itzy bitzy Spider

I was happy to receive my nightspinner kits yesterday and spend today cleaning up the models and getting ready to magnetize them and get ready for final assembly. So far I've been hoping that they will be allowed at the up and coming GT event but so far I have not received any conformation.

Should they be considered illegal or just not allowed I can always turn them back into fire prisms. This would be disappointing but if it's the case I'll have to deal with it.

I I have more visual updates I will share them with you as soon as I can.

on the construction table at the moment 6 waveserpents and 2 Nightspinners Up next are the DA's and a couple of tries for my basing ideas.

3D model of the GT display board

Hey people took some time to make a 3D model of the display base. Curious to see what you think :

Click for a Larger Version

I had to change some things a little bit to make it all fit better so the fire dragons are going to be on the forward docks together with the loot counters. The Objective is placed in the center between all the Dire Avengers. The farseer and Autarch are on the deck together with their personal body guard and ride. The nightspinners and their counters are on the right raised area. I'm probably going to paint 1 or to interiors of the waveserpents so I can open them and let them look like they are boarding.

GT Display Board Concept II

Since sleeping isn't working out I thought I'd make up a second lets symmetrical and more story telling Display board. This one is an Eldar Space port with the host getting ready to depart to reclaim a maiden world:

Click for larger version

The darker area's are lowered so the grav ranks don't blok the view to the infantry standing behind it. the raised tower would be made with MDF and can be taken apart., for flat packing.

so what do you think?

Edit: Grass version:

Click for Larger version

GT Display Board Concept

Hey everybody not being able to paint or build because my hand still in a cast (broke it, long story) I decided I'd think up a concept for a GT display base about 30 Min of Illustrator madness gave me this graphic for me to show you:

Click for larger Version

So what do you think? the risen area's will house the Nightspinners and their counters. while the main mass of the army in inside a grav tank courtyard. The light curved area is going to be some slate or tile work. The base of the grav tanks will be also be sunk in the board and all bases will match their surroundings. The lootcounters and objective will most likely be some sort of Planetarium display like this but then more eldar style off course:

GT points

With regards to the GT I'm looking at my army and see where I can make adjustments and plan so I can get as much as I can. So let's see where we can score some points pregame:

Painting points (0-30) a big part of the pregame points is painting which is split up in several aspects.

Basing (0-4): Here I hope to get 4 points but it's going to take some effort since it needs to be more than just simple sand and flock so some work to be done here! some nice plasticard cobblestones and other detailing. This also include Flying bases so have to make sure those are based and painted as well

Detailing (0-10): This is the real painting technique point, things like Highlighting blending and such as well as overall clean painting are rated here, with my current plan I should be able to get another 4 to 6 points on this one (10 point is very close to golden daemon level here). The army is going to be painted with highlights and if time permits some glowing eyes as well. Think Saim Hann scheme but replace the red with purple. So Purple bodies with white helmets and Black viziers, green eyes and gems. The grav tanks will most likely have some airbrushing on them.

Army Coherency (0-4): How does your army fit together look wise. Does it seem like a coherent looking army Do characters fit but stand out at the same time? here I should be getting 4 points since I plan to keep everything with the same scheme with subtle differences in model and color for the 2 different aspects. The Theme for the army is Spacey so dark purple infantry with galaxy scenes on the gravtanks. The theme will also come back in the unit markings

Unit markings(0-6): Well first of if you have any system of squad markings you can easily get 4 points. I hope that by using Dire Avenger Flags on each unit as a center point for unit marking and markings on each model to tie the units in together. I plan to mark them on the back tabards of the Dire Avengers which the Fire Dragons will also receive! Furthermore some subtle markings like different patterns on the Dire Avengers Mohawks and the gems should be enough for 6 points.
I'm using the Lunar cycle as unit markings because I think it fits the dark and spacey feel of the army:

Conversions(0-6): I plan to convert my Farseer to hold a Dark Eldar cold one flag as a marking for both him and the army (looks like a larger version of the Dire Avenger Flag). Furthermore I'm converting my Yriel model with a Fusion gun. I'm also giving my Fire Dragons some Dire Avenger tabards. This together with some raised squad markings on my transports using plasticard should get me about 2 to 4 points for conversions.


Non-Painting points (0-20) After painting points there are some more points which include WYSIWYG which is judged harshly and points for army roster.

Army presentation(0-5): This is where your army list comes into play it should at least have all the units and their rules and stats. I'm going to use my superior Photoshop skills to turn it into something special and make sure It's going to have the Wow factor to get max points here.

WYSIWYG(0-15): These are easy points to get, just make sure all the things are shown where needed! This is even includes grenades all though those are usually ignored if everything else is in order. so should be 15 points right there.

all in all a lot of things to take into account to score a good amount of points. I predict I'll be around 30 to 38 points give or take judge's temper. But I'm also planning to make a carrying case which includes a display board which should help me get in the judges favor. Combine this with some nice Nightspinner filament markers and some nice army themed Objective counters (star observatory style or something).

Preparations For my First GT

Well since I've been playing with my Eldar for about a year and a half now and still failing to complete my conversions on my Jetbikes to finally get my act together and start painting I decided it might be time for a different goal. So after I got my first ever 2de placing in a tournament I said to myself maybe it's time I build an army and went to a GT.

But I wanted to take a different army from my normal one since I won't be able to finish my Jetbikes in time. So I sat down and looked at my army book and noticed I couldn't stop looking at the grav tanks. They where the thing I fell in love with and what drew me to the Eldar when I picked up 40K. So I went to see how many I could put into a list and still have my bases covered. I figured with the still very much alive melta craze the energy shield rules of the wave serpents would be a great think to take advantage of. But it needs to be backed up with some long range Fire support. Now before the release of the Nightspinner I would have had no question about what to take for this role. But with the new rules I can see great potential for the Nightspinner in the list I was considering to take.

Being mostly gravtanks one of the main worries is to keep your stuff alive once the step out their ride to take some action, especially the fire dragons need this. So to keep them alive I want to use the Night spinner to cover their retreat and to help them to reach beneficial positions to do their job. Also being barrage when the fire dragons pop a transport and the cargo decides to hide behind the wreckage I can still shoot at them.

So I present you my first take on my GT list for the Dutch GT 2010:

HQ:178

Farseer, Doom, runes of warding, Spear (Psychic Defence& LD10)

Autarch, fusion gun (Reserve & LD10)

Troops:860

7 DA's, waveserpent (scatterlaser,ss) Farseer

7 DA's, waveserpent (scatterlaser,ss) Autarch

8 DA's, waveserpent (scatterlaser,ss)

8 DA's, waveserpent (scatterlaser,ss)

Elite:410

5 FD's, waveserpent (scatterlaser,ss)

5 FD's, waveserpent (scatterlaser,ss)

Heavy: 250

Nightspinner (ss)

Nightspinner (ss)

Totaal 1698 pts.

you al will notice the lack of Bright Lances in favor of the cheaper Scatterlasers. This because I feel that with 2 units of Fire Dragons for the really hard tanks I have enough S 6 shooting and maneuverability to take out the rest. Same thing is for the spirit stones I want to make sure I can keep moving. This keeps the Nightspinners free to keep moving back and away should the enemy come to close.

Also this list will hopefully make my opponent shudder with the fact that there are 8 gravtanks across him with an Autarch to support my usual reserve tactics. The Farseer should help me keep from falling to Psychic powers like living lightning and the likes. While the occasional Doom support would be help full with getting some more chance on rending and general wounding with my S6.

So what do you all think of this list and playstyle?

comments are more than welcome

Nightspinner Tactica

As you have all probably heard by now the new Eldar tank has hit the scene and boy is it a piece of work. A short recap of its stats and rules for the people that don't have the White Dwarf:

Night Spinner

Twin-linked Doomweaver: 12-72" S:6 AP: - Heavy 1, Large Blast, Barrage, Rending

Place a marker next to any unit hit. Any such units count as being in difficult and dangerous terrain the next time they move for any reason. After they have competed their next movement, remove the marker.

Twin-linked Shuriken Catapult, BS:3 , 12/12/10, Fast, Skimmer, Tank

It's priced the same as a Fire Prism it takes the same HS slot but it's not the same and I'm glad it isn't. The most obvious thing is the difference in weaponry since the rest is the same as every other Falcon based chassis.

The main weapon has decent stats and fills a decent anti horde role. Rending giving you some you a decent chance to inflict some casualties on MeQ's en the likes as well. I personally love having a Large Blast twin-linked weapon. Giving you a decent chance to hit your target even when shooting without line of sight when your BS has no influence.

Now most people are quick to say it's a useless unit because it would have to replace the Fire Prism. I like the fire Prism but with the large amounts of cover saves. Now a day's most of its effectiveness is lost. And Night spinners work great on their own with their standard twin-linked and S6 large Blast it's better at taking on some large groups.

All this is great but where it really shines is the special rule it has. Every unit hit by the template is treated like being in difficult and dangerous terrain the next time they move for any reason (this also means failing a panic check, Assaulting, or having to move out of the way after a tank shock). The great advantage of Dangerous terrain tests ignore cover save, armour saves and FnP saves. This is a whole lot better in my humble opinion then any low AP weapon with the cover saves of the current meta game.

Besides the dangerous terrain it's also going to slow your opponent down which is great in the current game of moving towards objectives. Slowing down all infantry models and a chance to immobilize a vehicle. And don't forget barrage means pin checks which is just about the best thing to have in the current meta! A full turn lost doing absolutely nothing is going to drive you opponent crazy.

Now let's see if we can think of some nice tricks, I personally like a trick I like to call

the Bunnies in the Headlight:

This is a great trick against the smart guy that thinks oh well if I can just stand still to avoid the damage I will do so. This is usually the case with gunline armies. The trick to handle this is to get your grav-tanks into effect. 24"tank shocks can hit a lot of units and force panic checks. So if you see he is keeping his units stationary shoot up his units hitting multiple units. Then prepare a tankshock, preferably a weapon less tank or otherwise less then optimal tank, and make a flank move. Then lay it on him tank shock as many units as possible and make sure you can park it on a unit so you force all of them to move as well. The unit that has to move out of the way has to take dangerous terrain checks. all the others need to make panic checks which if failed will cause them to take wounds when they run.

It's just one of many things you can do with this great new unit any tricks or things you have cooked up are off course more than welcome to share them here.