November 2009, in point of fact. The current edition of the Cult Mechanicus codex continues to include the Divisio Myrmidae Centurius Assault Engines - in the previous incarnation of the Ad-Mech I'd built one from a Defiler kit, and this test build ended up sitting on a shelf for three years. In the current edition the assault engines are now a monstrous creature and since I felt the size of the Defiler was a bit overboard, I figured this slightly smaller version would work a treat. I happened to have several more boxes of the bits that went into making the one above, so I cranked out another two!
The Centurius is armed with a Heavy Conversion Beamer and a rather fearsome close combat weapon, and have the option to exchange the CCW for another Beamer, so I figured two fire support Centurions and one Centurius Ultima would do nicely. A friend of mine was kind enough to donate a couple flying bases, which worked out well.
The twins are designed for heavy fire support, and will generally lurk in the backfield attempting to lay down long range fire to take advantage of the particular effects of the Conversion Beamers. They also have the option of upgrading to a Helical Targeting Array, giving them the Interceptor and Night Vision traits, meaning they are a threat to any encroaching Deep Strikers. Although they give up the dedicated CCW weapon, they are still no slouches in melee, with three attacks at S6, coupled with the monstrous creature rules.
The 'sergeant' of the Centuria is given the "Ultima Pattern" upgrade, giving it a +1 to WS/BS, and Mechadendrites for an additional +D3 attacks. While it doesn't actually have more wounds or a higher toughness, I thought some leg armor would help him stand out a bit.
All in all a fun set of models to build and paint, and I think the sizing is more appropriate for its stat line. They're not small, by any means, but it's not enormous like the one built from Defiler kit.
Ave Omnissiah!
Amazing and a great amount of kit bashing to top it off!
ReplyDeleteDude, I have to confess... I love these models! Great kit bashing! Easily my favorite of your conversions.
ReplyDeleteThanks folks! It was a fairly simple kitbash - the majority of the model is an old Robogear "Spider" kit flipped back-to-front, while the torso is from a Starship Troopers "Grizzly Exosuit" kit. A bit of guitar wire and plastic rod and they were good to go!
ReplyDeleteMate, you've outdone yourself on these, simply fantastic imagination and execution of an idea. Seriously one of the coolest concepts I've seen on line for a long time.
ReplyDeleteVery, very awesome. Your building skills are simply incredible. Love your colour scheme as well.
ReplyDeleteSuper cool models, and look absolutely perfect for an admech army. What a great find.
ReplyDeleteThese are outstanding, I tinkered with an AdMech force a while ago but that very much pales in comparison. Looking forward to seeing more of this project
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate the kind words, everyone!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely been having a blast building the army, there's lots more to come!
I found out that while the Starship Troopers line was discontinued, the torsos are still available! They've been re-purposed for the Mongoose Publishing Judge Dredd miniature line as "Holocaust Judges". The RoboGear Spider is available on eBay for rather reasonable prices (I think I paid ten bucks for each one) - Those two kits, and you're all set to unleash some robotic doom, for likely less than twenty bucks!