Airbrushing Part 2 - Blended Base Coats

 Following some of the basics in Part #1, I want to move into blending base coats with multiple colors.  I'm going to use my dark eldar for this as they received this technique the most.  The colors I chose were inspired by a fading sunset.  Armors will be blended from orange to red, purple, and black.  Hair and wings will be blue blended to black.  I tend to start with the light colors and blend to dark with this technique.  This is just personal preference.

The eye is drawn to light or bright colors so I decided to start with orange on the helmet and shoulder area.  The color is Autumn Leaves (FolkArt).

Airbrushing Part 1 - Basics

One of the most popular requests I get these days hobby wise is airbrushing advice.  Here's an attempt to compile my thoughts and experiences thus far.  This is more appropriate for those who learn better by doing things hands-on like me.  A lot of this has been trial and error as I haven't sat down with any videos or classes since college 13 years ago.

I'll start with my airbrushing station as preparation and tools are very important.

Game Change

Things here have been quiet because I've been doing some soul searching.  The new edition has breathed life into my tyranids and stole some thunder from my DE and GK.  Flyers, allies, and fortifications are all things that tickle my fancy both on the table and with hobby projects so I've been searching for inspiration as to which projects to tackle first.

July Event Game #3: Tyranids vs Necrons 1500pts

Our monthly event for July was a "Welcome to 6th" event.  Players were allowed to bring up to 3 different 1500pt armies to try out as many of the new rules as possible.  Allies, fortifications, and player set terrain were all in use.  Prize support was raffled off randomly at the end to discourage WAAC lists/behavior for the first event under the new rules.

My third opponent was "Courtney" and his newly fleshed out Necrons.

His list (approx):
Overlord + weave, shifter, scythe, scarabs, tesseract labyrinth, command barge
Court - lance-tek x1, tremor-tek x1 + harp
Immortals x5
Warriors x9 (lance-tek here)
Warriors x9 (harp-tek here)
Wraiths x6 + whips x2
Scarabs x9
Spyders x3 + prism
Doom Scythe
Aegis Defense Line + Quad Gun

1850pts: Food for Thought (and Noming)

With the possibility of next month's event going to 1850pts, I've been thinking over some lists.  Here's one I want to try out.  LMK what you think.

July Event Game #2: Tyranids vs Imperial Guard 1500pts

Our monthly event for July was a "Welcome to 6th" event.  Players were allowed to bring up to 3 different 1500pt armies to try out as many of the new rules as possible.  Allies, fortifications, and player set terrain were all in use.  Prize support was raffled off randomly at the end to discourage WAAC lists/behavior for the first event under the new rules.

My second opponent was Konrad (Political Officer Krad from Death or Glory), also my first opponent's brother.

His list:

HQ

Company Command Squad(Power Fist, Med-Pack, Standard,Vox, Plasma Gun) + Chimera

Fast

Vendetta Gunship

Troops

Vets 1 ( 3Plasma Guns, Grenadiers, Power Fist) + Chimera

Vets 2 ( 3 Meltas, Demolitions, Power Fist) (In Vendetta)

Infantry Platoon

Command Squad (Vox, Power Sword, Commissar, Power Sword, Standard)

5 Infantry Squads (2 Commissars, 7 Power Swords, 2 Vox, 3 Flamers, 2 Grenade Launchers)

Heavy Weapons Squad (3 Lascannons)

Heavy Weapons Squad (3 Missile Launchers)

Special Weapons Squad (3 Sniper Rifles)

Special Weapons Squad (3 Grenade Launchers)

July Event Game #1: Tyranids vs Blood Angels and Necrons 1500pts

Our monthly event for July was a "Welcome to 6th" event.  Players were allowed to bring up to 3 different 1500pt armies to try out as many of the new rules as possible.  Allies, fortifications, and player set terrain were all in use.  Prize support was raffled off randomly at the end to discourage WAAC lists/behavior for the first event under the new rules.

My first opponent was Garrett who has come out to several of our events, but I haven't had the chance to play him.  He brought about 750pts in BA and 750pts in Necrons.

His list (approx):
Librarian + unleash rage, sword
Assault Squad x10 + fist, melta x2, rhino
Assault Squad x9 + sword, plasma, rhino (libby here)
Assault squad x8 + axe, melta, rhino

Overlord + scythe, scarabs, phase shifter, command barge
Lance-tek
Warriors x9 + ghost ark (lance-tek here)
Wraiths x3 + whips x3
Annihilation Barge

Tournament Day

Here's your sneak preview of today's event.  It wasn't a full-on tournament as people were allowed to bring 3 armies if they wanted to try out as many of the new rules as possible.  Prize support was raffled off at the end so there was nothing to gain from bringing a ridiculous list except experience.

Playtesting

Working a full time job and coming home to a 6 month old doesn't leave much time to get out for games so this is what I do when I'm not inspired to paint.  I need inspiration to paint and right now the shift in rules has derailed all my previous army builds so here I go to the proverbial drawing board.

Zoanbomb

Pouring over the various rules, a thought hit me.

Telepathy offers a primaris power similar to the Doom's but without cover saves (3d6-ldr = wounds with no armor or cover).  Units can swap their random roll for the primaris power.  A unit of zoans can use this power 3 times.  A  unit of zoans in a pod can hit just about anywhere on the table.

Salvaging the Dark Footdar

The most depressing thing about 6th edition for me was invalidating my reserve/webway portal list.  I've been mulling over the options and here are some fun alternatives if the tournament circuit accepts allies.

Tyrant Wing

... AKA Lookout Sirs!  I was mulling over the recent rage over the "lookout sir!" allocation rule and this list came to me.  I doubt it would consistently perform, but it would be fun and fast to play.  Oh yeah, double force org at 2,000pts.

Misconceptions

6th Edition is still very new and there are a lot of misconceptions flooding the internet so it's important to keep perspective and realize that everything you read on the internet isn't always true (even here!).  I've seen this a lot on BoLS, 11th Co forums, and other blog so I'll address a few things here.  The most important thing going forward into the new edition is to know as many codex rules as possible so people don't pull off things that aren't supported by the new rules.  I'll update this from time to time and feel free to add.

Nid List - 1500pts

Three games under the belt with the new edition and my thoughts are still changing and evolving.  Here's a new list I want to test next.  Thoughts afterwards.

1500pts
Tyrant + wings, old adversary, devourers x2
Hive Guard x3
Termagants x20 + devourers
Tervigon + crushing claws, toxins, 3 powers
Warriors x3 + deathspitters x2, barbed strangler
Raveners x5 + rending
Trygon
Aegis Defense Line

6th Ed Batrep - 1500pts Marines vs Tyranids

Played Andy today in a full 6th ed game with all the new stuff except allies.  This will be long, but I'll take you through all the steps.  We started with a blank board marked off with 2x2' squares.  I took the near side Andy took the far side.

Here's the terrain we had to choose from.  I wanted some area, some ruins, and some impassible.  Nothing mysterious for this game.

Nid List - 1500pts

July's monthly event has changed to a "welcome to 6th" event which is really cool.  You can bring multiple armies to try different stuff out.  Allies, fortifications, and player set terrain is in which should also prove to be fun (or funny if someone whips out something really broken).  Prize support will be distributed by raffle so there's no incentive to bring a nasty list and beat face (unless you like testing nasty lists and beating face).

Here's my next nid list to test out more units and mechanics.

6th Ed Impressions - 2 Games Later

Millennium Games hosted an open play/discussion day to celebrate the release of the new rules yesterday.  My buddy Kevin did the same thing afterwards at his house, but with beer and food too.  I ground my way through 2 partial games just to try the rules out with the help of observers looking up rules as we played.

My first game was against IG with GK allies (libby + 5 terminators).  We played mission #6 The Relic (kill the carrier).  Deployment was Dawn of War (the new pitched battle).