New player questions

[Chmur]

Hey guys,

 

new to DA (and Warhammer 40K), I am currently assembling and painting my first models so I can go to war, but reading through the Codex and Internet and whatnot made me wonder about these few things, if you could answer any of these, that would be great:

 

1) Most lists I found are heavy Ravenwing, because as far as I understand, Ravenwing are teh hot stuff. However, as being completely new to the game, I decided to build a list including all 3 portions of the army, just so I get to play around with them and learn what is and what is not good etc. The first draft is 2x10 tacticals, 2x5 Deathwing (1 possibly knights), 2x3 Ravenwing, 1 Dreadnought, 1x10 scouts with sniper rifles. Drop Pods and Transports are coming later when I learn the game a bit. Would this be reasonable learning starter army?

 

2) I've read some notes that I should/could be able to muster a Dreadnought with 2 autocannons that will gain Skyfire rule? But all references to rules I was able to find was to Forgeworld and old editions. Can anyone please clarify?

 

3) I am pondering getting Devastator squad. Since I am still unsure about how to kit them out, would you suggest just magnetizing everything for later use? Or is that really stupid idea?

 

4) Colour schemes on non-DA (speshl) power armour? I asked this question before on reddit, but asking here amongst DA players I might as well get different responses; I do not like blue librarians, red techmarines, white apothecaries and black chaplains. While I could live with the red/white/black ones, the blue libby is a no go for me. Would you consider it okay if someone inverted these paint schemes? As in, paint him standard issue DA green power armour so he matches the army, just leaving the right shoulderguard painted in blue/white/red/black?

 

5) Sergeant markings / bare heads? Some of the models, usually all sergeants etc, have bare heads. I myself consider that not just careless, but plain out stupid in grimdark. So I do plan to helmet them all (and definitely not because I am scared as hell of painting flesh, srs!) and I was thinking whether marking them by helmet in different colour would be fine fluff wise? I am thinking a DW bone colour, that could possibly suggest their progress towards Deathwing and further into higher ranks of Inner Circle.

[Chaplain Lucifer]

Welcome aboard!!!

 

1) You have a reasonable starter army. It's good to learn the rules and also what makes DA tick!

 

2) You have 2 dreadnoughts with 2 twin autocannons, one fromt he Codex, the other from Forgeworld books. The one from teh Codex is a plain old dreadnought. The one from FW books is the Mortis dreadnought and he has a bunch of special/different rules, including skyfire. The Mortis can also have 2 twin lascannons and other pais of weaponry.

 

3) If you can, magnetize is the perfect solution. As the game changes and /or your experience grows some weapons get better and others get worse... or in worse case scenario you get a very adaptable squad against any type of list you face just by switching weapons...  Good for the wallet!

 

4) Cannon dictates that special marines get special colours, but you have some leeway in this and people won't throw stones at you if you paint a green librarian with blue shoulder pads and helmet or a green apothecary with white pads and helmet. The Chaplain you could/should keep black. It doesn't look so out of place having a black chaplain... because DA have Black Ravenwing!

 

5) DA Sgts usually don't have any special helmet marking... usually they have back banners. Bone white helmet is not bad, but you have to consider not all sgts are DW so there's that.  You could go old school DA and paint a red or white stripe on the helmet.. Usually SGTs also have different weapons from the rest of the squad so even if the helmet is green you can see by the weapons that he is a sarge.

Have fun!

[aura_enchanted]

Welcome aboard!!!

 

1) You have a reasonable starter army. It's good to learn the rules and also what makes DA tick!

 

2) You have 2 dreadnoughts with 2 twin autocannons, one fromt he Codex, the other from Forgeworld books. The one from teh Codex is a plain old dreadnought. The one from FW books is the Mortis dreadnought and he has a bunch of special/different rules, including skyfire. The Mortis can also have 2 twin lascannons and other pais of weaponry.

 

3) If you can, magnetize is the perfect solution. As the game changes and /or your experience grows some weapons get better and others get worse... or in worse case scenario you get a very adaptable squad against any type of list you face just by switching weapons...  Good for the wallet!

 

4) Cannon dictates that special marines get special colours, but you have some leeway in this and people won't throw stones at you if you paint a green librarian with blue shoulder pads and helmet or a green apothecary with white pads and helmet. The Chaplain you could/should keep black. It doesn't look so out of place having a black chaplain... because DA have Black Ravenwing!

 

5) DA Sgts usually don't have any special helmet marking... usually they have back banners. Bone white helmet is not bad, but you have to consider not all sgts are DW so there's that.  You could go old school DA and paint a red or white stripe on the helmet.. Usually SGTs also have different weapons from the rest of the squad so even if the helmet is green you can see by the weapons that he is a sarge.

Have fun!

 

the deredeo also has autocannons and is again a forgeworld model. he has skyfire

[SnakeChisler]

1) Not True - the Ravenwing get all the headlines because they are Tournament viable with the Black Knights and have some quite disgustingly filthy rules especially when run with a Dark Shroud but there are people running all sorts at club game and personal level.

 

I'd advise organizing & building up your current units into a Demi company and you can proxy the bonuses of objective secured and full BS overwatch are very strong + your Ravenwing and Deathwing can then be dovetailed into the force using the formations which give some decent bonuses the best of which is not having to role for arriving from reserve.

 

2. Mortis Pattern dread (Put "mortis dreadnought pdf" into google the rules don't appear to be on Forgeworld at the moment) but I would't bother with the Autocannon arms I got a single Twin linked Las from ForgeWorld and didn't glue the arms on so I can swap them round the Extra Bang from Las makes them infinitely better due to being AP2 S9

Twin link something with a high volume of fire using a Librarian Power is my standard method of dealing with Flyers, current job is down to the speeder formation.

 

3. Buy a Tac Squad at the same time and build most of the heavy weapons or Start with 2 Grav and 2 Las + Sgt add bolter guys up to 10 then combat squad them into 2 5's with 2 Las in 1 and 2 Grav in the other (Demi Version) or just have 2 Devastator squads (2 Because that is the number that can fire out of a Rhino Hatch). The devastator Frames have a boat load of upgrade option stuff on them so having an overall plan as to where you'd like to use them is a good idea.

 

4. Just put the colour on the Shoulder pad, this one has it on the Psychic hood as well but on reflection I should have left it black too 

My Apothecary has white pad & Helmet rest black

 

5. Mine have pimp from different frames such as the Veteran Frame, spare arms from the Ravenwing Bike frames etc.. One has an Auspex another is holding a Bolter and a Chainsword most strike a pose as 1 arm is magnetized  so I can swap in combi- weapons

The sgt in the middle here has a magnet arm and would be fine in a tac squad

[aura_enchanted]

 

1) Not True - the Ravenwing get all the headlines because they are Tournament viable with the Black Knights and have some quite disgustingly filthy rules especially when run with a Dark Shroud but there are people running all sorts at club game and personal level.

 

I'd advise organizing & building up your current units into a Demi company and you can proxy the bonuses of objective secured and full BS overwatch are very strong + your Ravenwing and Deathwing can then be dovetailed into the force using the formations which give some decent bonuses the best of which is not having to role for arriving from reserve.

 

2. Mortis Pattern dread (Put "mortis dreadnought pdf" into google the rules don't appear to be on Forgeworld at the moment) but I would't bother with the Autocannon arms I got a single Twin linked Las from ForgeWorld and didn't glue the arms on so I can swap them round the Extra Bang from Las makes them infinitely better due to being AP2 S9

Twin link something with a high volume of fire using a Librarian Power is my standard method of dealing with Flyers, current job is down to the speeder formation.

 

3. Buy a Tac Squad at the same time and build most of the heavy weapons or Start with 2 Grav and 2 Las + Sgt add bolter guys up to 10 then combat squad them into 2 5's with 2 Las in 1 and 2 Grav in the other (Demi Version) or just have 2 Devastator squads (2 Because that is the number that can fire out of a Rhino Hatch). The devastator Frames have a boat load of upgrade option stuff on them so having an overall plan as to where you'd like to use them is a good idea.

 

4. Just put the colour on the Shoulder pad, this one has it on the Psychic hood as well but on reflection I should have left it black too

 

My Apothecary has white pad & Helmet rest black

 

5. Mine have pimp from different frames such as the Veteran Frame, spare arms from the Ravenwing Bike frames etc.. One has an Auspex another is holding a Bolter and a Chainsword most strike a pose as 1 arm is magnetized so I can swap in combi- weapons

The sgt in the middle here has a magnet arm and would be fine in a tac squad

 

 

the librarians weapon is so disproportionate to his body ahaha he looks like he's carrying one of those blow up hammers ahahaha

 

I'm sorry I'm sorry ahahahaha too good

[SnakeChisler]

Thank you for your kind words :P

[Harleqvin]

Welcome to the First, Brother!

 

Pretty much what everyone said.

 

Magnetizing is a great way to save money on 40k as you don't have to keep buying marines, there are a lot of places on eBay and such that sell the weapons you would be looking for. Same for Dreadnoughts. You can magnetize their weapons too. Some of teh Dreadnought weapons actually fit snug on the model so they don't need to be magnetized in some cases.

The Dreadnought thing about Skyfire, I believe is for Mortis Pattern. Also Contemptor, but contemptor needs two the same weapon (like Kheris* assault cannons,) but i believe they both must stay stationary in movement phase...
But in any case, the "skyfiring" Dreadnoughts are with Forge World made units, which are legal for play in 40k, in addition to Armageddon games and the such. All are in Imperial Armor books now so I don't believe you can find them on the FW website anymore, but still check on the dereodo pattern.
The twin linked Autocannon can be nice, same with dual wielding them. It really just comes down to what you'll play against/what you feel you would like to play.

 

People may let you know that something isn't lore based, but you can do pretty much whatever you want. It's really just how much you want to be true to established info. No one to my knowledge will go Hulk on you for not being exact if you don't want to, to my knowledge.
 

[Kallaisbananen]

I've been into this hobby for almost a year now and one of the things that I've sort of learned is that you'll want one or two rhinos pretty quickly. What I found out is that my tacs was very slow and vulneravle, moving around on foot, as soon as they left cover. As soon as they left ruins my opponents tended to come at them with something so that I couldnt use my armor save. Its sometimes good to have them dug in into cover if they are holding an objective but the possibility to have them abit more safe and moveable inside a rhino upped their tactical aspect alot.

I've heared that its better to buy a razorback instead of a rhino when buying the models since razorbacks includes the rhino and can easily be turned into rhino.

[Harleqvin]

I've been into this hobby for almost a year now and one of the things that I've sort of learned is that you'll want one or two rhinos pretty quickly. What I found out is that my tacs was very slow and vulneravle, moving around on foot, as soon as they left cover. As soon as they left ruins my opponents tended to come at them with something so that I couldnt use my armor save. Its sometimes good to have them dug in into cover if they are holding an objective but the possibility to have them abit more safe and moveable inside a rhino upped their tactical aspect alot.

I've heared that its better to buy a razorback instead of a rhino when buying the models since razorbacks includes the rhino and can easily be turned into rhino.

Correct. If you are looking to buy rhinos, Buy the other kits. Razorbacks are probably best bang for buck. You can do the same with preds/Baal preds (I bought a Baal pred for the twin linked assault cannon & Heavy Flamer. lqtm.)

Just don't glue down the top doors, so you can change them out with other top hatches for Razorbakcs/Preds.

Preds you can magentize the side doors & sponsons, or attach the sponsons mounting & magnetize the sponsons weapons. Depending on whether you're ok with the sponson mounts always being on the rhino.

[Gillyfish]

Welcome to the Rock! Most of your questions have been answered, but here is my take, for what it's worth:

 

1) Most lists I found are heavy Ravenwing, because as far as I understand, Ravenwing are teh hot stuff. However, as being completely new to the game, I decided to build a list including all 3 portions of the army, just so I get to play around with them and learn what is and what is not good etc. The first draft is 2x10 tacticals, 2x5 Deathwing (1 possibly knights), 2x3 Ravenwing, 1 Dreadnought, 1x10 scouts with sniper rifles. Drop Pods and Transports are coming later when I learn the game a bit. Would this be reasonable learning starter army?

 

Yes, that should give you a flavour of each aspect fo the army which should allow you to collect further models based upon what you like.

 

2) I've read some notes that I should/could be able to muster a Dreadnought with 2 autocannons that will gain Skyfire rule? But all references to rules I was able to find was to Forgeworld and old editions. Can anyone please clarify?

 

Forgeworld Imperial Armour 2 (new edition) contains a lot of information on models that you can use. A Mortsi dreadnought should be able to do some of what you ask if memory serves.

 

3) I am pondering getting Devastator squad. Since I am still unsure about how to kit them out, would you suggest just magnetizing everything for later use? Or is that really stupid idea?

 

If your modelling skill is sufficinet to do that it is a great idea as you can experiment and learn what works for you.

 

4) Colour schemes on non-DA (speshl) power armour? I asked this question before on reddit, but asking here amongst DA players I might as well get different responses; I do not like blue librarians, red techmarines, white apothecaries and black chaplains. While I could live with the red/white/black ones, the blue libby is a no go for me. Would you consider it okay if someone inverted these paint schemes? As in, paint him standard issue DA green power armour so he matches the army, just leaving the right shoulderguard painted in blue/white/red/black?

 

This has varied over the years. I've seen quite a few models with mostly green (or white if you decide they are in the Deathwing) armour and then the 'office' colour used on shoulder trims and helmets (for example). Perosnalyl I wouldn't dismiss using black, blue, red and white. With the middle two you can darken the shade or red and blue used and they look suitably gothic - they don't need to be lighter shades and they can actually look rather good. White can be a bit odd, but, again, it depends how you envisage the model and set it up. Finally, black works well within the cntext of the army due to the Ravenwing, so I tend not to worry about that one. :) Youcould, of course, highlight it with different colours and shades to the Ravenwing models you have.

 

5) Sergeant markings / bare heads? Some of the models, usually all sergeants etc, have bare heads. I myself consider that not just careless, but plain out stupid in grimdark. So I do plan to helmet them all (and definitely not because I am scared as hell of painting flesh, srs!) and I was thinking whether marking them by helmet in different colour would be fine fluff wise? I am thinking a DW bone colour, that could possibly suggest their progress towards Deathwing and further into higher ranks of Inner Circle.

 

I'll echo Luci on this one. Generally mine are marked out by wargear and some form or robing or ornate armour.

 

Photobucket is down for maintenance or I would post some images for reference. :)

 

[Kallaisbananen]

On question 5.

Go for it! In the grimdark future, they have all the specific characters standing out with special banners ( BANNERS, banners in the future where they have built in thought activated shoulder mounted missile launchers) and special colors. Like apothecaries white full white armor, hey look at me I'm a medic, shoot me! Todays thinking that we hide who is and isnt a medic/sergeant and other ranks of intrest to the enemy is long gone in 40k, they got special helmets with built in multispectral vision enhancing properties to mark out these characters anyway. :) I like the idea of giving the sergeant its specific color or marking on their helmet. One of many ways to make the model more individual. And as you say going without helmet seems to me stupid, why loose out on all that fancy properties it got besides the armor part.

Example

I plan on painting one of the same and cutting a hole in one helmet as to empty it out and glue it to side of the sergeant in the Dark Vengeance kit.

[Chmur]

Thanks everyone for the overwhelming amount of responses, plenty of interesting things on this page for me to ponder and go through.

 

Gotta say, I am very glad I found this forum and this section, as even from other topics it seems that DA community here is great and helping.

 

Hopefully I'll be able to join the fully painted and playable ranks soon!

[Chaplain Raeven]

3) I found it easier to buy a set of marines without included arms/weapons from Forgeworld. Since the Devastatorbox comes with a :cuss -load of wepons, you could easily equip 10 marines with Heavy Weapons (5 from the box and 5 from FW).

 

4) While I do agree with the fact that a blue/red/white/black marine in the middle of your army is painfull for the eye, it does have its uses. It makes you HQ's easier to spot. It wouldn't be the first time that I forgot my psychic phase or FNP because I didn't notice them among my guys (and I actually use the standard fancy colours).This doesn't matter for your opponent, since he isn't likely to forget where your HQ's are. But if you feel comfortable with just a coloured shoulderpad: go for it. It'll look awesome.

 

5) I'm not a big fan of bare heads either. I mark my sergeants and veterans with helmets/gear in bone-colour. Shouldn't be a problem fluffwise, since the bone-colour isn't reserved for just the deathwing (ex: Angels of Absolution). Banners are an option, but I found that it makes storage more difficult. It's all personal preferances.

[march10k]

I've been into this hobby for almost a year now and one of the things that I've sort of learned is that you'll want one or two rhinos pretty quickly. [...]

I've heared that its better to buy a razorback instead of a rhino when buying the models since razorbacks includes the rhino and can easily be turned into rhino.

LOL...I've been in this hobby since 1998 (1997 if you count...what was that game called? Not Mordheim...Oh, yeah, Warhammer Fantasy Battle...it was a great game, I sure miss it!), and the razorback I painted back then hasn't been on the table in over ten years. I just started working on more razorbacks and drop pods, but only to take advantage of the double demi gets free transports thing...Drop pods are great transports, razorbacks are decent (if the base vehicle is free) heavy weapon platforms...nothing that's AV11 should have power armor inside it. Any safety it offers is an illusion. Nobody's going to fire a demolisher cannon at a rhinoload of troops, he's going to destroy the rhino with an autocannon (or perhaps a rusty ice cream spoon) first, dump the marines out in the open, and then pieplate them.

Correct. If you are looking to buy rhinos, Buy the other kits. Razorbacks are probably best bang for buck. You can do the same with preds/Baal preds (I bought a Baal pred for the twin linked assault cannon & Heavy Flamer. lqtm.)

Just don't glue down the top doors, so you can change them out with other top hatches for Razorbakcs/Preds.

Preds you can magentize the side doors & sponsons, or attach the sponsons mounting & magnetize the sponsons weapons. Depending on whether you're ok with the sponson mounts always being on the rhino.

This part is certainly true, razorbacks are a much better buy, you can indeed set them up, without the use of magnets, to serve as rhinos or razors with a minimum of fuss.

On question 5.

Go for it! In the grimdark future, they have all the specific characters standing out with special banners ( BANNERS, banners in the future where they have built in thought activated shoulder mounted missile launchers) and special colors. Like apothecaries white full white armor, hey look at me I'm a medic, shoot me! Todays thinking that we hide who is and isnt a medic/sergeant and other ranks of intrest to the enemy is long gone in 40k, they got special helmets with built in multispectral vision enhancing properties to mark out these characters anyway. I like the idea of giving the sergeant its specific color or marking on their helmet. One of many ways to make the model more individual. And as you say going without helmet seems to me stupid, why loose out on all that fancy properties it got besides the armor part.

Example

I plan on painting one of the same and cutting a hole in one helmet as to empty it out and glue it to side of the sergeant in the Dark Vengeance kit.

Haha! Great example of ignoring canon is the DA green dark angel models in heresy era armor...with equally "wrong" helmet... Talk about adding insult to...insult!