Monday 31 October 2016

Genestealer Cult - 1000 point plan



I made it back to the envious position of having painted everything I've got built so far (plenty of pictures on the blog). With that in mind it seemed like the perfect time to take a step back and think about the force as a whole. I really wanted to start work on some new units, but it is also important to consider what might actually be good to take into battle. I've written up a 1000 point list that uses everything I have so far. It's planned to be balanced and adaptable on the table as well as fluffy and characterful. Anyway, the plan goes like this (in short)

HQ:
Genestealer Patriarch
Magus

Troops:
10 Neophyte Hybrids, Seismic Cannon, Heavy Stubber

10 Neophyte Hybrids, Leader with Power Pick, Flamer, Webber

10 Acolyte Hybrids, Leader with Lashwhip and Bonesword, Icon

Transports:

Goliath

Chimera with extra Heavy Stubber

Elites:
10 Purestrain Genestealers

Fast Attack:
3 Armoured Sentinels with Lascannons

Heavy Support:
Leman Russ Exterminator, Exterminator Autocannon Turret, Multi Melta Sponsons, Lascannon, Heavy Stubber

Reasoning:
Genestealer Cult have a lot of really good cheap troops, so I wanted to be sure to take a lot of them. One unit of Neophytes are armed for ranged fighting, so will hang back with the Chimera and add a bit of covering fire. The other Neophytes are armed for closer engagements, so will be approaching and being meat shields too. The acolytes will ride in the Goliath and try to get into combat as soon as possible, to put all hose rending attacks to good use. The big-boy backup comes from 10 purestrains; which should give anything brown trousers in hand to hand. 

After that it was apparent that I needed some anti tank; which comes in the form of 3 Sentinels. At 50pts each and armour 12 they should be worth the cost. Luckily the Russ can pick up the slack with a plethora of anti tank guns. With 4 twin linked auto cannon shots I'm hoping it'll provide some anti-air if needed.

I suppose I should talk HQ choices too. Well, the Patriarch is a beast, and only 90pts, so that one should be obvious. He also has a psychic level, which helps. I already have the Magus though and at 40pts I couldn't not take him. It also covers me quite well from a psychic standpoint and I really want the force to be covered from all directions!

Well that about rounds it out for the minute; and I don't want to hear anyone lamenting the lack of Riptide Wings in my list!


I also painted this rather nice Heavy Stubber over the weekend. One more model I can tick off the plan!






Oh, and I'm also currently working on a short narrative campaign for them, so stay tuned for some cool little battle reports from that one in a few weeks.

Friday 28 October 2016

Bungo the Barbarian - Chapter 14, A Man's Best Friend




“What is THAT!?” Shallica’s clawed fingers were trembling as she pointed unsteadily into the far corner of the barn.

Bungo had led her to a disused stable on the outside of town, promising to give her the ride of her life. Needless to say, he had no idea what the insatiable she-demon had imagined at those words, or indeed the horrors her less than pure mind was now conjuring up as she glared at the oddly bovine beast with a mixture of confusion and abject horror.

“Wendy!” Bungo held his gargantuan arms out wide in greeting; the familiar call seeming to elicit some kind of response in the molten darkness. A brief, deep, mooing noise; punctuated by the rumbling of cloven hooves was his only reply at first, until something colossal hove into view. Shallica bit her trembling lip in fear as the beast finally emerged; its quiveringly bulbous mass brought tears to her eyes.

Standing as wide as it was tall, “Wendy” was a sight to behold. The rippling mass of muscle that could barely be called a horse emerged like some prehistoric marmot on steroids. It resembled a thoroughbred bull more than anything else, but the distinctly bovine form was definitely related to a horse in some way, perhaps as a thrice-removed mule from a before unknown breed. Even more disturbing than its over-muscled 10 foot tall hunch was the embossed monogrammed harness that proudly declared the creature’s name in surprisingly adorable script; complete with a few backwards letters. Shallica vomited in her throat a little; and it wasn’t just that hero sausage she’d snapped up before leaving the inn.

 

Oblivious to her discomfort; Bungo threw his arms round the creature’s neck and to Shallica’s horror it seemed to purr like a cat as he squeezed it lovingly. The rumbling purr was more like an earthquake than an acceptance of affection, and oddly it even seemed to like it when Bungo squeezed so hard its eyes bulged in their sockets. The heartfelt reunion ended with the barbarian delivering a healthy slap to the creature’s flank that set the beast staggering across the barn; neatly demolishing a portion of the eastern wall in a crash of splintered wood.

“This is Wendy, the finest thoroughbred horse in all the free kingdoms.” Bungo seemed to be making some kind of introduction, as he went about the somewhat onerous task of saddling the creature. Watching the barbarian work; Shallica was momentarily dragged into nostalgia as she remembered the time that Bungo had climbed on her back and ridden her into battle against the Derpo King and his devious Death Ray. She couldn’t help but feel jealous of Wendy at that moment, but was somewhat reassured by the knowledge that the horse-beast was obviously male; whether Bungo actually knew the difference between the sexes or was just oblivious to the fact was another matter entirely.  

Shallica’s train of thought was disrupted mid-flow as Bungo placed his powerful hands around her waist and unceremoniously lifted her off the ground; plonking her down in the saddle high on Wendy’s back, before climbing into the seat in front of her.

“Ride!” The cacophonous command that burst from Bungo’s lips was almost immediately covered by a stampede of heavy hoof-beats. The rampant cavalry left only dust in their wake as they burst from the now ruined stable; to say nothing of the massive pile of horse droppings that seemingly had accumulated during Bungo’s week long absence.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Armando Spineshankler lurked in the bushes. He glided through the undergrowth unheeded; cowled in black and obscured by secret techniques that made him as silent as a sparrow in flight. He paused for a moment in the darkness cast by a fallen tree; stopping only to lick the side of his knife. The gesture exposed a row of filthy jagged teeth that seemed to compliment his grizzled bearded visage in the half light of early morning.

 

“Bungo … I’m coming for you” The whisper was barely audible above the sound of the forest, but it would have chilled the blood of any close enough to hear. Armando had been eyeing the bounty warrant for weeks. He had stalked his prey across continents; biding his time and waiting for the perfect time to strike. He had followed him to Derrowville, and now to an old barn that would soon become his adversary’s grave. He could almost feel the weight of the Chrome Stumpkins in his pack already.

 

“Ride!” the words echoed strangely through the forest; scattering the birds like a shoal of snapper fish with a garganto-Shark in their midst. For a moment, Armando jumped; thinking that his cover was blown. The momentary fright gave way to outright panic as a huge leaping silhouette darkened the sky; rumbling like thunder in paradise as it tore a swathe through the sleepy forest.

 

Armando’s last words came out as a strangled “Eeep!” as he was carelessly ground underneath Wendy’s monstrous hooves; the crunch of his fragile bones inaudible to Bungo and Shallica as they barrelled past and inadvertently crushed him into a bloody paste. 

 

“Was that a deer?” Shallica’s shrill voice cut the air as she looked back in panic, but the grizzly scene had already been left far behind in a sea of indistinct broken vegetation and tortured earth.

 

 

Thursday 27 October 2016

Genestealer Cult - Acolyte Hybrids Finished

I know there haven't been many posts this week, and the reason for that is simple - I've been busy painting up another 5 Acolytes to finish off my unit. I'm really chuffed to finish these guys off; it always feels like a real benchmark when you get two completely finished troops choices.

The force is shaping up well, for those who missed it I have now fully painted:


  1. A Magus
  2. 10 Neophyte Hybrids
  3. 10 Acolyte Hybrids
  4. 5 Purestrain Genestealers
  5. Cult Chimera
I have to admit to being surprised that the force has made it this far. Anyway, that's enough talk about the bigger picture; time for some actual pictures of what I'm talking about...



Another reason for the delay is that I've been spending some free time playing "Rise of the Tomb Raider" on PS4. I've gotten say, I'm glad they did a reboot/overhaul on that franchise, and it's nice to see something from Crystal Dynamics again. You might wonder why that's relevant, well it probably isn't, but this is my blog and I can write whatever I want ...

On the subject of not relevant, Bungo is back for another instalment tomorrow and will be taking up his rightful place on Fridays around here again.


In actually relevant stuff, I've been thinking about the next steps for the cult force and I think I need a break from batching troops, so it might be a vehicle. I'm not sure what it'll be yet.






Friday 21 October 2016

Bungo the Barbarian - Chapter 13, Pontification Station



Bungo stood astride his defeated opponent's stricken form and danced heartily. The celebratory romp concluded spectacularly with a barrage of sharp thrusting motions and a double-handed crotch slap; eliciting an unexpectedly sublime chime as the hammer blow rang against Bungo's steely codpiece.

The burly barbarian halted his joviality abruptly; suddenly struck by the notion that he still had no idea why the fight had broken out in the first place. He hummed thoughtfully as a massively powerful hand stroked his Herculean jaw and his manly eyebrows furrowed in consternation as his comparatively underdeveloped mental faculties went to work. The effort was such that didn't even notice the shrill ruckus that ensued when the innkeeper finally came out of hiding to see his bar reduced to a swampy broken ruin. Nor did he flinch as fresh porridge dripped from the rafters and splattered against his steely chest; to say nothing of the fact that Shallica had been licking him clean for the past two minutes and relishing every moment of it.

Another agonisingly slow moment passed before Bungo finally broke the silence.

"I have a thought..." He declared; turning to face Shallica with one finger raised. The dainty gesture was quite out of keeping with the barbarian's sinewy physique. Still probing the air with one questing finger, he continued broodingly. 

"Why is a bounty hunter attacking me?” 

Shallica's only response was a sullen groan; her fine eyebrows raised in a quizzical expression.

"All that time and you only managed to get the question, not the answer?" Her reply hung in the air unheeded; Bungo's oblivious diatribe continued uninterrupted and mostly unintelligibly. 

"Bounty Hunters hunt bad people for money..." Another break in prose seemingly proved that the colossal barbarian really was unable to string together multiple sentences with any efficacy. Shallica groaned again; the questing finger had returned.

"Someone paid this man to attack me!" The final words came out in an exultant rush as Bungo finally identified the plainly obvious. It was only after another celebratory crotch-slap and a booming chorus of "Excelsior" that the barbarian realised that Shallica was nowhere to be seen. 

After a brief moment of befuddled searching, Bungo looked down in time to see her clawed hand reach out towards him with a piece of warrant paper clutched between her delicate fingers. It seemed that she had grown weary of waiting for the erstwhile dunce's creaking cognitions and had performed a search of the unconscious man's belongings in an attempt to speed things along. 

Bungo's colossal fist dwarfed the tattered parchment as he took the proffered item from Shallica. He brought it closer to his face and immediately burst into raucous laughter.

"Who is this hideous oaf!?" Bungo spluttered the words; his eyes wet with tears of amusement as he stared at the blockheaded visage on the paper. The hastily scrawled portrait was fashioned with a fierce cleft chin, glowering grey eyes and a monstrous forehead dominated by a bold mono-brow. The poor individual's body was outlandishly proportioned in a ridiculously triangular manner, with legs that appeared almost vestigial in size and arms that hung below the ankles. A childishly angular sword was proudly clutched in one raised hand above a mane of unruly hair.

"It says right here it's you." Shallica pointed to the bottom of the page; the simple gesture almost immediately ending the barbarian's good humour.

"Reward, 50,000 Chrome Stumpkins for the head of Bungo the Barbarian." She read the next line aloud, unaware that Bungo had already begun to turn a deep shade of red; silently fuming at the insult.

"Wanted for crimes of...." She stopped mid-sentence, scowling slightly 

"This part’s been ruined by porridge, I can't see anything else..." Her casual remark was cut short when she looked into Bungo's Herculean features. Gone was the air of amusement; his whole body was tense with an air of dark resolve. In truth, at that moment he resembled the warrant poster's mug shot more than Shallica had previously thought possible, but she didn't want to ruin the moment by pointing it out; even though his hunched posture really did make his arms hang rather low.

There was a pregnant moment as Bungo turned toward the inn door; dramatically draping the stricken man's long cloak about his angular shoulders. When he finally spoke, his tone was brooding and low.

"There's only one place where they use Chrome Stumpkins" he was oddly contemplative as he climbed the creaking  stairs to retrieve the Blade of Donglore.

"We're heading to Marbo."

Thursday 20 October 2016

Genestealer Cult Acolyte Hybrids



Full-throttle painting continues as I finish off a 5 man squad of Hybrids. These are some nice models, and I'm happy with how they came out, but did they have to make them with so many arms! It sure makes them harder to paint!

This batch also includes my converted leader, with a rather costly Bonesword and lashwhip combination.

Next I plan to paint one more Purestrain Genestealer, to round out the unit to a legal quantity, before plunging into the next 5 Hybrids. If I can manage all that, this force will really be coming together - with a finished HQ, 2 troops choices, a vehicle and even an elite choice.

I've added a lot of pictures below, as ever comments and questions are always welcome.









Saturday 15 October 2016

Genestealer Cult Hybrid Acolyte Conversions



I've been hard at work again building my next unit for the Genestealer Cult force. This time I've been putting together some Hybrid Acolytes from the Deathwatch Overkill box. After looking through the codex, I was struck by how good they are; with a low points cost and up to 4 rending attacks each on charge. They're definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with on the tabletop!

The acolytes also have access to some nice options. For 10 points the Cult Icon adds an additional point of WS - taking them to a much coveted, and rather killy WS5. The leader is also able to take a Bonesword and Lash whip combination, which while costly in points makes him a real monster. I decided after a bit of deliberation that I wanted to have both options, but as the models are from Deathwatch Overkill they didn't have any options with them and a little conversion would be needed.

Thankfully, it wasn't hard to find what I needed hiding in my bits box. I raided some Skaven bits and found a cool blunt ended sword that would make a great bonesword as well as a scenically tattered banner for the Icon. Thankfully, a year or so ago, my brother had given me a Dark Eldar whip for a different project. In the end I didn't use it for that project, but I always thought it was a cool part. It was an easy choice to make the Lash Whip out of it. I've just about finished building the rest of the squad, but I didn't take any photos as they're all built stock.

I also did a bit of conversion work on one of the Deathwatch Overkill Mining Laser guys to switch his weapon to a heavy stubber, to be included in my Neophytes later on.

Other than all of that excitement, work was slowed significantly this week as I went in to London on Wednesday night to see Japanese all-girl hard rock group Band-Maid at The Underworld (and yes that really is a sentence that makes sense!)

Anyway, assorted pictures below...








Just for fun, a few really blurry shots from Wednesday night - I usually don't take photos at concerts as I'd rather enjoy the show, but I took one or two for mementos more than anything else.




Wednesday 12 October 2016

Genestealer Cult Purestrain Genestealers

Another day, and more miniatures prepare to enter the fray. This time I've been working on the one thing that really defines Genestealer Cult - the Genestealers themselves. I know the colours aren't very standard, but it was really important to me to have them match the rest of the force. In the end I went with a similar skin tone to the Neophytes and a stark blue for their armour panels. So far I've finished 4 of them, so one more will make it a legally fieldable unit (always a good goal to have). As the force expands, I've been looking towards making an actual "army" out of it. By that, I mean that I bought the codex and started to calculate a 500point force to get me started, as well as looking at a possible 1000 points. Like most horde armies, I think the key will be loading up on plenty of cheap troops and swarming all over the place. They also have access to a lot of rending and very cost-effective infantry. We'll see how the force develops as I go, as usual I'm just working on units that I like at the moment....






Tuesday 11 October 2016

Genestealer Cult Chimera


Well, I had a very productive weekend on the Genestealer Cult front. I spent about 6 hours over Saturday and Sunday painting up my first vehicle - a good old fashioned Chimera. I went fairly light on the conversion work on this one, mostly focusing on adding some railings and other small details. It was important to match the worn and weathered industrial look of the infantry, so I replicated their colour scheme almost completely; just bigger!

Those who saw the posts on my Traitor Guard might recognise the coaxial heavy stubber set up from one of their Chimeras. What can I say, I guess when I find something I like I stick with it!






Thursday 6 October 2016

Genestealer Cult - Seismic Cannon


I've just finished my unit of Neophyte Hybrids - the last two additions were one more autogunner and this rather nice Seismic Cannon. As I'm still loving these cult models, I finally caved and bought a Deathwatch Overkill set; damn my weakness!

I also got a few free Genestealers from my brother (a self confessed Tyranid fanatic, who happened to have them going spare anyway). So I'll be starting work on a few of them soon as I wait hungrily for "The big box" to turn up. For a side project I started on a bit of a whim things seem to be getting more and more serious by the second...

K


Wednesday 5 October 2016

Genestealer Cult - Thant, the 50p Magus

Well, I think I'm going to call this one a success. I got a really battered plastic Empire Wizard that had been converted into a Wraith rather badly from the bargain bucket at Marquee Models (my local games store). I only bought the thing as it was 50p and I had a vague idea that I could probably build something out of him. After a lot of cleaning as best as I could (he had rather a lot of melty plastic glue on him!) the conversion was surprisingly simple. A head swap, new backpack with robot arm and the icon from the Hybrids box was basically all it took. I've named him "Thant" after a particularly memorable character from Heroes of Might and Magic III as the resemblance was quite striking when he was finished.

Anyway, enough talk - more pictures!




When I originally painted him the first time, I did the whole cloak in yellow, but he didn't blend into the rest of the force very well. The weathering also clashed with it rather horribly; making it look like a dirty plastic Mac. After a lot of to-and-fro over the whole thing I repainted it black and now I'm glad that I did.

If you're wondering about the additional mechanical arm, I'm hoping to tye him into the background of an upcoming campaign against a mechanicus force, so think of him as a corrupted tech-priest or something. Well, that's the gist of it till I get more time to develop the storyline.


The original Thant in all his retro glory











Tuesday 4 October 2016

Genestealer Cult Neophyte Hybrids Painting Progress

well, another day and more progress. I've painted another 4 hybrids and the force is staring to feel like it might actually get off the ground; rather than being just another pipe-dream. I've also been working on a Magus built out of a miniature I got for 50p from the bargain bucket. So far it seems to be going well, but check back in tomorrow to see the results!