New Home!

So for a few reasons I have decided to move this blog to a new home.  So please update your feeds and your bookmarks to http://www.meanderingthedunesea.com

I hope you join me on the new site.

RSS Feed Added

I should have done this a while ago, but better late than never.  I now have an RSS feed available for this blog through FeedBurner.  Just click the little icon in the upper right and add it to your favorite RSS reader.  Enjoy!

Completed Wave Serpents

I finally got around to finishing up a complete set of Wave Serpent weapons.  I now have two pairs of bright lances and a pair of shuriken cannons completely painted.  I’ll need to paint up more weapons eventually, but this is good for now.  Here are the completed results.

Sunday Report – Eldar vs. Ultramarines

The wraithbone structures cast long shadows as dawn broke on the desert planet.  The Eldar grav engines purred menacingly as the Corsair fleet prepared to deny the Ultramarines access to some vital power transformers.

Eldar:
Farseer, Spirit Stones, Doom, Fortune
10 Dire Avengers, Exarch with dual shuriken catapults and Bladestorm
Wave Serpent with Twin Bright Lances and Spirit Stones
10 Dire Avengers, Exarch with dual shuriken catapults and Bladestorm
Wave Serpent with Twin Bright Lances and Spirit Stones
6 Fire Dragons, Exarch with Flamer and Crack Shot
Wave Serpent with Twin Suriken Cannons
3 War Walkers with Scatter Lasers
6 Jetbikes with 2 Shuriken Cannons

Ultramarines:
2 Predators with linked Lascannons and side bolters
2 Razorbacks with lascannons
2 Razorbacks with heavy bolters
Vindicator
2 Tactical Marine squads with Lascannons and flamers
1 tactical marine squad with a flamer
1 Sternguard squad

The battle was set to be Seize Ground with a Dawn of War deployment.  The Ultramarines won the roll and decided to go first.  They took the side of the battle with the majority of the counters and deployed a single Razorback with a Captain and 5 man combat squad.  The Eldar, always up to their tricks, decided to stay in reserves for the time being.

Over the course of the first two turns, the Ultramarines setup across the board with firing lanes covering the majority of the field and positioning themselves to hold the objectives.

As the Eldar began to arrive on turn two, three Wave Serpents entered play behind the tall piece of wraithbone.  The Fire Dragon serpent boosting to get a cover save and providing the other two Serpents cover as well.  The combined fire from the bright lances were enough to take down one of the lascannon Razorbacks and two of the marines inside.

On turn three, the Ultramarines concentrated their fire on the Dragon’s Serpent and managed to wreck it.  The Dragons bailed out and would have to walk.  The Eldar Farseer cast fortune on his Serpent and boosted to the center of the table.  The War Walkers also decided to join the fray and came in on the side nearest the lone point.  They opened fire on one of the tactical squads there and reduced their number to two.  The other Avenger Serpent moved and fired on the lascannon Razorback and shook its crew.

Turn four saw little action from the Ultramarines.  The Vindicator cannon scattered off the Farseer’s Serpent and none of the lascannons managed to make an impact.  The heavy bolters tried to take out the Dragons, but were foiled by the intervening cover.  The unit of Jetbikes entered the battle and got a good round of shooting at the rear of a Predator, wrecking it.  The Walkers moved up and took out the two marines they failed to get last turn.  The Farseer’s Serpent boosted up towards the warpgate and the other Serpent moved up, fired on the Sternguard Razorback and managed to immobilize it.  The Dragons fired on the lascannon Razorback, but didn’t do more than shake it.

On turn five, the Ultramarines opened fire on both the Dragons and Jetbikes with their bolters and heavy bolters.  The Jetbikes lost four of their number, including the shuriken cannons, while the Fire Dragons lost all but the Exarch.  The Vindicator still failed to connect, though.  One of the Walkers was shaken by the tactical marine’s lasgun.

The two remaining jetbikes boosted toward the far point.  The Walkers fired on the other tactical squad, removing three.  The Avenger Serpents moved toward the control points and unloaded their cargo.  The Avengers unleashed their Bladestorms and eliminated all but one of the tactical marines in the area, who was then assaulted by the overzealous Fire Dragon Exarch.  Those two would continue to duke it out for the rest of the game.  One of the Serpents managed to wreck the last lascannon Razorback, and the Walkers engaged the tactical marines in assault, killing one.  At this point, the Eldar controlled two points to the Ultramarine’s zero.  We rolled to see if we would continue, and we would.

The Vindicator finally managed to get a hit, but thanks to some cover (though no thanks to Fortune since I failed all the rerolls) only four Avengers on the right point fell and the Serpent was shaken.  The Sternguard intended to finish off the Avengers, but were onlt able to kill four more, leaving the Exarch and another, who would make their leadership roll.  The Jetbikes would die to  combined lascannon and heavy bolter fire.  In assault, the Walkers managed to kill off the one remaining tactical marine, while the Dragon Exarch did nothing.  The two Avengers jumped back into their transport, which then inched closer to the control point.  The other Serpent zoomed toward the warpgate point, and shocked the Sternguard.  They did not run, and one brave soul tried to stop the tank, but failed.  The Walkers tried to take out the remaining tactical squad, but failed miserably.  Again we rolled, and the game would end at turn six.

The final results had the Eldar controlling two objectives and contesting one, while the Ultramarines controlled none.  It was overall a good game.  I was a little worried early on in the game, and reserving everything was certainly a risky move with all of that anti tank weaponry out there, but it ended up working out fairly well.  The bright lances also performed better than previous games.  I’m still a little torn about the Fire Dragon Exarch, but I think against a horde army he might prove his worth.

No game next week due to it being Easter weekend, and then the tournament is the week after that, so stay tuned.

Custom Farseer

Thanks to Fritz over at The Way of Saim Hann and his last contest, I am the proud owner of a new Farseer and a Warlock.  I already have a standing Farseer, and I don’t really need another one, so I intend to use the head from the new one (it comes disassembled, thankfully) for my jetbike Farseer, and the spear arm will probably get used on a jetbike warlock in the future.  As for the Warlock, I’m not sure yet.  The customizability is a bit lacking since it’s all one piece.  I may just paint it up for fun.

The jetbike Farseer, though, will be made with a Dire Avenger body and using the Dire Sword as a Witchblade (some customization may be warranted).  This is the first time I’ve ever done any major custom work and it will be the first time using Green Stuff, so it should be a learning experiment.  Just as a test, and to really throw myself in head first, I decided to try some rune armor.  I cleaned off all the normal bits from the front of the Dire Avenger body and went to work with my Green Stuff and a hobby knife.  This is the result:

Once it dries fully, I intend to clean it up a bit more, but it turned out pretty well for my first attempt, I think.  The next thing will be to do something similar on the shoulder pads.  And then, of course, to attach the rest of the pieces to finish up the rider.

The hobby knife worked alright for this, but I definitely need to get more sculpting tools if I am going to start using Green Stuff more regularly.

Painting Update: Wave Serpent

The Wave Serpent body has been completely painted now and is getting a clear coat of matte varnish.  The highlights were added and the gem painted.  Now all that needs to be done is to add the canopy and glue the two sections together.  Next on my agenda is to complete a selection of weapons for the Serpents and start on a custom Autarch.

Painting Update: Wave Serpent

I did some more work on my latest Wave Serpent tonight.  I painted the fins with the yellow, giving a bascoat of Iyanden Darksun and then a couple coats of Sunburst Yellow.  It’s still a lengthy process painting the yellow, but it’s a lot better than going straight from black to yellow.  I also painted the gems with gunmetal silver, and did some of the highlighting on the turret.  Finally, I put some transfers on the side of the tank.  I’ve been meaning to do something similar with my other tanks, but never did.  I’d love to try my hand at more freehand designs, but I think that will wait until the Falcon.

Battle Report: Eldar vs. Marines 1300pts

The Corsairs of the Alaitoc Craftworld burst onto the field of battle driving their grav tanks straight down the throat of the Ulatramarine tank line.  This would be a kill or be killed engagement fought over the deserted remains of a blasted out building.

Eldar forces:
Farseer, Doom, Fortune, Runes of Warding
10 Dire Avengers, Exarch with Dual Catapults and Bladestorm
Wave Serpent with Spirit Stones and Bright Lances
10 Dire Avengers, Exarch with Dual Catapults and Bladestorm
Wave Serpent with Spirit Stones and Bright Lances
6 Fire Dragons, Exarch with Flamer and Crack Shot
Wave Serpent with Spirit Stones and Scatter Lasers
3 War Walkers with Scatter Lasers

Ultramarine forces:
2 Predators with linked Lascannons and side bolters
2 Razorbacks with lascannons
2 Razorbacks with heavy bolters
Vindicator
2 Tactical Marine squads with Lascannons and flamers
1 tactical marine squad with a flamer
1 Sternguard squad

The battle was annihilation with spearhead deployment.  We rolled off, I won and decided to take the first turn.  I deployed my tanks behind a hill with the jetbikes right behind them.  The Walkers were kept in reserve for outflanking.  The Marines bunched up all the tanks in the corner with the marines standing partially on a small hill.

The marines tried to steal the initiative, but failed.  The Farseer Fortuned his Serpent and both Lance Serpents moved to get a clear shot on the Predators.  The Dragon’s Serpent and the jetbikes boosted up behind the next hill.  The Lances fell short of their target and that was it.  On the Marine’s turn, they managed to take out 3 jetbikes with Lascannon fire, but the bike held their ground.

On turn two, the Walkers would not enter the fray.  Again the Farseer Fortuned his Serpent and since fortune favors the bold, he drove straight up the center.  The other Lance Serpent jumped up behind the small hill that was vacated when the Dragon Serpent and jetbikes moved behind the building.  Nothing could shoot because of the speed.  Nothing moved on the Marine’s turn, and everything that could fired at the Farseer’s Serpent.  Only one lascannon shot managed to connect, but it only resulted in a shaken crew.

The Walkers continued to hang outside the battle for yet another turn, while the Farseer cast Fortune on the Serpent again.  His Serpent jumped to the other side of the building, and the other Lance Serpent backed up a bit to get a clear shot, but would fail to hit anything all game.  The jetbikes and the Dragon Serpent popped out from behind the building.  The Serpent took out two marines with its scatter laser, while the jetbike failed to even score a single hit against the forward Predator.  The jetbikes then jumped back into cover of the building.

This was the scene after the Marines’ movement on turn three.  The Farseer’s Serpent was staring down the barrels of six lascannons, but through a combination of poor rolls by the Marines and good cover saves, the Serpent survived unscathed.  The Vindicator’s blast scatter back, nearly hitting its own troops.

Deciding it was their time to shine, the Walkers walked in onto the field near all the action and dumped their fire into the full tactical squad, killing two.  The Avenger disembarked and with a flurry of shuriken fire wiped out the other squad of Marines.  One of the Wave Serpents’ lances managed to shake a predator, but the jetbikes couldn’t make the damage any worse.  The Dragon Serpent moved back behind the building and was able to shake the other Predator with its scatter laser.  The shaken Predators rumbled forward, while the Razorbacks and lone marine were finally able to connect with the Farseer’s Serpent, immobilizing it.  The Vindicator fired on the Dragon Serpent, but again the blast scattered off target.  The heavy bolters were able to destroy one Walker and shake another one.

Since the Avengers were reloading, they took cover in their downed Wave Serpent.  The other two Serpents moved toward the Predators and the Fire Dragons jumped out to unleash their firepower against them.  They were able to take one of them out, and the operational Walker was able to get a good shot and destroyed the Predator.  The Farseer’s Serpent was able to stun the Sternguard’s Razorback.  The jetbikes failed to scratch anything, leaving the possibility of the Vindicator causing plenty of damage.  The Marines fired their lascannons on the Walkers, but only managed to destroy one of the guns.  The Sterguard disembarked, but even with all their options, they didn’t have any good targets.  The Vindicator fired on the Fire Dragons, but the operator must have been drinking last night, because the blast scattered yet again.

The die was rolled to see if we’d go to turn six, but it was not to be.

Final score:  Eldar 3, Ultramarines 0

The Eldar were able to corner the Marines and caused all kind of problems for the slower tanks.  Bad rolls plagued both sides, but in the end the Eldar came out victorious.

Painting Update: Wave Serpent

I worked on the third Wave Serpent for my army tonight.  I gave it a few coats of the brighter blue color and then did the camouflage pattern.  I use a small piece of sponge to do the camo, and it works really well.  I usually go back and to a bit of stippling in the tighter spots that I can’t get with the sponge.  Then I went back and filled in the lines and started painting the gems with the silver.  I added a bit of detail to the driver, but there’s still plenty more to do.

Eldar Falcon First Coat

The Eldar Falcon grav tank that I had order on eBay showed up today, so I decided to give it some attention.  It was already assembled when I bought it, so it needed some care.  I disassembled the turret and added some magnets for the guns and to hold the turret in place.  I then painted the bottom with black, and then drybrushed it with gunmetal.  The top was given a basecoat of dark blue that I like to apply before the light blue main color.

There’s still plenty of work to do, but it’s a start.