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Thanks guys!

I'm very excited. I finished my build (well, at least the pre-Adepticon build) this morning before heading off to work. I'll show you guys pics once I finish the airbrushing... right now everything's just primed black & not very interesting. Other than what you've already seen, I've added two more rapier chassis & crew and built 3 laser-destroyer arrays to go on them. Have also added a bike for the outriders and a kit-bashed Praetor on bike.

To top things off, I've got a 30k game set up for tonight. My first... so I'm really looking forward to it!

Look forward to your learnings ( and pics )

A little late to the unification party, but good call on putting all your updates in one place... means I can keep track of the awesome stuff you are doing a little easier

I love your work, it is inspiring for people like myself and gives me something to keep working towards.

Thanks Mad..


Well, game sucked. Effectively tabled by turn two. Brought models back only to get re-tabled by turn 3. I was looking for this game to give me inspiration... it did. Anyone want to buy an EC army?

What was he using that was kicking your ass so hard?

Need some details for sure.

Nothing much. A set of thud guns (whatever they're called), a Spartan and a Dorito. The rest of his army never get involved really. I'd done one hull point to each of two rhinos, that's it.

After we resurrected the Leviathan so it could assault something, it fought a squad of 5 termies, killed none of them, then died. His Praetor and a medic killed both squads of vets without taking a wound.

Safe to say that nothing I had worked at any level. Offensively, defensively, shooting or assault.

Ouch. Though, aren't those thud guns meant to be stupidly powerful? Might be wrong, but those guys can hurt if given the right upgrades. The dice gods can't have been with ya this game, but don't let it get you down too much Gits!

Not sure, but it was killing or finishing off a unit every turn.

This is my experience as well. Even the rules state that the game is supposed to be pts 2000 or greater. High volume of fire from infantry, large vehicles and violent weaponry make for a decisive and quick game.

Was your opponent an experienced 30k player? with a pretty optimal list?

Hang in there Brother, 30k is a learning curve. My first big battle with my AoV running as Dark Angels saw me have my ass handed to me by an Imperial Fist list. At 2500 points he brought more dakka than me and picked off units as I tried to close for the assault.

Levi's and Deredeo's are either gods on the battle field, or flops, never seen mine do anything inbetween. Played a game against night lords were my Deredeo just housed his troops but my Levi couldn't hit anything to save his life.

Hang in there, learn from it, and attack at it again. Solar is right, it is a Much different game than 40k

Solar_lion wrote:This is my experience as well. Even the rules state that the game is supposed to be pts 2000 or greater. High volume of fire from infantry, large vehicles and violent weaponry make for a decisive and quick game. Was your opponent an experienced 30k player? with a pretty optimal list?

Very experienced... as yes... by his own admission a tough list.

@Master Azalle: I'll try to keep that in mind (see below). One of the more experienced 30k players in our group calls any vehicle, no matter how good, a "one shot model"... and that's been my experience. One penetrating shot with high strength weaponry (which is everywhere in 30k), and "Boom!"... no more vehicle.


The saga continues...

I was unexpectedly able to attend our groups regular gaming night. While I couldn't get a proper 30k game set up, a couple of the guys were able to work me into their 40k game. T-Sons vs. Orks. The details of the game aren't important... but the crux of the matter was this...

4 EC bikes, including a veteran sergeant with a phoenix spear and my Praetor w/ spear and gadgets... charged a unit of about 15 gretchin. They did no damage, they lost a marine in return, they failed morale, they got run down (30k rules, so they can be run down). 400 points of elite marines were destroyed in one phase by 40 points of grots.

I was done.


A friend and long-time 30k player spent an hour or so talking me off the ledge. I kid you not... it was a full-on couch session. I am currently calm, I have a plan... and for the first time in my life... I'm apparently in therapy... and it took the Emperor's Children to put me there.

Well.... if there was ever a force in the in Grim Dark future that could put anyone into therapy... its The Emperors Children.

Second... throw away your dice! Actually, burn them - dice for the dice god. Go buy shiny gold and purple dice and try again.

Don't let it get you down Gitz! Finish your Sicaran and bring that bad boy into the fray and try a style that's closer to your Mantis Warriors. I had to monkey around with my list until I got it to a point I was ok with.

 Gitsplitta wrote:

Solar_lion wrote:This is my experience as well. Even the rules state that the game is supposed to be pts 2000 or greater. High volume of fire from infantry, large vehicles and violent weaponry make for a decisive and quick game. Was your opponent an experienced 30k player? with a pretty optimal list?

Very experienced... as yes... by his own admission a tough list.

Did he know you were looking to learn 30k and had a non-optimized list? Was he just looking to murder someone? Sounds like a guy not worth playing with if so.

Sucks with the bikers/grots, but we've all been on both sides of exchanges like that. Just compounded with the earlier experience I could see how you get "this army/game sucks" in your head.

@MA: Yeah, that's on the docket. Unfortunately the EC dice are a low priority right now as I'm gathering up the last few bits (models, etc.) to make the army functional when complete. Like I said, I have a plan. Finish up all the heavy stuff I've got started, then work on two units of vets with rhino transport, Then work on some terminators and a Spartan, then some palatine blades and a dread claw, phoenix terminators and Fulgrim, two large units of tactical marines, etc. That's the way I'm going to do this army from now on... one useful chunk of it at a time. I just placed what I believe will be the last order from FW that I'll need for this army. Now it's just a matter of being disciplined about working through it.

My hope is that when I'm done, I'll be able to utilize a variety of RoW without having piles and piles of useless figures. Which should keep the army interesting while not breaking the bank entirely... totally.... mostly.......


@WM: Yeah, I made that pretty clear.


I did finally find a pic I'd taken of my Praetor on bike kitbash. Not a great photo but you'll get the idea. Painting should commence either tonight or tomorrow night...



This was challenging because I didn't have extra (appropriate) arms or an extra spear... so I did a forearm mount on the plasma pistol and made a spear out of a third-party power glaive and just tucked it in the bike (like it would be stored while he was busy driving). It's far from perfect, but when painting it'll be obvious what it's supposed to represent.

That's a bummer, dude sounds like hes TFG.

Did you order more spears from FW? They are available separate now, though weirdly hard to find on the site. https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-DE/Emperors-Children-Phoenix-Power-Spears

That wrist plasma gun makes perfect sense for a biker, very cool.

Sorry to hear about the rough games, sounds like an imperfect storm bad luck, matchup and opponent in short succession. Hopefully things pick up soon.

@WM: I did. Spears, some brass so I can trick-out my rhinos. Got a deal on a nicely built but unpainted Spartan with EC goo-gaws from a friend locally. I think nearly everything I'll need (even long-term) I either have already or is on order with FW.

@Para: Thanks man, appreciate it. I think I'll really enjoy painting and building the army. I have decent units (even now) and if I use my head when I play, things will eventually improve as far as tabletop performance goes. I'll tell ya, that base violet color that MajorTom11 helped me work out is just outstanding. You don't get it from the pictures because the lights have a tendency to wash everything out... but the base purple on these guys is *really* dark and rich. I love it.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Thanks Mad..


Well, game sucked. Effectively tabled by turn two. Brought models back only to get re-tabled by turn 3. I was looking for this game to give me inspiration... it did. Anyone want to buy an EC army?

30k is touted as a balanced game....and it is, in the sense that everyone can take the same broken stuff. To get a fun game in, you are still faced with the 40k prospect of talking to your opponent about what kind of game you're looking for. Apparently you did, and you and your opponent had very different ideas of what "relaxed" means.

The first game of 30k I played, I proxied my chaos stuff as 30k models. I was excited to unearth jump marines, a land raider and a mixed force. My opponent busted out 8 quad mortars and master of the signals spam. After that game it took me 2 years to try 30k again. During my second attempt I found like minded people and have been having fun for 7 months and now have two 30k armies.

So before you pay for any therapy or sell the models I would try a few more games. Try a few different opponents and tell them that you don't have a LoW or a primarch. 30k players are usually itching to bust out the big guns and toys.

Thanks bogalubov. It's really odd... I don't think anyone has ever had issues with this particular person before... I certainly never had. He wasn't mean about it... he just crushed me, that's all. Maybe he was just practicing for Adepticon and I just happened to be in the way. I also clearly had bad dice luck, a lack of experience and a sub-standard army...

But you're spot on about people having different opinions about what "relaxed" or "friendly" means. I've talked to people whose idea of friendly is that they don't take the most murderous, cheesy, broken version of everything in their list. Anything short of that... is "friendly". I also get a chuckle when people tell me that 30k isn't as crazy competitive as 40k. That it's a friendlier, gentlemen's game. I'm confident that it can be abused every bit as much... they just to this point haven't had enough uber-competitive people get interested in the game. A rude awakening is in the offing I think.

I'm liking the look of the bike praetor, the wrist-mounted plasma is very complex, excellent for an EC! Sorry to hear about the game, sounds like it has a serious learning curve.

Very cool build. Should look amazing in purple.

So... the entire Third Legion has been put on hold while my flighty little brain has become obsessed by a 25 point ministorum priest. Thing 2 and I are playing in Apoc game next Saturday and as I was gleefully working through a list where I didn't have to worry about spending a set limit of points... I found the priest entry (I think it's from the Imperial Allies book). Cheap and gives a nice buff to the unit he's with. This is actually a Warmachine caster that I 40k'd up a bit with a chainsword (because all priests in 40k carry one apparently) and a pistol (which you can't see in the pic... it's hanging on his right hip). Having a fun time painting him... will be done tonight.

Nicely done gits!

I like the look of that priest, his Huge chainsword is just what the ministorum would order. ;-). Been toying with the idea of adding some more henchman to my Inquisitors band, may have to look beyond what GW offers. Can't wait to see him finished.

I like where that priest paint job is going! And the conversion looks perfect, imo

It's been fun experimenting with some of the little adds you can do now. I think for 100 points I could add 2 astropaths, 1 priest and one inquisitor maybe? I just love the idea of a little cadre of Imperial specialists wandering around the battlefield in a frightened little group, surrounded by giant cyborg war-machines as all hell breaks loose around them.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just picked up the "Traitor Legions" supplement so I can make my EC do double-duty!

That's a lovely model, can see why you're getting obsessed! Great colour on the robes.

Finished my ministorum priest, Brother Simon. I'm quite happy with him though I might work on the face a bit more later on. Good for now though.

You've got a fantastic Menoth (WMH) vibe on this; I'd love to see more