Rites of Defiance

Slow and Steady

2009-03-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

I'm piecing together the last parts of the Drop Pod today, and then I can start on the weathering. It's been an interesting process.

The Drop Pod has a very nebulous design - a lot of open construction and freestanding parts that butt against one another. Compared to a tank which follows a standard box-like shape where you generally know where the walls should go, I'm guessing that the engineering on the Drop Pod was a pain for the designers.

I've also gotten in all parts but one for my Captain. It's a balancing act between a gothic/pseudo-daemon and Imperial iconography motif, but when when he's done he should be a really striking figure on the table.

Drop Plodding Along

2009-03-18T19:54:00.000-07:00

Halfway done with the first Drop Pod.

I'm taking my time with this because there are a lot of details on these things, and a lot of internal parts that would be hard to get a brush into to paint if I wasn't painting and assembling in the stages that I'm doing.

Next I'll start in on the upright supports and top turbines, and after it's all put together I'll start on the weathering and scorching effects from atmospheric reentry as it crashes through the sky.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased...except with these pictures - my lightbox is too small for the Drop Pod. I guess it's time to start building a bigger one.

Scouts

2009-03-08T03:41:00.001-07:00

Finished up my first squad of Scouts.

Received my two Drop Pods in the mail this week, so I'll probably start on one of those tomorrow, and try to decide how to tackle painting vs. assembling the thing - with all of those internal parts, it feels like there's a lot of painting to be done before putting it all together.

Dreadnought

2009-03-05T17:55:00.001-08:00

Assault on Black Reach Dreadnought.

I had my doubts about the snap together figures in the AoBR set (especially the Dreadnought), but I was actually impressed with this figure. Nice details, easy to assemble, and not much clean-up. The Marines on the other hand...I haven't seen that much flashing since the last time I drove through Hollywood.

I still need to download the Exorcists logo sheet from BoLS, and apparently paint the optics on the Dreadnought's sensors (which I just noticed).

Nearly done with the first unit of scouts, so they should be coming up this weekend sometime.

That scroll on his leg is looking a little empty - anyone have an idea for a name for this guy?

The Plan

2009-03-04T22:32:00.000-08:00

Exorcists Marines: 1990 pts.

Captain - 100
Terminator Armour w/ Storm Bolter - 40
Lightning Claw - 5
Melta Bombs - 5

Chaplain - 100
Terminator Armour w/ Storm Bolter - 30
Melta bombs - 5

Terminator Assault Squad - 200

Terminator Squad - 200
Assault Cannon - 30

Tactical Squad - 90
5 Additional Marines - 80
Multi-melta - free
Meltagun - 5
Drop Pod - 35
Locator Beacon (for Drop Pod) - 10

Tactical Squad - 90
5 Additional Marines - 80
Multi-melta - free
Meltagun - 5
Drop Pod - 35
Locator Beacon (for Drop Pod) - 10

Tactical Squad - 90
5 Additional Marines - 80
Heavy Bolter - free
Meltagun - 5

Scout Squad - 75
Heavy Bolter - 10
Teleport Homer - 15

Scout Squad - 75
Heavy Bolter - 10
Teleport Homer - 15

Scout Squad - 75
Sniper Rifles - free

Dreadnought - 105

Vindicator - 115
Siege Shield - 10
Extra Armour - 15

Vindicator - 115
Siege Shield - 10
Extra Armour - 15

So there are the basics. I've never built a Space Marine army using these rules and codex, so I'm not certain of the practicality of it, but it feels good. Plus, it satisfies a certain amount of fluff for the Exorcists that I feel is appropriate to how they might fight (or at least how I want them to).

First off, there are a lot of scouts. What background on the Chapter that GW has written states that since their initiation ritual is so dangerous (the possession by daemons), that the Exorcists employ an additional two companies of scouts - simply because so many of them die. I wanted this shown in the list.

Secondly, the Drop Pods. Because of the Exorcists connection with the daemonic, I thought this may reflect in how they would fight - sort of a daemon tactic sense-memory imprinted on them from the initiation rites. Since Daemon armies deploy in a sort of Deep Strike/Teleport manner, I wanted my Exorcists to do something similar via Drop Pods. This is taken further with the Terminator Squads using the Locator Beacons, and Teleport Homers.

Obviously there's a ground force in the Scouts, Dreadnought, Vindicators, and one squad of Tactical Marines, who will form the foundation, while the rest of the army crashes in close around the enemy positions. The Captain, Chaplain, and Assault Terminators will all form one squad and will be in the thick of the assaults, while the other Terminator Squad will run interference with shooting and lesser assaults. Each of these squads will be backed by Tactical Marines from the Drop Pods.

The extra 10 points will go "free agent" in case I want to replace my Captain's Storm Bolter with another Lightning Claw for more assault goodness.

Will it work? I don't know, but I like it.

New Beginnings

2009-03-03T19:38:00.000-08:00

Hello, and welcome.

For those of you not in the know, this is a production blog for my second 40K army.

Taking a slightly different tack from the stalwart Praetorian Guardsmen of my original army (The Tantalum 5th), this time I will be documenting the development of the Exorcists Chapter Space Marines.

"Whoa - hold the phone! You're starting another army? Aren't you still miles away from finishing the first?"

Yeah, I know. Trust me, I know. But here's the thing: The Tantalum 5th are a lot of work. Lots of troops, tons of conversions, scratch building aplenty, all with a steampunk fluff...it's enough to make your head spin. It's also enough to keep me from fielding the thing properly for a very long time. And you know what? As much as I love that side of the hobby, I'm easily missing out on one important aspect of it all - The Game.

Whether it's my inability to overcome my inner-critic on a recent conversion, or my stubborn refusal to field an army that's not fully painted, I'm simply incapable of knowing when it will be finished to my satisfaction, and dammit - I want to play!

Which brings us to the Exorcists.

Going all the way back to my youth (some 20 scant years ago), I never played a straight-up Space Marine army. In my angry, adolescent exuberance for everything "bad ass", it always had to be Chaos for me. Nothing like spikes and being evil to draw out the young headbanger in all of us, right?

So yeah, Exorcists Marines. Here's why:

They're "good guys" which is good.

Space Marines have a relatively small army size, which helps with getting them done.

The Exorcists are a seldom used chapter with an appealingly fluffy background which is important to me.

I can use them as allies to my Guardsmen, which is a nice bonus.

The gents at Bell of Lost Souls are including them in their Badab War Campaign, which is looking pretty exciting.

And finally, it's a very straightforward list that I'm sticking to without a laundry list of options to sweat over (I'm looking at you new Imperial Guard Codex!), and I'm limiting conversions to...I think just one model. Wow - one model...still trying to wrap my head around that one.

So anyway, I've already got a decent start on the painting, and everything is moving along pretty well to plan. Maybe I'll even toss in some fiction from time to time - I've written comics and prose fiction for years, but have never turned my hand to 40K, so maybe its time is due.

I'll post up some photos and my list before the week is out.

Thanks for stopping by!