A trip down memory lane

[Dr_Ruminahui]

I inhereted a space marine army with the death of my best friend Michael on February 1.  He was 46.  We had been friends for 40 years, and without him I doubt I would be involved in the hobby - he's the reason I got into D&D (gave me the D&D red box for my 13th birthday), onlin eforums (he ran a BBS to which I connected with my 14.4K baud modem) battletech (traded him the hardcover starwars RPG I had bought at a used book store for the boxed starter set), necromunda (we each bought a box so we would have terrain) and 40K (we went together on the 3rd ed boxed set).

 

Here's a picture of us from 2001 playing 40K together - man we look young.  I'm the one standing.

 

 

Michael had a degenerative condition and had been in a wheelchair as long as I known him.  As a teenager, he had painted D&D minis, but over time he lost the fine motor control needed for painting.  So, when we got into 40K together, I told him I would paint his army for him.  That's the army I inhereted.  

 

Taking pictures of these minis was a real trip down memory lane, as I haven't seen them in at leat 15 years.  Hopefully, sharing them with you will be one for you too, as the newest of these figures predates 4th edition.

 

The motor pool

 

 

His predator (what is now a destructor) "Triclops" - I found this in a regular model store in Japan near where I was living at that time, it was the only 40K model in the store.

 

 

His whirlwind "Smite Button" - got the name from an artillery tank another friend of mine had in a video game (don't remember which game).

 

 

His las-plas razorback "Tracked Toaster"

 

 

His lead dreadnought - thing weighs a ton.  If it had a name, I don't remember it.

 

 

Attack bike with multimelta

 

 

Landspeeder with heavy bolter.  This is the kit from the 3rd ed box - most difficult model I've ever built - the thing was so warped I had to keep in clamped together for weeks to get the bottom and top to fit together.

 

 

Victory squad - these are the marines from the 3rd box set.  Never did complete the full squad.

 

 

Metal scouts.  Converted one to have a chain sword, so as to field 2 squads of 5. 

 

 

Wolf squad.  These are converted out of metal warzone minis (cut of their guns, replaced them with bolters and added GW marine power packs), so are bit taller and chunkier than the others.  This was before I had a jewler's saw, so I had to carve off the metal guns with an exacto - I remember bleeding on each and everyone of these from the nicks I made on my fingers.

 

 

Termies.  5 man plastic + a metal model with an assault cannon.

 

 

Plastic assault squad.  I really went to town in converting these into more interesting poses - my favorite is the twin pistol guy.  I think this is the first time I pinned models as that was the only way to keep the chainswords "stuck" into the bases in place.

 

 

Old beakie marines.  Bought these second hand to repaint, so wasn't able to change their loadout, which is why there are 2 with power fists.

 

 

Assorted command minis.  The tallaran mini was the one my friend used as his force commander - I think he liked that it had sunglesses.  I had been converting up a replacement using an actual space marine captain converted to have 2 plasma pistols (represented by the mastercrafting upgrade, which did the same thing as having weapons twin linked) but never completed it.

 

 

 

5 of the old pushfit marines - these are the guys that came with the 2nd ed box set, but that isn't how I got mine.  People who complain about the new models being monopose should have a look at thers. :P  At the time, GW gave these minis out in the paint set or when you went into the store for painting lessons - there weren't any GW stores around my place then, so I think these came with a set of paints.

 

 

Assorted heavy weapons - the heavy bolter tand the multimelta are the weapon options I didn't use on the landspeeder and attack bike, respectively.

 

 

Other assorted minis - one of whom seems have lost his bolter, which amazingly it and another missing piece (see below) were all that were missing of the lot.  Actually, they had been stored well, so I only had to reglue a few pieces for the entire army to make them presentable.

 

 

These are assorted marines that I think he used as his command squad - the beakie in the cape with the plasma pistol and chainsword was his alternate commander and was named "Wigglesworth", and was built more for looks than for effectiveness (the 2nd ed. power sword looked rather like a spatula and therefore not very imposing looking).  These are some of my very first conversions, and I'm particularly fond of the guy giving the thumbs up (most left) and the one giving the middle finger (second from left) - or he would be, if that wasn't the other of the 2 missing pieces.

 

 

 

The whole army together.

 

I think my friend chose the colours, but I can't remember on what basis.  They weren't intended to be space wolves, despite the similar colours and some of the first models being space wolves.  The symbols were my own creation and were chosen as something I figured I could paint.  They are all painted witht he same paint (a light grey by Tamiya) - the paint was darker near the end of the bottle, which is why some are darker than others.

 

Anyway, I'm happy to share all these with you - it was a good way of reminding myself of some good times.

 

 

[Valkia the Bloody]

Thank you for sharing.

This is a moving story.

And this army is a treasure worth cherishing.

[Marshal Mittens]

Sorry for your loss. It's a fine looking army. He lives on in your memory and the memory of others.

[Tallarn Commander]

It is a great thing you have done. I love the paint scheme, characterful conversions, and the vehicle names.

[Khornestar]

A ton of character; really cool army.

[N1SB]

Your (plural, yours and Michael's) story is an inspiration.  And the Vehicles' paintjobs and naming convention is Peak Warhammer.

[Shovellovin]

Condolence on the loss of your friend. It’s good that you have his army to remind you of him and the good times that you two shared. 

[Pearson73]

Incredibly sorry to hear of your loss. This collection is such a lovely reminder of your friendship and the hobby you shared. Love those characterful vehicles.

[Imren]

Sorry for your loss, he lives on in the memories you have of this army. Thanks for sharing these pictures and story with us.

 

Apart from its high sentimental value, it is a very cool and awesome army. It brings back memories of my childhood, I had those combined metal and plastic marines as well during 2nd ed for my blood angels long gone and sold.

[Alby the Slayer]

This is life, terrible and magnificent as it is.

 

I'm sorry for your loss, I am sure you were a great friend to him and this army is a treasure for sure. 

 

Amazing friendship.

 

A memory to cherish.

[Ace Debonair]

Sorry for your loss, brother.

The friends we make are, in many ways, the best part of this hobby.

 

This is a beautiful army, made better by both the old-school, tongue-in-cheek irreverent Warhammer humour ('Sun Gun' on the plasma cannon is my favourite, absolutely love it) and the sense that each of these models has their own story to tell.

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Thanks everyone, for your condolenses and your compliments on the army - I'm glad you like my names on the vehicles and weapons. 

 

With the army were a couple of other things I would share:

 

His space marines codex - I'm pretty sure this is the 3rd ed codex.

 

 

A list of all the units and their point values - this looks like it has everything but victory squad, so I guess I hadn't painted it at that point.

 

 

2 1000 point lists

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Today I moved the army into its new home on my shelves:

 

[Brother Cambrius]

It's a sad and hollow feeling when someone close passes away. My deepest condolences to you Rumi.

 

The names of the tanks def brought me a smile as I scrolled through the order of battle present, some excellent humour in there. I may have to utilise "The Smite Button" as a moniker for a tank in the future. The Codex is definitely a 3rd Ed one to my knowledge. 4th Ed was the Ultramarines fighting the 'Nids (and was my introduction to 40K in 2007).

 

What was the Chapter's name? I think I missed that in there, the symbol of the I and bleeding eye is certainly unique and distinctive with the grey.

 

It's fair to say that despite Michael no longer being physically present in this world, his memory lives on here and through the army.

 

Cambrius

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Thanks, Cambrius.  And feel free to use "Smite Button" for your own forces - after all, I swiped it myself. :)

 

I don't remember the name of the Chapter, if it had one.  We didn't pay much attention to the background or setting in those days, so I can say that none of the aesthetic choices have any connection with any of the canon.  Indeed, I can't really remember how any of them were made, other than on the basis of their being something that I felt I could paint.

 

I do remember being rather surprised when someone where we played asked if they were chaos marines, as the large eye was the symbol of horus, which is something that I hadn't ever thought of.

 

And yeah, Mike and I were friends for a long time, so I have lots of fond memories of him.  I do miss not getting up early on the weekend so that I could game with him on the computer when he was awake - the last decade or so of his life he was in Europe which made for an 8 hour time difference between us.

[Cyrox]

Thank you for sharing this, I'm sorry for your loss.

 

That's a cool looking space marine army - i think your friend would be very proud that we have all been admiring it.

[Smoke Frog]

That is a truly glorious army, thank you for posting it here as a tribute to your friend.

[Interrogator Stobz]

Fantastic army and background.

You Sir are a total gentleman and friend.

May they protect against that foul corruption on the shelf below for eternity.

[Monstra Sumus]

Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I feel honored to witness this.

[BadgersinHills]

So sorry for your loss. A beautiful army. 

[Sherrypie]

Condolences for your loss. Do you intend to keep the army as it is solely as a memento or expand it as a playable force?

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Thank you, everyone, for your compliments and condolences.

 

I had intended to just keep it as a momento, though a friend of mine asked how big it so I pointed it up with Battlescribe.  It's just shy of 3000 points, though I think I may accidentally have made a couple of the models primaris without intending to (I don't have the loyalist marines codex andI'm not convinced Battlescribe has the keywords correctly for all the units - I made one a lieutenant and another an ancient of some sort, neither of which has the primaris keyword in battlescribe).  So, I may play it at some point, or once I've built a gaming table so that we can play at my house, have some lists available so that the army can be used by my friends who aren't in the hobby but might want to have a game.

 

I have no immediate plans to paint more units, though I might at some point.  One thing I could do is pick up the killteam box with the chaos militarum, as I'm interested in both the chaos kill team and the terrain - I could save the intercessors for a later addition to this army.

 

Even when focusing on one army, painting tends to be about 2 years behind whatever is good in the meta, so I can't really see me trying to keep up with what is good for 2 armies at once, so any additions would likely be either what I am "forced" to buy through "bundled" purchases such as the killteam box, or if a model comes along that I particularly like.

 

That said, I would like to convert and paint a mini that better represents my friend's commander, who was based off of a series of RPG characters he had made which in turn were based on a fictionalized version of himself.  Necessary elements would be bionics, twin pistols (plasma, probably) and sunglasses.

Edited May 19, 2022 by Dr_Ruminahui

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

Sorry for your loss.

He did a great job on them.

 

40 years is a lot of memories. Hopefully the emperor protects.

[Brother Lunkhead]

It's always hard losing a good friend, but you've got a wonderful memento in that marvelous army to remember all the good times you had together.

 

SMITE BUTTON .... that's the best Might use that one myself on one of my tanks.... with your permission of course, Doc.

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Thanks, Lensoven and Lunkhead.  And feel free to use "Smite Button" - as I told Cambrius earlier, I stole it myself so its not like I have dibs on the name. :)