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Armies of the Jungle List of Armies Armies of the
Jungle: The Kurindans by
Kenton Kilgore
I can easily see Lizardmen playing a part in the 40K universe similar to that of the Gungans of Star Wars, Episode I: a race of “primitives” with little technology and naught but numbers and tenacity on their side (given that this is 40K, however, they would never allow a doofus like Jar Jar Binks to survive past infancy). Though I needed another army like I needed a swift kick to the ‘nads, I built a Lizardmen 40K force called “The Kurindans,” based on a Themed Army Idea I had done. Because Lizardmen are not officially part of the 40K game, I applied the rules from the Tyranid codex to my reptilian warriors. Why Nids? Because they’re a low-tech race that relies on close combat, just like the Lizardmen from the Warhammer fantasy game, and thusly, I could minimize or even negate the need to do any conversions to the miniatures. It’s pretty easy to convince opponents that a Lizardman Saurus Warrior figure with an axe and a spear is the equivalent of a Hormagaunt. By being a “proxy” army, the Kurindans break the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) rule big-time, and I only use them with my opponent’s permission. You might think it would be confusing to play against this army, seeing as how Lizardmen are not currently a part of the 40K range. My experience has been that once I tell my opponents which figures represent which types of Tyranids, they don’t have any confusion.
Army Background
Jungle visitors who have followed this army’s origins in the Themed Army Idea will know that they already have a backstory: the Kurindans—reptilian aliens—briefly established a small empire within the galaxy before falling into a barbaric decline. But where to go from there? Given that 40K is a game all about fighting battles, what are the Kurindans fighting for? Answering that question took longer than I thought. One idea I had was that the Kurindans could be trying to reclaim their lost empire—but that sounded too much like the Eldar. They could be trying to strike back at the Imperium, their former rival for power—but that sounded too much like Chaos and Tau. They could be interested solely in looting and pillaging—but that’s too similar to Orks and Dark Eldar. Being xenophobic, they could be trying to wipe out all other sentient lifeforms—but that’s what Tyranids and Necrons have built their careers on, isn’t it? Eventually, I settled on a motivation that I haven’t seen done very often in 40K: a quest. Led by !Klrt*, a recently-elected tyrant-king of exceptional strength, intelligence, and (for Lizardmen, anyway), charisma, one band of Kurindans has begun traveling among the planets of their former empire, gathering together their scattered people. Sometimes other Kurindans have swayed by !Klrt’s oratory; usually, they submit only after !Klrt defeats their leader in single combat. *The exclamation point at the beginning of “!Klrt” means that when speaking the name, one should press one’s tongue against the roof of the mouth and release it, making a sort of clucking sound.
!Klrt is no mere warlord—he has a vision for the Kurindan race. Once all the Kurindans have been united under him, they will set off for a distant world named only in the most ancient myths. What do they hope to find once they finally reach this place, if it really exists? Certainly not safety and a chance to rebuild—this is 40K, after all, not Battlestar Galactica. No, at the end of their quest, they hope to find redemption—and the destruction of the entire universe. !Klrt insists that the only reason the universe exists is so that the Kurindans could rule it under an empire, with all other races subjugated as slaves. The Kurindans were on their way to attaining that goal when they began to fight among themselves and lost their empire. Having fallen, their people are no longer worthy to live, and neither is the universe that was to be theirs to rule. Therefore, the Kurindans and the universe must die. Mere suicide or allowing themselves to be destroyed by any of the inferior beings—humans, Eldar, Orks—that infest the galaxy would be even more shameful. The only way for the Kurindans to redeem themselves is to travel to the home world of their supreme deity—“The Slayer of Gods”—report their failure, and accept his punishment. So great will The Slayer’s wrath be, !Klrt claims, that it will destroy the physical universe. Those Kurindans alive today are surely doomed, but all might not be lost. If, in their course of their journey to The Slayer’s world, the Kurindans continue to display their bravery and skill at arms, The Slayer might—might—concede that their race still had some small worth. Perhaps, after a long time, the Slayer will re-assume his female form of The Cosmic Mother and re-create the universe and the Kurindan people, allowing them to try again to fulfill their destiny.
!Klrt has convinced thousands of Kurindans to follow him on his apocalyptic quest. The Kurindan people have two species: a small, agile race—Imperial records usually refer to them as “Newts”—and a larger, more physically powerful race—usually called “Troglodytes.” Kurindans are omnivorous, warm blooded, hatch from eggs, and though not unintelligent, lack much of the human capacity for creative thought and independent decision making. While !Klrt’s quest may sound utterly mad to more philosophically sophisticated cultures, it resonates well with most Kurindans who hear of it. Kurindans have an irrational hatred of all other races and almost always attack if they perceive themselves to be stronger, devouring the slain and enslaving the survivors. !Klrt’s followers are gripped by the same xenophobia and are also motivated by religious zealotry, convinced that the more “aliens” they kill, the more likely The Slayer of Gods will deign to re-create the universe. In battle, Newts usually serve as scouts, harassing flanks or tying up the enemy with numbers while the Troglodytes advance and finish off the enemy. A few of the more experienced, battle-hardened Troglodytes ride reptilian mounts that Imperial forces have nicknamed “Dracosaurs.” These mounted Troglodytes serve as captains, directing others. “Dracosaurs” possess intelligence comparable to a horse and are used by Kurindans as mounts. Dracosaurs spit a powerful acid and can make enormous leaps, even while carrying a Troglodyte captain. Mutant Dracosaurs (such as the one used by !Klrt) are larger and have even more potent acid spittle.
When they lost their empire, the Kurindans also lost their knowledge of spaceflight: no matter. On more than one occasion, !Klrt and his forces have commandeered alien starships and forced their crews to take them where they want to go. They also have been able to call upon the warp-manipulating abilities of mutant psyker Kurindans—usually referred to as “Shamans”—to create temporary wormholes through the space/time continuum, allowing whole armies of Kurindans to literally walk from one planet to another. Progress along the quest has been slow. Inevitably, captured starship crews attempt to rebel, sabotage their ships, or are simply killed and eaten by the Kurindans after landing. The wormholes created by Shamans are difficult to create—requiring a great expenditure of psychic energy—and do not extend very far in astronomical terms (stretching, at most, from one solar system to the next closest). In addition to creating wormholes that allow the Kurindans to move from planet to planet, Shamans act as advisers to !Klrt, assisting him in inspiring and controlling the others and helping him to divine the way towards The Slayer’s world. Shamans do not eat physical food—instead, they gorge on the on the spirits of the slain, becoming so bloated that their legs can no longer hold them up and they are forced to levitate to move about. On the battlefield, they unleash psychic bolts of energy that cripple tanks and kill enemy troops, releasing more spirits that they quickly devour.
The Kurindans do not possess any significant technology, but they are aided in battle by several species of reptilian creatures from their home world. These critters have varying degrees of intelligence and can accept commands from Kurindans. Imperial forces who have encountered these creatures have given them descriptive nicknames, used below. “Assassins” are six-limbed creatures with great strength and razor-sharp claws. They seep venom--harmless to Kurindans and their attendant war-beasts, lethal to all others--from their pores. Assassins often skulk in the rear of the Kurindan attack, looking for counterattacker and protecting the vulnerable Shamans.
“Finbacks” and “Spikers” are squat but move very quickly, flinging themselves along with their bellies mere inches above the ground. Approximately as intelligent as dogs, they are used for hunting, running down and tearing apart their quarry.
“Hydrasaurs” are large, sturdy creatures whose multiple heads can spit poison to considerable range, making them ideal to serve as living tanks. Hydrasaurs are approximately as intelligent as gorillas and can fulfill simple orders with minimal supervision. “Carnosaurs” and “Megasaurs” are even larger, more massive monsters who are virtually immune to all but the most powerful weapons and who possess a horrific flame breath weapons. Larger versions, called “Titanosaurs” rival Imperial war machines in size and destructive capability.
Collecting the
Army
After scribbling down what unit types I liked, I went to the Lizardman section of the Complete Games Workshop Catalog and Hobby Reference, 2004-2005 Edition and picked out models that could represent those units. While I was doing that, I spotted certain Lizardman figures that I liked very much, so I went back to the Tyranid book and picked out units that I could apply those models to. A very circular process, the final result of which was that, like many of my other armies, this one grew larger than I had planned. Embarrassing, but there it is. I felt a micro-moment of shame as I was ordering the figures. Then I cackled with evil glee and hit the “Enter” button on my computer to complete the online transaction. Screw the budget! You only live once. Modeling and Painting
Seeing as how my Kurindans already break the WYSIWYG rule just by being a proxy army, I had few compunctions about breaking that rule again when it came to weapons and biomorphs. I did not attempt to model deathspitters, stranglethorns, or rupture cannons: instead, I said these were all breath weapons. Nor did I attempt to put wings on the “Dracosaurs”: even if I had gotten them to fit, they just wouldn’t look good. Because I was working on other 40K projects, I commissioned my friend Patrick Eibel to paint this army for me. I thought that Pat’s very gritty, realistic, “natural” painting style would much better suit the Kurindans than my clean, “cartoony” style. My only requirement was that I wanted the Kurindans painted purple. Why purple? Because it’s one of my favorite colors and it’s not one you often see in 40K games. Though I hadn’t asked him to, Pat wisely chose to paint the mutant “Shamans” and the various Kurindan monsters green instead of purple, which gives the army some contrast. The only figures I painted were the Spikers, the Carnosaurs, and the Megasaurs, which I found after Pat had finished most of the army. The Spikers are Warhammer Fantasy Razordon models. The Carnosaurs are toy dinosaurs I found in my kids' pile of discarded toys. The Megasaurs are inexpensive plastic Godzilla figures that I think perfectly embody the theme of the army. The figures stand over 6" high, much bigger than any of the Lizardman figures, and make for great Tyrannofexes. I’ve nicknamed them “Larry” and “JoJo” after two of the “crockydiles” from my favorite comic strip, Pearls Before Swine.
Current Army List
In the list below, I’ll give the name of each unit, the corresponding Tyranid unit that those figures emulate, and their point value. You’ll notice that in several places, I’ll refer to a group of Kurindans as a “rampage;” this is analogous to a Tyranid “brood” or a Space Marine “squad.”
My army is divided into two sections: a fast-and-choppy part (Hive Tyrant, Shrikes, Stealers, Hormies, Raveners), and a slow-and-shooty part (everything else). Let's talk about the fast-and-choppy part first. The leader of the army, !Klrt, uses the stats for a Hive Tyrant with wings (okay, actually it's his Dracosaur leaping to the attack) to get up in the enemy's face tout de suite. The stranglethorn cannon (represented as a breath weapon used by his mount) has great range and uses the big blast marker, which compensates for his mediocre Ballistic Skill of 3. It can also pin opposing troops, holding them in place and keeping them from firing. Once !Klrt gets in close, it's lights out for the other guys. The lashwhip knocks their Initiative down to 1, and the bonesword can Instant Death harcases like special characters. If !Klrt's wounded, I can use Leech Essence to get his back up, and Paroxysm can mess with a troublesome squad (like, say Devastators, Dark Reapers, or Ork Nobz) until the Kurindans can neutralize them. The Old Adversary ability is just too good to pass up: re-rolls for all Kurindans within 6" in close combat? That's better than Megan Fox doused in Wesson Oil. Well, almost better.
I'm not enchanted by how GW has nerfed the Broodlord (I whine about that a lot here), but I have a model that I can't use for anything else, so one of my Troglodyte rampages is led by a Captain. Trogs (named so in homage of these guys) use the stats for Genestealers, and because basic 'Stealers are just awesome anyway (Infiltrate, Fleet, rending claws, WS 6--what's not to like?), I don't spend any points on upgrades. The models I use for Newts are little Skinks from the Warhammer Fantasy range, and I've waffled on using them as Termagants or Hormagaunts. Currently, I use them as the latter, to provide a screen for the Trogs, if necessary, and to help them wipe out the remnants of opposing squads. Back under the previous edition of the codex, I used to run my Troops as being all Hormagaunts, but even when upgraded with toxin sacs and adrenal glands and such, they weren't that good. I recall very vividly a game against Deathwing where, in one turn, the Hormies literally threw over 100 dice and still only managed to kill 1 Terminator. Moo.
The Troglodytes on Dracosaurs are Tyranid Shrikes. This unit’s primary role is to provide Synapse for the fast-moving Hormies. Without Synapse control, Hormies have the annoying habit of crashing into an enemy (particularly Space Marines), getting beat, and falling back. The Jumping Trogs' secondary role is to provide some shootiness, a quality Nids are lacking. The Dracosaurs are represented by Cold One models, which are assumed to spew a breath weapon similar to deathspitters. While these units will never be confused with a Space Marine Devastator Squad, 15 S 5 shots at BS 3, for each unit, don’t suck (for proxied Tyranids, anyway). Under the previous codex, I often used these figures as regular Tyranid Warriors, and I was tempted to do so again (making !Klrt a Tyranid Prime to lead them), but the idea of slapping wings on them was irresistible. When I first started the army, I had taken five Finbacks (Raveners) with rending claws, scything talons, and deathspitters, but I quickly realized that if I didn’t fire the ‘spitters, I could Fleet of Claw and get into close combat sooner, where Raveners naturally excel. By dropping the ‘spitters, which I probably weren’t going to use anyway, I could afford another Ravener. This is what we call a “no-brainer.”
While wandering around the excellent store Dream Wizards one day, I saw two of the new, kickass Razordon models, and I had to buy them. I call them Spikers, and now my Ravener brood numbers 8. I think Deep-Striking Bugs is a colossally bad idea, so I just deploy my Raveners normally and let them run across the board.
So much for the fast/close-combat units; now for the slower, shootier units. Shamans provide the Synapse control for this bunch, and their various zappy powers are just awesome. The Hydrasaurs, which use the stats for Hive Guard, are great for killing light vehicles ("Hiding your Vyper behind that hill, are you? I think not."). Yes, yes, yes, I know I called Venomthropes crap in the review of Codex: Tyranids, but since then, I have seen the error of my ways. Why? Two words: "Spore Cloud," which gives all Kurindans within 6" a 5+ cover save.
Carnosaurs and Megasaurs are tough and provide decent shooting: I've equipped the former with stranglethorn cannons to take out troops; the latter have rupture cannons to deal with tanks. It would be nice if the Carnies ever got into hand-to-hand combat with someone, but my experience has been that that usually doesn't happen.
For Apocalypse games, I can add on this fellow, below, who will use the rules and stats for the Hierophant Bio-Titan from the Apocalypse book. The Hierophant is a big, nasty, tough-as-nails critter, and it takes only a little explaining to make some of its rules fit this model. In the same way as I did for the HQ Warriors and Carnifexes, the Hierophant’s bio-cannons can be proxied by a breath weapon. I’ll take a cue from Cloverfield and say that the effects of the spore cloud come from scores of loathsome parasites dropping off the monster and attacking anyone nearby.
As of this writing, I haven't played any games with the new codex. I imagine I would rush the Hormies, Raveners, and Shrikes in a pincer formation, with the Hive Tyrant leading the pincer that doesn't have Raveners. Genestealers would infiltrate and rush. The Zoats, Hive Guard, Carnies, and Tyrannofexes would advance up the middle, protected by the Venomthropes. At least, that's the plan. I really like the character of the army and how it's turned out. I’ve won a campaign with it and I really enjoy using it. Right now, it’s probably my second-favorite army, after my Fighting Tigers.
Related Pages
Originally posted January
2005; revised March 2010
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Codex <> Tactics <> Gallery <> Allies and Enemies <> Tales of the Tigers Other Pages:
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