New Mark III project

Id like to introduce you all to my newest scout conversion and colour scheme.
This is for my latest project, details will be in my next, much longer post.
For now i just wanted to show off little Stevie here.

take care chaps

revitalising my scouts

howdy chaps, another long awaited update is finally happening

first off id like to say, if anyone has any questions or queries then please feel free to comment on my posts, i try to answer everytime somone contacts me.
alternatively i can be reached over at the bolterandchainsword, which is where the complete set of my articles can also be found.

so what have the tenth been up to lately? well i attended a doubles tournament in a nearby village in febuary, the real kicker was that is was 750 points and teams were chosen at random on the day, so i had to pick my army well and have a little of everything thrown in.
thats not easy for marines at 750 points, even for the cheaper scouts.
ive included my army picture at the top of this page, sadly im not very tech savvy and cant work out how to add pics in amongst the text.

anyway the list is as follows:
Shrike
ten snipers with telion, ML
LSS with MM
5 ccw scouts with combi-melta, meltabombs
thunderfire cannon
thunderfire cannon

strangely i was paired with an ork horde, which as it turned out was pretty cool, i enjoyed the day thoroughly and my team mate was awesome.
anyway we played 3 games during the day, our first against the mighty legion of taurus (curtousy of firestormuk, or hads_chaos_dude to his close mates), he was teamed with a generic space marine army.
to cut ahead, my army was pretty much the only challenge to Hads' LoT in the best army comp, but sadly i came in second.
Still i never mind losing when youve competition of this calibre
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c274/firestorm40k/Lakenheath%20Tournament%204th%20Feb%202012/P1080385.jpg

anyway as karma likes to even things out, the combined might of the tenth and ork horde completely tore them up, my shrike was the man of the match, taking on a sniper squad with an alpha strike, then beating a squad of plague marines sent to tie him up, he folllowed up this hearty meal with a side dish of 3 berserkers before the great tasting dessert of beating kharn the betrayer in one on one combat.
it turned into a complete whitewash earning us maximum victory points and catapulting us to top spot after game one.

game two saw us face off against a daemon army paired wth imperial guard, it was a bit worrying but we won first turn and my alpha strikes saw me decimate the IG forces, destroying 40 of his 67
models in turn one, the daemons came in bit by bit and were handled by the orks. It was my scout combat squad that won the day holding a bastion from 4 times thier number of imperial guard and a squad of plaguebearer daemons.
again scoring heavy on victory points put us well out of reach on the top spot of the table.

turn 3 we were in a strong position, unless we were completely wiped out for little loss, it was unlikely anyone could catch us.
we were paired against the TO's and thier combined space wolf and grey knight armies, featuring no less than 4 twin autocannon dreads
given the strenght of our opponents and some abysmal luck my whole army was wiped out in turn two, all i managed was to damage two rhinos (earning 35 VPs), my quip about getting wiped out was looking to come true and lose us the tournament.
Still full marks for my opponent, who despite being outnumbered by a superior enemy (and becuase i bore the brunt of shooting for two turns) held in and managed a respectable tally of kills to hold our top spot on victory points.

so even though i was completely outmatched and wiped out in game three, we still won the tournament, i suppose theres a lesson in there somewhere, but id rather just moan about the overpowered-ness of space wolves and grey knights if im honest.

before i call it a day on this post id like to briefly mention my overall progress of my army, since winning the tournament my luck has been really bad, probably the worst its been in years.
sadly the tenth has performed miserably of late, which really prompted my planned change of HQ choices.
i have put together a khan on bike and kitbashed him a mounted command squad, i havent got around to painting them all yet but do have this one test mini:
http://i708.photobucket.com/albums/ww87/greatcrusade08/001-24.jpg

my current plan is to use another special character to add some kick to my melta teams, thats right im going to use Vulkan.
most of you wo know me will probably swear at me, since ive always been opposed to using meta lists and interwebz units and Ics like vulkan, however im confident that in a scout list he will be unique enough to forgive these issues.

im also planning to experiement with different codexes, proxying my scouts to find a good fit, mainly to keep things fresh.

and of course lastly id like to briefly mention that this years ultra-meet at GWHQ is fast approaching, the tenth has its annual grudge match vs the evil necrons, as it stands its 3-0 to the tenth, but in truth i fear what diabolic plans my opponenty has for me this year, since his update he has been rubbing his hands with glee and plans his vengeance.
ill let y'all know how we get on

where has the time gone?

It seems many months has passed and i havent kept up with the blog.
worry not, although im working on another project, the scouts arent going anywhere.

Those of you who read my last blog post have probably wondered how i got on in my last tournament, the truth is not very well.
i ended up mid table with 2 wins and 2 losses, it was a bad days dice rolling where i didnt even win a single first turn roll off, which when you consider the alpha strike potential of the shrike based army was a big kick in the fleshy pouch.
Still to get 2 wins was pretty good, the bottom table loomed after my first two defeats and i only just scraped a win against my tau opponent in game three, my dice were so bad i was losing in assault to firewarriors. The shame!!!!!!
anyway a turn 5 fleet to take and hold as many objectives saw me clinche the game despite only having 8 models left, the fact that everything scores can be an advantage.

Still after every big game or tournament i like to examine my progress and determine if i need to change direction, sadly after all the years of work i think i have taken a wrong turn.
Shrike, despite his awesomeness of giving everyone fleet really paints a scout army into an alpha striking corner, the army becomes very two dimensional, win big or lose big.
and if im honest ive felt that in my games too.

so ive decided to take a step backwards and look at khan again.
eventually ill build a command squad and khan on bike, but for the time being i think ill re-invent an old list and use my horde approach for upcoming tournaments

Khan
Chaplain with combi-flamer
10 ccw scouts, power fist, combi-flamer
10 snipers, telion, ML
10 bolter scouts, power fist, HB
LSS with MM
5 LSS scouts with ccw, combi melta and meltabombs
LSS with MM
5 LSS scouts with ccw, combi-melta and meltabombs
10 scout bikes, power fist, 3 grenade launchers, cluster mines
thunderfire cannon
thunderfire cannon
10 snipers, ML

i am considering replacing the last ten snipers with a quad plasma command squad, they are a half decent way to get some high strength low AP weapons into a scout force and in tournaments thats sorely needed, time and playtesting will tell.

hopefully im attending a 2 day event in january, so wish me luck as i experiment some more with my lists.
who knows with 6th ed looming next summer those land speeder storms may become dedicated transports, my army could become mechanised

All done

Its taken the best part of a year to convert and paint them all, but ive finally finsihed my army.

ASMOH is a mere 6 days away, so im hoping the new paint job will scare away the bad luck trolls.

almost there

ive been pretty busy of late, which goes someway to explaining my lack of activity on this blog, a truer reason would be to state my degree of laziness ;)

I have however been very busy painting in preparation for a tournament at basingstoke in may, its called "a small matter of honour" and its run by the sad muppet guys (i kid you not) I had alot of fun there last year, and hope this year to do better, my full painting progress can be found here:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=214311&st=0

When i first started out with scouts, i fully admit it wasnt becuase i particuarly loved them, in truth it was a challenge. I thought they could be competative, where many others thought i was kidding myself. Obviously since then i have really immersed myself in the tenth and have formed a really in depth appreciation for the little guys. I consider my initial aims to be pretty much complete, i proved they could be competative, however a much bigger challenge is ahead, since the space wolves and blood angel dexes were released ive found difficulties in beating them, its not impossible just alot more difficult than standard space marine forces. Recent experience with the grey knights has further compounded these issues. With servo skulls and shrouding they are proving a tough nut, and seem to have the tools to counter my best punches.

So heres the thing, not one to give up or balk at a challenge, im meeting these new armies head on, i may have to include the odd non-scout unit, but my new goal is to create an army which can combat any other force on the competative circuit, it will mean a few changes in my current list and some definate changes in my combo of tactics, the basics will reamin the same, but i will have to get creative.

Its definately a big ask, he first hurdle for me to conquer is the upcoming tournament. unfortunately i dont have the time to change my list before then, so i will have to rely on sheer luck and sneaky gameplay to get past any GK opponents.

So watch this space, lets see if the noobs can scale the obstacles before them.

Heres my first LSS MK2 scouts, apologies for the poor quality pic.

over the holidays i worked on a few changes to the list including the JP librarian that i mentioned in my last post. I tried him out for a bit and was completely underwhelmed so quickly dropped him again.
what i have done is added another ten man sniper squad and replaced one of my LSS teams with 2 typhoon speeders for extra anti-mech.

its all still theory at the moment, but i hope to have the main block of my army list worked out after this coming weekend, as im off to westbury for a weekend of gaming with the ultramarine guys from the bolterandchainsword site.

heres what im currently running at 1750:

Shrike
10 ccw scouts, fist, combi-melta
10 snipers, Telion, ML
10 snipers, HB
10 bolter scouts, ML, fist
5 ccw scouts, fist, combi-melta
LSS, MM
2 typhoons
thunderfire cannon
thunderfire cannon
10 scout bikes, fist, 3GL

the changes im 'considering' would be to drop the second unit of snipers in favour of another unit type, probably assault scouts.
i can also remove the typhoons and replace them with a melta storm and five scouts as above for exactly the same cost.. so far the typhoons have been a little hit or miss so im not sure if im sticking with them just yet.
If i do change back to the 5 scouts and LSS id probably switch the snipers for another choice, otherwise id be assault scout heavy, so i still have a lot of choices to make, should this list dissapoint.

As of febuary im working hard on getting my MK2 scouts finsihed, ill make sure to post more pics and updates of my work and progress.
if anyone wants to read my recent battle reports you can find them here:
http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=219458

until next time, thanks for reading.

new scenic bases

hi guys.


ive finally finished my unit of bolter scouts and put them on resin bases.
ive started working on my close combat scouts and have totally redesigned my LSS scouts.
Seeing as they are 'special' and my more iconic scout units i wanted them to stand out beyond the normal close combat scouts.
i had originally intended to take shotguns on the storms, but i find after thier initial hit they usually get charged, so ive taken close combat scouts to make sure they are capable of hitting back and causing a wound or two.

anyway i ordered some heads from pig iron productions, i figured the stuanch ultramarines would have some degree of health and safety so the LSS crews are going to have helmets on ;)
ive also given them chainswords over combat blades, really makes the difference.
im not entirely sold on the heads yet, they may be a little small for the larger bodies but nice i get one painted ill be able to see properly.

for a full view of the finished unit use the following link
http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=214311&hl=Mk2+scouts

i havent followed through with my threats of using 20 scout bikers, they just cost way too much, in preparation for the sad muppets tournament in may im going to start trying lists early.
my first list will use a jump pack libby atatched to Shrike, im using him as a epistolary, but if i find hes too expensive for what he brings then ill drop that upgrade and a few other bits and take another 5 scout snipers.. you can never have enough snipers.

im also very pleased with GWs new FAQ stating a model with stealth does grant it to the unit, this saves me 30 points on camo cloaks, im now just waiting to see if they have a stance on whether or not cereberus launchers can be stacked on a single unit.

ill get piccies up of my next units asap, the next big event for me is the ultrameet in january and i want to have most of the work done by then

thanks for tuning in again.