Needing A Little Help

[Castlerook]

Because I am so indecisive.

 

I picked up the Leviathan boxed set a couple of weeks ago and its gotten me thinking about doing a Space Marine force for 10th. As some of you might know, I've been a long time Dark Angels player, having built up the 3rd Company, a demi-company of Deathwing and Ravenwing. It was a fun army to do. Then I sold it.

 

I'm currently building up a Dark Angels force in Horus Heresy, and going through everything I have, I know I'm not going to use everything in my Dark Angels, so a fair bit can transfer to 40k. So I don't want to be doing 2 Dark Angels forces at the same time. In fact, I don't want to do a First Founding army at all, I want to go for something different, a closer quarters army compared to the Dark Angels. 

 

So I drew up a list of possible Chapters, parred it down to a handful and that's where I'm getting stuck. So any insights would be great:
- Black Dragons. They look cool, there's plenty of scope for conversions and modelling. The only real problem is that I'd be working on 2 Marine armies with a black colour scheme at the same time.

- Carcharodons. Space Sharks, what's not to love? Simple colour scheme and again, plenty of scope for conversions. The problem is less the colour scheme and more that the Carcharodons are an army that needs lots of little details to make them pop and there is a point where it can get into caricature. 

- Minotaurs. One of the simplest colour schemes and the Bronze from Army Painter's Speedpaint Metal range is awesome and the conversion possibilities are fun. But the problem for me is the background, as its not one I particularly find interesting. It's not "bad", it just doesn't click for me.

- Sons of Antaeus. Another Cursed Founding Chapter and because there's nothing really definitive about them, it really opens up the possibilities across the board. The problem here is that there is nothing really definitive about them so it just leaves everything up in the air. If I was going to do a homebrew chapter, I'd do a homebrew chapter and I wouldn't have a problem here. 

 

So, any insights or comments would be really helpful here.

 

[Tacitus]

Well not sure why you're avoiding a first founding but:

if you DIY your chapter, you could mix and match any of the "specials" in a counts as - 

if you do First Founding you could always do a wonky version of it - Terminator heavy Blood Angels (Mostly fluffy) to Terminator Heavy White Scars (A little out there) 

[Grotsmasha]

All of those are solid choices, and I get why it's a challenging choice. I'd recommend painting a test marine from each faction, you may find you vibe with one of the schemes more than the others.

[Castlerook]

8 hours ago, Tacitus said:

Well not sure why you're avoiding a first founding but:

if you DIY your chapter, you could mix and match any of the "specials" in a counts as - 

if you do First Founding you could always do a wonky version of it - Terminator heavy Blood Angels (Mostly fluffy) to Terminator Heavy White Scars (A little out there) 

If I had wanted to do a homebrewed chapter, I wouldn't be here, I would just be working on the homebrew.

 

And mostly I wanted to avoid a First Founding chapter because they've been done. A lot. I want a chapter that has a little bit of groundwork but allows a lot more freedom to take some conversion ideas. You don't really get that with the First Founding.

 

5 hours ago, Grotsmasha said:

All of those are solid choices, and I get why it's a challenging choice. I'd recommend painting a test marine from each faction, you may find you vibe with one of the schemes more than the others.

Did that, its also why I know Army Painter Speedpaint Metal Bronze works well. Its also why my list got parred down to the above. They were fun to paint. Thanks for the suggestion.

[CCE1981]

Here’s an idea.  Go Carcharadons, but keep them base line, maybe a touch of detail on Characters oand elite units.  As you play games add more detail to MVP and outstanding performers.  Let that detail grow over time instead of before they hit the table.

 

Edit: If a unit gets to the point of “caricature”  retire the model/ unit.

Edited July 15, 2023 by CCE1981

[LSM]

Space Sharks have also gained a bit of a... muddled isn't the right word, but: they have two main pillars of variance from your standard chapter. Firstly, is the Maori detailing. Cool tattoos/armour art. The second is the whole "I'm a shark" thing. Pale skin, liquid-black eyes, and sharpened teeth.

 

I'm with you on the opinion that they're easy to overdo, so agree that a more restrained version could be the way to go. Less laser shark fin helmets, more bits of freehand on the important people. 

[Paladin777]

If you want a non-first founding, close combat chapter, maybe Flesh Tearers would be worth a look. 

[Castlerook]

45 minutes ago, Paladin777 said:

If you want a non-first founding, close combat chapter, maybe Flesh Tearers would be worth a look. 

Yeah, they didn't even make the original list. Thanks though.

 

8 hours ago, LSM said:

Space Sharks have also gained a bit of a... muddled isn't the right word, but: they have two main pillars of variance from your standard chapter. Firstly, is the Maori detailing. Cool tattoos/armour art. The second is the whole "I'm a shark" thing. Pale skin, liquid-black eyes, and sharpened teeth.

 

I'm with you on the opinion that they're easy to overdo, so agree that a more restrained version could be the way to go. Less laser shark fin helmets, more bits of freehand on the important people. 

Glad you get it. If I was to go for Carcharodons, it would be to stick with the Maori detailing on some of the leg plates or on some of the weapons, maybe some shark teeth, like how the Space Wolves have wolf tails and fangs on their armour. I think the most extravagant element would be a 3d printed shark jaw around the collars of the Terminators. But shark helmets or the more ridiculous things I've seen would be a big nope from me. 

 

Thinking about it more, I feel like it's down to either the Black Dragons or the Carcharodons, and the Carcharodons might be slightly winning because it isn't a pure black colour scheme. Maybe if I do one, I'll do the other as a Kill Team.

 

[Lord_Ikka]

At least Carcharodons make painting eyes easy...

[sonsoftaurus]

I did my Space Sharks with more of a Rogue Trader vibe vs Maori. More grafitti, less tribal. I did add some fins, but as blades vs just decoration. 
 

Soace Sharks

 

[Warden-Paints]

How about a first founding chapter or a homebrew chap--- No just joking, I actually read your post. 

 

(If it was my dilemma) I would go with Carcharodons, and remember why ADB's Emperor's Spears don't fight with spears, the same way that Celestial Lions don't ride lions. 

 

Keep them brutal and functional, the tribal markings don't need to be overdone at all, and imagine how they would really react to be given a shark finned helmet to wear... 

 

Look forward to seeing what you end up with, starting a new chapter is a joyous occasion!