Playing Dice with the Universe

I got to do a bit more work on my Parasite of Mortrax this weekend. I have added the rending claws and used a Hormagaunt's claw to make the tail spike for his implant attack.  Tail still needs a bit of work around the join.  Overall though I think it is looking quite good compared to the codex picture?  Of course the official picture does not even look like it has rending claws... Next up is my Hive Guard.  I love playing these guys; I think they are the best addition to the codex.  However while the models look lovely they are annoying to play.  The first bit of raised terrain and they tumble over. The only solution is to replace their Impaler Cannons with plastic guns.  I have ripped them off and used warrior Venom Cannons.  The new guns are going to need some more work to make them look less Venomy.  I think some flesh hooks to make spikes on the end will help them mimic the Impaler Cannon and I shall clip off of the spi...

There has been a lot of  recent   discussion about whether the current Tyranid Codex is better than the last one. Of course if you really want to have a look at how tyranids have morphed go read the second edition codex review. Tyranids do not seem to have made any real impact on the tournament scene. This is not helped by the fact that bugs struggle against Mech Guard and Rune Priest armies. The only list I see people still talking about is variations of Nidzilla. While this is not quite such a mono-build as last edition the real choice seems to between how many hive guard and Trygons or T-fex. I can understand why many dislike the codex. Carnifex & Tyrants are too expensive; Hormagaunts lost beast; many units lost fleet, move through cover & assault grenades. Added to which almost all the customisation of units has gone. Personally I think the gains outweighed the losses. Removal of grenades is an interesting, and I think appropriate, design choice. So...