WIP - The return of the Appleseed Landmate

After a month of stalls I have finally picked up my Appleseed Landmate design and am pushing it forward. The last one you saw was the blue prototype. This one is on a completely new design. I wasn't completely happy with the torso and jetpack on that one. They still were too boxy and the triple jet was neat but didn't fit the theme. The second issue was the arms. The were a little too short. Finally the head, it is still headless but I have a plan now and onece my greenstuff shows up I can get to scuplting. Here is a preview.

partially completed suit

Redesigned suit legs. Still working on the leg vents/jets.

pelvis and waist 

Base arms, still working on the hands.

Torso made from a modified FW XV-88.

40K Radio Toys for Tots Display Board

Every year 40K Radio does a charity eBay auction of an army. Last year it was a Waaagh for Tots event with 4 Ork armies crossing the auction block. This time around the focus is the Emperors chosen sons, the Ultra Marines. Those wonderful Smurfs, boys in blue. Well I have issues with the boys in blue so painting some of them as a donation wasn't going to happen. Instead I am donating a display board. The board is 18x24" so not overly large and to keep things interesting it is magnetic.

Since building the board is the easy part. It is just a smaller table after all and there are tons of tutorials on creating one. I am going to focus on the odd part, making it magnetic. There are a few ways to do this. First is use metal for for the base. Simple the only hard part is cutting it to size. Next is magnetic paper. This stuff is pretty neat. It is a paper impregnated with magnetic material. It cuts like paper so it is easy to work with. The last option is magnetic paint. This is the path I went with for this project. The paint is by Rustoleum and it contains small metal particles that allow you to magnetize any surface by covering it with a minimum of 3 coats.

The paint works but there are a few things to keep in mind. First off it is thick, real thick. So roll it on with a short nap roller. It build with each coat and can obscure fine details. Second, it drys to a light texture, if you are doing a cityfight/pavement board you can skip any other texture paint and just use the grain generated by the roller. Finally it is heavy. The paint added a fair amount to the board, especially considering I went overboard and used a thick roller and about 10 coats of the stuff. Do as I say and not as I do if you want make your own. Either way the stuff really works. I can now stick minis anywhere on the board, even in rough areas without worry. Check out the picts and you will completely understand.

completed board

close up

Kroot warrior with magnet in base on rough terrain.

No, the picture is not rotated.

The fig and magnet combo weigh about 6 grams.

Limit yourself - the Forgotten Unit Challenge

Every army has at least 1, some have several. What I am talking about is the unit no one plays for any number of reasons, bad model design, role duplicated in another unit, too expensive to purchase or only available for special order or just generally sucking at their intended purpose. The thing is, playing with the less than desirable units can open up some new tactics, possibly catch your opponent off guard and occasionally give you the tool needed to exploit a weakness in your opponents army. If anything it get those models that were collecting dust onto the game table where they belong.

So here is the challenge, after all what would be the fun in this exercise if we didn't set up a challenge. Build your best 1500 point list using forgotten unit for your army. Tell us the list and the tactical theme for the army. Finally play that list in a few games and let us know what worked, what was different and if you will be using that unit in a few other list based on your results.

Here is my list -
1500 Pts - Tau Empire Roster - ESWAT - Piranha Challenge

HQ: Commander Shas'o (3#, 248 pts)
   1 Commander Shas'o (Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Crisis Bodyguard; Crisis Bodyguard; Missile Pod; Twin Linked Plasma Rifle)
      1 Crisis Bodyguard (Twin Linked Missile Pod; Targeting Array)
      1 Crisis Bodyguard (Twin Linked Missile Pod; Targeting Array)
Troops: Fire Warrior (7#, 190 pts)
   6 Fire Warrior
    1 Devilfish (Smart Missile System; Decoy Launchers; Disruption Pod; Flechette Discharger; Multi-Tracker)
Troops: Fire Warrior (7#, 190 pts)
   6 Fire Warrior
      1 Devilfish (Smart Missile System; Decoy Launchers; Disruption Pod; Flechette Discharger; Multi-Tracker)
Troops: Fire Warrior (10#, 145 pts)
   9 Fire Warrior (EMP Grenade)
      1 Shas'ui (Bonding Knife; EMP Grenade)
Fast Attack: Piranha Light Skimmer (2#, 145 pts)
   2 Piranha Light Skimmer (Fusion Blaster x2; Decoy Launchers x1; Disruption Pod x1; Targeting Array x1)
Fast Attack: Piranha Light Skimmer (2#, 145 pts)
   2 Piranha Light Skimmer (Fusion Blaster x2; Decoy Launchers x1; Disruption Pod x1; Targeting Array x1)
Fast Attack: Piranha Light Skimmer (2#, 135 pts)
   2 Piranha Light Skimmer (Decoy Launchers x1; Disruption Pod x1; Targeting Array x1)
Heavy Support: Broadside Battlesuit (5#, 260 pts)
   1 Broadside Battlesuit (Broadside Battlesuit; Broadside Battlesuit; Targeting Array)
      1 Broadside Battlesuit (Targeting Array)
      1 Broadside Battlesuit (Shield Drone; Shield Drone; Drone Controller)
         1 Shield Drone (Shield Generator)
         1 Shield Drone (Shield Generator)
Elite: Crisis Battlesuit (1#, 41 pts)
   1 Crisis Battlesuit (Flamer; Twin Linked Burst Cannon)
Total Roster Cost: 1499
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The overlooked unit for me is the piranha. It is one of the cooler looking Tau vehicles. I love the TX-42 variant but being Forgeworld I am not including them in this build. No point in me kicking off another Forgeworld rant. The idea behind this build is to strike fast, almost like Eldar. Use the speed of the skimmers to quickly get to objectives and drop off troops so they can dig in. Then use the transports and skimmers to push back or stall the enemy to give the troops some protection. The real power of this is the piranhas speed. 6 of them in pairs can cover allot of ground without getting tied up because of squad size. Covering the rear are a pair of broadsides that are essential to making this work. They are the long range killers for stopping any mech from coming forward. The only issue is they are paired instead of being 2 independent units. It is a small price to pay though to get around the majority toughness issue. Lastly is the wild card, a lone battle suit built solely to attack objective sitters. 

So that is it. Now it is your turn. Lets see what you got.