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Disclaimer: This tutorial is for those who are not afraid of "being cheap".

The purpose of this thread is to transform Dark Vengeance (DV) Starter Set into a somewhat competitive 2000 point army Chaos under $40 a month in 6 months.
Any comments are welcome.
It is assumed that you have an unbuilt DV set already, if not, the price is about $100, $115 if you need glue and wire clippers.

(Start of Month 1)
Total investment so far is $99 after buying DV. Total points built is zero.
Buy 10 cultists, bringing the cultist count to 30. Cost is $20.
The rest of this month is dedicated to building the models already bought. Also, speculate which Chaos God(s) you want, and your army colors. This is just what seems cool to you, as you do not actually have the Chaos Codex yet.
At the end of the month, you should have:
1 Helbrute
1 Chaos Lord
30 Cultists
6 Chosen
Rulebook
Templates
Dice


(Start of Month 2)
Total investment is $119. Money in pocket is $60 (20 from the last month and 40 for this month).
Buy the codex for $50.
With the money left over, buy one jar of liquid green stuff, for $4.
This month is dedicated to adjusting to the codex and also green stuffing the Dark Angels' symbols out.

At the end of the month, you should have the following that you can play to test how your army will work:
1 Helbrute
1 Chaos Lord
30 Cultists
6 Chosen
Rulebook
Templates
Dice
Codex

Not yet finished:
Terminators
Sorcerer
2nd Lord
10 Chaos Space Marines
Chaos Bikes


(Start of Month 3)
Total investment is $173. Money in pocket is $46 (6 from the last month and 40 for this month).
Buy your first resin model, a Nurgle Daemon Prince. This will cost $37, get super glue it's $6.
This month is dedicated to building the Daemon Prince and hammering down your paint scheme and Chaos God.

At the end of the month, you should have the following built:
1 Helbrute
1 Chaos Lord
30 Cultists
6 Chosen
Rulebook
Templates
Dice
Codex
Daemon Prince

Not yet finished:
5 Terminators
1 Sorcerer
2nd Lord
10 Chaos Space Marines
3 Chaos Bikes


(Start of Month 4)
Total Investment is $216. Money in pocket is $43 (3 from last month, 40 for this month).
Buy 1 can of spray primer, if you need more, you can get it next month. Also, get a few colors of paints and a wash, and a brush or 2.

Primer = $16
Paint = $4 a jar
Brushes= average of $7 per brush, get the basic brush and a drybrush…
Get no more than 4 jars of paint.

(Start of Month 5) Money in pocket is $41 (1 from last month, 40 from this month).
Just paint all of your current models this month, do not buy anything.

(Start of Month 6) Money in pocket is $81 (41 form last month, 40 from this month)
Buy a landraider, and whatever else you need to round out this force. I found a terminator base, and made a chosen model become Typhus.

When it is all said and done you will have:

2 Lords
1 Helbrute
30 Cultists
6 Chosen
Rulebook
Templates
Dice
Codex
Daemon Prince
5 Terminators, with a land Raider
1 Sorcerer
10 Chaos Space Marines
3 Chaos Bikes

Depending on the upgrades this list becomes 1500-2000 points easily.

If I were to have kept going, I would have bought a defiler next, then gotten a terminator Lord or just more terminators...

I like what you're doing. Alot of basic models in a typical CSM army.

What I would add:

At the start of the second month when the codex is bought I suggest to have the person make a list but do not act on it.

Then during the 4th month, after they've played with what models they have to revisit the list and fix it, to make tweeks and then start purchasing off their own list

Last month, skip the LR, buy a Hellturkey, boom the list is competitive (if you believe what the Internet tells you)

Really though, the terminators can DS with cheap combi weapons and with some converting, the DV assault can makes a nice Reaper autocan, there's no need for a Land Raider. I think that $81 can be better spent elsewhere.

EDIT: also, forgot you can only get the Godhammer pattern Chaos Land Raider, which has no idea what it's doing on the tabletop, so I'd definitely recommend using that money on something else

Everything else looks great/awesome though! I'd love to see someone start a hobby blog following this template

Yeah… the Helldrake is probably a better investment than the land raider… This is just what I sort of ended up doing with a Dark Vengeance

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and suggestions!

This looks a little like the old white dwarf article with fatbloke where they were allowed to spend £50 a month on a fantasy army and keep the readership updated each month about their purchases. I seem to recall the armies were beastmen (fatbloke), wood elves (gav thorpe I think), bretonians and skaven. They did an epic battle at the end between the forces of good and evil. One of the best white dwarf articles I ever read.

I honestly never knew that white dwarf did that!
Also, thanks again for all of the comments!

Ryan

It was about 10 years ago to be fair. I like your guide. Its nice!

I like the idea, Iv been thinking about doing the same with the Dark Angels, may need to plan ahead now, fortunately i havbe paints etc, but based on a similar budget would be

month 1- tactical squad
month 2- ravenwing squad
month 3 deathwing squad
month 4- named hero depending on direction

Use the green stuff to turn the termi into oblits and marines into plague marine and that will increase the value and competitiveness of this army.