Showing posts with label ShortyK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ShortyK. Show all posts

Thursday, February 12, 2026

Waill and Roll's First Wave is Birthed. (399 points)

It's 6mm Warhammer 40,000, NOT Epic 40k!

Pict Capture of Hive Tyrant on Chordelis

> Reinforcements needed...Hab Block Maximus has fallen...
> Massive Xeno-form nesting in ruins...Bombard location...
> Swarms everywhere...current position compromised...
> Is anybody there?..
> Oh Emperor... It's...
> Ruins of Maximus occupied by gargantuan xeno womb beast...
> Birthing more of the gunner beasts, dozens...
> There's something else...
> I'm taking the shot...
> ...
> It sees me...

I can't believe we are already at the end of January and it's time to post some ShortyK progress.

In order to get a little ahead I started the month by priming and basecoating absolutely everything, it felt really good to tick off a few processes for the entire horde. The real biomass of this months painting however was the following 26 models (points values as per 2nd Edition, where possible): 

1 Hive Tyrant with Venom Cannon, Bonesword and Lashwhip 219 points, 
1 Exocrine N/A points, 
20 Termagants with Fleshborers 120 points, 
3 custom Ripper Swarms 60 points, 
and a 3D printed Tervigon with hand sculpted additions N/A points.
Total points for the month = 399

The vintage Epic40k Tyranid sculpts are a bit of a mixed bag. The plastics are almost two dimentional, reminisent of Egyptian bas reliefs, the metals on the other hand are very characterful sculpts though many of them are radically different from the modern versions of those Bioforms. This is most evident with the Exocrine, a creature that bares no resemblance to it's modern plastic version, here it is a strange bug tank, a flesh gun with seemingly no means of self propulsion. Tee Hive Tyrant on the other hand is a more direct ancestor of the modern beast, I have painted one of the three available Tyrant models, the others shall follow in future months. The Gaunts were very easy to paint and took contrast paints well, I think these Epic40k Tyranid plastics are a little oversized compared with other 6-8mm offerings from GW but that's fine by me, it makes them nicer to paint.


My Ripper Swarms are made from 40k Tyranid Toxin Sacs mounted on Legions Imperialis bases, I saw this done on Reddit a while ago so cannot take credit for the idea but I think they work really nicely. The eagle eyed amoung you may notice that the relative scale of my ShortyK bases is a little fast and loose. My Rippers are on bases that are too big, but I do not care, these are purely for my own enjoyment and this kind of base-scale-wonk is an unavoidable element of this project. Perhaps this will slightly unbalance my games? It remains to be seen.


The Tervigon is a modern 3rd party 3D print, not Old School at all! I know, I know! I'll not be using many modern minis in this project but there will be another couple in future months, I own them so they're getting painted. I had to hand sculpt an extra pair of arms and some head crests on this one in order to make it a true Tyranid.



I'm really just laying the groundwork at this stage, there's so much more to come. Next month Leviathan will be vomitting up more Gaunts, this time with airborn support.




Finally here is a cheeky Blood Angels Terminator that I am sending to Jaakko, this is my first ever Blood Angel and it feels great to tick off such a classic. Of Course I hope he will be ripped open by a Genestealer as soon as possible.



Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Heart of the Swarm - Waill and Roll's 6mm Swarm - Introductory Post

 It's 6mm Warhammer 40,000, NOT Epic 40k!

A base on a base on a base.
My Gaunts are magnetised and ready to rip and tear.

Hello to everyone following this blog, Waill and Roll here (real name Tom). This will be my first year taking part in the Old World Army Challange, it is intimidating company to keep but I shall do my best not to disappoint.

My project is a bit of a weird one, for a couple of years I have been using 6-8mm models, sourced from GW's extinct and extant games, supplemented by 3D printed offerings, to play "travel-sized" Warhammer 40,000. That is to say, completely normal games of 40k  subsitituting all inch measurements for centimetres. 

I have been reffering to these games as "ShortyK" but it remains to be seen if that will catch on or merely induce groans.

What does that mean for my OWAC entry? Well it means I'm going to be painting a whole lot of miniatures.

For this year's OWAC we were asked to select a piece of classic art to act as a jumping off point. As a die hard Blanche fan, I had to go with the chaotic masterpiece below. This piece is contemporaneous with the Epic 40k Tyranid range that I'll be using for the majority of this project and an absolute banger. Every pixel of this image is Tyranid, from the spore choked skies to the tooth filled landscape, even the ground is hidden beneath the tide of chitin.

Chordelis falls to Hive Fleet Leviathan. Exterminus by Virus Bombs ordered soon after this pict-capture.

So how is a 6mm army going to work for the OWAC? Well what we've settled on is each of the little guys will count as 0.2 of a full sized miniature, everything bigger, like a Hive Tyrant, counts as a normal single mini. So most months I shall be painting a full squad of ten little guys along with a handful of larger beasties. Then there's a couple of bio-titans in the mix just to keep things interesting.

I shall be refrencing this classic colour scheme from the 3rd edition Tyranid Codex. An alternative look for Hive Fleet Leviathan. I have not been able to discover if this paint scheme can be attributed to any particular GW staffer, any info on that front would be greatly appreciated.

The Swarm as it stands so far, desperately in need of a Screamer Killer and some Zoanthropes,
but there's time for that as the year goes on.

Pictured above is the horde of minis I have ammassed so far. Things of note include the hand made 6mm spore mines and ripper swarm conversions, both of which I will show off in detail when I get around to painting them. The 28mm spore mine is gallantly standing in as a 6mm Mucolid Spore (a new-hammer Tyranid unit) and finally the big guy in the back is a 3d printed  Hierophant bio-titan.

The swarm as it stands looks something like this:

1x Dominatrix
3x Hive Tyrants
5x Warriors
1x Lictor
20x Termagants
10x Hormagants
10x Gargoyles
10x Genestealers
6x Ripper Swarms
3x Biovores
6x Spore Mines
1x Exocrine
1x Mucolid Spore
1x Trygon
1x Harridan
1x Hierophant

I have a few additions planned for this force beyone what is pictured above, a few more big beasties and poptentially some Genestealer Cult minis (including a Limo?), terrain too I imagine.

For now I shall leave you to barricade your doors, Leviathan is coming...















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