Harlequin Army WIP

Hey there everyone!

After a good year-and-a-half of not putting anything up, I think I've finally got something that'll be worth showing off.

Our FLGS started an Escalation league.  1850 points fully painted and based by the middle of the year with 1-month 400 point increments.  Originally, I wanted to do up some Dark Eldar and Eldar to flesh out my existing Dark Eldar army, but the call of the Harlequin army was too strong.  Oddly enough, I'm not actually using any Harlequins.  I'm not a huge fan of the Finecast models, and I'm trying to avoid them wherever possible.

Out of the 1850 I'm painting, I'm creating a 1750 for one of the local big tournaments coming in May.  I should get to practice this list on Saturday, so I look forward to seeing how it performs.

1750 Eldar Harlequins
Farseer (Warlord)
--Singing Spear
--Uldanorethi Long Rifle
--Mantle of the Laughing God
--Runes of Witnessing
--Eldar Jetbike

Avatar of Khaine
--Fast Shot

5 Dire Avengers
--Wave Serpent
----TL Scatter Laser
----Shuriken Cannon
----Holo-fields

5 Dire Avengers
--Wave Serpent
----TL Scatter Laser
----Shuriken Cannon
----Holo-fields

3 Windrider Jetbikes

3 Windrider Jetbikes

3 Windrider Jetbikes

Crimson Hunter Exarch
--Pulse Laser
--2x Starcannons

Fire Prism
--Prism Cannon
--Shuriken Cannon
--Ghostwalk Matrix
--Holo-fields
--Star Engines
--Crystal Targeting Matrix

3 War Walkers
--2x Scatter Lasers each

Wraithlord
--2x Eldar Missile Launcher
--2x Flamer

So, here's about half of the army I'm working on right now.  I'm looking forward to the finishing the final list.

Slenderman from the Kingdom Death line as the Avatar

Windrider squad #1

Windrider squad #2

Jetbike Farseer

Repository of Painting

It's been far too long.  In this gap, I've learned a few things.  Let me start by posting the models I painted before the middle of October:

The Kraken painted up in a bit shorter period than I'd thought it'd take.  This isn't the finished work, I'll upload that later.  I wish I had a photo during this process...

Terminus conversion I'm working on right now.

Little more on Terminus.

Dark Eldar Raider that houses my wonderful Kabalites.

One Kabalite out of (now) 30.

Warpwolf for the league at Gamer's Haven

Warpwolf Stalker for the league

Same Stalker and some Shifting Stones for the league.

A Woldwarden for the league.

Then, mid October, Bob (owner of Gamer's Haven) and Manny (arch-nemesis in Warmachine) taught me a new technique for painting called drybrushing.  I'd heard that it does wonders, and I figured it was time I learned.  Well, here's the sort of stuff that the new technique has produced...

A Dark Eldar Scourge (there're now 5 that look like this)

Dark Eldar Haemonculus work in progress.

Dark Eldar Venom completed

6 Dark Eldar Reavers (without riders...)

The best part of drybrushing is the speed.  Those 6 reavers went from gray plastic to how they look in the photo in just under 2 hours.  The technique works quite well, and for those of you who can't tell the difference, the models below used the exact same steps, except that the ones on the right were drybrushed post-wash.

Amazing technique.  I look forward to using it more as I finish up my Dark Eldar army.  I need 1850 points, just in case I need to go play at a tournament :)

Until next time!

Deryliss and the Kraken (future)

Hey all!

Well, originally 3Gaspy and the Avalancher were on my list as my next models to paint, but a few days ago, my wife gave me some fantastic Warmachine news.

"You can buy a Kraken in September if you get the list for it painted.  And you have to paint the Kraken as soon as you get it.  And the list has to be competitive.  Not just a bunch of models you've already painted."

Well, that convinced me to actually create and (once I have the Kraken) run a new Cryx list with one of the casters I play the least, Mortenebra.

I'll start with the pictures of Deryliss completed, and then move on to the list itself and a discussion of why it is the way it is.

I wanted something that ties my army together.  I think I'll be using the Sanguine color for most of the "robes" in the army.

I apologize for the background color, since it's fairly similar to Deryliss's skin color.  Oh, and Manny, the avocados are for you.

So basically, the model was painted Thrall Flesh, Sanguine Highlight, Brass Balls, and Quicksilver.  I used Thraka Green wash over the shiny bits, and then mixed in some white w/ the sanguine to get the "robe" highlights.

The whole model took about an hour from prime to finish.

Now on to the list...

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So, I don't really use Mortenebra very often.  I like the way she plays, but anyone who has played against me knows that I really enjoy running the undead horde more than I do the warjack spam.  However, putting together a Kraken list seemed a daunting task were I to run my typical list.  Besides, I get to use a couple models that haven't been pulled off the shelf in a while!  So here's the list:

Mortenebra +4

--Deryliss

--Deathjack -12

--Kraken -19

--Helldiver -3

Bloat Thrall -2

Pistol Wraith -3 OR Warwitch Siren -2   Necrotech -1

7 models at 35 points.  I think most players understand the power of the Kraken in this list, but I'll go ahead and expand on my thought process.

Mortenebra has two absolutely beautiful spells in Overrun and Terminal Velocity.  Without posting the exact wording of the spells, Overrun lets a model in Mortenebra's battlegroup move when target warjack in her battlgroup kills something.  Terminal Velocity gives +2" to charges against living models, and free charges for all!  However, this isn't the real meat of taking the Kraken with Mortenebra.  The real secret is her ability called Interface.  I'll get to that in a second.

Think of the Kraken as a giant Overrun trigger.  Every time the Hellblaster shoots, it's bound to kill something, so long as there're infantry in my opponent's list.  An AOE of 4" is nothing to scoff at.  Overrun would then allow Deathjack to advance 6", or the Helldiver to advance 5" (putting it 8" from where it ended its last movement).  After that, Mortenebra can cast TV, allowing the Deathjack a total charging threat range of 15.5" (17.5" if charging a living model, and he should be).  The Helldiver gets a total threat of 16.5"/18.5" from where he ended his last turn (the whole Burrow marker thing).  Even the Kraken can benefit from TV, giving it a total charging threat of 12"/14" with its beautiful 4" reach.

As alluded to above, one of the best parts of this list is Mortenebra's Interface ability.  If the Kraken runs on turn 1, then it should be able to hit just about anything on the board with its 16" cannon.  If Mortenebra is in B2B with the Kraken, then there's no need to ever give it focus.  On a turn you do not need TV, you have 7 focus for the Kraken to use.  That a fully boosted Hellblaster, and assuming you roll 3 attacks total on the Flayer, 2 fully boosted Flayer shots and 1 with an attack or damage boost.  With careful positioning of Mortenebra (or, using Overrun to bring her up into B2B behind him after the initial attack), the Kraken can have 9 total attacks in melee at POW 18 minimum, but with TV, that's probably more like 6.  This is one of the reasons I really would like a Siren in the list.  Powerboost for 1, interface for 7, and you have an 8 focus Kraken.  Scary.

This list is all about assassination and answers.  What I mean by that is, as you've seen above, there're some excellent threat vectors that can be accomplished with TV, but this list tries to have an all-comers feel to it.

Anti-Armor (Warjack, Warbeast):

Deathjack (POW 18 x 2)

Kraken (POW 18 x 2)

Void Gate (No enemy focus or forcing in 4" AOE)

Pistol Wraith (Death Chill)

Anti-High Def:

Kraken (4" POW 7 blasts)

Bloat Thrall (5" POW 7 blasts)

Void Gate (4" POW 7 blasts)

Mortenebra even has anti-Stryker and Sevvy in her spell Jump Start.  No knockdown silliness using up precious focus!

Well, that's some thought that went into the list.  Sorry for the wall of text.

Next up on the painting table is Mortenbra herself, followed by either a Warwitch Siren or a Pistol Wraith.

Vociferon and Avalancher

So having received a couple models for my birthday weeks ago, I figured it was time to start both them and my new 3Gaspy model.  I didn't quite finish the Avalancher my brother bought for me, but he's started, and I was able to finish 3Gaspy's personal Skarlock, Vociferon.  My techniques haven't changed, so not too much to talk about there.  I'll let the pics speak for themselves.

Avalancher WIP 

(He stays up in the snow of the mountains raining down high explosives)

VOCIFERON

I think my favorite part about Vociferon is the fact that he only took me about a hour to do.

Next up:  Finish Avalancher and start 3Gaspy