The Geonide Crusade

[BitsHammer]

So with my old idea of launching a crusade following the end of the Horus Heresy and the launch of 8th meeting up withe boxes of MkIII and MkIV armour I finally have properly begun work on a crusade to Geonide (http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Geonide_Crusade). As the events don't have a strict date establishing when it happened (making it prime Scouring Era material in my opinion) it gives me some room to have fun with everything.

 

So for my initial purchase I have two boxes of MkIII and a Betrayal at Calth box. I'm not getting into fully equipping models yet, but having time to get things into sub assemblies isn't a bad thing. Rit now I'm working on my MkIII boxes as the Calth box will show up Fridayat my FLGS. With the Finecast EC OOS in e US at the moment I won't have one for my army for now unless I kitbash him, but I'm waiting for the real deal for the moment. 50 Initiates, a Marshal in Terminator armour, a power armour Chaplain, 5 Terminators and a Contemptor is plenty to start with for the moment, and will go a long way to building my Crusade up.

 

So many Templar Crosses to learn to freehand,and sadly no tabards planned at the moment, but on the other hand I feel like thtis should go a long way to building an interesting army.

 

Hard part I need to work out is the wargear but we all have that concern until the new edition drops I guess.

 

Pictures will be some ways out as I need to get a camera to take pictures with but this is a good start Ihope.

[Castellan Cynebald]

Best of luck brother, I love the idea of using Mark III armour for Templars! It just looks grand and scouring era is when we had Sigismund! Looking forward to photos but don't rush... the Crusade is Eternal!

[BitsHammer]

I will likely get a Sigismund model to represent my High Marshal in due time (if not using him as an EC), but he's getting a brain bucket as I am a firm believer that all Marines should wear helmets if not being modelled into diaramas. Or their Space Wolves as that's the only way I can understand them being with those massive beards.

 

And I love both marks of armour. MkIV is a bit more assaulty and MkIII is more boarding actions and slow plodding unde heavy fire. A mix of both fits their Fist roots while embracing their need to stab a heretic.

 

Stab him a lot.

 

As I have a history running the Sister's Holy Trinity I want to lean more towards plasma guns instead of melta supported by the Scouring Era HB and ML, but without seeing the rules for Crusader Squads and their weapon options I don't know how many weapons I can take, what kind they can be and how the bolt pistol/chainsword vs bolter thing will pan out. I hope we can load up on all three to better fit the Marine lore but regardless I need more info before I can put arms on the models.

[Castellan Cynebald]

I will likely get a Sigismund model to represent my High Marshal in due time (if not using him as an EC), but he's getting a brain bucket as I am a firm believer that all Marines should wear helmets if not being modelled into diaramas. Or their Space Wolves as that's the only way I can understand them being with those massive beards.

 

And I love both marks of armour. MkIV is a bit more assaulty and MkIII is more boarding actions and slow plodding unde heavy fire. A mix of both fits their Fist roots while embracing their need to stab a heretic.

 

Stab him a lot.

 

As I have a history running the Sister's Holy Trinity I want to lean more towards plasma guns instead of melta supported by the Scouring Era HB and ML, but without seeing the rules for Crusader Squads and their weapon options I don't know how many weapons I can take, what kind they can be and how the bolt pistol/chainsword vs bolter thing will pan out. I hope we can load up on all three to better fit the Marine lore but regardless I need more info before I can put arms on the models.

 

 

Probably wise given 8th is just around the corner, we could either change little or a lot haha, I agree with the helmets thing, mine all have respirators at bare minimum except for very few characters.

[BitsHammer]

I meesaged GW on Facebook on if weapon restrictions for Crusader Squads are changing. We'll see if I get a reply.

[BitsHammer]

Update: I have a reply:

 

Build without fear, [REDACTED]! Any models that are legal now will be legal in the new edition.

 

So I presume that unit options will not change, just the points costs for the wargear.

 

Now I need to decide if I want to put a Thunderhammer and Powerfist into a unit with a Plasma Gun or if that is too excessive. :P

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

IMHO, making things go "squish" is just as appealing as chopping them to bits!

[BitsHammer]

IMHO, making things go "squish" is just as appealing as chopping them to bits!

It's not like knights didn't have hammers. ;)

 

 

Honestly I'm currently going back and forth on if I want to build 3 squads of 10 Templars and 3 Devastator Squads (2 Missile, 1 HB) or if I want to build 6 Templar Squads with 5-6 Marines and some Neophytes (5 w/o a SB, 6 w/ a SB).

 

So many options!

[Marshal Mattias]

Huzzah, good to see you taking the Black! Honestly, at this point I would be holding back just a little and waiting to see how the dice fall in 8th. You may want those heavy weapons, or you may want those massed assault bodies (probably, right? I mean... we're Templars, dammit!)

[BitsHammer]

Aye, the waiting for rules is a real problem at the moment. I did build my HQs from the Calth box I picked up today as well as an assault oriented unit of Cataphracii Terminators. Everything else is getting assembled save for their arms to make future assembly easier. Goingnto start working on freehandinf shoulder pads soon,

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

My $0.02, a combined arms unit can't go wrong. Half choppy, half shooty. I'm currently working on 10 Initiate half-&-half crusader squads w/5 BP-CB Neophytes ATM, just to see how things play out in 8th. I'm sure both will have a place on the battlefield.

 

You can also look into pegging/magnetizing arms in place to swap if needed. I've considered this.

[BitsHammer]

MkIII and IvV kits lead to being more shooty with melee weapons strapped to their waistes. That said plenty of room for melee with Initiate PW/PF options and Sword Brethren.

 

I've already decided to put my heavy weapons into Devastator squads (one for Heavy Bolters, the other for Missile Launchers), and am going back and forth on picking up another MkIV box to build a Sternguard shooty Sword Brethren unit with combi weapons on 4 of them. That or giving the combis to my Crusader Sword Brethren since I keep looking at those Thunder Hammers.

 

I've started leaning towards three full sized Crusader Squads (minus the Neophytes for now) as my core, but the special weapon choices aren't something I've settled on yet.

 

I've considered building some Assault Templar Squads with jump packs but for that I'd need to get some of the canister jump packs, either from FW or by robbing a Sanguinary Guard box and ditching the wings.

 

That aside, it looks like MkIV arms are pretty interchangeable with current Marine kits so that looks like a good way to get pistols and chainswords into an assault squad.

 

Spent last night and this morning going back and forth on the power weapon/lightning claw glow and in the end I decided to stick with metal. The glows are neat and can be a source of spot color, but I feel like it makes the model look busy by having so many bright colors on a mainly dark model (red eyes, white shoulder pads, silver rivets and MkIII trim, gold details on Terminator armour...ect).