WIP - Qilin Command Car (Chimera)

The Lin Guo forces are known for using a variety of locally produced variants of STC vehicles and equipment. All such variants are approved (sometimes grudgingly) by the Mechanicum, and some are even exported to other forces.

One of the most popular variants is the Qilin armored car, a wheeled version of the venerable Chimera armored personnel carrier. Specifications of the Qilin are very similar to the baseline Chimera - although the wheels mean that it performs slightly better on roads and urban environments, and poorly in muck or off-road environments where tracks are superior. The Qilin is quieter than a Chimera, as it has a slightly smaller and more efficient engine, and the ride is considered significantly more comfortable. As a result, it is a highly prised vehicle; especially with urban forces and commanders that wish a bit more comfort than a lumbering tank.

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So here's the first vehicle of my army, a Qilin (Chimera - the Qilin was an ancient Chinese creature that combined the features of many animals, like a chimera). The major difference, obviously, is the use of a Chapterhouse Studio's wheeled chimera conversion kit (here).

But I also wanted to up my modeling game, so to speak... and while this version is the one that I want to use in this list - I may want to change things up a bit. So, with the magic of magnets:

Fully swappable weapons! It occurred to me that this is also a perfect way to "mark" weapon destroyed results... but then, how about "immobilized" results? Hmmmm....

I'm real pleased with how it turned out - looking forward to painting it. I'm trying to think of a clever way of marking hull points & "Shaken/Stunned" - "wrecked" I can remove the turret and flip on its back... destroyed, I'll put down some sort of crater...

My 2013 army

Wow - I suck at this blogging thing.

So, I'm working on my 2013 army - that's kinda how I do things, I build a new army every year. Although I may stick with this one for a while, and just build on it.

I've mentioned that I like to build theme/fluff based armies, and this one is no different. I also talked about "building with constraints", and I've forced a few serious ones on me this time. But, I like how things are turning out.

So I started out by picking a codex. I went round and round on this one, toying with Tau, Chaos, and Eldar. Tau are my favorite looking army in 40k (my anime love), but rumors are that they're getting a new codex this year. I don't want to build up an army only to find that its invalid - so I'll wait on the Tau. Eldar were appealing - mainly because I've never done them in a tournament. But they are expensive to buy (with lots of finecast and metal) and tricky to play - so pass. Chaos (specifically Iron Warriors) almost pulled me in - but they're kinda the flavor of the month, being a relatively new codex. And I expect we'll see a good deal of them this year (particularly the Heldrake), so I moved on.

That left me with Guard and Marines, and I did marines last year. So Guard it is. I started by re-reading the codex, and reading some Black Library fiction. Then a quick visit to some of the competitive sites to see what's hot in guard-land. Chimera walls. Tons of Veterans. Vendetta Spam. Manticores. Well, we'll take none of those, then :) (I'm a glutton for punishment, apparently - in the end I did take 1 squad of Vets, though).

It occurred to me that all the fiction, the awesome power of the Imperial Guard artillery is often described - but I rarely see it in the tourneys I go to. The wheels started turning. At first I looked at the Basilisk and the Manticore, as they both have GW models available. The Manticore I turned away from, because I see tons of them out there ('cause they're good). The Basilisk is slightly rarer, and a mighty fine cannon. But I spent a moment looking at my other three options:

• Medusa - very cool gun, used them several years ago. Also not traditionally true artillery - its more of an assault gun. For those reasons, wanting to try something new & wanting some basic artillery - I moved on.
• Griffon - now we're talking. Highly accurate, decent stats, and cheap. Quite possibly, this could do the trick... but then...
• Colossus - the big daddy. Expensive, but decimates infantry because... no cover. That's right, you can't hide from this fella. And strength 6 barrage ordnance is nothing to laugh at for small vehicles either. Plus, this is what the Imperial Guard artillery is supposed to be. Big, massive, rain of destruction.

So - Colossus it is.

I started out with the "core" of my force - three Colossi, in separate squadrons. There you have it - an Imperial Guard mortar battery.

But that's not a complete 40k army, of course - we need the HQ and 2 Troops, at least.

The HQ was simple - a plain company command squad, with a Master of Ordnance added in for good measure (more boom).

Troops are more problematic - an artillery company isn't necessarily going to have lots of  troops - so I started looking at veterans. But veterans are just that... veterans. They should be on the front lines, not hanging back with the big guns. So, an Infantry platoon. Then, I decided the platoon needed 3 squads - one for each mortar. These are the men who are intended to defend their assigned mortar, and also get drafted into service when its time to unload ammunition and such. I gave each squad an autocannon, to help crack open vehicles.

But then I needed another troop - and I was beginning to think about other things, gamewise and fluff wise:

• A company, fluffwise, needs its "supporting elements" - a commissar, priest(s), engineseers(s), etc.
• Air is king in 6th addition, and I can't mortar them out of the sky - so how to deal with flyers?
• What other types of units support artillery? Spotters, scouts, engineering teams, and other weapon teams...
• Guard suck at HtH - so how to deal with the inevitable assaults

So in the end, I've added:

• A Lord Commissar with Powerfist and Plasma pistol. He goes with the Vets, although I can move him around (which is why I took him rather than the platoon commissar).
• A priest with eviscerator.
• An Engineseer with a servitor, to keep those mortars firing
• A rough rider squad. Hells yes, I said rough riders. One, they make fine spotters. Two, they're low tech (more on that later). Three, they're decent counter-assault. Four, they'll look cool.
• A ratling sniper squad. More spotters/scouts. I plan on modeling them as normal men, rather than ratlings, though...
• A hellhound. Good at keeping skulkers away.
• A veteran squad equipped as Demolition specialists with a heavy bolter... who ride in
• A Valykrie (not a Vendetta. Why? Because everyone takes Vendettas. Silly me).
• Two missile teams attached to the infantry platoon.

Finally, an idea started sinking in while building them out - low tech. In sixth edition, autoguns and lasguns have the same stats - so, as a modeling project, I could give all my troops autoguns, to make them different. This idea grew, until I decided that every unit on the board would use projectile weaponry (except the Commissar - why? Read your fluff - Commissars are always from off-world) to represent a lower tech world's contribution to the might of the Imperium. So, some self imposed constraints:

• The special weapons of choice are Grenade Launcher and Flamers. No plasma or melta.
• The sole chimera (the Company Commander's) is armed with heavy bolter rather than multi-laser.
• The heavy weapons teams are autocannons and missiles - no lascannons.
• I'm going to model the Valkyrie with some sort of auto/assault-like cannon instead of the multi-laser.

There you go. My master plan for 2013. Fluff wise and visually, its pretty awesome (in my opinion). Game wise - well, its interesting. Against power armor and worse infantry, this army destroys. I've played some test games - and it does real well. But (there's always a but) - against Terminators and heavy armor, there are issues. Against terminators, I just gotta hope for volume of fire. Against AV 13/14, well, I need some luck. Imperial Guard missile teams and Veterans with melta bombs are it. That being said, I do like this list, and look forward to playing it this year.

And for the record - if I was going to play in a highly competitive environment, I would lose the rough riders and priest (at least), and start passing around plasma guns...