Astro Mag Issue 8

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Issue 8 | February 2011
Editors Letter
EDITING STAFF
chIEF EDITor Morgan Consadine RINEHART STAFF EDITor Nomad GrAphIcS & lAyouT DESIGNEr LutherMax
coNTrIbuTorS
coNTENT Morgan Consadine RINEHART Willem-Jan (Hephesto) Franklin Carroll Mattias Ciavarella Carrelio Lhykosidae Dave Skrivan ArTwork Mandrakes by Protocol 9 (cover) The Plan by Torture Device (left) Dark Eldar Artillery by IgnusDei (27) Dark Eldar by 1mpact (28) Cato Sicarius by Lestare (29)
DEar rEaDEr,
Thank you for downloading Issue 8 of the Astro Mag! Issue 7 has a total of 3,280 downloads as of the writing of this. We have readers in the obvious countries of the United States and the United Kingdom, but also France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, and Other Countries (bit.ly only gives up so much information it seems). This is fascinating to see! I would like to hear from some of you folks, how you found out about the Mag and what your local gaming scene is like. Send me an email at the address below. As always, we are looking for content from you! Yes, you! Pictures of your favorite miniature/army, an article on tactics or how you paint your minis, or even an opinion piece about the hobby. We dont have staff to write articles like White Dwarf; the Mag is a community project where anyone can submit content. Cheers! Mr C theastromag@gmail.com
check out more of these artists excellent work in their galleries at www.deviantart.com
Astro Mag is published every three months in association with Astronomican.com. All text and layout remains the copyright of Astro Mag. Astro Mag is a fully independant publication and its views are not the views of any company mentioned herein. All characters and artwork shown in this magazine remain the copyright and trademark of their respective owners. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the express permission of the owner. Astro Mag can accept no liability for inaccuracies or complaints arising from editorial or advertising within this magazine. All letters and emails received will be considered for publication, but we cannot always provide personal replies. This fanzine is completely unofficial and in no way endorsed by Games Workshop Limited. Astro Mag is a non profit making fanzine with the aim of promoting Games Workshop games, products and hobby. For more see the disclaimer at the end of this fanzine.
mag.astronomican.com
In this Issue
Rules Awareness ....................................................................5 Hephs Hobby Tips...................................................................7
EDItorIaL rEvIEws
Blogger Community
astro mag supporters: 40k origins all things 40k Confession of a 40k addict Dei greci From the Warp gamers World hephestos Forge on the painting table terran Forge rajabersiong As the Great Fool Wishes rites of Defiance
Lhykosidae
PART 1 they house. Flickering images form on the psychic wave that emanates from them: Deadly arrays of the Dark Brethren lance Bodies gyrate to the silent song playing through the souls in hand. Her chin stays tucked to her chest, obscuring her colorless features. But the smile on her face cannot be mistaken. the frozen Marine. With but a swords length to go, she stops. lifts to expose the features of the Troupe Master. With slow, deliberately sensual steps she makes her way towards The hushed crowd cannot help smiling obscenely as her face In an explosion of colors and tomfoolery nearly too quick Harlequin announces. We welcome your presence, blessed one>> the Great out, striking down humans and orks alike. In true portrayal of irony, one of the dancers looms behind the Brethren as a large and imposing demonic figure, picking them off one by one. Some of the dancers stop occasionally to leer at the crowd with comical expressions plastered on their faces; especially when they depict mon-keigh. In one sentence he both acknowledges my superiority and my presence is never welcome. Even he cannot completely hide into my eyes and seenothing. I turn away from the Masques revelry and nod politely. sympathizes with the sacrifice it required. But the truth is that the look of horror that crosses all mortals faces when they look HE bade me seek thee I reply.
From the Warp
Dark Eldar Mandrakes...........................................................9 Dark Eldar Wyches ...............................................................12
PaIntIng
How to Paint Biel-Tan ...........................................................15
MoDELLIng FIctIon
Converting Plaguebearers................................................. 23 Carrelios Easy 6 Step Shield Drone Conversion! ...........26
As the Great Fool Wishes ................................................... 28
to track, the Troupe Master slays the demons, shatters the company of corrupt mon-keigh and disarms the remaining Marine. Within the blink of an eye, she stands on the shoulders of the Marine, staring down at him with glee. The look of profound stupidity on his face is truly what makes the crowd go wild.
play their part in the dance, while a few on stage leap through
As the scene changes, elements of the crowd peel away to
the air to land softly among their applauding friends. The Dark Brethren are suddenly assaulted by the larger mon-keigh of the the assault, fleeing even as the demon continues to feed. The corpse emperor. Space Marines! They shudder and break under mon-keigh stand proud and arrogant in the face of the fleeing
Godour patron and mentor and father. Dire would be state of the galaxy without his mocking love. in supplication and reverence. whispers after a moment.
He: Lord CegorachThe Great FoolThe Laughing
performing Rillietann to their true countenance. The rest of
The scene ends as the holofields turn off, returning the
The Great Harlequin crosses his arms and lowers his eyes Then Chaos will learn to fear the Webway anew He
BattLE rEPort
Dark Eldar, only to have a new gaggle of demons begin to feed on them as they did the Eldar. The crowd howls at the ludicrousness of the scene. Slowly,
the Masque surges on to the stage as friends and troupe-mates congratulate each other on a job well done. Many bow to the Troupe Master as a sign of respect and acknowledgment. She may one day carry the title of ArdathairGreat Harlequin.
They would not see me before the Dance. I activate my personal Webway-portal generator and step through. already gone. As the Great Fool wishes He giggles back, but I am
Assemble the Masque at thy leisure, Ardathair I reply.
the mon-keigh turn into even more grotesque manifestations consumed, however, a psychically bruising giggle washes over
as they become corrupted. Just before the final Marine is the entire scene. As one, the audience and performers turn to
With the dance complete, the members of the Masque understand the portents foreseen by the Shadowseers. The Masque of the Crimson Ophidian would be going to war. ***
the source. A lone figure stands poised with sword and pistol
Dark Eldar Vs. Space Marines........................................... 29
are you a From the Warp member and want your blog included here? email us at: theastromag@gmail.com and well add you right away! all you need to do is link back to the astro mag Blog.
***
Editorial
rules
M
enEss awar
ost of us probably experienced a situation in which we were certain a unit was safe, or were prepared to triumphantly kill an important enemy unit, when our opponent calmly opened his rulebook and pointed
f You cant move Flat Out if you embarked f And They Shall Know No Fear isnt an auto-regroup.
MORGAN CONSADINE RINEHART
passengers that turn.

f Youre not safe if you get inside a Barrage Ordnances
out a rule that destroyed that little part of your game plan. Its okay to lose because of tactical mistakes, or because your army list wasnt of the same tier as your opponent. But its always infuriating to lose because we forgot a rule! (Thats a bit of an extreme case though.) A new years resolution: never be tricked about a rule or forget a rule anymore! To help that, I thought that we could all share the point of rules we always forget or always see our opponents forget. The following list has been compiled from a thread on this topic from the Astronomican forums. Massive credit belongs to Farskit for starting the thread and the members who have left their two cents.
f Morale checks, morale checks, morale checks!
minimum range: unless the contrary is explicitly stated (for example, the IG Colossus), a Barrage Ordnance weapon may lower the barrel and fire as Ordnance, ignoring the minimum range (though the shot loses the Ordnance Barrage benefits).
Never forget to take them or have them be taken.

f Wound allocation. Pay attention to it; its there for
a reason and its damn important. Several times both my opponent and me forgot about it, it often results in an important model (squad leader, heavy
5
EDItorIaL
weapon...) surviving when he might have died.
f When Tank Shocking a unit, try to position your
HErE Is How a DEFFroLLa raMMIng MovE Is ProPErLy DonE:
vehicles movement so that only models that are unable to glance or penetrate the front armor are lying under the path. Only models that are being hit by the tank can make a Death or Glory.
f Modifiers involving multiplication, say from a powerfist and
Declare you are making a Ram. This is important. Do not say you are Tank Shocking, these are two different
Wrecked or Exploded, resolve the Ramming attack as normal. Remember wrecks are difficult terrain (and dangerous, too) so they force a dangerous terrain test (re-rollable with the Rolla) if you didnt already make one. Against walkers, just apply the normal rules.
moves and Tank Shock makes you stop 1 short of enemy vehicles, which you really want to wreck with the Deffrolla (though most if not all opponents will let you off if you realize your mistake after having begun your movement). Remember you then have to move at max speed.
some other boost (ex: Furious Charge). Your fist doubles the models base Strength and only then add the bonus.
f For Guard players: your Company Commander
comes with a standard 5++ invulnerable save, did you notice it? Its not much, but its heartwarming to know theyre about as protected as Chaos Lords.
f The bases of skimmers are always ignored except when
Rotate to face your intended path of Ramming. Any enemy non-vehicle units that might be on the sides are
Should the enemy vehicle be a transport and be destroyed by either the Ram or the Deffrolla (allowing the Wagon
to continue his movement, provided it has some left), the transported units can be disembarked on the path of the Rolla. If that is done, the unit is Tank Shocked (and suffers the hit) and can attempt Death Or Glory (admittedly suffering more hits). Alternatively the unit can be disembarked out of harms way. Sometimes, due to the positions of the exit points, it may not be possible to have a choice.
pushed out of the way and are not Tank Shocked: they do not suffer the Deffrolla hits, nor can they attempt Death or Glory. Vehicles cant be moved away and stop your rotation.
theyre being assaulted (the enemy can assault the hull if he can reach it, or the base if he can reach it). There are some exceptions for Stormravens and Valkyries who also measure from their base for disembark and objective denial purposes, but on the whole it means that although a skimmer cant stop over friendly units, friendly units are quite allowed to move under it (if they fit of course) after it has moved. Except in the case of armies having normal flying stands and exceptionally small troops, this usually cant be bent into a way to get an unfair advantage.
f Dedicated transports can only start the game
3 4
Forward! Any enemy unit on the way is hit as per the normal rules.
Should you encounter an enemy non-walker vehicle, it suffers the Deffrolla hits. If it is not
Rinse and repeat.
theeternalwarriors.com/
carrying the unit they are assigned to, afterwards they may ferry other units across the battlefield. However, this doesnt mean the assigned unit has to be deployed in their dedicated transport.
ephs H
WILLEM-JAN (HEPHESTO)
EDItorIaL
tips obby H
KEEP It cooL, PLay It cooL.
sunKEn FEEt synDroME (sFs)
Being a huge fan of intricate basing work I was first introduced to SFS when I was but a wee lad. Id glued some minis to their base and then went about adding slate, little details and eventually gravel. When I was all done I took a step back and raised an eyebrow brought on by both amazement and frustration. Once you start using basing materials that are chunkier and thicker than sand you will most likely end up with models that look like their weight is pushing them into the soft ground. This can be easily solved by adding a little slip of plasticard to the feet of your models, resulting in your heroes and villains actually looking like theyre walking on top of the ground, rather than through it. So do your part to make Sunken Feet Syndrome a thing of the past!
Everybody who has used green stuff or similar modeling putties has at one time mixed too much of the stuff, only to see it go to waste as it fully hardens in a couple of hours. Next time this happens just put the mixed putty in the freezer. Though the effect is of limited length, it will greatly slow the hardening effect of your putty. This will give you enough time to put together another mini or two and use that excess putty, effectively expanding the time span for putty use from an hour or two to several days!
EDItorIaL
PowEr arMour cocKtaIL PartIEs
tHInK BEForE you cHucK
The guys in power armour, both the good and bad types, are everywhere and can definitely be counted as one of the most played type of army. Cool as those bulky superhumans may be, they do have a few areas that can be tricky to deal with. Those bolters and backpacks do obscure some tough to reach areas of the miniatures. Quite often, it will make painting the aquila and shoulderpads quite challenging. There is an easy way to get around this though, just got to the supermarket and buy yourself a tool that will come in extremely handy during your wargaming antics cocktail sticks. Not only will they make your summer parties better, theyre also great for mixing paint and applying and sculpting putty. They are also perfect to for being glued to bolters and backpacks:
Whenever you are done with a kit there will be tons of little bits left, as well as the sprues and boxes themselves. Before you get rid of any trash, have a good look as youd be surprised what you can do with this seemingly useless junk. Boxes can be used to store bits, mix paints on, write your paint recipes on and so forth. The same holds true for plastic sprues which can be used to strengthen conversions, can serve as the skeleton for sculpts and can even pop up on the gamingtable (see example below). And this doesnt only hold true for generic wargaming materials, other stuff also works great. Have a broken radio? Take it apart before you turn it in. There are tons of little bits and bobs in electronic devices that will look great in Warhammer 40,000 armies. Bought a fancy bottle of wine? Keep the wooden box to add further details, or even full scenery pieces, to your WHFB games. Just as an example, a few years back I had a ton of leftover sprues as well as a little bit of wall filler (dont ask), which eventually resulted in the mini diorama below. The wall filler was used to make little, geyser-like rock formations and the sprues were cut up to create the green crystals: Finally, when it comes to sprues there is one army in the 40K universe that has such cool stuff that nobody should toss away the leftovers the Necrons. I mean, just look at those cool, seethrough rods, they just beg to be used somehow:
rEvIEw
Eldar Dark
aKes andr M
lthough their origins are shrouded in mystery, there is one thing all Dark Eldar are in agreement about: Mandrakes are to be feared by all. part Dark Eldar,
FIrST IMprESSIoNS
There is no denying that people exciting got really, the really first when
part something much, much worse, Mandrakes are
creatures of darkness. Darting from shadow to shadow, they feed upon the suffering of others, utilizing the harnessed, raw power to freeze the unsuspecting with blasts of chilling energy. With dark, rune-carved skin, wielding wicked, saw-edged blades and wearing the flayed skin of those who betrayed them, the Mandrakes stalk the battlefield appearing out of nowhere, channelling their chilling auras to reduce their victims to shattered heaps of frozen flesh and armour. Mandrakes are an Elite choice for the Dark Eldar, competing with such units as Incubi, Grotesques, Wracks, Harlequins, Kabalite Trueborn and the Hekatrix Bloodbrides.
Mandrake preview popped up on the Games Workshop site. For those in doubt about the Asian influence in the Dark Eldar design, it became quite clear when looking at the excellent design of these miniatures. The Dark Eldar Mandrakes boxed set contains 5 multi-part metal miniatures and is equally expensive as the five strong Incubi boxed set. Though the box is certainly not cheap, this is to be expected given that all miniatures are metal.
rEvIEw
oN cloSEr INSpEcTIoN
Upon opening the box I was met by five metal miniatures, though sadly there are only three different poses in there. I cant help but feel that it wouldnt have taken GW a lot of extra effort to add two more poses. Each Mandrake comes in two parts: the body and their flaming left arm. In principle, each arm is modelled to fit one, specific body. So, without investing some extra time and effort, this means that you will end up with only three different Mandrakes. Naturally I wanted to make my Mandrakes a bit different than the usual, straight out of the box unit. As a result all Mandrakes you can see in the pictures have been subtly converted. Two additional tools were used to accomplish this: a pinvice and green stuff modelling putty.
tIP
To add some easy variation to your Mandrakes you can exchange some of their weapons by gently cutting them off at the wrist. Next use a pinvice with a small drill to carefully drill holes in both the loose hand and sword, as well as the arms. It is a good idea to first use a sharp modelling knife to drill a starting hole in both the hand and the arm, as this will prevent nasty slips with the pinvice. Once youre done drilling, cut a paperclip up and use the newly acquire metal rod to securely attach the hand to its new arm. Sure this takes some extra work, but the pin will prevent silly breaking accidents. For those wanting to add even more special touches to their Mandrakes Id suggest having a go a using Green Stuff modelling putty to cover up a rune or two, add extra hair or even to adjust the shapes of the skirts worn by the Mandrakes.
oN ThE TAblETop
Mandrakes are able to appear out of nowhere and move about rather fast due to their Fleet, Infiltrate, Move Through Cover and Stealth rules. Much like most Dark Eldar, they are fairly fragile being only Toughness 3 and having a 5+ Invulnerable Save. Mandrakes will really benefit from getting a Pain Token, as this will give them the Feel No Pain bonus available to most Dark Eldar. Not only will the Pain Token make them more durable, it will also activate their ranged Balefire shooting attack. Sadly I fear that Mandrakes will have way too much competition from the other Elites choices available in the Dark Eldar codex.
tabletopgamingnews.com
mag.astronomican.com 10
rEvIEw
They require more finesse and planning than other units to use effectively. As a result there will not be many competitive gamers, especially those attending tournaments, that will include this stunning looking unit in their army. Regardless, Mandrakes are fantastic for gamers putting together themed armies, painters will have a blast with the many different textures and, lets just face it, they really look fantastic! I am even tempted to use them as count as Ur-Ghuls (tough fighting pets that can be included in an Archons Court).
pAINTING AND coNVErSIoN opporTuNITIES

Let me be frank here, Mandrakes are a serious challenge. The runes on their skin are quite small, their dark skin takes time and painting fire isnt always the easiest thing. Nonetheless I absolutely love these miniatures! In the past I have dealt with tough minis taking me less time than the Mandrakes but that almost drove me insane nonetheless. The Mandrakes, challenging as they may be, are a delight to paint up. With every new element you add paint to they really start coming alive. Secondly, there is the matter of Balefire. Personally I like to paint fire in a realistic manner, meaning that the combustion source (in this case the Mandrakes arm) is the place where the most energy is released. As a result this spot is the lightest part of the flame, the further away from the combustion source the greater the chance of other colours showing up in the flame. If you do decide to invest the extra time to do some converting you can fairly easily make your unit unique. Even if you decide not to convert your Mandrakes you will be spending quite a bit of time to make their paintjob look good. On the one hand I have a hard time justifying spending so much time on a unit that, at its maximum, is 90 points, On the other hand they are fantastic
11
tIP
Dealing with the Mandrake runes can be tricky. This is mainly because you are working with an inverted colour scheme. Normally the deeper areas are darker. The Mandrake runes, however, glow with eldritch energies. I would advise starting from a white, or light, undercoat. After all, it is no problem to paint the dark skin of a Mandrake over a white undercoat. The runes and their Balefire arms, as well as the flayed skin skirts, on the other hand, will greatly benefit from the lighter undercoat.
to paint up, the minis really come alive as you come closer and closer to their completion. Gamewise, the Mandrakes are certainly not a bad choice, they are quite good at what they do. However, I cant help but feel that we will only rarely see them used in the more competitive army builds. Given that you can only buy the boxed set, you are basically forced to take Mandrakes in multiples of five, something that is sadly also true for the new Incubi. In conclusion, I personally love the Mandrakes but, given their limited poses and the significant amount of time you have to invest to make them look half decent, particularly if you are a starting painter, I can only give this boxed set seven out of ten.
SuMMAry
The Mandrakes boxed set contains enough metal parts to make five Mandrakes, in three basic poses. Without some conversion work you are unfortunately stuck with these distinct poses, something that does impact my final evaluation of this product.
review
Eldar Dark
hes wyc
yches are Dark Eldar who have devoted their entire existence to the mastery of gladiatorial fighting. In the arenas of commorragh they battle each other, slaves and captured beasts all for the amusement of year. The Wyches may be my favourites models in the new range, they just looks so dynamic and agile. The Dark Elder Wyches boxed set contains enough parts for 10 Wyches on two plastic sprues and costs 15 (UKP) or 12.30 if you buy them from Total Wargamer.
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the depraved spectators coming from all levels of Dark Eldar society. whenever the kabals gather force to raid real space the Archons will go to great lengths to enlist the support of the Succubi and their wyche cults. Wyches are a Troops choice for the Dark Eldar, though this kit can also be used to build a Succubus HQ model or even the Elite Hekatrix Bloodbrides.
FIrST IMprESSIoNS
I have always been a fan of the Dark Eldar, heck I even enjoyed the old models, especially the Wyches. However the test of time wasnt very kind to them, luckily GW finally revisited the Dark Eldar this
rEvIEw
oN cloSEr INSpEcTIoN
The box gives you a whopping 92 pieces to put together 10 Wyches in a large variety of ways. Each Wyche comes in a minimum of seven pieces; 2 chest pieces, a set of arm, a set of legs and a head. Wyches are described as being pre-dominantly female and the box gives part for six female and four males, interesting to note though is that nearly all men have partially obscured faces. So the focus is definitely on the ladies in this kit. In addition to enough bits to arm all your Wyches with their basic kit you also get the necessary materials to put together a Hekatrix All the legs have been labelled to make assembly more straightforward, although with a bit of cutting and conversion work you will be able to put legs together that normally wont fit. Though this will require more work it will enable you to add even more poses to a large Wyche Cult army.
leader, as well as a set of all the special Wyche weapons. The Hekatrix comes with all the available options, save for a Venom Blade and the Phantasm Grenade Launcher. The first is easily solved as a quick green wash over a metal blade will make it look rather venomous. The Launcher is more challenging to solve, though you can of course borrow one from a Kabalite Warriors box. The only downside of the kit is that you only get one of each special Wyche weapon while a standard Wyche unit will be able to upgrade one mini per ten with a special weapon (Hekatrix Bloodbrides can even upgrade one per three mini). So if you want to add two of the same weapons you will need to get a second box or get a little creative.
tIP
Want to add more of the same weapon, but dont have the bits or extra cash? Then take a hint from the Imperial Guard and field those special weapons in weapon teams. Simply give one Wyche the Impaler and another the Shardnet, the same goes for the Razorflails and the Hydra Gauntlets. Dont forget to remove the splinter pistol or close combat weapon from the other hand, this as the special weapon is meant to replace both of these.
The special Wyche Weapons also look great and even come with some extras. The Shardnet and Impaler are not much more than a net and spear, but this isnt true for the other weapons. The Razorflails are weapons that can be fielded as both swords and whips and you actually get two weapons, one in each form. I thought it is also rather cool that you get a special, ritually-scarred head to go with the set. And finally we have the Hydra Gauntlets, whose wielders have a fully armoured helmet that will offer the needed extra protection when wielding these sharp and shattering weapons.
rEvIEw
oN ThE TAblETop
Wyches are superb close combat fighters but they definitely need an effective delivery device in order to get the most out of them. If left to walk across the battlefield they wont last long, possessing on a 6+ save. You basically have three different methods of getting them into close combat, mount them on a Raider, a Venom (only suited for small units up to 5 models) or let them arrive through a Webway Portal. Once they get stuck in though things get very interesting as they are both able to assault into cover and have a healthy 4+ save once in close combat. Add in a Hekatrix and a few weapons and you have a very formidable fighting force that will rack up a pain token very fast giving them Feel No Pain as a bonus. The special Wyche weapons are also rather interesting. The Impaler and Shardnet will allow you to take away attacks, which can be very effective again strong and high attack opponents. Razorflails, on the other hand, will allow the wielder to re-roll failed to hit and to wound rolls. And, finally, Hydra Gauntlet will give you +D6 rather than the normal +1 attacks, making this an ideal weapon when wielded against large masses of weaker opponents. The Elites versions of the Wyches, the Hekatrix Bloodbrides, quite simply do the same as Wyches just better and with more special weapons. Furthermore you can also make a HQ Succubus mini with this kit. Being the cheapest HQ choice and adding them to a Wyche squad will often ensure they make it into close combat to do quite a bit of damage. You could also use a combination of Wyche and Hellion bits to make a custom Beastmaster. Finally, if we are to believe the rumours, Games Workshop will be releasing a plastic Venom kit in a few months which is supposed to come with some Wyche crew hanging off it. Those bits are bound to add even more cool bits to make your Wyches even more dynamic and deadly! Given that Wyches are quite affordable it may even be worth to buy an extra box to replace the Raider and Ravager crews, which would look great in a full Wyche Cult-themed force. So the final verdict is 9 out of ten For conversion opportunities you could look at the unhelmeted heads from the Kabalites kit, leftovers from the Hellions and there are even a few ideal bits on the Raider sprue to make your own Impaler and Shardnet! The pictures of painted Wyches in this article make use of these simple, yet quite effective bit swaps to add even more variety to the unit.
with nearly all of the options available to them in the codex. The models are very dynamic and versatile, being interchangeable with most other Dark Eldar and even Eldar plastic kits. The minis are easy to put together, requiring minimal preparation work, which is a good thing as the paintjob can be challenging at times. There is no arguing with the end result though, they really do look the part of sci-fi gladiators! Furthermore the kit is quite affordable, so those amongst us who have been dreaming of fielding a full Wyche Cult army can finally have a go at them. Heck the only flaw I can find with this kit is that you only get a single set of each of the special Wyche weapons
pAINTING AND coNVErSIoN opporTuNITIES

Like pretty much all the new Dark Eldar toys Wyches require a bit of time and work to look decent. With the many different layers (skin, Wyche suit, Wyche armour, trophies etc) and segmented armour it is easy to mess things up. My main advice would be to take your time with each mini as it will really show once theyre all done.
SuMMAry
The Wyches plastic kit comes with enough bit to make 10 Wyches
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painting
how to paint
Franklin Carroll
tan IELB
I've had quite a few questions on how I paint my Eldar, and here is the response! Were going to turn this:
Into tHIs:
15
PaIntIng
wHItE
For starters, the style of white we are doing here should always be primed white. Below is the basic primer coat on all of the areas that require this technique.
STEp 2
Bleached Bone Dry brush. This is a heavy dry brush but should be done in layers if necessary. Here I actually did two layers of bleached bone dry brushing to get the coverage I needed. Generally, most of the Devlin should be invisible except in the crevices.
STEp 4
Skull White dry brush. This dry brush should be done lighter than the previous one but, once again, we are painting white, so youre going to cover a significant portion of the surface area. Dont worry if this layer doesnt look white. Its likely it wont, hence the next step.
STEp 1:
Wash the entire surface area with Devlin Mud. You can be as sloppy as you want and make sure you get it nice and dark in those deep crevices, like the ribbing on the underbelly of the body. Areas that will later be painted green or metallic do not need to be washed.
STEp 3
50/50 Bleached Bone/White dry brush. This dry brush is lighter but still covers most of the surface area. Youll begin to see shading taking place here as the bleached bone pokes through on the edges and lower areas.
STEp 5
Second Skull White dry brush. This is the final step to complete the white. This dry brush should be done lightly, and really only to bring out the highest surfaces. You should end up with a mottled bone look, which is exactly what I wanted for my Eldar (wraithbone and all!).
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PaIntIng
grEEn
I will be addressing two different styles of painting green here. My preferred style is on the left. Unfortunately, it is impossible to prime a piece both white and black so any areas where I need to paint both white and green are primed white. At the end of this section Ill provide a comparison pic so you can see the difference between the two styles of painting green. This, my preferred method of painting green, starts with a basic black primer
STEp 1
Codex Grey dry brush. Nice thick and heavy dry brush. Keep it clean, but cover all but the deepest recesses.
STEp 4
Dark Angels green wash. At a ratio of about 1 part water to 2 parts paint, you want a relatively thin mixture for this step. The idea is to ensure that no detail is lost, and that the texture of the previous grey scale is not lost.
STEp 2
Fortress Grey dry brush. A lighter dry brush making sure that the crevices are still showing some Codex Grey. (forgot to take a picture of this step!)
STEp 5
Second Dark Angels Green wash. Same ratio of water and paint, this time youll begin to see the color smoothing out. It doesnt have to be perfect, just relatively solid color.
STEp 3
Skull White dry brush. A very light dry brush intended only to hit the raised surfaces. For pieces of the model that require the painting of white and green, the base coat is by necessity white.
17
PaIntIng
STEp 6
Snot Green dry brush. Another nice thick dry brush intended to cover most of the area.
STEp 8
Thraka Green wash. Cover the whole thing with a thin layer of Thraka Green. Ensure there is no pooling and that the coverage is nice and smooth. This step pulls all of the colors together, and deepens the shading in the crevices.
HIgHLIgHts
The line highlights on the green sections are relatively simple. Start with Snot Green, and paint a thin line on all outside or forward edges. This includes (and perhaps most importantly) the edges of armour plating along the smooth surfaces of the vehicle. Its hard to see below but, if you look closely, you can see thin lines of Snot Green.
STEp 7
Goblin Green dry brush. This should be a relatively light coat, intended to hit the raised surfaces and extreme edges only. Next up is Goblin Green. Youll probably want a very fine brush for this. Take your good old time because, if you look closely, youll see that I made mistakes on this one and it probably took me ten minutes to do just this one piece.
18
PaIntIng
Finally its Scorpion Green. You will not want to paint the entire edge, just the corners or areas that would need an extra highlight. This process goes fast because you only need to do small sections but again you will need a very fine brush. After the outline of the vines is completed, you need to add the thorns. Again, this is rather simple - just drawing a triangle away from the vine itself. You may want a smaller brush for this as it can be problematic with a medium sized brush. You can even see below that a few of mine are a bit bulbous!
The final highlight is still in testing for me! Ive used Fortress Grey and Space Wolf Grey previously. This time I used a 50/50 mix of Shadow Grey and Space Wolf Grey, and I think I like this one the best! Youre aiming to highlight the edges and corners. Just like the final highlight on the green edge highlighting, you do not want to hit the whole length, just little spots to make it stand out. Also, you want to hit the tips of the thorns!
vInEs.
Vines are perhaps the most distinctive feature of the Biel-Tan vehicles. They are not hard but are time consuming. Start with just Chaos black, and use a medium small brush. Youll want to create the outline of the vines. If youd prefer to pencil them on first you can but I do not do this. The vines shouldnt be much thicker than I have them below. Even so, mine are a bit thick. The next layer will do a lot to create the illusion that they are thinner. Now we begin highlighting. The first layer of highlights is Shadow Grey. The idea is to shade the back portion of the vine, so take a look at the middle one here. You can see that about half way through, where the highlights would have been on the front of the line, I switched the highlight to the other side, in order to keep it on the back. Now a quick shot of how the whole thing looks!
19
PaIntIng
gEMs
The most prominent detail on all Eldar miniatures is the gems. Being so distinctive it is important to make sure they come out just right!
STEp 2:
A 50/50 mix of Scab Red and Red Gore covers all but the lowest edge of the gem.
STEp 4:
50/50 Mix of Red Gore and Blood Red. This layer should only cover the back 75% of the gem, and still leave the shade layers visible as well.
STEp 1:
A nice solid base coat of Scab Red. This layer needs to stretch to the very edges of the gem, as it will be the darkest shade. If you need to do two layers to get it nice and smooth, then do so.
STEp 3:
Pure Red Gore, again leaving only a small portion of the previous layer showing.
STEp 5:
Mix a little bit more Blood Red into the previous mix, and get about a 25/75 ratio. Moving further back, try and cover only the back half or less of the gem.
20
PaIntIng
STEp 6:
Add just a bit of Blazing Orange to the previous mix for the final highlight. Finally, this layer should cover only the back most portion of the gem.
GolDS:
The golds are base coated with Tin Bitz, painted Dwarf Bronze and dry brushed with Bolt Gun Metal. They are then heavily washed with Devlin Mud.
pIloT:
The pilot is relatively simple. He should already be white from painting previous sections. Simply paint his hair, face and eyes with your favorite combination for these items!
DEtaILs
cANopy:
The clear canopy is first washed with Azureman Blue Ink. This is done twice to ensure a good tinting of the widows. The edges are then painted with Snot Green to match the Vyper.
SIlVErS:
There are very few silvers on this mini but the ones that do exist are Boltgun Metal with a Badab Black wash.
Turn over for some pictures of the final Vyper!
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PaIntIng
Come help us build a comprehensive hobby Wiki!

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Modelling
nverting co
guePla rers bea

MATTIAS CIAVARELLA
ven before codex: chaos Daemons was released I had already collected several Daemon princes for converting and painting. when the Daemons got their own codex I made up my mind on the spot; I would From a killing point of view, I dont consider Plaguebearers to be a good unit. Sure they have their Plagueswords, which are great against enemies with a high toughness but a unit of Bloodletters or Daemonettes can easily outperform them. But with toughness 5, Feel No Pain and an invulnerable save, At first I only got 2 small troops to go with my 5 monstrous creatures but I quickly realized that I couldnt win very much with a host like that. So I started collecting. And collecting. My army is now about 6000 pts and growing still. I have at least one of each Greater Daemon, one of each Prince, Forge World Daemon Lords and a lot of troops and elites. One unit I havent got though is the Plaguebearers which are the only ones that havent been released in plastic. The only problem is that the existing miniatures are metal and they chip easily, so I decided to make my own Plaguebearers! the Plaguebearers are without a doubt one of the toughest units the army can muster! Deep strike them close to an objective, make sure they have an icon and you will have a unit that holds an objective and acts as a warp portal. collect a chaos Daemons army!
23
E
MoDELLIng
I googled Converting Plaguebearers and found an awesome looking unit converted by a fellow named David Alexandersson. He had used Bloodletters as a base, cutting and re-sculpting several parts. Although I think they look great, there were some things I wanted to change.
The head was trimmed using clippers and a sharp knife. The skull was cut down, the horns removed and, on some of the Plaguebearers, I even removed the lower jaw. The eyes and eyebrows were cut and scraped away with a knife and, finally, I drilled a hole just above the nose for their cyclopean eye (made out of greenstuff).
The stomachs were the most difficult thing to sculpt. On some of the miniatures I sculpted a bloated stomach but on the rest I sculpted the intestines hanging out from their bellies. As an alternative you could use the intestines from the Zombie sprue. Since I only had one of those I had to make the rest myself. The Icon was really easy to make. I just looted it from the Chaos
I didnt do much with the torsos, legs and arms, except for removing any Khorne symbols and removing the Hellblade just above the hand. While I was at it, I also cut down the handle a notch so they looked more like one hand swords instead of two handed ones. For the Plaguesword I cut a bit of plastic card (2mm thick). The pieces I cut were roughly 1 * 1cm. Some of them were cut diagonally, and some were rectangular. These were sharpened slightly and rivets were cut into the edges to get that Nurgleworn-out feeling.
Space Marine sprue (kindly donated from a friend). For the Noxious Touch upgrade I sculpted a Plague scythe using pieces from the Bloodcrushers sprue. Converting Plaguebearers was not very difficult and requires minimum sculpting experience. On a difficulty scale of 1-10 (where a 10 is very difficult) I give this project a 3. Its difficult to make the Plagueswords and the intestines are a bit tricky to sculpt.
24
MoDELLIng
so HErEs a sHoPPIng LIst oF wHat youLL nEED:

1 box of Bloodletters 1 Sheet of 2mm thick plastic card Green stuff
opTIoNAl pArTS:
Chaos Space Marine Nurgle Icon Zombie intestines Bloodcrusher swords and icon arm Now go out and infect somebody!
25
ModelLing
rrelios ca
shield Dr
teip! yon6cosverson Eas e n

ont know what to do with all those gun drones? you you buy in the Tau army! well, here is an easy way to put them to good use! Turn those useless swarms know the ones. The ones that come with EVEryThING
26
Carrelio
of inaccurate pulse carbines into something useful Shield Drones!!!
For ThIS coNVErSIoN you wIll NEED:

f 2 gun drones f A flying base f A crisis battlesuit kits shield generator f A little greenstuff f Some superglue f A file f A hobby knife
MoDELLIng
STEp 1
Begin your conversion by filing down the piece which the guns would attach to (shield drones dont have guns, so we wont be needing very much of this piece). File it right down, starting at the area which would attach to the base, all the way until youve taken off the 2 nubs the pulse carbines would attach to.
STEp 3
Flip over the shield generator and drill a small hole in the center using your hobby knife. The hole doesnt have to be very deep or very wide, just enough that youll get a little more surface area when you attach it to the flying bases stick.
STEp 5
Attach the two antennae using a little glue.
STEp 6
Base your drone and slap on a coat of paint!
STEp 2
Next, flatten down the shield generators attachment point (it wont be attached to a battlesuit, so we dont need it anymore).
STEp 4
Assemble your drone pieces, first by attaching the head to the piece filed down in step 1, using a little glue. Then glue the shield generator to the bottom, using a little greenstuff to conceal any areas which dont quite fit together.
When you finish, your homemade shield drone, and the ones you pay $15 for at GW will be so close to identical, no one will be able to notice!
27
As the Great Fool Wishes

Lhykosidae
PART 1 they house. Flickering images form on the psychic wave that emanates from them: Deadly arrays of the Dark Brethren lance Bodies gyrate to the silent song playing through the souls in hand. Her chin stays tucked to her chest, obscuring her With slow, deliberately sensual steps she makes her way towards the frozen Marine. With but a swords length to go, she stops. lifts to expose the features of the Troupe Master. The hushed crowd cannot help smiling obscenely as her face In an explosion of colors and tomfoolery nearly too quick colorless features. But the smile on her face cannot be mistaken. Harlequin announces. We welcome your presence, blessed one>> the Great I turn away from the Masques revelry and nod politely.
out, striking down humans and orks alike. In true portrayal of irony, one of the dancers looms behind the Brethren as a large and imposing demonic figure, picking them off one by one. Some of the dancers stop occasionally to leer at the crowd with comical expressions plastered on their faces; especially when they depict mon-keigh.
In one sentence he both acknowledges my superiority and my presence is never welcome. Even he cannot completely hide into my eyes and seenothing.
sympathizes with the sacrifice it required. But the truth is that the look of horror that crosses all mortals faces when they look HE bade me seek thee I reply.
to track, the Troupe Master slays the demons, shatters the company of corrupt mon-keigh and disarms the remaining
play their part in the dance, while a few on stage leap through
As the scene changes, elements of the crowd peel away to
Marine. Within the blink of an eye, she stands on the shoulders of the Marine, staring down at him with glee. The look of profound stupidity on his face is truly what makes the crowd go wild.
the air to land softly among their applauding friends. The Dark
Godour patron and mentor and father. Dire would be state of the galaxy without his mocking love. in supplication and reverence. whispers after a moment. The Great Harlequin crosses his arms and lowers his eyes Then Chaos will learn to fear the Webway anew He Assemble the Masque at thy leisure, Ardathair I reply.
He: Lord CegorachThe Great FoolThe Laughing
Brethren are suddenly assaulted by the larger mon-keigh of the the assault, fleeing even as the demon continues to feed. The
corpse emperor. Space Marines! They shudder and break under mon-keigh stand proud and arrogant in the face of the fleeing on them as they did the Eldar.
performing Rillietann to their true countenance. The rest of
The scene ends as the holofields turn off, returning the
Dark Eldar, only to have a new gaggle of demons begin to feed The crowd howls at the ludicrousness of the scene. Slowly,
the Masque surges on to the stage as friends and troupe-mates congratulate each other on a job well done. Many bow to the Troupe Master as a sign of respect and acknowledgment. She
the mon-keigh turn into even more grotesque manifestations as they become corrupted. Just before the final Marine is consumed, however, a psychically bruising giggle washes over
may one day carry the title of ArdathairGreat Harlequin.
They would not see me before the Dance. I activate my personal Webway-portal generator and step through. already gone.
With the dance complete, the members of the Masque understand the portents foreseen by the Shadowseers. The Masque of the Crimson Ophidian would be going to war. ***
As the Great Fool wishes He giggles back, but I am
the entire scene. As one, the audience and performers turn to
the source. A lone figure stands poised with sword and pistol
***
ar vs. K eld Dar ines e Mar spac

DAVE SKRIVAN
Battle report
he recent release of the Dark Eldar codex has garnered a lot of attention in the warhammer 40,000 community, both as being the latest bandwagon and from the codex showing potential to be very potent and competitive.
whilst the jury may still be out on the armys long term viability, as the codex has only been out since early November, it is showing much promise. The following is the report of a recent game I played against a competitive build of Codex Space Marines. The point value played was at 1850, which is the standard for the Adepticon Championship and many tournaments in the Midwest Region of the US. Whilst the Space Marine codex has been showing its age compared to Space Wolves or Blood Angels, it is still the benchmark against which all other codices are judged. That is why I feel this is an appropriate matchup.
29
BattLE rEPort
ThE lISTS & GENErAl ArMy STrATEGy
The aim of this Dark Eldar list is to use the speed afforded by the Raider transports to focus assaults and close combat to cripple a large portion of an opponents army simultaneously. The Archon rides with the Incubi to take on and wipe out most enemy units relying primarily on armor saves. A unit of hecatrix Bloodbrides will also support this aim, using their large volume of attacks and 4+ invulnerable save in close combat to withstand enemies carrying power weapons. I place a Haemonculus with both the Hecatrix Bloodbrides and the Incubi to give each a pain token. Wyches bring up the support for the assault by tying up key enemy counter-assault units (Terminators, Harlequins, etc) and scoring objectives. To support the assaulting rush, two mounted warrior squads can provide support fire to take out key enemy vehicles, enemy transports or tougher units that may need to be softened up before being assaulted. Two Ravagers also assist on this end, one equipped with three Dark Lances for anti-tank and one with three Disintegrator Cannons for long range anti-MEQ killing.
DarK ELDar
{hQ}
[180] Archon Husk blade, ghostplate armour, shadowfield, phantasm grenade launcher, combat drugs, soul trap [125] 1x Haemonculus w/ liquefier gun, venom blade, 1x Haemonculus w/ liqufier gun
{ElITES}
[224] - 7x Incubi Raider w/ flickerfield [265] 9x Hecatrix Bloodbrides 2x hydra gauntlets, 1x shardnet, siren w/ agoniser, haywire grenades Raider w/ flickerfield
{TroopS}
[206] 8x Wyches hydra gauntlets, haywire grenades, hekatrix w/ agoniser raider w/ flickerfield [218] 9x Wyches hydra gauntlets, haywire grenades, hekatrix w/ agoniser Raider w/ flickerfield [200] 10x Kabalite Warriors dark lance, blaster raider w/ flickerfield [200] 10x Kabalite Warriors dark lance, blaster raider w/ flickerfield
{hEAVy}
[115] Ravager 3x dark lances, flickerfield [115] Ravager 3x disintegrator Cannons, flickerfield
totaL 1848
30
BattLE rEPort
sPacE MarInEs
{hQ}
[100] Librarian w/ Null Zone, Avenger
The idea of this list is to utilize MSU (Multiple Small Units) to flood the enemy with inexpensive targets. This Marine army carries a hefty amount of short to medium range firepower, most of it AP1 or AP2, which can be concentrated on key targets with effects bolstered by the Null Zone psychic power, forcing opponents to reroll successful invulnerable saves. Unless it is a kill-point game, every tactical squad will be split into combat squads, with half taking a heavy weapon, occupying an objective and shooting from long range in support of the mechanized force moving to take objectives. While primarily a shooting army, it has the ability to use limited assaults (via Dreadnaughts and powerfist wielding tac squads) to follow up shooting.
{ElITE}
[130] Dreadnaught w/ Multi-melta, Heavy Flamer, extra armor [130] Dreadnaught w/ Multi-melta, Heavy Flamer, extra armor
{TroopS}
[105] 5x Scouts w/ 4x snipers, 1x missile launcher, camo cloaks, melta bombs (for sgt only) [245] Tactical Squad w/ melta gun, missile launcher, sgt w/ combi-melta & powerfist - Rhino transport [245] Tactical Squad w/ melta gun, missile launcher, sgt w/ combi-melta & powerfist - Rhino transport [250] Tactical Squad w/ melta gun, plasma cannon, sgt w/ combi-melta & powerfist - Rhino transport
ThE MISSIoN
The mission used was Capture and Control with a Dawn of War deployment. The terrain consisted of tall rocky mounds that blocked lines of sight and groups of defensive barricades arranged to cover small areas from all directions. Both sides rolled for deployment and the Space Marines won. They chose to go second for one main reason. He wanted to see where I set up my objective first before he set his up, because he knows the Dark Eldar have a tremendous advantage in mobility. This marine list thrives on keeping the fighting close ranged and in tight spaces.
{FAST ATTAck}
[70] Land Speeder w/ multi-melta, heavy flamer [70] Land Speeder w/ multi-melta, heavy flamer [70] Land Speeder w/ multi-melta, heavy flamer
{hEAVy SupporT}
[115] Vindicator [115] Vindicator [198] 8x Devastator Marines w/ 4x missile launchers
ThE DEployMENT
Seeing that he had a unit with the potential to outflank and steal the objective, I chose to put my objective (the rocket engine) in the very middle of my back edge to deny him that strategy. He then chose to place his objective (fuselage debris piece) in a spot in cover nearly across from my objective, deciding to keep the fight close ranged.
totaL 1848
31
BattLE rEPort
As I was using an army that was based around fast skimmers, I elected to deploy nothing and move onto the board turn 1. My opponent opted to deploy only the scout squad to cover his objective, and move the rest of his army onto the board turn 1. With both of us deploying limited forces, he let me have first turn without trying to seize the initiative. I rolled for Combat Drugs and got Adrenalite (All units affected by combat drugs gain +1 attack).
ThE prEGAME plAN

Dark Eldar My army strategy remains unchanged. My aim is to commit as much as I can to taking, or at least contesting, his objective, whilst keeping my warriors back to hold my own objective. That way, the worse I will achieve is a draw but, by me forcing the fight on his side, he doesnt have the speed to defeat my force and then take my objective. Space Marines The armys strategy remains unchanged. Use multiple units to coordinate fire and counter assaults to take out key enemy targets, hopefully should be able to punch a way through with rhinos or, at least, turbo-boost a land speeder to take the objective.
toP oF turn 1
The Dark Eldar race onto the board with their usual speed. The four Raiders carrying Incubi + Archon, Hecatrix, and Wyches race flat out towards the middle, counting on their cover saves and night fight to protect them before they can set up potential charges on turn 2. The two raiders carrying warriors move onto the board just enough to stay close to the objective. Both Ravagers move forward at cruising speed to attempt pot shots at the scouts in cover. It requires a good night fight check, but they had night vision so its worth a shot. The night fighting checks do not succeed and the turn is ended.
BottoM oF turn 1
The Space Marines move onto the board. The majority of the force keeps close together, with speeders moving cruising speed to attempt shots at the Raiders that moved up. The exception to this is the devastator squad which moves onto the board on the far right side to take shots at the dark elder transports but be far enough away to not be threatened by retaliation. The combat squads on foot take up positions near the objective in cover. They had attempted to spread out but were hampered by poor difficult terrain rolls, so they ended up clustered heavily. The rhinos and Dreadnaughts all use smoke launchers to cover the almostcertain follow up from the dark elder. The speeders shoot, failing
32
BattLE rEPort
to cause any harm to the raiders either by missing shots or cover saves I made. One of the Vindicators manages to pass night fight, shoots and hits the raider carrying the Bloodbrides. The shot penetrates, only managing a Crew Stunned result. The scouts failed to spot any targets with their night fight check. grenades. The Wyches on my left go at the Dreadnaught as well, trying to have a few models hit nearby rhinos with haywires as well. The Wyches on both sides drew in close combat with the Dreadnaughts, though managing to Crew Stunned the speeder on the right. The Incubi and Archon wipe out the scouts and combat squad remnants on the charge, gaining two pain tokens (for a total of three so far) and consolidate into the cover, towards the other marines.
BottoM oF turn 2
The Incubi and Archon just run through the marines like they are nothing and the best counter assault option against the Incubi (Dreadnaughts) have been locked up by Wyches. He disembarks his other two combat squads and sets them up to countercharge the Wyches engaged with one of the Dreadnaughts, that way freeing up a Dreadnaught to stop the Incubi. He keeps the combat squads in position to be able to fire heavy weapons at the Incubi, while the Vindicators move to gain shots on the raider carrying the hecatrix Bloodbrides. He also rushes the land speeder on his right (my left) up in front of my Wyches to take a shot at a nearby land raider and cut my Wyches off from any potential retreat. The marines wanted to at least stop another elite assault unit from making it to his lines so he could stop the bleeding. His shooting opens up with the devastator squads missile salvo exploding the Raider and follow up shots from Vindicators kill 4 of the hecatrix Bloodbrides. Shooting from all three combat squads at Incubi fails miserably, failing to wound a single model. The immobile speeder in the center immobilizes my Raider carrying the Incubi. His two combat squads with power fists
toP oF turn 2
While the damage I took was minimal, having the Raider carrying the Bloodbrides being stopped was tough, as that is one of my main units I need to hit the enemy with. Regardless I keep to my plan; I rush the Wyches and the Incubi w/ Archon forward. I also move my Ravagers to take some shots at enemy speeders. At this point I have committed to the assault, so I send one squad of Wyches to the right flank to set up and assault the tac squad (if the rhino can be popped) or the Dreadnaught if not. I set up the same on the left, aiming the Wyches at the Dreadnaught between the rhinos. This way I figure if I can destroy a Rhino, I could assault the squad inside or, if not, then I can at least get engaged in close combat with the Dreadnaught using the 4+ invulnerable save (due to dodge). I disembark the Incubi and the Archon to get at the scouts in cover and any other potential marine squads in cover. My shooting manages to immobilise the speeders to my right and in his center. I also explode the rhino to my right, directly in front of the Wyches. This explosion kills 3 Wyches, 2 Incubi (despite 3+ armor and feel no pain), three of the five marines inside of the rhino and two marines from a combat squad nearby. The rest of my shooting is not very effective. He chooses to use combat tactics to fail the morale test for the two marines in the rhino crater, attempting to either get out of charge range or at least denying a unit gaining a possible pain token. He only manages to run 4, leaving them in charge range of the Incubi. The Incubi charges the combat squad, also engaging the scouts. The Wyches on my right charge the Dreadnaught, having a couple of the back Wyches hit the speeder with haywire
Beginning of Close Combat
counter-charge into my Wyches. I kill three marines total and glance the Dreadnaught once, while he kills 4 Wyches, so we draw combat. On the other side, my Wyches fail again to damage the Dreadnaught, while it kills a wyche. They made their morale check and stayed in combat.
After Close Combat

33
BattLE rEPort
and does nothing to the marines, who do nothing in reply, leaving that combat tied up as well. The Bloodbrides manage to charge the speeder on his left and wreck it with haywire grenades. The Archon consolidates out of combat as she was not engaged with the second combat squad or the Dreadnaught.
BottoM oF turn 3
Things are not looking great for the Marines, as their mobility has been stopped and they are being decimated by primarily just the Incubi and Archon. Now its really a losing battle for him to just hold his own objective and make a draw out of it. Marines move the remaining Vindicator forward to take a shot at the Ravager as the Archon is too close to the Dreadnaught to take a shot. The Librarian gets out to take on the Bloodbrides. In the shooting phase, the Vindicator misses the Ravager, while the Devastators fire at the Archon, who laughs at the missile hits with her 2+ invulnerable save shadow field. The Librarian uses the Avenger template power and kills three of the Bloodbrides. The Bloodbrides fail their morale test and flee. In close combat, the Incubi kill 5 out of the 6 remaining Marines, leaving one lone Marine surrounded by Incubi. The combat involving the Wyches, Combat Squad, and Dreadnaught ties again, with one Wyche and one Marine being killed. The combat with the Haemonculus stalemates again, as does the other My shooting opens up. A Ravager takes out a Vindicator. The Haemonculus kills a single marine with the liquefier gun. Dark lances from my back line immobilize the speeder on my opponents right (my left), destroy the multi-melta on the center speeder and stun the very left speeder. The Archon charges and wipes out one of the combat squads tied up with the Wyches. Another grenade hit from the Wyches immobilises the Dreadnaught in the same combat so it should be easy to rack up hits in the future and kill it. The remaining marines initially fail their morale check but decide to take some wounds and stay around due to ATSKNF. The Incubi in the center whiffs pretty badly and only kills two marines. The Haemonculus charged
34
toP oF turn 3
I move the hecatrix Bloodbrides forward to support the Wyches tied up with the Dreadnaught and two combat squads. I move the Incubi toward the two combat squads closest to my wyche squad that is getting ganged up on. The Archon moves away from the Incubi to rescue the Wyches. I disembark the Haemonculus from the immobilized Raider and run up towards the remaining combat squad that the Incubi werent planning to charge. I move an empty raider to provide some cover for the Bloodbrides from the Vindicators and devastators. I also set up a Ravager to shoot one of the Vindicators, though I hide that out of LOS from the devastators.
combat with Wyches and the Dreadnaught.
BattLE rEPort
toP oF turn 4
At this point, its becoming a matter of if I can clear out his force, because he is quickly running out of troop units to claim his objective with. I shift a Raider and Ravager to his left to take out either some Speeders or the Rhino that separates the Librarian from the Archon. Shooting opens up with my Dark Lance Ravager repeating what it did the previous turn and destroying the second Vindicator. My Dark Lances on the back line explode the Rhino I am targeting, killing two of the three Wyches engaged with the Dreadnaught. The rest of my Dark Lances from my back field units try to take out the Librarian, but fail to hit. My Archon makes a poor run roll so, instead of going after the Librarian, I go to help out the last Wyche by killing off the remaining Combat Squad. The Incubi kills off the remaining Tactical Marine engaged with them, consolidating into cover, while the Haemonculus again has a slap fight with the Tactical Marines. The Wyches and the Dreadnaught also dont feel like hurting each other again, staying stuck in once more.
BottoM oF turn 4
Aside from the two Tactical Marines tied up with the Haemonculus, all of the troops have been wiped out. Now its just a fight for a moral victory at this point or to pull out a desperate miracle. He moves the Librarian towards the Incubi, deciding against going after the Archon, as hed likely be killed before he could even attack. The Devastators fire at a Raider with Kabalite Warriors to force them off the objective and manage to destroy the weapon on the vehicle. The Librarian uses Avenger and kills three of the Incubi. The Incubi pass their morale check. Combat continues with the Haemonculus and Marines failing to hit each other. The Dreadnaught on his left kills a Wyche, the squad passes morale. Wyche on the right and Dreadnaught fail to hit each other. Speeders and immobilise the last rhino, but fails to destroy any of them. The Incubi charge the Tactical Marines, failing to wound a single Marine, however, the Haemonculus manages to kill both Marines with his two close combat attacks. The Archon kills the Librarian and passes leadership for the Soul Trap, so doubles her base strength to 6. The Wyches on the Marines left finally manage to immobilize the Dreadnaught, while the lone Wyche engaged with the other Dreadnaught are deadlocked again. Bottom of Turn 5 There is virtually no chance left now for the Space Marines. The Devastators shoot and wreck one of the Raiders holding my objectives, but my Warriors just disembark We rolled for Random Game Length, and it kept going. into cover, so the objective is still secure. In close combat, the Wyches on his left finally destroyed the Dreadnaught, after being locked in single combat with it for 8 rounds of close combat. The lone Wyche on his right was still deadlocked with that Dreadnaught.
toP turn 5
The two remaining Incubi charge towards the last two Tactical Marines, while the Archon moves at the Librarian. Shooting manages to take several weapons off of each of the Land
toP oF turn 6
I move the Wyches from the freshly killed Dreadnaught to secure the objective, with the Haemonculus giving them a pain token in cover. I run the newly buffed Archon at the Dreadnaught, while
35
BattLE rEPort
the vehicle was taken out to disembark them. If anything, they could have served as a diversion for the Wyches so they wouldnt have been hit so hard in the counter-charge. I think his main mistake was that he countercharged the Wyches instead of going after the Incubi with the Librarian and Powerfists. No matter what though, the fact that I tied up his Dreads with the Wyches meant that any countercharge against the Incubi and Archon would be horrendously costly for him. His placement of the army all together was due to the speed of the enemy. If he had spaced out, then the Dark Eldar could have collapsed onto a flank and wiped out the Marine Force down the line, with the ability to hop back into transports and quickly catch I send the two Archons at the Land Speeder in the center. After their assaults the Dreadnaught was wrecked by the Furious Charging Archon and the speeder was wrecked by the Incubi. the alternate Marine group. He might have been able to make a play for the objective, but unless he deep strikes the speeders or had drop pods, he wouldnt be able to get all the way across without having to fight through the Dark Eldar force.
suMMary
This game serves as a highlight of the Dark Eldars potential to use a balance of shooting, mobility, and close combat to not only kill the enemys models but to completely shut down their game plan, neuter their counter-assault units and force the fight on the Dark Eldar players terms. Only time will tell if the Dark Eldar emerges as a top tier codex but so far it has shown vast improvement over the previous book and compares very favorably to the basic benchmark. The pain tokens really came into play in turning the Incubi and Archon into an extremely tough freight train that barreled through the marines.
EnD oF tHE gaME

Lots of Space Marine wrecks, Dark Eldar sitting on both objectives.
BottoM turn 6
The game is over at this point. He fires some missiles from the Devastators at my Wyches on his objective but all of the shots miss and that was the end of the turn. We rolled Random Game Length to make it official and it did end.
rEsuLts
objEcTIVES coNTrollED
Dark Eldar 2 Space Marines 0 Win for Dark Eldar.
coMMEnts
I think there were some mistakes made on both of our parts. One of my mistakes was in the decision to hold both Warrior squads back on my objective, when I couldve sent at least one forwards to help with close range support fire. Also after my Raider carrying the Hecatrix was stunned, I should not have waited until

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FEB 2011 | IssuE 8

All featured items current as of the release of this publication

Issue 8 | February 2011

Issue 8 | February 2011

Rules Awareness ....................................................................5 Hephs Hobby Tips...................................................................7

From the Warp

Dark Eldar Mandrakes...........................................................9 Dark Eldar Wyches ...............................................................12

How to Paint Biel-Tan ...........................................................15

Converting Plaguebearers................................................. 23 Carrelios Easy 6 Step Shield Drone Conversion! ...........26

As the Great Fool Wishes ................................................... 28

As the scene changes, elements of the crowd peel away to

He: Lord CegorachThe Great FoolThe Laughing

performing Rillietann to their true countenance. The rest of

The scene ends as the holofields turn off, returning the

Assemble the Masque at thy leisure, Ardathair I reply.

Dark Eldar Vs. Space Marines........................................... 29

Issue 8 | February 2011

MORGAN CONSADINE RINEHART

passengers that turn.

Never forget to take them or have them be taken.

Issue 8 | February 2011

HErE Is How a DEFFroLLa raMMIng MovE Is ProPErLy DonE:

Rinse and repeat.

Issue 8 | February 2011

sunKEn FEEt synDroME (sFs)

Issue 8 | February 2011

PowEr arMour cocKtaIL PartIEs

tHInK BEForE you cHucK

Issue 8 | February 2011

part something much, much worse, Mandrakes are

Issue 8 | February 2011

Issue 8 | February 2011

pAINTING AND coNVErSIoN opporTuNITIES

Issue 8 | February 2011

Issue 8 | February 2011

Issue 8 | February 2011

pAINTING AND coNVErSIoN opporTuNITIES

Issue 8 | February 2011

Issue 8 | February 2011

Issue 8 | February 2011

Issue 8 | February 2011

Issue 8 | February 2011

Issue 8 | February 2011

Turn over for some pictures of the final Vyper!

Come help us build a comprehensive hobby Wiki!

Issue 8 | February 2011

Come help us build a comprehensive hobby Wiki!

Issue 8 | February 2011

guePla rers bea

Issue 8 | February 2011

Issue 8 | February 2011

so HErEs a sHoPPIng LIst oF wHat youLL nEED:

Issue 8 | February 2011

teip! yon6cosverson Eas e n

of inaccurate pulse carbines into something useful Shield Drones!!!

For ThIS coNVErSIoN you wIll NEED:

Issue 8 | February 2011

As the Great Fool Wishes

As the scene changes, elements of the crowd peel away to

He: Lord CegorachThe Great FoolThe Laughing

performing Rillietann to their true countenance. The rest of

The scene ends as the holofields turn off, returning the

may one day carry the title of ArdathairGreat Harlequin.