The future of the fists

List building. It's my latest pastime. I've come to that point where list building is a fun idea. I'm thinking of how to bring my IFs up to let's say 1500 points for instance. Like Chernobyl commented I've been thinking of retiring my captains and replacing them with Lysander for some more punch. Not quite sure what his bolter drill would do for me though. I need to fight something else than other marines, they don't particularly die much when shot by bolters for some reason:)

I was thinking of replacing my underperforming dread with a very close combat styled ironclad dread (think two close combat weapons and two heavy flamers) as well, as that would go well with the captain switching. And to bring it up to 1500, well, terminators *do* sound real nice. But what is best, two squads of five or one squad of ten? With Lysander joining terminators. They are dead 'ard, but they can't be everywhere on the other hand.

I have also started to play around with building lists just for the heck of it. As kind of an exercise to understanding the codex better. Through this I've found that it is very fun to try to think up ways of making themed lists with a certain goal. Like the Raven Guard style list I came up with. I am totally sure that somewhere out there there are someone else already having done this, but the idea of a list totally void of mechanized mayhem appeals to me. I don't want to copy somebody else's winning list, I want to make my own, by being creative. Yes, I've been inspired, and you all have to guess by whom yourself :P

Oh, and that play list? This is it:

Shadow Captain Kayvaan Shrike 195

Assualt Squad, 5 extra marines, double lightning claws, Melta bomb 225

Assualt Squad, 5 extra marines, double lightning claws, Melta bomb 225

Assualt Squad, 5 extra marines, double lightning claws, Melta bomb 225

Scout Squad, Sniper, camo, 4 extra scouts 154

Scout Squad, Sniper, camo, 4 extra scouts 154

Scout Squad, Combat blade, combi-melta, melta bombs 155

Scout Squad, Combat blade, combi-melta, melta bombs 155

1,488

And with 12p to spare :) Hmm, that is like 14 boxes and one blister. And lots and lots of more painting. I do wonder if such an army is even viable. No reserves, just infiltrate like crazy, go heavy on the sniping and use fleet of foot to get into assault fast.

Bah. I need to play more :)

First game

Two games of Warhammer 40k played today. Basically the list I posted before (hellfire rounds did jump over to the other captain though, since I didn't have the right gun on the other one, and one razorback got the twin linked assault cannon). The first game was more of a warm up play thing. Played 2 vs 2 players in teams with a fifth player deep striking randomly in the center of one of 1/3rd of the game board. Sounds confusing? It was, but it was mostly a test thing to get going. Funny enough my team won and I lost two marines in a razorback if I recall correctly. But oh well, it was just not that proper yet.

On to the second game. 1000pts, Imperial Fists vs Chaos Space Marines. I was facing two rhinos, one squad of Berserkers, one squad of Plague Marines and a Predator. I felt that reserves was a bit too advanced for me quite yet so I deployed pretty evenly over the field with the lascannons in the corners and the razorbacks and dread in the middle.

The lascannons definitly were the starts of the show. They popped a rhino and the predator. I concentrated my guys on first the bikes and then the plague marines, whittling them down on by one. Now the start of the show was definitely the captain with the power fist who took a few turns to turn them into mince meat. By removing or suppressing his long range firepower I stayed away long enough to fire a lot of shots by be fairly unaffected by his shooting. The dread and one razorback got immobilized but continued to punish the traitors.

I won by 4 killpoints to none and I lost in total one flamer marine and one standard marine. Pretty good for a first game but I felt that this is far from my trial by fire. Never the less I got a feel for the rules in action and we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

State of the Fists 4

Tomorrow is the big day, tomorrow the Fists go to war for the very first time. I have a firm grasp of the general rules, but there are several minor rules that I surely won't remember. I just hope that my opponents are forgiving (they might see me as an easy win, but I will fight back:)) and I will try to focus on using what I know and see how it goes. My goal is mainly to get to play the game and get some playtime in before I move. Which is soon now! I have actually gotten my US visa approved:)

Here we have my two lascannon guys. The missions will be Annihilation so I'll probably pop vehicles with them and then concentrate my fire to try to break morale. I don't expect their 4 fellow marines will do much unless my enemy either kills them or gets within 24" of them :)

I painted the "thingie" at the back green and give it a *very* liberal wash of Thrakka Green. Then I decided to put a violet was over Fenris Grey on the other one. Not too happy with the result of that one though. The other Fenris + purple combo (leviathan purple I think) turned out great. I.e. the hose and the, ehm, thingy on the barrel. Also went for a very black backpack. Anything having opinions?:)

My second Razorback. Looks like it was pretty much seriously rushed out of the manefactorium, big time. But it *will* be finished in the future and hopefully looking ok. I plan on numbering it II while the first one gets I. No big surprises there:) Like the interior? It's the same as #I with one minor difference. Unfortunately it's impossible to see on this picture unless you know what you are looking for. Maybe maybe I'll change #I to look like #2 :)

The Dozer blades are fully magnetized on both of them now. Looks neat and works neat. Here you can see the fairly large magnets hidden inside the Razorback. The stick on quite well. I have to magnetize weapons, doors (on #2), and well, that's it I guess. But it has to be done never the less:)

And now for a blurry with flashlight group photo! Don't they look chanterelle-tastic? I should hook them up with a better photo op when I have painted more of them. I am considering switching out the AoBR Dreadnaught for a new one so I get some more weapon options. Or switch the bugger out completely and get some Land Speeder Storm love and people seem to love those Predators and Land Raiders. Hmm, what is a Chapter Master to do :)

I'll return with a brief report on how things turn out tomorrow.

State of the Fists 3

Woot! My Fists now have one more Razorback that has the interior painted fully (I have realized that I have no Purity Seal sprayed in there on either. So I will have to remember that!). Other than that it is black and have no magnets or weapons. Have to work on the weapons when I get back from Stockholm.

I will put magnets in for the Dozer blade just like the other one, but this time I will remember to take a photo before I seal it all up. I've got two pretty strong magnets glued in the drivers compartment that easily should hold a blade. I just have to incorporate magnets on the blade in a cool fashion. Thinking of going all Boltgun metal crazy on the blades, so it should fit right in unpainted though. Magnets are so nice.

I will just throw the weapons together so I can play. Thinking of having them put together with "häftmassa" (blue-tac?) so I can play as I don't want to glue all of it as I want the ability to switch weapons. Might even get hold of an Assault cannon! Which would be awesome sauce for sure! A Heavy 4 should give me more crowd killing after all.

I have also assembled (and painted!) one of the Lascannon Marines and a second one is well under way. Pictures will come! I need to base the last lot and I still need to put on the transfers. Guess I've been reluctant because I fear failure. But what the heck, I'll throw them on soon:) I am also thinking of somehow getting the black up arrows on the right shoulders as well. But that wouldn't work well with my Devastators though. Then again I don't think that I will ever play them as such, but rather have options for lascannon, heavy bolters, and rocket launchers for my marines. I do wonder if heavy weapon guys in Tactical Squads have the Tactical Squad or Devastator markings. Hmm.

I will put up a group photo of the whole force as soon as everything is assembled. I will push on and paint everything after gaming is done. The dread might be replaced soon as the AoBR model somehow ended up getting the arms glued, so I can't even switch weapons around. *wops* Might pick up one of those nifty Ironclad Dreadnaught boxes soon, maybe even get two and replace one of the Captains just for fun, or just use it to expand towards 1500. I do dearly want those storms though, but I am starting to think that a scout squad with sniper rifles isn't a good idea in one of those. It's going to be contest / objective grabber after all.

Next post will have pictures, promise :)

State of the Fists 2

Got all the plastic for the 1k army now. Got everything off the sprue for the new Razorback (a.k.a. II) and into little plastic bags. Cleaned out the big main parts and I am going to prime and assemble them tomorrow. And paint the interior. I have a simple interior paint scheme that is very fast to paint, and well, I don't want the inside to be just black. I know, I am craaazy :)

I also need to get the weapons done both Razorbacks and magnetize the weapons and dozer blades (got some big magnets inside to hold them, pretty neat ^_^). *phew* It takes longer to build an army than I ever thought!

I have gotten 7 "standard" marines done and the melta gun one. Only got three left after that, two lascannon marines and one captain. I think I'll remodel him to have a powerfist after all. Can't go wrong with a powerfist :) Or maybe I can? Let me know!

The craziness continues!

State of the fists

The cat's out of the bag on Fritz's second blog so my 750 point Imperial Fist army isn't much of a secret now really:) As things have happened its progress has been slower than anticipated. I guess after getting all space marines in the black reach box put together so quickly I didn't anticipate the tempo to drop so steeply so fast. Life, the color yellow, and other things slowed me down. On top of that there is a 1000p tournament next week, and maybe, just maybe, it could be that I can get an army put together by then. It will be built straight up on the list suggestion so kindly provided to me and can be seen as a bit options heavy. But I am working on a budget here (a time budget). I do hope I get to play some 40k in Sweden though.

So with that in mind, let's start with the WIP shots. Here we have four bog standard marines finished and their three friends feeling a bit out of hands. No basing and transfers yet. It will come, but it's low prio at the moment. I'm thinking of doing something to get me black arrows on the right shoulder pads to make them more similar to the black reach marines. Fist transfers will go the left shoulder pads.

And here we have the *very* unfinished heavy weapons guys. Two lascannons! Why should heavy heavy weapons you ask? Because I can! I will make up two heavy bolter guys as well, and an extra rocket launcher with the cool back pack. The launcher in the tactical squad box set just doesn't cut it, it looks bad. Good thing I have a devastator box:) Question is, should I kit the 5th and last guy out as a sergeant or another heavy weapons choice, hmm.

Got a bad ass sergeant with a power fist. Totally bad ass. Totally black primer, totally bad picture. And the base that I am going to transplant my Eiryss to looks great in the picture. Stay tuned for that project:)

Here's a lone melta carrying marine, and the arms and pads for him and his three buddies from earlier on. The pop? It's Dr. Pepper ofcourse! :) The cardbord box pieces are from German Wine :)

So now it is time for... the list! I might tweak the options a little bit, we'll see. One thing I have been thinking of is going for a powerfist on the Captain instead of a lightning claw. Haven't glued that guy yet, so I can change my mind :) But, the list!

1 Space Marine Captain	Storm Bolter, Lightning Claw, Melta bombs, Hellfire	133
1 Space Marine Captain	Melta bomb, Auxiliary Grenade Launcher	120
10 Space Marines	Las Cannon, Flamer	180
10 Space Marines-	Las Cannon, Melta Gun, Power fist	215
1 Razorback	Las Cannon, Storm bolter, Hunter killer missile, Extra Armor, Dozer Blade	115
1 Razorback	Las Cannon, Storm bolter, Hunter killer missile, Extra Armor, Dozer Blade	115
1 Dreadnought	Multi-melta, Extra armor	120
		998

998 points of Imperial Fists. The former "lone" marine combat squad now has a Razorback and a Captain. The tactics will be the same as for the 750 list. It's not meant to be a highly competitive list, but rather a fully working list that I can learn 40k with. Been toying with the idea of assault cannons for the razorbacks and heavy bolters for the tactical squads.

Now I also see that the second Space Marine squad should be 210 points, so I have 7 and not 2 points unused. Wops :) And dropping some extras I think that I could squeeze in a whirlwind. No way I can do that until next week, but the idea *is* interesting :)

And since I am in dream land, I want to add two Land Speeder Storms, a 10 man scout team (half bolters with a sergeant, half snipers) that combat up and jumps into the storms. Then an extra dreadnaught with some interesting options (probably should replace the one I have too with a kit instead). And replace a captain with Lysander for some proper Imperial Fist love. Should have some points left for maybe a pair of whirlwinds or so. Lots of models :) No phat land raiders or termies though. Or vindicators or predators for that matter. But maybe it could be a fun list. A squad of three land raiders to go with the storms could be good too. Some real fast moving end game love for sure :) Could keep them in reserve even :)

That's all folks!

New armies

From reading the rumor mill on the blogs I've found out that the new Space Wolves codex is planned for October this year, and we already know that Retribution of Scyrah is scheduled for a September release. Let's say that this just adds to my determination of having my life fixed and set up by that time so I can get my claws on these fantastic new armies.

I dearly want a mage hunter army, and I am considering giving the Myrmidons a more green paint job to look like they belong to the rest of the hunters. And maybe make a dawnguard themed army as well. Kinda like having two factions in one :)

And the wolves, they are just so very very cool. Some might find their viking inspiration as too much, but I just find it charming. Maybe I should deck out one Blood Claw as being myself :) Lots of fun ahead!

Pictures

Here are the promised pictures. I didn't get any painting done today due to outside interference. It's going to be interested to see how the marines look actually assembled. So here's the pictures!

The marines have kind of a "dirty" look. It's not so much a conscious decision as it was what I ended up with. I hope the shoulderpads + arms/weapon is going to balance the marines out a bit.

And here the two little side projects. I thought that painting Orks would be hard as heck, but not really. It so happens that models with a lot of stuff on them sometimes are easier to paint. The Marines are far more "clean", but that just makes it harder for me. I hope you like these guys, they have 3 more Nob friends primed so I might just finish those three as well, to have myself a little Nob squad to look at me when I paint :)

Damn it takes time to paint

Between lots of things needing to be done and generally being tired (I miss AC! I want to be able to sleep when it is warm out!) and that little pesky issue of yellow paint, I haven't actually painted as much as I had hoped to. I might just be able to finish my 7 Boltgun Tactical Squad Marines tomorrow though. Painted 8 shoulder pads today and have worked on the arms/bolters as well. Slow going, but it would be so nice to have 7 fully painted models. Then I just have to paint 2 special weapons and a sergeant.

I did cheat a bit and have painted two Ork Nobs, for fun, and it was a lot of fun! I don't have any Goff checkmarks on them though. Should incorporate them in the future. Gotta make Mr. Thrakka feel welcome in the future :)

I really should take some pictures of my progress tomorrow. For fun :)

1000 points of Imperial Fists

I am hard at work (or, well, at least now and then) on my 750 point list still. But I am thinking about what I could do next, how I could up it to 1k points if I want to compete in the upcoming tourney. I fear I must take the simplest route, i.e. the one involving the least amount of miniatures as my painting is slow moving. Pictures will be up when I can get my hands on a camera again. I'm working on 7 boltgun marines. I'm leaving off all the "extras" such as grenades etc. Cutting corners:) I might add them later on though, I just have to be super careful with the glue. I have found that putting some glue on a piece of cardboard and holding the plastic I want to glue and gently dipping it in the little pool of glue works far far better than trying to apply directly from the bottle. Don't want glue all over the place anymore after all!

So what would I want to add? I want to add two land speeder storms. Which means 12 (!) scouts and two (!!!) vehicles. Released on the 18th of July none the less. On top of that I want one squad of Space Marines scouts, half of them with sniper rifles, that I split into two combat groups each boarding a storm. Fast, open topped, skimmer. It opens up for some interesting tactics for sure. I should probably drop my dreadnought if I do that and replace him with a devastator squad or something (since I plan on painting them anyways). But I would have 22 scouts and 2 skimmers to paint then. Over a weekend. Doesn't sound like a realistic plan to me :(

That said, it would be a great way to move my army up to 1500 points. Add one more Razorback to that mix, and an extra HQ (thinking something rock hard, to go in the other 2nd Razorback) and some mobile elites. Maybe on or two drop pod terminator squads. I do hope you *can* drop pod them. A squad of three land speeders would be a cool addition as well. Would make my army quite fast I hope :)

What I will not add is bikes. Not a fan of them at all. Nope, no bikes.

Hmm

Hmm, maybe one should get one of these in the future:

The Spear of Sicarius

But then again, what's the odds that the thing will be around for long enough for that to happen :) I do quite fancy those spiffy drop pods though. No idea if they will play well, but they look really neat :)