Email: Philippine Tyranids go to War

From Ian, a synaps3 reader from the Philippines.  We've talked about his list and tactics a bit before the beginning of his gladiator season via email.

"Hi synaps3,
check out my battle report against Imperial guard,
http://galleriabasterds.blogspot.com/2011/02/hive-fleet-conqueror-goes-to-war.html
I also had another game that day against chaos which I will be doing probably by
wednesday.
pictures to follow...

thanks and have a great day."

Thanks for the report Ian, that sounds like a fun mission.  Sounds like you also did really well against guard which is always nice to hear and thanks for the shout-out on the passive assault.  Keep up the good work!

Email: List "Shock and Maw"

From Steve M:

"This list is the result of playtesting about a dozen games since my last post.  My respect for the power of a Tervigon as a troops choice forced me to add another and a unit of termagaunts as troops.  I have now dropped the Swarmlord and tyrant guard and boosted the save of my DakkaTyrant to 2+ to face my local tourneys barrage of missile launcher devs, long fangs, and deathwing terminator lists.  My losses have come to Blood Angels with Mephiston, 9 vehicles with twin assault cannons, and 12 devastators with missile launchers. 

Three of my units drop in with spore pods.  Two Carnifexes with dual twin linked devourers giving them 12 twin linked strength 6 shots and the Doom of Malantai.  Hive commander also gives me the option of outflanking a tervigon or termagaunt unit should I choose to do so.  This would most likely happen in dawn of war missions.  Anyway here is the list.

Hive Tyrant w/ 2 Twin Devourers, Armored Shell, Regeneration, Paroxysm, Leech Essence, Hive Commander, and Implant Attack
3 Hive Guard
3 Hive Guard
Doom of Malantai in Spore Pod
10 Termagaunts
10 Termagaunts
10 Termagaunts
Tervigon w/ Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs, Crushing Claws, Cluster Spines, Catalyst, Dominion
Tervigon w/ Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs, Crushing Claws, Cluster Spines, Catalyst, Dominion
Tervigon w/ Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs, Crushing Claws, Cluster Spines, Catalyst, Dominion
Carnifex w/ 2 Twin Devourers in a Spore Pod
Carnifex w/ 2 Twin Devourers in a Spore Pod

Well, what do you think? 
I also have a rules question.  What happens when your opponent tries to tank shock a spore pod?  It is an immobile unit.  The way I see it, Only 2 options are viable. 
1.  The pod must death or glory and gets 1 str6 plus 2d6 attack on the front armor. 
2.  The tank stops 1 inch away as the pod cannot move and so cannot be tank shocked out of the way."

*Dominion*

synaps3  has been getting a lot of love recently.  I have to extend heartfelt thanks to my followers and readers.  You guys make all the time and effort worth while.  The blog has been receiving a lot of additional traffic thanks to some referrals in the blogosphere and interwebs.  I thought I'd share just a few of the highlights of my inbox from the past couple weeks...

1850 Batrep vs Ultramarines

Leif came over this week to practice for this weekend's tourney at Millennium Games.  I unfortunately won't be able to make it as Saturday is my future wife's birthday, but I was going to give Leif a taste of what could show up to a non-comp tournament...

Hobby: Planet Petco gets a touch-up!

Some of you have seen my "Planet Petco" table consisting of aquarium decorations.  I had the honor of receiving most votes for "Best Table" at Daboyz GT with it, which is kinda silly because I did very little to create it compared to some of the lengths others went to in creating their tables.  Anyways, I've gotten tired of my snow table so I dusted off the plastic plants and set up this table again for two games this week.

It's taken a beating with use and travel.  I've been bringing it to our local shop for tournament use as well as here at home.  Anyways, here are some new photos and tips on how to make your own rain forest table.

Planet Petco:

Hobby: Painting Genestealers

I've had some extra time to paint this week and had some new inspiration to finish up my first big squad of genestealers.  If you're familiar with my scheme, it's basically metallic green chitin with metallic black limbs, white claws, and brown bases.  My new idea was to go back and drybrush more metallic colors onto the models and redo some of the highlighting.

Here are some shots of new and improved genestealers.  The bases are beat up and not finished so ignore them for now.

2k Batrep: Something New

Aric came over to my war-cave this week for a battle.  He's new to our area having just moved from NYC.  We've never played before and using a variation of my current tournament concept list created a mis-match of sorts.  Aric's army was painted and based to a very high standard, so I decided to write this batrep as a story rather than focusing on the turn-by-turn and dice results.  I tried to keep the pictures focused on my models that are painted so excuse me for my stuff not looking as nice as his.  I hope you enjoy the read as a change to my normal batreps.

Here is the table after deployment and infiltration (pitched battle annihilation).

Splinters of Imperial designation Hive Fleet Colossus had grown stronger, building biomass resources as they harvested Imperial death world Thrixion XII.  The lumbering insectoids of the jungle planet provided needed nourishment as well as genetic opportunities to incorporate stronger chitinous plating and unique sensory organs in the newly bred additions to the swarm.  The towering sky-trees shielded the resting and regenerating bio-ships from the prying eyes of those who searched for the remnants of the fleet.  The constant ion storms invigorated the synaptic relays of the growing hive and the torrential silica-rains drained directly into new digestion pools and provided new building blocks in the DNA strains.

The Hive Mind reached across the expansive universe and sensed a new opportunity on Thrixion XII.  It changed its modus operandi, commanding its organisms to rebuild and expand outward first and foremost, slowing and delaying the complete harvest of the forest planet and revelling in the new flavors of it genetic diversity.

Sensing the tingle of life in a nearby solar system, the Hive Mind dispatched a new invasion fleet to investigate and ingest.