Planning...

Aw yeah, old school power point clip art style. I love it. Brings me back to the beginning of this blog. I'm really going to have to bring back some more of that flavor.

In the spirit of that, I thought I'd share how I'm planning out my purchases. It's not the most organized way to do it, but it's the way I've always managed to get enough stuff to construct an entire army.

Usually, I start off with a specific list. Then, I compile a second list of the number of each model in the list. For example:

25 Regular bolter guys
4 Plasma
4 Melta

I think that probably explains it. Then, I figure out how many boxes I need to get what I need.

Of course, this time around I'm not necessarily building towards any one particular army list, so my list of stuff seems really long... Also things are complicated by the stuff that I already have. So, I get 2 lists.

What I have:


IG infantry
29 lasgunners
4 sarges
12 plasma gunners
3 melta gunners
2 sword bolt pistol guys

IG vehicles
4 Chimeras
1 Vendetta

Space Marine infantry
5 Assault Terminators
21 regular bolter guys
3 sarges
6 melta guys

Space Marine vehicles
4 Rhino/Razorbacks
1 Landspeeder
1 Stormtalon
1 Dreadnought

What I have on the sprue:
11 bikes
2 Hellhounds (which will be converted into Hydras once I have the appropriate platforms)
30ish space marines

What I plan on making:

Space Marine infantry
11 more regular bolter guys
15 missile launcher guys
2 flamer guys
2 multi-melta guys
2 lascannon guys
4 plasma guys
5 Thunderwolves
an assortment of HQ choice-esque guys

Space Marine vehicles
2 more Rhino/Razorbacks
1 more Dreadnought
2 more Stormtalons
2 more Landspeeders
2 Predators
1 Vindicator

Imperial Guard vehicles
2 more Vendettas
2 Leman Russ demolishers

So... Yeah. This should give me plenty of options to field lots of different versions of a couple of armies. At this point, that's what I really want. Lots of options = less chance of all of my choices being invalidated by codex or edition change. I'd also like to try and make one of those Thunderhawk conversions that I've seen floating around out there. Perhaps I'll make that a reality, or perhaps not. I suppose we'll see as I move forward.

Landspeeder and Geckos

Landspeeder...

Still more Landspeeder...

Gecko #1 (the jumpy one)

Gecko #2 (the not quite so jumpy one)

Ok. So, just a little bit of hobby progress this week. I managed to find an unused Landspeeder that I had sitting around on the sprue, and I played around with it a bit. I wanted to get something that looked a bit like the Forgeworld Landspeeder Tempest. Whether or not I actually succeeded... Well... I'm not sure yet.

 I've always been partial to Landspeeders just due to their speed and firepower. However, I've always disliked the open crew compartment (especially with the "it's not open topped because POWER ARMOR, YO!" rule...), so I may do a few more of these if this one turns out well after painting.

In another fortuitous discovery, I found a bunch of guys I built a while back with Red Scorpion Upgrade Kits and Chaos Marine parts, so I managed to get a jumpstart on my army build. I had to shave off a few extremely Chaosy sigils to make them slightly more generic, but in the end I was extremely pleased that I hadn't painted those guys yet.

I've been playing with a bunch of different army builds right now, and a bunch of them look interesting and fun. I've got a basic framework of what I want to play in my mind, but the particulars haven't been mapped out yet. Allies are allowing me some freedom to think about army construction in a totally new way, and I'm interested to see where it will take me. Of course, using allies means you have to have 2 HQs and 3 Troops, basically, but it allows you 4 Heavy Support, Fast Attack and Elites. So far, this hasn't been a huge stumbling block for me. But, then again, I've always been a fan of 4 units of Troops anyways ;]

I'm still waiting on some remaining custom bits as well as some resin bases to arrive in the mail, and my local store ordered me the last few things I need today, so I should actually have everything by Thursday or Friday according to shipping estimates.

It's odd. Despite the fact that I still have some real problems with the way GW writes their games and prices their miniatures, I actually feel enthusiastic about returning to the game. I guess this is why they haven't gone out of business yet, right? ;] I'm still hoping that I'll eventually be able to trot out some of my other armies again, but I think that approaching the army building aspect with a "I want lots of options for when they break the books I'm using" may be a better approach than what I've used in the past. And it helps when you are using models that let you pick and choose from several different books...

As per SinSynn's request, we have gecko pictures. These are our (the "us" being me and my gf) crested geckos. Neither of them have tails due to unfortunate run-ins with an older, meaner gecko at some point before we got them. Crested geckos don't grow back their tails, so they will look this way for their entire life. Geckos are not the only exotic animals that I now live with, but that story will have to wait for another day ;]

Beginnings, beginnings...

So, I know absolutely nothing about how well this new edition functions. Sure, I've read the rules, and I've scanned some various blog posts. But until I've actually played a game, I have no handle on how things actually flow.

Now, as of right now, that's not really so much of a problem.

Why is this? I'm trying to turn over a new leaf. Usually, I build pretty much a single list and play that (with a few modifications) for an entire edition. Then, when a new edition comes out, I have to build a new army because whatever I have ceases to be effective or fun or something. This time I want to do something different.

I've said before that I wanted to build a collection that has enough flexibility to weather editions and keep my attention. Unfortunately, I've never actually done so. This time, however, I'm actually setting out with that intent, so maybe it'll happen. Sure, I've written up a few army lists, but I haven't settled on one to the extent that I'm going to commit to just that. Instead, I've set myself up with a fairly set goal in terms of allies and then an unfortunately large shopping list of Space Marine items to give myself some flexibility.

What allies? For right now, Imperial Guard. They seem to shore up some of the weaknesses that any other list can have. Right now, I plan on the following with them: a company command with an autocannon, a veteran squad with an autocannon, a Vendetta and 2 Hydras. Cheap and solid shooty is what I think this gives me, along with a relatively immobile troops unit to camp home objectives.

As far as what I want in Marines... Well, lots of regular guys with an assortment of special and heavy weapons. I bought a bunch of Mark IV heads to give my guys some character. Several Razorbacks/Rhinos to provide whatever mobility I need. A couple of Dreadnoughts to give me some firepower (also, I love Dreadnoughts). Maybe some Assault Terminators? Yeah, that sounds fun. Also, I have some secret hidden plans that I'll only reveal once I've actually decided to do it, as it'll make for some nice modelling and painting entries.

So, there you have it, a bit of rambling on my part and a picture of my almost completely assembled Vendetta on top of my crested geckos' cage. Maybe I'll put out some better posts here in the near future as I get back into the swing. Heh. Maybe I'll even get around to reposting all of my older stuff that I haven't done yet. I suppose we'll see!

Arise, chicken! Chicken arise!

So... Yeah. You may be wondering pretty much what the hell happened to me. Let me go ahead and sate some of that curiosity. Almost immediately after the last time I posted (damn near a year ago), shit hit the fan big time in my life. My grandfather died right before I was due to take the South Carolina Bar. Add that to a number of other crises, and you have a recipe for me not playing, reading about or even looking at miniatures.

However, I'm now kinda back in a much more stable position. I've ended up moving in my girlfriend. I have a temporary job, and I'm looking for something better. So, I decided to go ahead and wade back into the waters that are miniatures gaming and blogging...

Things have kind of changed. With the advent of 6th edition 40k, my interest has been slightly rekindled. One of my buddies called me and put me on alert to all the Heresy Era Marine bits that now exist... And so we have a new project.

I'll be working on the force I always should have built: The Plutonium Bastards. A flexible, neon green Marine Force with questionable ethics and the flexibility to be whatever codex suits my mood. Add in some Guard Allies (now that such things are possible), and we end up with something that I hope will be fun and lasting.

Just as a bit of explanation, The Plutonium Bastards were born when my buddy Rick and I were in college together. During that time, we played quite a bit of Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War and its expansions on our computers. Unfortunately, in the Warhammer 40k world of many dark colors, little men who were also darkly colored tended to become lost and forgotten about the map. Thus, Rick cranked the sliders up as high as he could to give us neon green Marines that we could never lose. Both he and I have talked about making an army based on this concept numerous times, but I have beat him to the punch on it!

Hopefully anyone who still reads this can begin looking forward to my long winded ramblings and blurry ass pictures once again.