Of Epic Proportions (spring clean challenge 26)

If im going to build three armies and play a game I need a set of rules to use.

I have these three books, but which to use.

Space Marine. The pros are serious nostalgia, the artwork alone is a amazing. (I might do a post later just going through this book and the artwork). The negatives are that I no longer have the cards that were the used for army composition.

Epic Armageddon. The pros are it seems to be an easy system to use, and the army selection rules are in the book. The negatives are that there are only three lists in the book space marine, guard and orks. (somewhere I do have a PDF swordwind so I have eldar).

Over all I think Epic Armageddon is the best set of rules to begin with. If during the next few months I find others I can change. The main thing is though to get started and paint some units.

So like Games Workshop I too will be returning to Armageddon.

I’m starting to think that I might have bitten off more than I can chew with this. I’m not sure I have the eye sight to paint 6mm, but maybe I’m over thinking it. I’m hoping to get a model perfect that will hardly be seen once there in a mass of other models and seen from a player at least a foot away.

What I need to get next is a brighter silver. To make the metalics work at this scale they need to be far lighter. Subtley won’t cut it.

So, since there seems to be million space marines in these boxes, starting with them seems the best way to go. Which chapter to go with though. My original thinking was either Ultramarines as they are just classic or Dark Angels. Having the different colours for the Ravenwing and the Deathwing seemed like a good idea. So I was talking though my thinking with a friend he just casually mentioned “what about Blood Angels?” and the idea was an epithany. All there iconography with blue and yellow helmets, shoulder pads reversed if there a sergeant, the idea was perfect.

Plus it was this image, the second edition box art that got me into the game in the first place.

My anxiety isn’t athe best so, I though a test run is a good start, so I’ve based a marine, and I’ll have a go at painting a land raider and a single marine. I’m going to leave them over night for the PVA to dry (plus I’ve been awake since 4 this morning) and have a go at painting tomorrow

So in these two awesome vintage boxes is stage one. 

In some respect it’s a little overwhelming. There’s a mass of guard, marines and eldar. Although as I say this is part one. I know there’s still a box of tanks, another box of buildings also somewhere planes and titans.

I’m really not sure where I’m going to go with this. I think the first thing should be to have a crack at painting something this small, rather than get crippled by doubt.

Since it was a little plastic rhino that started this I make this pledge by this holy relic of terra.

That by the rising of the sun on midsummer morn I will have accomplished three things.

1. Painted 2 – 3 playable armies

2. Created a board and scenery

3. Played a game using the armies.

So how to accomplish such lofty goals. I know there should be 3 or 4 armies somewhere, as I had the old Space Marine box set (the one that had the art above). They don’t have to be good armies just playable.

There should also be the buildings from that same set somewhere, so that should be most of the scenery.

The hardest bit will be playing a game. We recently had a second child so finding time to play anything is a challenge now.

I’m not sure why, but for the past 12 months (maybe more), I’ve wanted to play small scale games. I’m not sure what it is that appeals to about the idea, whether it’s the scale the grandure of it or what. I wasn’t  particularly taken with the idea of historical (OK, possibly ww2) but fantasy kind of appealed. Yet I have neither any opponents who are interested in playing at this scale or the time and resources to throw at this flight of fancy. So this idea floated away like the leaves in autumn.

Then one day whilst I was looking for something else, completely unconnected I came across a 6mm plastic rhino, and then I remember somewhere in the attic of my parents house is all the space marine stuff I bought in the late 90s, and my dreams of small scale gaming was reborn but this time in the grimdark worlds of Warhammer 40k.*

So with the spring clean challenge upon us, it seemed like the perfect time to indulge this gaming urge. Also what else has the grandure of 40k with its over the top medieval gothic.

*to be fair to myself 40k despite having space ships and guns is pretty much fantasy, it has orcs, knight and dragons.