FTW: Must Have Unit

From the Warp asked us a simple question:

"This time it's an easy one... What is your MUST HAVE unit in your army?...We all have that one unit we just can't bear to go without... For some of us it's an emotional attachment, some might just think it's cool, whatever the reason, let's hear about it."

For me, at least, Ron's right...his question is an easy one. The must have unit for my Crimson Fists are Assault Marines with Jump Packs.  Simply put, Assault Marines are cheap for what they can do!

For less than 150 points, I can field a squad of 5 Fists that can hop 12inches over terrain, flamer an enemy unit and then charge in with Power Fist attacks!  Toss in a melta bomb for the Sgt and even a Land Raider is in danger. 

Crimson Fists Assault Squad Support Termies in Killing Nurgle Marines

They aren't invincible by any means and 5 marines with Packs won't break an Ork mob, but I always field them and every game they've managed to do something awesome.  Be it having a Sgt that crushes 8 Skull Bashers in a single battle or a late turn revenge charge against a Land Raider to blow it up, the Assault Marines are mobile enough and flexible enough to be where I want them, when I want them!

I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention the neat conversions you can do with Assault Marines.  I've seen amazing jump packs, cool bases and neat motion effects.  I also love the fluff that some folks have created for their Assault Marines.  For AaronB (the occasional guest author), he decided that all his Jump Marines have Beakie helms and prefer axes over chainswords.  His Sgts take Thunder Hammers instead of Power Fists...since they bash skulls so well!

Planetstrike: Crimson Fist Attacker Edition

Are folks out there playing the Planetstrike? I'm not seeing as much buzz around it...though I guess much discussion time was swallowed by the Jaws of the Wolf and Tyranid rumours. In a few weeks, I'm having some friends over to play Planetstrike on my new table and I'm in the process of finalizing 2 lists...depending on who plays attacker and who plays defender.

Here's my thoughts on an 1850 Invasion Force (Sword of Dorn Formation):
Wave 1:
Librarian Epistolary (Force Axe, Bolt Pistol)
Sternguard, Combi-Melta, Power Fist
Land Raider Crusader

Wave 2:
Ironclad Dreadnaught SH+CCW+Melta w/ Drop Pod+Beacon
10 Tacticals w/ Meltagun, ML, Power Fist, Drop Pod+Beacon
10 Tacticals w/ Meltagun, ML, Drop Pod+Beacon

Wave 3:
5 Terminators w/ Chainfist
Captain w/ Jump Pack, Power Sword, Melta Bomb
5 Assault Marines w/ Powerfist, Flamer, Melta Bomb
5 Scouts w/ Melta Bomb w/ Landspeeder Storm+Multimelta

The Sword of Dorn is all about hitting hard, fast and often! The Librarian is fielded with the Sternguard inside the Crusader. This gives me a solid core of shock troops that can hopefully burst through a line. I haven't decided on the powers for my Librarian yet, but most likely it'll be assaulty-powers and maybe the Gate. I chose an LRC over a Redeemer as that's what I have built and painted. I doubt I'll get the Redeemer done by the game. Next time though!

The Drop Pods will drop in a good sized cluster or spread out depending on the terrain set up with the Tacticals devoted to busting up vehicles or bastions. Once they are situated, the squads will then provide fire support for the next wave of assault elements: Jump Packers and Terminators. With all the power fists and meltas, I'm thinking Bastions aren't going to last long and any vehicles still around are going to get devastated. The Jump Packers and Storm also have the added benefit of being able to seize objectives on the last turn if needed. Though I'm hoping my Tacticals can hold enough objectives or the enemy has been routed!

With Planetstrike allowing assaults after Deep Strike, I'm figuring I'll have pretty much all my troops deep striking and then use the beacons to guide them in for the kill. For folks who've argued rules, I wonder how they feel about Drop Pod assaults or Landspeeder Storm assaults…my opinion is that the "deep strike" ability of the transports are conferred to the units within. So if I wanted, my Tacticals could assault after a deep strike. But that might be pushing it (and also unbalancing for the defenders maybe?). We'll see how it plays out in play.

What do folks think?

Crimson Fist Land Raider

Finally going to put up some pics of my Land Raider Crusader. This is the older Mark I model...with the metal hurricane bolters. Let me tell you...they were a pain in the butt to assemble. It's fairly standard Crimson Fist colors and not much detail. Unfortunately, many of the transfers I applied came off in transit...so I need to reapply (and get some of the Microsol suggested earlier). I've been practicing my freehand...but it still looks a bit unrefined, so I'll be continuing to use transfers until I can get the Crimson Fist to look nifty.

Can't really see here, but I did paint the interior. More drybrushed the interior up from black to a dirty-white color. I hoped using a lighter color would make it easier to see inside, but you really can't see. I did magnetize the door so it would seal shut when I closed it. I didn't like how it was always partly-open on the battlefield. Brother Whinicus would probably complain about the breeze blowing up his Terminator skirt or something. It opens and shuts now with a satisfying snap! For the Fists to rebuild, every Marine has to be a Fist first and Machine-God acolyte second! To reflect this, all my Crimson Fist Adeptus Mechanicus marines will be sporting the Fists colors and only their shoulderpad will have the Mechanicus colors. In this marine's case, he's working the Meltagun. Love that Multi-melta...especially with the Machine Spirit rules allowing it to shoot pretty much no matter how much I move.
I love the Crusader and it has seen combat against Eldar, Orks and Marine with great effect. Not only does it absorb an absurd amount of shots, it carries my Fists right into the thick of it fairly safely. For my upcoming planetstrike battle, I'm going to stuff it full of a Command Squad and a Librarian on the defense as a counterassault force and with Sternguard for an Attacker Force. Planetstrike post coming soon!
Eventually, I'm going to name her (taking suggestions...should be Spanish-esque!) and add in more banners, but for now she's battle ready!

Crimson Fist Librarian

With the weather getting colder in NY, I'm back to being inside and painting. I guess from now on, I should let folks know I might not post much in the summer. Something about that weather makes me not want to sit in front of a computer updating my blog or in front of models. You'd think with more sunlight, I'd want to paint more by natural light, but it just never happened!

I'm back in the saddle though and preparing for my first Planetstrike game (post to come). I've got bastions to build and a few Crimson Fists to assemble and prepare for the fight. With the release of the Space Wolves codex and the amount of psychic powers my local opponents have the potential to play, I've decided that my Crimson Fists need a Librarian to keep things honest. Plus it was about time I get around to painting another HQ model for my Fists!

Click for larger version

This is an older model, though I don't think he's more than a few years old. He's not available from GW catalogue anymore, but he's in the How to Paint Space Marines book. I liked him cause of the book strapped to his armor. I decided that my Crimson Fist librarians take the red fists (on both to denote veteran) and use red for the distinctive horned skull.

My Crimson Fists work as my table-ready army with experimenting…mainly cause I spend so much time on my Dark Angels. I wanted a "Vanilla" marine army that could get on the table relatively fast and didn't frighten me when it comes to painting. So I usually skimp on the work and details. No mixing too many paints, and no agonizing over color choices. I make a list and don't really deviate.

Here's detail on the Force Axe which I was fairly proud of. Previously, I tried the Sepia wash on power swords for my Vanguard, but the more I look at them, the more I think they look lazy rather than awesome. A Librarian's Force Weapon should look a little different and ancient anyway, so I tried something different (And yet...entirely by the book!). I'm considering giving the metal a wash of sepia just to make it look slightly more ancient, but I'm digging the gold detail.

For the hood/helm, I went all out, painting individual wires and highlighting them up from black primer. Camo Green, Blood Red and Sunburst Yellow were my final highlights. I'm beginning to feel much more comfortable with my highlight work. I think I might try some new techniques on future models as I have my Fists down to a science. I completed this Librarian in about 8 hours…all while watching movies (Embarassingly: Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja, The Woods and People Under the Stairs) at the same time. Prolly could go much faster on the next one if I didn't watch tv!