Kindly asking for suggestions to expand my first army.

[NerdyFellow]

Hey'a fellas.

 

I started painting in February, and I've still to play a game, but I'm getting close to having an army. My question today is in two parts. Firstly, what should I be adding to my army, and second, which of my unpainted minis should I paint as UM, and which of them can I use to start another chapter.

 

First, my painted minis, all of which are painted as Ultramarines:

Dark Imperium Box

Start Collecting Vanguard Box

Marneus & Honor Guard

Phobos Librarian

 

And my unpainted minis:

 

10x Intercessors

10x Reivers

3x Eliminators

1x Invictor Warsuit

1x Indomitus Box

 

I probably have enough troop choices painted all ready with the Dark Imperium Box and the Vanguard Box, but I'm open to adding more Intercessors/Assault/Reivers if anyone thinks that is a good idea, but I don't want to paint my unpainted minis as Ultramarines if they are not a good fit. As for my next purchases I have no idea what to buy. Tanks? Dreadnaughts? Librarian? Bobby G? Thank you for any tips and suggestions.

[psyduck]

You definitely have enough troop choices for now. I'd say you've got lots to paint - don't buy anything further for now! Play a little bit and see how it goes first - hopefully that won't be too far away.

 

For choice of chapters, I think it's more down to whose lore/colour scheme you like better and playstyle. If you're still down for Ultramarian shooting and flexibility, stick with them.

 

Misc:

Intercessors good with every chapter.

Reivers, conversely good with no chapter currently.

Eliminators, best with Raven Guard but otherwise niche unit for other chapters

Invictor - good with all chapters, best with.. Salamanders? Iron Hands? not sure here

 

Indomitus box:

Assault intercessors/Outriders - best as White Scars/Blood Angels/Flesh Tearers

Bladeguard, Bladeguard Ancient, Judiciar - great in all chapters, best in WS/BA

Eradicators - great in all chapters

Chaplain/Captain/Lt. - decent in all chapters

 

Necrons - best as basing 

Edited November 29, 2020 by psyduck

[Charybdis]

Really can't fault dreadnoughts at the mo, the Redemptor in particular has been solid for me but they all seem fairly good in 9th. 

 

Edit: If your not going all Primaris then a squad of Grav Dev's are fairly phenomenal for Ultra's. The last time I played I launched them in turn 2 and almost took out a Leviathan in a single round of shooting (1 wound left dammit!!).

We've lost 'Gravitic Amplification' but the sheer amount of shots these bad lads put out combined with a Signum and Cherub make them more than worth including in an Ultra army. 

Throw in the fact that they now have 2 wounds and I think they're gold. 

Edited November 29, 2020 by Charybdis

[NerdyFellow]

You definitely have enough troop choices for now. I'd say you've got lots to paint - don't buy anything further for now! Play a little bit and see how it goes first - hopefully that won't be too far away.

 

I might get something for Christmas   As of right now though, my army is very troopy, but I guess that's not too bad atm.

 

 

Misc:

Intercessors good with every chapter.

Reivers, conversely good with no chapter currently.

Eliminators, best with Raven Guard but otherwise niche unit for other chapters

Invictor - good with all chapters, best with.. Salamanders? Iron Hands? not sure here

 

Indomitus box:

Assault intercessors/Outriders - best as White Scars/Blood Angels/Flesh Tearers

Bladeguard, Bladeguard Ancient, Judiciar - great in all chapters, best in WS/BA

Eradicators - great in all chapters

Chaplain/Captain/Lt. - decent in all chapters

Thanks for this. I knew that Reivers were a bad purchase, but I used them for my first conversion (The Batmarine), and when I bought the Eliminators (back in April/May) I was under the impression that they were hot stuff.

 

As for the Indomitus Box, you'd say that most of the things are good for UM, other then the Assault Intercessors and Outriders? This would leave me with lots of blue yet to paint, and lots of extra minis to start a homebrew-chapter. I can live with that  Maybe it's stupid to paint and build two different chapters, before even playing a game, but I don't want to paint a sea of blue, just to never see it used. This way I have a homebrew where I can use all "left over" Marines that just don't fit into my Ultras.

 

 

Really can't fault dreadnoughts at the mo, the Redemptor in particular has been solid for me but they all seem fairly good in 9th. 

 

That might or might not be a christmas gift for me 

[psyduck]

You could always convert the reivers into infiltrators/incursors with arm/gun bits, or use them as test models for prospective schemes. Eliminators aren't super great at the moment due to a combination of fewer characters on the board, loss of indirect fire option, and competition for heavy support slots/small unit size. For Indomitus, the only thing you'd hardly ever run as UM would be the assault intercessors. Everything is is either good, or at the very least fits well in their role.

 

if you're not super sold on Ultramarines, most convenient thing to do is run a chapter and scheme of your own creation - that way you can run them as whichever rules you prefer. 

 

Finding a redemptor for christmas is going to be a xmas miracle, I tell you. 

If painting fatigue has got you down, try painting a one off model (or unit) that's not space marines!

[Emurian]

I concur with Psyduck, if you are starting to feel burned out on applying the same colour ( I have this issue too at times) then its best to do a little side project to retain your sanity.

Hence why when painting my UM (taking my time to paint these) I also vary between them, Warhammer Epic (Basic painting), Craftworld Eldar Iyanden (Semi speedpaint) and Necrons (speedpaint). 

The stupid thing is, sometimes my brain gets tired of highlighting blue UM, but if I then swap over to Iyanden and highlight yellow (Which in theory is doing the same thing just in a different colour) then I do not feel getting burned out on it.

If I may state so I would advice not to break up a single army in multiple chapters. I think you would be better suited picking up a 2nd army instead. Aside colours it also gives you completely different models to work with which can be fun. 

You still have quite some pile of shame lying around, I therefor do not wish to advice you to get more boxes, but rather focus on what you have and finishing it. The units from the Indomitus box are good, you will not be dissapointed painting the non troops from that box and giving them a spin. I think you actually have a pretty solid base already of miniatures and options to tweak your list to also permit different playstyles.

So my advice is considering a 2nd army as a side project. You already have 1000 pts of Necrons lying around which you can use for this purpose. (This army can also be speed painted the fastest with the good old leadbelcher spraycan + heavy nuln oil wash or you do the complete opposite and try to put effort into them) Who knows, maybe its not a bad thing having 2 armies lying around so you can convert one of your friends into the hobby by doing a practise match crons vs SM with them ? =)

 

[Captain Idaho]

Dreadnoughts are amazing. Just remember, 1 vehicle is dead meat, 2 is a viable strategy and 3 is an army build. ;)

 

Since you got the Indomitus boxed set, I'd say bumping them up to full strength is a possibility. And an Impulsor ,)

[NerdyFellow]

Finding a redemptor for christmas is going to be a xmas miracle, I tell you. 

 

Shouldn't be a problem where I live, but either way I wouldn't call it a crisis if I don't get one  .

 

 

I concur with Psyduck, if you are starting to feel burned out on applying the same colour ( I have this issue too at times) then its best to do a little side project to retain your sanity.

 

Hence why when painting my UM (taking my time to paint these) I also vary between them, Warhammer Epic (Basic painting), Craftworld Eldar Iyanden (Semi speedpaint) and Necrons (speedpaint). 

 

The stupid thing is, sometimes my brain gets tired of highlighting blue UM, but if I then swap over to Iyanden and highlight yellow (Which in theory is doing the same thing just in a different colour) then I do not feel getting burned out on it.

 

If I may state so I would advice not to break up a single army in multiple chapters. I think you would be better suited picking up a 2nd army instead. Aside colours it also gives you completely different models to work with which can be fun. 

 

You still have quite some pile of shame lying around, I therefor do not wish to advice you to get more boxes, but rather focus on what you have and finishing it. The units from the Indomitus box are good, you will not be dissapointed painting the non troops from that box and giving them a spin. I think you actually have a pretty solid base already of miniatures and options to tweak your list to also permit different playstyles.

 

So my advice is considering a 2nd army as a side project. You already have 1000 pts of Necrons lying around which you can use for this purpose. (This army can also be speed painted the fastest with the good old leadbelcher spraycan + heavy nuln oil wash or you do the complete opposite and try to put effort into them) Who knows, maybe its not a bad thing having 2 armies lying around so you can convert one of your friends into the hobby by doing a practise match crons vs SM with them ? =)

 

 

 

Definitely a bit of blue fatigue, despite loving the colour scheme. I actually went a bit heretic with my phobos-armoured UM, and painted them grey, but with Macragge Blue shoulders and regular chapter markings. My excuse is they are supposed to be stealthy  

 

My thought about splitting up my Marines is that I'll keep my UM as my main army, but in the cases where I get a box of some kind (Indomitus, Battlefore etc.), I wont feel bad about getting extra models I don't need, because I can put them in the homebrew chapter. And in the future I'll have the option of fleshing that one out, if I ever have a "complete" UM army.

 

As for future purchases, I'm not rushing to buy more, I'm mostly just curious about where to go once I expand. Dreadnaughts, Tiberius, Apothecary, Tanks, Bobby G, Agressors are all on my wishlist, but it's nice to know what order to "wish" them in  

 

And yeah, I have assembled and painted the Necrons a bit. They are for sure something I'll expand upon one time in the future. And maybe also the guard army I started before I abandoned them for the Ultramarines.... Yes, I am a plastoholic. I don't ever think I'll convert any of my friends though, at least not on the hobby side. But they'll play me if I actually have two armies.

 

Dreadnoughts are amazing. Just remember, 1 vehicle is dead meat, 2 is a viable strategy and 3 is an army build.

 

Since you got the Indomitus boxed set, I'd say bumping them up to full strength is a possibility. And an Impulsor ,)

 

Right, so this is a general advice for Space Marine vehicles? Less then two is pointless? And at what amount of vehicles do you add a Techmarine?

[psyduck]

 

And yeah, I have assembled and painted the Necrons a bit. They are for sure something I'll expand upon one time in the future. And maybe also the guard army I started before I abandoned them for the Ultramarines.... Yes, I am a plastoholic. I don't ever think I'll convert any of my friends though, at least not on the hobby side. But they'll play me if I actually have two armies.

 

Dreadnoughts are amazing. Just remember, 1 vehicle is dead meat, 2 is a viable strategy and 3 is an army build.

 

Since you got the Indomitus boxed set, I'd say bumping them up to full strength is a possibility. And an Impulsor ,)

 

Right, so this is a general advice for Space Marine vehicles? Less then two is pointless? And at what amount of vehicles do you add a Techmarine?

 

 

I'd say go apothecary -> dreads -> tigurius/guilliman. 

 

For vehicles, yeah, usually two at least to split anti-tank fire. One could work at lower points, but hide it well. Regarding techmarines, it's mostly dependent on what you're bringing rather than how much - i.e are you bringing something that you really really don't want to die or degrade so quickly, and would benefit from BS/WS 2+. 

[Captain Idaho]

Generally yes, 1 vehicle is an easy choice of target.

[derLumpi]

Well, I would go with bikes. They are fast, tough and a whole squad can do a lot of work if you have a captain near them.

[Emurian]

Well if you would like to know, if you HAD to add something, I would say another squad of Bladeguard veterans.

I have 9 painted up myself + a banner dude, will paint 9 more + a banner later on for my 1st company.

I Always preferred melee over shooting in Warhammer, my 1st army in 3rd/4th edition was Dark Eldar, so this playstyle has been imprinted on me over time. After picking up the new space marine dex I quickly ended up settling on the Bladeguard veterans as they looked to be the thing I wanted, durable, foot slogging, melee threaths that deals with elite infantry.

After 2 games playing with a single squad of 3 I ran them multiple games in 2x3 or 2x4 setups and they performed great. I also adore the look of the models. I think they are a pretty safe bet to invest your time in. Adding another squad gives you the option to run 2x3 or you go for a 5 man unit and try to tag them with an apothecary.

Hope this helps, just please keep in mind this unit ''fits my playstyle'', it might be something else fits yours if your approach to the game is different.

Edited December 2, 2020 by Emurian

[NerdyFellow]

Well if you would like to know, if you HAD to add something, I would say another squad of Bladeguard veterans.

 

I have 9 painted up myself + a banner dude, will paint 9 more + a banner later on for my 1st company.

 

I Always preferred melee over shooting in Warhammer, my 1st army in 3rd/4th edition was Dark Eldar, so this playstyle has been imprinted on me over time. After picking up the new space marine dex I quickly ended up settling on the Bladeguard veterans as they looked to be the thing I wanted, durable, foot slogging, melee threaths that deals with elite infantry.

 

After 2 games playing with a single squad of 3 I ran them multiple games in 2x3 or 2x4 setups and they performed great. I also adore the look of the models. I think they are a pretty safe bet to invest your time in. Adding another squad gives you the option to run 2x3 or you go for a 5 man unit and try to tag them with an apothecary.

 

Hope this helps, just please keep in mind this unit ''fits my playstyle'', it might be something else fits yours if your approach to the game is different.

 

That's interesting. I thought UM was considered more of a shooty army, but I guess they can be flexible in their approach huh? The Bladeguards do look great though, looking forward to painting them.

[Emurian]

Regardless if your playing a shooty army or not, what I noticed in this edition is that you will end up close to eachother at the midfield. Thus, a melee unit is required, either to be agressive and punch a hole in the enemy his line or act as a counter assault unit to protect your own gunline. One of the big changes I had to get used to from 4th is that characters can not join squads anymore. Thus you can not stick a character in your squad and depend on him to hold the ground together with the squad when its being charged.

The setup which I applied most so far is
IC BV IC BV IC
(IC being intercessors, BV Bladeguards)

Deployed roughly in the mid of the board, this allows you to move the BV straightforward to contest the midfield or if required steer of to the right or left to deflect a flank attack of your opponent.