Rifle Dread Conversion

Brother C with a winter project that I was working on a few weeks back. Lemun Ross from the LWG club was taking on a grey knight army for a local tournament and he just didn't have the time or the money to splurge for the autocannon arms from Forgeworld. I told him that if he could come up with the bitz, I would make him the dread arms.

so this is the process I took to do a down and dirty quick conversion for rifledread arms.





first, you take the missle pod arm, and the assault cannon arms for the dreads. (use the assault cannon, because no one uses the assault cannon anyway). and the key is to shave off all the extra bitz from the front and the side of the arms to make room for where the autocannon will be set into. you can either use an Xacto or a razorsaw for this procedure. (or a combination of both)



next is to prepare the autocannons. as you can see in the photos, there were essentially two different variants here. one form the IG weapons teams, and some from the flak turrets that come with the GW bastion sets. the process is relatively the same for each.

you are looking to create a nice 'L' shape to the end of the autocannon gun as shown, take particular attention to creating as close to a 90 degree corner as you can, this will sit on the outside edge of your dread arm and the tighter the fit the better.





attach the ammunition drums to the cannons. and you will want to glue both at the same time so you can play with their alignment (as parallel as possible) and alos the location on the arm itself. when you have them aligned, either hit them with zip kicker or make sure not to bump them. (i'm sure we've all seen those people with the misaligned rifledread arms heh)

and that's it. simple. easy. down and dirty. just like Ross likes it. I think he ended up going 1-1-1 for the tourney that weekend but it was mainly due to silly scenarios from what I heard. Glad I could help the guy out.

Darkwynn inspired DA list

Brother C here after a long hiatus. I've been studying like a madman, trying to finish out my architectural licensure. One more test to go, if I pass this last one.
Anyways, I've been inspired by Darkwynn's win at the Feast of Blades tournament with his Black Templars (his list can be found here) and it got my mind brainstorming if DA could run something similar…. Maybe .. even better?

First a list, than a discussion.

HQ:
Belial (Lightning Claws) + banner with +1 attack [notice no apothecary really needed in this list]
Ezekiel

Troops:
DW terminator squad 3x claws, 2x TH/SS [this squad rides in the Land Raider Crusader alongside Belial]
DW terminator squad 5x TH/SS + Cyclone Missile Launcher
DW terminator squad 5x TH/SS + Cyclone Missile Launcher
5 man tactical squad, no upgrades, riding in LR with Ezekiel
10 man tactical squad with missle launcher upgrade [combat squadded]

Fast Attack:
Speeder: Multi-melta, Typhoon
Speeder: Multi-melta, Typhoon
Speeder: Multi-melta, Typhoon

Heavy Support:
Land Raider
Land Raider Crusader
Total points = 2000

Discussion:

Ok, so.. that's what we are looking at here. Now, this has some specific disadvantages to what the Black Templars were bringing. Mainly vows. Furious Charge termies out of a land raider is just not something DA can muster we are also losing the 8 man squad of termies, DA can only take 5 man. Also, we are bringing less speeders than that BT list and as such, losing some of the anti-infantry firepower with the speeders having multi-meltas instead of heavy bolters like in Darkwynn's list.

But what is DA bringing instead ?

+1 attack banner: Well the +1 attack banner is there simply so that my 5 man deathwing squad now has the same attacks as an 8 man termie squad. If you were playing an opponent where you think you really needed MORE extra punch, you could always throw Ezekiel in that raider also for more init 5, power weapons attacks.

Scoring terminators: do I really need to emphasize this ? DA has scoring terminators.. that is a HUGE advantage over the BT list. Again, this doesn't exactly make up for BTs being able to have 2x cyclones in their squads, but it’s a nice benefit for choosing them.

Ezekiel: physic defense? Yeah, I have the best, kthx. Unlimited range hood, leadership 10. Sitting in a land raider, have fun. Also, Ezekiel in this list can also serve as a babysitter for the 10 man tactical squad if you are playing killpoints and if the mission/opponent warranted him for that role. Don't forget, he makes his unit fearless. 10man fearless tactical marines squad sitting in cover with a leadership 10, unlimited range hood? Could be useful in certain circumstances. However, he'll mainly be riding around in the godhammer pattern landraider, mopping up loose MSU squads when needed.

Storm Shields: yes I realize, BTs get storm shields also, but.. not on their cycloneators. DA does. Advantage DA.

Honestly that's about it. In most matches, the taticals on foot start in reserve, hoping they don't come in till late game. If they come in earlier, just run them for cover and fire than one missile to annoy stuff. (took out a ghost arc in my last match, lulz)

From my play tests of this list so far, it has performed very very well. The double land raiders really make for nice hiding places for speeders, and having 2x extra scoring terminators squads make for some nice bubble wrap if my opponent has deep striking meltas and nice flank threats if my opponent is going to be weak there, (yes, deathwing assault is still very nice for this list in certain circumstances). I lament my mini-deathstar, its just simply not as good as the BT version or something a Blood Angels or GK list can muster, but it'll wreck most anything else, and the option to send belial out on his own are there as well, he is expendable in this army like woah, use him that way.

Anways, more hobby articles on the way, and maybe even a battle report or two. Taking the month off from testing in December, expect more content soon.

-Brother C.