Dark Eldar Mandrake

Sorry for taking so long on painting this stuff.  A mix of being home for the holidays (and the required family events that ensue) and my odd urge to replay through Mass Effect 2 really created an unwelcome situation for my Mandrakes.  Alas, I finally got one done.  The Matte varnish I used had a bit of a gloss to it which is really amplified in the picture but isn't as bad in person.  Next time I'm going to snap pictures BEFORE the varnish though, just to give a better idea on what the guy actually looks like.  This guy was an experiment to see how I wanted to paint the squad and to make sure I get all the colors rights so he's not great, but I'm happy with how he turned out.  The rest of the squad *should* turn out better though.  We'll see!

Selling some Guard and Orks

Hey guys, decided to clear out some of my Guard I don't really use anymore and some Orks I found laying in my parents basement.  Figured I'd post them here and on some forums I frequent before heading to eBay.  If anyone is interested, just shoot me an email (click on the "Contact" tab up top).  If anyone has any questions, feel free to post them in the comments and I'll answer them ASAP!  I'm not really looking for a trade, but if you have some of the new Dark Eldar that are not painted and, preferably, not assembled, I'd certainly consider trading!

(Green is for sale, Orange is if "negotiations" are under way and Purple is sold)

IMPERIAL GUARD
5 Guardsmen on Sprue - link - $12 or BO

10 Vostroyan soldiers - link - $25 or BO (they are partially painted, but very easily stripped as they are just plastic. They also have some Resin bases I made awhile ago, they are NOT the black GW ones).

6 Valhallan soldiers - link - $25 or BO (these guys aren't sold anymore [as far as I can tell] and are just primed bar for one or two that have painted flesh. Again, metal so easily stripped.)

3 Mortar teams - link - $10 or BO (painted with really crappy bases, but they're easily cleaned off).

15 Guardsmen - link - $20 or BO (partially painted. Includes two guys from the command sprue here and here. Missing heads, shoulders were filed off as I originally planned on converting them to Valhallan warriors with greatcoats.)

Leman Russ Demolisher - link - $35 or BO (From old kit, Primed, Demolisher cannon itself is a bit warped but can be easily filed down. Missing top hatch).

Leman Russ - link - $35 or BO (From old kit, Primed. Cannon was built as a Nova cannon before the 5th edition codex was released (so it was based off of rumors)

31 Pig Iron Winter Sci Fi heads - link - $8 or BO (18 unpainted, the rest are partially painted but as they heads are metal, they're easily stripped. I only picture 25 heads, but I found six more in my bits box after taking pictures).


ORKS
5 Ork Nob Bikers with Painboy - link - $45 or BO (Painted and converted to look like Nobz rather than normal warbikerz. Some are not fully painted and just partially. Paint is not very heavy at all so painting over would not be a problem).

Ork Warboss - link - $12 or BO (Painted and converted a bit)

Pain Tokens of PAIN

Ok, I'm still waiting on my shipment of Warriors and Archon so I decided to build/paint up some Pain Tokens just to get myself remembering how to paint as well as test out my basing idea (I wanted lava world).  So here are the two tokens, turned out pretty decent I'd say!

Reaver Jetbikes

So I'm thinking of strategies for my current Dark Eldar list (I want to hone everything before committing on too many models.  Cash is tight!) and I realized that the Reavers aren't particularly great at assault and I was contemplating scratching them from my list until I realized one very important detail: Jetbikes have special rules.  They can move 6" in the assault phase and not assault!  I totally forgot!  I'm swamped with schoolwork at the moment, so a new updated list won't be created until probably Wednesday but if I take a few Reavers, pop a Blaster or Heat Lance on them and give them cluster caltrops I can Turbo Boost over an enemy unit (36" might I add) and end out of LoS of anything particularly dangerous and then pop out in the movement phase, shoot, pop back into hiding in the assault.  Rinse and repeat. I think it would create a nice distraction for my other units and still be able to wreak some havoc.  Knocking a few jetbikes out of my list also frees up room for Nightshields on my Raiders which makes killing them even more annoying.

I am so pumped for this army!

A Girl's 40k Problems

Ok, this gem is a bit to hilarious NOT to share.  I was showing my girlfriend the Archon and Kabalite Warriors I recently bought for my upcoming Dark Eldar army and I asked her why she hasn't done anything with the box of Ork Boyz I bought her back at Games Day '09.  She let me know why:

"Yeah, I left those in the box at home.  I got fed up building them because I kept getting super glue in my mouth."

I think she's doing it wrong.

*She told me the whole story and apparently the bottle exploded on her and got all over her hands and she had a hair in her mouth and, well, it's pretty easy to figure out what happened from there.  Still hilarious!

The Friday Fix #1

Hey guys, so I decided to do something so I can maintain some sort of regular posting schedule at the forge so I introduce The Friday Fix!  Basically if I see some cool stuff on forums or blogs or wherever, I'll post it in one of these Friday posts.  Alternatively, if you guys see something cool online you'd like to share or you have a thread on a forum or blog post you'd like to promote and think is pretty cool you can email it to me and I will include it in one of these new weekly posts!  Just send an email to terranforge@gmail.com with the title "Friday Fix" and I'll get back to you asap (i check my email super regularly so I guarantee I'll see it).  As long as it's 40k related, anything goes so long as it's interesting!

For this week, I point you to a post over at the Astronomican Forums by member tkkultist.  He's a member of "Team North America" and posted some cool WIP shots of the Primarchs used for the Golden Demon competitions in 2008 (I believe).  Really cool "behind the scenes" work that I thought was absolutely fascinating.

The lead image is Fulgrim by Chris Borer (and, incidentally, he won a Golden Demon and the Slayer Sword for his work).   Here are some WIP shots:

This next one is Ferrus Manus by Nathan Comanse:

And the last one I'll post is Lion El'Johnson by Tom Shadle:

Some incredible stuff, and absolutely thrilling to be able to see into the process of making such an incredible array of models.  To see more of the Primarchs, just mozy on over to this post on the Astronomican forums.  I promise you, it's worth it!  You can also check out tkkultist's (James Craig's) album on his site Lost In The Warp for even more Primarch goodness!

Final Dark Eldar List

Ok, I think I'm finally settled on a list. I changed the Huskblade to an Agoniser on the Archon since I figure at a small points level like this, the auto instant death wont be utilized much. When I get to building a 2k+ army, then a Huskblade/Soul Trap combo is a guarantee. I also gave the Archon a Blast Pistol and Hawire Grenades just so I can do SOMETHING if I find myself in CC with a walker. I took the Nightfiend of the Mandrakes, added a Dark Lance rather than Cannon for my second Kab squad and took the Heat Lance off the Raiders (I want them killing infantry, not stopping to shoot one weapon at a vehicle).

HQ
Archon - 140pts
+Agoniser, Combat Drugs, Shadow Field, Blast Pistol, Haywire Grenades

ELITES
Mandrakes x5 - 75

TROOPS
Kabalite Warriors x10 - 215pts
+Blaster, Dark Lance, Sybarite, Venom Blade
+Raider, Flickerfield

Kabalite Warriors x10 - 215pts
+Blaster, Dark Lance, Sybarite, Venom Blade
+Raider, Flickerfield

Wyches 9 - 200pts
+Hydra Gauntlets, Hekatrix, Agonizer
+Raider, Flickerfield

FAST ATTACK
Reavers x6 - 152pts
+Cluster Caltrops

TOTAL - 997pts


As a note, I have already purchased the Archon and a box of Warriors, so assembly and painting will soon happen (though not until I hit break in about a week).

Dark Eldar List v2.0

Ok, here's two new lists I made based on some great input both here and on the Astronomican Forums

LIST 1 
HQ
Archon - 135pts
+Huskblade, Combat Drugs, Shadow Field

ELITES
Incubi x4 - 208pts
+Klaivex, Bloodstone, Onslaught
+Venom, Splinter Cannon, Night shields

TROOPS
Kabalite Warriors x10 - 140pts
+Blaster, Dark Lance, Sybarite

Kabalite Warriors x10 - 140pts
+Blaster, Dark Lance, Sybarite

Wyches x10 - 210pts
+Hydra Gauntlets x2, Hekatrix, Power Weapon
+Raider, Flickerfield

FAST ATTACK
Reavers x6 - 164pts
+Heat Lance, Cluster Caltrops

TOTAL - 997pts



LIST 2 
HQ
Archon - 135pts
+Huskblade, Combat Drugs, Shadow Field

ELITES
Mandrakes x5 - 85
+ Nightfiend

TROOPS
Kabalite Warriors x10 - 215pts
+Blaster, Dark Lance, Sybarite, Venom Blade
+Raider, Flickerfield

Kabalite Warriors x10 - 200pts
+Blaster, Splinter Cannon, Sybarite, Venom Blade
+Raider, Flickerfield

Wyches x9 - 200pts  (EDIT- Originally had x10 here.  That was a mistake!)
+Hydra Gauntlets, Hekatrix, Agonizer
+Raider, Flickerfield

FAST ATTACK
Reavers x6 - 164pts
+Heat Lance, Cluster Caltrops


TOTAL - 999pts

Which do you guys think is the better list? List 2 seems much faster, but far more fragile while list 1 feels maybe too slow, but with a bit more staying power (because of the Incubi). List 1 is also a lot cheaper (money wise) but I'll worry about that when it's time to worry about that!

From the ashes...

Well, it's been a LONG while since I've been able to get excited over 40k. I just have had so much going on- my engineering courses are beginning to ramp up and require a lot of time and dedication, my goal to have an album recorded by the beginning of summer sucks away precious time and being able to relax is a very rare commodity.

Luckily I finally bought Chaos Rising. Why do I mention this? Well, I originally got into 40k because of the original Dawn of War game. Chaos Rising is bringing me back. Yes! The forge won't die!

I'm going to be possibly selling my Imperial Guard army soon, so I'll keep you posted on that. The reason is because I want to start a new army. An army that will reinvigorate my love for the hobby. I'm settling between Chaos and Dark Eldar and, to be honest, am quite partial to Dark Eldar at this point.

Sadly, my knowledge of the game has deteriorated as I haven't played a game in over a year. I'm not to keen on what's going on in the tourney scene and I'm very, very, horribly unfamiliar with Dark Eldar. Hopefully someone out there, then, can help!

Here is my tentative list. It is subject to 100% change, so PLEASE offer my criticism, suggestions, ask questions, whatever! I need all the help I can get!

The goal is to have a fun army, a fast army, a challenging army and a competitive army. For now I'm not going to worry about cost as this army build will be a full year in the making (so my limited cash flow at the moment will be able to keep up until I co-op again in Summer and Fall).

(1000 pt list)

HQ

Archon - 175pts
+Huskblade, Combat Drugs, Soul-trap, Ghostplate Armor, Webway Portal, Blast Pistol

ELITES
Incubi x5 - 155pts
+Klaivex, Bloodstone, Onslaught

TROOPS
Kabalite Warriors x10 - 230pts
+Blaster, Splinter Cannon, Sybarite, Blast Pistol, Venom Blade
+Raider, Disintegrator Cannon, Enhanced aethersails, Splinter Racks, Night Shields, Flickerfield

Kabalite Warriors x10 - 230pts
+Blaster, Splinter Cannon, Sybarite, Blast Pistol, Venom Blade
+Raider, Disintegrator Cannon, Enhanced aethersails, Splinter Racks, Night Shields, Flickerfield

FAST ATTACK
Reavers x3 - 101pts
+Blaster, Arena Champion, Power Weapon

Reavers x3 - 101pts
+Blaster, Arena Champion, Power Weapon

TOTAL - 992pts