TheChirurgeon's Road Through 2025, Part 45: Paint Panic Starts to Set In

Welcome back, Dear Reader, to my ongoing hobby and competitive progress series for 2025. Previously on Road Through 2025, I was testing Veterans again and settling on my final list for the 2025 World Championships. I wasn't quite sure I was there, but after a game against Norman I felt like I needed to go back and test Veterans of the Long War again. I just don't really have the right pieces to make the best use of Creations of Bile, and it felt more like I really wanted to have Oath of Moment when I was using the Obliterators and Vindicator.

List submission was last Friday, so I had time for one last practice game to sort things out before I made a final call. I called up my buddy and Ottawa teammate Erik to come over and help me out, and we got in one last pre-submission practice game. At this point I've once again pared things down to make room for the units I need to paint - the Vindicator is definitely in, but I'm removing the Noise Marines and sticking with the Raptors. A unit of Plague Marines might be better, but at this point I'm taking what I have painted and the Raptors can be a useful scoring piece who are good at harassment in a pinch.

My List - Click to Expand

wcw night lords (2000 points) Chaos Space Marines Strike Force (2000 points) Veterans of the Long War

CHARACTERS

Chaos Lord (100 points) • Warlord • 1x Daemon hammer 1x Plasma pistol • Enhancement: Mark of Legend

Cypher (90 points) • 1x Cypher’s bolt pistol 1x Cypher’s plasma pistol

Fabius Bile (85 points) • 1x Fabius Bile • 1x Chirurgeon 1x Rod of Torment 1x Xyclos Needler • 1x Surgeon Acolyte • 1x Surgeon Acolyte’s tools

BATTLELINE

Cultist Mob (50 points) • 1x Cultist Champion • 1x Autopistol 1x Brutal assault weapon • 9x Chaos Cultist • 9x Autopistol 9x Brutal assault weapon

Legionaries (90 points) • 1x Aspiring Champion • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Heavy melee weapon 1x Plasma pistol • 4x Legionary • 1x Balefire tome 4x Bolt pistol 1x Boltgun 1x Chaos Icon 4x Close combat weapon 1x Havoc autocannon 1x Heavy melee weapon

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

Chaos Rhino (75 points) • 1x Armoured tracks 1x Combi-bolter 1x Combi-weapon 1x Havoc launcher

Chaos Rhino (75 points) • 1x Armoured tracks 1x Combi-bolter 1x Combi-weapon 1x Havoc launcher

OTHER DATASHEETS

Chaos Bikers (70 points) • 1x Biker Champion • 1x Chaos Icon 1x Close combat weapon 1x Combi-bolter 1x Power fist • 2x Chaos Biker • 2x Astartes chainsword 2x Close combat weapon 2x Combi-bolter 2x Meltagun

Chaos Predator Destructor (140 points) • 1x Armoured tracks 1x Combi-weapon 1x Havoc launcher 2x Lascannon 1x Predator autocannon

Chaos Vindicator (185 points) • 1x Armoured tracks 1x Combi-weapon 1x Demolisher cannon 1x Havoc launcher

Chosen (250 points) • 1x Chosen Champion • 1x Bolt pistol 1x Boltgun 1x Chaos Icon 1x Power fist • 9x Chosen • 6x Accursed weapon 9x Bolt pistol 3x Boltgun 4x Combi-weapon 2x Paired accursed weapons 1x Power fist

Nemesis Claw (110 points) • 1x Visionary • 1x Plasma pistol 1x Power fist • 4x Legionary • 1x Accursed weapon 1x Astartes chainsword 4x Bolt pistol 4x Close combat weapon 1x Nostraman chainglaive 1x Paired accursed weapons 1x Voice Eater

Obliterators (160 points) • 2x Obliterator • 2x Crushing fists 2x Fleshmetal guns

Obliterators (160 points) • 2x Obliterator • 2x Crushing fists 2x Fleshmetal guns

Raptors (90 points) • 1x Raptor Champion • 1x Plasma pistol 1x Power fist • 4x Raptor • 4x Astartes chainsword 3x Bolt pistol 1x Plasma pistol

Warp Talons (270 points) • 1x Warp Talon Champion • 1x Warp claws • 9x Warp Talon • 9x Warp claws

Exported with App Version: v1.43.0 (102), Data Version: v705

It's... not bad, but it's a bit of a compromise. I like the Vindicator a lot, but at this point I'd have been better off removing the Nemesis Claw and Raptors in favor of something with a little more shooting power. I do think Plague Marines would have been solid here, giving me enough mix of melee + shooting punch and extra durability to act as an okay stand-in for the Noise Marines, particularly if they're running around using Firing Deck to shoot out of the top of the Rhino.

Practice Game: vs. Erik's Aeldari

Eric was more or less running Mani Cheema's Aspect Warriors list. It's pretty much a worst-case scenario for me, because it is running three units of Banshees.

Erik's List - click to Expand

Aeldari Aspect Host Strike Force (2,000 Points)

CHARACTERS

Asurmen (125 Points) • Warlord • 1x Bloody Twins • 1x Sword of Asur

Fuegan (120 Points) • 1x Fire Axe • 1x Searsong

Jain Zar (105 Points) • 1x Blade of Destruction • 1x Silent Death

Lhykhis (120 Points) • 1x Brood Twain • 1x Spider's Fangs • 1x Weaverender

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

Wave Serpent (125 Points) • 1x Shuriken cannon • 1x Twin bright lance • 1x Wraithbone hull

OTHER DATASHEETS

Dire Avengers (75 Points) • 1x Aspect Shrine Token • 1x Dire Avenger Exarch ◦ 2x Avenger shuriken catapult ◦ 1x Close combat weapon • 4x Dire Avenger ◦ 4x Avenger shuriken catapult ◦ 4x Close combat weapon

Falcon (130 Points) • 1x Bright lance • 1x Pulse laser • 1x Twin shuriken catapult • 1x Wraithbone hull

Fire Dragons (220 Points) • 2x Aspect Shrine Token • 1x Fire Dragon Exarch ◦ 1x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Exarch's Dragon fusion gun • 9x Fire Dragon ◦ 9x Close combat weapon ◦ 9x Dragon fusion gun

Howling Banshees (95 Points) • 1x Aspect Shrine Token • 1x Howling Banshee Exarch ◦ 1x Executioner ◦ 1x Shuriken pistol • 4x Howling Banshee ◦ 4x Banshee blade ◦ 4x Shuriken pistol

Howling Banshees (95 Points) • 1x Aspect Shrine Token • 1x Howling Banshee Exarch ◦ 1x Executioner ◦ 1x Shuriken pistol • 4x Howling Banshee ◦ 4x Banshee blade ◦ 4x Shuriken pistol

Howling Banshees (95 Points) • 1x Aspect Shrine Token • 1x Howling Banshee Exarch ◦ 1x Executioner ◦ 1x Shuriken pistol • 4x Howling Banshee ◦ 4x Banshee blade ◦ 4x Shuriken pistol

Rangers (55 Points) • 5x Ranger ◦ 5x Close combat weapon ◦ 5x Long rifle ◦ 5x Shuriken pistol

Rangers (55 Points) • 5x Ranger ◦ 5x Close combat weapon ◦ 5x Long rifle ◦ 5x Shuriken pistol

Swooping Hawks (85 Points) • 1x Aspect Shrine Token • 1x Swooping Hawk Exarch ◦ 1x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Hawk's talon • 4x Swooping Hawk ◦ 4x Close combat weapon ◦ 4x Lasblaster

Swooping Hawks (85 Points) • 1x Aspect Shrine Token • 1x Swooping Hawk Exarch ◦ 1x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Hawk's talon • 4x Swooping Hawk ◦ 4x Close combat weapon ◦ 4x Lasblaster

Swooping Hawks (85 Points) • 1x Aspect Shrine Token • 1x Swooping Hawk Exarch ◦ 1x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Hawk's talon • 4x Swooping Hawk ◦ 4x Close combat weapon ◦ 4x Lasblaster

Warlock Skyrunners (45 Points) • 1x Destructor • 1x Shuriken pistol • 1x Twin shuriken catapult • 1x Witchblade

Warp Spiders (95 Points) • 1x Aspect Shrine Token • 1x Warp Spider Exarch ◦ 1x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Death weavers ◦ 1x Spinneret rifle • 4x Warp Spider ◦ 4x Close combat weapon ◦ 4x Death spinner

Warp Spiders (95 Points) • 1x Aspect Shrine Token • 1x Warp Spider Exarch ◦ 1x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Death weavers ◦ 1x Spinneret rifle • 4x Warp Spider ◦ 4x Close combat weapon ◦ 4x Death spinner

Warp Spiders (95 Points) • 1x Aspect Shrine Token • 1x Warp Spider Exarch ◦ 1x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Powerblade array • 4x Warp Spider ◦ 4x Close combat weapon ◦ 4x Death spinner

Exported with App Version: v1.41.0 (3), Data Version: v685

The Banshees sporting Fights First and [ANTI-INFANTRY 3+] weapons are my nightmare here. My general plan for them has to be to not give them charges into my units until I've whittled them down to 1-2 models, and to do that in part by staying in my transports. My other plan is to mark the Banshees as an Oath target, then if they charge me and I have 2 CP up I can use the Stratagem to Fight First and kill them before they strike. That's enough of a deterrent to stop one of them, anyways.

There's a lot of utility here, and that 10-model unit of Fire Dragons is more or less able to kill any vehicle it wants turn 1 if it wants to bad enough. I need to try and play around it, and force myself to remember that it can't be Overwatched.

The Mission: Hidden Supplies + Search and Destroy

I win the roll-off to go first, which is not what I want - I don't want to play aggressively here at all. I move up with my Vindicator and try to get shots off on the Warp Spiders but I'm a bit out of range. This was a huge mistake; I should have moved back and protected the tank a bit, and instead I got too aggressive without getting Erik to give anything up. The problem is the Fire Dragons can get out, not be overwatched, shoot my tank to death, then just hop back in their transport, so they aren't even caught out in the open. I lose the Vindicator on turn 1 for almost nothing as a result. I have a decent set of draws turn 1 but some rough dice stop me from killing Erik's unit of rangers on the middle of the table.

I catch a break on turn 2 when the Wave Serpent explodes and takes out a number of Erik's models - this is good, but unsustainable. On the following turn I position my Cultists to move block his Banshees and use their reactive move to further block here, but enough of his fire dragons survived that they can easily kill my Predator and Rhino with help from the Falcon and some bad saves on my part. Hilariously, the Predator also exploded, dropping Jain Zar's unit down to just her. She then failed a 6" charge and couldn't re-roll it as she was standing in Cypher's aura range. He shot her to death the following turn.

This game was brutal. I more or less never felt like I had the right Oath target, because too often I was tagging the banshees to keep them from charging, and holding up extra CP to fight first. What I needed to do was be more proactive about positioning to get back into my transports. I also forgot to ingress my Warp Talons and that cost me pretty dearly, and I think in retrospect I should have just started them on the table - Erik putting rangers in the middle of the board and Swooping Hawks in the top ruin meant I could just get off a turn 1 charge with them and pick them back up after, and that would have been a much better play (and use of my ingress CP).

I dropped all the Obliterators at the bottom of the table early to use them to crack open the Wave Serpent, but they were not as effective as I'd have liked after that. One survived pretty far into the game but wasn't able to weather a storm of Warp Spider shooting long enough to really cause problems.

We both throw haymakers at each other but going second is more than enough to tip this one fully in Erik's favor - I run out of units to contest him with and he can outrun me around the table. He spends his final turn just falling back and scoring, and with 15 free VP from the primary he takes this one, 81-59.

Result: 81-59, Loss

I definitely got some help here from the first vehicle explosion, but I've learned some key lessons. The first being that I need to be way more cautious with the Vindicator. That turn 1 move was awful, and I needed to force the fire dragons to come out into the open. Or put it in strategic reserves. On that note I think the Warp Talons needed to start on the board. I can keep them just out of charge range for Zar's unit or screen them, then spend my turn hopping over my own units to kill one of Erik's and then pull them up into space. That's a good pair of lessons learned. I also need to just get better about going back into the transports with the reactive move. That wasn't really something on my radar until this game but it makes sense.

Finally the bikes in this mission probably make a better unit for attacking banshees. Between their shooting and not being INFANTRY, they can likely scrap with the banshees and take out a unit of five, and that's a trade worth making.

I ended up submitting this list. I can't really afford to put more stuff into my painting queue and I'm confident that with more practice games I'll settle down on my aggressiveness and get to a good place with the army.

Hobby Progress

Ah shit we're starting to really get down to the wire now. As I headed into this week I had 2.5 Obliterators to finish, Cypher, five Chosen, and four Warp Talons left, plus however many additional Cultists I wanted to throw on top of that.

That's a lot, so I decided to pick up the pace. I was able to knock out all of the Obliterators over the weekend, and I added one Chosen and Cypher on top of that. The Obliterators turned out great, and I'm pretty sure I'm done painting them for a while, at least until I eventually pick up Iron Warriors. I swapped out the heads on two of them for Night Lords heads to give them more variety and one of them arrived with the chaingun snapped off (he was a gift from Goatboy), so I replaced that with an old Reaper Autocannon from the fifth edition Terminators kit.

Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

The Chosen I decided to convert from the Dark Vengeance Aspiring Champion model. You used to be able to get these for like six dollars on Ebay because no one wanted the seventh edition boxed set. Fun times. Swapping his head was a bit of a pain - the original head is part of the body so it had to be cut out completely and his collar sanded - and I replaced both of his arms with more night lords specific options. He'll likely end up being a combi-weapon Chosen.

Finally there was Cypher. There's nothing special about what I did here - he's just a bog-standard, regular Cypher model, painted as quickly as I could manage while still being up to my standard. The lighting on the cloak wasn't as bad as it looks; it's just mixing Baharroth blue and Wraithbone with the occasional touch of Aethermantic Blue.

Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

That's some great progress. It leaves me with four Chosen and four Warp Talons to paint in the next week, and most of them already have paint on them so I think I can manage to get 1-2 done per day before then. It'll be a lot of work, but I think I can manage. It'll mean I won't have time to work on the display board, but I can live with that.

Next Time: The Final Pre-Event Update

That’s it for this week, but I’ll be back next week with the final update before the event. Right now it's all painting and while I'm frantic, I'm not fully panicked... yet. I need to also get in some practice games and my hope is that I can get in three more before the event. That's a tall order and will eat a lot of painting time, but I need all the reps I can get before the event starts.

See you next week.

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