Tactical Profiles - Dasyu Multi Sniper Rifle

Infiltrating Multi Sniper Rifles, or MSR, are generally a mixed bag. On the one hand, their Camouflage and powerful weapon make them a deadly threat. On the other, their relative squishiness and high cost can turn them into a liability. Fortunately for the Dasyu, its unique traits can minimize the drawbacks and emphasize the advantages.

When using the Dasyu the first thing you need to do is protect your investment. In a faction strapped for points like Aleph, dropping 48 points on a single model that (initially) won’t even be contributing to your Orders Reserve is a big deal, and you need to keep it safe. Too many new players make the mistake of setting up their sniper for a juicy kill only to have their Sniper die right after getting the initial shots. How did that happen? It got hit. While that sounds stupid, the Dasyu is perfectly capable of stacking negative BS modifiers to create a situation where your opponent would rather Dodge. -6 for TO Camo, -3 for Partial Cover, and -3 for Long Range add up to a quick -12. The MSR is especially suited for staying at a distance, and TO lets you dictate the terms of engagement.

What separates the Dasyu from every other Infiltrating Sniper in the game is its V: No Wound Incapacitation. Until you take that first wound, you are essentially invulnerable against any enemy ARO that cannot deal multiple wounds. This is every bit as powerful as it sounds. On the reactive turn you are considerably more vulnerable, but you should still be extremely difficult to hit with more than one shot. Mainly, you’ll need to watch out for units with Flamethrowers, and units equipped with MSV: 2 plus HMG. The former burns off your TO and has decent odds of outright killing you. The latter will likely negate all your defensive benefits, including the range advantage, and Burst 4 stands a good chance of putting you down.

These are all bad people.

Stay conscious of what enemies you go after if you want to get the most out of your Dasyu. Unless you have no other choice, play it safe and destroy targets that can’t properly fight back. Don’t be overly aggressive and don’t give them a fair fight. Just because Infiltration lets you deploy on top of that building at the center of the board doesn’t mean you should. Having such clear LOF with an MSR seems like it allows you to control the board, but what actually happens is that your opponent’s TO counter-unit has easy access to your Dasyu. Even if they don’t have such a unit, being that far up the board makes it much easier for them to get within their Medium Range, turning that -12 BS modifier into a mere -6. Leave that kind of play to your other units and instead use Infiltration to find the best defensive position.

Camping there isn't going to work out like you think.

Sometimes, however, you don’t have the luxury of choice. The MSR is not a very good weapon when forced outside of its comfort zones due to its low Burst and wide range bands. If this happens, remember that the Dasyu still has amazing stats for a Skirmisher and that Double Action rounds at Damage 15 are still very damaging. If your opponent forces the fight into close quarters, the Dasyu is equipped with a Nanopulser which is very deadly against most units and is more flexible than the Mines that most other Infiltrating Snipers have.

Among Infiltrating Snipers the Dasyu is clearly one of the best, even taking its high cost into consideration. Its drawbacks have less to do with the unit itself and more to do with its overall function both within the game and within its faction. As long as you remember the role of a Sniper, the Dasyu will never disappoint.

Big thanks to Penemue for proofreading.

Operation Teutonic Knight - Part 2

I've started a bunch of hobby related stuff in the last few weeks, but until now I didn't get even one to any level of completion. I mostly blame the Canadian winter for this; the many complications it brings have been sapping the little energy I have. I've scheduled things in now, so I should be making pretty solid progress on my hobby activities during the next few weeks.

To start things off, I've done my conversion on the Teutonic Knights. By "done", I mean that the physical conversion is completed. They aren't painted, but that's sort of on my list of things to do, so I do plan on painting them up and posting pictures sooner or later. Also, apologies for the blurry photos. I'm still trying to figure this stuff out.

PanO Teutonic Knight armed with Spitfire

It's essentially arm swaps/repositioning, which is pretty basic stuff, but it took me a good solid chunk of time anyway because none of the arms would attach the way I've put them without cutting, drilling, and very careful Green Stuff work. I also got a sore back because the desk I was working on is too low. I definitely need to fix that.

PanO Teutonic Knight armed with Combi Rifle and Panzerfaust

The first one, with Spitfire, was relatively easy to do because all I needed to do with GS was fill in gaps and smooth it out so it blended in.

The second, with Combi, was even more trouble than I was afraid it would be. I initially just filled the holes in the chest, only to realize it looked really bad. After examining it to figure out why, I found that the Teutonic chestplate simply doesn't work that way and I would need to match the shape and patterns. I only partially succeeded, but it'll have to do. I had to sculpt on part of the right shoulder as well, where it attaches to the body, because that part simply doesn't exist on the model the way it's normally posed.

Overall, I think they look passable and I'm happy to now have my unique little snowflakes. It'll be a long time before I do something like this again though, because I can't stand using Green Stuff for anything other than gap filling.

Minor Progress Update

Just dropping in a small update about my progress with the forest terrain project, because I know it looks like I've been slacking.

The plastic card sheet I ordered has fallen through. I was assured it would arrive just a few days after I ordered it. It didn't, but it wasn't a big deal since they then told me it would be just a few more days, meaning I could still work on it during the holidays. What they neglected to inform me of was that they would be taking an extended holiday break, and be closed during that whole time. Now, three weeks after the initial promised date, they're open again but there's still nothing.

That's too long for me, and now I'm looking for alternatives. For the forest templates themselves, I'm looking at picking up masonite board at an art store. It's fairly cheap and I see no reason why it wouldn't work, although I'll need to figure out a practical way to cut it.

I was also planning on using the plastic sheet for something else. I picked up cheap grey floor tiles at Dollarama some time ago, with the intention of using them as a basic playing surface. The LGS's tables are covered in green felt, which is generally ok, but not for urban environments. I figure the grey colour is close enough to asphalt or whatever, and it should be pretty durable.

One of the tiles, plus Zoe & Pi-Well

Anyway, the tiles need a larger base to stick to so they aren't so loose, and if I'm not getting plastic sheets, I'll probably go with the original plan I had, which is to stick them on foamcore.

Operation Teutonic Knight - Part 1

I liked doing basic conversions way back when I played 40k, and looking back I realized that it was because GW made their models very conversion friendly. Models were separated into distinct, simple, often plastic parts that made swaps possible even for a complete amateur. When I got back into wargaming with Warmachine and then Infinity, I found that although the models looked nice, it was very difficult to do conversions because they almost always involved chopping up a pewter mini and then sculpting detail back on.

Doing that with Infinity's scale is basically impossible with my skill level. I have enough trouble filling in the tiny gaps between joints, and any cut I make will not be clean enough. However, this time I think I've found models that are assembled in a simple enough manner that I can finally do an Infinity conversion: Teutonic Knights.

Both the Combi Rifle and Spitfire model are assembled in roughly the same way: Body, two separate arms, antennae. The arms do not ever join together, meaning that I don't have to deal with an extra hand stuck to a gun or whatever, and can thus do the classic arm swap.

The complication is that the arms are designed to attach at a specific angle, not flat like a Space Marine. To further complicate matters, there are gaps in the chest of one of them, because the arms sort of cross over his chest and these are the grooves for them.

The parts after cleaning but before any conversion work.

The plan is as follows:
-Drill out some of the arm sockets to make room for new arms angling in.
-Pin the arms. I wouldn't normally do this on such large arms, but I'm not attaching them "properly".
-Resculpt gaps between the arms and bodies, arm sections that would have previously been concealed, and of course the large holes in the chest.

The first two steps should be simple enough, but that last one is daunting. I'm mostly concerned about getting that smooth join between the Green Stuff and pewter. Any line at all will be noticeable and ruin the effect. Pulling this off will be a huge boost to my confidence, but messing it up will be devastating.