The Compass, The Clock, and A Terrible Codex

How GW Sees Tyranid Players

     No reason to sugar coat it:  I pretty much can't stand the new Tyranid codex.  Let's just forget all the wasted potential that it could have been, lest I get really bitter.  The rules aren't worth the paper they're printed on and there's better fluff in the fanfic section of every 40k blog out there.  It's also pretty clear dataslates aren't going to help.  I've reserved judgment for as long as I can, but it's time to tell it like it is.  Despite a pretty major event in my life that will occupy the lion's share of my spare time for the next couple years, I've managed to squeeze roughly 20 hours on Battlescribe on my mobile phone and tablet trying to build a list - any list - that would meet any of the following criteria:  able to take and hold objectives, able to take and hold table quarters, able to win battle points, able to win KP, able to have a shot at the asymmetrical missions being bandied about, and the big one:  is it fun to play?  Add in another 10 hours of practice deployments and 1-2 turn tests - I can't come up with a list that I either enjoy or would consider competitive.  The codex is absolutely hamstrung by the fact that synapse has no synergy within the codex - literally nothing with synapse works well with anything that needs it.  I even tried several no-synapse lists which were even more painful.  Double FOC helps a little, but that's generally not an option anywhere I would play.  Killzone at least isn't an entirely lost cause...

Khurasan Miniatures 28mm Caiman Unboxing

I've wanted the APC from Aliens as a miniature for oh... since I first saw it when the movie came out.  Although Khurasan's 28mm Caiman (also available in 15mm) is necessarily not a replica, it makes a fine replacement and more than stands on its own.  I'd first seen the Caiman when they were released back in 2012, but they are nearly always sold out.  They became available again just about Black Friday time this year and I ordered two, for my long-brewing Inquisition/Sisters/Arbites/Grey Knights collection.  Here's a close look at my unboxing.  Excellent sculpt, well-cast with only a few, normal issues commonly found with bigger resin casts.

Well wrapped and packaged.

 Some minor issues with the vent here, not sure if I can fix with greenstuff or will just make it weathering/battle damage.

 Second APC also had an issue on the vent but looks fixable.

 Very minor bubbles.

 Bubble fixed in pre-ship QC, back bumper a bit off true.

 Minor issue on flat layer of little turret, but I don't much care for these little ones and will be looking for an alternative.

 Assembled, everything but the little turrets fit snugly.  The exit hatch rails were flawless.

 Small quirk here, fixable.

 Hard to see in other photos, but there are two raised hull areas just in front of the turret that break up the outline nicely and add a neat detail to highlight.

Overall I'm extremely pleased with these.  Now how to make these either Arbites or Inquisition rides...  

 Apologies for the terrible lighting.. but here's some 'typical' 40k figures for scale reference, as requested.

Tyranid Codex Pre-Release Rant

     As ever it's been a busy month with far fewer posts than intended - but real life > hobbies.  Most of the time.  At any rate - I've been watching the spin-up of the rumor threads and leaks for the new Tyranid codex and models and as more info becomes available, also watching my hopes dwindle into a termagant toenail-sized sliver.
     With the information available to date, GW appears to pull off a rather petty dick move - removing the mycetic spore as a model altogether.  With at least 4 different alternate model variants for sale from other companies, they just decided to remove that model altogether.  Interesting choice to just willfully concede an opportunity for profit - tyranid players have come up with hundreds if not thousands of scratch-built variants of spore pods, and instead of capitalizing on it (literally) GW decides to give the other companies and the players the finger.  How many scratch-built and alternate mycetic spore models will simply become 'tyranid terrain'?  Stay classy, GW, stay classy.  At least that removes a source of easy KPs in a codex that already has KP issues - but that only matters if you care about winning a game based on KPs.