W40K: Imperial Fists 'Captain Storm Bolter/Power Sword I'

I enjoy painting single models over Units, probably because less repetitious over painting an assembly line.  One of the lists I am thinking about playing at the NOVA Open has a Spearhead Detachment with 3 'Thunderfire Cannons' and to lead that Detachment, I need a HQ model, so here is 'Captain' equipped with a Storm Bolter and Power Sword.  The ability to re-roll 1's to hit for the 'Thunderfire Cannons' will be nice with the 'Captain' back by them.

 Captain with Storm Bolter/Power Sword I

 Captain with Storm Bolter/Power Sword I

Captain with Storm Bolter/Power Sword I

Painting Points: 1

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Daily Chronicle: Primaris Aggressors To The Front Of The Queue

With the release of the new Space Marines FAQ yesterday, I am making a slight change to my list for the AdeptiCon Team Tournament, at least I am going to hope for the change.

I decided that instead of running a 'Redemptor Dreadnought', I am going ahead and swapping it out for a Unit of 'Primaris Aggressors'.  The 'Redemptor Dreadnought' basically has all Heavy weapons that are short range (which would be hard to take advantage of during Turn 1) and the 'Primaris Aggressors' have all Assault type weapons that I can use the Doctrines turning Turns 2 & 3, plus I get a few more shots with them over the 'Redemptor Dreadnought'.  With the 'Redemptor Dreadnought' I would have anywhere between 19-24 shots mostly at S5, but with the 'Primaris Aggressors', it would be anywhere from 21-36 S4 shots and with the Imperial Fist "bolt" rule in place of additional hits on a 6.

So the 'Primaris Aggressors' are moving up to the front of my Painting Queue.  Hopefully I can complete assembly on them tonight and then on Sunday start painting them with a planned finish of next week.  Luckily my son already a squad new in box so I can get an early start and when mine arrives I will just hand it over to him..... maybe.... LOL

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W40K: FAQ Space Marines 2/27/2020

There has been a disturbance in  the Warhammer 40K Universe this morning with a new FAQ for the Space Marines, and it is a pretty significant change, especially for my Imperial Fists.

In an effort to further reduce the competitiveness of the Iron Hands Chapter, Games Workshop made a change to the Combat Doctrines for Space Marines.  Previously everyone started on the Devastator Doctrine and then starting with Turn 2 can elect to change to the next Doctrine or stay on the Devastator Doctrine, now with the new FAQ, everyone is required to change.

Currently my Imperial Fists rely on a lot Heavy weapons so I would just stay on the Devastator Doctrine, now this is going to change some things up a bit for me, especially the two new Intercessor Units with Stalkers I was going to work on for NOVA Open, now I may just keep them as Auto Bolt Rifles.

Honestly I do feel this change is good, it was not until September when these Doctrines were first introduced, so the Doctrines still help us, not as much as it used to for me.

I am not changing any of my lists for AdeptiCon, but I may take another look at my options for NOVA Open after a few play test games with these new rules.

You can download the new FAQ by visiting Warhammer Community.

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Weekly Chronicle 2020 #8

Not too many models were completed during Week #8, but it was still a good week non the less.  First off I was able to work on some ruin walls for Warhammer 40K with my 'STC Ryza-Pattern Ruins I & II', then I completed a "smash captain" for my Imperial Fists that I call "Smashfist".

Gaming for the week I am also happy with myself.  2 games of Warhammer 40K, both were 1500 point games in preparation for the AdeptiCon Friendly, one was last Monday night and then another this past Saturday.

For this coming week, I am honestly not sure what/if anything will get completed, I kind of a few projects going on at the same time.  I ended up purchasing more models for my Imperial Fists (Thunderfire Cannons, Whirlwind, Intercessors, Phobos Captain) and I started building two more 5 man Squads of Stalker equipped 'Intercessors'.  I would like to have those assembled by the end of the week and I think after AdeptiCon they will hit the painting table.  I also have five more 'Termagants' that are all primed and ready for painting, so if anything will actually be completed this week it will probably be those models.

NOVA Open registration begins Sunday night at 8:00 PM EST and I am still undecided what events I want to do that Labor Day weekend.  I could spend the whole weekend playing MeSBG (Friday Doubles, Saturday/Sunday GT) or try and sign up for the WH40K GT for Friday/Saturday and possibly Sunday.  I think my gut is leaning towards WH40K as it will give me plenty of practice time after AdeptiCon to play 2000 point games and give me something to look forward to in getting my models completed in time, although my son will most likely have a MeSBG weekend.

Next Mondays Weekly Chronicle I will reveal what I signed up for.

Models Completed: 17 (with terrain)
Games Played: 2

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Battle Report: W40K 2/22/2020 (CA2019 "Crusade")

Yesterday morning I drove out to Michigan City, IN to Heroes Haven Comics & Games and met up with a long time friend from IL to get in a practice game of Warhammer 40K.  In preparation for the AdeptiCon Friendly tournament, the game was 1500 points and my friend was playing an Eldar force (first time facing Eldar in a very very long time) and I was playing with my Imperial Fists.

We rolled off for the Mission from the Chapter Approved Eternal War and came up with "Crusade".

We then starting placing 6 Objective Markers across the table.

Next we rolled for Attacker/Defender and I lost the roll and my friend Chris chose to be the Attacker so I then proceeded to roll for the Deployment Map and rolled "Search and Destroy" and selected my Deployment Zone (which I ended up choosing the wrong one).  The Zone I gave Chris already had 2 Objective Markers in it so it was going to be an uphill battle.

Chris deployed first and then myself and then the game began.

The Eldar had some pretty good First Turn shooting with the 'Dark Reapers' destroying my 'Redemptor Dreadnought' and his bikes shooting and charging my 'Scouts' with the 'Scouts' getting wiped out.  Chris scored 1 VP to destroying a Unit in the First Turn.

My First Turn was not as good as it could have been, but my 'Centurion Devastators' did manage to destroy his 'Falcon' scoring me 1 VP and then I followed up and proceeded to kill the 'Fire Dragon' that were inside with some other models.

There was a lot of back and forth going on, but Chris was scoring 2-3 VP's per Turn from sitting on Objectives to my only 1 VP so I was following behind fast.

I think the highlight of the game was when 'Tor' charged into his 'Avatar'.  His 'Avatar' was already doing work on my 'Centurions' so it was payback.  'Tor' just demolished the 'Avatar', but a Stratagem brought him back with 6 Wounds and proceeded to do all but 1 damage to 'Tor', 'Tor' was still standing.

The following Turn after Charge fights were fought, I interrupted the Fight with "Counter Offensive" and proceeded to have 'Tor' strike down the 'Avatar' again before he was able to bring down 'Tor' and it worked.  Later in the game 'Tor' was also able to finish off one of his last bikers before succumbing to his last Wound.

From Turn 4 on it was mainly just securing the existing Objectives we had as I was too far away from securing any new ones.  At the end of Turn 6, my Imperial Fists ended up losing 17-7.  I still had my 'Chapter Master Captain/Warlord', 'Primaris Chaplain', 2x 'Eliminators' and a Unit of 'Intercessors' with Stalkers.  Chris had his Unit of 'Dark Reapers' and Unit of 'Dire Avengers'.  Those 2 Units he had scored him 10 VP's sitting on their Objectives and I could not reach them....bad pick of Deployment Zone for me.

It was a good game and great to play Chris after all these years.  We are going to try and do this about every other month alternating between Michigan City and possibly someplace closer to him.

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W40K: Imperial Fists 'Captain Smashfist'

The other day I saw a post in a Facebook Group asking what a typical "Smash Captain" is for Imperial Fists.  Usually a "Smash Captain" consists of a Captain with a Jump Pack, Storm Shield and a Thunder Hammer, but for the Imperial Fists, we 'have' (have as in it would be cool to be in theme) would be to swap put the Thunder Hammer for a Power Fist.  The reason for this swap (besides what I mentioned to be in theme) is that the Imperial Fists can take a Special-Issue Wargear Relic called "Fist of Terra", the "Fist of Terror" replaces the models Power Fist stat line with it's own, the main benefit is that it no longer suffers -1 to hit and it makes 1 additional attack with the weapon.

My son had mentioned that he had some bits laying around from a 'Vanguard Veteran Squad' box he had purchased along with an Imperial Fist Power Fist I had still had left over, so I went to work and created my own "Captain Smashfist", once I completed the assembly, I knew he had to skip to the front of the line in painting queue.

"Captain Smashfist" is now completed.  So far all of my HQ models have been Primaris models and they have been wearing cloaks (which I painted red), so to stay in theme, a little red was added to this model so I have consistency with my army.

 Captain Smashfist

 Captain Smashfist

Captain Smashfist

Painting Points: 1

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W40K: "STC Ryza-Pattern Ruins" II

Very similar to yesterdays post, my second box of 'STC Ryza-Pattern Ruins' is now also completed for Warhammer 40K.

I do have a 'Manufactorum' that is still in box unassembled that I will eventually need to get to also, plus I would like to have a few more pieces of terrain from the GW line.

 STC Ryza-Pattern Ruins

STC Ryza-Pattern Ruins

Painting Points: 20

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W40K: "STC Ryza-Pattern Ruins" I

A few months ago I picked up a couple of boxes (2) of the 'STC Ryza-Pattern Ruins' from my local gaming store to start having some Warhammer 40K terrain.  The contents of the boxes I think is actually a good value for $35.00

We have been using the terrain in our games (they come in pre-colored brown plastic), but now I thought it was time to start giving them the color I was looking for to match with our ruined gaming mat.

An equivalent of one box of contents is now completed and still have the other one to go (I will probably start priming it tonight).  For the amount of time spent on them, I am happy on how they turned out and look on our mat.

 Box contents

 Pre-colored brown plastic

 Finished ruins

Finished Ruins

Painting Points: 20

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Battle Report: W40K 2/17/2020 (CA2019 "Lockdown")

Last night my son and I played our first larger game of Warhammer 40K (1500 points) since taking the game back up.  The AdeptiCon Warhammer 40K Friendly event is 1500 points so now it was time to take all of our 500 point games we played and put all the Units together for 1500.

It was Imperial Fists vs Dark Angels and it was fun for the Imperial Fists, probably not so much so for the Dark Angels.  As stated in an earlier Battle Report, we have been playing Missions from Chapter Approved 2019 and last nights was called "Lockdown".  This was an interesting one and you start the game off with 6 Objectives on the board, but then you lose Objectives 2-5 throughout the game (each one is removed based on that Round #).  I had Objectives 1-3 near my Deployment and my son ended up having 4-6 near his, so in the long run he would be scoring more per Round.

Turn 2 I made a strategic move and decided to concentrate on the Dark Angels securing Objective #6, it paid off as I was able to eliminate a 10 man squad of Primaris Intercessors.  This was now going to allow me to go and secure that Objective and hold it through the end of the game while I lost Objectives 2 and 3 that went away.

The Imperial Fists did end up wiping out the Dark Angels by Turn 4 and won 19-6.

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Weekly Chronicle 2020 #7

Week #7 was a pretty decent week for me and at least a game of Warhammer 40K was squeezed in.

First off I ended up completing 9 models, 3 'Ripper Swarms', 5 'Termagants' for my Tyranids army and 1 'Leviathan Dreadnought' for my Imperial Fists, the bad news I did not spend any time this weekend prepping any new models. I need to build some more 'Termagants'.

On Saturday morning my son and I did squeeze in a small game (500 points) of Warhammer 40K before he had to go to work. We also ended up starting a 1500 point game last night which we will be wrapping up tonight.

Some of the action from our 500 point game.

There is also just under 38 days till AdeptiCon 2020 starts and I am looking forward to it.  I have a pretty full weekend lined up for it (mainly 40K gaming) but I am excited.  A Warhammer 40K Friendly (1500 points) on Friday, and then Saturday/Sunday will be the Warhammer 40K Team Tournament.  Since none of us are at it to win anything, I am hoping the whole weekend will be considered a "friendly" weekend.

I do have to work on the Thursday of AdeptiCon (from my hotel room) so no events are planned for that day, and it may also cut down on how much I spend this year at AdeptiCon.  It better not be as bad as last year have $600 of games just sitting on the shelf......

Models Completed: 9

Games Played: 1

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W40K: Imperial Fists 'Leviathan Dreadnought I'

After building my Forge World 'Leviathan Dreadnought' the other day, I could not have him sitting long unpainted so I got him onto the painting table.  Even though I would like to still finish my 'Repulsor Executioner', technically I now have 2000 points completed for my Imperial Fists.

 Leviathan Dreadnought I

 Leviathan Dreadnought I

Leviathan Dreadnought I

Painting Points: 10

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W40K: Tyranids 'Kronos Termagants x5 (b)'

Another 5  Kronos 'Termagants' with Fleshborer's are now completed.  Out of the initial 60 'Termagants' I need completed for my 1000 point list, 20 will be with Fleshborer's and  40 will be with Devourer's, 10 Fleshborer's are now done.

Kronos Termagants (b)

Painting Points: 5

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W40K: Imperial Fists WIP 'Leviathan Dreadnought'

While working on my Tyranids the past few days, I decided to take a small break yesterday afternoon and build a model for my Imperial Fists army.  For Christmas I purchased myself my first ever Forge World model, the 'Leviathan Dreadnought with Storm Cannons' and it was time for him to come out of the box.

The assembly of the model was pretty straight forward and easy, I think most of the time spent was cleaning the flash and washing the pieces with soap and water.  Once the pieces dried, the assembly commenced.

Usually I do not show off the my models unfinished.......but this is my first Forge World!

 Leviathan Dreadnought

 Leviathan Dreadnought

Leviathan Dreadnought

Currently I am in no rush to get this model completed, but I do think it will hit my painting table after the next batch of 5 'Termagants' are completed.

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W40K: Tyranids 'Kronos Ripper Swarms I'

Here I am with only 5 Termagants completed, already changing it up a bit.  With the 'Ripper Swarms' being so small, I knew it would not take long to get them completed so I decided yesterday to complete one of my Units.  In my 1000 point list, I only need one Unit of 3, but for my expanded 1500 point list I will need three Units of 'Ripper Swarms.  Luckily these models come inside the boxes of the Termagant Broods, I just needed to purchase a few more extra 40mm bases.

Kronos Ripper Swarms I

Kronos Ripper Swarms I

Painting Points: 6

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Weekly Chronicle 2020 #6

Well my sons work schedule did not coincide with my schedule well and no games were played again this past week, but at least some painting was completed.

I was happy that I got to finish my 1500 points of Imperial Fists and I am ready for the AdeptiCon Friendly event and Team Tournament.  I was also able to start on some Tyranids on Saturday and work on my color scheme for them plus get another 5 more Termagants ready for the painting table.

Now that the majority of my Imperial Fists are completed, and I am in no rush to complete my Tyranids, I am at a point where I am going to enjoy painting both armies and going back and forth between the two to paint.

I am going to have to try and squeeze in a small point game sometime this week so we can keep the rules fresh in our minds.

Models Completed: 8
Games Played: 0

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W40K: Tyranids 'Kronos Termagants x5 (a)'

In yesterdays post, I had mentioned on starting my Tyranids Termagants with the newer Citadel Contrast paints.  I was not liking the way they were coming out (watercolor effect) and the time it was taking to paint them and felt my old way of painting may be quicker for me.

I re-primed the first batch of 5 Termagants with my standard black spray and went to work on them.  They probably still took just as long (and a few more colors), but the end result is what I was looking for (more of a black/grey body with red armor shells) to go with the Hive Fleet Kronos color scheme I was wanting.

In my initial 1000 point list of Tyranids and the core of my army I am building/painting, I have 60 Termagants in the list, so it looks I will have 12 batches of 5 to paint (a-l).  Now my problem is I have nothing else already assembled and ready to paint....so it looks like this coming week may be assembly week for me.

 Kronos Termagant

 Kronos Termagants (a)

Kronos Termagants (a)

Painting Points: 5

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