Virago

Here is the Virago!  Now most Tyranids seem to be named after either derogatory terms for woman or odd organs and bodily processes. Looking at my Big Beasty I decided I had to go with a derogatory term for a woman as I felt it was very feminine. Virago however is not just derogatory it also signifies a warrior aspect; a strong woman. 

Would you look at that two other Nids are mentioned as Similar

Taking it to the Tournament I dubbed it the Virago Pattern ShadowSword as it was counting as a Shadowsword. The tournament however hadn't even begun and I was getting questioning looks and people confirming if the TO had okayed it. Mainly from an Imperial Guard player who said that in alot of Tournaments he struggled to move his Guard Super Heavies due to their width. This was due to how the alot of tables were building heavy with Terrain in New Zealand Tournaments at least and his tank often couldn't fit down the main street of the tables let alone any alley ways. And fair enough despite being longer and slightly taller mine was about half the width and really did go wherever it pleased.

              


Onto the First Game, my Opponent one of the best in New Zealand rolled his eyes when I mentioned it was a ShadowSword and for the sake of me not gaming for advantage wanted to check the table for terrain pieces that a normal ShadowSword could not take cover behind but mine would, arguing that they couldn't block line of sight. Of course I agreed, I didn't want anyone thinking it was done for advantage, the conversion was purely for aesthetics. Thankfully we were playing on Pete Dunns Airport crash table where there is either no terrain or huge terrain and it was agreed that we didn't have to make any changes to how we dealt with line of sight. 

     

In the Second game I was once again asked are you sure and that I had the TOs permission. My opponent said if it was his choice it was a no go (He did mention he would accept it as a Barbed Heirodule) but as I had the TOs permission (which he added was not sure how that happened) then that would be the last he said on the matter as I had the 'go' from the one person that mattered (Thanks Hagen). He then promptly detonated my Warlord on the first turn to teach me a lesson. When the Virago returned fire on the Riptide sticking out I forgot to check and yes hidden out of sight but next to it was a large squad of Shield drones. The Virago died next turn and I had wasted the one round of fire it had graciously been granted.

In game 3 I had now lost both my games so hard that I was against a young and enthusiastic player who really didn't care about gaming for advantage he just thought it and my army looked really cool, he was the first opponent to praise its looks. This was a fun and chill game and much needed as I was basically asleep at this point, I lost despite it being a close game due to the fact he picked the deployment side with the Superior Objective and I got the Inferior because otherwise we were tied on score and held the same number of objectives at end of game. 

Game 4 I got the one opponent who was there entirely for the Pretty Toys, Photos and the Smooth Ass I had just sold him. He was quite happy with the aesthetic of the Virago and the counts as (or at least I was led to believe so).

For game 5 I got another experienced player but this time they were all good with the Virago and thought it was awesome that on first glance my army looks like a Nids army until you inspect it and find the Genestealer detachment and the Virago. He won first turn and promptly made sure that Virago was looking good from the side lines instead.

Overall I think I got about 6 or 7 people expressing that they thought it was cool over the course of the tourne and about 4 people who thought it shouldn't count as a ShadowSword some went further to say it would be a good counts as for a Barbed Heirodule but sadly most NZ tournaments are very strict on ForgeWorld models and don't allow counts as or in Hagens case anything FW with the titanic keyword. 

Additionally I don't think I played the army or the Virago right, it should have been more forward and aggressive or hidden better and I hid it in the matches I shouldn't have and left it out in the open on the matches where it should have stayed hidden. Moral of the story is that sleep is important if you want to play well.

Going into 9th it will be costing me an arm and a leg in terms of CP to play it as a Shadowsword in a Nids army and even then the Barbed Heirodule will cost a fair chunk of CP. So despite it now being my favorite model I will be hamstringing myself to put it on the table.

Last but not least for I did hint at it, here is the first draft on the next character for my Genestealer detachment. Please take a guess at what you think its going to count as.