Call to Arms: The Tyranid Attack!

   The Sinclair Memorial Home for Incurable Tyrants is under attack! Tyranid bio-constructs have begun swarming the hills of Ancaster. Every loyal soldier of the Imperium must rise to the defence of th---Guurrckk--Aaaaaaack---Blaaaargh!!!

   This year started with my first tentative step towards building a Tyranid army for Warhammer 40,000, (see here) and so, fittingly, it's going to end with the same project. Thanks to the good people at Black Knight Games, I've signed up for their 14-week Call to Arms painting challenge, and bugs are on the menu!

    A Call to Arms event is a painting challenge where each victim sacrifice nutter participant must complete a fresh 1500 point Warhammer 40,000 army from unpainted to finished by the deadline; In this case Sunday, February 21st.

   Easy, right?

   Right.

   As part of the fun, and to keep us on schedule, Black Knight is hosting a series of events from now until the end. Each one has its own theme, and ultimately will build to a full-scale tournament and a campaign! The whole thing kicked off on Saturday the 14th, and the first event, a Build and Battle, was Tuesday.

 

   Starting promptly at 6pm each player had exactly one hour to assemble a vehicle or monstrous creature, then we all brought our creations to the gaming table to fight it out to the last man/monster/alien. Here's a shot of me frantically gluing big-assed claws onto a Tyranid Carnifex.

"Wait... Where's my Tyranid cannon sprue?!"

   My original plan called for me to mount a big Venom Cannon to my Carnifex beast, but upon arriving at the store I discovered I'd left those pieces behind! Quickly I rethought my plan and made my huge alien monster into a close-combat tank crusher. When the hour was up we all headed to the table.

Fightin' Time!

   Battle commenced with half-built war machines scattered across the table, including a Land Raider with no doors or hatches, and a Tau giant robot with no legs! Each partially completed unit was given a special limitation, to simulate its half-finished condition. Luckily I had completed my beastie on time, so there where no penalties for my Carnifex. I chased the legless Tau across the table, but at the crucial moment I failed my charge by a measly one inch! So close!

   My monster ended up dying first, but it was still great fun, and an easy start for me, as this is only my second game of the current edition of 40K. Stay tuned as I post future events, and showcase my progress on my painting.

And thanks as always for visiting the S.M.H.I.T.!
-Andrew