BFG – Escalating Engagement – Tau Kor’Or’Vesh vs. Imperial Navy 1200
Had a good scrap of BFG with Tim recently. Escalating Engagement is quite the variable mission…
At the end of turn 1, some Wardens and Firestorms began on the board. Sadly for the Firestorms, I was to roll a lucky 5 and bring in my Custodian Battleship right in their faces. Not even Brace for Impact and a fist full of terrible bomber rolls could save them.
Thanks to lucky rolls, my entire fleet was on by turn 5. The Custodian, slow and unable to turn much, had to hide behind some asteroids for a good part of the game but that didn’t stop it from launching wave after wave of attack craft.
In the climax of the battle, two Imperial Cruisers flew through most of my Escorts to bring both sides of guns to bear. They did some damage, but lost one of their own number which drifted as a hulk.
At the end of the game, the Tau held the field.
Next: Re-based Scouts!
Battlefleet Gothic 1250 Fleet Engagement – Azure Flames vs. Imperial Navy
Another BFG game with Cole happened during a smoke storm from Canada! We managed to brave the horrible air conditions to play a Fleet Engagement!
We both chose a Wedge formation, so a good roll allowed Cole to choose the smaller deployment area:
The fleets met in a brutal scrum during which Thunderhawk Gunships and Boarding Torpedoes turned off many of the Navy’s assets!
Finally, the Navy retreated. Victory for the Azure Flames!
Next: Reaver Titan!
Tyranid Gothic expansion – more escorts!
As you saw earlier, I helped two people at AFK get into Battlefleet Gothic. Talk of a campaign was had, but there were not really enough people to make it work.
I considered at this time to use my Tyranid fleet. However, when breaking down the points, I didn’t really have enough to do a full campaign list.
So I did what I do.
I went overboard.
Six Kraken with torpedoes. These are Warrior bodies, Mawloc fangs on the side, two Gaunt Adrenal Glands for the rear thruster, and flesh hooks for the torpedoes.
Five more Kraken with Massive Claws. I have several of these already, this brings the total to 11. The front is a Hive Guard Spike Rifle, the back is a Devourer, and the armor vanes are Genestealer armor plates cut in half.
A similar build, Kraken with Feeder Tentacles. These are Spore Mines cut off the base with Flesh Hook tips covering up the cut ends. The top is cut off with clippers and stuck onto a Venom Cannon with more Genestealer armor on the sides.
Again, I’ve made these before, but now I have more. Vanguard with Feeder Tentacles. Hive Crone Tentaclid with Fleshborers on the bottom as thrusters.
I made these a while ago, but hadn’t shared the pics. The fighters (left) are venom glands with a flesh hook tip as the rear thruster. The Assault Boat (right) is the top of a Ripper, with the top of a Spinefist in the rear and two venom glands at the front. Both are supported with the stalks of Flesh Hooks leftover from clipping the tips. Remember, NEVER THROW ANYTHING AWAY! You never know when it could come in handy.
Next: Legion Imperialis Astartes Infantry, the fourth box which will give me full formations of the support stands!
Fourstrands 15th anniversary! AFK swap meet!
This past Saturday I celebrated the 15th anniversary of Fourstrandshobby.com! I’m a bit bad at remembering to post about it though. However some really cool stuff happened!
AFK Games in Holt hosted a swap meet, and I’m glad to say I sold a bunch of stuff sitting in my basement gathering dust. I also picked up a Star Wars board game. But the best part was meeting a younger guy and another guy my age who play Battlefleet Gothic! Expect a battle report and possibly a campaign!
Further, Lexington and Andy were there and we caught up on old times! Great memories. I also brought my Bitz Boxes and gave away some bitz to some younger kids who were just getting in to 40k!
Next I have some vacation planned, but I’m adding to my Ork Kommandos and trying to finish the Primaris Captain project!
Finish It Complete! All Painting competitions finished!
It is done! All painting competitions are one hundred percent complete!
This has been a long time coming. So many things to paint. There were a lot of difficulties, like the tiny details on all the Legion minis, the colors on the Necromunda girls, and the sheer volume of the Orks. But I worked hard and budgeted time, and it paid off.
Without further ado, here’s the final project: The Nicassar Dhows!
These Dhows are painted in the same color scheme as the “official” scheme shown back long ago when GW sold these, but elevated with Turbo Dork paints. They don’t photograph well, but let me assure you they are SHIMMERY.
Of course, these Dhows are magnetized to their bases to allow them to do… this!
Adding the Dhows to the Orbital I painted previously lets me field a Caravan if I wish. Basically a much worse version of the Blackstone Fortress, but also cheaper.
With this, the Finish It competition is complete!
Here is the whole Finish It challenge.
Wait a minute… that’s not my normal work table. That looks like…
WHOA! That’s a lot of minis! In fact, it’s ALL OF THE MINIS I PAINTED THIS YEAR!
Oh, yes, this is pretty far away. Zoom and Enhance! (or just take more pics)
Here’s Q1. The Space Marines are: Chapter Master Perseus (painted BEFORE the competitions but during January), Captain Valerien, a unit of six Intercessors, and a Redemptor Dreadnought. Above them, a Warboss in Mega Armour, five Meganobs, Ten Ork Boys, and a unit of Squighogs plus a Trukk that should have been in Q3 but looks better here.
Q2 starts in the middle with the Necrimunda Escher gangers and friends, then above with the Orks, a Beastboss, ten Beast snaggas, eight Lootas with two Spannas, a Deffkilla Wartrike, three Warbikers, and a Trukk. Below, from Q2 orks, a Shokkjump Dragsta, 10 Nobs, a Big Mek with a Shokk Attack gun, 20 Gretchin with two Runtherds, and a Trukk.
This is Q3 with the first 1/2 year competition. Above, 10 Flash Gitz, two units of 5 Stormboys, and 10 Kommandos. In the middle, the All the Same competition Minotaur, the Color Competition Lieutenant from the Star Cyclones, and the Carthaginian Elephants. Below that, the 1/2 year competition Legiones Astartes Sons of Horus, consisting of two sprues each of: Infantry, Support, Fast Attack, Rhinos, and Kratos tanks.
Finally, here’s Q4 and the 2nd 1/2 year competition. The orks were seen better above. The Finish It competition is eight Tau Wardens, two Tau Messengers, eight Tau Transports, a general purpose Orbital, an Air Caste city, an Orbital with four Gravitic Hooks which can be combined with four Nicassar Dhows to make a Nicassar Caravan, and of course the Dhows and their magnetic bases. Below that, the 2nd 1/2 year Solar Auxilia, which consists of two sprues each of: Infantry, Support, Dracosans, Leman Russ, and Leman Russ Exterminators.
There you have it! That’s a year of painting! Slightly more if you count Perseus. Am I done?
HAHAHAHAHAHA NOPE!
There’s a super secret project I’m working on! (don’t get hyped, it’s small, but it is secret!) Additionally, I am planning out next year; this won’t be at AFK, as my pile of gray doesn’t line up with the competitions anymore.
Speaking of AFK, here are the minis due by the end of the year in the cases, ready for judging:
You’ll notice that the Orks are so numerous they don’t fit on one shelf!
Next, the Super Secret Project, and a timeline for 2026, in which we will celebrate the 15th anniversary of Fourstrandshobby.com!
Finish It – Tau Orbital City and Defences
Long ago I won an ebay auction for some leftover bits from a Tau Orbital box. From them, I cobbled together two stations; one to be a Nicassar Caravan, magnetized to hold four Nicassar Dhows, and another with the leftover bits.
Additionally, I managed to snag a Forge World Tau Kor Caste Orbital City. All three of these were one “project” for the Tau fleet “finish it” competition.
The Orbital City is important enough to have a real T’au name like a capitol ship. Kor’shutto Y’eldi’retha directly translates to “Air Caste Orbital City Winged Ones University/Temple,” but more accurately tranlsates to “Air Caste Elite Pilot Academy.”
Basically,
…but for Tau.
The Orbitals were cobbled together from pewter bits and pieces of Tau Drones, as well as Tau Battlesuit Drone Controllers.
Next: I finish the 6 month 1/2 Army challenge with eight Leman Russ Battle Tanks for my Legion Imperialis Solar Auxilia! After that, four Nicassar Dhows to finish the “finish it” challenge and twenty Grots with two Runtherds and I am done with all of my painting challenges!
Double Update: Year Long – Ork Nobs and Finish It – Tau Transports
It’s been a bit busy, so I’ve had this project done for a bit. 10 Ork Nobs with Power Klaws and two Ammo Runts:
Those have been done for a week. These, however, have just been finished. The Finish It challenge continues with my Tau Transports:
Sadly, of the ten transports I originally primed, two were so laden with bubbles from the resin casting process that I abandoned them. Because I acquired these secondhand through eBay, I have no recourse. Oh well.
Next: an Ork Trukk to get it off my countertop, and then some Tau Orbitals and an Air Caste City!
Finish It Addendum – Tau Orbital
Long ago I ordered a bunch of Tau Battlefleet Gothic stuff including a partially used Tau Orbital box set. For those who don’t know, each box has two tops, two centers, and a variety of arms of which each center can hold four.
I used the center and one of the tops to make my Nicassar Rig. However I had a bunch of leftover bitz for a long time. For the Finish It challenge, I flexed my dormant conversion skills and took a Tau Drone piece and a Space Marine Melta Bomb to finally use up these leftover parts to make this:
She’s an ugly baby and she’s not optimized for the best play, but it can put out a lance and a squadron of attack craft while also having two shields, a Tracking System, and another HP to make it moderately durable.
This will be painted at the same time as the other Tau defences such as the Orbital City and the Nicassar Rig. Next: the Ork Nobs that are currently in progress and then Tau transports!
Q4 Finish It! – Tau Wardens and Messenger Escorts
For the Q4 challenge, the purpose is to finish an unfinished project. Long (LONG LONG LONG) time fans may remember when I first began painting my Tau Kor’or’vesh fleet. It all began with a forum post made by an unknown user named Tyberius:
As you can see above, this wonderful person made this (and many other) sheets for Battlefleet Gothic Ordnance. There is another version with blue instead of red but I liked this one better.
This led me to my color scheme for the Tau: Maroon/red, gray, and bone.
Sadly, my ambition got the better of me. My scheme was incredibly complicated, requiring black pin washes and edge highlighting over the entire model. Plus, I got it in my head to label each ship with a unique name in both T’au AND Engilsh! Hand lettered! The detail was exhausting. I gave up after completing the capitol ships and the Castellans. The Wardens, Messengers, and all other support models fell by the wayside.
Until now. Behold! The first installment of the Q4 Finish It challenge!
This concludes the portion of the fleet with this color scheme. The transports and orbitals will be painted the standard Tau Ochre with a brown pin wash and a simple highlight. Additionally, there will be four Nicassar Dhows, whose paint scheme I have not decided on yet. I am considering the fine line of paints from Turbo Dork, whose glittery sheen is stunning!
Next: Orktober begins with Ork Nobs! Following that, I’ll pick up on the Tau with ten Emissary class transports!
Tyranid BFG Fleet: A Beginning
Recently at the finale to the Highland Gaming Club I walked away with a paper ream box of Tyranid bits. Sadly, these did not include a lot for things worthy of making a ship. However, subsequent bitz orders to fill in the gaps and some creative kitbashing have yielded a very promising beginning:
First, a cruiser with two sets of Massive Claws! This is both threatening and dirt cheap. If it can survive to close (a risky proposition) it can make four attacks and if any two hit, it’s lunch time!
Here’s the same ship from the back.
Another cruiser, this one doubling down on Bio Plasma Spines. Short range, but terrifying to high armor foes.
This cruiser is all about the Pyro-acid, making it a nightmare for Eldar. It has some torpedoes to add a bit of ordnance to the fleet.
Here is the same cruiser from below.
The final cruiser also doubles down on Pyro Acid, but trades torpedoes for one set of Massive Claws, making it more of an all-rounder.
Here are some repurposed Gaunt bodies sporting pyro acid batteries to become Hive Drones. I tried to vary them a bit, as most other races have varied escorts.
My first creations, these kitbashed ships are a bit big for escorts, but make excellent Krakens with either Pyro Acid or Massive Claws.
One in ten Hive Drones can be upgraded to a Fire Ship. Insanely devastating, I could not help but make a few. Granted, I’ll need to field 27 Drones to field all three of these bad boys, but even one can be an unpleasant surprise to anyone who strays too close…
Finally, (at least for now) some Vanguard with Feeder Tentacles to put the smack down on heavier or faster foes.
Next, Primaris and more Nid BFG goodness!