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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The Tyranid Archive - 3rd Generation (2001)

In honour of 40k's 25th Birthday this year, I'm working at an ongoing series called "The Tyranid Archive," which is meant to be a historical look back on where Tyranids came from and how far they've come. Here's our next installment.

3rd Generation (2001)
(Also known as the Birth of Mutable Genus or What Is The Least Number Of Genuses I Can Get Into An Army, We Can Get Them For You Cheap, and Screw This Grinfex: Where's My Plastic Carnifex?)

The third edition codex brought with it a whole world of Tyranid evolutions that we still enjoy to this day. It created Scything Talons and Rending Claws where before there were just Random Slashy Things. The strength of ranged weaponry went from being absolute as defined by gun to being variable as defined by the bearer's strength (Venom Cannons, for example, fired at the strength of the creature carrying them +2, and a devourer on a carnifex was Str 8!). We were introduced to the importance of Synapse and the requisite consequences of Instinctive Behaviour. It was the birth of the Tyranid Monstrous Creature, with its ability to ignore armour and roll 2D6 penetration, and it was the first time Tyrants ever got wings. Genestealers, with their armour-munching rending claws, became the bane of many folks' existence. However, you were lucky if your genestealers ever made it to combat because the newly-introduced, Tyranid-specific "shoot the big ones" (no joke; that was actually the name of it) rule meant that our opponents could ignore standard rules for target priority/screening and fire on any Tyranid unit they liked.

The codex was set up in a similar fashion to others of the era, with a complete list of Tyranid creatures at front of the book, allowing a few options per squad, and you could build a full army from that list.

But then there was this mad, secondary list at the back of the book that fell under the heading of "Mutable Genus List," and it detailed the various "Mutable Genus" species of Tyranid (Gaunts, Warriors, Rippers, Carnifexes, and Tyrants).

Monday, February 27, 2012

Celebrating WH40K 25 in Ajax



This past Saturday February 25th was Warhammer 40,000's 25th Birthday. To mark the event, Games Workshop released a very expensive anniversary model and some miscellaneous swag. They also host 40k-themed events in all of their hobby centres. As I haven't spent a meaningful amount of time in a Games Workshop store in years, and I generally focus more on converting, kitbashing, and sculpting than on painting and playing, I had written off these 25th anniversary events pretty much right out of the gate.

However, I'm blessed with a friend who is still into the gaming side of things (even if only sporadically), and an other half who is bafflingly interested in anything I sink my time into, regardless of how dorky it may be. So, between the two of them, they convinced me to take a chance on the 25th Anniversary events at a Games Workshop out in Ajax, Ontario, and I was left trying to figure out if I had a legal, painted, 1000pt list of Tyranids at midnight the night before to enter into the Apocalypse battle the next day!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

The Tyranid Archive - Armorcast Tyranids and Other Big Dreams

In honour of 40k's 25th Birthday this year, I'm working at an ongoing series called "The Tyranid Archive," which is meant to be a historical look back on where Tyranids came from and how far they've come. Here's our next, rather large installment. Note: this post has been edited thanks to some feedback from Tim DuPertuis himself. Thanks Tim!


Back in Second Edition 40K days, a couple of companies started dreaming big dreams out in the western United States. They took the designs of the miniaturized super heavy tanks and titans of Epic and made the creative leap of introducing these massive weapons to games of Warhammer 40K...at a scale that was more or less accurate. Their creations dwarfed the models that 28mm wargammers had become accustomed to, and the company that seemed to be selling the majority of these huge engines of destruction was called Armorcast.

Armorcast started in June of 1995 as the brainchild of Tim DuPertuis and Dave Garton.

Friday, February 24, 2012

The Tyranid Archive - Epic 40k

In honour of 40k's 25th Birthday this year, I'm working at an ongoing series called "The Tyranid Archive," which is meant to be a historical look back on where Tyranids came from and how far they've come. As I wasn't sure I'd have time for a Flesh Friday this week, here's a little Tyranid Archive side trip. Apparently there was a goodly amount going on back in second edition, and a complete Tyranid Archive would not be the same without the inclusion of...

Epic 40,000
(Also known as Titan Legions, Warhammer Micro Machines, and Sorry My Cat Ate Half Your Army)


I can't tell you very much about the Epic game system, unfortunately, since I never had any interest in/experience with it. However, Games Workshop did a pretty good job of shrinking down all of the second edition Tyranids into epic models, while also expanding the overall Tyranid line to include some massive bugs that we'd never seen before. Though the designs for the bigger bugs were a bit wacky, and, in some instances, a bit too sluggish for my tastes, they created a space in the imaginations of Tyranid players that has persisted to this day, encouraging people to take on conversions to represent things like DominatrixesExocrines, and Dactylis.

So, without further ado, here are the Tyranids of Epic 40k. Special thanks to Warpshadow member Markconz for providing us with photos of his swarm.

First off, the devils we know:

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Tyranid Archive - 2nd Generation (1995)

In honour of 40k's 25th Birthday this year, I'm working at an ongoing series called "The Tyranid Archive," which is meant to be a historical look back on where Tyranids came from and how far they've come. Here's our next installment.


2nd Generation (1995)
(Also known as Warhammer 40k, The Codex Era, and You Can Have As Many Of That As You Like)


The second generation of Tyranids was ushered in by the army's first codex. What a lovely tome that was, allowing everything from Warriors through to Lictors, Zoanthropes, Carnifexes, and Hive Tyrants access to Tyranid-specific Wargear called "biomorphs." As this was second edition, these biomorphs were not your simple +1 Str improvements, they were mad abilities like feedback-causing forcefields and ranged bioplasma attacks that you could mix and match on some of the larger creatures. They were as far beyond our current biomorphs as a conversion beamer is beyond a bolt pistol. 

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Behold! Monstrous New Nid Plastics!

Likely, everyone is spamming these across the blogosphere right now, but, in case you haven't seen them, and for the sake of posterity: the photos for the new Tyranid plastics leaked today.

First up, the big bugs we've all been waiting for (updated with better photos, compliments of a Spanish Forum):
Tyrannofex




 
 Tervigon

It's a bit irresponsible to comment on the models from these crappy, WD scans, but where is the fun in being responsible.

Friday, February 17, 2012

How Grotesque!

As a follow-up to last week's Flesh Friday, here is the progress I've made on the Grotesques. I feel that the progress on the Wracks has been more transformative, overall, while any progress on the Grotesques has been small and fiddly. That being said, I gave then a similar photographic treatment to the one I've given the Wracks, so at least this will give you a better look at them:



First up, the squad leader is got a case of the Banes:

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Tyranid Archive - 1st Generation

With a little helpful suggestion from a Warpshadow member, I came up with the idea of cataloguing the genesis of the Tyranid model range since its introduction way back in the fuzzy mists of Games Workshop history. It's something I've always been kind of obsessed with: keeping track of older models and making sure that newer modellers knew where their beloved bugs originated. What's more, this is the year 40K turns 25, so what better time to look back on our beginnings?

Thus, this will be the beginning of The Tyranid Archive, a historical look back on where Tyranids came from and how far they've come.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Kroot Tyranid Hunter

Today is a very special day: Brother Pink's Birthday! To celebrate the occasion of his birth, I decided to whip him up a little something that I'd been rolling around in my head for a while.
A Kroot Tyranid Hunter.

Friday, February 10, 2012

WRACKing my brain for more puns

This has all lain dormant for far too long, and I'm not sure I can really blame the trip back across the Atlantic and Christmas/New Years for it anymore.

Fortunately, though I haven't updated the bloggerino in quite some time, I have not been idle. So, with this return to Flesh Friday also comes an update on my progress with the Wracks!


And what an update it is as four of the little nasties are now nearing completion. Huzzah!


These two kids you've seen before, though they've come a little further: