[40k][JoL10] Hive Fleet Kraken, Return of the Hive Mind Options

[the duke]

Introduction
I've been a late inclusion to the JoL fun and games, so have a bit of catching up to do. I've been flirting with the idea of a Tyranid Army for a few years now, and with a new Codex and a Modelling Diary Competition to motivate me its time to get things started.

While I rarely manage to get a game in these days (kids tend to absorb all free time) I still try to keep painting. Most of my efforts have been tabletop quality so this should be a unique opportunity to spend more time and try some new things.

Army Background:
Hive Fleet Kraken is where its at. I like the colour scheme, and as I have the poor remnants of the Scythes of the Emperor painted up this fits in nicely.
Other than that its is old school Tyranids. They have come from another galaxy, far, far away to chew on your face.

Purchases:
My order is in ar RoL for the new Codex, a Trygon, some Ravenors and some Gargoyles. With that done it was time for an inventory of the items I've picked up over the years with enthusiasm but no clear plan. Personally I was suprised by the results...
- Hive Tyrant
- 2 Lictors
- 1 Zoanthrope
- 2 Carnifex
- 3 Warriors
- 8 Hormagaunts
- 8 Genestealers
- 8 Termagaunts

I also picked up a handful of Back2Basics resin bases. I had tried these out with some Eldar I've been putting together and really liked the effect they give. These are the slate bases.

Planning:
Until the Codex is out I can only guess but what I think I'll need is:
- Alot more Termagaunts
- More toys

I saw the assembled Trygon and love it! At 750 point games I don't think I'll be able to justify bringing one along but I will have to paint one up anyway...

Paint & Modelling Ideas:
I had flirted with a number of 'realistic' schemes going for a fleshy/bone coloured scheme, however I always come back to Hive Fleet Kraken. So its Red/Bone. There are a few things I haven't tried before
- I've got an Airbrush/compressor so I'll try airbrushing the basecoat.
- I've never used Water Effects before so that will be tried - potentially to get the right ichor effect.
- I also recently acquired a Wet Palette which should assist keeping paint wet (especially today with the 43 degrees it is)
- Magnetising models for flexible equipment options.

Next Steps:
Got some stuff assembled! I'd like to magnetise the Carnifexes and possibly the Tyrant to get me some flexibility in how to equip them. Pics to come...

[Griddon]

Welcome aboard Sir. Sounds like a good plan and always nice to see an established scheme done well!

[The Dude]

For Ichor turn your head away from water effects. And look to THIS! article

http://www.chestofcolors.com/cofc-postnuke...d=60&page=1

Obviously replace the red ink with something else.

[the duke]

Lists! With my ass well and truly reminded to get some updates posted, here is a quick recap of time to date.

My rough list has been fleshed out and I managed to get a practise game against a mates Space Wolves. Against all odds I managed to even pull off a win, although it wasn't very pretty.

My current list is as follows:

750 Pts - Tyranids Roster

HQ: Tyranid Prime (1#, 95 pts)
1 Tyranid Prime @ 95 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Bonded Exoskeleton; Synapse Creature; Alpha Warrior; Independent Character; Shadow in the Warp; Lash Whip & Bonesword; Scything Talons)

Elite: Lictor Brood (1#, 65 pts)
1 Lictor Brood @ 65 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Chameleonic Skin; Flesh Hooks; Reinforced Chitin; Rending Claws; Scything Talons; Instinctive Behaviour - Lurk; Fleet; Hit & Run; Move Through Cover; Pheromone Trail; Stealth)

Elite: Zoanthrope (1#, 60 pts)
1 Zoanthrope @ 60 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Claws & Teeth; Reinforced Chitin; Synapse Creature; Psyker; Shadow in the Warp; Warp Field; Warp Blast; Warp Lance)

Troops: Tyranid Warrior Brood (3#, 105 pts)
3 Tyranid Warrior Brood @ 105 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Hardened Carapace; Scything Talons; Synapse Creature; Shadow in the Warp; Deathspitter)

Troops: Termagant Brood (20#, 100 pts)
20 Termagant Brood @ 100 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Chitin; Claws & Teeth; Fleshborer; Instinctive Behaviour - Lurk; Move Through Cover)

Troops: Hormagaunt Brood (16#, 96 pts)
16 Hormagaunt Brood @ 96 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Chitin; Scything Talons; Instinctive Behaviour - Feed; Bounding Leap; Fleet; Move Through Cover)

Fast Attack: Gargoyle Brood (10#, 60 pts)
10 Gargoyle Brood @ 60 pts (Unit Type: Jump Infantry; Blinding Venom; Chitin; Claws & Teeth; Fleshborer; Wings; Instinctive Behaviour - Lurk)

Heavy Support: Carnifex (1#, 165 pts)
1 Carnifex @ 165 pts (Unit Type: Monstrous Creature; Bonded Exoskeleton; Scything Talons x2; Instinctive Behaviour - Feed; Fearless; Living Battering Ram; Frag Spines)

Total Roster Cost: 746


So what worked? Tyranid Prime, and the Warrior Brood, were awesome. Led the assault and took out anyone facing them. Carnifex chewed through a biker squad, 2 rhinos and a couple of marines. Lictor got lucky with some saves and managed to kill the Battle Leader and 5 Grey Hunters by himself. Termagaunts and Hormagaunts got in the way and added numbers forcing him to waste his firepower.

What sucked? Zoanthrope. Poor deployment and wasting the gargoyles left his out to dry.

What I'm not sure about? Gargoyles. They are fragile but annoying. Against marines I'm not sure what to do with them.

What I want to add? Hive Guard. I think I need a bit more firepower to keep peoples heads down and give me a chance at popping transports.

Later tonight - painting and modelling progress report.

[the duke]

Modelling & Painting Update (22nd March)

I've slightly modified the painting plan. With tyranids everyone has the same paint scheme, so to try and get in more variety I'm make the progressively larger beasties darker. As if they have taken longer to grow, the armour is thinker and just generally darker and scarier.

Apologies for the photos - I can only work at night so harsh lighting is unavoidable.

Termagaunts


It took a few goes to get the termagaunt at the bottom of the pic 'right'. I tried to avoid repainting the black carapace and use Scab Red, and wash in a highlight but it was too bright and didnt give a good result.
With the flesh areas using the Airbrush was fantastic. It took about three coats, but it ended up really thin but with great coverage. I'll pop up another post about my experience with the airbrush.

Painting the Small Gribblies (Termagaunts)
Black undercoat
Airbrush a coat of Rotting Flesh
Wash - Mix Devlan Mud and Gryphonne Sepia
Black carapaces/talons/claws/weapons
Feather with Scab Red
Feather again with Blood Red
Tongue is Warlock Purple
Highlights on flesh with Dheneb Stone

Bases

I was really impressed with how a quick drybrush brings out the detail on these bases. They are the back2base-ix Small, 25mm Slate bases. Ignore the hole in the painted one - its about to have the termagaunt attached.
Painting is simple:
Undercoat in Chaos black.
Base is Adeptus Battlegrey
Astronomican Grey.
Bestial Brown in the scree.
I've got some miniflor grass tufts to add as well. Will attack this later.

Carnifex
I assembled the carnifex in a bit of a rush for a game last week.
Two small things to note about it:
1) Magnets are awesome! Be VERY careful digging out the slots for them as the plastic is quite thin. I had to greenstuff to fill in where I'd accidentally gone all the way through. I magnetised the arms, head and top carapace.
2) I Used green stuff to pad out the central joint between the legs and body to make it stand up taller. The standard pose is a bit low so I think this helps make it more imposing.

Arms & Head


Thats it for today. The plan is to have 10 termagaunts painted and based by the end of the week so I can try painting Tyranid Warriors with a slightly darker paint scheme.

[Griddon]

The gaunts look really good. Especially the carapace. The idea about the bigger nids being darker is a good one too. If you can do this and still have the force looking cohesive you'll have done well. Good talking point with the painting judges. Often difficult to describe ways you've differentiated squads with nids I guess.

Keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing a group of these together!

[morsla]

Nice work! The test termagant is looking great.

[the duke]

Thanks for the comments guys. This is the first time I've done any real painting in about 3 years so I appreciate the advice.

Anyways - an update.

Termagaunt Test Batch 1

Tuesday Night and tonight I tried to batch paint a group of Termagaunts to get an idea how long it takes and hence I can plan out my schedule for the next few weeks.

These 7 took about 3 hours over two nights, from undercoat to 'finished'.

One example


Over the top! (of one of the new GF9 small hills)


The bases were a cinch to paint and the miniflor tufts worked a treat, though I had to be careful where I placed them - sticking out of the rocks it looked odd.
My batch paint attempt also gave the gaunts a much brighter red than in the test model (bottom left in the photo). I think this is going to help with the differentiation on the bigger beasts, so I'm happy to leave the termagaunts as the brighter red. Hopefully I'll get the right affect on the bigger beasts with more carapace to shade across.

Next up - Testors DullCote and the remaining 12 Termagaunts. And some non-shiny photos on the weekend.

[Griddon]

Yes. The squad looks really good. Will certainly stand out on the table top! Well done.

[the duke]

Quick Gaming update.

I've played a couple of games against some mates in the last few weeks (Mech Space Wolves, and Mech World Eater Chaos Marines) and I've found a few things:
1) My ability to crack armour is very limited. Even a Tyranid Prime, 3 Warriors and endless Gaunts can't open a Rhino. Need some firepower, or to play against a non mech army.
2) The Zoanthrope doesn't have the range to be effective until turn 3ish. Even then they have abig bullseye on their head.
3) The Gargoyles are annoying but useless. Haven't found them good for anything but dying in droves. I'd rather have more Hormagaunts.
4) I'm not sure the Lictor is worth the points. Nice as a distraction.

So thinking of dropping the Gargoyles and Lictor and adding two Hive Guard, plus enough Hormagaunts to let me field two units of 10.

Painting Update:
The 20 Termagaunts are done.
Started the first batch of Hormagaunts.
Next weekend the wife is away so hope to get some more done then.

[Griddon]

Could you confirm this is still proceeding and let me know?

[the duke]

Still going!
I've got a bit of progress just haven't been able to post it up. Update over the long weekend after I've negotiated a painting afternoon with the missus.

[the duke]

I have discovered the painting isn't the hard bit, but uploading the pics and updates is. At the moment I blame Red Dead Redemption.

Weekend update: Got the remaining 12 Hormagaunts, 8 Genestealers, 3 Raveners, Tyranid Prime and a Trygon assembled, undercoated and the initial wash done over the weekend. Pics soon.

[morsla]

Looking forward to seeing them

[tenabrae]

I have discovered the painting isn't the hard bit, but uploading the pics and updates is. At the moment I blame Red Dead Redemption.

When you're spending 4-8 hours editing video for each update come and talk to me

[the duke]

When you're spending 4-8 hours editing video for each update come and talk to me

Looks like we won't be talking for awhile. Lovely work with the videos though.

Its just a minor slack update today as didn't finish work until 8.30 and fell exhausted into bed at 9.30. Got to watch QI though.

Yay for sick kids and crappy iPhone pics!

Progress to date:


Work in Progress:

[the duke]

Got most of the base painting done, just a few touchups to finish off.

I think the original painting scheme worked quite well. I got it down to about 15 minutes for a gaunt in the end, which when the 750 point army has 45 models is important.

Basic Paint Scheme:
Black undercoat
Airbrush a coat of Rotting Flesh
Wash - Mix 50/50 Devlan Mud and Gryphonne Sepia
Paint all carapaces/talons/claws/weapons in Chaos Black
Feather carapaces/talons/claws/weapons with Scab Red
Feather carapaces/talons/claws/weapons again with Blood Red
Tongue is Warlock Purple
Highlights on flesh with Dheneb Stone

Larger Beasts Paint Scheme:
For the bigger bugs the flesh colour was Iyaden Darksun. As a foundation paint it was alot thicker and hence when airbrishing I needed a bit more water and a few drops of isopropyl alcohol to get it to not dry out in the brush.

Also, as there is more carapace I added another feathering step to the carapaces, adding Mechrite Red as the first feather, followed by Scab Red and Blood Red.

Finishing
I wasn't really happy with the final flesh affect, it was a bit too matt and didn't give me the ichor'y feel I wanted from bugs. After a few experiments a mix of 1 part Khemri Brown, 1 part Chaos Black and 10 parts Pledge One Go give me a nice shiny wash. With the Carnifex I added a bit more blakc and some goblin green to darken it down a bit more.

Finally based everything on the B2B Slate bases. Black undercoat then medium drybrush of Adeptus Battlegrey then a light drybrush of Astronomican Grey. A few tufts of grass and finito.

Anyway, onto the pics! Will get some more closeups once I get my wifes camera out, the SLR can't do macro to save itself (ie i can't remember how to get it working without the flash)

Army Shot


Tyranid Prime & Tyranids



Termagaunts


Hormagaunts


Fire Support


Carnifex