Horus Heresy Beginnings

I hinted a few weeks ago that I would be starting a 30k army, and I wanted to expand upon my project in this post.

I have always have had an interest in the Heresy, as it is such an immersive part of the 40k universe. Over time I have devoured many of the Black Library books on the subject (some good, some bad) and have done extensive readings on 40k lexicanum on the background story to 40k. It is such an inspiring part of the universe and is one of the things that keeps me in the hobby, even when I am fed up of the game mechanics and power creep endemic in the game right now.

I never really considered the gaming side of 30k though as the cost of entry was so high it put it well beyond my means. Upon doing research a bit into it I noticed that it is geared much more towards narrative play, with mission structures and a more restrictive force org chart making it (seem at least) more of a balanced game, concentrating more on re-creating the Heresy battles and fluff than anything else. I admit I am pretty fed up with 40k right now, as I feel the game has just got out of control and has devolved into a game where it is won in the army list building phases and stupid formation or unit gimmicks that can negate a whole army in one or two turns. I want to game for fun and to have a laugh with my mates, and it has got to the stage that we don't want to play 40k as none of us has much fun doing it, choosing rather to play other games like Dropzone, where game balance is an important part, and each game is a nail biter right to the end.

Lots of plastic goodies

So with my interest peaked in 30k Games Workshop goes and brings out Betrayal at Calth, a board game that also gives you enough plastic minis to start a heresy army on the cheap (well, cheaper than FW resin at least). I did not bite at first, but my friend (Xacheriel) bought one and the rot started from then :D.

I found a bargain on eBay and bought it for £75 inc postage (retail £95). Next I had to decide on a legion, and I went with the Word Bearers, as their fluff is awesome, I really like the special units (Gal Vorbak etc.) and Sheep over at the forlorn hope blog is doing an absolute stellar paint scheme that I find incredibly inspiring, and I plan to shamelessly pilfer his scheme for my own force. The Calth box will be the core of my force and I will expand from there once they are built and painted. I have bought additional loin cloths and jump packs from spellcrow and maxmini to pimp them up a bit, and I am also playing around with casting space marine legs in resin (subject for another post :) ) to extend the value of the calth box

Some of the resin goodies

Mk5 legs mid conversion process.

After my legion and colour scheme were sorted I went on a bargain hunt. One of the aims of this project is to try and do it as cheaply as possible. Conversions will be aplenty. From casting to modiying mk5 armour into something more heresy (basically using my bits box to extend the calth units to make a 10 man assault squad and more) to converting vehicles and using 3rd party bits to make more specialised units.

My first ever rubber moulds :)

The first cast. Lots of errors that I am working through. I will post up my learnings soon

My first feeble attempt at studded armour. Note the extremely poor positioning of the studs. Will have to apply a bit more thought to the process I think

Onto some tanks! I found another bargain on eBay when I bought a rhino and predator for £14. I am not too concerned about using the older marks of tank design, as I prefer the designs of the current rhino chassis more (and most of the tanks tbh). I will be doung a few modifications to it to make it a bit more heresy, and the predator I will be making the turret and sponsons more like the older versions by some heavy plasticard and greenstuff use. They have been stripped ina bucket of dettol to remove the poor paint job, and are now in bits waiting to be cleaned and put back together. I do plan on magnetising the predator too so that it may double up as just a rhino when needed

A rhino and predator are somewhere in here :)

I also picked up this land raider for another bargain price of £15 (another paint strip job). Sadly the glue has stayed together in the dettol (dettol tends to dissolve glue as well as stripping paint, which can be a real postive when you want to do some heavy conversion work) so I will have to do a bit more cutting on this one with my hobby saw. I will be turning this bad boy into a spartan assault tank by extending the front and back (and possibly cutting in half to extent the length of the body too) which I am really looking forward to trying.

A Spartan to be!

As part of the word bearers special units there is a jump infantry unit called the ashen circle. I am not a fan of the FW resin models so I have been amassing a few bits to make my own. Maxmini jump packs, anvil industries heads and crests, death company and sanguinary guard bits all will go towards making what I hope to be a unique unit that also fits the general aesthetics of the forge world design, while making it something I like the look of (and I just love converting stuff, so this should be another fun project for me)

My bits box full of goodies for this project

Finally I just picked up another bargain in the form of a storm raven. This will be another major conversion project for me as I attempt to make it into a storm eagle with some extensive body work.

Soon to be a storm eagle

Phew! That is quite a few lines of text. Hopefully you will all continue with me as I work through this project. It will be a slow one as I do have other armies and gaming systems that I enjoy doing, but I certainly have a lot planned and am excited to start sharing it all with you as I go.

NafNaf :)