Is a Small-ish/Relatively "Cheap" AM Force Possible?

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Hi folks ... I'm just doing some brainstorming here and need your help. I got wind of a team/pairs "narrative event" in my area and that got me thinking of a way to FINALLY get back into 40K a bit by making a thematic force with my son. He has wanted to do a Dark Angel successor chapter for years, and AM is still my first and only 40K love aside from =][= which doesn't really count because it's not a true force for some time now.

 

I'm trying to avoid spending lots of time and money though since I'm a very busy adult type ... I know, would be better off with marines! But I'd like to see what the smallest/cheapest force at circa 1000 points might be?

 

I have probably about a platoon worth of unassembled Cadians that have been sitting in my bin of unused stuff since about 2005. Also I have 1 or 2 unpainted chimeras that could be used. So with that as a core, what would you suggest?

 

I have no idea what's useful anymore.

[Inquisitor Balor]

if you wanna pm me i can help point out what you have and then knowing that it would be easier to know where to go. the organization doesnt work the same at all any more. its put together in a much more tradional sense so there isnt a "platoon" just squads of guys etc.

[Jam Master Flex]

You could run a brigade with say, a company commander, knight commander pask, plus an extra tank commander.

 

Then 4 infantry squads, and a couple more Leman Russ tanks fully kitted out.

 

Tanks are easy to paint IMO and the slow part of that would be painting the 40 odd troopers.

 

Maybe get Battlescribe and have a play around?

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Yeah I already have Battlescribe and use it a lot ... guess I could check it out. I've been away from the hobby so long I don't even know what's what anymore. No more proper platoons will take some getting used to.

[Inquisitor Balor]

yea its hurt the gaurd in a lot of ways. i remember fighting them in 4th condition and having to kill like 9 different things to kill one troop choice for one kill point mean while they gotta kill 5 plague marines.  Because of how 8th edition works certain squads are just not useful. Command squads for example arents attached to a commander in any way they are there own thing and there not characters. so there a 4 man squad litterally waving a giant hey shoot us first flag. How ever as a whole the gaurd are super fun to play and still very capable of competing.

[Halfpint100]

Ebay is great for cheap guard units, usually around £0.70-£1 a model or £18 a tank or Facebook selling groups since you can haggle and there is no 11% selling fee. There are so many second hand units out there! for 1000 points i recommend a mix of infantry and tanks. Our infantry squads are only 40 points, so 5 of them with 2 company commanders is 260 points base. Which is a lovely amount of bodies and orders and then you can fill out the remaining 740 points with fun things such as hellhounds, bullgryns, russes, basilisk, mortar squads or psykers. Just keep the screen healthy! 

 

An example 1k points i do is:

 

tank commander

2 company commanders

5 infantry squads bare 

astropath

2 hellhounds 

2 russes

 

tonnes of fun to play, but i love tanks atm (last year i was running 100% infantry instead, but that is expensive in ££)

[Exilyth]

Since the rules changed a lot (e.g. regiments are <subfaction>s now, infantry squads are 10 men per troop slot, no more platoons), I'd grab the Codex first.

 

The start collecting box for Astra Militarum comes with an infantry squad, a leman russ battle tank, a heavy weapons team and a comissar. While the comissar is not very usefull currently (no orders, the morale ability got nerfed), 2 start collecting boxes should have you covered. Maybe a command squad box for building 2 company commanders (also special weapons) - but 2 sergeants with differently painted helmet would do in a pinch.

 

(Alternatively: The cadian defense force is the 'big box' for guard and comes with a command squad, heavy weapons squad (3x heavy weapons team), a chimera, leman russ and 2 infantry squads - it's webstore exclusive though.)

 

 

A starting point for an army could then look like:

 

Astra militarum battallion

 

HQ

Company Commander

Company Commander

 

Troops

Infantry Squad (+chimera)

Infantry Squad (+chimera)

Infantry Squad

 

HS

Leman Russ

Leman Russ

 

 

Ofc, the Leman Russes perform better as tank commanders (HQ tank w/better BS), but slots are limited in a detachment. If your regiment is cadia, then Pask (tank commander character) could be a great addition.

 

There are topics further back in this section discussing the viability of the various leman russ chassis. Beware that there are two kits for the Leman Russ now which build different variants: The leman russ battle tank kit includes the bits for the leman russ (battle cannon), vanquisher (tank hunter), exterminator and eradicator (dual autocannon or nova cannon - I always confuse the two). The Leman Russ Demolisher includes the bits for the demolisher (short cannon), executioner (plasma) and the punisher (gatling gun). The start collecting box comes with the first kit.

 

 

As for chimeras: Your mileage with transport vehicles will depend on your local meta a lot. Many people find transports a lot less usefull in 8th edition, but transports still provide a LOS blocking metal box and some firepower.

 

 

edit:

Guard is mostly a horde army, but can be played as e.g. tank company, mechanised or with more tanks to reduce the model count. The way 8th edition works, you will want some infantry though to prevent the enemy from charging your vehicles.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Thanks for the feedback. It looks like with what I already have, I could get away with just adding a "Start Collecting" box and build a force pretty similar to what Exilyth suggested and that's not too bad. I think my days of painting every single guardsman to a high standard are gone and I would just do some shades and dry brushing so 30 infantry plus some tanks wouldn't be too bad.

 

I'll hold off on buying anything until I see what PL they are going with for the narrative event, but I could start doing some basic grunts. I'll have to start plotting with my son. I was thinking at an army that's kind of like Bretonnian Battle Pilgrims thematically -- following the Space Marines around practically worshipping them might be neat. Even build a 40K equivalent of a "Grail Reliquae" (i.e. the dead body of a marine enshrined) on one of the tanks or something.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Does anyone know of a good tutorial (i.e. on YouTube) for painting IG using dry brush and washes?

[MrZakalwe]

I'd wait for the new Contrast paints to come out as they will be your best friend where this is concerned.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

What are these contrast paints you speak of?

[MrZakalwe]

Kind of a combined base shade a highlight.

 

1 thick coat for average looking results.

 

[Jam Master Flex]

Does anyone know of a good tutorial (i.e. on YouTube) for painting IG using dry brush and washes?

Get the Zandri dust spray if you can, then all you really need is Castellen Green for the armour, a black or brown for the leather bits, a flesh colour for the skin, maybe leadbelcher for the weapons and agrax earth shade to wash the fatigues and guns.

 

Guard aren't so bad to paint if you can use the Zandri spray IMO, atleast for cadians anyway.

[Inquisitor Balor]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enUqWuU-Nns

 

bam this is the best one ive found. It seems like a lot fo steps but when you do a squad at a time it goes real quick. Especially when you memorize the order.

[duz_]

 

bam this is the best one ive found. It seems like a lot fo steps but when you do a squad at a time it goes real quick. Especially when you memorize the order.

It's an oldie but a goodie that one

 

Changed my life seeing Duncan not paint eyes :lol:

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Thanks for sharing. Apparently I've been living under a rock. That stuff looks pretty cool. A coat of than and a quick highlight could yield some extremely fast and decent results I think.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

 

Does anyone know of a good tutorial (i.e. on YouTube) for painting IG using dry brush and washes?

Get the Zandri dust spray if you can, then all you really need is Castellen Green for the armour, a black or brown for the leather bits, a flesh colour for the skin, maybe leadbelcher for the weapons and agrax earth shade to wash the fatigues and guns.

 

Guard aren't so bad to paint if you can use the Zandri spray IMO, atleast for cadians anyway.

 

 

I greatly enjoy Duncan's videos.

 

I think his technique is still a bit too time consuming for me. I found a good video where a guy just does Zandri undercoat/spray, Tyrant Skull dry brush, then a base layer of green/cadian flesh/etc. then hits the while model with an Agrax wash, followed up with some select highlights. Looks really good and appears that it would take about 1/2 the time of Duncan's technique.

 

Thanks for the tips in any event. I'm most likely not doing Cadian colours, but probably something not too far off since I'll want them matching up with a DA successor chapter. My son is just deciding what shade of green we wants. Most likely Caliban Green, although that's not too far off Castellan Green and could probably still pair well with Zandri Dust and Tyrant Skull drybrush with Agrax shade.

[Ranulf]

If you haven't seen it already Nico: 

 

 

-Ran

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Thanks Ranulf I did see that one and I intend to employ that technique.

 

I’m thinking of mixing it up and doing a base of caliban green and a dry brush of whatever DA are highlighted with (“warpstone glow” I think).

 

Scouting my bits box I have enough to build:

 

Officer x2

Infantry squad x3

Scion (10 men) x1

Veterans x1 (already assembled I forgot about this long forgotten but flavourful squad with lots of kitbashing for character — I never believed in making vet who just look like regular grunts)

Chimera x2

Basilisk x1

Heavy weapon squad x? (Just need bases then i have bits for AC, LC, mortar, or HB)

Commissar (or lord commissar) x2

 

If I build all that then I think all I’d really need is a couple Leman Russes (lots of those available cheap on eBay albeit with weird sponson/hull weapon combos often). I could get out of this spending less than $100 on new models.

 

Plus I could always kitbash some crusaders and a priest for kicks and giggles if I have points left over.

[Halfpint100]

Try Facebook buying and selling groups for leman russes or the sponson weapons, people often give better prices and are more amenable.

 

With heavy weapon squads the guns dry fit into the tripods, so you can leave them unglued and slot the one you want in. You can have a base with 2 dudes on and just place the mortar or tripod with your choice on weapon on the base for the game. It gives you a lot more choice!

[Inso]

Sell the chimeras... How about a Platoon, mounted in a Stormlord?

 

LoW -

Stormlord (40 capacity).

 

Batallion - 

HQ - Company commander.

HQ - Primaris Psyker.

Elite - Command Squad.

Troops - Infantry Squad.

Troops - Infantry Squad.

Troops - Infantry Squad.

 

I'm not sure of points but it's got to be getting close to a thousand points . You could also swap in Scions for more points .

 

There's also room for Yarrick and Nork... 

[tychobi]

Cheap means go with what you already have. Chimeras are great. Stuffed full of basic guardsmen they are some of best midfield objective grabbers in the game. Look to tank commanders and artillery to actually kill stuff. Warhammer is as much a game of squeezing utility out of the models you have as chasing the new hotness. Good luck!

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Lords of War are not allowed at the event we’re planning for. Although a Storm Lord would be cool, I think what I’ve come up with only involves buying one Russ so that’s cheapest!

 

I’m trying a test model today for the colours. I can already tell that with dry brushing I may want to paint them on the sprue.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

So, here we go ...

My son and I sat down and planned out his paint scheme, and his DA successors will be called the Dark Swords:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/sm.php?b62c=@haLvy_hcLAt.iakk7@@@@@@@hJ9Lc@.__iaj2Fiaj2F___________@@@@@@_@_@@___@@___@@@__@@@@@_.&

And I decided that a complementary scheme for my troops would then be:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/igbeta2.php?b62c=@haLvy_hcLAt.i9aHM@@@.iaj2F@@@@@iaj2F___..hwMdUiakk7_huU1b@i8WOo&

Basically 110th Cadian scheme, but they won't be Cadians. My son still needs to name his chapter's homeward so we'll figure out a Regiment name anon. I'm also going to give them Anvil Industry heads; parade caps for the officers and sergeants, and stahlhelms for the troops, with some Mad Robot Miniatures field caps mixed in here-and-there.

I'm leaning towards using Valhallan doctrine. That seems fitting for a regiment operating under the shadow of DA successors.

I did a test figure -- using dry brushing techniques of "Sonic Sledgehammer Studio" on YouTube, I banged this guy out in about 1/2 hour so once I get some assembly line going I think I could churn out decent looking guardsmen at a speed unheard of for me:

It's really not that much lesser quality than my painstaking base --> shade --> layer --> highlight, but so much faster.

We haven't decided on how to base them yet, hence why he's not based. This guy will be in the veteran squad, hence the sunglasses and red bandana.

EDIT: Could I be getting my 40K hobby mojo back?????

[duz_]

Looks good valhallan seems fitting and a good regiment too (although IMHO all IG ones are great. ;) )

 

What if you inverted the greens between to two? Just for a variation? Or used a different green for the shoulder pads and armour?