Dark Vengeance: Angry Marines Terminators

The blog posts have been few and far between. For that, I apologize. I have been very busy at work and sick. Beyond that, I am now planning the logistics of relocating my family from Italy back to the United States.

I have had these Terminators sitting on my desk for a long time at the yellow base coat stage. So, I decided to throw a couple of hours of speed painting on them to finish them.

Here you go . . . 5 Angry Marines Tactical Terminators.

Always angry! All the time!

Pre-Heresy Terminator Test Model

I have completed the modeling and converting for the first of my pre-heresy project. I think it turned out pretty good for the first try.

Credit must be given to Ron at From the Warp. His tutorials are quality entertainment for the whole family. The 'How-to" that I followed may be found here (click here for the tutorial).

Also, Iktovian at Not Yet Done has some great pre-heresy helps. The templates I used for the shoulder pads can be found here (click here for templates).

Now all I need to do is decide which Legion to run and which codex to use. Please help me out on this one.

Which Legion do you think I should run? Please leave a comment with a Legion and a reason why. I was thinking about White Scars as an excuse to paint an army white.

Thanks.

WIP Complete: Sanguinary Priest in Terminator Armor and Land Raider Crusader

I have been slacking on the photographs of some finished projects. So, here they are. I couldn't get the lighting quite right on some of the photos.

Thanks for viewing, and your comments are welcome.

Sanguinary Priest in Terminator Armor WIP: All but the Base

 I am nearing completion of these two Terminators. The Sanguinary Priest in Terminator Armor is finished with the exception of painting his base.

I have a few details left before I can say the same about his Thunder Hammer buddy.

Here are the pictures, and your comments are welcomed. I like these mini's, and I have enjoyed putting them together and painting them. However, I will be glad to move on to the next project.

Sanguinary Priest in Terminator Armor WIP

 I promised you pictures of my current project. So, here is my Sanguinary Priest in Terminator armor. I also have another Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield Terminator. The addition of these two will make 8 Terminators to roll out in my new Crusader.

When I started this Sanguinary Priest, I wanted him to look special amongst the rest of the Terminators. Furthermore, there was some minor converting involved as no model currently exists for this style of Sanguinary Priest.

I used a blood talon, part of a metal scroll, and the butt-end of a skeletal warrior's spear to make the Narthecium. I attached a power armor fist which was originally holding a plasma pistol. In this hand I placed a Blood Chalice made from a Melta Bomb which was cut down to the appropriate size. For his power weapon, I decided to attach a power sword to the handle, and arm, of a thunder hammer. All in all, I am pleased with how the model turned out.

When came to painting, I still wanted to make him stand out. So, I decided to add a bit more white than I did with my power armor priests. Also, I put some free hand on. Nevertheless, I decided to do one more thing to make his stand out. I added a back banner.

"What's so special about a back banner?" you might ask. Well, no other model or unit in this entire army has a banner. I made the "no banners" decision when I started this army, and I have stuck it out.

So when I was trying to determine how to make a Sanguinary Priest who had attained Terminator Honors, etc., stand out, he must carry a banner. The banner will help demonstrate how honored and respected is his position inside the chapter.

Thanks for reading, and your comments are welcome.

Monday's Game at the Club: Terminator Tactics

 I volunteer with an after-school program over at the High School called the Sci-Fi Club. All gaming and Sci-Fi related stuff is welcome. There are around a dozen up-and-coming 40k gamers who attend. They are at various stages of collecting armies. Any given week, they are scattered between modeling, painting, or playing at the club.

I have been playing each week in various capacities (either solo games or partnering with students). My goal is to teach them the basic rules, help them with codex specific rules, increase tactical and strategic thinking in game, and encourage sportsmanship. On top of that, I get to have fun.

This past week, I joined forces with a Black Templar player in a game against an Imperial Guard player. The young man playing the Imperial Guard is the oldest playing and a bit more advanced in most aspects of the game.


 BT and I split the Force Organization Chart. I threw Assault Termies (1 Thunder Hammer and 4 Lightning Claws), 1 Reclusiarch in Terminator Armor, and a basic Sanguinary Priest in my new Land Raider Crusader. BT brought everything else in the army.

My goal was to demonstrate the value of Mechanized Transport on the table-top. I believe that it worked.

In a Dawn of War situation, I was able to roll on the table at cruising speed, using Power of the Machine Spirit to fire the Multi-Melta on a Leman Russ, and deposit my Terminators into a platoon on Turn 3. This was despite attracting Battle Cannon and Manticore fire while in transit.

Near the end of the game, the following was said (and I quote), "I am beginning to see the value of using Transports."

I would like to add a bit of general Blood Angel terminator tactics. I understand the temptation to run a lot of TH/SS like all the other marines do.

I submit that our codex makes Lightning Claws the stronger option. I would like to qualify that statement by saying that you should sprinkle in some Hammertime to increase survivability. I will let you decide the perfect ratio of LCs to TH/SSs in your unit. I like 4 LCs with 1 TH/SS.

Ok, back to the Lightning Claws: Lightning Claws Terminators used in conjunction with a Sanguinary Priest make an outstanding combination. Furious Charge grants that the LCs are going off on Initiative 5 and Strength 5. We already have a veteran statline. Throw in the Chaplain, and I get the following from my 4 LC termies: 16 attacks at Initiative 5 which re-roll to hit and re-roll to wound (Strength 5) while ignoring armor saves.  It is pretty devastating.

In yesterdays game, they inflicted 15 wounds off their 16 attacks on a 25 man blob squad. Throw in the Reclusiarch's attacks, and Sgt Hammertime was lucky that anything was left to hit.

In a previous game a couple of weeks back, I went head to head with an opponents Terminators. 5 on 5. His 5 Hammers versus my configuration of 4 LC and 1 TH. Bear in mind that this was without a Sanguinary Priest or Chaplain. My LC termies killed 4 of his TH termies at initiative 4 prior to the hammers ever attempting to strike a blow.

So, put a Sanguinary Priest and Chaplain in a unit with Lightning Claw Terminators, and you will not be disappointed. Remember to sprinkle in the appropriate amount of Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield Terminators to increase survivability. Try it, you'll like it!

As a matter of fact, I have been putting together a Sanguinary Priest in Terminator Armor and another TH/SS Termie in order to fill up my Crusader.

I owe you some finished photos of the Crusader. Also, I will post photos of the Sanguinary Priest in Terminator Armor in the future.

Thanks for viewing and reading, your comments are always welcome.

Chaplain in Terminator Armor WIP: Complete

 Task Complete. Chaplain in Terminator Armor is finished and ready to join my force.

This really is a great model. I have been fond of it and wanted one in my collection for quite some time.

I have a game scheduled for Monday afternoon. I believe it is a great way to celebrate President's Day. I think I will run a Reclusiarch in Terminator Armor as my second HQ. We shall see.

I hope you enjoy the pics. I am ready to begin work on a second Vanguard Veteran squad. I decided to do a bit of converting for the Vets and use some Thunder Hammer Storm Shields.

As always, your comments are welcome and thanks for reading.

Chaplain in Terminator Armor WIP

Greetings Friends! I am back from 2 weeks of vacation/holiday up in Germany. We made the rounds in Bavaria. It is a beautiful place. It was very cold and covered in snow. My daughters loved the snow.

Nevertheless, I am back and ready for more 40k action. I am posting some pictures of my Chaplain in Terminator Armor. I hope to finish him soon and attach him to my Terminator Assault Squad.

Terminator Assault Squad WIP: AoBR Converts Part III

I have completed the Assault Squad. One lesson that I have learned is as follows: photographing your models can assist you in finding things that you forgot to do or finish. I noticed a couple little things I need to do to complete the detailing/highlighting through looking at the pictures.

I have put some scrolling or lettering effects on the Terminators. As they are veteran Marines, I felt that the lettering would fit them well. I am pleased with how they turned out.

I have the final member of the Honor Guard prepared to begin painting. I pulled the magnets out and set him up for the backpack/jump pack. The process of magnetizing his back and the jump pack was easier than I remembered.

Last but not least, I put the Chaplain together. He is looking pretty tough. I am going to put the primer on these two before I go to bed. They will be ready to receive some paint tomorrow.

Chaplain

Honor Guard

WIP Terminator Assault Squad: AoBR Converts Part II

I have made a bit of progress with the Terminator Assault Squad. I think the models always look a bit more 'finished' when you have some paint on the bases. I have visions of the enemies of the empire meeting a horrible and torturous death at the hands of these Terminators . . . vile xenos scum ripped limb from limb.

I have a picture here of my recently arrived Assault Marines, Sanguinary Priests, and Chaplains to bolster my army. Of particular interest to me is the Chaplain in Terminator armor. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the meltaguns.

All this Terminator excitement has me thinking about deepstriking a Land Raider. I have never deployed a Land Raider via deepstrike. However, the prospect sounds very appealing to me. If for no other reason, I would like to do it because I can.

As always, I welcome your comments.