WIP Saim-Hann Army

Frankly this blog post has been long overdue. The Astronomican proudly shows the Cosmic Serpent alongside the winged sword of the Deathwing, but there has a been a bit of a disparity when it comes to content. So displayed here is the current strength of my Saim-Hann Host, which is very much a work in progress... 

I discussed some of my motivation behind this army in one of my first blog posts a few months ago. I want to add to what I said in that article by highlighting the role of a certain blog: The Way of the Saim-Hann. Fritz's great collection of articles, tacticas and photos really inspired me to follow the way of the Saim-Hann myself. It was the first blog that I really got involved in reading and in no small way is one of the main inspirations for my own blog. If Fritz reads this I would just like to express my thanks!

Anyway, back to the Host.

I currently have assembled and painted:

1 Converted Warlock

9 Jetbikes (3 Shuriken Cannons)

2 Vypers

1 Wave Serpent 

1 Falcon

10 Dire Avengers

Any Eldar player will realise that this is not enough for any 1500pts force, which is what I was aiming at when I started. When rumours about 5th Ed. reared their head at the beginning of the year I, like many other Mech. Eldar players really started to get worried about the viability of my army. The new damage chart seemed to ruin our vehicles, true LOS exposed our Jetbikes etc. etc. This lead to me moving on from the Saim-Hann before they were done, and starting my Dark Angels.

However, after some tweaking, I have made a list that I like and that might just work in 5th Ed. So with this blog as my wittness, I commit myself to working on the Eldar during any spare time I may have left from the Tale of Painters project. Before the 15th of October, for example, I'm hoping to be able to not only complete my Dark Angels tactical squad, but also the best part of a Wave Serpent.

So without further ado, here are some more pictures of what I have completed:

Converted Warlock 

This was a fairly simple conversion, but one of my first. It simply involved cutting up one of the metal warlocks and adding an spear arm from the Dire Avengers spure. Simple, but effective!

Warlock & 1st Jetbike Squad

2nd Jetbike Squad

Vypers

These both feature a simple conversion to mount Shuriken Cannons under the hull. I intend to change the turret mounted weapons to Eldar Missile Launchers, to make my Vypers more 5th Ed. viable. 

Falcon

Wave Serpent

Luckily I had the foresight to magnetize my grav tank weapons, making the switch to 5th Ed. easier. Now I'v just got the paint the rest of the weapon options!

Dire Avengers

I love this unit, they never let me down!

So that's my Saim-Hann. You will note that the painting standard is not that of my Dark Angels, but is far better than the Guard. The Eldar mark out a bit of a transition stage, going from simply painting as fast as possible to actually taking some time with my models - a strategy which is paying off! I do intend to go back at some point and give my Eldar a full hightlight and touch up etc.; but that is a project for a long way off!

I'll leave you with some of my real work in progresses for this army, these again are some of my first conversions. Its the only way to get those pesky jetbike mounted HQ's!

WIP Farseer 

This was a tricky conversion as the Farseer has a rather large torso - if I'm being honest it slightly dwarfs the legs and is something I may take a second stab at. This also shows my first and only attempt at green stuffing a cloak.

WIP Warlock

First completed Fire Dragon

The Saim-Hann are a real pleasure to both collect and paint, their bright red colour scheme and exciting (yet difficult to master) playing style mean you will never be bored! I hope some of you found this army interesting and also hope you meet some Saim-Hann on the field soon. If they are played right it will be one of the most enjoyable yet frustrating games you will ever have!