Reality sets in, part 2...

Well, I did in fact get sidetracked, although this time it was by a variety of real-world complications. My father-in-law became very ill and passed away, the extra expense cut even further into our already tiny budget and playing with toy soldiers just didn't seem very important for awhile.

I have recently decided that it is in fact, important, since it is something I do for enjoyment. Recreation is important. That said, I broke out the jewelers saw and a few minis and the bits box and set to work. My first attempt is less than satisfactory. I hacked up a terminator to try and create a Squat "exo-suit". I borked one of the angles really badly and there's a gap in the left inner leg now. The rest might work out but I'm definitely thinking my earlier statement about this taking a lot of modeling was definitely an understatement. 10-11 cuts with the razor saw, filing the angles correctly and hoping I got them close in the first place, then looking for bits to make them look less like terminators and more like exo-suits. The only reasonable way I can see to manage even a small Squat force is going to require making a few prototypes and making molds to cast my own figs. Which I'm sure would get me booted out of anything even remotely resembling an "official" venue.

I'll see about getting some pics posted when it's put back together so everyone can groan at how horrible it looks along with me..lol

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens: Reality sets in...

Well, it's been several months since I've posted here. I don't really have a fan base, although I notice I've picked up a follower at some point (waves to Inolen75), so no one to really apologize to but myself. Real life ended up kicking me in the crotch and leaving me with zero time or money to indulge the hobby, so I stepped aside into Second Life for a few moments and got sidetracked (yay for ADD). Still, every addict starts to "jones" for their crack eventually, and I am no exception.

I started the "...few of my favorite things" to try and work out what race I wanted to actually field in 40k, but somewhere in all of this, I've neglected one very important race. The Eldar are not my first love in 40k. They are the first among the remaining official races. MY first 40k love has been, and always will be.... The Race That Cannot Be Named! (insert heavy orchestral blast with kettle drums here).

Having given the matter quite a bit of thought (and discussion over on Dakka), I've more or less come to the conclusion that a Squat army (counts as Codex:Space Marine w/ witch/daemonhunter allies possibly) is going to be teh army I prefer. It's going to take a lot of modeling, since I'm looking to create a uniquely Squat appearance, not just Space Wolves or WHFB "Dwarves In Space".

I think my first course of action is going to be to come up with a mini-dex of sorts to represent a truly Squat army, removing the non-Squatty elements from the C:SM list and adding in some WH/DH "ally" elements to represent a few missing aspects.

Hopefully I don't get sidetracked again...

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens: Eldar

Eldar

Pros:

• Sweet assault options
• Nasty artillery"
• Tough support units
• Wraithguard (nuff said)
• Howling Banshees (boobies!!(in armor, but boobies nonetheless))
• Some easy conversion possibilities swapping out Dark Eldar/FB-xElf parts

Cons:

• Plastic tigers (not quite as sucky as Dark Eldar and IG)
• Not much in the way of vehicles
• Not much "medium range" firepower
• Ki's already playing them

Summary: Eldar are probably my first love in 40k. Well, after GW actually came out with something besides space marines and orks and there were options to really fall in love with. I have to admit to a certain fondness for the culture, enjoy the aesthetics and they've got some interesting units. They're a little fragile, but you can work around that if you have to. They specialize a lot, but they have a lot of different types of specialists. Other than the lack of armor and hefty cost on their neater stuff, they're very little I don't like about the Eldar.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens: Dark Eldar

Dark Eldar

Pros:

• Butt-kicking weapons
• Nasty special abilties
• Wyches (boobies!!(but only sometimes))
• Some easy conversion possibilities swapping out Eldar/FB-xElf parts

Cons:

• Paper tigers
• Sub par miniature quality overall (but see above)

Summary: Interesting in a BDSM meets wargaming sort of way. But once you get past the incubi and the wyches, they don't have much going for them. The mini's are crap for the most part, they have almost no vehicles and what they do have is like cruising around in a tank made of sugar-glass. I'm not sure all of the "neat toys" are worth the ass-raping you'll take after the first turn (assuming you can manage to stay mostly hidden for that first turn).

The race that cannot be named...

I'm not the only one with the squat conversion idea. Some ideas I've seen on forums:

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I've often thought of converting squats/demiurg. I'd need more experience with greenstuff to get the faces right but I can see how they'd work. I'd probablly use them as a space marine proxy army:
Commander - WarlordTechmarine - Guild EngineerChaplin - Ancestor PriestLibrarian - Rune PriestTactical squads - Demiurg ClansmenScouts - BeardlingsRhino/Predator - War WagonTerminators - Hearthguard in exo-armourLand Speeders - GyrocoptersDevastator Squads - Thunderer squadsBike Squads - Trike SquadsAttack bikes - Exo TrikesDreadnoughts - Battle Suit variantsTanks - Land Crawler variantsLand Raider - Heavy Land Crawler

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They could work for space marines becuase of the T4, but if you look at the original squat models they are better suited to Imperial Guard. I use mine for guard and the exo armoured ones make nice Grey Knight allies.

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Just some things to consider.