Technical Issues

Hmm, some problems appear to be popping up. Everything was going along fine until loading times slowed appreciably and now certain images look broken or screwy to me. My satellite internet provider is terrible and I remember this happening before on diceRolla when working with large numbers of pictures. This is why I thought it best to keep my experimenting here as I sort these issues out. I don't know why this problem happens, if it affects the way other people see things on the blog, or if it is just due to the lousiness of my internet service. Oh well, I don't have any answers so I'll just keep messing around I suppose. Back to the atom mill for me.

This next set of images are from a batch I used on diceRolla back in October in a sort of thank-you note to Col.Hessler of SADOUKAD 16. This was right around the time when I was first becoming really aware of the potential for narrative in photographing miniatures. It is interesting to return to these photos from even just a few months ago with new purpose. On these I have continued my testing of the "Effects" button.

I'm excited about the prospect of putting together a story using my 'Nids, Hive Fleet Hydra, and the new Raptors marines I am now collecting. In fact I'm really interested in attempting to chronicle all the wars waged across my tabletop, especially those for 40k, WHFB, and Warmahordes. That seems like it would be a fun new twist for my hobby. All of that will have to wait quite a while though as I would have lots of painting to do, both in miniatures and scenery, in order to do it well. That's okay as it will give me plenty of time to learn more about photographing my miniatures and working with the pictures on my computer. No need to worry, I'm sure I'll get the hang of this eventually....

Biomorph Blues

It's been a bit of struggle but I have at last produced a couple of lists for my Tyranids using the new Codex in conjunction with my existing collection of buggies. I have come up with army lists for both 1000 point and 1500 point games so that I can at least begin testing out how the new rules function. I'm not too crazy right now about the smaller list as something about it doesn't feel right to me. It may just be that I didn't find room for any Elites choices as I usually like to have at least one unit from each category of the Force Organization Chart. Also the 1500 point lists just looks as though it would have more of the look and feel of my original 2000 point army using the previous edition of Codex: Tyranids. Nonetheless it's a good enough place for me to start. Here then are the two lists with which I plan on using in my first couple of games:

Hive Tyrant (230) Scything Talons x 2, Wings

Tyranid Warriors x 3 (105) Rending Claws

Genestealers x 10 (140)

Termagants x 10 (50)

Termagants x 10 (50)

Hormagaunts x 10 (60)

Hormagaunts x 10 (60)

Tyranid Shrikes x 3 (120) Rending Claws

Carnifex (185) Heavy Venom Cannon

Total = 1000 points, 9 Kill Points

Hive Tyrant (245) Scything Talons x 2, Implant Attack, Wings

Hive Tyrant (220) TL Devourers x 2, Regeneration

Lictor (65)

Zoanthropes x 2 (120)

Tyranid Warriors x 3 (105) Rending Claws

Genestealers x 10 (140)

Termagants x 12 (60)

Termagants x 12 (60)

Hormagaunts x 15 (90)

Hormagaunts x 15 (90)

Tyranid Shrikes x 3 (120) Rending Claws

Carnifex (185) Heavy Venom Cannon

Total = 1500 points, 12 Kill Points

Adaptation

I've had my copy of Codex: Tyranids for a few days now and have looked over most of it with an eye for changes from its previous edition and how they affect my own army, Hive Fleet Hydra. Although I had great hopes for this book, I'm left feeling a bit underwhelmed. I would probably be more excited about it if I were actively collecting them at this point and interested in adding new units to my old army. I do not plan however to add anything to my swarm for quite some time as I right now have plenty of other projects on my hobby-plate. Mycetic Spores open up some exciting new styles of play for 'Nid armies which I will not be able to try out using only my current collection. Also it seems like most of the online community has understandably fallen in love with a few of the new beasties, in particular the Tervigon and the amazing new Trygon/Mawloc kit. Even with my stated goal of not purchasing any new 'Nids, that Trygon is just so fantastic I may end up getting one anyway. But really what I am interested in doing is figuring out how to make the most out of the bugs that I already have.

My Tyranid army was collected with the intent of being fielded as a 2000 point force and so I actually have a decent amount with which I can work. This exercise should be easier as I now favor smaller games with fewer points per side, thus making this task more about cutting out from my list what no longer makes sense rather than trying to force my current army build into conforming with the new rules. I was never a big fan of the Nidzilla armies that were so popular with the previous book. Tyranid armies to me were always about lots of swarms of little bugs overrunning the enemy with some mid-sized bugs and big bugs mixed in to lead the army and provide some serious stomping power. I love the Carnifex model but an army made up almost exclusively of them and Genestealers just did not appeal to me. Therefore I've got some monstrous creatures available but also a good number of the smaller fellas to bulk out my swarm. Here then is a review of all the Tyranids I have and whatever biomorphs and weapons that are represented on the miniatures themselves.

Hive Tyrant: Scything Talons x 2, Wings, Toxin Sacs

Hive Tyrant: TL Devourers x 2, Toxic Miasma

Lictor

Zoanthropes x 2

Tyranid Warriors x 3: Rending Claws, Devourers

Genestealers x 12

Termagants x 24

Hormagaunts x 16: Adrenal Glands

Hormagaunts x 16: Toxin Sacs

Tyranid Shrikes x 3: Rending Claws, Devourers

Raveners x 2: Scything Talons, Rending Claws

Raveners x 2: Scything Talons x 2

Carnifex: TL Devourers x 2, Frag Spines, Regenerate

Carnifex: Scything Talons, Heavy Venom Cannon, Adrenal Gland

So the first step in this process is to take stock of the resources available to Hive Fleet Hydra, which is what the above list is meant to do. Now the real work can begin as over the coming days I start crunching numbers and trying out different combinations of broods. I want to come up with a variety of possible army lists so that I can then set about testing them in some actual games. Although it's still likely that I will occasionally want to use as many 'Nids as I can, nowadays I prefer games of either 1000 or 1500 points and so developing lists at those levels will be my priority. I would love to hear any suggestions of how I can best make use of what is already in my collection and I am grateful for anyone who cares to voice their thoughts.