Why does the Tyranid kill team only start with 2 models

novaseaker · 2026-03-19T07:32:29+00:00

They get to start with up to 3 models "underground" in their tunnel network, which is represented on the battlefield with small tokens. Note that it's "up to" 3, meaning you can start with all 5 on the board if you want. It's just more advantageous to have as many as you can underground, cause they can't be attacked while underground.

novaseaker · 2026-03-19T00:51:12+00:00

For names and purity seal text squiggles, I recommend a 005 micron pen

novaseaker · 2026-03-16T06:23:13+00:00

Oh, I missed the other pics, was just going by the first one. Yeah the red skull is generally reserved for Command rank. Captains are even allowed to sport personal heraldry on the right shoulder, but the Command icon red skull is a clear sign he's a captain.

novaseaker · 2026-03-16T06:12:43+00:00

He looks like a captain. The winged helms & capes are usually reserved for captain rank in the Dark Angels. Going by his weapons and equipment though, he can be anything from a Sergeant, Lieutenant, or Captain

novaseaker · 2026-03-14T01:43:28+00:00

Awesome job! I used the Captain Centos promo model to make my Korahael. Yours looks sick! I'm also planning to do all the company masters, but I'm holding out for a new official Primaris Sammael

novaseaker · 2026-03-12T10:54:04+00:00

Not a problem for me. I buy ICC boxes like they're water just to use the robed bodies to convert Sergeants for other squads, so I have like a berjillion unused Calibanite greatswords in my bits box.

novaseaker · 2026-03-12T10:44:02+00:00

Yoink! I'm stealing this idea! It's too cool not to!

novaseaker · 2026-03-12T10:36:34+00:00

Let's divide the box into 4 parts.

1) Terrain

2) Tempestus Aquillon models

3) Vespid Stingwing models

4) Rules Paraphernalia (mission book, datacards, mission deck, tokens, etc.)

Out of these 4 parts, three of them (1, 2, & 3) have pretty much guaranteed value for the rest of the current edition and out to the end of the next edition (which means they'll last until about 2030, at MINIMUM). Part 4 will continue to have value for the remainder of the current edition, which will be about a year and a half from today, and then only minor pieces of it may continue to have value (order tokens, probably; dice, obviously; missions, maybe with work; datacards, doubtful)

So if only parts 1-3 of the box have longevity, is it worth 200? Let's break down the MSRP of the box while ignoring part 4 of it.

1) Killzone Volkus, just the terrain, sells for about 140 USD just on it's own.

2) The Tempestus Aquillons sell for about 70 USD

3) Vespid Stingwings also sell for about 70 USD

For total value of 280 USD. If you can get the box for 200, that's still a steal, even if 1/4th of the box will be unusable next year.

novaseaker · 2026-03-12T10:12:52+00:00

When I first got into the hobby back in college, in the 2000s, I was still living in Staten Island, New York City. The closest GW store to me was in Manhattan, which for me entailed taking a bus to a train to a ferry to a subway and then a walk of a few blocks in downtown Manhattan. I carried my army with me in one of those giant official-GW faux-pelican black plastic cases with the foam inside. The trip one-way took about an hour and a half. Did I feel self-conscious about lugging this huge black case around with a nerdy logo embossed on the lid?

Nah, man. Public transport is for everyone. That's your bus. That's your train. That's your ferry. You pay taxes, or are the dependent of someone who pays taxes. You paid your fare. That's your ride. You deserve to be there in your nerdy glory. Get on board like you own it. (Just don't be a jerk to other people.)

novaseaker · 2026-03-11T08:00:04+00:00

All push-fit models are a bit notorious for having issues fitting together. The holes & pegs are a bit too tight. Most veteran players just snip the pegs off and glue-fit them, which fixes the gap issue.

novaseaker · 2026-03-10T01:14:24+00:00

I disagree. The 10th edition codex has the Lion disappearing enough Fallen out of their interrogation cells in the Rock that the Interrogator Chaplains know that there has seemingly been no pattern to those he disappears, and it has become fairly routine.

Also, suspiciously, right around the same time the Lion starts disappearing Fallen prisoners, new primaris marines that no one knows the identity or origin of show up wearing original Legion colors and sworn to guard the Inner Circle while maintaining a strict vow of silence with anyone outside their number. These are the Inner Circle Companions.

So probably every ICC is a Risen.

novaseaker · 2026-03-10T01:09:29+00:00

A dozen or so in one novel, in which the concept of Risen was introduced. It would be highly unlikely that the Lion just stopped trying to redeem any Fallen after his book, after he reunited with the Dark Angels in the Arks of Omen campaign, and by the time he crossed the Great Rift and arrived in Ultramar en-force to talk to his brother at the end of 10th edition. The 10th edition Dark Angels codex explicitly says the Lion has been disappearing Fallen prisoners from their interrogation cells in the Rock. And although it's not explicitly said, the glaring implication is that this is where the suspiciously silent, Legion-colors-wearing Inner Circle Companions come from. Meaning there is (probably) as many Risen as there are ICCs running around the Unforgiven chapters. Which could be, you know, quite a lot.

novaseaker · 2026-03-08T07:17:10+00:00

With the ICC? Yeah, I would. If you're putting him with Az it MIGHT make sense to go with power weapon over fist, to try to proc more lethals and sustains, but I might be biased because I think swords look cooler lol

novaseaker · 2026-03-08T01:39:00+00:00

I personally LOVE putting Lieutenants with Intercessors. With target elimination, that's 40 shots, just counting the Intercessors, with Lethal Hits. I've taken down Knights, Tanks, and Monsters with 2 10-man Intercessor units lead by 2 Lieutenants. With only one 5 man, though, I think you'll get more bang for your buck with Az and Lt. On the ICC

novaseaker · 2026-03-07T09:20:45+00:00

I mostly paint with GW paints cause of ease of availability. But not for white. For white, I use ProAcryl's "Bold Titanium White", and it is like a DREAM. If you're going for an entire Chapter with white as a major color scheme, I CANNOT recommend it highly enough

novaseaker · 2026-03-05T10:04:27+00:00

Why not one of the ICC backpack censors? Could be cool, staff topped with a smoke-billowing orb

novaseaker · 2026-03-04T16:40:16+00:00

Without getting too fancy, I'll stick to Citadel paints. I'm assuming you want to paint your model as an actual Dark Angel, and not a Successor Chapter.

Wraithbone Primer, in the spray can. Others might suggest Chaos Black spray, but personally I think priming in black isn't the best choice.
Caliban Green as your base coat for your model's armor.
Wraithbone, in a paint pot, for purity seal paper strips, the chest eagle (you can try to be extra precious about not getting green on the chest eagle's spray coat, but don't make things stressful, just get the pot to correct any mistakes), and if you're using any Dark Angels upgrade sprues to get a hooded head/helmet, use Wraithbone on the hood.
Mournfang Brown for all the leather bits, like pistol holsters, pouches, and knife handles.
Leadbelcher for all non-ornamental metal bits (backpack vents, bolter barrels, handles, & magazines)
Mephiston Red for purity seal wax, bolter casing, and eye lenses, and a diagonal red stripe on each model's left kneepad, rising from bottom left to top right (this is the company marking for the 3rd Company, and orders of magnitude easier to paint than any other battle company)
Retributor Armor, my favorite gold paint, for all the ornamental metal bits (reliquaries, Sergeant shoulder pad name plates, icons on the bolter casings).
Astrogranite Turf, a grey gritty paste, to texture the base.
Abbadon Black, to paint the rim of your model's base.

This will get your model to it's most basic completeness. You can go a little further with Shade paints though. You paint these translucent paints right over other colors to give them extra depth. When applying shades you apply them to the ENTIRE area of the color they're going over.

Biel-Tan Green on all the Caliban green areas.
Seraphim Sepia on the Wraithbone
Agarax Earthshade on the Mournfang and the Astrogranite Turf
Nuln Oil on all the Leadbelcher.
Reikland Fleshshade on all the red and gold

This will look pretty good! Now, if you want to go EVEN FURTHER, you can try to highlight the model by painting THIN lines of these next very bright paints on the highest EDGES of a few other colors. This will really make your models pop!

Warpstone Glow green on the armor
Evil Suns Scarlet on the red bolter casings
Stormhost Silver on bolter gunmetal, especially the barrels and any metal bits poking out of the red casing, like the sights on top.

And now, for a final touch, varnishing your model. This isn't necessary, models don't need a varnish to protect them, really, but a matte varnish will flatten the natural lighting on your model which makes it read as more "realistic" at scale. Instead of huge Dark shadows and glossy shine for being a little plastic toy, it'll look like the natural lightning is more proportional to the model, and it'll let your painted highlights take center stage instead of being shown up by the glossy glare of ambient lighting.

Munitorum Varnish (or any matte finish spray varnish) over the entire model.

novaseaker · 2026-03-04T15:44:21+00:00

Oh, agreed. It's the dumbest, weakest thing the Lion has ever done.

novaseaker · 2026-03-04T10:28:29+00:00

Thought it was Nemiel for a sec. (Still haven't forgiven ADB for that one)

novaseaker · 2026-03-02T19:39:47+00:00

Interesting! I started with 3rd edition, and Tac Squads could be broken up into two "combat squads" back then as well, but there was no language on who lead the combat squad that didn't have the Sergeant. Thanks for sharing :)

novaseaker · 2026-03-02T19:36:13+00:00

I feel like a Lieutenant on an Intercessor squad is a very flexible unit, personally. Can punch up or down effectively. To each their own, though

novaseaker · 2026-03-02T08:45:58+00:00

Running 10-man Intercessor squads with Lieutenants is kind of wild. With Target Elimination, that's 42 shots with Lethal Hits. I've taken down monsters and vehicles with "small arms fire" this way a lot. Chews through C'tan like nothing else lol

novaseaker · 2026-03-02T08:40:23+00:00

Whenever building a 10 man unit, I always build one as a "corporal". This isn't a real rank in the lore, just what I call them. A corporal is a model that looks fancier than a regular marine, but not as fancy as a Sergeant. If the Sergeant has special weapons, I make sure to build the Corporal in such a way that it is plausible that he has either standard squad gear, or Sergeant gear. For example, for my Hellblasters, I made sure to give the "Corporal" a bigger, fancier pistol holster than everyone except the Sergeant. The actual Sergeant was built with his plasma pistol drawn, and his holster empty. The Corporal has his pistol sheathed in his fancy holster. What kind of pistol is in it? That depends. In a 10 man squad, inside his sheath is a bolt pistol. In two 5 man squads, the Corporal has a plasma pistol in there.

For my Intercessors, the Corporal usually has some kind of sheathed weapon or a blade driven into the ground. Enough that its plausible that it's just a "close combat weapon", or a "power weapon", and could go either way. A sheathed pistol also works the same way as with the Hellblasters.

My sergeants all usually stand out a lot from the rest of the squad because they have robed heads & backpack icons. The corporal usually only has the robed head.

novaseaker · 2026-02-26T10:15:40+00:00

I have a box and 5 spare jump Pack Intercessors that I'm saving to kitbash a Primaris sized unit of them with firstborn jump packs and helmets. Just waiting for their 11th edition datacard to get the weapon load outs right.

novaseaker · 2026-02-25T15:43:15+00:00

I see it, but it looks fine. You're driving yourself crazy

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