It's been a long time since I've purchased anything tabletop worthy for 40k. This is in part to the fact that the only official 40k army I have these days is Necrons, and with a 5th Edition codex rumored to be coming out later this year, it's hard to justify making purchases for them when smexy new plastic kits are oft coupled with a new dex. The other and more dominating reason I've gone without tabletop purchases is the AdMech FanDex. Seriously, if you ever want to spend zero dollars and still be involved in tabletop; write a fandex. It takes months or even years and the amount of time and energy it takes to create one will leave you without any thought of modeling. With the FanDex cleaning up nicely as of late, I found it's that time in the process to start completing the picture for myself. IE; create the models I've created rules for, and that's exactly what I've done this morning. Having a lot saved up for this day, I'm excited to present my ideal models for the dex. More after the break.
As I sit here looking at my online receipts, I'm asking myself what exactly I've gotten myself into, but more on that in a bit. First, let's start with where I thought a good start of purchases might be. Just like official codices out there, my AdMech typically need an HQ and two Troop choices to get onto the table. So I thought this would be a great starting point.
My first purchase should seem pretty obvious. Out of the non-Special Characters, two out of the three HQ selections I have are Tech-Priests. Out of the available notable options for Tech-Priests, I found this one to be the most enticing. Not terribly expensive, and for a single model it comes with a lot of bits options to tinker with.
Next a Troop choice. The Praetorians seemed like a good starting point for Troops. Larger numbers than Servitors and more durable than Cultists, Praetorians are a well-rounded choice. Someone sent me a link for these guys (Iron Brotherhood HTTP from Micro Art Studios) a long while back, and when I witnessed them for the first time I fell in love. Their robing combined with body armor, "tube-masks", mechanical limbs and weapons that resemble lasguns made this an easy choice. The price however made my clicking finger weep as I made my way through the checkout. These guys are expensive to say the least, but when you've found your idea brought to life without your knowing, it's hard to turn away. So how will my Troops survive their upcoming battles? They need a transport.
The only option for transportation for most units in the dex is the Gant. While I could have created something from scratch, if I can find something to mod instead I'm always up for that. Enter the Stalker Tank MKI, another jewel from Micro Art Studios. While more bug-like and using four more legs than what I pictured, those details aside the Stalker Tank is pretty spot on from what I had in mind and should be easy enough to mod in order for my mental picture of the Gant to come to life. The price on this baby is also quite astronomical, but again, it's pretty. So shut up.
This army is going to take bits. A lot of them.. Custom made shoulders, weapons, limbs; the list goes on. So after looking back at a post by John over at Santa Cruz Warhammer, I decided it's about time I get my hands dirty with casting. Once again, expensive doesn't begin to describe the price range of this purchase, but I do take solace in the fact that casting should also be saving me some money and time over and over again. So I'm going to hold on to that thought with an iron fist.
I am also working with Matt over at Miniature Wargame Conversions to get a couple of larger projects for the AdMech done, more on that in a later post. So after putting quite a dent in my wallet, I've taken the first steps to getting the AdMech dream of mine going and I'm quite excited. I'll be posting more as I construct these purchases, so be on the lookout for that.
Later days.
I am very interested in how that casting thing works out. That and the mods on the stalker tanks. If you need any help w/painting or modding let me know. I would be glad to help ( after the tournament )
ReplyDeleteSounds good. I've never attempted casting before, so this should be interesting. Fortunately for me there are a few people in the 40k community with experience and tips to share.
ReplyDeleteI picked up a number of those Iron Brotherhood models for use as the Hypaspists in my Ad-Mech army a while back and I was rather pleased with them. They're a little static pose-wise, but they are definitely nice models. There are four (if memory serves) different weapons that come with the models - the majority are decent hellgun/lasguns and there's even a couple alternate special weapons on the sprues, one of which is vaguely meltagun-esque and the other is a viable plasma gun if you squint a bit.
ReplyDelete...Now if I could just find the time to paint 'em!
That's good to hear! Not only are the weapons separate which will make modding easier, but different weapon options. Thanks for the heads up!
ReplyDeleteI like those models you've found. I had been wondering how you were ever going to get models for this army. These choices look pretty spot on. I can't wait to see how you'll mod them.
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