So, because average is boring..

I'd like to get more people reading and commenting if possible. To that end..

What would you, the reader, like to see on here?

1. More stories
2. More art
3. More conversion ideas
4. More pictures
5. More army list ideas
6. Something else. Just comment or whatever

Pretend that's a proper poll, cause I have no idea how to make one. Also, if there's any specifics you wanna see, like one of my armies specifically (Ultramarines, Lamenters, Spectrum, Enclave) just say so.

In addition to whatever you all vote for, in the semi-near future, you'll be getting updates about the following: the new captain for my Enclave army (maybe I'll even do a vote for naming?) a land speeder storm conversion and the beginnings of a POSTER for my Enclave army.

So, make sure to comment :)

Army list #1: Enclave

These aren't finalized by any standard, but I have four armies, and I don't believe I have posted any army lists for them yet. Not including the Enclave tournament list, which is significantly different than the army at the moment. That said, here we go.

Hq 1: Chapter master (artificier armour,
(Honour guard squad? Maybe. I'll think about it. If there were some nice enough models..)
Hq 2: Captain (with bolter and auxiliary grenade launcher)
Command squad (5 plasma guns, razorback with heavy flamers)

Elites 1: Tactical terminator squad (10 man, 2 heavy flamers)*
Elites 2: Venerable dreadnaught with twin linked autocannon arms
Elites 3: Legion of the Damned squad (10 man)

Fast Attack 1: Land speeder storm**
Fast Attack 2: Land speeder typoon squad (3 landspeeders with heavy bolters and typhoon missile launchers
Fast Attack 3: Bike squad (8 bikes, 2 flamers, attack bike with multi melta)***

Heavy support 1: Vindicator (hunter killer missile, might convert the big dozer blade)
Heavy support 2: Vindicator (hunter killer missile, might convert the big dozer blade)
Heavy support 3: (Maybe a devistator squad? The Enclave could use some plasma cannons. Or lazcannons, but using the models for plasma cannons.)

Troops 1: Shotgun scouts (10 man squad, razorback with heavy bolters)
Troops 2: Sniper scouts (10 man squad, razorback with lazcannons, Telion, missile launcher)
Troops 3: Bolter scouts (10 man squad, razorback with heavy bolters)****
Troops 4: Tactical squad (10 man, razorback with lazcannons, flamer, missile launcher)
Troops 5: Tactical squad (10 man, razorback with lazcannons, flamer, missile launcher)
Troops 6: Tactical squad (10 man, razorback with lazcannons, flamer, missile launcher

*In the codex, it sounds like you get a free (i.e. no heavy support choice slot taken) land raider for one terminator squad? Can anyone confirm this?
** Proxy model, armoured truck, much less silly.
*** Bikes are actually going to be armoured jeeps, reasons explained in fluff.
**** Might make it be another tactical squad instead. I dunno.

Might not be the most flexible design, but how do you think it'd hold up? Opinions appreciated :)

Now back to making this poster..

Shopping trip

Holy crap, did I spend money today.

The Enclave are going to have a field day when all this stuff is done. I just need to figure out how I'm using all of this stuff.

Today I got: Chapter master, 5 terminators, 2 scouts, 2 mechaniks (I'm thinking either just character models or tech servitors) 11 tactical marines.


The terminators will go to finishing off the Tactical Terminators squad (rounding it off to 10 men)

The tactical marines will go to the other two tactical squads, the remainder, I'm not sure about. Maybe make a 4th? We'll see.

The scouts were just too great of a deal to pass up, I'm not sure if I'll use them for anything.

The mechaniks (warmachine khador to be specific) are going to be examples of my Enclave's divergence from other vanilla chapters. Basically, because they are short staffed, any potential marines who show significant prowess in non-military things (medicine, machinery, etc) become specialists. They still get military training but provide a niche service to the chapter instead of waging war.

The small dilemma is; I now have two chapter masters for the SAME chapter. One in artificier armour, one in terminator. I'll probably use the artificier one more, the new codex doesn't actually LET me make the terminator model be WYSIWYG.

Anywho, I hate this time of year. Birthday sucked, my birthday dinner has been put off three times now. I think if I want to go have a birthday dinner, I'll have to go walk to the nearest restaraunt and buy it myself.

I'll try to get some work done on the army this week, and maybe even snap a few photos of a finished squad.

The Lamenters meet the Great Pumpkin (Charlie Brown)

So, I kinda forgot to upload this. More accurately, it wasn't finished being coloured until about the 19th of november. colouring takes alot longer than drawing.

Those four are actually models from my Lamenters army. I just need to model the power flamingo.

Little update

I forgot to upload this back when the tournament was going on, I guess I misplaced it or something.

Anyway. After the generally crushing defeat, I've decided to retool my Enclave army. As it currently stands, I think it's going to end up something like this:

Hq: Chapter master

Troop 1: 10 man tactical, flamer, missile launcher, razorback
Troop 2: 10 man tactical, flamer, missile launcher, razorback
Troop 3: 10 man tactical, flamer, missile launcher, razorback
Troop 4: 10 man tactical, flamer, missile launcher, razorback
Troop 5: 10 man shotgun scouts
Troop 6: 10 man sniper scouts, Telion, missile launcher

Fast Attack 1: Land speeder typoon
Fast Attack 2: Maybe bikes with flamers
Fast Attack 3: Maybe more bikes with flamers

Elites 1: 5 Tactical terminators with heavy flamer
Elites 2: Dreadnaught with two twin linked autocannons
Elites 3: Maybe an ironclad or assault terminators with super sledges..

Heavy support 1: Predator with lazcannon sponsons, twin linked lazcannon turret
Heavy support 2: Thunderfire cannon maybe
Heavy support 3: Vindicator maybe

This is still up in the air, but we'll see how it goes.

And now, a modelling question for you all; how would one go about attaching a skyshield defense platform to something? And what would you suggest I attach it to? I have plans to make my Enclave base look really cool, but I need it to be based on something.

Ow ow ow

That tournament was rough. Apparently 5th edition is all about stupid objective claiming missions.

So how did I do? Dead last. Why? Short answer: mostly because I'm stubborn. I should have just let them take the easier win, but I like fighting until the last (which you get penalized for now) which let my opponents get extra points.

Also, there are just a mess of crazy new rules that I haven't encountered before.

Game 1: Enclave vs Dark Angels. The DA have got some crazy rules about what they can do. Apparently bikers and terminators are allowed to shoot, then move, then assault all in one turn. That wiped out all of my troops in turn one. I took out the bike squad with an orbital bombardment as a revenge act. I did my fair share of damage, but ultimately the loss of those troops lost the game for me right then and there. Make sure you split up your troops people. Hide them behind vehicles.

Game 2: Enclave vs Chaos marines. I think they were a Khorne army. Seize objectives, bodyguard. I'm going to have to look up the entry for the guy riding on the juggernaut.. 15 attacks a turn? That one model got about 30 kills. Basically, he outplayed me just by using his elites to keep me boxed in while his troops hid behind cover the entire game. Obliterators, while slow, are great to take down transports.

Game 3: Enclave vs Chaos Daemons. Never played against daemons before. The first half of the game was a rout for them. My shotgun scouts pretty much wiped out a squad of bloodletters, my troops took care of some more. Then the skull taker, bloodthirster, Epidemus, and Nurgle squad of confusing rules popped out onto the field. That Nurgle squad apparently gets stronger when ANYTHING dies, so at the end, they were pretty much autokilling my marines. At the end, all I had was 2 rhinos left. One was immobile. Not pretty.

Game 4: Enclave vs Dark Eldar. Holy crap. As far as epic battles go, this is the one I thought I had prepared for. Eight vehicles. Some, perhaps most of them, were Ravagers. The problem is, they all looked the damned same to me. Would it be so hard to paint a stylized red R on there somewhere for clarity? Anyway. Immobilized most of his fleet, and a scout missile launcher/Telion combo took one of the vehicles out with a single shot. Rolled to see if the game would last for a 6th turn, but it was clear that he was going to just steamroll me with those Ravager guns. In all fairness, this should have been the fun battle. But the guy had zero personality, and no fun. Which is sad to me. At the end of the day, this IS supposed to be a game. Games are designed to have fun. Everyone else, I had at least a bit of a laugh with, but that guy..

Anywho, learned most of the new rules, got my ass handed to me each time (mostly my fault though) and I realized three things about 5th edition:

1. Troops are thy god. Imperial Guard, now is your time to clean house.
2. Antitank weapons are needed. Like a bunch. My autocannons and lazcannons are good, but not enough.
3. Most armies have some unit that gets just retarded attacks. See turns 1-3 above. Space Marines get the shaft for this. We have a couple of semi-decent things, but nothing just straight up destructive. I'm going to have to look through the codex for anything I missed the next time I'm going to play a game.


.. I'm also going to look into getting a bike squad made. With flamers. Cause that one I can duplicate for my army.

1250?!

Okay, so apparently there is a points limitation on the tournament. That's fine. I have more than that number.

I just have to manage a miracle and win with only half an army. Any Imperial Guard troop forces will simply steamroll me on turn 3 though.

As it stands, I have most of my forces painted and ready to go, but I have a few that aren't even close.

HQ: Painted. Mostly. Needs some assembly.
Troop 1: Painted. In box, ready to go.
Troop 2: Half painted.
Fast Attack 1: Painted, in box.
Fast Attack 2: Painted, in box.
Elite: Mostly built, not painted at all yet. Waiting for most of the glue to dry.
Heavy: Some painting, some assembly.

Tournament checklist

Enclave:

Chapter master: 90% built, around 85% painted.

Assault squad one: Painted.
Assault squad two: Painted.
Assault squad three: Pending painting.

Sniper scouts: 20% painted, 90% assembled.
Telion proxy: Pending painting.
Shotgun scouts:

Predator: Pending painting.
Chronus: Pending painting.

Terminators: Painted.
Dreadnaught: 50% assembled.
Sternguard: Painted.

Not bad for three days work. I'll get some pictures up. You guys will enjoy the chapter master the most probably.

I need sleep. Can't sleep until I get the dreadnaught's arms attached and somehow stabilize the legs. I've been putting it off for almost a year now.

The Enclave will prevail. Maybe even win a trophy.

Tournament in 7 days?!

Okay, so, slight variation from the usual around here, I was given a flier earlier for a 40k tournament on the 24th. Assuming I can make it, I have to wonder what to bring, and to that end, I thought I'd ask you.

Should I bring..

My Ultramarines. Essentially the only finished army, but also the worst painted, and most outdated, who haven't been used since 3rd edition?

My Lamenters. Incomplete but getting close, 4th edition army, who have roughly no anti armour capabilities and need some work to get two vehicles done in time.

The Enclave. 30 assault marines, 20 scouts, an incomplete leader and two incomplete vehicles I'd have to rush to try and finish.

The Imperial Guard. Almost no chance of getting them done on time, no vehicles done at all, most troops not even done (aka insane challenge time)


Voting will happen until the 23rd, but vote quickly please.

Interesting wrench in the works

So, I was out shopping the other day, and I happened upon some neat little discoveries.

Did you know that Hot Wheels makes motorcycles now? I didn't. Granted, I haven't kept up with them since I was like.. 4 or 5. But the point is. They make motorcycles. In the scale of warhammer. For next to nothing. I got a chopperesque one, which I think would look awesome for Chaos, and a 3 wheeled cycle (think the Halo 3 atv, but with just one big back wheel) that will be going to my Ultramarines most likely.

I also stumbled upon my most hated of all army vehicles; the Hummer, while looking for some vehicles for the Spectrum army. So, why did I bring home five of them? The price. I don't have a ton of money. Sucks, but it's true. And at three dollars each, I figured 'Hey, five Chimera standins for less than one actual Chimera.' I hate the vehicle, but unlike the Chimera, you could fit at least eight models in the thing. I'm going to give them a nice makeover. You know, make them actually look like a military vehicle. They'll all have the following stats: Hull mounted heavy bolter, turret mounted heavy bolter, pintle mounted heavy stubber, smoke launcher, extra armour.

"So why do you hate the Hummer so much?"
Because, they made a crappy suv that's supposed to look tough (it really isn't.) to replace tanks (no chance of that in the long run) it has crap for armour, can't equip heavy weapons, looks ugly, etc. I get it. It's supposed to be a workhorse. It's supposed to be fast and adaptable. It's still crap though. Give me the m113 and m163. The m113 was the Rhino and Chimera's inspiration. It worked damned well. It wasn't broke. It didn't need fixing. It certainly didn't need to be abandoned by the military. Especially not for a soccer mom's overcompensation device.

"So why'd you get five?"
The Spectrum army in the show had awesome tanks for nearly everyone. The catch is, for an Imperial guard army, I'd need no less than about twenty by the time my army is on it's feet. Five hummers will give about 2/3rds of my army some mobility (I'd have gotten more if there were any more left..) If I had gotten GW Chimeras, the minimum I would have spent would be roughly $1650 for the full army to be transported around in. That is a lot of money to me at the moment. My 5 Chimera standins set me back only about 15$. Pretty clear why I chose them yeah? Plus, my IG will be saving the Imperium. Miami style.

Oh yeaaaaaaaah! *puts on sunglasses*

Revolutionary ideas

I've written out my IG armylist about six times now. I'm tired of doing that. So. Here's a brilliant idea that I saw over on another site. I forget the name off the top of my head, but I'll update tomorrow most likely, so I'll give credit then. She basically made big trading cards with all the unit's stats and info on it, also some cute art. I'm going to try and make something similar for my Spectrum army. The idea for mine is, I'll make cards for each squad, but have each leader on a seperate card, and any squad-specific vehicles, so that way, in a binder with the plastic protecters for cards, I can just have it arranged so that its Leader > Squad > Transport. Plus, with the card thing, it should be easier to arrange the armylist if I'm using a different force instead of just piling everything on the table.

So far I've got captain Scarlet, captain Blue, and captain Grey all drawn.

I also saw some neat alternative ideas for the Imperial Guard earlier, like having the rough riders on jetskis, leman russes being powerboats with weapon upgrades.. I love the idea of having an actual Imperial Navy.

I was going to try and write up a story for Blue's squad, but I don't think it'll be forthcoming, so I'll probably post the squad with Blue's card, and the squad card tomorrow.

Feel free to steal the card idea by the way. I think it's brilliant.

Spectrum Introduced

A hush fell over the already quiet room as Colonel White entered the conference room, flanked by two scarlet clad stormtroopers, who took up guard positions on either side of the door. Colonel White walked to the head of the hololithic table and glanced around the room.

"Are you all seated comfortably? Then we'll begin."

The light level dropped as a holographic display of a planet made of overlapping blue lines hovered over the table.

"This is planet Rigel Seven and it's believed that some of it's inhabitants have turned away from the Emperor's light."

A few of the more experienced attendants traded knowing glances, but quickly returned their attention back to White.

"Now, as you all know,the Imperial Guard does one thing very well, and that is win wars."

Now it was the less experienced officers turn to agree; they did so with vigour. White smiled at their youthful exuberance, then continued.

"Unfortunately, this is not open war that we have here, I'm afraid. What we have here is a war of nerves, ladies and gentlemen. Normally the Inquisition would deal with this problem but their resources are spread too thin across this segment of the galaxy, and this sector won't recieve assistance for almost a decade. We cannot allow this sector to turn. We will not."

All in attendance nodded solemnly, their coloured caps bobbing in the pale light.

I just found the real life Hydra.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M50_Ontos

Lovely little thing.


Speaking of such things, my Imperial Guard army will have something special. Tankettes. They are basically 1-2 man tanks, roughly the size of a car. They were pretty much abandoned after WW1, but the German army still has two or three variants still in active duty. I think they are perfect for the Guard; you airdrop about 6 of them around a chimera and you have yourself a mobile field base.

I've already started building one with an LRM 18 (technically its two pods of LRM 9's) but in game I suppose I could use them as objectives, sentinels, whatever. I just need to figure out how I'm going to make the main body of the vehicle instead of just their weapon systems.

I started making something special for my next update, but my computer is being slow, so I might have to do it over by hand.. That said, if all goes as planned, in a day or two, you guys should have a treat.

From the ground up (part two)

Three posts in one day? Clearly I intend to stick to this blogging idea. And then I'll forget it exists tomorrow probably.

So, having gone over the codex roughly earlier, I've decided on the basic framework of my army.

HQ 1: Platoon command, with vox, and 4 flamers. The full support staff (astropath, fleet officer, master of ordinance, 2 bodyguards) and carapace armour for all. The concept is straightforeward enough, blast something with the ordinance, then get close and crispy with the flamers.

HQ 2: Commisar lord with carapace armour. He won't really be for combat, so I didn't deck him out with anything special. The only reason I'm bothering with him is the sphere of influence he's got. Shove a commisar lord into the middle of a ratling squad and they won't budge because they are using his leadership. Naturally, that makes him a target, so he gets carapace armour. While the points can probably be put to better use elsewhere, I think that the commisars are getting the short end of the stick in this codex.

Fast Attack 1: 3 armoured sentinels; an autocannon, a lazcannon and a multilazer. If I had the parts, I'd have probably had two autocannons instead, but a multilazer was all I had left, which is fine. The lazcannon opens a transport, the autocannon will if the lazcannon doesn't, then the multilazer cuts open the squad inside. Hunter killer missiles for all.

Fast Attack 2: 3 armoured sentinels. I don't have them yet, but I'm tempted to make it be an anti armour squad with all lazcannons. HKs here too.

Fast Attack 3: Currently Rough Riders, but if I were to get a Vendetta or three I'd change it to those. RR's are hero killers, but I can't see them being used in game anytime soon.

Elites 1: Ratlings. 10 of them. I'll have them get into some cover and basically let them take out what they can.

Elites 2: 10 Stormtroopers with flamers. They'll be part of the speartip of the army.

Elites 3: 10 Stormtroopers with a plasmagun, a meltagun, and I haven't built the rest yet, so I haven't decided what other weapons they'll have.

Heavy Support 1: 3 Punishers. Hunter killer missiles, hull heavy bolters, sponson heavy bolters, pintle heavy stubbers.

Heavy Support 2: 3 Punishers. Hunter killer missiles, hull heavy bolters, sponson heavy bolters, pintle heavy stubbers.

Heavy Support 3: 3 Punishers. Hunter killer missiles, hull heavy bolters, sponson heavy bolters, pintle heavy stubbers.

Troops 1: Infantry Platoon. Command squad with vox and 4 flamers. 5 infantry squads each with a grenade launcher and vox. 5 heavy weapons squads, one with 3 mortars, one with 3 autocannons, the rest undecided. 2 special weapons squads with 3 grenade launchers each. I haven't decided if my army will have conscripts or not yet.

The other troops choices I haven't bothered listing, because even though I'll probably have those before I have my heavy support, writing it all out takes a long time, even in my synopsis version.

I didn't mention it yet, but my IG army is going to be based off of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. By the time I update this next, Captain Blue's squad should be done, so you'll get to see the first squad of this army just as the paint is drying.

From the ground up (part one)

My Imperial Guard army, though I've had it the second longest, I've never actually properly started.

Indeed, the only reason I have one at all was that about three years ago I was offered a Catcachan heavy weapons squad on a discount because the box was damaged (the models themselves were fine) While I didn't particularly care for the Catcachan look (seriously, no armour?) I did like the idea of having my Ultramarines backed up by Imperial Guard, since the Ultramarines would be doing most of the hard work up close.

The Cadians are awesome looking models, and the Death Korp of Krieg even moreso, but as the latter are prohibitively expensive, I got some Cadians and thought I'd have a proper go at it.

Having briefly read through the new IG codex before being distracted by the pictures, I've figured out three things:
1. The 'orders' system is completely foreign to me.
2. The Imperial Guard have a whole mess of troops, so if I actually make a usable army I'll need a wheelbarrow to transport them.
3. Parts of the codex are written very poorly.


That said, here's my overview of what I think I'll do with the army as a whole..

HQ: These are the basic hammering units of every army. Make a commander, point it at anything non-vehicle and watch the body count rise. The Imperial Guard are comparatively fragile, so I imagine that it's going to really be more of a convoy for the special weapons guys. I'm thinking flamers, so that I can deal out the most damage per turn possible. The other HQ choices are also good, but I'd say the Platoon Command squad is going to be the favourite.

Troops: Infantry Platoons really do seem to be the only choice worth taking. I mean, sure, Veterans are closer in short ranged combat, and the Penal Legion can be outright devastating in the right circumstances, but neither of them give you the sheer numbers that an Infantry Platoon does.

Fast Attack: Sentinels are a favourite of mine, but I imagine most people will see these as a points sink. Sure you can pay more to make them armoured, but is it worth it? I think so, but most people use them to stand and shoot, which can be done better and cheaper by heavy weapons squads. Valkyries/Vendettas are going to be a favourite, less for their troop transport ability, but more for their hit and run lazcannons. Rough riders are still fragile, but are a solid one hit weapon, if I didn't already have five models, I wouldn't consider them viable at all. They would be useful to pair up with a Platoon Command squad for maximum impact damage. The Hellhound and it's variants are still mostly the same as before, so they'll still be a crowd pleaser. The new variant, the Banewolf, would be perfect for a Krieg army. I don't know how viable each of them are in combat, but I can't see the melta-toting one being as popular as the others.

Elites: Ogryns seem to be weaker than they used to be. While they could probably deal out some decent damage in close combat, I think I'd take a rough riders squad first, because they'd at least have a shot at surviving the counterattack. Why can't you give Ogryns carapace armour? Ratlings are as good as they always were, but there isn't much to say about them. You want stuff dead at long range? They can do it fine, but most people would rather take a Basilisk. The psyker squad seems to be a points sink unit, and I can't see it dealing out enough damage to be useful. I'm sure more skilled commanders could get their money's worth from them, but I like the more basic tactic of blowing things into tiny bits. My money is on the Stormtroopers. They've got the Imperial Guard's best gear, supposedly the best training, and are basically the equivalent of ODST's from Halo. They are there to nail the objectives while your army is getting into place. Lastly, Marbo.. Everyone seems to be rushing to make a model for him, and I just can't see why. I mean, sure, he's the IG version of Tellion, but he's still a guardsman. Your paying 65 points for one very fragile guy, when you could spend 55 and get an armoured sentinel, that would probably deal more damage in one turn than Marbo can in a whole game..

Heavy Support: You say those words around an IG veteran, and they'll smile. Rightly so, as the IG have the best guns. The most guns. Guns guns. There are some good ones, and some bad ones, there are no great ones though, because it always comes back to one major point: The IG can't shoot as good as the other armies. Thankfully, with the introduction of the Hydra and the Punisher, you don't really need to worry much about aiming. I love the Hydra, it's so perfect, when I first saw the model I started converting one from an Army Men tank. That said, I honestly think the Punisher is better. I'd love to have 9 of those in my army, but for now, I think we'll see if I can scratchbuild one. I imagine that project won't start for some time though. Heavy support is nice, but it can wait.


Tune in next time as I start conceptually putting the pieces into place. Same bat time, same bat channel!

Introductus

So, after following about a dozen or two people on here unofficially, I figured I might as well start one of my own.

The goal here is to finally finish my armies, because frankly, I am utterly addicted to 40k, and have yet to properly finish an army.

I have four armies that will eventually be shown on here:
Ultramarines
Imperial Guard
Lamenters
The Enclave

You will probably see the Imperial Guard and the Enclave the most, the Lamenters and Ultramarines I generally consider to be complete, so they might make an appearance or two, but it'll be less frequent.

So, if you'd like to come along for the ride, hopefully there will be some neat stuff on here soon.