 4 marines incl Plasma Cannon on grey ruins. UM now 7 VPs - gaining Godhammer, Termies, Warlord and Slay Warlord and Whirlwind Drop Pod. Relictors on 3VPs gaining Sternguard Combat Squad.

Relictor Turn 2 - The Relictor Army was looking in tatters losing its Captain, half the Termies and both Landraiders however, the Termies left still melee with the Sternguard but in a disorganised charge destroyed a Drop Pod with a Thunder Hammer, StormTalon arived, strafing the Attack Bikes, killing the MM Attack bike. The Mortis Contemptor killed 3 of the Tac Marines from the latest Drop Pod, including the Meltagun removing that threat and made the other two flee. The Scorpius fired on the Razorback but scattered onto the Predator only stripping 1 hull point. Both Plasma Cannons concentrated on the Razorback containing the remaining scoring troops and Tigurius stripping 2 hull points. Relictors now on 4VPs with the Drop Pod being destroyed. UMs remain on 7VPs.

UM Turn 3 - The HB Attack Bike opened up on the remaining Tac Marine with the Plasma Cannon killing him and wiping out the sqd, but the remaining unengaged single Sternguard open fired on the other Plasma Cannon Tac Marine with Vengeance Rounds killing himself when his weapon overheated! The Drop Pod Stormbolter also open fired on the Plasma Cannon Tac Marine hitting him twice but his armour saved him. The other Drop Pod and Predator snap shot at the StormTalon missing. The remaining 3 Assault Marines charged the Termies locked in combat with the Sternguard, killing one Termie but the Terminators fought back killing the Sternguard Sqd and 2 Assault Marines leaving one. UMs now on 8VPs with the Tac Sqd, Relictors now on 6VPs with the misfired Sternguard and the close combat Sternguard.

Relictor Turn 3 - Plasma Cannon opens fire on the rear armour of the Razorback again, but bounces off.  The 2nd StormTalon arrives from reserve and strafed the remaining Attack Bike killing it. The Mortis Contemptor spies the 2 remaining Tac Marines making a run for the relic in the centre and cut them down with its Kheres Assault Cannons! The Scorpius Whirlwind destroyed the Razorback holding Tigurius and the 5x man Tac Sqd in the centre. In assault, the Thunderhammer Termies wipe out the Assault Marines.

The Relictor Termies hunker down behind the Drop Pod after dispatching the final Assault Marine, sheltering from the combined fire of the Sicaran, Mortis Contemptor and Dakka Pred. Who said war has to be glorious! UMs 8VPs, Relictors now ahead on 10VPs with the Razorback, Assault Marines, Attack bike and Tac Combat Squad.

UM Turn 4 - The Contemptor Skyfires it's missiles at the StormTalon in the centre, glancing it stripping a hull point but the flyer remained out of range for the Assault Cannons. The Sicaran opens fire on the Relic Whirlwind in the rear of the Relictor lines, but is saved by the surrounding ruins and wreck of the Landraider.

The UM Laser Destroyer Rapiers snap fire at the other Relictor StormTalon, needing sixes to hit, both roll a six and the Laser Destroyers punch through the doomed flyer! UMs now on 9VPs, Relictors remain 10VPs.

Relictor Turn 4 - The Drop Pod on the left flank is torn apart in a salvo of fire from the Contemptor giving up another VP, the StormTalon zooms off the board to avoid the Turn 5 guns of the Ultramarines. Relictors now 11VPs, UMs remain 9VPs.

UM Turn 5 - Contemptor and Predator both open fire on the exposed Plasma Cannon Tac Marine, tearing him apart, leaving 3 marines hunkered down behind the building. The Tac Sqd in the centre run toward the Relic in the middle. VPs remain UM 9VPs, Relictors 11VPs.

Relictor Turn 5 - The StormTalon returns to strafe the Tac Marines in the centre killing 4, leaving a lone scoring marine in grasp of the Relic if there is a sixth turn? The Scorpius Whirlwind opened up on the now exposed Rapier Laser Battery, killing two guns and three crew, leaving a lone crew member to evade a VP. Mortis Contemptor open fired on the remaining Drop Pod with its ML, but both missed! My remaining Termies and Tac Squad ingloriously hunkered down behind the building in cover to try to deny two easy VPs. We roll for a sixth turn and there is one! Can the dwindling Relictors hold out? VPs remain UM 9VPs, Relictors 11VPs.

UM Turn 6 - Much to the dismay of the Relictors, the Predator and Mortis Contemptor downs the StormTalon, glancing it to death. The Sicaran opened up on the Relic Whirlwind again, however the thick frontal armour saved it. UMs now 10VPs with the downed StormTalon, Relictors 11VPs.

Relictor Turn 6 - The Mortis Contemptor moved up to fire all its guns at the lone Marine on the hill by the relic, 12 Kheres Assault Cannon shots and 2 Krak Missiles fail to take the marine in cover after he goes to ground. However, the Relic Scorpius Whirlwind concentrates its firepower on the same marine tearing him apart in AP3 goodness! Relictors now 12VPs with that Tac Combat Sqd. UMs 10VPs. We roll for a seventh turn but to my relief we don't get one.

Endgame - 

Finally a Siph Relictor Victory and the end to a year of defeats, I didn't win in 2013, 2014 is better already! A hard fought 12VPs win over the UMs 10VPs.

Siph - Well, that was an awesome teeth gnashing, butt clenching battle to the end. Only won by the amount of VPs on hand for the taking. The Relictors played the mission, taking out any UMs that tried to claim the relic and concentrating on taking out the troops when more juicy targets were available, however were out gunned by the UMs from turn two after losing their Landraiders, half the Termies and their Warlord! I plugged away at the UMs taking 12 of the possible 18VPs, meaning Lord H had to wipe me out or gain the Secondary mission VPs of which he took Slay Warlord and First Blood, narrowly missing out on Linebreaker as no denial Units were in my Deployment zone, however 2 vehicles were. I really felt the teeth of the new Sicaran Battletank, those Accelerator Cannons with rate of fire and Rending tore through my Landraider! But my Relic Whirlwind Scorpius fought back with equal tenacity taking out Scouts, Rapiers, Marines and a Razorback, and the final marine grabbing the Relic when the 14-shot Mortis Contemptor failed! We have also looked at the rules for shooting artillery, we should have applied wounds against the guns under the Blast and removed them first, rolling for feedback explosion so I may of gained a lucky result there, however the wreck of the landraider in the centre should also have been removed as it exploded, that would of made me move the Scorpius earlier in game and may have been more exposed to the Sicaran guns later.

Lord H -Indeed, this was a battle of epic proportions- there were laughs, tears and a lot of cursing. (Normally Siph aimed at the dice gods...) After turn 2 I thought I was in a commanding position, having reduced the Relictors army quite considerably with combined Sternguard/Sicaran/Predator/Contemptor fire- however Siph fought back (and hid.. lol) with the talons and Scorpius taking its toll on my force. 

My mistake(s) were that I split my Sternguard into combat squads, giving Siph 6 easy VP's for the taking, I hoped that the grav weapons would have popped the land raider then I could have killed the terminators inside with the other grav weapons- in hindsight I should of used the Sicaran/Contemptor to destroy the tank first, then grav'ed the terminators to death as they disembarked.. My other real mistake was giving Siph easy targets, perhaps I should have kept my razorback, scouts, tactical squad and assault marines within my deployment zone, out of the range of the Scorpius- however I went for the relic for the win. It would of been a pretty boring battle if we had both sat back in our respective deployment zones! 

Another note is how me and Siph seem to be very much in tune with each other with regards our forces- I had looked at a Dark Angels force lead by Belial with scoring terminators- very similar to the force Siph used.. 

My unit of the  battle has to be the Sicaran battle tank, it obliterated everything it fired at- and my thoughts are towards having a squad of 3 of them! 

Thanks for reading, and i hope you enjoyed our battle report..

Forgeworld Sicaran Battletank Size Comparison

For all those who want to see the size of the fairly new FW Sicaran Battle Tank, here is a few shots of it with the next two sized tanks - the Sicaran is meant to be the STC link between a Landraider and a Predator, a proper Astartes Battletank, so this shows the size against those.

The Imperial Armour Vol2, 2nd Edn book War Machines of the Adeptus Astartes has rules for this tank, the relic status means one can be fielded with normal 40K, and it is worth it with Accelerator Autocannons (Hvy 6, TL and Rending) and Lascannon Side Sponsons it threatens Landraiders (and the high rate of TL fire means it does kill them).

As for the model itself, the two track sections and sides are one piece each with the hull pieces in-between, it fits together easily and was (Lord H's words) a dream to build with only the usual minor straightening of the cannon barrels.

As for its looks, we both love its hunkered down heavy metal look and I can't wait to build mine. Lord H is a little further ahead with it's construction and basecoated as above. We'll post here when done.

Hope you found the comparison helpful.

Iron Warrors - Tracked Turret

Back in October Siph posted a Kickstarter for some alternate Heavy weapons and combi-bolters - as well as a nice tracked turret from PDC Gaming.

I also backed the Kickstarter and managed to build and paint up of of these little guys.

Its an alright little mini - hardly packed with detail, but it was pretty cheap and I am only going to use it as either an Icarus Lascannon for my Aegis Defence Line, or perhaps a heavy weapon for a Renegade Guard army thats floating round in my head...

I have a pair of them, so this one is glued together as-is, but the second has a range of weapons I am looking to magnetise.

I painted it up to match the rest of the Iron Warrior army and covered up the lack of detail with loads of weathering.

Necron Obelisk Flying Base

As mentioned in a previous post, one of my Christmas presents was a Necron Obelisk / Transcendent C'Tan and now the base is done for the superheavy skimmer. I also wanted to add something to the flying base as I mentioned in my StormTalon post, the flying bases are great opportunities to add a more cinematic touch to your miniatures but often left empty and wanting.

When I bought the StormTalon's ages ago I was missing an engine thruster so I bought some bits on e-bay to replace the missing part - the upside of this is I have enough engine and wing parts to decorate a number of bases as either this one or as a gaming 'flyer destroyed' marker...

The choice of Chapter to paint the pieces as was a tough one, my Relictors or Lord Halfpenny's Ultramarines or something different? So I opted for Imperial Fists to brighten up an otherwise dark miniature, and complement the blue scheme with some yellow. It was also an opportunity to practice some yellow and weathering - so glad my Relictors are a more forgiving Grey!!

I'll post the obelisk shortly... when I've finished the huge thing!

Iron Warriors - Rhino

Hi guys - Happy New Year!

It seems that I have disappeared slightly since the start of December (Siph edit: November mate!) and whilst I have been crazily busy, I have managed to get quite a bit of painting done - so my hobbying News Year's Resolution is going to be getting more posts out.

Here we have my second Rhino for the Iron Warriors. I actually picked this up with my 2nd place winnings from Blog Wars 5 (which was summer '13), which gives an idea of how long it's taken me to get it posted.

As with my other Rhino, it's decked out with Forgeworld Iron Warrior doors to keep the theme going.

Its also armed with the excellent Havok Missile Launchers to throw around a bit more template hurt.

Ultramarines vs Relictors Battle Report - 2000pts

Hi All,

With Siph being in the UK for a brief time last time he was in the country we set up a cheeky 2000 point battle to test out some of the new Space Marine Units- and for Siph to collect his Codex! But we never got round to posting until now!

The battle mission was 'purge the alien' with hammer and anvil deployment. The terrain was positioned to look like the outer defences for an abandoned city- using the walls of martyr and several 40k buildings.

My Ultramarine force included several new units that I hadn't used previously with the new codex- Tigurius- who has always been my favourite 40k character took command of my force, which also included a Scorpius Whirlwind (Forgeworld IA variant-using my old whirlwind model) and a landing pad to act as a fire base for my Contemptor and Centurions (cheesy yes, but I knew I was going to be needing a 4+invulnerable saves for the centurions..)

Siph's force included several new 'units' including 3 Devastator Centurions, Sternguard with Grav combi weapons and a squad of Scout bikers. Plus a Tac Sqd with a Grav Gun and some SM Bikes with Grav Guns. Two Vindicators formed the main guns of the army.

Turn 1- Ultramrines

• Drop pod arrived, deep striking into the heart of the Relictors line- with its payload of 10 sternguard- causing wounds to the tactical marines and scout bikers with venegence rounds.
• Scorpius Whirlwind caused further casualties to the tactical squad

Turn 1- Relictors

•  The Tactical Squad, Grav Centurions, Scout Bikers and Marine Bikers turned on the recently arrived UM Sternguard and wiped them out to a man, pod and all.
• Vindicators moved up to just outside the UM Centurions range ready for a turn two Barrage.
• Relictor Sternguard podded into the rear lines of the UM army, using there Combi-Gravs, opened up on the Terminators killing 2 (Storm Shields saving the other 3 from 8 hits!) - the pod had a Locator Beacon for turn two Deep-Strike Teleporting Termies.
• Scout squad on foot moved up the flank using Scout move and Run to get into position for their Teleport Beacon.

Turn 2- Ultramarines

• Contemptor moves to fire upon the sternguard, with combined fire from the tactical squad all of the Relictor veterens are wiped out
• Terminators charge the drop pod- however are unable to destroy the pod
• Scorpius fire kills further Tactical marines

Turn 2 - Relictors

• Both Assault and Terminator squads arrive via deep strike 
• Terminators open fire on the tactical squad- killing all 5 members
• They then braced to weather the return fire from the Grav Centurions and Contemptor on the landing pad - hopefully they won't be able to see under the pad, however the scatter put me in the open.
• Vindy's both move up into Grav Weapon range to fire and fire on the Centurions, killing two and missing Tigurius due to 'Look Out Sir'. More damage would have been done but both shots scattered 5in and 4++ saved 2 Centurions, darn Landing Pad special rules.

Turn 3- Ultramarines

• Combined fire from tactical squad and Tigurius wipes out the terminator squad
• Assault marines, razorback and second tactical combat squad combined fire wipes out 4 Assault terminators- with the 5th dispatched by the assault squad in CC
• Scorpius Relic Whirlwind fire kills another tactical marine
• Centurions freed from the Terminator threat open fire on Vindicators- destroying one, and stunning the second
• Assault terminators still unable to destroy drop pod in CC 

Turn 3-Relictors

• Vindicator returns fire at centurions- but misses! They are either really effective, or as scatter has made them in this game - useless.
• Scouts open fire on marines in the ruins- killing one
• Centurions and contemptor move forward keeping out of range of the UM Centurions, Contemptor blows arms off UM Dreadnought.

Turn 4- Ultramarines

• Second Vindicator is destroyed with grav fire from centurions
• Scorpius fires on scout biker squad, killing 2 scouts

Turn 4-Relictors

• Scout with missile launcher fires at Scorpius- destroying it - much to the relief of Siph!
• Tactical marine with missile launcher fires at the razorback, again destroying the vehicle. 
• All or nothing, Relictor Centurions and Contemptor move forward towards the UM Centurions and Tigurius- their shooting killing a single UM Centurion, failed by a withering hail of ones... just my luck. Contemptor opened up n UM counterpart and failed to damage!

Turn 5- Ultramarines

• UM Centurions open fire under guidance from Tigurius' 'prescience' wiping out the Relictor counterparts
• Tactical Marines open fire at scouts, killing one
• UM Mortis Contemptor destroys the Relictor contemptor with combined Kheres Assault Cannon and missile fire.

Turn 5- Relictors

• Scout bikers move forward and open fire on centurions killing one
• Scouts return fire- killing a tactical marine

End of game

As the battle concluded, points were calculated- a narrow Win for Lord Halfpenny- 12-10!!    

Lord Halfpenny - I really enjoyed this battle, the plan to utilise the landing pad as a fire base worked perfectly- if very cheesey- (I'm sure this would of been a perfect plan in Gulli's eyes) the centurions and the contemptor 'duel off's' were my favourite parts, It was interesting to see how Tigurius got on with the new 'rules' I had hoped to have had 'iron arm' and ploughed him into the middle, however my rolling, and re-rolling failed me to start! I also really liked, and was impresed by the Scorpius- so much so I've ordered one! (or two...)

Siph - I was surprised of the effectiveness of the 4++ save given by the Landing Pad, sneaky Lord Halfpenny. My first tactic was to land a pod on the Landing pad and shoot the Centurions with the Sternguard, however that was foiled by positioning so I opted for shooting the Termies, but Storm Shields did their work and saved the squad I targeted. The duels of the Centurions were a highlight, but much to the dissapointment of my Centurions. I could have stayed out of range and danced off, however I chose to play all or nothing - but failing. Nevermind, a very enjoyable game. Next time I'll just target the Landing Pad building itself with the Vindicators - destroying it would have saved me a lot of frustration and hit the units sheltering on it!

Here's to the next encounter!!