+ inload: Preparatory work for 10th edition Salamanders +

+ In the Dust of Armageddon: Preparing to play Salamanders in 10th edition 40k +

+ A slightly disingenuous shot (owing to the difference between – or lack of – bases) showing a comparison in proportions between using the Gravis armour legs as the basis, and Tartaros Terminators + 

+ With 10th edition not just on the horizon but bearing down on us like a tank shocking Land Raider, it's apparent that Salamanders (for the moment at least) won't have any particular special rules differentiating them from other Chapters. Part of me is a bit sad; another part is relieved – picking up a new edition is always a little bit complicated, so one less set of exceptions to learn early on suits me fine. +

+ I've always preferred Space Marines to be 'Space Marines first, Chapter second'. That applies across the board – I think Chapter ought to add flavour and spice, not change the dish entirely. +

+ Let me be clear; I think the distinctive cultures and appearance of the Chapters in the lore (and models) is crucial to their appeal – but I don't think that that needs to lead to exceptionalism in terms of rules. This is particularly so for Chapters that don't have much tabletop reason to be different for the sake of difference. +

+ There's a lot of flexiblity in how you choose to paint your models. This sort of material, I think, is what really caught my imagination. The actual rules were stripped-back and you reflected the character of your army through the unit choices and way you played, rather than in the list. +

+ Food for thought in painting. This early material, from the Space Marine Painting Guide shows the germs of what would come. It's not all gold; but it's interesting to see where the ideas stemmed from. +

+ The Salamanders are a good example of this. Giving them a Codex supplement simply to match those of the other First Founding Chapters was fun, but unnecessary. Again, let me clarify that by making clear that I think a supplement of artwork, lore exploring their history, organisation, and ideas for the Chapter (and indeed other Chapters, Craftworld, Regiment, Dynasty etc.) would be awesome, but it doesn't need to create a whole set of exceptions to the rules. +

+ That's notable in particular now because the long-standing restrictions placed on army building (the force organisation chart and successors) have fallen away; so without them, no additional exceptionalism needs to be built in. +

+ Am I sad that the Salamanders have lost their Warlord traits, artefacts and strategems? Partly yes; but mainly because the names and ideas helped shine some light on the Chapter's character. Not having the nagging feeling that one's chosen army is unfairly advantaged or hindered by imbalances or unintended consequences in the rules is a relief. +

+ Lots of cool little ideas I can poach for my project here. +

+++

+ Theoretical: army lists +

+ Anyway, back down off my soapbox – what's this got to do with the In the Dust of Armageddon project? Well, the new system of making an army is now clear and the Index has been released. I think the inherent flexibility of the army-building process has opened up lots of possibilities, and wanted to scribble down some loose ideas I'm working up. +

+ The Space Marine Index [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] is a giant pile of options (For easy reference, the points values are here [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]). As with the previous edition of the game, I think a lot of these could be consolidated, but that's another discussion. +

+ At this point I have quite a few Space Marine armies, and want to try something a bit different to my usual 'Thirty Tactical Marines and then start thinking' approach. As it is, I started going through and working out a vague army list based on models I had planned, and with an emphasis on using 'normal' Space Marine rules (i.e. not Primaris; I'll refer to the old marines as Astartes from here). That looked like this:

+ Adeptus Astartes-themed list +

• Captain with Artificer Armour – 80 + 10pts
• Lieutenant – 80pts
• Librarian – 85pts
• Tactical Squad (10) – 175pts
• Infernus Squad (5) – 90pts
• Rhino – 85pts
• Terminator Squad (10) – 400pts

+ A neat 1000pts – and as an aside, I rather like the simple points system. Makes for quick, easy army lists. +

+ That list is simple and straightforward, and since Primaris and Astartes are now identical in terms of stats, there are fewer weird mental gymnastics to explain why these Space Marines are twice as resilient as these Space Marines – something which always niggled at me since the introduction of the Primaris idea. +

+ Sadly, there are still a few odd bits. The Rhino can't carry the Infernus squad, because they have the 'Tacticus' keyword – presumably the 41st Millennium version of wearing trainers to a nightclub. Secondly, Tactical Marines (for some reason) can no longer split into 5-man combat squads, either – a shame, because at this points level, I want as many squads as possible, rather than fewer, bigger squads. +

+ I don't want to lose the Infernus marines primarily because I have a squad winging their way to me. They could join the Gatebreakers, but the idea of flamer-wielding Salamanders appeals too much! +

+++

+ Primaris-themed list +

+ As an alternative idea, I wondered what it would look like if I took the opposite approach, and used exclusively Primaris rules with the same models:

• Primaris Captain with Artificer Armour – 80 + 10pts
• Primaris Lieutenant – 75pts
• Librarian – 70pts
• Intercessor Squad (5) – 95pts
• Intercessor Squad (5) – 95pts
• Infernus Squad (5) – 90pts
• Rhino – 85pts
• Terminator Squad (10) – 400pts

+ First observation: the Primaris officers are generally cheaper than their Astartes equivalents – weird. Perhaps due to fewer options? Secondly, the Rhino is completely useless here. It could, at a push, count as an Impulsor (95pts, with the extra 10 coming from losing the Captain's Artificer Armour), as the weird Space Marine grav-tanks can't fly or anything like that. Doesn't strike me as ideal, though. +

+ I could, of course, drop the Rhino and sub it in for something else, but I rather like the classic Space Marine tanks. Frustratingly, the Drop Pod and Land Raider, for some peculiar reason, don't have the restriction on who can get in them. Perhaps at higher points levels, I could swap out the Rhino for a Land Raider. +

+++

+ Option 3: And now for something completely different +

+ Okay, so both of those options have something weird going on. Rather than try to twist the list into being something GW clearly want to make awkward (a mix of Primaris and Astartes in the same army), I thought I'd try to make a virtue of the GIANT PILE OF OPTIONS and make something completely different. +

+ Once I'd decided to try this, it suddenly opened up the option of having a Space Marine army that plays completely differently to any other I have, which has obvious appeal. I plumped for an all-Gravis-armoured list, on the basis that the models are big and bulky enough to be clearly something different, and slow and tough fit the Salamanders' theme well. Apart from anything else, my conversions are based on Gravis armour anyway, so it seemed fitting  to go for that as a theme:

• Captain with Gravis Armour and Artificer Armour – 95 + 10pts
• Apothecary Biologis and Bolter Discipline – 55 + 25pts
• Heavy Intercessor Squad (5) – 110pts
• Heavy Intercessor Squad (5) – 110pts
• Heavy Intercessor Squad (5) – 110pts
• Eradicator Squad (6) – 190pts
• Aggressor Squad (6) – 220pts
• Scout Squad – 70pts

+ That tots up to 1,000pts on the dot. Completely different to the other forces, but looks like it'd be very different to play, too. I rather like the idea of army-wide Toughness 6(!), and the idea of hosing down hordes of the enemy with a few heroes. +

+ The list is necessarily very limited, as there are only five Datasheets with the Gravis keyword. There are a couple of Chapter-specific characters, and if this proves fun, perhaps I'll try a counts-as character using Iron-Father Feirros' rules as some point. +

+++

+ In all honesty, I don't think any of these will end up as the absolute final list – planning is all very well, but I just get dragged about by enthusiasms and ideas while building to promise anything. Theoretical list-building like the above is fun, but I use it mostly to help guide my thoughts and discover what I'm actually enthused about. Almost like consulting the Emperor's Tarot! +

+ Practical: Modelling +

+ In any case, there's no army without soldiers, so building is continuing. +

 

+ Above are three sets of legs from the Heavy Intercessor kit, which I'll be working these up into Mark VII armour. At this stage, I'm most interested in cleanly cutting away the excess detail, so there's a clear surface on which to sculpt. I've taken away the crenellated toecaps, reshaped the ankles, trimmed off the cables at the back and left off the hip thingies. Perhaps most obviously, I've also removed everything above the belt, as this will be replaced with a Terminator waist gimbal. +

+ The overall silhouette is still thick-set, but now free of the heavy reinforcing that's so different from Mark VII. The detail that remains in place is largely greebling. The legs are now ready for greenstuff work to get them looking like this: 

+ The work on the front is essentially blending in the additional plating on the thighs to make them a single integrated piece of armour. You could instead file off the raised plates, but I prefer to add bulk to the upper legs. It creates a great sense of power and stability. +

+ The back likewise requires surprisingly little greenstuff work; and that mainly confined to extending the calf armour down slightly. You'll note that the additional greenstuff on the thighs is mostly on the front – that's to stop the legs simply looking podgy. +

+ It's at the sides that the majority of the work is done, and event that is largely filling in the gaps at the hips and reinstating the corner of the ankle. As you can see, my work isn't the cleanest – something which I'd like to improve – but I think it'll suffice for this project. +

+++