THE HIEROPHANT

s the larger Forge World models tend to be ideal centrepieces for an Apocalypse army, it's well worth investing time when you put them together. You'll need to file away little bits of extra resin here and there to get the best results, and it's vital that you get pins in the joints if you want your model to be robust enough for gaming. I went so far as to put three pins in each of the limb joints (for tips on building Forge World models, click here).

My abiding memory of putting the Hierophant together was when I was cleaning the freshly-out-of-the-bag parts that made up this most malevolent of beasties. I scrubbed each piece separately with warm water and washing-up liquid; this dissolves any residue of the oily release agent that allows the resin to come out of the mould. There was still a little release agent left on the pieces, giving them an authentically slimy texture. It was a strange feeling cleaning that off, but well worth it. I took care to clean the parts properly with an old toothbrush, because otherwise the undercoat spray would not take and the undercoat would flake off just as I was getting into the painting. It was worthwhile, too, though I did get some very strange looks from people in the staff kitchen wondering why I was cheerfully scrubbing a spiky beast with hot, soapy water.

Anyway, it took me less time to paint the critter than to prepare it for assembly, but it was worth the effort because he's still in one piece after several Titan-smashing games of Apocalypse. I even drilled a hole under the big fella's ribcage and stuck an aluminium rod in the hole to prop him up – this stops the Hierophant from taking all his weight on his scything talon limbs.

PAINT IT BLACK

For details of how I paint my Tyranids, just look in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook on page 176. It's surprisingly simple, and it even works on the really big ones. The basic trick is to undercoat it black, paint a nice bright colour on the carapace and claws, and then just spray-varnish it to hell and back. The natural light picks up the highlighting on the black areas, and the viewer will be too busy checking out the bright colours to scrutinise the black bits anyway. Some painters will probably consider this cheating, but when you're painting an Apocalypse army, that's not really an issue.

The Hierophant: a face only a Norn Queen could love, but insanely dangerous on the battlefield.

LOVELY, LOVELY BIO-CANNONS

Hierophants are the last word in raw Tyranid tankbusting ability. This ability is invaluable in a game where your poor Gaunts and Genestealers are getting pounded into the ground by a tank company's worth of large blast templates or a Baneblade or two. How do you deal with those massed Leman Russ tanks and the Baneblades leading the charge? Simple – invest in one of these enormous gribblies. Each of its two bio-cannons fires no less than eight S10 shots a turn. That's enough to chew up two tanks every Shooting Phase without breaking a sweat. When combined, the bio-cannons should be enough to worry any super-heavy tank or Titan your opponent cares to put on the battlefield. Furthermore, the Hierophant can take a tremendous amount of punishment due to its incredibly high Toughness and Wounds characteristics, and it's every bit as lethal as you'd expect in close combat. Oh, and did I mention it regenerates?

Next: Subterranean Swarm and The Endless Tide
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