Like so many of my projects, I am sure that this started off as a good idea. Reading through issue 300 of the UK White Dwarf and I come across another incarnation of the Tale of Four Gamers article. And, the thought jumps into my head, ?why don?t we do that?? I am hoping that 2005 brings some serious painting so that I am able to get a force together for a game, but I had the same wish last year and only got so far. This would help. The only questions was, what game to collect for. But then, why do we have to choose? All I need to do was get together a group of like-minded, dedicated gamers and make an article out of it. So, I threw together some details.
The rules are simple. Each month, each participant is allowed to spend ?25 of their own money. They must spend this on the two forces that they have decided to collect ? one for Epic Armageddon and one for Battlefleet Gothic. Then, during the same month, they should paint the newly acquired miniatures, before repeating the process again next month. This continues for four months. At the end of this time, each person should have a force for both Epic Armageddon and Battlefleet Gothic which weigh in at a total of ?100. With the rule books available for free online, this experiment should show just how easy it is to get into both of these games, and have enough to get started with them. Each person can spend the monthly funds however they like, and the only stipulation is that at the end of the four months they must have an Epic force of at least 1000 points and three objectives, and a Battlefleet Gothic fleet of at least 750 points including no more than a single character. There are other regulations in the fine print, such as the fact that the two forces don?t have to compliment each other between the two games, it is possible to take a complete month off (we all have real lives as well, apparently), minis can be taken from a participants personal store as long as the monthly total is reduced just as if they had been bought, postage costs are not included and miniatures can be obtained from pretty much anywhere and can be from other manufacturer.
When I had sat down and worked out the rules of the game, and managed to find an excellent selection of participants, I needed to think about how I would be doing this. For most people, painting up ?25 of minis in a month is not such a tough deal, but in the last three months I have managed to assemble and undercoat a total of one Epic Marine dreadnought, so this was a serious challenge for me. In addition, there is a good chance that I will be away during April, so I may need to take this month as a break.
In the end, I selected Orks for my Epic Armageddon force, and Imperial Marines for my Battlefleet Gothic fleet. I played around with a couple of force lists to see how much I would need to spend in order to achieve the minimum points levels. This was depressing. In the end, I put together a force for each game using the absolute minimum points levels and minimum cost, and I decided not to plan anything beyond that. I would get and paint the minimum as quickly as I possibly could, and then use the last month or so to add the extra bits.
CyberShadow ? The Evil Mastermind
First, a quick introduction. I am Iain, and I run this site. I started it so that I could continue to be involved in the hobby without having to actually paint or play the games! I have been collecting and playing for longer than I really should, and have been involved in the hobby since the golden days of Space Marine first edition, Space Hulk first edition and Rogue Trader Warhammer 40K. My main interests in Games Workshop games centre around Battlefleet Gothic and Epic in its various incarnations, and I collect Chaos, Eldar pirate and Tyranid Vanguard fleets as well as most 40K forces in 6mm. I am also possibly the worlds slowest painter, which wouldn?t be so bad if the results were any good. Unfortunately, they are not. So, with time against me for this, the results should certainly be interesting.
I have decided to use this project as an opportunity to make a start on two brand new forces for me, rather than expanding existing ones.
Epic Armageddon Orks
Orks are probably not the most obvious choice for me. But, they are pretty much the only force that I have not already got half an army waiting to be painted, having started most of the others. I picked the greenskins for a couple of reasons. They should be fun to paint and convert with, and they suit a nice simple colour scheme which does not need all the fine details and neat paint work. But, they are a horde army, so there will be quite a few of them. This makes it difficult to make 1000 points, and in order to reach that target I discovered that the trick is the infantry. For ?12 you get a lot of Boyz, potentially using up a chunk of points. However, once you go beyond this, it gets more difficult. Because the force is so flexible, buying it is less than economical. For example, if I want a Stompa mob then I have to buy three Stompas and a Super Stompa for ?20, whether I want one or not. And that is without mentioning the dubious wisdom of buying four stands of Stormboyz when a mob is six stands. So, my initial force will be based on infantry, which is fine with me, and I will expand once this is complete.
Most of my Epic armies are pretty much planned out. One day, I will get around to putting together two Ork forces. I hope to compile a Blood Axe force, full of dour greenskins in greys and tiger stripes and with captured and converted vehicles, but this will wait for a dedicated army list. For this event, I will make a start on the other planned Ork force, the Spanna Spidaz. This is my own clan, in bright yellow and purple colours and with lots of Orky equipment. They are a splinter clan from the Bad Moonz, formed after a Mek was saved from a Tau sniper shot by a large spanner. He was struck by a vision of Meks being destined for greatness and formed his own clan of like-minded Boyz, Meks and Painboyz. Meks replace the usual role of Nobs (in miniature only, no special rules at this stage) but the force uses the standard Ork list in the Epic rule book.
Battlefleet Gothic Imperial Marines
My choice of fleet for Battlefleet Gothic was a bit more difficult. I wanted to start a new fleet, and one which I would be able to put together and which could remain as a smaller fleet to be expanded later if I felt that I wanted to. I thought about continuing with my Tyranids, but since I am building a Vanguard fleet full of converted and scratch built escorts only this would be expensive and difficult given the time limit. I narrowed it down then to either Necrons, Tau or Imperial Marines. I don?t like the Games Workshop Tau so much and prefer the Forge World vessels, which are more expensive, and the Necrons don?t appeal to me so much. This left the Marines. So, that is what I will be going with for the next few months.
I will be painting them to fit with my half-started Epic Marines, the Dark Talons, in a dark blue. Having selected Marines, I then need to decide whether to use the fleet list in Armada, the Armageddon fleet list in Gothic Magazine number 14, or one of the variants in Fanatic issue number six. Right now, I am still not sure but whatever list I select the fleet will be built around a solid core of Strike Cruisers and Gladius Escort vessels. I will let you know decision later, as soon as know.
Well that, was a much longer introduction than I had planned. So, before the beginning of this event, there are a number of things that I need to do:
Collect an inventory of the various paints, flock, glue and brushes that I have and will need. There is nothing worse that being forced to do nothing for a week because you are missing that vital paint.
Browse the various Battlefleet Gothic Imperial Marine fleets and work out which one my Marines will be following.
Check which minis I will be needing for the first month of this, which I will need to order and which I can unearth from my mini cellar.
Restrain myself from starting this before the first of the month (no cheating guys!
). And also, trying to make sure that my enthusiasm lasts until then!So, I will get back to you in a few days, hopefully with a few answers and the initial purchases.
?This will allow me to combine the troops with a few left over from last month, and create more Warbands, in turn pushing up the points total fairly nicely. These guys will form two 'standard' Ork Warbands to increase the number of activations that I will have on the table, and be joined by a Stormboyz Mob, which are one of my favourite units for the greenskins.