ISSUE 41

8th November 2014

Editor: Jes Bickham
jes@whitedwarf.co.uk

Publisher: Paul Lyons
paul@whitedwarf.co.uk

Hurtling towards earth, containing a payload of horrific alien killing machines, comes the Tyrannocyte. Nothing less than a malevolent living delivery system for hordes of Tyranid invaders, it’s a huge and imposing new plastic kit for fans of the Hive Mind everywhere.

But that’s not all: the Tyrannocyte kit also makes the Sporocyst, a fleshy bastion that spawns Spore Mines and a grotesque new Tyranid bioform, the Mucolid Spore. You’ll find full rules for all these new nasties later in the issue; can the indigenous races of the galaxy hold firm against their vile predations? That’s up to you, dear readers. Why not write in to team@whitedwarf.co.uk and let us know about the games you’ve played recently: send us some high-quality pics, too, and we may even feature your reports in the magazine. Enjoy the issue and remember – watch the skies!

During the opening stages of a Tyranid assault, tens of thousands of Tyrannocyte pods will be launched from their hive ships. Thundering through the atmosphere, they deliver the Tyranid invasion force planet-side before satisfying their own voracious appetite.

The Tyrannocyte is a living creature, a void-born entity designed to survive the trauma of entering a planet’s atmosphere. Nestled within a Tyranid hive ship, the Tyrannocyte clings to its parent craft with five hooked claws, the chimneys between them acting as umbilical cords. When the invasion begins, Tyranids both large and small are directed into the Tyrannocyte’s maw and secured within its fleshy interior.

Upon being launched, the Tyrannocyte ploughs through the planet’s atmosphere, its heavy chitinous plates protecting it and its precious cargo from the heat of atmospheric entry. Nearing the ground, its armoured shell cracks and fans out to act as an air brake. Indeed, the kit reflects this, enabling you to build the Tyrannocyte with the armour plates raised prior to landing or lowered following deployment.

The most disturbing part of the Tyrannocyte is undoubtedly its fleshy underbelly. Having landed planet-side, whip-like arms emerge from its distended body, which quickly inflates with gas, lifting it off the ground. As it floats up, the barbed tentacles hanging beneath unfurl, lowering the Tyrannocyte’s deadly cargo to the ground. The clever design of the kit – raised up on these tentacles – reinforces the image of a vast, floating alien entity.

But the Tyrannocyte isn’t just an alien transport. Having disgorged its cargo, it drifts ominously across the battlefield, its crown of bio-weapons shooting anything in range. Should an enemy come into contact with the Tyrannocyte, they’ll find themselves in a life or death battle with its flailing limbs, the unlucky ones snatched up and deposited in its ravening maw.

Above, From above, the true horror of the Tyrannocyte can be seen. Its ravenous maw is both the iris through which Tyranid organisms enter its fleshy confines and an actual mouth into which enemy troops are dropped (and subsequently digested). The mouth’s muscular rim is surrounded by a crown of vestigial claws and chimneys, the method by which the Tyrannocyte clamps on to its host ship. Emerging from the muscles beneath the claws are a ring of five bio-weapons. Options for deathspitters, barbed stranglers and venom cannons are all included in the kit.

Unleashed upon a target world from orbiting Tyranid bio-ships, Sporocysts act as living artillery emplacements. Upon impact with the planet’s surface they burrow into the ground, where they unleash Spore Mines, small arms fire and the dreaded Mucolid Spore.

The Sporocyst is a crucial part of Tyranid efforts to process the biomass of conquered worlds. No sooner does it smash into the surface than it burrows, tick-like, into the ground. Once nestled in place, it begins to pump out vile, corrosive toxins from the flues jutting from its upper collar. In the centre of these fleshy vents is a spore node, a triple-barrelled weapon that can spit out a steady stream of Spore Mines and even a Mucolid Spore. Both of these are dangerous, sentient weapons which drift silently towards their targets before exploding in a shower of chitin and bio-acid. While veteran Tyranid collectors will recognise the Spore Mines (and there are six in the kit), the Mucolid is a new addition to the Tyranid range. Far bigger than a Spore Mine, the Mucolid has a pair of unspeakably foul mouths set into its bulging, gas-filled upper sac and a clutch of questing tentacles hanging below it.

The secondary purpose of the Sporocyst is to act as a resonator for the power of the Hive Mind. To this end it is protected by a quintet of chitinous shell-pieces that serve both to slow its descent and to shield it from enemy attacks. Although static, the Sporocyst is far from defenceless, with a ring of five powerful guns around its mantle (deathspitters, venom cannons and barbed stranglers all come in the kit) to ward off, or kill, any who stray too close.

Above left, Atop the Sporocyst’s bulbous mass there is a ring of chimneys that unleash a cloud of polluting organisms into the air. Within this circle of chimneys is a stubby cannon, capable of vomiting out flaccid, mucous-coated spore forms that quickly inflate to become Spore Mines or a Mucolid Spore.

Above right, The kit also includes six plastic Spore Mines, all subtly different to those in the Tyranid Harpy kit.

Above, When you build the Sporocyst, the kit includes extra parts to make a Mucolid Spore, a highly explosive Spore Mine that can even intercept enemy flyers.

The Hive Mind is renowned for its capacity to learn from any situation, adapting its tactics and the creatures it employs in a relentless quest to consume the galaxy’s biomass. The latest Tyranid monstrosities, the Sporocyst and Tyrannocyte, had us contemplating the Hive Mind’s terrible, unfathomable alien intelligence…

The first thing that struck us was how inventive the design of the Tyrannocyte and Sporocyst are, providing a relatively safe means of getting Tyranid creatures onto the planet’s surface in the early stages of an invasion – and then providing additional support for the attack in the aftermath. While Tyrannocytes drift about ravaging anything close enough with lashing tentacles or bio-weapons, the Sporocysts dig in to provide long-range firepower. From a modelling perspective they are just as innovative: build the Sporocyst, and the writhing tentacles that keep the Tyrannocyte aloft can be used to make a Mucolid. The genius of the kit is how these spares integrate with the Mucolid to create a very different creature.

The Tyrannocyte also has room for subtle variation. The armoured carapace can either be extended, acting as an air brake to prevent a catastrophic ground impact, or tucked in to act as additional protection. Another function of the armoured carapace is to tie the model in visually with the rest of the Tyranid range. If you inspect them closely, you’ll see how each of the shell pieces has five segments, which is a common design across the heads of all Tyranid creatures (in fact, only the living bombs known as Spore Mines and Mucolids don’t sport this feature). This provides subtle continuity between models in the Tyranid army, so when the Tyrannocyte floats above the rest of your army it looks ‘right’ (and very scary).

Want the rules for the Tyrannocyte, Sporocyst and Mucolid Spore? What’s it worth? Okay, okay – continue reading…

Expand your Dark Vengeance experience with these Dark Angels reinforcements: a Ravenwing Command Squad, a squad of Deathwing Knights and a Ravenwing Dark Talon to support Company Master Balthasar in his battles against the Crimson Slaughter.

Dark Angels is an expansion for the Dark Vengeance boxed set, providing a springboard to a fully-fledged Dark Angels army. Within the box you’ll find some of the most skilled fighters in the Dark Angels Chapter, complete with their rules, the ideal reinforcements for the embattled men under Balthasar’s command.

The Dark Angels set is also full of options, with alternative builds for each unit: the Ravenwing Command Squad can also be made as Ravenwing Black Knights, the Deathwing Knights can be built as a Deathwing Squad or Command Squad and the Dark Talon can be made as a Nephilim Jetfighter if you wish.

As the blood feud between the Dark Angels and the Crimson Slaughter rages on, the Chaos Space Marines receive reinforcements of their own, with more Chaos Cultists, a squad of Raptors, Chaos Terminators and even a mighty Chaos Land Raider joining the fray.

Loaded with murderous warriors, the Crimson Slaughter expansion box adds four new units to the warband of Kranon the Relentless, a mixture of lowly vassals of the Dark Gods and some of the mightiest servants of Chaos. Headed up by a Chaos Land Raider, easily the most heavily-armoured and armed vehicle in the Chaos Space Marine arsenal, and backed up by a retinue of Chaos Terminators, this is a mighty addition to any Chaos army. It also has five Chaos Raptors, which can be assembled as psychotic Warp Talons if you prefer, and a mob of five Chaos Cultists, all with their rules included in the box.

The scions of Nurgle assail the Old World in a tidal wave of filth and violence, seeking to drown the Empire in Chaos. The Pestilent Swarm is but one spearhead of that vile invasion, led on their dread mission by one of the famed and feared Maggoth Lords.

The Pestilent Swarm enables you to create an army like those seen during the Glottkin’s invasion of the Old World, a mouldering throng led by one of the mighty Maggoth Lords of Icehorn Peak. This champion of Nurgle can be built as either Orghotts Daemonspew, Bloab Rotspawned or Morbidex Twiceborn. As well as the Maggoth Lord, you also get a sizeable amount of troops to follow them into battle, including five Putrid Blightkings, 10 Plaguebearers of Nurgle, three Nurgling Swarms and three Plague Drones – a stunning collection of models which could form the backbone of any Legions of Chaos army.

By Andy Smillie
Hardback | 192 pages

Gabriel Seth, Master of the Flesh Tearers, stands trial for the atrocities of his battle brothers.

Andy Smillie is perhaps best known for his Flesh Tearers short stories and audio dramas. Trial By Blood collects them in one place, along with a bridging narrative, as Gabriel Seth stands trial for the heinous actions committed by his Chapter. This is a beautifully-produced book, a crimson and black hardback featuring the excellent cover art of Gabriel Seth, illustrated by Marek Okon.

There is a lot to love about Trial by Blood, and the high point is how the Flesh Tearers Chapter Master faces his judges, the other Chapter Masters of the Blood Angels lineage. Their accusations are grave and the conclusion is superb – a fantastic way to weave together a chain of thrilling short stories.

EASY LISTENING

Andy Smillie is also a veritable master of the medium of audio dramas; many times the brutal sounds of his stories have graced the White Dwarf hobby room. To find all his available titles, as well as a host of other fantastic audio books and dramas, get online:
www.blacklibrary.com

By Andy Smillie
Hardback | 160 pages

The Flesh Tearers must fight to survive their own nature in the wake of Guilliman’s edict.

If Trial by Blood wasn’t enough Flesh Tearers action for one week, Sons of Wrath is a new novella by Andy Smillie that examines the fate of the Flesh Tearers in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy.

Roboute Guilliman’s edict to break up the legions left the Blood Angels scattered and scarred, grieving the brutal loss of their Primarch at the hands of Horus, and coming to terms with the horror of their curses. For Nassir Amit, Chapter Master of the newly-formed Flesh Tearers, it is a bitter time. But he has no time to mourn, nor regroup, for dark powers work against him and his men. This is epic, poignant and goes right to the heart of these blood-soaked heroes, their motivation and the source of their resolve.

FIRST EDITION

Sons of Wrath is a First Edition release, that comes in a magnetically-sealed premium presentation box, along with a second volume; the 48 page chap book Born of Wrath. This 10,000 word story is exclusively available in the First Edition printing, so if you want to lay your hands on it, do not delay. Get onto www.blacklibrary.com to learn more.

Forge World make highly-detailed resin models, upgrade packs, large-scale kits and books for Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000 and the Horus Heresy. Here we spotlight a couple of recent additions to their range, Archmagos Draykavac and the Triaros Armoured Conveyer.

ARCHMAGOS DRAYKAVAC

The Magos Primes are the masters of the Taghmata Omnissiah, and high adepts of the Machine Cult. Archmagos Draykavac is one such individual, a corrupt and cruel leader who readily sides with Horus during the opening stages of the Heresy.

This new model enables you to build Draykavac to lead a force of traitors, and also contains an alternate head enabling you to use the model as an Archmagos, either of which come mounted in an Abeyant, an armoured conveyance that serves both as a badge of office, and also as a functional device. From the armoured pulpit of this baroque device the Magos can oversee the efforts of his warriors, ensuring victory for the Machine Cult.

Above left, The armoured pulpit on the Abeyant contains a wealth of controls, augurs and displays, enabling the pilot not only to steer himself into war, but to coordinate the efforts of his minions.

Abouve right, Archmagos Draykavac attaches to a detailed base plate which sits inside the Abeyant. This can be removed if you wish to use him on foot.

TRIAROS ARMOURED CONVEYER

The Triaros Armoured Conveyer is the principle armoured fighting vehicle of the Taghmata Omnissiah during the era of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. Renowned for its capacity to spearhead full-frontal assaults, the Triaros can smash enemy vehicles and obstacles aside with its shock ram.

The Triaros has huge internal storage, enabling it to convey 20 man-sized warriors into battle within a heavily-armoured, environmentally-sealed hull that protects against even the most hostile atmospheres. Flare shield protectors set atop the Triaros’s main hull offer further protection by diffusing and deflecting the energy of incoming attacks. Armed with a twin-linked Mauler bolt cannon and a pair of slaved Volkite sentinels, the Triaros is more than capable of fighting its way onto a critical battlefield objective.

Above left, The Triaros’s heraldry bears testament to its allegiance.

Above right, You can also see the exposed workings of the Triaros’s Galvanic traction drive, which enable it to traverse difficult terrain safely and swiftly.

Sagas are sung and epics written of defiant last stands, heroes and armies outnumbered, beleaguered and hopeless, yet who fight on resolute all the same. We look at bringing such doom to your games.

Most of the scenarios and missions we publish are designed to give an even battle, where both sides have a roughly equal chance of winning. However, the background for our games is replete with fights that are very far from even. Sometimes a small group of warriors battle heroically against the odds, hugely outnumbered and with no chance of survival, or find themselves hopelessly outmatched against a vastly superior foe.

On the face of it, playing a game based on such an unequal contest would be little fun – what is the point of playing a game you can’t win? The answer is, of course, that sometimes the underdogs do win, either through great skill, careful preparation, or great luck, or because their foe makes a critical error of judgement. Such victories are the stuff of legends, a tale that will be told for millennia, long after the participants are dust. Who could possibly resist the opportunity for such glory – certainly not us!

The scenario opposite will allow you the chance to earn such glory, while offering a fun and challenging game at the same time. It is designed for groups of three to five players. In a nutshell, the group plays a series of games, each of which pits one player’s army against a combined force made up of all of the other players’ armies! The winner of the series is the player whose army holds out for the most turns against the combined force before being wiped out.

However, there is a chance, a tiny slim chance, that the single army will be able to turn the tables and destroy their attackers. And that is the true object of this scenario – just imagine, if you ever manage to achieve the feat, neither you nor your opponents will ever forget it. This scenario is written for use with Warhammer, but is very easy to adapt for any of our other game systems.

To Glory!

GLORY OF AGES

THE ARMIES

To play Glory of Ages you must have three to five players. Glory of Ages consists of a series of games rather than a single one, and carries on until all the players have taken their turn being the Doomed Defenders, as described below. It is best played over the course of several sessions, though especially dedicated players could complete the series over a single day or weekend.

The players select forces as described in the Warhammer rulebook, to an equal points value agreed before the game. The same army must be used by each player in every game in the series, whether they are the Defenders or the Attackers.

At the start of each individual game, split the players into two teams. One team is called the Doomed Defenders, and consists of one player’s army. The player chosen must be one that has not yet taken their turn as the Doomed Defenders. The other team, known as the Overwhelming Attackers, consists of all of the other players’ armies, fighting as an Allied Army as described in the Warhammer rulebook.

THE BATTLEFIELD

Set up terrain as described in the Warhammer rulebook.

DEPLOYMENT

The Doomed Defenders set up first, so that all models in the army are within 12” of the centre of the battlefield. The Overwhelming Attackers set up second. Each player in the team picks a different edge of the battlefield, and must set up all of their models within 6” of that edge of the table and at least 6” from any other table edge.

FIRST TURN

Roll a dice. On a roll of 1-3 the Doomed Defenders take the first turn. On a roll of 4-6 the Overwhelming Attackers take the first turn.

GAME LENGTH

The battle lasts until only one side has any models remaining upon the battlefield.

VICTORY CONDITIONS

If the Doomed Defenders manage the unlikely feat of winning the game, then they have achieved the most glorious of victories and their tale of indomitable courage will enter legend! If, as is more likely, the Overwhelming Attackers win the day, record how many turns the battle lasted.

Once all of the games in the series have been completed, the player who lasted longest as the Doomed Defenders is considered to be the winner of the series. If a player managed to pull off a most glorious of victories as the Doomed Defenders, then they are (of course!) the winner of the series. If several players are tied at doing the best as the Doomed Defenders, they are considered to be joint winners.

This week the triumvirate of Tyrannocyte, Sporocyst and Mucolid Spore Cluster give Tyranid players some wonderful new options for their games. We examine their rules, and look at how you can use them to rain death from above.

With three new units added to the Tyranid army in a single week, there’s a lot to take in. The Tyrannocyte delivers deadly cargo right into the heart of the enemy army, the Mucolid Spore Cluster is an extremely dangerous floating bomb and the Sporocyst is a living artillery piece.

THEY CAME FROM ABOVE…

TYRANNOCYTE: DEATH FROM ABOVE

The Tyrannocyte acts as an orbital assault transporter, enabling you to bring a brood of Tyranids or even a Monstrous Creature safely down onto the battlefield, hopefully right where you need it. This is especially handy for getting those units right into the action that might otherwise be shot to ribbons – close-quarters units such as Genestealers, Hormagaunts or even Toxicrenes can disembark within assault range of the enemy. If they can survive the ensuing attack in the next turn, they will be perfectly placed to run amok. This comes with risks, though – your Tyranids will have to face whatever firepower or counter-assault your opponent might have in store. The alternative is to stick something with serious firepower of its own inside the Tyrannocyte – a Carnifex with twin-linked devourers or a Tyrannofex with acid spray can have a major impact on the turn they arrive.

MUCOLID SPORE CLUSTER: AERIAL EXPLOSIONS

The Mucolid is a far, far more dangerous weapon than its cousin the Spore Mine. These massive floating bombs enter play via Deep Strike and, assuming they don’t land right on an enemy unit, commence drifting around, looking for something to explode upon. While Spore Mines are troublesome, the Mucolid is downright devastating, unleashing a huge explosion that can rip through power armour with ease and even critically damage a battle tank. For maximum effect, aim these right into the heart of the opposing army, where enemy troops are most concentrated.

Another advantage the Mucolid has is that it floats a little higher in the air than a Spore Mine, which enables it to threaten enemy flyers. Typically vehicles such as Dakkajets, Sun Sharks and even Space Marine Stormtalons have lighter armour than tanks, so this can be a highly effective way of causing some serious damage to an enemy aircraft. Now, the way a Mucolid moves, drifting gently across the battlefield, means it’s unlikely to catch up with a flyer, but if you get the chance to drop one in via Deep Strike or from the Sporocyst (more later) take it. Nothing ruins a pilot’s day like a massive fleshy bomb splattering across his canopy.

SPOROCYST: ARTILLERY AREA DENIAL

When summing up the role of the Sporocyst, it’s fair to say it falls somewhere between a living artillery piece and a fortification. It won’t move during the game, so place it where it can guard an objective (remember it can infiltrate) and from that point onwards lob Spore Mines and – once per game – a Mucolid into the enemy. (We’ve found it’s a good trick to include a Mucolid in your army list and, when it explodes, launch another, ‘free’ one from the Sporocyst.) Anything that comes close must contend with its guns (we recommend venom cannons for range and effect) and even in an assault it can more than look after itself.

INSTINCTIVE FIRE

Both the Tyrannocyte and the Sporocyst share a number of physical features, including the ring of outward facing guns on their collar. As the Tyrannocyte drifts across the battlefield (or the Sporocyst is called upon to defend itself) these will open fire on the nearest enemy.

Not only does the idea of a betentacled gaseous blob pumping out clouds of weird living ammunition sound great, but it’s also highly effective as they inexorably target the nearest enemy.

When it comes to using them in the game, it couldn’t be easier: each of the guns on these models automatically fires at the nearest visible enemy model. This is as simple as measuring from the muzzle of each gun to the nearest enemy units and finding out which is closest. If it’s in range, just take the shot as normal.

TYRANNOCYTE

When a Tyranid hive ship launches a pre-digestive assault, its creatures are transported to the planet’s surface by tentacled ovoids known as Tyrannocytes. Though each spore appears to be little more than a giant veiny sac, it is in fact a creature unto itself – and one possessed of its own fierce appetites. Spat from the quivering orifices of the hive ships in low orbit, the Tyrannocyte thunders through the tortured skies to slam into the surface of its target world. This impact will cause its gravid belly to split, disgorging the Tyranids inside in a spray of grisly fluids. Once its passengers have been delivered, the Tyrannocyte fills with gaseous emissions and floats eerily into the air. There it begins to obey its own murderous instincts, the bio-weapons that fringe its crown spitting death as its barbed tendrils quest for prey.

UNIT TYPE: Monstrous Creature

UNIT COMPOSITION: 1 Tyrannocyte

WEAPONS & BIOMORPHS: Five deathspitters

SPECIAL RULES:

Deep Strike

Fearless

Drifting Death: Tyrannocytes cannot Run or charge. They can consolidate but may not make a Sweeping Advance.

Instinctive Fire: Each weapon on this model automatically fires at the nearest enemy unit within range and line of sight. The shots are resolved at the end of the Shooting phase before Morale checks are taken. Each weapon can fire at a different target unit, but they cannot be fired in any other way or at any other time.

Transport Spore: A Tyrannocyte does not use up a slot on the Force Organisation Chart. It can carry a single unit with the Tyranids Faction and has a Transport Capacity of 20 – Monstrous Creatures count as 20 models for the purposes of Transport Capacity. Declare which unit is being carried during deployment.

A Tyrannocyte always enters play using the Deep Strike rules. If, when a Tyrannocyte Deep Strikes, it scatters on top of impassable terrain or another model (friend or foe), reduce the scatter distance by the minimum required to avoid the obstacle.

Once a Tyrannocyte Deep Strikes, a unit carried by it must disembark. Place the unit such that every model is wholly within 6” of the Tyrannocyte and none are within 1” of an enemy or within impassable terrain. Any model that cannot be placed is removed as a casualty. A unit cannot move or charge in the same turn it disembarks, but can shoot or Run. No unit can embark inside a Tyrannocyte for the rest of the game.

OPTIONS:

May replace all five deathspitters with one of the following:

- Five barbed stranglers...25 pts

- Five venom cannons...25 pts

MUCOLID SPORE CLUSTER

The Mucolid Spore is a creature inimical to natural law, for its whole existence is geared towards spectacular self-sacrifice. Borne aloft by evil-smelling gases that roil inside the veined balloon of its body, this bioform can float either at ground level or rise high enough to intercept enemy aircraft. Its dangling tentacles languidly taste the air for the spoor of its prey. When the proximity of a non-Tyranid lifeform is detected, the Mucolid Spore will drift close before detonating in a storm of bio-acid. Mucolid Spores are drawn towards anything moving swiftly through the air, exploding with lethal force once they close with their target, making them a deadly obstruction for enemy flyers. Victims that are not destroyed by the blast are often hurled out of control, crashing into the ground below.

UNIT TYPE: Infantry.

UNIT COMPOSITION: 1 Mucolid Spore

SPECIAL RULES: Deep Strike, Fearless, Shrouded

Massive Floating Bomb: Each Mucolid Spore uses the Floating Death and Living Bomb rules that apply to Spore Mines (see Codex: Tyranids). All references to Spore Mines and Spore Mine Clusters in these special rules apply to Mucolid Spores also, except that the hits inflicted when a Mucolid Spore explodes are Strength 8 AP3 rather than Strength 4 AP4. Increase the Strength of the attack for additional Mucolid Spores as for Spore Mines.

Skyblast: Mucolid Spore Clusters are allowed to assault Zooming Flyers or Swooping Monstrous Flying Creatures. If they do so successfully then they will explode as described in the Floating Death special rule, hitting the target automatically, with Strength and AP as described above. Hits on Zooming Flyers are always resolved against the target model’s side armour.

OPTIONS:

May include up to two additional Mucolid Spores...15 pts/model

SPOROCYST

Sporocysts are ejected from their parent hive ships with even greater force than the Tyrannocytes they accompany. Once they make planetfall they will spread their chitinous shells and burrow under the skin of the planet like ticks digging into unprotected flesh. Once embedded, the Sporocyst coughs out clouds of polluting microorganisms that denature its host planet’s atmosphere until the air itself is ripe for digestion. When threatened, these creatures will squeeze out the flaccid spore-forms they carry, these smaller bioforms rapidly inflating to become either a cluster of Spore Mines or a larger, deadlier Mucolid Spore. There are persistent theories that the Sporocyst also acts as psychic resonators of sorts, boosting the abilities of those synapse beasts nearby to channel the Hive Mind’s ravenous imperatives.

UNIT TYPE: Monstrous Creature

UNIT COMPOSITION: 1 Sporocyst

WEAPONS & BIOMOEPHS: Five deathspitters

SPECIAL RULES: Fearless, Infiltrate

Instinctive Fire: Each weapon on this model automatically fires at the nearest enemy unit within range and line of sight. The shots are resolved at the end of the Shooting phase before Morale checks are taken. Each weapon can fire at a different target unit, but they cannot be fired in any other way or at any other time.

Immobile Pod: A model with this special rule cannot move. It can never go to ground (voluntarily or otherwise) and cannot consolidate or make a sweeping advance.

Psychic Resonator: Any friendly Synapse Creature within 6” of this model adds 6” to its synapse range.

Spore Node: A model with this special rule can produce a Spore Mine Cluster (see Codex: Tyranids) with three Spore Mines in the Shooting phase, in addition to any attacks it makes. Place the Spore Mines wholly within 6” of the model, in unit coherency and not in impassable terrain or within 1” of an enemy model. After they are placed, the Spore Mines are treated as a separate unit for the rest of the battle.

Once per battle, a Sporocyst can produce a single Mucolid Spore instead of a Spore Mine Cluster. This is placed in the same way as a Spore Mine Cluster.

OPTION:

May replace all five deathspitters with one of the following:

- Five barbed stranglers...25 pts

- Five venom cannons...25 pts

The Citadel Hall of Fame is a celebration of the finest miniatures in the world, a collection of iconic models recognised the world over for their ground-breaking designs. This month, the Eldar Wraithlord takes its place in the hallowed halls.

The Eldar Wraithlord has been around for many years, appearing in Epic in the early 1990s before making its first long-legged strides onto Warhammer 40,000 battlefields everywhere in 1994.

Originally known as an Eldar Dreadnought, the model’s first incarnation – known as a Wraithlord since 1998 – reigned supreme until 2006, when the talented Bonesingers in the Design Studio fashioned the iconic Wraithlord we know today.

The Wraithlord exemplifies the Eldar physique, tall and slender with long limbs, its torso emphasised by wide shoulder guards like those worn by Eldar Guardians and Aspect Warriors. Crafted from wraithbone and piloted by the souls of dead Eldar, Wraithlords are deliberately austere compared to other Eldar warriors, faceless automatons called to war only out of desperation. Indeed, the irony of the Wraithlord’s featureless, lozenge-shaped head is that it provides one of the most striking and recognisable parts of the model, the inscrutable lens through which the ethereal pilots view their foes.

At the time of its design, the Wraithlord was one of the tallest, most customisable plastic kits around, a graceful Eldar counterpart to the stocky Space Marine Dreadnoughts, clanking Ork Deff Dreads and hulking Tyranid Carnifexes. With multiple options for weapons and poses and a reputation for battlefield violence, it was rare to see an Eldar army without at least one Wraithlord fighting alongside it.

So iconic is the Wraithlord that, seven years after its release, it became the conceptual starting point for both the Wraithguard and the mighty Wraithknight. The Wraithlord is truly a deserved entry into the Citadel Hall of Fame.

Above top left, When an Eldar soul is bound to a wraith construct, this is done by a Spiritseer, an Eldar psyker attuned to the dead. Having interred a spirit stone within a construct, the Spiritseer will cover it with a spirit seal engraved with his personal sigil and that of the Eldar soul inside.

Above bottom left, Wraithbone vanes sprout from the Wraithlord’s back, a homage to the original Eldar Phantom Titan. It’s a design continued on both the Wraithguard and the Wraithknight.

Above right, Like the Wraithlord that wields it, the ghostglaive is powered by the souls of the dead, the spirit stones set in its hilt lending the Wraithlord ferocious strength. The blade is a single-bladed falchion like those carried by Autarchs, rather than the double-edged witch blades wielded by Farseers and Warlocks.

As we are in the midst of a new Tyranid model invasion, it seemed only fitting to deliver a Hive Fleets-centric Sprues and Glue. Time to delve into the bits box for some extraterrestrial objectives!

Since the new edition of Warhammer 40,000 arrived back in May, the White Dwarf team has had lots of fun playing Maelstrom of War missions and, as a result, modelling objective markers tied to specific armies. Its a great way to add another thematic and personal touch to both your games and your army – and quite often the contents of your bits box will furnish you with plenty of treasure!

The Tyranids kits in particular can provide the inventive modeller with plenty of inspiration and leftover bits perfect for making objective markers. We’ve come up with a few straightforward ideas here. This week’s big release, the Tyrannocyte, actually comes with the perfect component to make what we think of as a small Tyranid spore chimney (1) – a vile organism adapted to terraform prey planets. If you build the Tyrannocyte, you get the central Spore Mine-spewer from the Sporocyst spare. You’ll need to (carefully) cut some plastic off its underside, which is curved, but otherwise just glue it to a base and you’re golden.

Another great source of spares is the Hive Guard kit; if you build the Hive Guard with impaler cannons, the shockcannons are left unloved and unused. If you assemble these and snip the main body of the gun away from just behind the three armoured plates on top, and also trim off the sinews that connect ‘barrel’ to body, then, hey presto, you’ve got three Tyranid nodes (2) of some sort. (Synapse projectors? Psychic baffles? Let your imagination run riot.)

Our final example uses two of the topmost carapace components from the Carnifex Brood box – to represent a small variant of the Tyrannocyte, perhaps (3). We used a Mawloc tongue and three heavy venom cannon connector-tubes as lashing tentacles whipping out from within the organism. What will you come up with?

MORE BITS!

If you pick up the Genestealers kit you’ll notice that you get three actual, dedicated scenery bits on the sprues – nasty betoothed and tentacle-wreathed mounds of alien flesh that are brilliant for decorating the bases of your bigger bio-beasts, but that also make perfect objective markers (4). Just clip ’em off and glue them to spare round bases (we found 40mm round bases are the perfect size).

Maelstrom of War objectives, of course, must be numbered 1-6. The easiest way to do this on home-made objective markers is to simply write a number under the base or, if you want to avoid picking up and checking during the game, put a dice with the correct number face-up next to the objective.

THE DIGESTION CRAWLER

Here’s a revolting creation that makes for a fun objective for Tyranid armies: behold, readers, the digestion crawler!

If you make the Tyrannocyte you’re left with half of a Mucolid Spore to play with; a disgusting, swollen sac full of who knows what. We turned it into a weird beast whose purpose – in our minds – is to roam the battlefields of the far future hoovering up dead matter, in order to assimilate genetic information; an important organism for the Tyranids to retrieve.

We attached a spare Genestealer head to the bottom of the Mucolid, with two crushing claws from the Tyrant Guard kit either side of it, in the holes where the Mucolid’s tentacles would otherwise go (we imagine the crawler hauls itself along by the claws). A pair of Hive Crone talons (the ones that are its ‘feet’) served as a secondary pair of legs, and slotted quite nicely into some appropriate spiracles.

’Eavy Metal is our regular feature celebrating beautifully-painted Citadel miniatures. Curated by the renowned ’Eavy Metal team, we feature their models alongside those of selected special guests.

This Dwarf Lord, from Forge World’s Warhammer Forge range, is a great example of a clean painting style and the expert application of complicated techniques. One only has to look at the subtle liver spots on the Dwarf’s head, beside his receding hairline, to see how thoughtful the paint job is.

A careful paint job on its own would be good, but what really makes this model great is how it was achieved on a miniature so small. Looking at it here, it would be easy to believe that the Dwarf Lord was, in fact, a 54mm model or maybe even bigger. The model’s small size also explains the decision to paint it with non-metallic metal techniques – this resin model is incredibly detailed, and by using non-metallic paints the painter has been able to capture all the detail crisply and cleanly, from the knotwork on the axe to the ancestor runes hanging from his beard. The grains of pigment in metallic paints are larger, and might not produce quite the same effect in such an exceptionally fine paint job. Another key element is how red, yellow and green have been used to create a circle of complimentary colours framing the Dwarf’s face.

This Space Marine Centurion is a great example of careful placement of colour and attention to detail, and an unconventional colour scheme.

The inspiration for this paint job comes from viewing the Centurion Warsuit as a walking tank, and hence using the same techniques and details one might apply to an armoured fighting vehicle. This is visible in the muted, militaristic colours, using drab green with yellow and olive as contrast colours, rather than the striking Chapter heraldry usually seen on most other Space Marines. This has been further accentuated by painting on scuffs and dirt earned by wear and tear into the joints of the armour and around the edges of the large plates, creating the impression the once-pristine paintwork has been bumped and scraped plenty of times. The use of grimy browns in the recesses also helps to lend the piece a realistic appearance. The sludgy brown around the working joints on the green armour looks like industrial grease or engine oil. Even the pipes on the rear of the suit have been painted like rubberised hose, complete with a distinctive matte finish and cross-hatch pattern. All in all, remarkable.

To see more models selected by the ’Eavy Metal team check out our regular showcase in Warhammer: Visions, on sale the first Saturday of every month

Paint Splatter provides handy tips and stage-by-stage painting guides for the week’s new releases. This week, we break the mould and take a look at Citadel Shades and how you can use them to great effect on your miniatures.

Citadel Shades do exactly what their name suggests, creating areas of natural shade on your miniatures. In the real world, an area in shadow is not black but rather a darker shade of an object’s colour in the light. That’s why the Citadel paint range has 12 different Shades, so you can pick the most appropriate one for your model.

One of the easiest ways to apply a Shade is to pick one that’s directly related to the colour you’re painting over (1). This Termagant was basecoated with Waaagh! Flesh and washed with Biel-Tan Green. The wash is applied liberally using a Wash Brush, allowing it to collect in the recesses. If it pools heavily, you’re using too much – clean off the Wash Brush and use it to soak up the Shade before it dries.

You can also use a contrasting colour to shade a model. Shading colours such as Mephiston Red with Coelia Greenshade may sound odd (2), but the effect is a subtle, natural shade. Druchii Violet and Drakenhof Nightshade also work well.

Another way to use a Shade is to basecoat all the areas of a model in their respective colours before applying a suitable Shade over the whole model (3). The skin of the Termagant was basecoated Mephiston Red and the carapace Zandri Dust. Agrax Earthshade was then used to wash both colours at the same time. It’s a really efficient way to paint a unit.

Shades can also be applied directly over a Skull White Undercoat (4). Seraphim Sepia is perfect for Tyranids painted in the Hive Fleet Kraken colour scheme. It’s also great for Skeleton Warriors.

We often refer to recess washes in Paint Splatter. A recess wash is applied only to the deepest cracks and crevices, not the whole area. Nuln Oil is often used as a recesses wash in the deepest shadows. It’s best to use a Detail or Standard Brush for this job so you can apply the Shade neatly (5) without it affecting the area nearby. Carroburg Crimson was applied over Pallid Wych Flesh in this example of a Termagant from Hive Fleet Leviathan.

Washes can also be used to pick out and emphasise specific areas of a model as being different to their surroundings. Skin affected by Nurgle’s Rot or the vents on Tyranid arms, for example. Using a Detail or Standard Brush, apply the Shade

SHADY CHARACTERS

Having shown how to apply Shades, here’s what they look like dry (7). The Termagant on the left is the same one from image 1, its carapace painted Eshin Grey and shaded with Nuln Oil. The one next to it is the now-dry model from image 2 that received a wash of a complementary colour. Next to them is the Termagant that received an all-over wash of Agrax Earthshade in image 3. The model on the right is from image 4 and shows what Seraphim Sepia looks like applied over a Skull White Undercoat, followed by a recess wash of Carroburg Crimson.

WHAT’S IN A BRUSH?

There are 10 brushes in the Citadel brush range, each designed for a specific purpose. The Wash Brush is the largest sable hair brush in the range, so it holds a lot of paint – perfect for applying Shades.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

You may have noticed the Wash Brush isn’t called a Shade Brush. A Shade is a type of paint, while a wash is the technique used to apply it, just like drybrushing or layering.

SHAKE IT REAL GOOD

Before using a Citadel Shade, it’s important to give it a good shake to ensure the paint is evenly mixed as, like any paint, it can separate if not used for a long period of time. If a Shade isn’t mixed properly, it can dry cloudy, particularly in the recesses – and no one wants that.

MAKING YOUR OWN SHADES

There may come a day when you want to create your own Shades for a particular project. You can make a Shade out of any paint, though Layer paints work best.

A Shade is a paint that contains a lot of colourless paint base (essentially Lahmian Medium) with a small amount of pigment. By adding Lahmian Medium to a Layer paint (1) you can turn an opaque Layer paint into a translucent Shade (2). You can then apply it to a model as you would any other Shade paint (3). Alternatively, you can add clean water (don’t be lazy and use dirty paint water, it won’t work) to a Layer paint and make a thin Glaze, which can be used to tint the whole area a different colour (4). Why not give both a go?

Join us for a round-up of the week as we share comment, opinion and trivia on all the latest releases, plus other fun tidbits that have cropped up in the White Dwarf bunker. This week it’s Tyranid invasions, Isstvan III and a very big stabba indeed.

THE ASTRA MILITARUM GUIDE TO THE TYRANID TYRANNOCYTE

+++This tactical treatise is an addendum to the Imperial Infantryman’s Handbook. Failure to comply with these actions will result in summary execution by Commissariat officials.+++

1. Tyrannocytes are deployed by Tyranid hive ships high in orbit. Any trooper seen shooting at them during their descent will be shot for wasting ammunition.

2. Do not be fooled by the size and presence of the Tyrannocyte. They have no arms, eyes or mind, rendering them virtually useless. Threat level 0.

3. Like all Tyranid organisms, the Tyrannocyte is organic and therefore weak. It will invariably disintegrate on contact with the ground. This is perfectly normal – ignore the mess and shoot the big ones.

4. Tyrannocytes have been known to carry Tyranid organisms into battle. Those that survive the descent will be disorientated, if not badly wounded, on impact with the ground. Use combat knives to deal with the smaller creatures that emerge. Lasguns will suffice for larger Tyranids.

5. On occasion, a Tyrannocyte will inflate with gas. This is not a cause for concern. Judicious use of a flamer and recitation of the Litany of Immolation will see it consumed. Use of anti-tank weapons is forbidden on pain of death.

FLOATING BOMBS

The fleshy horror known as the Mucolid Spore has caused a real stir in the White Dwarf bunker and is roundly hailed as everyone’s favourite. The reasons for its appeal are varied, though, from the disturbing selection of mouths (what creature could possibly have a respectable use for two mouths) to the clutch of unpleasant dangling tentacles or the bulging sac of deadly gases bobbing around on top. It is also absolutely huge, at least by the standards of the Spore Mines we all know and, er, love – in fact it’s taller than the Hive Tyrant! No wonder it can reach out and touch enemy flyers…

Our friends over at Complex Games have been hard at work on The Horus Heresy: Drop Assault, a new game for iOS devices that looks absolutely amazing. The first ever video game set in the Horus Heresy, Drop Assault puts you in the bloody events of Isstvan III, commanding a force of Emperor’s Children, Sons of Horus, World Eaters or Death Guard.

In Drop Assault you must build an impregnable base while assaulting the enemy, managing your resources and trying to stay alive! With myriad units at your disposal, from Legion Tactical Squads and Terminators to Scimitar Jetbikes or even Super Heavy tanks such as the Glaive, the tactical choices are immense. The game is both single player and multiplayer and is also free to play! For more information, check out www.dropassault.com, where you can see a trailer of the game in action.

Imperial Knights are a popular choice for Reader’s Model at the moment, this one sent in by Dwarf-friend and regular contributor Gareth Etherington. Noble Asteraceae, piloting Adjustio Sol, comes from House Hawkshroud, as shown by his striking yellow and black livery. If you look closely, you can see an Ultramarines symbol on his tabard, a link to Gareth’s vast Ultramarines collection.

If you’ve painted a miniature that you think is worthy of a place in White Dwarf then why not send a picture to: team@whitedwarf.co.uk. If it’s something we can use, we’ll be sure to get in touch.

This week’s Rules of Engagement article had us trying to decide what the best last stand from Warhammer or Warhammer 40,000 is. Top contenders included the Ultramarines’ defence against Hive Fleet Behemoth in the Polar Fortress, the Battle of Altdorf against Vlad von Carstein, and the Siege of Praag, featuring Gotrek and Felix. In the end, we decided the ultimate example was probably the Siege of the Emperor’s palace. If you have a favourite ‘last stand’, drop us a line and let us know.

The Chaos Warshrine includes this disturbing Chaos effigy. We’ve been assured by the sculptors that it’s a statue, but here in the bunker we get the uncomfortable feeling it’s actually alive. In fact, it’s watching you right now…

Notes from the worlds of Warhammer. This week: hunters.

KARANAK

Khorne is the Blood God, a wrathful lord whose rage knows no bounds. Though his only true concern is the shedding of blood and the reaping of skulls, he disdains cowards and those who will not take up arms. Against such foes, Khorne despatches his hunting dog, Karanak. This three-headed Flesh Hound will leave its resting place at the side of its master’s throne and seek out his prey with relentless tenacity. Karanak will stalk its prey through realms material or otherwise, never ceasing in its hunt until its prey has been pulled down and ravaged to death.

MARKUS WULFHART

The name Markus Wulfhart is known across the Empire, for he is the Emperor’s chosen huntsmarshal, a skilled tracker and archer charged with seeking out and killing the dire threats that lurk in the Drakwald and beyond. Armed with the Amber Bow, a magical weapon gifted to the dour woodsman by Karl Franz himself, Markus has slain Giants, Dragons and many other strange and terrible monsters. Together with his mismatched band of archers he remains one of the Empire’s great hopes against the rising Chaos.

ALITH ANAR

Once prince of Nagarythe, Alith Anar was dragged into the bitter civil war that ravaged Ulthuan when Malekith tried to seize the Phoenix Crown. In the centuries that have followed, Alith Anar and those of Nagarythe who remained loyal have waged a relentless guerilla war on the Dark Elves. It is said Alith Anar has tracked down and killed thousands of the dark kin as they have sought to invade his homeland over the years.

The fading effect on the Tyrannocyte and Mucolid Spore tentacles was done by mixing Screamer Pink with Lahmian Medium and painting on several layers. Ensure each has time to dry before applying the next, but getting a little smaller each time. This allows the colour to fade out the further down the tentacle it goes. You could use this technique with any Citadel paint.

Orcs are not known for their subtlety when it comes to, well, anything – and the aptly named big stabba is no exception, being both very large and very stabby. Made of tree, twine and a jagged shard of rock, it’s carried into battle by a pair of Savage Orcs who jab it enthusiastically at anything that gets within reach – the bigger the target, the stabbier the fun.

The White Dwarf team is a font of hobby knowledge, a metaphorical repository of useful facts. If you have a question about Warhammer 40,000 or Warhammer, need a bit of painting advice or you’re after a few tactical tips, drop us a line: team@whitedwarf.co.uk

YOU RAISE ME UP

Space Marines have Land Speeders and bikes, but no Jetbikes. They did during the Horus Heresy, so why not now?
- Paolo ‘Tech-heretic’ Pirola

GROMBRINDAL SAYS

Land Speeders? You mean Gyrocopters, right? Impressive creations, but you’d have to be barmy to get in one. Wait, you actually do mean Land Speeders? Let me see what I can find out…

Both Land Speeders and Jetbikes use anti-grav plates to hover in the air, a technological marvel lost during the Dark Age of Technology. Over the following millennia, those Jetbikes and Land Speeders still working were destroyed or eventually failed until very few remained. The rediscovery of a Land Speeder STC in M31 enabled Land Speeders to be built once more, but the Adeptus Mechanicus are a suspicious bunch, reluctant to repurpose the technology to make Jetbikes. Blinkered fools…
- Grombrindal

You may have glimpsed this Raven’s Watch Stormraven, Talon of Johannes, in issue 37, having deployed the Ironclad Dreadnought Brother Crissica en route to its primary mission.

In 990.M41, the planet Kitab in the Keplar System came under attack by a splinter of hive fleet Eumenides. The Raven’s Watch were first to respond to the distress calls, with Talon of Johannes the first craft to breach the planet’s atmosphere. Having deployed Brother Crissica, the Stormraven streaked across the desert sands towards the invasion fleet’s primary synapse node. The craft’s pilot was able to deploy Terminator Squad Foran and destroy the node before being forced to leave combat airspace by flocks of ravening Harpies and clusters of Mucolid Spores.

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