Imperial Fists!

For some time now I've wanted to start an Imperial Fists army. Last time I proxied my army as Space Marines I didn't really enjoy it all that much however I really wanted to paint an Imperial Fist.
At first I was having a terrible time painting yellow on him but after thinning my paints it started to come good.
I read a few ideas on how to paint them online. One involved a chestnut ink wash. Well I made a mess of this! Next time I'll carefully ink the crevices near the end instead of the heavy wash I tried earlier on.
I kept the left shoulder pad off so that I could freehand the Imperial Fist symbol upon it, which I think turned out pretty good after only a couple of tries. I suspect people might use transfers instead of free handing it.
Somehow I made a mess of the bolter. Probably the easiest thing on him to paint and I think it looks shit.
The tactical marking on the right shoulder pad still needs a few more layers on it. I'm thinking if I do start an Imperial Fist army that I'll put Roman numerals inside the white arrow to indicate squad numbers.
I've also got to decide what kind of base would help make the yellow pop. I keep thinking an ash wasteland but that is a bit boring. Perhaps some ruins.
Overall I'm pretty happy with how he's turned out so far. Still needs some work on him. If I do start a Fist's army it'll just be a 1000pt force to play at Twin Linked or other double/small events. Depending what new aspects come out when the Eldar book gets updated I might paint some in a similar manner.

Wych cult: WIP

I really enjoyed being able to look at the progress my CWE had made by taking photos of the whole force together. This is the current army list I'm working towards with a couple of pictures showing it's progress. I still need to buy another raider since I've changed my list for 6th edition.

Succubus Agoniser Venom Blade
Succubus Agoniser Venom Blade
Bloodbrides x 9 Razorflail x 3 Syren Agoniser Raider Night Shields
Wyches x 8 Haywire Grenades Hekatrix Venom Blade PGL Raider Night Shields
Wyches x 8 Haywire Grenades Hekatrix Venom Blade Raider Night Shields
Wyches x 8 Haywire Grenades Hekatrix Agoniser Raider Night Shields
Wyches x 8 Haywire Grenades Hekatrix Agoniser Raider Night Shields
Wyches x 8 Haywire Grenades Hekatrix Venom Blade Raider Night Shields
Reaver Jetbikes x 6 Heat Lance x 2
Beast Masers x 3 Razorwing x 4 Khymera x 5
Ravager
Ravager
Ravager
TOTAL 1999

Sadly the army is rather dark and thus can't see too much detail. I do intend to paint spiders webs on the vehicles and possibly have spider web tattoos on the wyches themselves.

Gosford Shield prac 3

This was actually the first practice game I played in anticipation for GS. For whatever stupid reason I've posted the batreps in reverse order. Anyway this battle was against Tau and resulted in a humiliating defeat. Even in 5th edition I had a lot of problems against Tau using my wych cult and 6th didn't help that at all.
My opponents list was something like this:
Suit commander flamer, plasma, missile pods (Warlord trait outflank) body guard x 2. Same load out except one has the self destruct ability.
Fire warriors (2 squads)
Kroot
Broadsides x 3, blacksun filter, multitracker
Railhead
sniper teams (2 I believe)
I believe the mission was Vanguard Strike with The Emperor's Will as the mission. I don't recall what drugs I rolled.
Tau: Deployment
My opponent forgot he could deep strike his HQ so instead they are outflanking.



Dark Eldar: Deployment I hide in the corner trying to be out of range as I believe it was Night fighting turn 1.


Tau: Turn 1 Most guns are out of range/unable to see. However some shooting stuns and immobilises a Ravager. Dark Eldar: Turn 1 Another pretty uneventful turn I just moved up. Tau: Turn 2 My opponents HQ turns up right behind my lines.


And easily blow the raider with my Warlord up.


Further shooting blows up a ravager.


The shooting doesn't end there...


I think these girls end up pinned.


So the table looks like this at the end of Tau turn 2. I don't think I passed a single jink save. Also this game made me realise how badly I miss night shields.

Dark Eldar: Turn 2 Dark lance fire misses, pistols do nothing and many wyches die to overwatch.


I think the blood brides were also pinned so I charged my last embarked squad into the fire warriors. I was originally hoping to charge the sniper team but I wasn't too keen on the terrain roll.


Tau: Turn 3 Oddly enough the Tau's shooting isn't too effective this round. The squad that killed the fire warriors ends up going to group which saves a couple of them.
Dark Eldar: Turn 3 I concede at the end of turn 3 after my succubi and her wych squad lose combat to the suit team. I don't think I even put a single wound into them.


This game sucked! I don't believe I made a single jink save or if I did there wasn't many. I failed the majority of leadership tests I was required to make aaaand lost combat to Tau! Sad!

Gosford Shield prac 2

Continuing to catch up on events I have another battle report against the Iron Warriors. This time using my wych cult You'll notice throughout the battle Dire Avengers on the field. I used these guys to represent my pain tokens as I seem to have misplaced my bag of skulls.
On to the battle!

My army list - don't remember specifics
Succubus, venom blade, Agoniser (Legendary Fighter)
Succubus, venom blade, Agoniser
Bloodbrides x 10, Razorflail x 3, Syren w/ Agoniser - Raider
Wyches x 9, hekatrix, Agoniser, haywire grenades - Raider
Wyches x 9, hekatrix, Agoniser, haywire grenades - Raider
Wyches x 10, hekatrix, Agoniser, haywire grenades - Raider
Ravager
Ravager
Ravager

My opponents list
Lysander (don't recall warlord trait)
Master of the forge, conversion beamer
Dreadnought
Sternguard x 8, drop pod
Tactical marines x 10, Rhino
Tactical marines x 10, Rhino

Mission: The Scouring
Deployment: Pitched Battle
I think we had Night Fighting turn one.
Drug roll: Pain Token

Dark Eldar: Deployment
I hide my raiders and ravagers as best I could in case my opponent stole the initiative.








Iron Warriors: Deployment
My opponent divides his forces in two. Rhino w/ marines in one corner with the Master of the Forge. In the other corner the other rhino and the dreadnought. Lysander and sternguard are in their drop pod.


Dark Eldar: Turn 1
Not much happens this round I just move out getting ready for turn 2


Iron Warriors: Turn 1
Lysander drops down close to MotF then moves out to fire. I may have had night shields or some such as I don't recall Lysander and friends doing anything.


Dark Eldar: Turn 2
On my left flank I move into position to take out the rhino with mass dark lances.




On my right flank I position myself and fire lances into the sternguard in hopes of killing the flamer guys before assaulting with my HQ (Warlord), her unit, and the Bloodbrides. I issue a challenge with my hekatrix hoping to neuter Lysander however a brave sergeant steps up to take her on.


Combat goes reasonably well and I win combat killing several sternguard.


Iron Warriors: Turn 2
I don't think much happens in this turn. Looks like the sternguard all died off however.


Dark Eldar: Turn 3
Lysander continues to fight bravely on his own. Massed lance fire takes out the dreadnought. I barely make it into assault as I clipped the terrain.


Iron Warriors: Turn 3
My wyches led by their second succubi defeat the tactical marines, whilst Lysander wins combat but remains tarpitted by two fearless wyches.


Dark Eldar: Turn 4
I shuffle around my vehicles with my succubi jumping into a raider. I do recall the MotF making a stupid amount of cover saves against my lances. He did die in the end however.




Iron Warriors: Turn 4
Lysander remains in combat with a fearless wych.
Dark Eldar: Turn 5
My succubi disembarks from her raider and charges into Lysander landing several poisoned attacks from her venom blade which eventually takes the old boy out.


My opponent concedes. Thinking back I seem to recall destroying the rhino that was behind the building where the MotF was. So at the top of 5 there was only a single tactical squad remaining to my 2 wych squads camping on objectives. I also secured Line Breaker, First Blood, Warlord compared to my opponent only claiming Warlord.
Tomorrow night Ill post up the final Gosford Shied practice game (it was actually the first game I played) against Tau.

Several months of updates

End of year exam and other stresses resulted in my blog being very neglected. However during this period I continued gaming and painting which I intend to catch up with now.
In 4 or so weeks I'll be attending Gosford Shield. A 1250pt comp based event. So with this in mind I've been painting my wyches and fixing the details on my Craftworld's warhost - resulting in 2 items to be crossed off my paint schedule :)
Also in preparation for GS I've played a few practice games to try some lists out. Here is a batrep of Biel Tan vs Iron Warriors (using Lysander and codex marines).
My list:
Farseer w/ Doom (warlord train - don't remember/nothing useful)
6 Fire Dragons Wave Serpent
10 Dire Avengers, Exarch, Dual catapults, Blade storm Wave Serpent, Shuriken Cannon, TL Shuriken Cannon
10 Dire Avengers, Exarch, Dual catapults, Blade storm Wave Serpent, Shuriken Cannon, TL Shuriken Cannon
10 Dire Avengers, Exarch, Dual catapults, Blade storm Wave Serpent, Shuriken Cannon, TL Shuriken Cannon
6 Warp Spiders, Exarch, Dual Spinners

My opponents list was something like:
Lysander (Warlord trait - scoring unit)
Master of the Forge w/ Conversion Beamer
8 Sternguard w/ Drop pod
Dreadnought
10 Tactical marines w/ Rhino
10 Tactical marines w/ Rhino

Mission: Crusade (4 objectives represented by Eldar Warlocks) Deployment: Hammer and Anvil
Iron Warriors: Deployment
Master of the Forge takes a commanding view of the battlefield from atop the building. Both rhinos are deployed centrally with the dreadnought standing behind a tree.

Eldar: Deployment
I do my best to hide my Wave Serpents whilst my Warp Spiders are held in reserve to deep strike.


Iron Warriors: Turn 1
My opponent know's he has the advantage at long range shooting and decides to land his drop pod close to his own forces as to not isolate and leave them stranded on the wrong side of the board. Despite a cover save my Fire Dragon serpent takes a glancing hit. The Serpent's Energy Field is great.


Eldar: Turn 1
The Wave Serpents move out in a pincer formation across the battlefield.


The Warp Spiders land close to my opponents table edge and shoot the dreadnought in the rear armour destroying it. Whilst I thought this might be a 1:1 trade I deemed it a good trade as it netted me First Blood and removed a large shooty and CC threat to my army. The Spiders then teleported away trying to escape retaliation.


Iron Warriors: Turn 2
Knowing most of his small arms fire will be out of range/useless against my Wave Serpents he instead focuses on taking out the Spiders however two remained out of LOS and survived. Sadly the Exarch perished.


Eldar: Turn 2
My Warp Spiders decided it is better to live one day as a lion than a lifetime as a mouse and go for glory in an attempt to take out a rhino.


It took the combined fire-power of the Spiders and all my Wave Serpents but I finally managed to strip the vehicle of hull points (both rhino's may have been protected by smoke launchers?).


Iron Warriors: Turn 3
The Master of the Forge is unable to do much with his shooting attacks throughout the game due to the Wave Serpent's armour and Energy Fields. The Warp Spiders are killed in this round. My opponent knows that I can just sit back and whittle him away all day so advances with his rhino in hopes to get his melta gun in range.


Eldar: Turn 3
So I do the brave Eldar thing and back up to my cannons max range and take out the rhino.




Iron Warriors: Turn 4
The brave marines charge up the field. Slightly out of range to fire the melta.


The other squad moves to claim the objective.


Eldar: Turn 4
I move back and deploy onto the objectives and fire most everything into the advancing marine squad.


I deploy one of my Dire Avenger squads and attack the tactical squad who are claiming the objective, causing several casualties and causing the marines to fall back.


Iron Warriors: Turn 5
The lone marine regroups and reclaims the objective. The sternguard move into rapid fire range and blast the Dire Avengers with AP4 rounds. Lysander claims one objective daring any one to come and take it off him.




We stuffed up the rules a bit and my opponent conceded before I played out my turn 5. We both thought that my Wave Serpent's could score me line breaker, in addition to having a lot of shuriken cannons pointing at that lone tactical marine. Whilst writing this batrep with what I know now it seems like it might've been a good idea to continue playing till the end, however we didn't and I won 7-6 (line breaker winning me the game).
This was the first real time I've used my mechdar in 6th edition and I was fairly happy with how it performed. However finding out that my serpent's cannon contest objectives and later finding they can't even score me line breaker, has made me realise that my old army will suffer a lot because of this. Future lists I'll be looking to include small squads of Eldar Jetbikes just to score for me.
I've also been thinking Ill change the list slightly for Gosford Shield. I had decided to take my Wych Cult as my army however Anthony never got his Tau painted in time and I don't like people touching my CWE so I'll be lending him my Wych cult and taking Biel Tan. So whilst the Wych cult might be the better list my Biel Tan are much better painted so I'm thinking of taking some pretty models and hopefully getting a painting award!
So this is the list I'm currently planning to take.
Farseer, Doom, Runes of Warding
Striking Scorpions x 8, Exarch, Claw, Shadow Strike
Fire Dragons x 6, Wave Serpent, TL Shuriken Cannon
Dire Avengers x 9, Wave Serpent, TL Shuriken Cannon, Shuriken Cannon
Dire Avengers x 9, Wave Serpent, TL Shuriken Cannon, Shuriken Cannon
Dire Avengers x 9, Wave Serpent, TL Shuriken Cannon, Shuriken Cannon
Warp Spiders x 5, Exarch, Dual Spinners
TOTAL 1247
I have two more batreps to post and an update to my wych cult to post as well which I'll do later when it isnt 4am.