A Moral Victory

Played 1000 points of Guard vs Space Marines last night.  The battle went 4 rounds, and I lost by a point, but I scored a moral victory... Al'Rahem shot a Storm Talon out of the air the moment he stepped on the field - with a plasma pistol.

Back... I think

I haven't been writing about my 40k adventures much, but happily I have been enjoying the hobby.  I got frustrated with trying to learn how to play with the complexities of the Dark Angels codex and decided to try something different.

Going with one of my original ideas, I've made some good headway on a Dune-themed Imperial Guard army.  So far it consists of a partial platoon each of Cadians(representing Atreides troops) and Tallarn (representing Fremen); a Chimera meant for Tallarn command units, a few heavy weapon squads (all Cadians for now), and 3 Leman Russ tanks.

I'm following my old trend of buying nearly everything used, and all but 1 Leman Russ at a big discount.   Living with a guy who used to own a game store has some distinct advantages.

I still suck at taking pictures of minis, but I'll try to get some up soon.  In the mean time I guess I should finish my fortress of redemption.  Between that and my existing armies I should be busy all winter... hopefully. 

Quick Notes

So my housemate and I split a Dark Vengeance box with the limited chaplain, and the models are pretty amazing, especially for snap-together pieces.  My favorite so far is that chaplain - I'll have pictures to post soon hopefully.  It's probably obvious that I got the Dark Angels half of the box, but I was also lacking a blast template, so I snagged the templates too.

Also, the rumors/leaked photos about the new Dark Angels models are pretty incredible.  I know a lot of people on the 'net don't like them, but even the kind of odd looking land speeder looks very cool to me.  Of course I like the GW Exorcist SoB tank that looks like a mobile pipe organ, so that might be somewhat predictable.  I'm really looking forward to seeing the Dark Knights models, as well as the rules for the crazy plasma guns they have on the front of the bikes rather than the usual bolters.

In other news, I may also start a small detachment of IG for use as Allies and to give me an excuse to eventually buy a Shadowsword kit.

Enough babbling for now - I'll try to get some pictures put up after the holiday.

Move and new models

So, I haven't played at all or painted much if at all since February.  A good part of my army hasn't come out of its various cases for that matter.  I moved back to Pennsylvania in March, and the room we're going to use for gaming is still being painted, so its staying put away for the moment.

However...

I received two models as presents, the WD Crimson Fists model, and a Storm Talon flyer.  I have to say that I LOVE both models and just finished the basics of putting them together yesterday.  The Storm Talon I plan on magnetizing so that the weapon pods can carry either of the missile options or the heavy bolters.  With the Allies rules of 6th edition, I'm going to build a small Crimson Fists contingent, probably re-purposing some of the retarded amount of tactical marines I have in my Chorus Lucia colors.  I'll also be painting the Vanguard Veterans I picked up at Warhammer World in CF colors.

Maybe I'm just lucky with Finecast so far, but the only thing wrong with my Vanguard Vets was bent swords (fixed after a couple tries with nearly boiling water from a tea kettle), and the Crimson Fists model is perfect as far as I can tell.  No bubbles, the banner shaft is straight and solid, and only minimal flash.  The model is beautifully detailed, and I honestly can't wait to get it primed.

The flyer looks better in person than it did when I first saw the pictures online.  The weapon pods are a lot smaller than the pictures give the impression of, and they seem much more like a part of the machine.  The main engines built near the rear of the model are connected and pivot together, and the twin-linked assault cannons move smoothly.  The tech marine pilot is essentially the same as the one included in the Ravenwing upgrade pack, and seems to suit the model well.

I've read through my housemates copy of the new rules as well.  I like what I've seen thus far, though having only played a few games of 5th ed, I'm a little worried that I'll NEVER learn all the rules as well as I'd like.

Noobhammer Tournament at Cabin Fever

Played in my first tournament today, one specifically for new players, which was 3 games, 2 hours each, in one day.  I did alright... first game was a disaster - got table-wiped by greenskins.  The other two games I won, by narrow margins.  2nd game was against vanilla space marines, but my opponent a 15 year old) didn't realize the primary goal was objectives and not kill or victory points - he had me easily on those, but he also thought his Vindicator was going to be a scoring unit, so my 4 remaining troops were the only ones near an objective.  The 3rd game was actually the best, most fun game I've had so far.  This was another kid, but he knew the rules way better than I did, was helpful and holy crap was it close.  In order of importance for the game, as written:  We tied on kill points (4 each).  Then we tied on objectives (2 each).  Then we tied on quarter control (again 2 each) and finally on victory points, I won by 4.5 - that's right FOUR POINT FIVE points!  It was something like 392.5 to 397... it was a really well fought, fun game - and it's easily the best I've felt about PLAYING the game so far.

My list was (and yes, I'm an Army Builder addict):



1500 Pts - Dark Angels Roster

Total Roster Cost: 1500

HQ: Sammael, Master of the Ravenwing (1#, 205 pts)
   1 Sammael, Master of the Ravenwing, 0 pts
      1 ...on Jetbike, 205 pts

Troops: Upgraded Ravenwing Attack Squadron (4#, 210 pts)
   1 Upgraded Ravenwing Attack Squadron, 0 pts
      2 Bike Squad, 105 pts = 2 * 40 (base cost 40) + Meltagun x1 10 + Apothecary 15
         1 Sergeant, 55 pts = (base cost 40 + Power Weapon 15)
      1 Attack Bike, 50 pts

HQ: Ezekiel, Grand Master of Librarians (1#, 170 pts)
   1 Ezekiel, Grand Master of Librarians, 170 pts

3rd Tactical Squad - The Blooded (11#, 265 pts)
   9 Tactical Squad, 159 pts = 9 * 16 (base cost 16) + Flamer 5 + Heavy Bolter 10
      1 Sergeant, 18 pts
      1 Razorback - Faith, 85 pts = (base cost 50 + Dozer Blade 5 + Twin-Linked Lascannon 30)

4th Tactical Squad - Corvus (5#, 90 pts)
   4 Tactical Squad, 72 pts = 4 * 18
      1 Sergeant, 18 pts

Elite: Company Veterans Squad (10#, 280 pts)
   9 Company Veterans Squad, 225 pts = 9 * 20 (base cost 20) + Combat Shield x1 5 + Power Weapon x2 30 + Missile Launcher 10
      1 Razorback, 55 pts = (base cost 50 + Dozer Blade 5)

Heavy Support: Predator (1#, 190 pts)
   1 Predator, 190 pts = (base cost 70 + Dozer Blade 5 + Hunter-killer Missile 15 + Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter 5 + Lascannon (each side) 60) + Twin-Linked Lascannon 35

Heavy Support: Whirlwind (1#, 90 pts)
   1 Whirlwind, 90 pts = (base cost 85 + Dozer Blade 5)

Krylon Primer

So, I've sprayed some veterans, some legion of the damned and some terrain with the new Krylon primer... and frankly I like it more than Citadel - by leaps and bounds.  It takes a little more spray to coat completely, but you lose no details I can notice, there's none of the DUST the two cans of Citadel I've used so far have left... and it has a better texture.  I know that sounds weird, but I'm an art nerd, live with it.

Coffee

One of these days I'll stop dipping my brush in my coffee.  That is all.

A tie, additions, and thoughts for future games

So, up until last week I had only played games against Eldar and gotten my butt kick, though sometimes the games were shortened, and I might have been able to do better given more rounds.  Last week I got to play against an IG army, Vostroyans, and one of the best painted armies I've ever seen.  It was Capture and Control, Pitched Battle fight.  I geared my army to go up against a mechanized list (two multi-meltas, 1 all lascannon Predator, several infantry lascannons, and at least 3 infantry melta-guns), but he brought almost all ground-pounders, with a rough rider's unit, a flier and a banewolf that came in off reserve near the end.  Sadly, the Vendetta, supported by a couple heavy weapons squads, came in and took out my entire tac squad on its side of the board before the multi-melta with them could even get a shot off, so I lost that objective.  My Whirlwind made a great first showing, beating the hell out of his command squad and the surrounding troopers - thank you Incendiary Castellan missiles, and my dev squad and Predator did more damage than they took, so I'm pleased all in all with my performance (a first).

My knowledge of the rules is still a little shakey, and I may have a tendency to start to give up too easily (I almost conceded when that tactical squad got wiped out), but I was able to make a tie.  If I'd understood the rules for occupying a objective and the terrain in use I may have been able to win.  It was a fun game, and a great learning experience.

I received several game related presents for the winter holidays.  Em got me an awesome Fortress of Redemption, my housemate got me a new Razorback, and I also got my hands on a new veteran's squad and an Imperial Bastion.  My total painted and playable is up to about 6500 points, though the biggest army I can field is about 4300.  I may put up full lists later in the week or next week when I'm home.  Hopefully next week I can get a game in against an old-school Chaos army... we'll see how I can do there.

So, I picked up some Krylon primer - half the price of the Citadel stuff, so hopefully that will do well.  I have a plastic terminator I may use a test model, though I also have some metal Ral Partha models in various states of disrepair that I may try instead, at least those can be stripped.  By tomorrow night I'll know if that works hopefully.  If it does, I'll probably be up near 6700 or so playable points, maybe up to 6800.

I've also been trying to figure out how to do better against Eldar - witch blade heavy Eldar.  I think I need more heavy bolters, more assault cannons, and probably some TH/SS Assault Terminators - the heavy, multi-firing weapons to keep the assault Eldar at-bay, and and the TH/SS to counter their witch blades when they finally do get up-close.

Librarian Conversion, part 2

So I think it's finally done, AND I've got pictures to show for it.  I think I've got about 30 hours into this particular model between conversions and paint, plus a few more for gluing the head and scythe blade back on several times *chuckle*

And with his command squad:

And, finally the army transport case, opened...

Army Transport

So thanks to my wonderful girlfriend (yes, she gets referred to that way here a lot, but she IS my primary enabler :) ) my army now has better luggage than I do.

http://www.saboldesigns.net/division.html

I currently have all the foam from my citadel cases in it, which works pretty well, but will hopefully be obtaining the Sabol trays over the winter.

Pics of this, and of my Librarian conversion, soon, possibly over the weekend.

Librarian Conversion, part 1

So I got inspired looking at all the neat stuff in the GW locations in the UK.

I started working on a librarian in power armor, and the head of his force weapon fell off when I opened his blister... that gave me the idea to replace it.  I checked my bits and I didn't have any weapons that would work, so my next thought was "scythe".  So, having just started building a few fine cast models, I had some scrap resin around.  I then discovered it's really pleasant to carve (going back to my experience in wood carving when I was a kid)... so he now has a scythe.

I'm next looking for a pair of wings for him.  Not sure if I want to use Sanguinary Guard wings because I don't want to hit the Blood Angels button, so I might try to get the feathered variety of Dark Eldar Scourge wings... or maybe Reaper angel wings... we'll see what I can find I guess.  I'm really going for the "Angel of Death" look on this model, and it's my first full blown conversion on a metal model to boot.  I'm showing him below.  Not my best photo, but the scythe is nicely visible.  I know some people might think the blade is a little small, but I don't want him looking like Mortarion either.

Leicester and Nottingham GW stores, and Warhammer World

My sister got married in Leicester UK last week, so for I left North America for the first time to go to what turned out to be an incredible wedding and a great time.  While I was there, I figured I'd visit some of the GamesWorkshop locations.  I forgot my camera, but luckily, my father had his.

I made a couple discoveries.  My sister's place, as well as the apartment my family stayed in, was within an easy walk of the Leicester GW store.  I've never been to a GW store in the US, I think the closest one is in Maryland or something, so that in its self was an experience.  I don't think I saw any models I'd never seen in a store before, but I've never seen them all in one place either.  (Added plus, NO Magic cards and the children that seem to go with them in too many stores).

The other discovery was that the Nottingham store, which is in the center of Nottingham, maybe a 10 minute walk from Nottingham Castle, is not the main or best thing to see GW-wise, in Nottingham.  On the outskirts of Nottingham, in a section of the city called Lenton, is the entire GW facility, design, production, sales, and even a bar done up as a dwarven tavern.

I love the stores... the GW staff was nice, interested in the customers, and ironically, the guy in the Nottingham store who gave me the address for Warhammer World was actually from Indiana (it's also worth noting that his wife works in the design department, which I thought was cool).  I really enjoyed the experience of spending time in the two retail stores (probably an hour total in Leicester and maybe 30 minutes in Nottingham), but the experience of going to Warhammer World was just, well, an experience.  I had a good time and I was SO thrilled to be able to see their museum-quality displays of painted models, the life-sized Space Marine that I've found out online must have been or GamesDay 09 and the game room.  The terrain is FANTASTIC.  My dad went to Nottingham with me and even he was impressed with the displays and gaming tables.  Here are a few pictures - hopefully I'll get some more of them cleaned up enough to post soon.  (Oh, and for the record, having seen a painted Contemptor in person, and gotten to hold the unassembled model... I'll DEFINITELY be getting one when I can afford it.

Display and Traveling

So I got my hands on an old book shelf with 4 shelves (5 including the top) that I'm using to display my army in the living room.  It works pretty well.  By the end of the day I should be able to have about 3/4 of my space marines and vehicles on display and I'm pretty pleased with how they look so far (more pictures may take a little while for the reasons below)

I leave for England tomorrow evening.  My sister's getting married in Leicester, where she's been living while getting her Masters degree, and will probably stay for at least a few years with her soon-to-be-husband.  Because I'm such a nerd, while I'm there I'm going to go to the GW headquarters an hour or so from there in Nottingham while I'm there, and I'm stupidly hyped about it.

So, I'll probably post more in a week or so, unless I can get online in the UK after I visit GW.

A few more pictures

I was able to get a few more pictures done.  We'll start with my favorite tank - Lucia's Tear - I was feeling creative the day I started it, so it's got a unique paint job, which fits with its intended role as sort of a centerpiece of the army.  I may re-work the sponsons soon - that's the only paint on the tank I'm not happy with.

Next, I've got a Captain in Terminator Armor, who'll probably take the place of the previous model I was using for the Master of the Deathwing.  He still needs basing, but other than that I think he came out pretty well.

And finally, for this post at least, we have my Legion of the Damned models.  I dig the story, and love the models, so even though they're not included in the Dark Angels codex I painted a squad of the Legion.  I'm intending them as either a 5 man Company Veteran's Squad to use with the DA codex, or an excuse to occasionally run a base Astartes army.  A Couple of them still need their eyes/lenses painted... I had been thinking the armor could use some highlights or gloss, but I kind of like the flat, burned look on them for their theme and all.

Pictures (obviously, pic heavy)

So, as requested I took another shot at getting some pictures of my army, this time with white floor and background, sort of.  I tried using as much ambient light as I could, without flash this time, so we'll see how they came out.  One of these days I'm going to build a piece of terrain big enough to use for photos, but until then, this is probably the best I'm going to do with what I have.

First photo is my Land Raider Crusader, dubbed Contempt for the quote "My armor is contempt"

The next two photos are circa 1993 Rhino I kitbashed with some new parts because of some damage done while in the possession of a previous owner.  The Rhino hasn't been named yet, but bears the markings of the 1st Tactical Squad - the grey helmets that I posted about very early on.  In the second picture you can see awards dangling off the back of the tank - those are partly painted, but have no writing on them yet.  Once I've gotten better at photographing my models I'll try to get more of that posted.

Next, we have a Deathwing Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher done in my "Grey Man" color scheme, which I've switched most of my terminators to at this point.

and some more Deathwing:

Yes, that's an old-school librarian in the background.  I picked up a couple of them and a captain earlier this year on the extreme cheap earlier in the year on ebay.  I'm still working on the fluff as to why librarian armor is in a standard Deathwing Squad, but I think it will probably work out to this is part of a librarian's training before they're allowed to lead.

Next we see the 6th Tactical Squad with their Razorback named "Faith" (for the quote "Faith is my shield".

Below is the SM Captain that is almost done being painted, with the Command Squad that is intended to be personalized to work with the Master of the Deathwing when I don't blow the points on upgrading a term squad for him (hence the grey paint on the apoth.).  I also have a Champion of the Emperor model done up as my Company Champion for this Command Squad.  I may eventually find a shield cool enough to attach to him to make him truly WYSIWYG.

And... for the final picture of this post, a shot of as much of the army is at least moderately painted to-date, on my hobby table.

Critiques are welcome, but please be gentle.

Current Max Roster

So, I can almost put out 4000 points painted to what I think of acceptable, which is somewhat better than what I have seen a lot of people on the net calling "table ready".  I'm posting it in a couple formats below using Army Builder, after they fixed the Command Squad glitch that had been bugging me since early September.  Most of my vehicles are listed using their names.  It's worth noting that I'd rather run at about 3500, and in that case I'd only run 1 Deathwing Term Squad and probably insert one of Dreads, probably the Venerable, named as noted in an early entry Colmus.  I can actually field 6 full tactical squads and 2 10 man vet squads, but not all the models are up to my standard for paint yet.  It's also worth noting that I can give all of my tactical squads a heavy weapon, but most of my heavy weapon troops aren't too well painted yet :


Created with Army Builder® - Copyright (c) 1997-2011 Lone Wolf Development, Inc. All rights reserved. Download it for FREE at http://www.wolflair. com!
4000 Pts - Dark Angels Roster
4 Assault Squad
4 Assault Squad - Chainsword; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades
1 Attack Bike
1 Attack Bike - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Teleport Homer
1 Azrael, Supreme Grand Master
1 Azrael, Supreme Grand Master - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Protector; Sword of Secrets
2 Bike Squad
1 Bike Squad - Meltagun; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Teleport Homer; Twin-Linked Bolter
1 Bike Squad - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Teleport Homer; Twin-Linked Bolter
10 Command Squad
4 Command Squad - Narthecium; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades
2 Command Squad - Chainsword; Narthecium; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades
2 Command Squad - Power Weapon; Narthecium; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades
2 Company Champion - Combat Shield; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Weapon
10 Company Veterans Squad
5 Company Veterans Squad - Power Weapon; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Flamer; Plasma Cannon
2 Company Veterans Squad - Storm Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Flamer; Plasma Cannon
2 Company Veterans Squad - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Flamer; Plasma Cannon
1 Company Veterans Squad - Lightning Claw; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Flamer; Plasma Cannon
8 Deathwing Terminator Squad
3 Deathwing Terminator Squad - Power Fist; Storm Bolter; Heavy Flamer
3 Deathwing Terminator Squad - Power Fist; Storm Bolter; Cyclone Missile Launcher
1 Deathwing Terminator Squad - Power Fist; Heavy Flamer
1 Deathwing Terminator Squad - Chain Fist; Storm Bolter; Cyclone Missile Launcher
1 Ezekiel, Grand Master of Librarians
1 Ezekiel, Grand Master of Librarians - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Sercret's Shield; Traitor's Bane
1 Land Raider Crusader
1 Land Raider Crusader - Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter; 2x Hurricane Bolters; Twin-Linked Assault
Cannon; Power of the Machine Spirit
2 Predator
1 Predator - Dozer Blade; Hunter-killer Missile; Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter; Twin-Linked Lascannon;
Lascannon (each side)
1 Predator - Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter; Lascannon (each side)
1 Ravenwing Support Squadron
1 Ravenwing Support Squadron - Heavy Flamer
2 Razorback
1 Razorback - Dozer Blade; Twin-Linked Lascannon
1 Razorback - Hunter-killer Missile; Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter
2 Rhino
p1
Created with Army Builder® - Copyright (c) 1997-2011 Lone Wolf Development, Inc. All rights reserved. Download it for FREE at http://www.wolflair. com!
1 Rhino - Dozer Blade; Storm Bolter
1 Rhino - Dozer Blade; Extra Armor; Storm Bolter
4 Sergeant
3 Sergeant - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades
1 Sergeant - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Weapon
2 Sergeant
2 Sergeant - Power Sword; Storm Bolter
1 Sergeant
1 Sergeant - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Teleport Homer; Melta Bombs; Power Weapon; Twin-Linked
Bolter
1 Sergeant
1 Sergeant - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Plasma Pistol
1 Sergeant
1 Sergeant - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Combat Shield; Melta Bombs; Power Weapon
1 Sergeant
1 Sergeant - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Plasma Pistol; Power Fist
49 Tactical Squad
18 Tactical Squad - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Flamer
9 Tactical Squad - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Flamer; Missile Launcher
9 Tactical Squad - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Missile Launcher
9 Tactical Squad - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Meltagun; Missile Launcher
4 Tactical Squad - Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades
Total Roster Cost: 3830
Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com
p2


Created with Army Builder® - Copyright (c) 1997-2011 Lone Wolf Development, Inc. All rights reserved. Download it for FREE at http://www.wolflair. com!
4000 Pts - Dark Angels Roster
Total Roster Cost: 3830
HQ: Azrael, Supreme Grand Master (1#, 225 pts)
1 Azrael, Supreme Grand Master, 225 pts
: Command Squad (5#, 175 pts)
4 Command Squad, 150 pts = 4 * 21 (base cost 21) + Power Weapon x1 15
1 Company Champion, 25 pts
HQ: Ezekiel, Grand Master of Librarians (1#, 170 pts)
1 Ezekiel, Grand Master of Librarians, 170 pts
: Command Squad (5#, 175 pts)
4 Command Squad, 150 pts = 4 * 21 (base cost 21) + Power Weapon x1 15
1 Company Champion, 25 pts
1st Tactical Squad (11#, 225 pts)
9 Tactical Squad, 149 pts = 9 * 16 (base cost 16) + Flamer 5
1 Sergeant, 33 pts = (base cost 18) + Plasma Pistol 15
1 Rhino, 40 pts = (base cost 35 + Dozer Blade 5)
2nd Tactical Squad (11#, 255 pts)
9 Tactical Squad, 154 pts = 9 * 16 (base cost 16) + Missile Launcher 10
1 Sergeant, 33 pts = (base cost 18 + Power Weapon 15)
1 Redemptio, 65 pts = (base cost 50 + Hunter-killer Missile 15)
3rd Tactical Squad (10#, 225 pts)
9 Tactical Squad, 164 pts = 9 * 16 (base cost 16) + Meltagun 10 + Missile Launcher 10
1 Sergeant, 58 pts = (base cost 18 + Power Fist 25) + Plasma Pistol 15
4th Tactical Squad (11#, 235 pts)
9 Tactical Squad, 159 pts = 9 * 16 (base cost 16) + Flamer 5 + Missile Launcher 10
1 Sergeant, 18 pts
1 Rhino, 55 pts = (base cost 35 + Dozer Blade 5 + Extra Armor 15)
5th Tactical Squad (5#, 90 pts)
4 Tactical Squad, 72 pts = 4 * 18
1 Sergeant, 18 pts
6th Tactical Squad (11#, 255 pts)
9 Tactical Squad, 149 pts = 9 * 16 (base cost 16) + Flamer 5
1 Sergeant, 18 pts
1 Faith, 85 pts = (base cost 50 + Dozer Blade 5 + Twin-Linked Lascannon 30)
Fast Attack: Assault Squad (5#, 155 pts)
4 Assault Squad, 100 pts = 4 * 25
1 Sergeant, 55 pts = (base cost 25 + Combat Shield 10 + Melta Bombs 5 + Power Weapon 15)
The Horsemen (4#, 200 pts)
1 Ravenwing Attack Squadron, 0 pts
2 Bike Squad, 90 pts = 2 * 40 (base cost 40) + Meltagun x1 10
p1
Created with Army Builder® - Copyright (c) 1997-2011 Lone Wolf Development, Inc. All rights reserved. Download it for FREE at http://www.wolflair. com!
1 Sergeant, 60 pts = (base cost 40 + Melta Bombs 5 + Power Weapon 15)
1 Attack Bike, 50 pts
Fast Attack: Ravenwing Support Squadron (1#, 75 pts)
1 Ravenwing Support Squadron, 75 pts = (base cost 65) + Heavy Flamer 10
Contempt (1#, 255 pts)
1 Land Raider Crusader, 255 pts = (base cost 250 + Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter 5)
Lucia's Tear (1#, 190 pts)
1 Predator, 190 pts = (base cost 70 + Dozer Blade 5 + Hunter-killer Missile 15 + Pintle-mounted
Storm Bolter 5 + Lascannon (each side) 60) + Twin-Linked Lascannon 35
Purgo (1#, 135 pts)
1 Predator, 135 pts = (base cost 70 + Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter 5 + Lascannon (each side) 60)
Elite: Deathwing Terminator Squad (5#, 240 pts)
4 Deathwing Terminator Squad, 197 pts = 4 * 43 (base cost 43) + Chain Fist x1 5 + Cyclone Missile
Launcher 20
1 Sergeant, 43 pts
Elite: Deathwing Terminator Squad (5#, 220 pts)
4 Deathwing Terminator Squad, 177 pts = 4 * 43 (base cost 43) + Heavy Flamer 5
1 Sergeant, 43 pts
Elite: Company Veterans Squad (10#, 330 pts)
10 Company Veterans Squad, 330 pts = 10 * 20 (base cost 20) + Lightning Claw x1 25 + Power
Weapon x5 75 + Storm Bolter x2 10 + Flamer 5 + Plasma Cannon 15
Validation Report:
c-1. File Version: 1.31 For Bug Reports/www.ab40k.org; b-1. Roster Options: Special Characters; a-1.
Scenario: Normal Mission
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules
Composition Report:
HQ: 2 (1 - 2)
Elite: 3 (0 - 3)
Troops: 6 (2 - 6)
Fast: 3 (0 - 3)
Heavy: 3 (0 - 3)
Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com
p2

New squad and HQ units

Well, of the new army I've managed to get one squad fully functional.  A 10 man squad with a flamer.  The sgt is about 5 years old at a guess, with base armaments.  I've made them the 6th Tactical Squad with a stylized six on their right shoulder.  That shoulder pad is red with gold trim to visibly differentiate them from the other squads, while the rest of their armor and colors are standard for the rest of the Chorus.

I obtained so many HQ units with this army that my non-unique units may occasionally get used as a really beautiful Company Veterans Squad from time to time just so they don't go to waste.  They'll probably all get painted by the end of next week.

Lucky

As trite as it might sound, and how often friends have said similar things, it occurs to me that I'm very lucky to be able to get involved in my hobbies as much as I am, and don't have to worry about whether or not I get to eat tonight, or whether I can safely sleep.  Maybe those thoughts deserve a little more thought.

Trade and additions

A few weeks ago a friend mentioned that he had a small 40k army someone had given him some time ago that he was going to sell before moving out of state while we were talking about different games.  He's a big Magic the Gathering player and I happened to have a collection I started in about '93 that had been sitting in a box for a decade so we discussed a trade.  Long story short, through another friend who acted as broker the trade happened this weekend and I'm thrilled.  For one box of cards, about equal in value to the broker-friend's estimate of the value of the 40k army, I got:

2 Rhinos circa 93, good condition, both have tiny issues that will take me about 5 minutes to fix, plastic
1 Whirlwind circa 93, plastic hull, metal turret, very good condition
1 Razorback circa 93, plastic hull, metal turret, very good condition
1 "Lasorback" circa 93, plastic hull metal turret, very good condition
1 Dreadnought, metal, assault cannon and CCW, good condition but needs to be stripped - the primer and paint are very heavy in some spots.
48 marines of various generations in power armor, some of which need parts.  4 are chest-huggers I may not use, two lascannons, two heavy bolters, 2 missile launchers and a plasma cannon
5 plastic terminators on 25mm bases - all need to be stripped but are otherwise in good condition
2 metal terminators on 25mm bases - lightning claws and TS/SS, unpainted
1 plastic land speeder that needs some work
1 Dark Angels Chapter Master figure, without the helm-bearer, unpainted and in nearly mint condition
1 metal techmarine with arm, needs a lot of stripping but may be viable
1 company captain in power armor, primed and in great condition
1 older style librarian in power armor, primed and in great condition
1 oooold style Blood Angels chaplain of the same type as my other one, unpainted and in very good condition - I'll probably trade or sell this one
1 metal apothacary with power sword primed and in good condition
1 metal standard bearer primed and in good condition
1 GW Army Carrier - case is in perfect condition, but I'll probably replace the foam at some point.

The army is mostly primed green with some paint - the tanks have almost no paint so they'll be really easy to work with.  It also seems to have been done on the DA codex, except the Blood Angels chaplain, so they'll interface very nicely with my current army.  I'm really happy about this deal - it cost neither of us anything , but it allowed us both to have more fun with hobbies we like and get rid of stuff we're not using.

New tank

I just finished the construction of a new tank - purchased as a GW Predator, but with magnets, it can be a lot of things.  At present, until I can get my hands on some bits, it can be:

Predator - AC Turret, Heavy Bolter sponsons
Predator - Lascannon Turret, Heavy Bolter sponsons
Rhino

I can attach a pintle mounted storm bolter to any of the options, and I'm trying to figure out where I can stick a hunter killer.  I need 8 bits to be able to use lascannon sponsons, and I think 6 each to be able to do a heavy bolter or lascannon Razorback.

The "commander" operating the stormbolter I kitbashed and converted a little... well more properly, I modified the arms meant to operate the SB, so he could have one hand on it and the other hand flourishing the chain sword arm from the space marine captain set, and he's got the bare head with breather head attached to him.  The "commander" who would appear to be driving the tank is also bareheaded.

Have to think of a name for it now...