42nd Krieg Engineer Korps

[majorspeirs]

Next weekend I have a tournament and required a new Centaur to convert into a third Chimera. Forgeworld balls-ed up my order, and despite them express posting the replacement, it still won't be here on time.

This Salamander was initially built for my old Guard army, but never fully painted. With a quick and dirty coat of paint it has been press-ganged to stand in for a Chimera in the army.

I had always wanted a Salamander back in the day, and eventually I lovingly converted this one. You will note a considerable amount of converting and equipment, which is representative of it being a scout vehicle. I'm very pleased to finally get some paint on it.










Note: I did not paint the flag. After finding out one of my opponents at a tournament last year had a 1.5 hour trip on public transport to get home, I gave him a lift after the first day (as it was pretty much on my way home). When I picked him up the next morning he presented me with this flag! I was super chuffed, and am pleased to put it on the command vehicle for this upcoming tournament.

[majorspeirs]

Next Saturday I am attending the 150 player tournament Arcanacon for the third time. This is one of the two highlight tournaments of the year, and is usually a good experience. The first time I placed pretty much on the line of the bottom third. The second I managed to improve my ranking to just above the halfway mark. My goal this year is to aim for around the line of the top third. However if I can win three of my five games I will be happy.

The list I'm taking is an adaptation of an 1850 point list I took to a tournament at the end of 2013. I thoroughly enjoyed this event as the inclusion of the Ork Meganobz really gave the army some teeth, and mechanising everything really improved my durability.

There is quite a strong ork presence in this list. The artillery are an excuse to use my thudd guns (or should it be "Gunz"), and conveniently I get to use two of my favourite models who didn't make the cut (MoO as a grot; commissar as a runtherd). I also decided to drop a few bits and pieces to squeeze in the 10 boyz simply because they are really cool and I didn't want to leave them at home. The only iconic model that is really missing is the blimp.

Overall the list is reasonably mobile and adaptable, and should be fun to play both with and against.

CCS/ 3x plasmagun, chimera, multilaser, heavy bolter
Veterans, 3x meltagun, demolitions, chimera, multilaser, heavy flamer
Veterans, 3x plasmagun, chimera, multilaser, heavy flamer
Marbo
Leman Russ, heavy bolter
Hydra, heavy bolter
Hydra, heavy bolter

Warboss, mega armour, cybork body, boss pole
5x Meganobz, trukk
10x Shoota boys
3x Big Gunz, cannonz, runtherd

[majorspeirs]

Post 1 of 5 – The Quest for More Dudes

Hello all, time for an update of my last few months hobby progress. I would insert all the usual stuff about work, family, the real world and the like, who really cares? Here are some man-dollies:







A while back I decided I needed a full naked platoon (I mean with no wargear... I mean just with lasguns and gas masks... that doesn’t sound any better either...). Anyway, what I wanted was 55 dudes specifically for cannon fodder so I could protect some of my more valuable things on the field. I was finding that my 3-4 veteran squads and tanks were just too fragile and needed some padding. To avoid any embarrassing jokes I ended up arming the squads with meltaguns.

As these guys were intended solely as ablative wounds, I decided not to go for the regular forgeworld models, but get the gorgon infantry instead. These models are all standing about (the “At Ease” squad always did look the best), but more importantly all their guns and arms are tucked in close, so there is no fiddly assembly, and are less likely to have random breaks. To make this even more agreeable I bought two sets from Russia on ebay ($1 per model = WIN!). I cut off all the easy to separate guys and painted up the 55 men, now I have another 45 sitting around in clumps of 2-4 that need cutting up for some future project.

Over about 4 weeks I absolutely busted my arse getting these painted around work and personal commitments, and was finally able to use them in an 1850 point tournament over the Easter weekend (more to come in the third instalment). I’m super proud of the end result, and it was so satisfying to use them on the field. Furthermore it was amusing to see just how daunting all my opponents found my army. Even though they are squishy as anything, it had a huge psychological effect.

[majorspeirs]

Post 2 of 5 – It wasn’t just about the dudes
I have had a few other bits and pieces to get ready for this tournament.

Firstly there were 5 ratlings (I have been playing with the idea of using a 3 man squad as an outflanking linebreaker, but had 20 points spare so included all 5). I’ve had these guys kicking around for about 10 years, so it was good to finally get them painted.



To help keep the new dudes hanging about I thought I had better make a magic flag for some happy rerolls.





Following this I finally got around to painting up the Magos I had initially intended to go with my robot Mega Nobz (rather than the Ork character). I had started painting this guy, but never liked the hooded head (and I messed up a goggle conversion), so I closed my eyes and snipped off his head. It was the best thing I ever did as I now have a super cool individual model. Meet “Magos Fabricator Bob”:

[majorspeirs]

Post 3 of 5 –Western Smash
After competing in the inaugural 1850 point Western Smash tournament last year, taking out the “Best Painted” award (as voted by the players), and having a generally great time, I was greatly looking forward to competing again this year.

This also just so happens to be my last hurrah with the beloved 5th Edition Guard Codex. This was the list I took with me:

CCS, Lascannon, MoO, Chimera
Veterans, 3x Melta, Demolitions, Chimera
Veterans, 3x Plasma, Chimera
Marbo
5x Ratlings
PCS (naked)
Infantry Squad, Meltagun
Infantry Squad, Meltagun
Infantry Squad, Meltagun
Infantry Squad, Meltagun
Infantry Squad, Meltagun
2x Hydra
Manticore
Leman Russ

Allied Orks
Warboss, Mega Armour, Bionics, Boss Pole
5x Mega Nobz, Trukk
Grot Artillery, 3x Cannonz, Runtherd

Game 1
The first game was completely one sided and went my way from the start. For example the first weapon I fired was the Manticore, which let off three rockets and manages to knock out three Rhinos. This set the tone for the game, but my opponent was amazing and copped it on the chin. I don’t get this kind of game very often so was appreciative that he took it well.


There were two highlights in the game for me. The first was when the MoO missed a dreadnaught, used Bring it Down to reroll, but subsequently scattered onto Marbo, killing him just before he got to throw his demo pack. The second was my Warboss/Magos cutting down the Marine Captain before strolling up to a Predator and going “HASAN CHOP!!” (Looney Tunes reference), cutting it in twain, and then getting hilariously punked in the face with a random snapshot Multimelta. Magos Bob managed to get into challenges in every single game, with a corresponding photo in all bar the second.


Game 2
The second game was hugely satisfying, as it was the Relic, and as my Necron opponent didn’t have any blast markers, so I ranked up me newly painted platoon and marched them straight into the centre of the board. My opponent underestimated my blast markers, and even though I had first turn he was bunched up quite tightly. I was able to deal with most of the wraiths and damage quite a few of his vehicles. My game plan with this was “mob the centre”, which I think I managed admirably. Whilst I had the upper hand my opponent managed to claw back and I only just managed to hold onto the relic for my second win. Unfortunately I didn’t have a photo, but Magos Bob challenged an Overlord on his command barge, cut him down, and actually survived the game (it was the only one he lived through)!


Game 3
The third game was a loss against the eventual tournament winner, who is a very competent gamer. This was a two objective game, and ended up being incredibly hard fought. The Mega Nobz were outclassed by the Storm Shield wolf guard termis, but Magos Bob challenged Logan Grimnar, saved 6/8 5++ invulnerable saves, retreated out of combat, and then got killed subsequently by the Wolf Guard.


The Wolf Guard then advanced only to get brought down my massed lasgun fire, whilst my Guardsmen hung on under intense missile barrages to hold my home objective (still lost on secondaries).

Annoyingly the Ratlings outflanked onto the wrong side, right up amongst my opponents units. I decided to take a punt that he’d have better things to do than deal with them. They were subsequently hit by a stray round from the MoO (who was targeting the nearby basilisk), lost two guys and fled towards my lines. They then managed to regroup, only to be hit by a stray Manticore round! The Manticore did manage to wreck the Basilisk, so I figured I’d run the two survivors in the wreck to put them out of LoS to claim linebreaker. I then proceeded to roll double 1 for their dangerous terrain tests and failed their armour saves!!

Game 4
Game four was against Dorks (Daemon Orks), and was a very tight fought game. I also lost this one, but I made a big mistake in turn 2 which likely lost me the game. I had the choice of charging the Keeper of Secrets or a unit of Mega Nobz with my own Mega Nobz. The Nobz vs Nobz would have just annihilated one another, so I took a punt that I might bring down the Keeper and have some survivors. That said my choice was also partially because I wanted to pose Magos Bob fighting against the enormous Daemon. Well, the Keeper killed them all and took no damage in return, and went on to die to an overwatching lasgun. On the other hand the opposing Mega Nobz chewed through my lines and lost me the game.




Game 5
The last game was against some Typhus Death Guard. It was a killpoint game, and I had 21 on offer verses 14. I could have played this ultra-defensively, but figured it would be a more fun game if I played a bit more aggressively. As a result I deployed on the line and pushed a number of my units forward at the offset. It started a bit one-sided, but turned into an intense trading of blows. The turning point was when the deep striking Obliterators (my opponent gets kudos for VERY gutsey deep strikes) misshaped, went back into reserve, re-deep struck in the same spot and blew up the command Chimera, taking out about 15 Guardsmen in the process. Typhus and Magos Bob duked it out for two turns before cutting each other down.

In the end we both had scored the same number of kill points, but I had managed to secure all three secondaries for the win.




I am very proud that I ended 2nd overall at the tournament, which is my first podium finish. This was a great tournament and I had 5 excellent opponents to round it out.


Since I’ve included the Ork Mega Nob unit in my army I’ve been having an absolute ball. It gives me a really hard hitting aggressive unit that means I can go toe to toe with many of the nasty things out there. Along with this unit, the 55 man basic platoon also performed wonders, as they game me a solid reserve of bodies to throw at problems. The intention with these guys was individual units to use as speed bumps and area denial. They did this admirably, but were also a serious force to content with on the field.

I am not really sure how the new Guard codex is going to impact on my playstyle (RIP Marbo, Griffons and “Bring it Down”). I’m quite positive overall and am looking forward to giving it a whirl.

[majorspeirs]

Post 4 of 5 – Once you pop, you can’t stop
I once read in this forum that once you start collecting Guard, you will never really stop, and will just accumulate more Guard armies. This turned out to be prophetical in my case, as after starting my first Guard army around 2005/6 and collecting it for 5-6 years, I started scheming about a new army – another Imperial Guard one. It was supposed to just be a few FW Krieg engineers in blimps, but 6th Ed dropped and being unable to reserve everything suddenly changed my plans.

Last weekend I thought I had better do a stock-take of my Guardsmen so I could start thinking about what effect this new codex will have. It turns out that I now have 3600 points (and growing) of painted Kriegsmen, plus my original army of around 4800 points (90% painted). There are a total of 350 infantry and 33 vehicles. The group shot is below, and scares the willies out of me!!




These are the rough army lists I threw together to quantify everything:

42nd Krieg Engineer Korps: 3600 points
CCS
Lord Commissar
Primaris
Platoon (PCS + 5xIS)
Vets (forward sentries)
Vets (forward sentries)
Vets (demo in Chimera)
Vets (demo in Chimera)
Vets (demo in Chimera)
5x Ratlings
Hellhound
Vendetta
Pask (Russ + Demolisher)
2x Hydra
4x Wyvern
Manticore

Warboss (Magos)
5x Mega Nobz in Trukk
Warboss (Freebootaz)
14 Ard Boyz

Aegis + Quad

Osarian 10th: 4800 points
Commissar Yarrick
CCS + Chimera
CCS + Chimera
Tank Commander (2x Vanq)
Lord Commissar
3x Commissar
2x Primaris
Platoon (PCS + 3x IS + 3xHWS)
Platoon (PCS + 2x IS + 3xHWS)
Platoon (PCS + 2x IS + 2xHWS + SWS)
Vets + Chimera
Vets + Chimera
Vets + Chimera
Tempestus Command Squad
Tempestus Scion Squad
Hellhound
Devildog
2x Armoured Sentinel
Vendetta
Valkyrie
Leman Russ
Wyvern
2x Basilisk
Macharius

[majorspeirs]

Post 5 of 5 – But wait! There’s more!
Hold up! I’m not done yet!!

My first army are not likely to see much in the way of advancements (I may get around to painting the last few dudes. I’ve contemplated the idea of requisitioning my favourite units and vehicles (notably the Tiger and T34 Russes and the Macharius) into my new force and selling the rest off, but I then I figure they aren’t going down in value, so may as well bank them and put them away. At the very least I can strip them in a few years and effectively start a new army.

The Kriegsmen have all manner of exciting projects in the works. These range from a Battlewagon (built as a TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) for the Magos), to a Biplane Vendetta and a full squad of Rough Riders. On top of this there are another 40-50 assorted Krieg infantry, plus two Inquisitorial retinues which will be tied in somehow. I also have plans of making a bunch of Thunderer tanks (as I have a whole bunch of Russ tracks and no hull sections, so bought the middle bits of some Vindicators).

In addition to this I finally get to play with my Knight Titan kit (it was put in the cupboard until the 55 man platoon was painted). I’ve got some cunning plans relating to this, but I need to have a proper look at the kit before I get too crazy.

Last but certainly not least I finally managed to get my mits on an old Forgeworld Lucius pattern Baneblade (by paying way too much on ebay today). Looking at it I will need to follow Blackadder’s example for the refurbishment (and I suspect I will be seeking some help on that front), but this is what I have bought – now I just need to wait until the darn thing gets here in 2-3 weeks:



That is all for me for a little while now. In the next month I may make a heap of progress or I may make none. Either way I’m hoping to get a few games in with the new codex to get my head around it (I may need to shelve my beloved Ork Mega Nob allies for a little while).

[yvain]

What unit does the blimp count as?

[majorspeirs]

Hi yvain, up until now I have used the blimp as a Vendetta. I'm thinking of giving it a whirl as a Valkyrie now that they are a much cheaper alternative. I'm building another Vendetta in the form of a Biplane as well. That said it is magnetised so I can use it as either.

[yvain]

It occurs to me that I may have asked that question before lol.

All your stuff looks great, its always fun to check this post out. Looking forward to the biplane.

[majorspeirs]

Super exciting news people! My namesake, Major Speirs, is once more taking to the field of battle!

Originally Major Speirs was the commander of my first Guard army (click the link in my signature below). He started as a Captain but after consistently kicking arse was promoted to Major. Unfortunately with the advent of 5th Edition and codex creep, power fists and combat for guard in general were largely a bad idea, and he was given a cushy office job managing logistics.

The rules for Commissar Yarrick have been made considerably more attractive, noticeably through orders and the points drop, and I recognised it was now time for the honourable Major to return to the field.

I chucked the old model in a jar of dettol, gave him an awesome storm bolter, and repainted him up to lead my Kriegsmen. He is getting his first outing this afternoon, with my first game under the new codex, and my first game on my spiffy Zone Mortalis board. It is hopefully going to be an afternoon of fun.

[majorspeirs]

Not a lot has been happening for me in 40k space of late. This was of course until my Thanatar Siege Automata arrived in the mail from Forgeworld. This is THE coolest model in existence as far as I'm concerned, and was so excited that I built it straight away (my poor knight has been in the box for 3 months), and now it is painted:












And here is a family shot of my small Mechanicum cohort:


The plan is to try them out as allied eldar for a little while, now that the new edition/codicies have spelt an end to my dream run of ork allies. I'm thinking wraithguard, wraithknight and maybe a phoenix lord for the Magos.

[Captain Zapp Brannigan]

Now that's a bit beasty!

[Paimon]

Dat Automata.