AirCav Reinforcements!

 

Finished just in time for an epic battle against xenos undead, the reinforcements for the Air Mobile Detachment of Straken's II Catachan Regiment finally reported for duty last night.

When I started the AirCav army (waaaaay back ...), it was supposed to be made up entirely of veteran light infantry plus their air transport and gunships at 1750pts. But the combination of a failed Throwdown attempt (2000pts), and the change to standard games in my community to 1850pts, I had to include a Basilisk into the army as a stop-gap measure (though I had immense fun painting it - and the Ordnance is always welcome).

With the release of the Astra Militarum codex, I decided to take the Basilisk out of my 1850pt list and return the army back to its original intended light cavalry plus air elements and no tanks theme. I included a second command squad, which is designated as the second-in-command under bolter-toting half-breed Major Winters. His job is to lead the guys who are already on the ground at the start of the battle (designated as "pathfinders") and take charge of the lead elements until Straken and his assault detachment flies in.

The assault veteran squads flying in with Straken are buffed up by kitting them out for Demolitions. And of course, being assault squads, they had to take advantage of Astra Militarum's new cheaper heavy flamers. I had fun doing these guys up. As I was assembling the models, I realized I had used one of the flamer fuel tanks for a Basilisk conversion (it became a fire extinguisher), so the Catachans stole a couple of Cadian-pattern promethium tanks from the neighbouring 77645th Cadian camp. Then I used solder tin as the hose from the tank to the weapon. I think it works out pretty nicely. I also just realized I forgot to model the guy with the actual demo charge itself. That should be simple enough though, I can paint up a couple of satchels and attach them to the demo charge dude's belt.

One thing that's really cool about the Astra Militarum codex is that my squads can have snipers for just 2pts. And since the squads in Major Winters' advanced ground party is meant to stand-off at range, the snipers fit right in.

Since I removed the Basilisk, I thought that maybe a Master of Ordnance can be a cheap stand-in for a nice large blast Ordnance coming in out of nowhere. Plus, I've had the model for ages (it's the metal one from the original Advisors blister pack), so it had to be done up.

Accompanying the snipers in the long-range role are autocannon squads. I find autocannons to be versatile heavy weapons with good range, decent strength, and a good rate of fire. The autocannons aren't glued in, and I'll be painting up some lascannons as well after this so that I can switch back and forth between the two should I need to. I modeled one of the autocannon teams not firing just to have a bit less uniformity. This is the first time I'm actually using autocannon teams in any of my IG armies ever, and I must say I'm quite happy with them.

Anyways, as soon as the matt varnish dried, the reinforcements were rushed straight into battle to repel a xenos incursion. But that story is for another time ...

Keep them dice rolling.