Astro Mag Issue 8

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WARHAMMERWARHAMMER 40,000LORD OF THE RINGS

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E d i o

s

L e e

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 unofcial and in no way endorsed by Games WorkshopLimited. Astro Mag is a non prot making fanzine with the aim of promoting Games Workshop games, products and hobby. For more see the disclaimer at the end of this fanzine.

DEr rEDEr,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 l ike 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 mini’s, or even an opinion piece about the hobby. We don’t

have staff to write articles like White Dwarf; the Mag is a community project where anyone can

submit content.

Cheers!

Mr C

[email protected]

EDITING STAFF

IEF EDIT

Morgan “Consadine” RINEHART

STAFF EDIT

Nomad

GApIS & lAyT DESIGNE

LutherMax

NTIbTS

NTENT

Morgan “Consadine” RINEHART

Willem-Jan (Hephesto)

Franklin Carroll

Mattias Ciavarella

Carrelio

Lhykosidae

Dave Skrivan

ATw

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)

heck out more of these

artists’ exceent ork in

their gaeries at

.deviantart.com

mag.astronomican.com

Issue 8 | February 2011

3



As the Great FoolLhykosidae

Bodiesgyratetothesilentsongplayingthroughthesouls

theyhouse.Flickering imagesformonthepsychicwavethat

emanatesfromthem: Deadlyarrays oftheDark Brethrenlance

out ,st rik ingdownhumansandorksalike.Int rueport rayalof

irony,oneof thedancersloomsbehindtheBrethrenasalarge

andimposingdemonicgure,pickingthemoonebyone.

Someof thedancersstopoccasionallyto leerat thecrowdwith

comicalexpressionsplasteredon theirf aces;espec ial lywhen

theydepictmon-keigh.

Asthescenechanges,elementsof thecrowdpeelawayto

l t h ir r ti nt h n c , h il f n t l t hr u h

t h i rt l n f t l n t h ir l u i n f ri n . r k

r t hr n r u n l u lt t h l r r n -k i h f t h

c r r r. c r in ! hu r n r k un r

t h u lt , i n v n t h n c n ti nu t f .

n -k i h t n r u n r r n t in t h f c f t h i n

rk l r, n l t h v n l f n in t f

n th t h i th l r.

c r h l t th lu i cr u n f th c n . l l ,

t h n -k i h t u rn i nt v n r r t u n if t t i n

th c c rru t . J u t f r th n l rin i

c n u , h v r , c hi c ll ru ii n i l h v r

t h nt ir c n . n , t h u i n c n r f r r tu rn t

t h ur c . l n u r t n i i th r n i t l

inhand.Herchin staystuckedtoherchest ,obscurin hr

colorlessf eatures.Butthesmileonherf acecannotbemistkn.

Withslow,deliberatelysensual stepsshemakes herwaytow r

thef rozenMarine.Withbutasword’slengthtogo,shest .

Tehushedcrowdcannothelpsmilingobscenelyasherf c

liftstoexpose thefeaturesof theroupeMaster.

Inanexplosionofcolorsandtomfoolerynearlytoo uick

tot rack,theroupeMasterslaysthedemons,shat ter th

companyof corruptmon-keighanddisarmstheremainin

Marine.Withintheblinkofaneye,shestandsontheshoul r

f th r in , t r in n t h i ith l . l k f

r f u n t u i i t n h i f c i t ru l h t k t h c r

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c n n t h h l l t ur n , r t ur ni n th

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th u ur n t th t fri n n tr u - t

c n r tul t ch t h r n j ll n . n t th

r u t r i n f r ct n ckn l nt. h

n c r r t h t it l f ‘ r t h i r’ — r t H r l u in .

i th t h nc c l t , t h r f t h u

un r t n th r t nt f r n th h r .

u ft h C ri n h i i n u l i n t r .

***

“ lc ur r nc , l n >> th r t

H r l u i n n n un c .

I t ur n f r th u ’ r v l r n n l it l .

I n n n t nc h t h c kn l u r i ri t n

t hi i th t h c ri c i t r u i r . u t th t r ut h i t h t

r nc i nv r lc . v n h c nn t c l t l hi

t h l k f h r r r th t cr l l r t l’ f c h n t h l k

i n t n … n t h i n .

“ H k th I r l .

H : L r C r ch… r t l… L u h in

… u r t r n n n t r n f t h r. i r u l t t f

t h l i th u t h i c k i n l v .

r t H rl u in cr hi r n l r hi

i n u l ic t i n n r v r n c .

“ n Ch i ll l r n t f r t h n H

h i r f t r n t.

“ l th u t th l i ur , r t h ir I r l .

u l n t f r t h nc . I c ti v t r n l

- r t l n r t r n t t hr u h .

“ th r t l i h H i l ck, u tI

lr n .

***

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Fom te Wap

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all things 40k

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nd d is lin bc h asr mg Blg.

EDItorILRules Awareness ....................................................................5

Heph’s Hobby Tips...................................................................7

rEvIEwsDark Eldar Mandrakes ...........................................................9

Dark Eldar Wyches ...............................................................12

PIntIngHow to Paint Biel-Tan ...........................................................15

MoDELLIngConverting Plaguebearers ................................................. 23

Carrelio’s Easy 6 Step Shield Drone Conversion! ...........26

FIctIonAs the Great Fool Wishes ...................................................28

BttLE rEPortDark Eldar Vs. Space Marines ...........................................29



4



E

d i o

i a l

rule ae E s

Most of us roa exerienced a situation in hich

e ere certain a unit as safe, or ere reared to

triumhant ki an imortant enem unit, hen our

oonent cam oened his rueook and ointed

out a rue that destroed that itte art of our game an.

It’s okay to lose because of tactical mistakes, or because your

army list wasn’t of the same tier as your opponent. But it’s

always infuriating to lose because we forgot a rule! (That’s a bit

of an extreme case though.)

A new year’s 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 And They Shall Know No Fear isn’t an auto-regroup.

f You can’t move Flat Out if you embarked

passengers that turn.

f You’re not safe if you get inside a Barrage Ordnance’s

minimum range: unless the contrary is explicitly

stated (for example, the IG Colossus), a Barrage

Ordnance weapon may lower the barrel and re as

Ordnance, ignoring the minimum range (though

the shot loses the Ordnance Barrage benets).

f Morale checks, morale checks, morale checks!

Never forget to take them or have them be taken.

f Wound allocation. Pay attention to it; it’s there for

a reason and it’s damn impor tant. Several times

both my opponent and me forgot about it, it often

results in an important model (squad leader, heavy

MORGAN “CONSADINE” RINEHART



5



weapon...) surviving when he might have died.

f When Tank Shocking a unit, try to position your

vehicle’s 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 Modiers involving multiplication, say from a powerst and

some other boost (ex: Furious Charge). Your st doubles

the model’s 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? It’s not much, but it’s heartwarming to

know they’re about as protected as Chaos Lords.

f The bases of skimmers are always ignored except when

they’re 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 can’t stop over friendly units, fr iendly units are

quite allowed to move under it (if they t of course) after

it has moved. Except in the case of armies having normal

ying stands and exceptionally small troops, this usually

can’t be bent into a way to get an unfair advantage.

f Dedicated transports can only start the game

carrying the unit they are assigned to, afterwards

they may ferry other units across the battleeld.

However, this doesn’t mean the assigned unit has

to be deployed in their dedicated transport.

1Declare you are making a Ram. This is important. Do

not say you are Tank Shocking, these are two different

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.

2Rotate to face your intended path of Ramming. Any

enemy non-vehicle units that might be on the sides are

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 can’t be moved away and stop your rotation.

3Forward! Any enemy unit on the

way is hit as per the normal rules.

4Should you encounter an enemy non-walker

vehicle, it suffers the Deffrolla hits. If it is not

Wrecked or Exploded, resolve the Ramming attack as

normal. Remember wrecks are difcult terrain (and

dangerous, too) so they force a dangerous terrain test

(re-rollable with the Rolla) if you didn’t already makeone. Against walkers, just apply the normal rules.

5Should 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 harm’s way. Sometimes, due to the positions of

the exit points, it may not be possible to have a choice.

6Rinse and

repeat.

heeealai.m/

HErE Is How DEFFroLL rMMIng MovE Is ProPErLy DonE:



6

EDItorIL



Heph’

Hobb y tip1KEEP It cooL,

PLy It cooL.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 effectis 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!

2sunKEn FEEtsynDroME (sFs)

Being a huge fan of intricate basing work I was rst introduced toSFS when I was but a wee lad. I’d 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 they’re walking on top of the ground, rather

than through it. So do your part to make Sunken Feet Syndrome

a thing of the past!

WILLEM-JAN (HEPHESTO)



7

EDItorIL



3PowEr rMourcocKtIL PrtIEs

The guys in power armour, both the good and bad types, are

everywhere and can denitely 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, they’re also great

for mixing paint and applying and sculpting putty. They are also

perfect to for being glued to bolters and backpacks:

4tHInK BEForE you cHucK

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 you’d be surprised whatyou 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 doesn’t 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 ller (don’t ask),

which eventually resulted in the mini diorama below. The wall

ller 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, see-

through rods, they just beg to be used somehow:



8

EDItorIL



r E v I E w Dak E lda

MndraKe s

though their origins are shrouded in mster, there

is one thing a Dark Edar are in agreement aout:

Mandrakes are to e feared a. part Dark Edar,

art something much, much orse, Mandrakes are

creatures of darkness. Darting from shado to shado, the

feed uon the suffering of others, utiizing the harnessed,

ra oer to freeze the unsusecting ith asts of chiing

energ.

With dark, rune-carved skin, wielding wicked, saw-edged

blades and wearing the ayed skin of those who betrayed them,the Mandrakes stalk the battleeld appearing out of nowhere,

channelling their chilling auras to reduce their victims to

shattered heaps of frozen esh 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.

WILLEM-JAN (HEPHESTO)

FIST IMpESSINSThere is no denying that

people got really, really

exciting when the rst

Mandrake preview popped

up on the Games Workshop

site. For those in doubt about

the Asian inuence in the

Dark Eldar design, it became

quite clear when looking at

the excellent design of theseminiatures.

The Dark Eldar Mandrakes boxed set contains 5 multi-part

metal miniatures and is equally expensive as the ve strong

Incubi boxed set. Though the box is certainly not cheap, this is to

be expected given that all miniatures are metal.



9



N lSE INSpETINUpon opening the box I was met by ve metal miniatures, though

sadly there are only three different poses in there. I can’t help

but feel that it wouldn’t have taken GW a lot of extra effort to add

two more poses. Each Mandrake comes in two parts: the body

and their aming left arm. In principle, each arm is modelled to

t one, specic body. So, without investing some extra time andeffort, 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.

N TE TAblETpMandrakes are able to appear out of nowhere and move about

rather fast due to their F leet, Inltrate, 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 benet 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 Balere shooting attack.

Sadly I fear that Mandrakes will have way too much competition

from the other Elites choices available in the Dark Eldar codex.

tblingws.c

tIPTo 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

rst 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 you’re 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 I’d 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 skirt s worn by the Mandrakes.



10

rEvIEw



They require more nesse 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, let’s just face it, they really look fantastic! I am eventempted to use them as count as Ur-Ghuls (tough ghting pets

that can be included in an Archon’s Court).

pAINTING AND NVESIN ppTNITIESLet me be frank here, Mandrakes are a serious challenge. The

runes on their skin are quite small, their dark skin takes time

and painting re isn’t 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 Balere. Personally I like to

paint re in a realistic manner,

meaning that the combustion

source (in this case the

Mandrake’s arm) is the place

where the most energy is released. As a result this spot is the

lightest part of the ame, the further away from the combustionsource the greater the chance of other colours showing up in the

ame.

SMMAyThe Mandrakes boxed set contains enough metal parts to make

ve Mandrakes, in three basic poses. Without some conversion

work you are unfortunately stuck with these distinct poses,

something that does impact my nal evaluation of this product.

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

tIPDealing 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 Balere arms, as well as the ayed skin skirts,

on the other hand, will greatly benet 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 can’t 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 ve, something that is

sadly also true for the new Incubi.

In conclusion, I personally love the Mandrakes but, given their

limited poses and the signicant 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.



11

rEvIEw





N lSE INSpETINThe 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

denitely on the ladies in this kit.

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 won’t t. Though

this will require more work it will enable you to add even more

poses to a large Wyche Cult army.

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

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 rst 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 specialWyche 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.

tIPWant to add more of the same weapon, but don’t have the bits or

extra cash? Then take a hint from the Imperial Guard and eld

those special weapons in weapon teams. Simply give one Wyche

the Impaler and another the Shardnet, the same goes for the

Razorails and the Hydra Gauntlets. Don’t 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 morethan a net and spear, but this isn’t true for the other weapons.

The Razorails are weapons that can be elded 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 nally 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.



13

rEvIEw



N TE TAblETpWyches are superb close combat ghters but they denitely need

an effective delivery device in order to get the most out of them. If

left to walk across the battleeld they won’t 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 aWebway 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 ghting 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.

Razorails, on the other hand, will allow the wielder to re-roll

failed to hit and to wound rolls. And, nally, 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 of ten ensure they make it into close combat to doquite a bit of damage.

pAINTING AND NVESIN ppTNITIESLike 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 they’re all done.

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.

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 hangingoff 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.

SMMAyThe Wyches plastic kit comes with enough bit to make 10 Wyches

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- gladiators!

Furthermore the kit is quite affordable, so those amongst us who

have been dreaming of elding a full Wyche Cult army can nallyhave a go at them. Heck the only aw I can nd with this kit is that

you only get a single set of each of the special Wyche weapons

So the nal verdict is 9 out of ten



14

rEvIEw



p i n

i g

ho

opai BI E L- tn

I've had quite a few questions on how I paint my Eldar, and here

is the response! We’re going to turn this: Into tHIs:



15



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 2Bleached 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 4Skull White dry brush. This dry brush should be done lighter than

the previous one but, once again, we are painting white, so you’re

going to cover a signicant portion of the surface area. Don’t

worry if this layer doesn’t look “white”. It’s 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 350/50 Bleached Bone/White dry brush. This dry brush is lighter

but still covers most of the surface area. You’ll begin to see

shading taking place here as the bleached bone pokes through

on the edges and lower areas.

STEp 5Second Skull White dry brush. This is the nal 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!).



16

PIntIng



grEEnI 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 I’ll 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

For pieces of the model that require the painting of white and

green, the base coat is by necessity white.

STEp 1Codex Grey dry brush. Nice thick and heavy dry brush. Keep it

clean, but cover all but the deepest recesses.

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 3Skull White dry brush. A ver y light dry brush intended only to hit

the raised surfaces.

STEp 4Dark 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 5Second Dark Angels Green wash. Same ratio of water and paint,

this time you’ll begin to see the color smoothing out. It doesn’t

have to be perfect, just relatively solid color.



17

PIntIng



STEp 6Snot Green dry brush. Another nice thick dry brush intended to

cover most of the area.

STEp 7

Goblin Green dry brush. This should be a relatively light coat,

intended to hit the raised sur faces and extreme edges only.

STEp 8Thraka 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.

HIgHLIgHtsThe 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. It’s hard to see below but, if you look closely, you can see

thin lines of Snot Green.

Next up is Goblin Green. You’ll probably want a very ne brush

for this. Take your good old time because, if you look closely,

you’ll see that I made mistakes on this one and it probably took

me ten minutes to do just this one piece.



18

PIntIng



Finally it’s 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 ne brush.

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. You’ll

want to create the outline of the vines. If you’d prefer to pencil

them on rst you can but I do not do this. The vines shouldn’t

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.

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!

Now we begin highlighting. The rst 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.

The nal highlight is still in testing for me! I’ve 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! You’re aiming to highlight the edges and corners.

Just like the nal 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!

Now a quick shot of how the whole thing looks!



19

PIntIng



gEMsThe 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 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 2:A 50/50 mix of Scab Red and Red Gore covers all but the lowest

edge of the gem.

STEp 3:Pure Red Gore, again leaving only a small portion of the previous

layer showing.

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 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

PIntIng

g



STEp 6:Add just a bit of Blazing Orange to the previous mix for the nal

highlight. Finally, this layer should cover only the back most

portion of the gem.

DEtILs

ANpy:The clear canopy is rst 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.

GlDS: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.

SIlVES:There are very few silvers on this mini but the ones that do exist

are Boltgun Metal with a Badab Black wash.

pIlT: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!

Turn over for some pictures of the nal Vyper!

Come help us build a

comprehensive hobby Wiki!

www.arolkay.com/PaintingWiki



21

PIntIng

PIntIng



Come help us build a

comprehensive hobby Wiki!

www.arolkay.com/PaintingWiki



22

PIntIng



M o d e l l

i g cove i g

Pla gue-

beae

E ven efore odex: haos Daemons as reeased I

had aread coected severa Daemon princes for

converting and ainting. when the Daemons got their

on odex I made u m mind on the sot; I oud

coect a haos Daemons arm!

At rst I only got 2 small troops to go with my 5 monstrous

creatures but I quickly realized that I couldn’t 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 haven’t got though

is the Plaguebearers which are the only ones that haven’t been

released in plastic.

MATTIAS CIAVARELLA

From a killing point of view, I don’t 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,

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.

The only problem is that the existing miniatures are metal and

they chip easily, so I decided to make my own Plaguebearers!



23

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. A lthough I think they look great, there were some

things I wanted to change.

The stomachs were the most difcult 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 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, nally, I

drilled a hole just above the nose for their cyclopean eye (made

out of greenstuff).

I didn’t 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 Nurgle-

worn-out feeling.

The Icon was really easy to make. I just looted it from the Chaos

Space Marine sprue (kindly donated from a friend). For the

Noxious Touch upgrade I sculpted a Plague scy the using pieces

from the Bloodcrushers sprue.

Converting Plaguebearers was not very difcult and requires

minimum sculpting experience. On a difculty scale of 1-10

(where a 10 is very difcult) I give this project a 3. It’s difcult

to make the Plagueswords and the intestines are a bit tricky to

sculpt.



24

MoDELLIng

|MoDELLIng



so HErE’s sHoPPIng LIst oFwHt you’LL nEED:1 box of Bloodletters

1 Sheet of 2mm thick plastic card

Green stuff

pTINAl pATS:Chaos Space Marine Nurgle Icon

Zombie intestines

Bloodcrusher swords and icon arm

Now go out and infect somebody!



25

MoDELLIng

I 8 | F b 2011



M o d e l L

i g caelio’

E a y 6 s ep shield Doe coveio!

Don’t kno hat to do ith a those gun drones? you

kno the ones. The ones that come ith EVEyTING

ou u in the Tau arm! we, here is an eas a

to ut them to good use! Turn those useess sarms

of inaccurate use carines into something usefu… Shied

Drones!!!

F TIS NVESIN y wIll NEED:

f 2 gun drones

f A ying base

f A crisis battlesuit kit’s shield generator

f A little greenstuff

f Some superglue

f A le

f A hobby knife



26

I 8 | F b 2011MoDELLIng



STEp 1Begin your conversion by ling down the piece which the guns

would attach to (shield drones don’t have guns, so we won’t 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 you’ve

taken off the 2 nubs the pulse carbines would attach to.

STEp 2Next, atten down the shield generator’s attachment point (it

won’t be attached to a battlesuit, so we don’t need it anymore).

STEp 3Flip over the shield generator and drill a small hole in the center

using your hobby knife. The hole doesn’t have to be very deep or

very wide, just enough that you’ll get a little more surface area

when you attach it to the ying bases stick.

STEp 4Assemble your drone pieces, rst by attaching the ‘head’ to the

piece led 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 don’t quite t together.

STEp 5Attach the two antennae using a little glue.

STEp 6Base your drone and slap on a coat of paint!

When you nish, 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

MoDELLIng



As the Great Fool WishesLhykosidae

Bodies gyrate to the silent song playing through the souls

they house. Flickering images form on the psychic wave that

emanates from them: Deadly arrays of the Dark Brethren lance

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 gure, picking them o one by one.

Some of the dancers stop occasionally to leer at the crowd withcomical expressions plastered on their faces; especially when

they depict mon-keigh.

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

play their part in the dance, while a few on stage leap through

the air to land softly among their applauding friends. Te Dark

Brethren are suddenly assaulted by the larger mon-keigh of the

corpse emperor. Space Marines! Tey shudder and break under

the assault, eeing even as the demon continues to feed. Te

mon-keigh stand proud and arrogant in the face of the eeing

Dark Eldar, only to have a new gaggle of demons begin to feed

on them as they did the Eldar.

Te crowd howls at the ludicrousness of the scene. Slowly,

the mon-keigh turn into even more grotesque manifestations

as they become corrupted. Just before the nal Marine is

consumed, however, a psychically bruising giggle washes over

the entire scene. As one, the audience and performers turn to

the source. A lone gure stands poised with sword and pistol

in hand. Her chin stays tucked to her chest, obscuring her

colorless features. But the smile on her face cannot be mistaken.

With slow, deliberately sensual steps she makes her way towards

the frozen Marine. With but a sword’s length to go, she stops.

Te hushed crowd cannot help smiling obscenely as her face

lifts to expose the features of the roupe Master.

In an explosion of colors and tomfoolery nearly too quick to track, the roupe 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. Te look of

profound stupidity on his face is truly what makes the crowd

go wild.

Te scene ends as the holoelds turn o, returning the

performing Rillietann to their true countenance. Te rest of

the Masque surges on to the stage as friends and troupe-mates

congratulate each other on a job well done. Many bow to the

roupe Master as a sign of respect and acknowledgment. She

may one day carry the title of ‘Ardathair’—Great Harlequin.

With the dance complete, the members of the Masque

understand the portents foreseen by the Shadowseers. Te

Masque of the Crimson Ophidian would be going to war.

* * *

“We welcome your presence, blessed one>> the Great

Harlequin announces.”

I turn away from the Masque’s revelry and nod politely.

In one sentence he both acknowledges my superiority and

sympathizes with the sacrice it required. But the truth is that

my presence is never welcome. Even he cannot completely hide

the look of horror that crosses all mortals’ faces when they look into my eyes and see…nothing.

“HE bade me seek thee” I reply.

He: Lord Cegorach…Te Great Fool…Te Laughing

God…our patron and mentor and father. Dire would be state of

the galaxy without his mocking love.

Te Great Harlequin crosses his arms and lowers his eyes

in supplication and reverence.

“Ten Chaos will learn to fear the Webway anew” He

whispers after a moment.

“Assemble the Masque at thy leisure, Ardathair” I reply.

Tey would not see me before the Dance. I activate my personal

Webway-portal generator and step through.

“As the Great Fool wishes” He giggles back, but I am

already gone.

* * *

PAR 1




B a

t l e

r e p o

DaK eldr v.

space MaieDAVE SKRIVAN

the recent reease of the Dark Edar codex has garnered

a ot of attention in the warhammer 40,000 communit,

oth as eing the atest andagon and from the codex

shoing otentia to e ver otent and cometitive.

whist the jur ma sti e out on the arm’s ong term

viaiit, as the codex has on een out since ear Novemer,

it is shoing much romise.

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

Issue 8 | February 2011BttLErEPort



DrK ELDr

{Q}[180] – Archon – Husk blade, ghostplate

armour, shadoweld, phantasm grenade

launcher, combat drugs, soul trap

[125] –1x Haemonculus w/ liqueer gun, venom

blade, 1x Haemonculus w/ liquer gun

{ElITES}[224] - 7x Incubi – Raider w/ ickereld

[265] – 9x Hecatrix Bloodbrides –2x hydra

gauntlets, 1x shardnet, siren w/ agoniser,

haywire grenades – Raider w/ ickereld

{TpS}[206] – 8x Wyches – hydra gauntlets, haywire grenades,

hekatrix w/ agoniser– raider w/ ickereld

[218] – 9x Wyches – hydra gauntlets, haywire grenades,

hekatrix w/ agoniser – Raider w/ ickereld

[200] – 10x Kabalite Warriors – dark lance,

blaster – raider w/ ickereld

[200] – 10x Kabalite Warriors – dark lance,

blaster – raider w/ ickereld

{EAVy}[115] – Ravager – 3x dark lances, ickereld

[115] – Ravager – 3x disintegrator Cannons, ickereld

totL – 1848

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 opponent’s 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 re 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.

TE lISTS & GENEAl AMy STATEGy



30

BttLE rEPort




sPcE MrInEs

{Q}[100] – Librarian w/ Null Zone, Avenger

{ElITE}[130] – Dreadnaught w/ Multi-melta,

Heavy Flamer, extra armor

[130] – Dreadnaught w/ Multi-melta,

Heavy Flamer, extra armor

{TpS}[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 & powerst - Rhino transport

[245] – Tactical Squad w/ melta gun, missile launcher,

sgt w/ combi-melta & powerst - Rhino transport[250] – Tactical Squad w/ melta gun, plasma cannon,

sgt w/ combi-melta & powerst - Rhino transport

{FAST ATTA}[70] – Land Speeder w/ multi-melta, heavy amer

[70] – Land Speeder w/ multi-melta, heavy amer

[70] – Land Speeder w/ multi-melta, heavy amer

{EAVy SppT}[115] – Vindicator

[115] – Vindicator

[198] – 8x Devastator Marines w/ 4x missile launchers

totL – 1848

The idea of this list is to utilize MSU (Multiple Small Units) to ood

the enemy with inexpensive targets. This Marine army carries a

hefty amount of short to medium range repower, 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 powerst wielding tac squads) to follow up

shooting.

TE MISSINThe 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 barricadesarranged 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 rst before he set his up, because

he knows the Dark Eldar have a tremendous advantage in

mobility. This marine list thrives on keeping the ghting close

ranged and in tight spaces.

TE DEplyMENTSeeing that he had a unit with the potential to outank 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

ght close ranged.



31

BttLE 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 rst

turn without trying to seize the initiative. I rolled for Combat

Drugs and got Adrenalite (All units affected by combat drugs

gain +1 attack).

toP oF turn 1The Dark Eldar race onto the board with their usual speed. The

four Raiders carrying Incubi + Archon, Hecatrix, and Wyches

race at out towards the middle, counting on their cover saves

and night ght 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 ght check, but they

had night vision so it’s worth a shot. The night ghting checks do

not succeed and the turn is ended.

BottoM oF turn 1The 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 difcult

terrain rolls, so they ended up clustered heavily. The rhinos and

Dreadnaughts all use smoke launchers to cover the almost-

certain follow up from the dark elder. The speeders shoot, failing

TE pEGAME plANDark 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 ght on his side, he doesn’t have the speed to defeat

my force and then take my objective.

Space Marines – The army’s strategy remains unchanged. Use

multiple units to coordinate re 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.



32

BttLE 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 ght,

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 ght check.

toP oF turn 2While 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 ank 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 gure 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 r ight, directly in front

of the Wyches. This explosion kills 3 Wyches, 2 Incubi (despite 3+

armor and feel no pain), three of the ve 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

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.

After Close Combat

Beginning of Close Combat

BottoM oF turn 2The 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 re 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 squad’s 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 sts

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.


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toP oF turn 3I 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 weren’t 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.

My shooting opens up. A Ravager takes out a Vindicator. The

Haemonculus kills a single marine with the liqueer gun.

Dark lances from my back line immobilize the speeder on my

opponent’s 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

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 3Things 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 it’s 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 re at the Archon, who laughs at the missile hits

with her 2+ invulnerable save shadow eld. The Librarian uses

the Avenger template power and kills three of the Bloodbrides.

The Bloodbrides fail their morale test and ee.

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

combat with Wyches and the Dreadnaught.

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toP oF turn 4At this point, it’s 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 eld

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 ght with the Tactical Marines. The Wyches and

the Dreadnaught also don’t feel like hurting each other again,

staying stuck in once more.

BottoM oF turn 4Aside from the t wo Tactical Marines tied up with the Haemonculus,

all of the troops have been wiped out. Now it’s just a ght 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 he’d likely be killed before he could even

attack. The Devastators re 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 r ight and Dreadnaught fail to hit each other.

toP turn 5The 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

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 nally

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

into cover, so the objective is still secure. In close combat, the

Wyches on his left nally 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.

We rolled for Random Game Length, and it kept going.

toP oF turn 6I 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


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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.

BottoM turn 6The game is over at this point. He res 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 ofcial and it did end.

rEsuLtsbETIVES NTllEDDark Eldar – 2

Space Marines – 0

Win for Dark E ldar.

coMMEntsI 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 could’ve sent at least one forwards

to help with close range support re. Also after my Raider

carrying the Hecatrix was stunned, I should not have waited until

the vehicle was taken out to disembark them. If anything, they

could have served as a diversion for the Wyches so they wouldn’t

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

Powersts. 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 ank and wiped out the Marine Force down the

line, with the ability to hop back into transports and quickly catch

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 wouldn’t be able to get all the way across

without having to ght through the Dark Eldar force.

suMMryThis game serves as a highlight of the Dark Eldar’s potential

to use a balance of shooting, mobility, and close combat

to not only kill the enemy’s models but to completely shut

down their game plan, neuter their counter-assault units

and force the ght on the Dark Eldar player’s 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 gME Lots of Space Marine wrecks, Dark Eldar sitting on both

objectives.


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Astro Mag Issue 8