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Hello there friends!

Starting this blog here for a brand new project (like I need any more of those, right?). While working on my Soul Drinkers army, I noticed I needed some more parts to round out my firstborn Sternguard squad. I went online to look for some used Space Marines and found a cheap set of 10 dudes for a tenner and promptly ordered it. Upon arrival, I was pleased to see that, even after finishing the Soul Drinkers they were intended for, I still had enough parts to actually complete the whole squad of 10 Marines. Not wanting to let good minis go to waste, and seeing how they were already mostly painted, I decided to quickly finish them up. I also had an old Sergeant Octavian and Lieutenant Varras from the old Battle for Macragge (2004) starter set lying around and decided to finally paint them as well. Here’s the finished result:



That quick painting session kind of gave me an itch for more classic Macragge goodness, so I was tempted to stalk ebay for a box of the original “Battle for macragge” Starter set from 2004. I had never bought the box when it came out, but since then I was lowkey kicking myself for that, not least because a friend of mine who’s also into the hobby had one. I often saw how nice and retro the minis were, even though he had not finished painting the full set and had apparently lost parts of it unfortunately.

When I checked out the ebay results, the prices almost made me drop the idea altogether. A complete set of BfM might go up to 400 bucks, so definitely not worth it, even for a classic set. There were also the reprints from 2023, but luckily, I didn’t fall for them. They are more expensive and lack important stuff like the rulebooks, certain terrain etc. Also, the box is just a blank and boring, lacking the awesome, classic artwork. So all around a bad deal, unfortunately.

Still, I couldn’t quite let go of the idea. I kept checking ebay occasionally for a better deal, until, late one night, I stumbled upon it - the perfect offer: An original box with all the contents still present, except for the Space Marine half (which I already had) for 90€! Most of the stuff was even still on the sprue! The seller had added some other Marines and other goodies to the offer as well, so that was a nice bonus. It was almost as if this offer was meant for me, so I decided to take the hint and made the purchase.

After a few days of impatient waiting, the box finally arrived. Here’s what I got:



Ah, the beautiful cover art. This will make a nice addition to my shelf even when stored away. Just lovely, I’m so happy I found the original Alright, let’s crack it open:



I had to pick out the Space Marine parts and put them into a tub to make sure nothing went missing, as there were a lot of loose parts already. Let’s take a look at some choice bits from the awesome haul:

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There’s this guy who seems to be made of a mix of 3rd and 2nd edition Chaos Marine bits. He’s got this awesome Boltgun with decorative skulls, a very cool relic indeed, which will definitely come in handy in my bits box.



Then there’s this awesome guy with two pistols. Again, seems like 2nd edition. Also, very cool idea the original owner had to use an old Necromunda Goliath arm with autopistol on a Chaos Marine. Such a cool and thematic idea. Might even try to finish this miniature like that to honour this idea. We’ll see.



Finally, there’s this fine selection of bits: iirc, here we have a 2nd edition ork chainsword, a 2nd edition power sword and a freaking ROGUE TRADER bolt pistol Can’t believe I was lucky enough to get one of these relics in a ebay haul! There’s a lot more cool Space marine stuff there, these were just the best bits. Now, let’s move on to the other contents:



The beautiful Aquila lander terrain, still on the sprue. Can’t wait to dig into that



Then, the rulebook and the accompanying booklet for BfM. Even if the rules are outdated, the books are worth it just for the lovely artwork and pictures alone IMO. Besides, who says I can’t play the old missions with the classic rules from 4th?



Here’s the Space Marine sprue, looking pretty empty, as well as the classic blast and flamer templates. Ah, those were the days, huh?



Finally, the sprues with the ‘nids. While I’m personally not a ‘nid player, I’m very much looking forward to assembling and painting something other than Astartes for once. Should be quite the nice palate cleanser.



The seller even gave me free goodies, like a stanley cutter, some paintbrushes and even old glue Most importantly, though, the extras like the dice, measuring sticks and transfer decals are also still present. Very good. I got nothing bad to say about this trade. Even the box is still in very good shape considering it’s age. I’m all around super stoked about this purchase.



Here’s a closeup of the little decal sheet. I’ll defintely use these on the Aquila lander.

Alright, that’s all I have for now. I’m off to assemble the minis and terrain now. I’ll also have to remove a whooooole lot of mould lines and base everything, but I’m eager to get cracking! If you enjoy this blast from the past and want to see where this goes, keep your eyes peeled as I will be back with an update hopefully soon! Thanks for checking this out!

Those are some old sprues. Have fun with them!

I had traded away the nid sprue back in the day, but it returned later when my friend dropped out of the hobby. The marines are still on the shelf, but don’t see the battlefield that often. Still a fun bit of history.

Hello lad! Nice to see you taking a trip down memory lane with some old school miniatures! The blue on that first squad is really lovely- dark yet vibrant IMHO.

Thank you for all the pictures- I love ebay scores like these! Although it usually ends up in me spiraling into multiple projects and purchases