4th ed veteran returning to the hobby

[Beor]

Hello fellow marshalls, castellans and crusaders!

After a long break I've just recently picked up the hobby once more. Last time I played was in the 4th edition (might have played a few battles in 5th) and now I'm in need of some help and advice.

My templar force of today contains: 1 marshal, 1 Emperor's champion, predator, rhino, LRC, a small bike squad, a land speeder, some 20 initiates and parts to assemble another 15-20 (roughly half with bolters and half with ccw, and some heavy and special weapons), 2 dreads and 10 tactical terminators (all in parts or unpainted). Where should i go from here, any ideas? I play mostly for fun (1000-1500 pts), but I have attended two tournaments back during 4th ed, so some competitive play is not entirely out of the question

As for the lore and fluff:

The story of my crusade so far, A previous black templar crusade battled tyranids, orks and the occasional chaos infestation. This crusade was thought to have been destroyed during one of the first contacts with tyranids sometimes around the year 740.M41. In the year 997.M41 a single strike cruiser reemerges from the warp containing the last remnants of this original crusade. These templars had withdrawn after suffering heavy losses in the fighting against the tyranids. Whilst in the warp they ended up beset by a warp storm, trapping them and exposing many of the crusade's vessels to warp influence and daemon attacks. After fighting their way through the warp for many sol days the strike cruiser Valorius managed to escape the warpspace, although several hundred years had passed the material realm. They have now taken on a new crusade under the leadership of Marshal Brandt to reclaim, rebuild and continue the eternal crusade through the galaxy.

As you see I have a story but now I also need a name for the crusade, some ideas have been toying with:

The Tyran Crusade (in honor of the first imperial world devoured by the tyranids)

The Tempest Crusade (befitting the warp storm story)

The Crusade of Storm (same as above)

Oh and here's my first idea for the crusade's badge.

Thanks in advance for any advice or ideas!

[Marshal Mattias]

Welcome back, brother! The Eternal Crusade has missed you!

It is good to see another veteran getting back into the hobby (so many of us have been doing the same thing recently!). As far as names go, we already have The Tempestas Crusade logged in our records, so to avoid confusion and forge your own strong identity, you prefer to avoid 'Tempest' as your basis ;)

Your units provide you with a good solid starting point for a number of lists. The first step is deciding what style of gameplay you want to lean towards at the beginning. Also, consider that aerial threats are very real now, and a 4th edition crusade (like my own) will suffer from a lack of defences against flyers.

Looking forward to seeing how this crusade develops!

[SCOTT_FRANCIS]

Hail Brother.

A good solid Crusade you have there. As Brother Mattias has informed you, it will expand to cover every eventuality as you have a solid core.

You NEED more Landraiders. . I being a Templar have a Crusader, but do not follow some Brothers here and stick to the Crusader, I also have a God Hammer Las Cannon variant.

I have a Storm Raven, which I highly recommend. Covers gunship, transport, anti-flyer bases.

You have plenty of boots on the ground, when its all built.

I would be tempted to add a Vindicator at some point, but then I just love slinging pie plates of doom about the place.

Lots of people are adding Knights, I have one, unbuilt, so I don't know what it's like on the table yet.

Maybe add a Stalker/Hunter if you don't fancy a Storm Raven.

Which ever way you go Brother, enjoy the hobby again and Keep on Crusading.

[Honda]

Welcome back from the warp Brother! You have returned at an excellent time. The advice given above is solid, so I would recommend getting some games in with what you have and develop a feel for your playing style.

 

Since you've been gone:

 

1. Terminators are really good. Opponents hate them, they especially hate Assault terminators.

2. Land raiders are really good. Opponents hate them.

3. Land raider Crusaders can be dedicated transports to our crusader squads, making them scoring. Opponents hate that.

4. Our crusader squads are very strong now and quite customizable. Las/plas still works for us.

5. Vindicators are great support vehicies. Opponents hate them.

6. Our Marshal/Master of Sanctity (i.e. Chapter Master) is really good. Opponents really hate him. Draigo fears him.

 

All in all, lots of fun things to play with and plenty of opportunity to return the hate in the form of ZEAL!

[Plasma-freak]

Welcome brother

 

The most important thing playing Templars is ZEAL  i.e. the character of the Chapter. Get into it. Feel it. Love it.

It is just so much fun being the one who brings at least one landraider crusader because anything less wouldnt be Templar. On top of that we have been through a lot these last years and we are still cracking skulls and taking names. People respond to that. They love the Templars even if they dont play themselves. The identity of the Templars has endured and grown. Enjoy it!

[Golf33]

I like that crusade badge!

 

I can't help with tactical advice since I haven't played a game since early 6th edition myself.

 

The Tyran Crusade sounds good.

[Beor]

First of all thank for all the input and replies! You guys are sure good at keeping a veteran motivated!

@Marshall Mattias - Tempest is off the list then! As for gameplay style, I've always liked the idea of a mechanized and/or armoured spearhead list. Tanks rumbling, guns blazing and land raiders closeing in with the enemy to unleash it's zealous cargo into the midst of the battle! regarding the aerial threats, I've had a look on the stormtalon and stormraven to support my mechanized assault with some aerial threat of my own

@SCOTT_FRANCIS - As you say another land raider would be nice, but so far I've yet to paint mine up to the standard of the other models and field it one in a proper game so I'll keep the another one fairly low on my to-buy list. Building the rest of the initiates is on the to-do list, but only once I decided to step up in points. So far I have never used more than 25 of them in a list. How is that stormraven doing compared to a stormtalon? I do think of getting a flyer of my own to handle other aerial threats, but the 'raven seems abit on the expensive side for a 1000/1500 points game.

@Honda - So a terminator based force that scores objectives using initiates in LRCs supported by vindicators? This is something I can get behind playing Now to paint and assemble my termies (although I don't have any assault weapons for them, hopefully some ebaying should solve that )

@Plasma-Freak - Great to hear that, I was a bit worried we would have lost some of that zeal when the other marines where included in our codex I still have some very fond memories of earlier games played in the spirit of the Black Templars (Are you assaulting my genestealers? why not, ZEAL! )

@Golf33 - Thank you! I'll keep the badge as it is (or maybe add some minor changes) seeing as I've already started to use it on my models. All input be it name, badge, painting and modelling or gaming related is appreciated. A brother returning isn't only in need of tactical guidance.

One vote for Tyran so far, but I still haven't been able to decide for myself which one I like

As for an update on my progress:

I've been out of town for a few days and I'll get back to assembling and painting during this weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to snap nice pictures to post here keeping you guys and gals updated. I still haven't been able to decide on a name, but I won't use a name based on tempest due to Mashall Mattias input. I've been toying around with a name based on or using 'turbine' as it's base since it also means storm in latin... Still, any ideas are more than welcome!

With all this input I've also decided to make myself a to-buy list in order to keep the crusade growing.

My to-buy list so far:

Vindicator (slinging pie plates do sounds awfully funny)

Stormraven and/or -talon (for that crucial air-support and AA)

Sword Brethren in power armour (for use as a unit themselves or upgrades in the crusader squads)

Assault Terminators

More to come during the weekend!

[Marshal Mattias]

'Procella' is perhaps more precise Latin for 'storm' and has a nice ring to it.

Greek mythology had the 'Anemoi' who were effectively wind gods, ushering in seasonal changes. The two most appropriate are either Boreas, who brought the cold north wind of winter, or Notus, who brought the south wind and the crashing storms of late summer.

Interestingly, when checking my half-memories were correct, I saw that the Latin equivalent to Boreas is 'Aquilo' which riffs nicely on 'Aquila' and is rather neat and tidy given that the Templars are the Emperor's Symbol themselves made flesh ;)

Maybe there is some inspiration in there that catches your fancy?

 

As for mounting up the Templars: Yes! Rolling Thunder is always good. Just remember to crank up the drivin' rock on the landraider stereo ;)

Consider also, that one landraider is a threat that your enemy must neutralise. Two landraiders are a target-priority nightmare and a powerful psychological weapon. If you're plopping Vindicators into the mix too, then your opponent is quickly going to start wishing he'd brought the bigger guns!

[Beor]

Now that's some great inspiration! After giving it some thought I've narrowed it down to three alternatives as a root for the name that I like.

The Tyran Crusade

The Aquilo Crusade

The Boreas Crusade

Personal favorite so for is probably the Aquilo crusade, but I wouldn't mind changing it up abit (e.g. Aquilor or Aquilios).

A vindicator is definitely turning into a must have and I'll probably pick up a flyer before another landraider. I might be able to get my hands on one some second-hand models via a friend. Would be nice since I'm still on a budget, even if it's not as small as it was when I first started

As for the promised pictures. In advance, sorry for the crappy quality of the pictures. I've only got a cellphone camera at hand

Here's my most often used HQ, Marshall Brandt

I've used the captain from the AOBR set, with the addition of a shield hanging by a strap over his left shoulder.

No crusade is complete without the Emperor's champion

... and some intiates.

The stiff pose of the ones with bolters is due to them being from the Macragge set (and my bad conversion skills back then)

First dreadnought of the crusade, Brother Titus, supports both from afar with his Assault Cannon and in close combat with fist and flamer

With that out of the way, here's some WIP on my current projects.

To get back into painting and modelling I've started to add green stuff tabards to some of my older models while also assembling some more battle brothers.

I have two Initiates armed with meltaguns in the making (don't have anyone at all atm), one from the AOBR that just needs a paint coat and the one armed with a power sword is intended to be painted up as a sword brother to lead one of my crusader squads.

I'm also working on a painting my predator...

converting an AOBR dreadnought...

and I've just today finished assembling my LRC!

So that's what I'm currently working on, with hopes of finishing at least one of the projects in the upcoming week. I've used the forum gallery for hosting these pictures, but I've seen other members using other image hosting services. Any opinions on which one's better?

[Beor]

The predator is now done! It has actually been done for 2 days, I just didn't get around to snap a picture 'till now.

 

The highlightning seems alot sharper in the photo than in reality, but I'm very pleased with it nonetheless since it's the first vehicle I've painted since my dreadnought, and that was several years ago.

 

http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p520/bearswede/2014-07-18190236_zps25805c98.jpg

 

Any C&C is more than welcome!

 

Brother Beor

[minigun762]

How'd you get such a solid white?

[Firepower]

Not half bad.  I particularly like the lettering on the front scroll/banner thingy.  There is some white overspill in the recesses' edges that could be cleaned up.  That's always such a pain, but worth the effort.

 

Certainly a model to be proud of.

[Beor]

How'd you get such a solid white?

 

I used to go with alot of thin coats working my way up from black to dark grey, to light grey and finishes with two or three coats of white, but this time I started of with a brown base. I wanted to see if I could get a slightly warmer white, the difference is minuscule but it is noticeable when compared to my older initiates' shoulder pads. I used Mournfang brown for my first coat followed by two coats of zandri dust, and 2-3 coats of ceramite white. All layers was thinned down with water. I'm not use if it shows on the photo but I finished of the white areas by washing with seraphim sepia around the edges to give it a slight weathered appearance

 

The new (dunno how long they have been around) base paints really helped a lot. 

 

Not half bad.  I particularly like the lettering on the front scroll/banner thingy.  There is some white overspill in the recesses' edges that could be cleaned up.  That's always such a pain, but worth the effort.

 

Certainly a model to be proud of.

 

Thank you! I actually didn't notice the overspill 'till I set up the light for photo. It's barely visible when on the tabletop, but now that I'm aware of it I'll have to clean it up :P