Biomassive Attack

Bigger bugs this week, I'm past the filler units at last. 

Three Tyranid Warriors to start with. Nothing wrong with these when they arrived, but I still pulled some of their arms off. Deep in the bits box, I'd found some vintage plastic Tyranid Warrior bits. Remember those old plastic ones from Advanced Space Crusade? The spindly freaks that looked a bit like a flayed rabbit?

Yeah, that's them. Well, I always had a bit of a soft spot for them. When GW updated the Warrior design to its current look, I went off Tyranids for a while. I like them now, but when I first saw them the plated crested and shorter, stockier look wasn't doing it for me. 

Those old ones haven't aged well, no sir! All the same, there was something about the pulsing organs under their skeletal chestplates that I miss. And the original Deathspitter, weird boney penis that it is, is still a good and creepy design. So I thought I'd backwards-update a couple of Warriors to the slightly retro look. 

Works surprisingly well, in fact, the limbs fit snugly into the torso and they look surprisingly well-proportioned. Shame I didn't have a few more, in fact! 

Eight Warriors (or nine if I downgrade the Prime to a heavy weapons guy) is a decent blob on the table, I reckon. Lots of relatively tough, shooty, assaulty troops to threaten objectives with. Even if they aren't amazing in any particular field, they're good generalists. 

The other model for the week was a second Carnifex. 

This is an anti-tank specialist, with Heavy Venom Cannon and Crushing Claws. It'll shoot up your armour as it closes up, then finish you at close range! Enhanced Senses head morph, and spine banks for a little extra shooting. Or, you know, whatever I chose to have it count as, as usual!

The claws were actually pre-painted for my original Tyrant. This one came with scything talons, but I've got those on the first Carnie so I replaced them. They aren't a great pick for the big bug, they make him too inaccurate in melee, but they certainly look boss!

Carnifexes are an iconic and great looking unit for the Nids, but they haven't quite won me over in game yet. Cheap Dreadnoughts, really, they're threatening enough to draw fire. But they aren't as effective as a Dread, I'm never sure that I want to take one over other options. Having two, strangely, helps with this. I can really invest in them, see if they pay off, and then contemplate an Old One Eye as a third for later. 

Much later, though! That's almost enough Tyranids for one year. Just one more before the month's out...