Power Spears?

[Pariah Mk.231]

Well, seems Paypal has decided to shaft me so my Minotaurs project will have to be put on hold for a little while since I was looking at ebay for quite a few bits. On the topic of swords however, I've found some that will work very nicely for the rank and file marines, the sheathed swords from the Sang Guard kit fit the theme perfectly, just need to remove the blood drop from the scabbard and you're set.

 

Gah! To hell with you Paypal, pulling a stunt like this right when I have the money/motivation/plan for a new army! Though I suppose it has made me reconsider the termies a little. The points cost for a wolf lord and 7 wolf guard termies (remember I'm using the space wolves codex) all armed with storm shields/frost blades and riding in a crusader was over 800 points. Considering I want this to be a tourniment army, a point sink like that is a really bad idea. I guess we'll see how long Paypal decides to drag this on, I may end up just waiting for the new chaos codex and redoing them.

 

In case I don't end up doing Minotaurs and someone else would like to use the method I'd planned for building them, here it is:

 

Wolf Guard (termies) - Tartarus termies, snip the storm bolter hand, add force halberd including hand, replace blade with high elf prince lance tip, leather straps from plastic captain kit over groin, cloak from empire general kit cut/sculpted to fit, scibor spartan shields (large). If possible, swap heads for puppetswar greek heads with creast snipped off. Or, if possible and not too costly, swap out arms for Moloc's all round. (easier conversion and nicer looking, but much more expensive, though you end up with everyone having the Tartarus pattern Minotaur shoulder pads and Minotaur shields)

 

Wolf Guard (PA) - Sang guard chest/legs, plastic captain cloak, command squad banner arm, silver helm spear heads, scibor spartan shields (small) or scibor spartan decorative shields, puppetswar greek heads, Minotaur shoulder pads, plastic captain leather straps.

 

Grey Hunters - Mk.4 Maximus all the way, Minotaur shoulder pads, phobos bolters, Sang guard sheathed swords.

 

Wolf Scouts - Normal scouts, scibor spartan helmets, umbra ferrox bolters, Sang guard sheathed swords.

 

Blood Claws - Just regular old Mk.7 marines, swap out chainswords for high elf champion swords, Minotaur shoulder pads.

 

Dreadnaught - Contemptor, fits with the termies and the advanced gear thing the Minotaurs have going. Not sure how to make him fit the greek theme yet.

 

Long Fangs - Mk.8 Errant, Sang guard sheather swords, Minotaur shoulder pads.

 

I figure the Minotaurs aren't going to give high-end gear to marines that have only just earned their power armour, so the Mk.4 and Mk.8 are saved for the more experienced marines. I also figure with the speed that Minotaurs go from raw recruit to marine and since it's mostly extreme psycho-indoctrination techniques that rush them through, their skills won't be as honed as they should be for the first few years of their careers, though they'd be extremely aggressive and brutal in battle until they get to grips with being a marine. I felt blood claws represented this rather well.

From the descriptions of the different marks of marine armour, I got the impression that Mk.4 was superior to Mk.7, so have opted to outfit the core of my army in complete sets of Maximus armour. I won't lie, I really love the Mk.4 chests. I anticipate I'll have to do a little work remodeling the legs into a wider range of poses. The aggressive nature of the Minotaurs also seems well reflected in the grey hunters gear, being able to provide ranged fire as well as swapping to a melee set-up when they need to get in close. I love the look of the phobes bolters, all the reason I needed.

Mk.8 armour supposedly has advanced communications and sensory gear, which seems like it would be an excellent choice for the long fangs, feeding them better data on high priority targets and finding weak points in enemy vehicles. With most of the force trying to get in close, it seems likely they'd assign some of the more level headed brothers the role of tank hunters, lascannons all round!

The scouts? Well, I know Minotaurs still put their recruits through the scout phase before bumping them along, but with the rate of progress I don't see their scouts being as effective as they should be and wouldn't be as adept at the traditional role of the scouts. Therefor, I like the idea that the chapter has some marines who make subterfuge/recon their business while the rest of the marines focus on their overwhelmingly brutal frontal assualts. These guys have a preference for hitting the enemy where it hurts to ensure their brothers have an easier time getting into the fray, so they've donned the carapace and gone hunting. Maybe they're just after the chance to get the glory of assassinating some enemy generals while the rest of the lads make do with the grunts. I've also chosen the scibor spartan heads for these guys to keep with the theme, and the fact I don't think those heads work for models in power armour, but look like they'd go nicely with carapace. As for the umbra ferrox bolters on these guys, the larger clips simply gives them more ammo while they're behind enemy lines and the scopes helps their precision, making that extra ammo go even further. Might even snip the silencers off the bolt pistols and add them to the bolters.

 

Needless to say, with the money I'm prepared to throw at this project, Minotaur shoulder pads and vehicles bits everywhere possible is a must. Cross your fingers for me that Paypal stops screwing me around so I can actually contribute some awesome models to this forum.