Army Showcase – Part 2

What’s that? You want to hear and see me brag and show off more of my stuff? Well… alright… I guess I’ll quickly whip some models together and snap some candid, unedited pictures….

Welcome to Chapter 2 of “Countdown to Vegas”! Last week I showcased (read : showed off) one of my Ranger squads… so this week I figured I’d talk about their transport vehicles – The great CHIMERA!

As I’ve mentioned before; I have utter faith in my lowly Ranger (Guardsmen) to take on the toughest threat…. but I’m no fool… and Nautica does not idly throw it’s men towards death.

So to even up their chances against tougher units (read : everything) many of them are equipped to ride in Chimera transports, or as they are known in Nautica “Ranger Armoured Transports”, or “R.A.T.s”

Nautica doesn’t have the religious superstition of the Imperium… and treats its vehicles how they should be treated : like vehicles. They have no problems upgrading guidance systems, automation, and even the hull design to better suit the rapid-deployment needs of the N.A.F. Who needs the machine god! Bah!

Large portions of the Nautican industrial base is committed to producing military vehicles, thanks to the ever-looming threat of invasion. The Nautican system, though a speck compared to the massive Imperium, outproduces it’s larger rival per-capita by a huge amount, eclipsing many Forge World systems in terms of output. This is a thanks to the freedom Nautican’s enjoy to innovate and improve existing institutions (as opposed to the the Imperium, which is often slowed by ancient methods that have not been improved in centuries), as well as a concentrated access to resources. (For more on Nautica, keep checking back – next week I plan on diving more into the history of Nautica, how it came to be, and how it operates in present time)

Is it an armour 12 spam list?! Hell yeah it is! Since my play style is to inflict maximum ranged combat on my enemy, but requires me to be on the move while doing so, the Chimera is my ace in the hole. For a meager 55 points you get a multilaser and a heavy flamer (Or, in the case of the above vehicle, I’ve taken it with a Heavy Bolter and Heavy Stubber to pump out a ridiculous 9 shots for 65 points)

My own arrogance about my guardsmen aside, it is probably one of the most cost effective transport vehicles in 40k.

Basically the job I task these vehicles with is supporting my all-important, scoring, infantry squads. It can take a while to bring down an armour 12 tank… and often by the time you do, you’re weakened enough for the flamethrower-toting infantry squad to finish you off.

Obviously I’m a fan of details… and it’s easily my favorite part of painting a model (not building them. Barf.) In keeping with the graffiti theme of my army, I’ve opted to attempt a hand-painted look to the tanks personalization (like names, logos, etc that the troops have painted on themselves)

The tanks follow the same colour scheme as the infantry, but are muddied up more to hint at the fact that they are trudging through rubble and whatnot.

As you may notice (if you’re a keen Warhammer player) is that the turret is taken from the Space Marine Predator tank. A simple conversion to make the tank look more modern (Nautican engineers are constantly cramming high tech gear into their vehicles).

The treads themselves are also mounted backwards – this is to give the vehicle a similar look to the US Bradley vehicle (Google it, you should see what I mean) of which the entire vehicle is based.

Note that tanks are not my strong point. I struggle creating a realistic look to armour… but I think the sponge-mud look is an improvement on what I’ve usually done.

STRENGTHS : The Chimera is easily one of the most point-effective transports in the game. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen Ryan waste 5 Long Fang shots only to have nothing happen. What’s more, they are fully capable of knocking a wound or two off of a large Monstrous Creature one turn, and torching a swarm the next! And even if they don’t do a lot of shooting, they get right up in the enemies face and keep him holding back in his lines.

WEAKNESSES : The Traffic Jam – I’m learning ways around this, but with so many vehicles (I have 4 Chimeras, 2 Hydras, 1 Manticore, and 2 Vendettas in my 1500pt list) things can get a little crowded… cutting off my own fire lanes and getting immobilized (blocking off driving routes) is a common problem. The vehicles also have a nasty habit of hurting the troops inside them when they explode… and even with the most sophisticated armour Nautica can provide (FLAK armour – the highest grade!) I still find myself losing half a 10 man squad when they go up.

Hope you all enjoyed Chapter 2 : Countdown to Vegas! I’m up in the air over what to show off next… but it’s leaning towards either some artillery, my command team, or some of my vaunted air power! Any thoughts? Looking forward to hearing all of your comments and criticism!