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Hi everyone,

After playing Chaos Space Marines for 3 years before finally tiring of their fluff, their playstyle, and my horrible paint jobs.
I Originally painted the miniatures in 2008, when I was introduced to the hobby, and I've become adjusted to the ugly and scarred paint jobs of the 14 year old that once was.

So, I've issued myself a challenge. My goal is to be able to construct a competitive 1500, 1750, and 2000 point list, that can be drawn from a total force of 4000 points. I'll be doing this as an undergraduate engineer, so my time and money will be stretched thin, meaning that the true challenge will lie in maintaining the enthusiasm needed to get me through 4000 points of what will hopefully be above-table-standard miniatures.

I will begin collecting my army on December 15, 2011, by purchasing a battleforce for one of 3 armies.

First: The Blood Angels

Their aggressive and assault centred playstyle really appeals to me, especially in light of 6th edition rumours (but they're rumours, not facts, so I try not to be caught up in that). The deathguard (is that right?) models are gorgeous and GW claims their codex was intended for 6th ed. A dollar saved is a dollar earned, right?
While the idea of painting power armour is a bit of a negative, at least it's not chaos power armour - All those bones and inconsistancies aren't really great to look at in my opinion.

Second: The Dark Angels
The fluff in the codex, whilst not masterfully written, does capture my imagination. Very political. Very cool. This army has some great looking models, and painting these things will be a labour of love. However the squishyness of this army worries me. I love a good competition, and playing a non-horde army that dies like one is a worrying prospect.

Thirdly: Space Wolves

Crazy hair do's on marines... well I'm not entirely sure. This option is here because unlike blood angels, I see so many ways to play this army. The HQ's "Saga" system is also a plus, as this Challenge will be about building an army, which will be more fun with that much more structured customisation. However the overall look of this army just isn't as impressive as that of the Blood Angels.

So it comes down to a warhammer 40k scissors-paper-rock game

Models:
Dark Eldar trump Blood Angels trump Space Wolves

Playstyle
Blood Angels trump Dark Eldar trump Space Wolves

Variety
Dark Eldar trump Space Wolves trump Blood Angels

X-Factor (People love these armies for some reason, right?)
I keep coming back to all 3, that's why I can't decide. So.... tie?

So this is my P&M Blog, Step 1: Choose an Army!
If anyone has suggestions, feel free to vote on the poll, or to reply below!

Thanks everyone, I have my local store holding a Blood Angel battleforce for me. Let the Challenge Begin.
-Viral-

As a fellow engineering major who is graduating this may, i would like to recommend blood angels due to their variety of army choices. DoA or mech offers a mainly infantry or a tank army. Also, what type of engineering are you doing? Also also, engineering eats time, so i hope you dont have too little time to paint.

Dark Angels? Don't you mean Dark Eldar?

And it's the Death Company

<3's MBB

I don't start my degree until February, but I'm well aware I'll be hard at work. I'm looking at Mechanical or Civil engineering. Thanks for the heads up though

And thanks for the advice on the army choice. I'll take it on board

EDIT: Yes, I mean Dark Eldar. Typing out Dark Eldar and Blood Angels seems to bring out the dyslexic in me.