Raptors 3rd and 10th company

[thewarriorhunter]

Very nice looking. I'm a fan of the tempests as well. I'd love to have some but eesh, that price tag.

 

I also love all the bits you cast. If I recall you said you do those in resin?

[MajorNese]

Yeah, all the shoulder pads, helmets and tac bolters are resin. Once you know how to use silicone/resin, you can get a lot of conversion bitz, but it's quite a messy material to work with.

[jpwyrm]

Hmmm... If Codes Deathwatch proves to be disappointing, I know what I'm doing with the two Deathwatch boxes taking dust in my basement!

 

Great job MajorNese. My own Raptors are going to face the Drukhari tonight and put the newest FAQ rules to the test. Hope you get a game in soon, your input is always invaluable.

[MajorNese]

Thank you. It will be a while until I play again, as I'll be out of the country for a few weeks, and currently reboot my AdMech. Guess the next units for the Raptors would be plasma inceptors, but the tech-worshipping part of the Tower of Shame has quite a few biggies to get out first.

 

Well, Drukhari are tough this edition, especially since the codex dropped. Still a glass cannon, but a harder hitting one. A friend brought them to said tournament, and the only reason he didn't take top 3 was getting tabled by IW in the last game (a guy who only played 20:0 that day). Drukhari will lock anything in CC by charging with transports, then take apart one unit after the other by CC or falling back, shooting, charging back in. Best antidote in my case, a counter-charge unit like biker/jetbike captain that will make him lose units he wants to lock with.

[jpwyrm]

Good advices. I'll keep that in mind.

[jpwyrm]

You were right - those damned raiders always charge everything and tied up my units. I was able to shoot once with 70% of my units before they got tied in combat forever. The remaining 30% did not get to play. So much fun...

[MajorNese]

Yep, had a few games with the exact same approach and outcome. Only games I could do something against them, I charged one transport after the other with a thunder hammer or custodes captain, and deleted the transport contents with scoutbikers. Counter-charge is key, because screening doesn't really work on fast <FLY> transports. Ranged dakka with AP-1 is key against the vehicles, as their toughness is low, but invul is almost as good as armour anyway.

[WAR]

Love the sternguard MajorNese

[Race Bannon]

Yep.  Thanks to that, I have purchased a Deathwatch Kill Team with the express intent to totally rip off the idea for my own aesthetic desires.

 

Well done MajorNese :tu:

[MajorNese]

Yep.  Thanks to that, I have purchased a Deathwatch Kill Team with the express intent to totally rip off the idea for my own aesthetic desires.

 

Well done MajorNese

I do what I can, against any wallet in reading range.

 

Do you use the normal bolters, DW ones, or convert other guns? I've toyed with the idea of using bolt rifles, but the sagittarum were just too nice and chunky...

Edited April 25, 2018 by MajorNese

[Race Bannon]

For your army they look great!

 

For my SG, I'm not going to use the DW guns because they are one-handing it, meaning the left arm needs to be doing something.  It's awkward, so I'll be using the SG bolters/arms.

[MajorNese]

For my SG, I'm not going to use the DW guns because they are one-handing it, meaning the left arm needs to be doing something.  It's awkward, so I'll be using the SG bolters/arms.

With the DW bolters, you could always cut off the special ammo thingy and add it to SG bolters. Or mix and match, some one-handed and some two-handed. DW have (targeting?) computers on their arms, that's always nice.

 

In my case, the sagittarum always have the front arm molded onto the gun. Always two-handed, I'd have preferred a bit more variety in what they are doing, like planting mines or using binoculars.

Edited April 25, 2018 by MajorNese

[Race Bannon]

Plans within plans my Brother ;)

[golfdeltafoxtrot]

Ive already looked at bits sellers for those sweet DW torsos, but now I might have to have a closer look at the other parts if the legs and weapons are equally fancy.

 

I feel another SG squad in my future.

[MajorNese]

The bitz are nice for conversions or HQs. Stalker bolter is always great for Raptors, the power weapons fit, the storm shields (for both hands) can get filed down to fit non-DW, the infernus HB can be reduced to HBs, and the arms with the displays can be converted for fancy recon-y sarges or HQs. I'd say a sprue or two (like in the SC box - great value) can really make some characters shine, and fill some gaps. Also, maybe some sarge/char served in the DW, making even more bitz available for them to stand out.

 

The legs are the direct precursor to the primaris MK10 legs. Very similar in design and details, slightly larger than average, and almost all have advancing or running poses. The two kneeling leg pairs I have built into the SG squad are from the dev sprue.

[thewarriorhunter]

I've thought about the DW bits for captains/HQs as opposed to a SG box for leaders. I like the idea of HQ's standing out, but I'm not necessarily a fan of the capes and cloths that come on some of the models.

[MajorNese]

There is one cape in each box of 5, but you don't need to use it. There are 5 blank backs, making the cloak one optional. Also, the blank backs already have knife (vets have 2A, that explains it) and pouches, saves quite a bit of detailing work. The named DW character in the SC box does have a fixed cloak though.

[thewarriorhunter]

welp... looks like I'm adding Death Watch to my saved eBay searches so I can go on an HQ kit bash binge now...

[Race Bannon]

MajorNese, innovator of fashionable wargear.

[Dracos]

MajorNese, any suggedtions on converting Sniper Scout models so they're using Boltguns instead? Big FAQ hit the Scout set up in my initial list ideas big. I've had to switch them to Boltguns sans camo cloaks and pushed the Reivers into the bottom of the Pile o' Shame.

[MajorNese]

MajorNese, any suggedtions on converting Sniper Scout models so they're using Boltguns instead? Big FAQ hit the Scout set up in my initial list ideas big. I've had to switch them to Boltguns sans camo cloaks and pushed the Reivers into the bottom of the Pile o' Shame.

The sniper scout models? Let's see...removing the entire gun won't work, too much molded on. Removing the cable and fitting a sickle magazine instead should be comparably easy. The barrel should be shortened to slightly longer than the thing below the barrel, and the scope can be shortened to a red-dot sight (google: aimpoint T1), or replaced with spare Intercessor sights cut down to that shape. This doesn't achieve the typical bolter design though, which is quite hard to do unless you cut away most of the gun and fit a regular bolter.

 

I'm currently working out of the country, and my work laptop doesn't have photoshop. Crappy MS paint montage, beware...

 

[thewarriorhunter]

Out of curiosity how did the FAQ affect your scouts? Wouldn't they still be able to deploy/snipe like before the FAQ?

 

Also that's a pretty simple/clean idea for boltgun scouts to represent them with camo cloaks... They could have a 'scout' variant of the standard boltgun that is a little smaller so it's easier to lug around whilst they're reconing the area.

Edited April 26, 2018 by thewarriorhunter

[duz_]

Scout deployment shouldn't be impacted by the new FAQ, they're not a reserve or a deep strike.

They're just an alternate way to deploy

[thewarriorhunter]

Maybe Dracos was planning on using them to deny a turn 1 deep strike and now it's not as critical? I was thinking of them in an offensive manner but he may be thinking defensively. Having an extra turn to spread out and position troops might mean less scouts are needed in the backfield to reach out?

[Dracos]

Scout deployment shouldn't be impacted by the new FAQ, they're not a reserve or a deep strike.

They're just an alternate way to deploy

thewarriorhunter is partially correct. I am ... still looking for ways to protect my backfield in Turn Two, but the initial use was to be, and is to push into deployment areas so that I have room to SftS and deny my opponent the ability to deep strike in the mid board, thus giving the gunline more room to do their job.

 

The Big FAQ has forced me to consider where PL points are being distributed, and I've decided to go with a slightly different methodology. Instead of using Reivers (now sitting in a dark corner Pile o' Shame) I'm going to push a unit of Hellblasters into more aggressive position supporting the Aggressors and their Captain (all using SftS) and set up a secondary base using a second unit of Hellblasters and either a Captain or one of the Intercessor units for the Interceptors and Kestrel <Shrike>  coming in Turn Two. Because of this, I decided to go with a third Hellblaster squad to sit with the backfield .... and suddenly points for Sniper Rifles and Camo Cloaks became luxury items.

 

 

Edit: I was thinking of dremeling the sniper rifles out of their hands, but hell with that, that's a bloody finger mess waiting to happen. I like the FN P90 looking quick conversion. I'm going to purchase a couple regular Scout boxes - I need the heavy bolters for my new basic list - so I'm going to try and mix and match as much as possible between the different sets to potentially represent having camo cloaks if I can ever find points for them again. I'm hoping I can get at least 4 (hopefully 5) easy boltgun conversions that way. If I don't like the way it turns on FN P90 it will be ;)

Edited April 26, 2018 by Inquisitor Dracos