Convergence

Everything has arrived except one multi-melta I'm still trying to source.

Here's a group photo:


Most of this stuff will get used. Some of the paint wont as well as most of the Black Templar's chapter upgrade (not exactly what I'd hoped). The flat thing on the left is decal paper.

So, I begin building/converting the marines tonight!

Pre-Heresy iron Warriors Project: Beginnings

I've gotten most of the materials I need to get started on this new project. However, I still await the arrival of my Forgeworld Red Scorpion parts. These are kinda key as I need them to complete 20 of my 31 marines. So, while I'm waiting, I've decided to post my, probably non-optimal, army list.

Note: I'm still playing around with some of the specifics of the equipment, so this list has changed a bit. Changes are highlighted in red.

HQ:
Master of the Forge (120)
- storm bolter, power weapon

Elites:
10-man Sternguard Squad (355)
- power fist, 5x combi-melta
- Drop Pod w/dethwind launcher

Troops:
10-man Tactical Squad (220)
- Power Sword, flamer, multi-melta
- Rhino

10-man Tactical Squad (220)
- Power Sword, flamer, multi-melta
- Rhino

Heavy Support:
Whirlwind (85)

Total: 1000

I'm aiming at taking a fairly fluffly force with this list. I have the master of the forge and Whirlwind for obvious reasons. The tactical marines are in there as solid troops and an excuse to do some converting and the Sterngaurd are there because I love their models and rules.

the idea is to drop the Sternguard (with the Master of the Forge) into an enemy weakpoint while the rest of the marines move up under covering fire from the Whirlwind. I'll have to let you know how that goes for me once these guys actually see comabt.

Quick Hits - Vol. 2

More on the Dark Angels
I was rushed for time last post (I was at work a the tail end of my day) and missed a few things.
As I mentioned last time, the new Marine codex trumps the Dark Angels codex in almost every way.

Fore example: even though there are pieces of equipment in both books, they may have different and MUCH better rules in the new book. Add in the fact that the new marines have a ton more rules, options and cheaper costs than the Dark Angles and you have a codex that was already regarded as 'blah' get moved down to 'terribble' in the face of the new marines.

Then there's the new FAQ. A lot of people had high hopes that GW would give some love to the Dark Angles. GW had other ideas. We got this "most important rule' bullshit that says DA players can use the new toys, but ONLY if they get permission from the other player. these choices are not detailed and are not a given that I can even use them. This was the final nail in the coffin for me. My Dark Angels will gather dust until they get a new/decent codex.

The New Project: Prelude
So, I've gone on and on about the new codex and how the DA book is shit compared to it. After making the decision to not pursue a fully painted Dark Angels army, I decided to jump ship for the new toys.

Around the same time, I picked up the first three books in the Black Library Horus Heresy series. They're pretty good read - decently written pulp sci-fi dripping with tons of details what were always vague in the game-book stories.

Also around the same time, I found this thread on DakkaDakka: Iron warriors.
This guy's stuff is amazing - his use of found objects, his simple and effective color scheme and his fan-fucking-tastic comversions. Blew me away.

Additionaly, I found a series of pretty neat pre-heresy Death Guard articles on the Bell of Lost Souls.

So, all of these things inspired me to build a pre-heresy Iron Warrios army using the new codex. I also picked up a copy of the Horus Heresy art book to act as inspiration. Best art book I've owned and a steal at 30 bux (400+ pages!)

Iron Warriors and M:TG
Things have been a little tight with money lately, so I don't have the freedom to drop a ton of money on gaming projects. To that end, I had been trying to sell my Magic collection. its been years since I played, and I probably wont in the coming years. So why not turn those things into cash?

I first tried to get a quote on my collection from Star City Games. I wanted to sell it all at once and avoid the hassle and expense of ebay/paypal fees. No dice. I got strung along for almost three months and then got an insultingly low offer. I then turned to ebay and began selling singles. Kind of a bummer to break up the collection, but its actually fun to sell these things and its brought me a pretty good profit. Enough to buy everything I needed for my initial 1000 points.

Note: when selling MTG cards on ebay, list internationally. The shipping isn't that bad and the number of potential buyers is crazy. Tons of people want cards in English who live on non-english speaking countries and a ton of sellers don't ship internationally. Make money on those people's shortsightedness.

Iron Warriors Pre-prep
So, at this juncture I'm simply waiting for my parts to arrive. Everything is ordered and on its way (and I mean everything - forgeworld parts, a massive superherogameland order, paint, decal solution, decal paper - the works). In the meantime, I'm finishing up a few key pieces of terrain and working on a color scheme.

Citadel Metalic Paints.
Are awesome. Previously I had had a pretty have bias againt the GW paint. But a recent post on the new brush thralls forum gace high praise to the Metalics and were spot on about the problems I've had with Vallejo and P3. I gave 'em a shot and I'm hooked. Great coverage and great consistency.

Iron Warriors: the First 1000
For my entry into the realm of my crazy project (chock full of conversions and custom stuff) I decided on a fairly fluffy force led by a Master of the Forge. Two 10 man tactical squads in Rhino's make up the bulk, a 10 man squad of Sternguard in a drop pod give me some oomph and a Whirlwind gives me some fairly fluffy ordnance and troop killing ability.

Mos of this stuff arrives friday (hopefully) and once I get the forgeworld bits, we're in business.

Quick Hits - vol. 1

What the heck happened to the rest of the gaming board tutorial?
Sorry. I have eternal project ADD. Between working on my necromunda gang, Warhammer Online, making terrain and various other things (Wii), it got dropped. The boards are done and now a good section of terrain is as well.

Other Terrain
Been working on this off and on as well. Pretty heavily in August/early september, pretty lightly now. I have a lot of stuff done (including the new GW moon craters) and very little that I HAVE to get done to have a good selection.

GW Moonscape
Is pretty cool. Good, cheap ready made terrain is always a good time. the only downside was that I had to mount them on hardboard to deal with their relative flimsiness and hollowness. Overall, a great buy and very cool.

Painting?
Not so much. Mostly been working on terrain and/or playing Warhammer online in my free time. I did work on some alternative marine color schemes and recipes, but nothing major or sustained.

Warhammer Online
Is awesome. Waaaghffle House is awesome. Best MMO I've played.

Imperial Amor vol 2
I got this some time ago. The IA books are amazing.

New Space marine Codex
Is sick. A totally great book (all info based on the pirated version I saw as well as the internet buzz). Great new units, adds much needed flexibility and "Snazz" to the marines. it also Gets rid of the stupid chapter traits system as well as beefs up a ton of equipment and adds a ton of new tweaks here an there. Unfortunately, it doesn't apply to the Dark Angels - taking them from mediocre to worthless in a 140 pages.

Dark Angels
I had been doing a lot of reading about these guys as a matter of research. Overall, the codex WAS pretty good, if not lackluster. I had decided that I would need to play either Deathwing or Ravenwing to make thins worthwhile and had been gearing up to incororate those things into my battle company force. Still, the Dark Angels wer underpowerd and under flexible.

I even research some tricky Deathwing builds that involved Inquisitors and multi-melta devastator squads. I had even gotten as far as ordering some forgeworld Deathwing shoulders. Then the new Marine codex came out. Literally everything in the new 'dex was better than anything in the DA codex - cheaper units, better rules, better equipment and better characters.

All off a sudden, the dark angels were shit.

A list:
- new codex marines had better chapter master options. Azreal is overpriced and underpowered.
- new dex can take bike units as troops by inclusion of a couple of character options. Both are more flexible (can join units) and one is cheaper.
-Almost everything is cheaper in the new dex.
-Key peices of terminator equipment are now better in the new dex.
-New landraiders can carry more guys and the new dex can have more of them... OH and the newer and better machine spirt.
-Sternguard.
-New dex vindicators have a better dozer blade and cost less.
-Drop pod assault better than Deathwing assault

So, all the things that I wanted to do with my Dark Angels were going to be better with a different codex. Better terminators, tactical squads, cheaper bikes and better vindicators.
So, I am abandoning my Dark Angels for a new super-cool project. More on this later.