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.

Hello battle-brothers;

As the subject has made clear, I'm a fresh Astartes ready to carry out the Emperor's will.

Unfortunately being new gives me no clue as to what I am doing. When I first started to become interested in 40k I fell inlove with my Primarch Sanguinius, and his chapter.
So finally, I found the time to take a trip out to a local store that sells the table-top miniatures, bought a Blood Angels Battleforce, however I've no clue where to begin.
Obviously assembly, but what kind of adhesives do I use to assemble my Astartes? As for wargear what do I need to keep in-mind before attaching it all together?
I've so many things in-mind from the excitement of my legions birth, my army's beginning that I've no idea where to go from here.
I'd truly appreciate any insight or wisdom you could bestow upon me.



Details of my Battleforce:

1. 10 Tactical Marines
2. 5 Assault Marines
3. 5 Death Company
4. 1 Rhino Transport

As for the included wargear I can list that too... This information and the info given above is probably common knowledge anyhow.
Just trying to be as detailed as I can be.

- A newbie.

Plastic glue (various brands - aka polystyrene cement) works well with plastic minis.

Superglue works well with metal/resin ones.

In both cases make sure your parts are filed down/trimmed etc and that you've chosen a pose for the model (if appropriate) before assembling it for real, as the glues are hard to dislodge when dry, and they dry quick. The plastic glue 'welds' the parts together, and is difficult to repose afterwards

With new models i generally use tiny dots of blutack/putty to 'assemble' the model and choose a pose/gear/options, then glue one model at a time.

Sometimes it pays to leave the optional extras off until the model is painted, then add them on afterwards, other times not so much.

Watch your fingers around craft knives. They should be very very sharp.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Addendum:

I've found that keeping all the bits for the models you've got planned in snack-sized ziploc baggies (one per model) saves a lot of time, as you don't have to hunt up all the bits you need if you have to pack the stuff away before you get to them.

Well, first you need plastic glue. Some shy away from GW glue, though. Also, it seems that you don't have an HQ, so you'll need that for a game.

As for wargear, an important concept in the game is WSYWIG - what you see is what you get. In game terms this means that if something is modeled with a sword, it has a sword in the game. Some people are more lenient with this, but it helps to be able to look at something and immediately tell what it is armed with.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ninja'd be a damn santa zombie...
Anyway, also be sure to keep unused parts (bits) in some container. The death company bits in particular can give some extra flavour to other units.

Is there any specifics I should watch out for whilst deciding on wargear?
Say I get my marine posed, and I'd like a standard bolter for him... Is it wise to go for my aesthetic pleasures, or should I read up
about what each individual piece of wargear is capable of?

I'd read up first.

Not all units have access to all wargear, after all.

Pick what unit the model belongs to, then look them up in the dex to see what wargear they are allowed. Take a look at the wargear to see what it can do, and any drawbacks (plasmagun Gets Hot, for example). Then pick a weapon and other wargear as appropriate and model him up

I find it helps if you pick for a whole squad a the same time, to avoid 'illegal' builds with too many special weapons or wargear thst the squad can't take.

Okay good, now I've a little direction.

I'll see if tomorrow I can get around to getting my adhesives, and read a bit about my gear.

Might post here later if I've further questions, and thank you for your replies, helps me a lot.

I fairly recently started warhammer and considering I am usually at some state of being broke and this hobby is expensive I can shoot some advice at you.
Paint while on sprue, it's a godsend. You can use super glue on plastic minis, just beware you will spend some more time assembling due to your fingers sticking and then pulling the model apart because the glue has dried on your fingers but not on the model. As far as HQ you can poor man it and use a Death Company marine, but keep in mind that reduces the size of your Death Company, but you can throw them in as Assault Marines. Remember in this hobby Ebay is your friend.

Utility knife/box cutter/or, I use it as a plastic knife and it does the job, just be careful because you can slice your hand open if you cut toward yourself (personal experience) Less than 10$
Superglue, if you have a Family Dollar or some other cheap chain store you can buy these by the dozen. About 5$ worth
Blood Angels Codex 30$
Citadel Army Painter (Plain old Krylon plastic paint may work, but not certain so play it safe here) 15$
6e Rulebook 80$ (or wait for the next starter box to come out)
6 sided die, you can buy them at walmart for 2$ last time I checked 2$+
If you have the money to burn for the GW or citadel stuff I would deffinately advise doing so

P.S. Welcome to the website

Buy silly putty in a 1$ store if you can, I used it to dry fit (temporarly keep pieces together) my models and even as a filler to hold some harder to fit pieces.

It also makes for great entertainement and I find it very easy to remove.

Also prepare your wallet.

So I looked up what it means to have an "HQ" it has told me it stands for my best character.
Assuming that's correct, does that mean a character like... In my case Commander Dante?
Or just any type of leader class marine?

Welcome to the fight against the enemies of Mankind, Battle Brother. Here are some useful tips so you can get started and know what to expect from the hobby. Lets start from preparing and painting your models.

Preparation:
1. Make sure you clean away any mold lines from your models before painting them and preferably before you glue them together. Use a small file or some fine grade sand paper as I do.
2. When you glue, you can either buy plastic and superglue separately, or just super glue. I have found Loctite super glue to be good for both metal and plastic miniatures alike.

Painting:
1. As you start to paint, use any black spray paint for a nice and solid undercoat. Remember to do this in a well ventilated area, and do not spray too close. If you do, the paint will obscure fine details and clot all over the model. 30cm (12inces) is the preferred distance. Turn every model facing you, so you can easily turn them around to spray their backsides once you finish the front side.
2. Once you have done this and the paint has dried out properly, it is time to basecoat the models. As you will be painting Blood Angels, you will need these GW paints for the main part:
-Mephiston Red
-Carroburg Crimson
-Evil Sunz Scarlet
-Wild Rider Red
All of them can be found from the GW site. If you want to choose paints for their skin or decorations, use the Painting Guide, which can be found here: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/paintChart.jsp?catId=cat820002a&rootCatGameStyle=
Start by taking some Mephiston red on to a palette. A palette can be any piece of board, plastic or the GW one. When you have a small amount of paint on the palette, add some water. Do this by dipping your brush into a cup of water, and then gently mixing it up with the paint on the palette. Don't be too rough, as it is important for your brushes to keep their points sharp, as this will allow detailed painting. Tap the brush a bit against a piece of paper to prevent the paint from flooding around. Now, as you cover all of the armored areas, leave some of the black undercoat visible into the deepest recesses of the armor. It will give an impression of depth. Work on at least 5 models at the same time, as it will save time.
3. After the basecoat has dried, mix new paint with water on your palette, this time using Evil Sunz Scarlet. Paint the raised areas of the armor, such as fingers, elbows and knees. However, leave some of the Mephiston red showing in the not so raised areas, such as the edges on deep recesses or areas where shadows would naturally fall. How to Paint Citadel Miniatures is a great book, which you should also get to learn more about different techniques. Also detailed descriptions of painting different models can be found just by searching Google.
4. After you have finished painting the armor, you can move onto skin, decorations etc. and apply the same steps as with the armor (with different colors, of course)

Basing:
1. Once you are sure you are absolutely finished painting your models, it is time to paint the base. Usually plain old sand or grass will do the trick, but you can create just about every kinds of bases yourself. I am going to assume you use sand.
2. Paint the base with a suitable color, such as Blackfire earth. Put some PVA glue onto the surface, and dip the model into a pot of sand. GW sells sand, but any sand will do, even the one found from your yard.

Recommended starter equipment:
All of this equipment can be found from the GW site, or from your local hobby/hardware store.
-Clippers
-Files or sand paper (with various qualities)
-A modeling knife or a regular utility knife, preferably with a retractable blade
(-Hobby drill)
(-Razor saw)

Gaming equipment:
-Dice cube
-Templates (Munitorum or universal)
-A tape measure
-Warhammer 40k Rulebook
-Codex: Blood Angels (assuming you do not have one yet)

As for a good starting unit list and equipment, consider the following. If this seems mumbo jumbo, it will all clear out to you once you have read the Codex and the rulebook.

HQ:
-Commander Dante

Elites:
-Sanguinary Priest x2
-Infernus pistol/plasma pistol

-Furioso Dreadnought
-Replace Storm Bolter with a Heavy Flamer

Troops:
-Space Marine Tactical squad (10 Marines)
-Plasmagun
-Missile Launcher
-Chainsword
-One Sanguinary Priest joins this squad

-Death Company (5 Marines)
-Power Fist
-Infernus Pistol
-Jump Packs

-Assault Squad (5 Marines)
-Power Weapon (axe or sword)
-Melta Bombs
-One S.Priest joins this squad ( he will also need a Jump Pack to keep up with the squad. You can buy a set of 5 from the GW site, found in this directory: Warhammer 40k ---> Armies ---> Space Marines ---> Bitz)

This gives you a nice balanced 1000 point list, which is one of the most common army sizes. So, what you still have to buy to bolster your army, includes:
-Dante
-Two Sanguinary Priests
-Furioso Dreadnought

Note that you don't have to buy all of this stuff overnight, you build up your force slowly, so you can save money and focus painting your other models first. Start by buying the starter equipment first, then proceed to gaming equipment, and finally buy more models.

Have fun assembling and painting your Blood Angels!

AdeptusSanguine wrote:So I looked up what it means to have an "HQ" it has told me it stands for my best character.
Assuming that's correct, does that mean a character like... In my case Commander Dante?
Or just any type of leader class marine?

If you have the Codex, you can use literally anything from the HQ section as an HQ unit. But considering many warhammer players do not start off with one massive army, but slowly build up to 2000 points+. A good start would be a 1000 point list which I believe you could pull off.

Dante (Use one of your death company marines for now) 225
10 Tactical Marines Missile Launcher, Flamer 170
Assault Squad (use your four remaining DCPower Fist 287
Rhino with Extra Armor 65

That leaves you with 747 points, not a bad start since 750 point games arent all that uncommon.


For going further I would suggest what Brother Ambrosius said.

I've a question, I've been perusing my Codex and I can't seem to find any stats on any close-range melee wargear.

Any help on that?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And shields please.

PG 56 :Wargear, and the next few pages after that in your BA codex.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Combat shield is pg 62, as is Storm Sheild.

Your best bet would be to thoroughly read your codex cover to cover. It will save a lot of questions. Where it refers you to the main rulebook, look it up there

Very sorry, baaah I'm a complete mess right now.

Forgive the dumb questions, I'll be sure to think first from now on.

Not a problem

Feel free to ask questions, but reading your dex first answers a good few of them

If you've read the dex through but still not found something/figured something out we're generally pretty happy to help you find it/expain it.

Try for a tac squad with missile launcher, flamer and melta pistol + sword on the sarge. Stick them in a rhino.

Other option is to see if you have enough bits to make a 10 man assault squad (pistols and melee weapons - save the missile launcher for another time) and remove their jump packs so that they have a free rhino.

I'd then assemble the assault squad with a meltagun. Sgt with some sort of power weapon or fist

That's 2 troops which is minimum.

Then you'd need a HQ. Dante is good, Librarians are good. Just make sure to have something wiht a jump-pack

Then you have 5 more guys and 5 jump packs. You could try vanguard veterans which are pretty good for BA due to the 1d6 scatter. Death company are good too.

You also cannot go far wrong with a sanguinary priest to join your jumpy guys. (Death company don't need one!)

Finally remember that you can mix and match pieces - try not to think of the death company box as merely 'death company' but rather a 'blood angels upgrade' box.

if you feel to poor or lazy to buy the blood angels codex here is a downloadable one... <No. Do NOT post links to copyrighted material on Dakka, or you won't be around very long. --Janthkin>






P.S. i trust this site in case you are worried. i have downloaded like entire series from it.

** cue the 'we don't support copyright infringement statement' from the Mods. **


IIRC that's a no-no on Dakka..

By the way, I wouldn't recommend painting on sprue as when you clip it off there will be a rather unsightly, unpainted patch.

If you don't know what looks like what this should have most of the links with pictures for your blood angels.
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Blood_Angels_Armoury

Tappers wrote:By the way, I wouldn't recommend painting on sprue as when you clip it off there will be a rather unsightly, unpainted patch.

Indeed, not to mention it is hard as fell to remove the mould lines effectively. Plus when you cut them off, there will be spots in the places the bits were connected to the sprue.