Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I've notice many people quite flippantly give out advice like "Give them all combi-meltas", "Take 3x 5 ML Long Fangs", "5 Veteran squads with 3 x meltas" etc.

But you can't buy a box of imperial guard with 3 meltaguns.
You can't buy a box of long fangs with 5 missile launchers in it.
You can't buy a Grey Hunter box with 2 meltas in it (or even 1 melta)
And i have no idea where to begin looking for 5 combi-meltas

Melta-guns seem to go about US$7-8 each on ebay
Missile launchers are usually even more

My point is, it's very easy to give out this advice - but how realistic is it for the average gamer to assemble these components?

I've spent about $1000 in the last month - simply rounding out and optimising choices for 2 armies I already owned (and I'm still light on armour/transports if you look at internet mech-lists)

It's true that locating the desired weapons can be a hassle...GW does offer some decent deals on 5 packs of Melta-guns (Plasma guns to IIRC)...

Personaly I just used the flamer Bits and the grenade launcher bits from IG kits to model my own Melta-guns for my Praetorian Veterans squad...


http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/172055-.html


Used the left overs to make some shotguns as well..

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/172053-.html

As FITZZ said, the GW weapon packs (melta and plasma) are both good buys if your looking for cheap weapons.

For heavy weapons, I usually just convert them. When it comes to missle launchers, theres nothing that says a marine has to be holding it in a firing stance. Quite a few of mine are converted to be reloading, carrying, or setting the thing up. The rest of them are all the old BFM missle marines. Come to think of it, I actually have no idea how I wound up with 6

hey man, i know just how hard this is...

you know what you do? Convert it, buy it or whatevs, make ends meet. if its not bang on perfect Oh well better luck next time. some people say those things becaus they either have acess to good bit sites or a collection big enough (or a bank acount) that they have the bits for those things

I agree whole-heartedly with op. I don't mind the cheap metla blister from GW but it is a pain to convert then to fit and even need to get them in the first place.

My issue is something like the rune priest. He comes with a plasma pistol, but I don't want to use it right away, but I do t want to bother converting my first metal model ever and have to buy a new one when I want the plasma pistol again.

Would I be allowed to say the plasma pistol is a fancy bolt pistol and not be harassed even at tournaments?

Portaljacker wrote:I agree whole-heartedly with op. I don't mind the cheap metla blister from GW but it is a pain to convert then to fit and even need to get them in the first place.

My issue is something like the rune priest. He comes with a plasma pistol, but I don't want to use it right away, but I do t want to bother converting my first metal model ever and have to buy a new one when I want the plasma pistol again.

Would I be allowed to say the plasma pistol is a fancy bolt pistol and not be harassed even at tournaments?

Depends on who you play, how you play and how it looks. theres a tournment here in van where you get one third of the points for winning the games, one third for looking nice, and one third for sportsmanship. But im geting side tracked youd be fine just say "this is my first rune priest and i dont want to cut it up and i dont have the cash for another". id be ok with it.

Chapter house studios doe comb-weapons

http://chapterhousestudios.com/webshop/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=82&category_id=24

ironhandstraken

ironhandstraken wrote:Chapter house studios doe comb-weapons
http://chapterhousestudios.com/webshop/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=82&category_id=24

Hmm thanks for that.
I gotta be honest, they're kinda ugly and over-complicated packages. Would be better if - instead of giving you one of each combi-attachment and the magnets, you could choose one type and get 4-5 of them.
Still... I guess their 'flamer' looks enough like a melta that I could count it as 2 meltas and a plasma attachment - and cut down my own bolters to go under (since their bolter bit looks aweful anyway)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I've also been thinking about drilling the barrels on my existing IG Heavy Bolter teams (I have 3 of the old metal ones) and inserting a section of thinner metal rod to extend the barrel into an Autocannon. Maybe a wider sleave over the end of the muzzel, too
Do you think this modification alone would look OK, and acceptible?

To be honest, i usually raid my bitz box if i need anything.
So for 10 combi-meltas i simply chopped up some infernus pistols.

However, if that isnt an option, bitz sites or ebay seem about the cheapest way of doing so.
Failing that, ask about in the swap shop for parts you need.

This is why I'm happy I play Orks, as long as the weapon looks roughly right, coherency between versions isn't really an issue

But yes, having put together a lot of Marines for my fiancée I would probably say that bitz sites are your best bet most of the time. Although sometimes certain parts (special weapons can be the worst for this) can be very awkward to find in stock anywhere.

karlosovic wrote:I've notice many people quite flippantly give out advice like "Give them all combi-meltas", "Take 3x 5 ML Long Fangs", "5 Veteran squads with 3 x meltas" etc.

But you can't buy a box of imperial guard with 3 meltaguns.
You can't buy a box of long fangs with 5 missile launchers in it.
You can't buy a Grey Hunter box with 2 meltas in it (or even 1 melta)
And i have no idea where to begin looking for 5 combi-meltas

Melta-guns seem to go about US$7-8 each on ebay
Missile launchers are usually even more

My point is, it's very easy to give out this advice - but how realistic is it for the average gamer to assemble these components?

I've spent about $1000 in the last month - simply rounding out and optimising choices for 2 armies I already owned (and I'm still light on armour/transports if you look at internet mech-lists)

swaps & trades, eBay and bitz sites are all your friends here.

I have plenty of HK launchers from vehicles which are converted for Long Fang use as are cut down, and abused, las-cannons. An aborted plasticard effort even left me with a Fallout 3 'fat man' style launcher.

Personally I would play the counts as game if you can. It won't be long until a new edition of 40k is released and those combi meltas and Long Fang MLs and Meltaguns may become yesterdays news.

Also, the longer you game the bigger your bits box(es) will become so your choice will, naturally, expand.

karlosovic wrote:My point is, it's very easy to give out this advice - but how realistic is it for the average gamer to assemble these components?

I've spent about $1000 in the last month - simply rounding out and optimising choices for 2 armies I already owned (and I'm still light on armour/transports if you look at internet mech-lists)

Convert, convert, convert. Sounds cheesy, but where there's a will there's a way. Alot of it comes down to finding the most essential elements of a weapon and converting it from there. Most 40k imperial weapons are a box with stuff on it. So, for a melta, all you need the melta barrel end, and possibly a small canister of some sort on the side of the weapon. Hence as mentioned above, you can use inferno pistols, or chop up some extra multi-meltas (one multi melta can provide two melta ends)

Back when Plasma was all the rage, I made a bunch of plasma guns (see the Link in my thread) out of plasma guns and flamers. It was easy, and IMHO, they looked great, because for a plasma gun the essential elements are plasma gun end and some cooling fins.

But...

karlosovic wrote:I've spent about $1000 in the last month - simply rounding out and optimising choices for 2 armies I already owned (and I'm still light on armour/transports if you look at internet mech-lists)

...here"s your real issue. If you're going to build a internet-spam-mech-WAAC army (nothing wrong with that) you're going to have to either convert like mad, do alot of tradint (not always possible for the most desirable loadouts)or be willing to drop the $ to buy all the extra weapons loadouts your going to need.

I can't imagine spending a grand on one army, much less just for optimizing, but I'm a cheapskate simple-green-addict, so to each his own.

Eilif wrote:Convert, convert, convert. Sounds cheesy, but where there's a will there's a way. Alot of it comes down to finding the most essential elements of a weapon and converting it from there. Most 40k imperial weapons are a box with stuff on it. So, for a melta, all you need the melta barrel end, and possibly a small canister of some sort on the side of the weapon. Hence as mentioned above, you can use inferno pistols, or chop up some extra multi-meltas (one multi melta can provide two melta ends)

Back when Plasma was all the rage, I made a bunch of plasma guns (see the Link in my thread) out of plasma guns and flamers. It was easy, and IMHO, they looked great, because for a plasma gun the essential elements are plasma gun end and some cooling fins.

Yeh I do a fair bit of converting in terms of weapon swaps for list building and head/arm swaps to make models more interesting and get the pose just right. I have also built some converted weapons - but that's hard to do on the sort of scale they talk about in these cookie-cutter lists (and end up with a uniform looking army). It's probably something I save more to the individualism of gang members in my Necromunda teams.

Eilif wrote:I can't imagine spending a grand on one army, much less just for optimizing, but I'm a cheapskate simple-green-addict, so to each his own.

The thing is - it alll adds up.

Box of grey hunters
Box of space marine bikes, plus another bike, plus an attack bike
Box of jump pack assault marines
5 Thunderwolves plus the 2 heroes pack from mythicast
Box of marine scouts
A whole bunch of various space wolves bits inc a few meltaguns, a ML and metal torsos with melta and plasmaguns
2 razorback turret sprues to convert some existing rhinos

Leman Russ demolisher
a 1:35 Huey kit (that I'm going to use as a Valkyrie - planning to buy another one of these too)
2 Boxes of catachans, plus a command box, plus a heavy weapons box (bring me up to 2 reasonable catachan platoons)
17 metal Valhallans inc a few with special weapons
2 valhallan HW teams (all to round out my valhallan platoon into a decent size and finish off HW squads now that you can't split single HW teams off from a PIS)
4 commisars (all OOP)
a metal Stormtrooper with meltagun

plus a very rare necromunda escher heavy
a few packs of bases from GW plus greenstuff, paints etc (easy $100 there)

Some of that i bought retail from GW (who charge a mint.. it's even worse in australia than you might think in UK / USA)
Some was rare and/or OOP from ebay
Plus the Thunderwolves from mythicast (about $120 i think?)

Admittedly a large chunk was spent on 2 units that most people will say are a waste of points - let alone money, but I always loved my jump pack Blood Claws and wanted to max the squad, and I've had a single space marine bike for about 15 years that i kept meaning to get some friends for.
Also buying OOP metal imperial guard isn't the cheapest way to build an army - but I already had a bunch of valhallans and it seemed a shame to waste what i already owned.
In retrospect I was probably better off selling them on ebay and MAKING some money which could have been re-invested in more plastic catachans and tanks. This would also have made my army more .... consistent ... (I have no idea how the fluff works to combine a platoon each of Valhallans and Catachans in the same army, but oh well)

Eilif wrote:If you're going to build a internet-spam-mech-WAAC army (nothing wrong with that) you're going to have to either convert like mad, do alot of tradint (not always possible for the most desirable loadouts)or be willing to drop the $ to buy all the extra weapons loadouts your going to need.

The funny thing is... I still don't really have the models to do an internet mech-spam list, lol. Well I have the troops, I guess.

karlosovic wrote:

Eilif wrote:Convert, convert, convert. Sounds cheesy, but where there's a will there's a way. Alot of it comes down to finding the most essential elements of a weapon and converting it from there. Most 40k imperial weapons are a box with stuff on it. So, for a melta, all you need the melta barrel end, and possibly a small canister of some sort on the side of the weapon. Hence as mentioned above, you can use inferno pistols, or chop up some extra multi-meltas (one multi melta can provide two melta ends)

Back when Plasma was all the rage, I made a bunch of plasma guns (see the Link in my thread) out of plasma guns and flamers. It was easy, and IMHO, they looked great, because for a plasma gun the essential elements are plasma gun end and some cooling fins.

Yeh I do a fair bit of converting in terms of weapon swaps for list building and head/arm swaps to make models more interesting and get the pose just right. I have also built some converted weapons - but that's hard to do on the sort of scale they talk about in these cookie-cutter lists (and end up with a uniform looking army). It's probably something I save more to the individualism of gang members in my Necromunda teams.

Eilif wrote:I can't imagine spending a grand on one army, much less just for optimizing, but I'm a cheapskate simple-green-addict, so to each his own.

The thing is - it alll adds up.

Box of grey hunters
Box of space marine bikes, plus another bike, plus an attack bike
Box of jump pack assault marines
5 Thunderwolves plus the 2 heroes pack from mythicast
Box of marine scouts
A whole bunch of various space wolves bits inc a few meltaguns, a ML and metal torsos with melta and plasmaguns
2 razorback turret sprues to convert some existing rhinos

Leman Russ demolisher
a 1:35 Huey kit (that I'm going to use as a Valkyrie - planning to buy another one of these too)
2 Boxes of catachans, plus a command box, plus a heavy weapons box (bring me up to 2 reasonable catachan platoons)
17 metal Valhallans inc a few with special weapons
2 valhallan HW teams (all to round out my valhallan platoon into a decent size and finish off HW squads now that you can't split single HW teams off from a PIS)
4 commisars (all OOP)
a metal Stormtrooper with meltagun

plus a very rare necromunda escher heavy
a few packs of bases from GW plus greenstuff, paints etc (easy $100 there)

Some of that i bought retail from GW (who charge a mint.. it's even worse in australia than you might think in UK / USA)
Some was rare and/or OOP from ebay
Plus the Thunderwolves from mythicast (about $120 i think?)

Admittedly a large chunk was spent on 2 units that most people will say are a waste of points - let alone money, but I always loved my jump pack Blood Claws and wanted to max the squad, and I've had a single space marine bike for about 15 years that i kept meaning to get some friends for.
Also buying OOP metal imperial guard isn't the cheapest way to build an army - but I already had a bunch of valhallans and it seemed a shame to waste what i already owned.
In retrospect I was probably better off selling them on ebay and MAKING some money which could have been re-invested in more plastic catachans and tanks. This would also have made my army more .... consistent ... (I have no idea how the fluff works to combine a platoon each of Valhallans and Catachans in the same army, but oh well)

Eilif wrote:If you're going to build a internet-spam-mech-WAAC army (nothing wrong with that) you're going to have to either convert like mad, do alot of tradint (not always possible for the most desirable loadouts)or be willing to drop the $ to buy all the extra weapons loadouts your going to need.

The funny thing is... I still don't really have the models to do an internet mech-spam list, lol. Well I have the troops, I guess.

Dont worry about having mixed units of IG in the same army just like the real army in war time units are often combined into one force rater then have under strengh platoon

All of these parts are easy to get in large numbers if you don't mind working in an ethical gray area

Jubear wrote:Dont worry about having mixed units of IG in the same army just like the real army in war time units are often combined into one force rater then have under strengh platoon

Yeh I'm willing to field a mix in my army - but I wanted to at least be able to keep individual platoons coherant.