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I am in the process of repainting my old space marine army. Most stuff is stripped and I recently completed my first batch of units. 5 Terminators and 15 marines. Currently all painted as Ultramarines. Next i want to paint a dreadnaught, which got me thinking how i want to plan out the restructuring of my force. Now i haven't played a game since 3rd edition and back then i didn't care too much about winning and more about the fluff. I still don't need a winners list, but at least something fun to field. Since i already have an purchased army I ask/challenge you to come up with the best list. I am unsure what is realistic, but i recall playing at 1500 points for the entire force. A cool bonus would be if i could make 2 lists (or detachments as they are now called?) using the current models i have. I like the Ultramarines, but would enjoy painting a second chapter color scheme. So two lists at 750 pts each would also be quite cool.

Now for the models I own:
Marines (4 missles, 4 flamers?) 30
assault 5
Terminators 10
Landraider lascannons 1
Predator auto+lascannon spons. 1
rhino 1
landspeeder melta 1
Dreadnaught w. multri&flamer 1
marine model HQers (sgt. & bearer) 2
Chaplain 1
Techpriest 1
Apothocary 1
Lightning Terminator 1
Vindicar Assassin sniper 1

I also own a bunch of kriegers and a heavy weapon team, but I dont think they should be part of the force. If i complete the first list i might treat myself to some inquisitor goodness.

Here is a pic of my current painted ultramarine force:

Discounting the sniper, my back of the envelope math puts you a little shy of 2,000 points for the lot. Depending on how WYSWYG you play, and wargear options, this has a good deal of flex.

Two things stand out as issues. One is the lack of weapon options (only ML/Fs) the other is lack of transports. Tactical marines footslogging across the table are not the best choice, but you only have one rhino. The MM/HF dread is not bad if he’s in a drop pod. If he’s wandering around, someone is going to put a LC into him before he gets into range.

A large chunk of your army is invested in terminators, which while fun, are a liability vs. top tier lists.

But let’s see what we can do with a fun, casual list.

Point values are going to be approximate (don’t have my codex at hand)

5 assault terminators in the LR ~450. ( a few TH/SS termis are recommended, and will bump the points up)
5 tactical terminators ~225 (would like an assault cannon and a chainfist here, models permitting)

10 man tac squad, ML/F, in the rhino ~200
10 man tac squad HB/F on foot ~155 (saw the HB marine over in your blog, let’s use him)

MM speeder 60
Auto/Las pred 115

That should run you about 1,200 points. You still need a HQ. You could run a captain/CM in terminator armor and DS him in with the tactical terminators, Not sure what the “lightning terminator” is. You could also drop the chaplain in with the footslogging tacs. Not the best option, but it’s there. Or both. Depending on who you pick, and what you gear them with, you should have some points left over. Scraping all the extra MLs and forming a dev squad with them might not be a bad plan.

What you have left should be the command squad, 5 terminators, and some tacticals.

Thanks Nevelon. So basically I should consider getting a rhino and/or a droppod?

Any suggestions as how i can split this into 2 separate armies?

If I were expanding your army, transports would be my first pick. Probably at least one pod, and then a razorback kit (which doubles as a rhino). Next up would be a dev box, and then something to get more special weapons. As you already have plenty of basic power armor on the field, I’d recommend a sternguard box. Assuming you don’t have someone you can swap bits with, or buy them from e-bay/3rd party.

For the second force, what other chapter interests you. You probably want two armies that play differently. One in drop pods, one mech on the ground? Gunline? Bikes? You already have Ultramarines, which are kinda OK at everything, what do you want from your other force?

As for dividing up what you have, I’d have to know a little bit of your long term plans. How big do you want to go, and what kind of budget do you have to work with? If we are just splitting what you have now, it’s just a matter of keeping the piles even, and making sure there is a little bit of troops, anti-tank/horde, mobility on either side. But if we are have some room to expand, you could take most of the tacticals, the dread, and 5 tactical terminators and use them as a core of a Ultramarine drop list. The assault terminators, LR, Pred, and speeder could be the basis of an Iron Hands armored column.

If you are just looking to slightly expand what you have with a unit or two, advice like “First, buy and assemble 5 drop pods, then…” is not going to be very useful.

Nevelon, thanks again for your reply! Really getting my spirit up and i plan to start some serious painting tomorrow.

For the second force, what other chapter interests you.

I don't want to collect a second army, I would like to divide what I currently have

How big do you want to go, and what kind of budget do you have to work with?

First I want to finish painting everything I have. I feel really bad at how poorly i have treated this expensive hobby thus far. Right now I am primarily looking for a good plan to divide the army I have into two lists.

I have not considered buying more models right now, but if we can come up with two solid, distinctive, and fun lists at a reasonable expense I am happy to do so. So lets say 1 new unit and 1 transport per lists and happy to do some ebay hunting for bits, if we can keep its +- 100 euros it would be great. I have experience refurnishing models (my current force is my old black Templar force stripped with simple green) so I hope we can keep the kosts even lower. 50-75 euro is not a problem at all. However, i will make additional purchases only after I have finished my current miniatures because i would dread it if i end up with some half assembled/painted hobby. That is why it would be good to plan the army now so I dont paint anything in the wrong colors! I live in the Netherlands if that helps at all.

But if we are have some room to expand, (which we do! ) you could take most of the tacticals, the dread, and 5 tactical terminators and use them as a core of a Ultramarine drop list. The assault terminators, LR, Pred, and speeder could be the basis of an Iron Hands armored column.

Alright following your rough lists:

Ultramarine force
20/30 marines
Dreadnaught
5/10 Terminators

Iron Hands force (prefer to take descendants Red Talons or Sons of Medusa)
5/10 Terminators
LandRaider
Predator
Speeder

That leaves the following to be appointed:
10/30 marines
5 Assault marines (jetpacks one)
1 Standard Bearer
1 Space Marine officer
1 Chaplain
1 TechPriest
1 Apothocary
1 Vindicar

Your purchase suggestions:
? Drop pod(s)
5 terminator assault bits