Warp Spiders

Just painted up a much needed Fast Attack slot for my Eldar army. A group of 10 that move like Jump Infantry, fire 2 shots each (strength 6, no less) and then can move 2d6" afterwards is awesome. Since the gun range is 12" if you do not warp 2d6" you can get charged in the enemy turn. This after-shooting-warping-phase will do really well to keep you out of harm's way yet be a major thorn in your opponent's side.


On to the Exarch. I chose the Powerblades and Dual Death Spinners configuration. This should be no surprise to fellow collectors as it's the only Exarch configuration they make a model for. In the future, I do want to convert a Spinneret Rifle version (if anyone has pictures/ideas for a conversion to do this, please let me know). So, as Exarch this bad boy comes with Withdraw and Surprise Assault. Withdraw is useful in the instance that you do get caught in melee while you're buzzing around your opponent's flanks. Withdraw allows you to immediately fall back 3d6" from combat (opponent is not allowed to try and catch you, they can only consolidate) at the end of a combat phase. They do not specify YOUR combat phase, which means you can withdraw at the end of the very combat phase your opponent charged you in ... ready to shoot again in your own turn (and possibly charge THEM). Surprise Assault gives your Warp Spider unit the ability to Deep Strike (Because the Warp Spiders are classified as Jump Infrantry, they can always deepstrike without paying for the Surprise Assault. So there you go, I saved you a few points in your list. Thanks Blaise).


I used Citadel's Foundation paints to get the reds to come out so nicely given the black primer layer. Citadel's normal reds (and yellows) tend to be a bit weak, and need to be worked up in layers usually. I love the foundation paints. The normal armour highlights I wanted to be softer than I've been doing with my Eldar models. Instead of the harsh edging I wanted to do a slightly brighter red glazed on to the edges (same technique for the Powerblades). The whites (helmets and Exarch webbing) were done using Space Wolves Gray as a base, then brought up similarly to the reds using a watered down glaze of white to give it a "cool" white.


EDIT: Look what someone sent me:



It's a photoshop cut-together of some different models as a proof of concept for a Spinneret Rifle conversion. I really like the first option, combining the bodies of a Dark Reaper with the Spider Exarch, attaching the distinctive Death Spinner barrel to the end of the gun, then the Power Blades to that as some sort of energy focuser, maybe? I don't know, but it looks longer (for the "rifle" aspect) and still distinctively Warp Spider. Cheers to whoever put this together, I don't know who the original author was.


Edit #2:


Below is a pic sent my way by a very generous anonymous commenter. He decided to keep the Power Blades and instead attach an older style Dark Reaper gun to the dual-spinneret slots, then replace the reaper head with the spinner head. It looks great. Hopefully this will give you guys good ideas on how to easily make your own Spinneret Rifle Exarch.

Scorpion Exarchs

Never satisfied with just one option, I made all three Exarch variants for my Striking Scorpions. The Chainsaber'd Exarch was a small conversion. He has the usual right handed Exarch Saber that comes with him (sword+claw has same sword) and the left hand was the arm from the Biting Blade, but with a normal Scorpion's sword attached (and cleaned up with a little Green Stuff). While reading through the entry, I found that the Chainsabers option comes with "gauntlet-mounted twin-linked Shuriken Pistols." Well damn. I fished some spare bits out of my bitz box for the two pistols, and Green Stuff'd a wrist-connection to look similar to what's on the Dire Avengers sprue for their Exarch. I think he came out looking pretty damn good.


Ok, pro's and con's:


When taking an Exarch with your Scorpion squad, you equip him in a manner to best suit the role you want your Scorpions to achieve. Also, each equipment set is better against different enemies. Low-med toughness and low-no armor? Chainsabers all the way. These guys allow you to reroll failed rolls to hit. Combine that with the twin-linked shuriken pistols and he greatly bolsters the effectiveness of the Scorpions. The Chainsabers set is great for low armor horde armies. Swarms of gaunts (even 'stealers, though you'll take heavy losses as well) mobs of Orks, Imperial Guard, Fire Warriors, other Eldar.


Facing high toughness, med-low armor? Biting Blade. This set sacrifices one attack compared to the others, but you get +1 Strength for each successive hit. Note that you already count as having a S4 due to the Blade itself. 1 hit? S5. Get 2 hits? They both hit at S6. Three hits? S7. Did you get all 4 hits when on the charge? You lucky sunuvabetch, that's 4 hits at S8. But, still no armor penetration, which brings us to our last configuration:


Sword+Claw. This is great against high armor enemies (though really, aim your Banshees at them), but because of the sword he becomes the best choice for versatility. He can do nearly anything, where the other two are a bit specialized. Something to be said for him also ... Gauntlet mounted Shuriken Catapult. He can fire it and still attack in melee with the Claw.

The Eldar, The Ork and The Cabinet

Went down to IKEA this weekend with the intention of getting a display case for my various armies (the dilapidated shelf hanging precariously above my painting desk got too crowded.) and returned victorious! Bask in her white-wood and glass majesty! It took me a good couple hours to assemble the thing, which left me little time to finish one of my painting projects. IKEA really is the grown man's Legos. I stare at a flimsy instruction manual looking for "the long plank with 16 holes down one side" in order to fit those holes with wooden pegs, then attach it to the back of a T-shaped plank also with 16 holes down the side.


Anyways, I've also re-based my Eldar as well as my Orks. The Eldar are on an Autumn-colored grass, scattered rocks and orange leaves. Orks are on a sand and rock mix with various scorch marks and wet-stains to look like oil-spills/pools of dried blood. I wish I had the Dark Angels done too, but the sheets of plasticard I need have been put on backorder.

Gray Matter

I had mentioned the multitude of assembled-yet-unpainted stuff awaiting me ... well here's the Tau and Chaos assembled stuffs. Bask in it's gray and unfinished glory! Also, a closeup of my first Chaos Lord. Bolter-Melta combi-gun, and a Daemon weapon. Yes, I broke the arm off of an old and poorly painted Abaddon model (keep your old models!). I will repaint it in a purplish-yellow (hard to imagine, I know, but you'll see) in an attempt to make it look like none of the god-specific colors. I will be making a few Lords kitted out in various ways for the 4 powers (as well as some additional Sorcerers) ... but all in due time.