A not so brief introduction

[LightningClawLeonard]

Hello everyone,

 

Glad to join the forum, apologies in advance for a fairly long introduction.  But maybe some detail in here might grab your eye and garner a few suggestions on forums to frequent or projects/threads to follow.

 

I’m new to both miniatures/wargaming in general and 40K/30K in particular, stepped in just over a year ago now.  I’ve been lurking around here for a while now, just hadn't pulled the trigger on making an account.  I hope to be consistently active; I think it’s important to participate so that communities like this can stay robust.  I really enjoyed being on various forums when I was younger, but most of those were run by the companies/developers behind the topic/interest, and all of them have shut down over the past decade or so.  None of the newer online spaces that people seem to view as replacements to forums actually fill the role as far as I have seen.  Many places seem like a bit of a treadmill where the same few topics are posted on a regular basis, and actual discussion is tertiary to the basic questions, similar memes, and photos posted with no context outside of the title.  I really like reading through ongoing discussions where everyone involved is pretty interested/invested.

 

What drew me to the hobby was the fact that it was something I could do regardless of location or circumstance.  I had several major changes in my life and a few moves ended up with me living in entirely different area where my previous interests just weren’t as accessible or feasible, specifically stuff related to the outdoors. I tried to re-engage with some past hobbies but nothing was really sticking.  I was feeling pretty bored and stagnant, suddenly being faced with a ton of newfound free time and lack of opportunity for previous pastimes really changed my perspective. A hobby that I could fully engage with by myself, independent of any outside people or schedule, without having to go anywhere, was suddenly very appealing. A buddy of mine reminded me about 40K. And when I actually examined the "the hobby", that opportunity to really create something, especially "my own guys”, pulled me in.

 

After building my first few models, I decided to gauge the community at the only place where people play locally, where I was advised “yeah no one really does small games, or Kill Team or any of that. We only play 2000 point games here, but people are pretty chill, if you tell them you just started people will probably be willing to play a 1200 point game or something....oh hey, it’s cool that you’re buying paint and basing stuff, most people here barely do three colors.”  Upon some reflection I decided to let it ride for a while in regards to getting games in, and just enjoy dreaming up my own guys and then building and painting them. Learning more about 10th vs older editions and Horus Heresy has kept me in this mindset for the time being.

 

Anyways, here are some specific interests:

 

Black Templars - My first and main force as of now.  I wanted to start with something that felt "40K" and had colors and details I was confident my beginner abilities would still be able to paint to a standard that I’d be ok with.  Black Templars fit the bill, more distinct than standard compliant marines, and the model range was current as opposed to the other divergent chapters.  My crusade is plugging right along, but recently my interests have been pulling me towards different systems and older settings.

 

Tyranids - I also have a decent start on a Hive Fleet thanks to Leviathan.  Almost everything is built and primed up, just been messing around with different contrast and paint combinations to get a recipe for Hive Fleet Lotan that looks right to me and is repeatable.

 

Horus Heresy - I’m really looking to jump into this as a major hobby focus.  The models and army building are just a lot more customizable and the ruleset and community seem more my speed than that of current 40K (of course, this is coming from a guy who has never played either). I was recently able to pick up Age of Darkness, a weapons upgrade kit and both Liber Astartes and Hereticus for a price that I just couldn’t pass up, so the stage is set. Just been having a bit of indecision on what Legion I want to go with.  I definitely know which legions I like the look and general lore of. But I’ve only read the first three Heresy books + Fulgrim, so I kind of feel like I risk picking a legion, then getting 10 more books in and realizing “man these guys are insufferable”, haha.

 

Badab War - What’s really stoking been stoking my hobby interest the past few months is my personal discovery of this setting. Finding the homemade Liber Badab here was a big hook for me, and the recently posted update was what pushed me to finally make an account here.  The Badab War just really grabs me. It just seems like the setting nicely compliments the Heresy in a way.  There are a similar number of parties involved but their characterization being more ambiguous and less documented in lore means there is enough background to draw you in but not so much that you feel hemmed in or like you can’t create your own little forces within the participating chapters.  I've been using the Liber Badab stuff to cook up some cool concept lists.

 

A related but unexpected upside has been making me look into all the Firstborn kits which I previously ignored.  Looking at the models and sprues made me realize that most of the grumbling about the interchangeability and kitbashing potential they have over the current kits isn’t overstated at all.  The resulting downside is that I have decided that I want any Badab force I make to be Firstborn scaled. This has resulted in a sinking feeling that I had better secure a decent stock of the remaining Firstborn kits and current Mark IV and V marines while I still can. I figure continued production of the remaining Firstborn kits has a couple years left at best, and the Heresy armor marks will all be slowly upscaled in the next few years. Since starting the hobby I've been pretty comfortable in never feeling any need to "get this while you still can!!!" in regards to limited boxes or anything, I just don't really get FOMO in that regard. But this has certainly induced a bit of FOMU – Fear of Model Unavailability, haha. 

 

Other than that, pretty interested in the upcoming Boarding Actions book.  For me 500 pts just seems like a much better way to play current 40K, and one that I might be more interested in. You still get to list build, but larger models that can tip the scales too heavily are not present.  A particular appeal for me is the idea of building lists for various factions where I like the look of the infantry and elites, but the larger vehicles and characters have zero appeal.

 

Well if you read all that, thanks! Looking forward to adding to conversation and discussions outside of this introduction.

 

[Grotsmasha]

Welcome to the B&C

 

I wouldn't worry too much about FOMU, with a little effort, 2nd hand models can be cleaned to a near-new quality, and places like eBay will become more and more saturated/over-supplied with them.

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Welcome!

 

Yeah, if you can get people to join you, kill team (whether it be the current rules, the previous rules, or Shadowars Armegeddon, which was essentially the 8th ed version) or Necromunda would seem to be an excellent fit for how you want to engage in the hobby - very small "armies", highly personalized models (if you want) and small game sizes all offer the opportunity to dabble in a broad swath of factions.

 

I also noted your interest in the Badab Wars - I think you might like this old thread in the Kill Team forum where folks converted up their own Badab themed forces.  Among other things, the initial posts contain what are (I presume - I can't say I've looked at them all, and certainly not recently) a good list of Badab related resources.

Edited July 23 by Dr_Ruminahui

[WAR]

Welcome to the B&C @LightningClawLeonard

 

Black Templars are always nice with their crusader squads 

 

HH- go with your instinct or you could follow Templars are Imperial Fist successors and Sigsmund is a beast. Also Fafnir Rann is first Chapter Master of the Executioners Chapter.  Which could be your Badab army. 
 

 

[INKS]

Welcome! I think you'll find a lot of gamers who find themselves in situations just like yours. I am not new to the hobby, I am new the 10th edition. I fully understand the want and desire for smaller sized games. Someone more recently told me that the ultimate size is 1k points. (I don't know that, that is actually true). But I do think there is a lot of merit and fun to be had with smaller point games. Not everything needs to be 2k competitive level, all out playing. Hopefully as time moves on, you'll find some more local like minded people to play 1200 points or whatever they were willing to come down to. 

 

As for other players putting in the minimum for their armies, hardly 3 colors and all that. Some people love to hobby, love to paint and go all out. Some do not. I don't know that this is a concern of yours but worry not about that and do what you enjoy most. I am not a great painter, in fact panting can be hard for me with my hands these days. But I love a well painted army.

 

Bust of luck with it all, and welcome to the B&C again.

[LightningClawLeonard]

3 hours ago, Dr_Ruminahui said:

Welcome!

 

Yeah, if you can get people to join you, kill team (whether it be the current rules, the previous rules, or Shadowars Armegeddon, which was essentially the 8th ed version) or Necromunda would seem to be an excellent fit for how you want to engage in the hobby - very small "armies", highly personalized models (if you want) and small game sizes all offer the opportunity to dabble in a broad swath of factions.

 

I also noted your interest in the Badab Wars - I think you might like this old thread in the Kill Team forum where folks converted up their own Badab themed forces.  Among other things, the initial posts contain what are (I presume - I can't say I've looked at them all, and certainly not recently) a good list of Badab related resources.

Thank you for linking that thread! I wouldn't have thought to look in the Kill Team forum for Badab War stuff, it'll be good to see what people cooked up.

 

I have been increasingly interested in Necromunda. I'm going to take a look through that Pros and Cons thread that was posted recently and see what people have to say.

[LightningClawLeonard]

4 hours ago, Grotsmasha said:

Welcome to the B&C

 

I wouldn't worry too much about FOMU, with a little effort, 2nd hand models can be cleaned to a near-new quality, and places like eBay will become more and more saturated/over-supplied with them.

Good point, I hadn't considered that as more of them move to legends, more people will also put theirs up for sale.  Last week I took a few cursory looks through eBay just searching for stuff like "space marine job lot", "firstborn marines", "tactical marines", things like that. I thought the results were surprisingly sparce, but I may have limited my search parameters too much.

[Agramar_The_Luna_Wolf]

Welcome aboard, frater!

You're now in the best company 

[Kharn13]

Welcome!

[Dr_Ruminahui]

I also think that one mustn't think of ebay as a store front, with things regularly "in stock", but rather as having things constantly fluctuating - so, just because there is nothing this week, doesn't mean there won't be a huge pile next week.  So, I think buying stuff on ebay, unless you get lucky, requires a long game where you routinely check what shows up.

 

That's something that, personally, I'm horrible at, so I don't use ebay much myself. 

[LightningClawLeonard]

8 hours ago, Dr_Ruminahui said:

So, I think buying stuff on ebay, unless you get lucky, requires a long game where you routinely check what shows up.

 

That's something that, personally, I'm horrible at, so I don't use ebay much myself. 

Yes, this is my exact disposition as well.  Generally if there any alternative to eBay or similar sites I will take it.

[LightningClawLeonard]

@WAR The more I think about it, the more Imperial Fists in Heresy sounds intriguing.  I had already scoped out the Fafnir Rann model as a potential kitbash candidate for a Badab captain for an Executioners company command and had mulled the idea of having that shared connection in my forces across multiple eras. Good stuff.

[Cenobite Terminator]

Welcome to the fold frater.