Hivestorm Redoubt

I have discovered that I am very good at sculpting anuses.  This is a slightly worrying revelation given that I wasn't particularly happy with any other feature of my Hivestorm Redoubt.

Access and egress by means of sphincters

Well, that's not completely true.  I was happy with the spikes on the front of the central bunker, but anyone with a keen eye will spot that these are actually the dorsal quills from a Harpy kit and I added them almost as an afterthought.  The smaller ones are the horns from old Chaos Space Marines models.  I didn't even know I owned any CSM until I unearthed them last week.  I think they belonged to one of my sons.

bunker slits are digestion grilles for Rippers to enter

Apart from that, and the Tyrannofex Acid Sprayers (one generously donated from Chris), the entire thing is scratch built. I haven't mounted it on a base or used terrain to stop it looking like a triffid in a plant pot and I don't think I'll bother.  It was a bit of a pain in the arse to build to be honest and I think I'll go back to kit bashing in future which is more fun and less time consuming.  Also, I used an obscene amount of hot glue, plasticard and green stuff and had to replenish my supplies.  The total cost of this folly probably doesn't fall far short of an actual Firestorm Redoubt.

I used bits of sea shells to make the turret maws more spiky

But its not all bad and some of the features of my Hivestorm Redoubt did get the creative juices flowing.  I got to thinking about it's general purpose in the Tyranid environment.  I've built it to look organic, almost like it has grown out of the ground and I wanted the rules to fit the look.  So I've decided that it is birthed on top of a digestion pool and 'caps it off', providing a defense against enemies seeking to cut the Tyranid supply lines by destroying the biomass accumulated during an invasion.

You can claim this fortification by crawling inside any one of five anuses.

The overall dimensions and layout remain very similar to a regular Firestorm Redoubt but some features are my own.  I've used sphincters instead of doors and spikes instead of battlements.  The bunker fire points at the front are 'Ripper swarm digestion grilles'.  The Quad Icarus Lascannons are 'Gestalt Biomass Whips' which fling a combination of Bioplasma and Warp energy goodness at enemy fliers, a bit like a trebuchet.  I enjoyed the idea that they don't just 'shoot' ammunition but hurl it like a slingshot.  Its much more alien and exotic.  I'd love to say that this was the idea from the beginning but it just sort of happened.  Nevertheless I'll enjoy fitting the rules into my own fluff and accidental modelling features.

I reckon it all started with the carpet bombing attacks by Imperial Guard during the battle for Ichar IV...

I need to paint it.  I think it currently looks a bit like a strange wedding cake