Saturday, June 4, 2011

Idiosyncracies of the Space Marine Army List

I was putting down on paper, or rather on my pc, the models I had and calculating what I'd have to play with in terms of points.  I found that there are only three required models in a Space Marine Army:  A Lieutenant, a Medic, and a Librarian.

That's right, you could field a Space Marine Army with only three models...

Another potential issue has to do with how the Squads are equipped.  The list allows for different weaponry for the squads, but if (for example) you swap out a Flamer for a Graviton Gun in a Tactical Squad, you have to swap ALL your Flamers for Graviton Guns...and that's a problem.  I already had an issue because Tactical Squads aren't allowed to take Heavy Bolters (I was able to reorganize squads a bit).

The problem I'm seeing is that there isn't a lot of RT era models out there, and beggars can't be choosers.  I'm leaning towards not using that rule, but then we enter the murky world of House Rules.

I've decided to create a document that isn't House Rules per se, but rather a "Gentleman's Agreement" as to which rules will be used in a given game.  Of course, I could just throw the WYSIWYG rules right out and this particular issue goes away.  This isn't the best answer, either.  Thumbing through the Imperial Army...I mean Imperial Guard list, I could easily see things that make less sense.  4 Tactical Squads as a minimum requirement seems a bit drastic.  It seemed drastic back when I was playing RT as a kid, too.  I'm not too sure that most of the army construction rules were factored into the cost of units.  The Platoon system seemed less like a balance thing and more like an aesthetic thing. 


Another interesting thing is my Space Marine Scouts that I have.  Old school models that never had rules in 1st Edition.  What I've decided to do is to put them in my 3rd Tactical Squad (my so called "Ugly Squad" due it being a dumping ground for my less favorite or problematic models).  1st Edition allows for splitting Space Marine Squads (a feature that I'd either forgotten or never realized) and I thought that it would be ok to have those five models separate from their Tactical Squad to "scout ahead"...Their armaments are pretty close to regular Space Marines, so I don't think it will be that much of a problem for opponents.

On the painting front, all models are built, assigned to a role (more or less) and primed.  Today I took a step in painting the vehicles that I think will help.  I found a can of Royal Blue spray paint that I'd purchased a while ago to make Warmachine Tokens and I hit the tanks with it.  A quick drybrush of Exile Blue (from the P3 line) and an Inking with straight Blue Ink (I still have several bottles of GW Blue Ink, and P3 makes Blue Ink) gets the color I'm looking for.  Now for the red...

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