Tyranids Counts-as Necrons?

I know many of you have seen the superlative Tyracrons from Musings of a Metal Mind, a Necron counts-as Tyranid army.  I'll blame this amazing example of the hobby as the germ for the idea, but after reading and watching batreps on how the Necron codex and its units work, I've lately been captured by an idea.  I think it might be possible to build a "Tyranid" army using the Necron codex that would allow you to field Tyranid-like abilities consistent with the fluff and maybe more effective than the Tyranid codex.  I should probably have another pint and chalk it up to wishful thinking, but I thought I'd put the ideas down here and see what you all think.  Pretty sure the biggest challenges are in the vehicle/TLoS department/modeling for advantage.  Note the unit comparison below aren't 1:1 analogues that translate directly across FOC slots, but are just general ability comparisons.

HQ
Tyrant/Tyranid Prime, Tyrant Guard - can be accommodated for with different Overlord/Destroyer Lord or C'Tan Shard combinations pretty easily (although C'Tan isn't HQ)
Tervigon HQ - no real analogue in the HQ slot

Elites
Lictors, Ymgarl - Flayed Ones and Canoptek Wraiths both fill these roles pretty well.
Pyrovore - these even suck in the Necron codex ;)
Venomthrope - no real analogue
Hive Guard - while an absolutely key elite slot in the Tyranid codex, the closest match here is probably the Necron Destroyer
Zoanthrope - not a clear match here for a key fluff Tyranid unit

Troops
Tyranid Warriors - Immortals, Lychguards, Deathmarks
Genestealers - Flayed Ones or Wraiths
Hormagaunts - Flayed Ones?
Termagaunts - Necron Warriors
Tervigon - Canoptek Spyder perhaps?  Trying to parallel the troops and spawn functions ends up with a transport, probably the Ghost Ark
Rippers - One word: Scarabs

Fast Attack
Gargoyles - Canoptek Wraiths
Raveners - Canoptek Wraiths or Tomb Blades
Shrikes - Necron Destroyers, Tomb Blades, Triarch Praetorians
Harpy - Doom Scythe, maybe a Night Scythe?
Rippers - Scarabs

Heavy Support
Trygon/Mawloc - it's an absolute crime the Tomb Stalker didn't make it into the Codex; a Triarch Stalker is the next best bet; maybe Canoptek Sypder, from the deep strike/tunnel aspect, maybe a Monolith
Carnifex - maybe the Canoptek Spyder or Triarch Stalker
Biovore - no real analogue here
Tyrannofex - Doomsday Ark, Annihilation Barge, maybe a Monolith

This is my first attempt to get my thoughts down on paper - definitely haven't really researched the idea with any depth, or done any meaningful size comparisons, let alone thought it through to the point of trying to build an FOC-compliant Necron force using the matching models above.  Without going down that road to really check, I think this might be do-able though.  I think avoiding the big vehicles like Arks and Monoliths, and maybe even the Command Barges might be necessary to avoid TLoS issues.  Just some musings on a Saturday afternoon...

Primer Therapy Redux

After a solid afternoon of exploration at Home Depot, Lowe's, Michael's, and the local hobby store (trains, model rockets, r/c cars...), I found a few primers to bring home and try.  The first purchase was a big bottle of cheap white Gesso from Michael's, then I discovered Kilz has odor-free spray primer for ~$5, and regular stinky primer for ~$4.  Went to Home Depot and picked up a can of Rustoleum after reading OST's recent article over on Dark Future Games, looking at his comments about spraying from a distance.  Even though I've had issues with it before - increasing my suspicions that the problem is more me than the paint...   Then at Lowe's I found a can of cheap Valspar with a funky lid for about $5.  Laden with loot I descended to the garage for a trying evening of experimentation, which would ultimately culminate in a long, drawn out post with lots of pics that showcased my poor photography and hamfisted painting skills.  But...

Primer Therapy

Yes - that is a play on Primal Therapy - as I've about reached my wits' end trying to find a white primer that I'm happy with.  I've tried several brands, and none seem to be working out.  Which leads me to believe that with only one common denominator, I'm probably at least a part of the problem. Frustratingly, I'm hardly a beginner at painting; or more accurately, I'm hardly a beginner at priming with roughly 80% of my models being primed (and nothing else /snicker).   I have no problems with black primer, using alternately, GW, Krylon, and Tamiya - and had flawless results with each.  No pooling, smooth finish, etc...   I only have those issues with white. I've tried GW, Tamiya, Krylon, RustOleum, and about four others I've thrown out and don't remember.  I've read forums and blogs and more forums and a few more blogs without really finding a solid answer - clearly what works for us as painters is our personal preferences.  In this case, my preference is for a primer that doesn't pool in recesses, doesn't craze on flat areas, and doesn't pebble on raised areas.  Every single primer I've tried does at least one of these.  Adding to the fun is all white primer is not the same color white, making color matching rough at best.  Alright - enough ranting.  Let's talk symptoms of this disease I'm calling primer rage.

Here's my typical priming MO:  I typically wash whatever I'm priming with dishsoap/water and let it dry for at least a couple days, often a week or more.  I spray in a 2-car garage with the garage door open for ventilation, on flattened cardboard or laid-out newspaper.  Shake the can for whatever the label says (1 minute or more typically), then spray in short, controlled bursts starting almost off-model, going across the model, and stopping at the edge of/just outside the spray zone; repeat.  Depending again on the label, I spray between 6-8" and 10-12" away from the models.  I almost always prime multiple models (hello, Tyranid player) at once, keeping them ~4" apart.

The pic at the top of the article is my most recent attempt at the long hoped-for but never-delivered Mycetic Spore wannabe above.  Note the pooling, crazing, and spotty coverage; clearly it isn't done, but after noting the pooling and crazing, I stopped.  It's a tough item to prime, composed of very slick, almost oily, plastic - this is my second attempt - the first was with Krylon, which covered adequately with only a little pooling, but flaked off from very light handling.   Stripped it with Simple Green, and prep washed it very well, ran some fine grain sandpaper over it, and tried a special fine coverage primer (Zinsser BIN Ultimate Stain Blocker) intended to "block water, fire, and smoke stains, sap streaks, and greasy spots, and ideal for 'hard to paint objects' like arts and crafts, wicker, porous wood, spackled areas etc..."  The results as you can see, are less than spectacular.  The frustrating bit is I was priming an old resin Armorcast Exocrine - and it came out the same way: very heavy pooling in flat/depressions, and either no coverage at all in fine detail areas, or it buried them under a pool or very thick layer.  Which makes me believe it isn't the texture/material or material.  I let the paint dry and dumped it right into my Simple Green vat where it soaks as I type this.

Honestly debating switching to a light grey primer - but with the bulk of my tyranid 'core' elements painted with a white base, the color value of new units will be noticeably darker.  Plus the white base lets me do things with blended acrylics that take multiple layers to achieve on a dark primer.  At any rate - if you have any thoughts, ideas, or been able to successfully paint Plasma Hatchers - please drop me a line or two below.  Thanks!

Curse you Blogger! & Old Stuff Day

http://chrisscalf.deviantart.com/art/OLD-STUFF-Grampasaurus-265554561

Loved this pic; I think it captures both the futile "Get off my lawn!" rage I have at Blogger for not updating any of the links on other blogs that link to mine for my recent post, and of course, for the Old Stuff concept.

For Old Stuff day: the question of which post(s) I'm most proud of is relatively easy.  My two reviews of NOVA this year were tough to write, and in writing them I both matured (well.. a little bit) as a gamer and a blogger, having to own up to my mistakes, face my critics, and doing my best to write an impartial review, especially as a member of the tournament staff.  So here they are:

The fanboy unleashed and repentant:
http://midlifegamingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/08/back-from-nova-what-rush.html

The impartial review:
http://midlifegamingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/10/sour-grapes-nova-review-and-soapbox.html
What mattered most to me on this post was TheKingElessar's comment about it being a fair attempt at constructive criticism and fairly written.  TKE has a razor sharp wit and isn't afraid to use it, and the brains to back it up; coming from him I took it as rare and solid praise.

After that - the post I think may deserve a bit more attention addresses something I hold as a core guiding principle -  the importance of creativity and imagination in our lives:
http://midlifegamingcrisis.blogspot.com/2012/01/are-you-pondering-what-im-pondering.html

My most popular posts this year (all time at least) are these - and I haven't the faintest what it is about the first one that gets people here - I'm guessing the pic of Darth Vader with a Tabasco bottle may have something to do with it - but welcome anyway!
http://midlifegamingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/04/updates-and-forum-y-goodness-tyranid.html
Tyranid Library article 3, now with updated links:
http://midlifegamingcrisis.blogspot.com/2010/11/tyranid-library-part-3.html
Swarmy!
http://midlifegamingcrisis.blogspot.com/2010/11/stuck-on-swarmy.html
Tyranids vs. Stelek's litmus test:
http://midlifegamingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/05/ytth-litmus-test-and-tyranids.html
And the post I suspect many have found to be useful, given where I've seen it crossposted:
http://midlifegamingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/07/list-of-lists-etc-2011-tyranid-lists.html

At any rate - my reflection this year is one of bemused frustration.  There have been some killer ups, and pretty rough downs.  Really good times, and days where I haven't left the easy chair in a fugue.  Through it all, I have to smile a little bit.  Starting in a very unfocused way, with only ~65 total posts, closing on 25,000 hits after a little under two years isn't bad.  Thanks for sharing in the journey.  Now get down to your FLGS and pick up those new Tyrannofex/Tervigon and Hive Tyrant models!

Complaining about GW: Is this thing even on?

Having read a few articles about this snazzy new internet thing and social media, I thought I'd take a look at some of tools we have available to get an idea of what these tools would be telling Games Workshop if they were to bother.  Based on the blogs I read, most of them I consider 'mainstream' blogs for the more competitive side of the hobby, my distillation of the dozens of posts were,while mostly positive, many had a strong negative undercurrent.  Nobody is really going to complain about new models after all - especially when for the most part, they look as good as these do (sorry t-wolves, 'nids won the swimsuit and dinner gown competition).  But lots of speculation about the lawsuits, negativity about the size, the two-year delayed release, and GW's staccato business model in general.  So what does all that noise amount to through the lens of a social media analytic?

Report from the Bandwagon: New Models - Same Complaints

In case you've been under a rock and hiding from the 40k blog/forum-o-sphere, GW will be releasing new Tyranid models in March. I could hardly call myself a 'tyranid blogger' if I didn't make some sort of obligatory post about the new models as it will definitely impact the greater 'meta' of the tyranid game.  Not a big impact mind you - first and foremost, tervigons and tyrannofexes use the big oval 120mm base.  Nice to have some official sizing [insert rant about the lack of GW customer service that made this more of a surprise than it should have been here].  Aside from the base size and bulk of the new models, the rest of the impact is probably pretty nil, except to point out that the thousands of players who have scratch-built tervigons and tfexes may buy one or two, but most won't bother, or may buy bits from ebay or elsewhere to trick their scratch-built models up to size spec.  I'll be buying three simply because I haven't gotten around to scratch-building any tfexes and will use one as a reference model for my other tervigons in tournament play to manage 'modeling for advantage' issues.  The next impact to the meta is a probably small influx of new players: with a mostly complete line, the new models will certainly attract some new tyranid players who avoided starting tyranids simply because the price of entry was scratch-building a minimum of two tervigons.  From a competitive standpoint, that's pretty much it.  Which brings up the last line of the title:  same complaints:

Xenos and Chaos on top at Throne of Skulls?

Stats borrowed from Claws and Fists' excellent post and recap here:  http://clawsandfists.blogspot.com/2012/01/throne-of-skulls-final-standings.html

Oh the fun you can have with metrics.  From an average score standpoint: Xenos own 4 of the top 5 slots.  Xenos and Chaos own 7 of the top 10.  But soft scores count: "you also get points based on how many of your opponents nominated you as their favourite opponent of the weekend" - with that taken into account, it's possible to infer that Xenos and Chaos players are more fun to play against.  SinSynn should have a field day with this one.  I'll give the Imperial sc.. uhm.. players a break and make the disclaimer that this was only one tournament, and won't try to make a grand claim that it's a result of finally getting to play against a more diverse field, instead of the usual higher volume of Imperials.  An opportunity for a higher number of people to play armies they enjoy playing, vs. those they play simply to win with.  For ToS, 73 of 128 players were Imperial, just shy of 60% so not a huge disparity.  One could argue that this is 'working as intended' going back to Jervis' WD article about the format encouraging diversity by scoring by codex rather than straight up ranking.  Probably the most interesting metric of all?  Zero Sisters of Battle.  How's that White Dwarf codex plan working GW?