Still Alive

If my blogs are right, I put up my paint stuff right before Thanksgiving 2008 because we needed the table space. This last weekend, with Thanksgiving at my Mother-in-Law's house, I got them out and began painting again. White Templars, 1st Squad, 3rd Company, are nearing completion.

I realized and am having to relearn some things. First, I am realizing that I am two years older. The details are harder to see and my back starts hurting sooner. I'm re-realizing that white is hard to paint with: hard to highlight, hard to make look smooth, and hard to cover with when I "oops" with another color.

My paints had two years of drying in them. The black was plugged and when it let loose it spattered a lot EVERYWHERE. I spent about two hours painting as much stuff black as I could before the spill dried out.

I re-read the fluff I wrote for the white Templars and re-visited my markings and insignia decisions. Part of this was refreshing my memory. Part was, having decided they are descended from the Angels of Absolution, I wanted to start using a bit more dark green in my cloaks and robes and things. I know the Angels are basically a bone colored army, but bone on white looks dumb. I also am a big fan of consistency. My Space Marines are an Army and should look like and reflect the regimented troops they are. What I mean is this: If I am trimming the pauldrons of my veterans in black, then the Terminators and Dreadnoughts also should have solid black shoulders.

Being myself, I spent over a day thinking, planning, and sorting before I even lifted a brush. I have started numerous 40K armies and never finished painting a single one. When I first started, I played Blood Angels, mostly because no one else at my store did and they had red paint in a can. Consequently, I have two Baal Predators I never use. I began wanting to field a more "normal" Space Marine army because the BA started to feel kind of one-dimensional i.e. you assaulted. I opted to start a Storm Lord army and learned in the process just how hard it is to paint red and white side by side. Then GW published their version of Storm Lords who suddenly had yellow helmets. Mine had black faces, thighs and upper arms kind of like the White Panthers. I thought about going forward with mine and saying it was company tradition, but then they became part of the White Scar geneseed and I'm not a big fan of bikes - you pay almost twice as much for a model that dies just as easily. About then Armageddon came out and I discovered the Salamanders. My Salamanders are green and black (black face masks, thighs, and upper shoulders. They probably represent my largest single contingent of Space Marines - six tackle trays, about half of which are painted and the rest are primered black. With the latest Edition of 40K, I decided to start a new Space Marine Army, probably more drop pod based, eventually coming to call it the White Templars. I liked the "Stormtrooper" look and the insignia of the White Templars. The are my current babies. And I also have small forces of Tau and Dark Elder.

The point of the previous paragraph is simply that my stock of Space Marines stuff while extensive, is also very mismatched. For example, I have 4 dreadnoughts. 1 is green and black and finished. One is half red and half white and mostly finished. One is primered black. One is primered white. I have three Land Speeders. The Typhoon is half red and half white and finished. One is green and black and un-assembled. One is black primered and un-assembled. I have two assembled rhinos, one black and green and one that is half red and half white. The same is true for bikes, Predators, and the Marines themselves. It makes things very difficult when organizing. I've scavanged 80% or so of the old Blood Angels but the things that are left mostly cannot be scavanged like the Baal Predators or assault marines who are cast with BA markings. Red and white also took a heavy hit. Mostly now I've got White Templars and Salamanders (Or Salamander successors). I plan to keep both. Sallies tend to be solid and oriented towards heavy firepower. I'm thinking the Templars will be either a drop pod army, an assaulty army, or a shooty army. Lack of focus is my Achilles heel.

Also after much discussion on sites like Bolter and Chain Sword, I decided my White Templars are not descended from the Black Templars or Dorn. Nor are they Ultramarine stock. They are from the Angels of Absolution and thus descended from the Dark Angels. However, as a later founding, they are, at least at this point, a Codex Chapter. I hope GW doesn't decide to write them up now.

My Sallies (or Salamander descendants of an unknown name) are going to continue to keep the majority of the heavy stock. They will be mechanized, tank heavy, and melta happy. Hammers and salamander skin cloaks.

So isn't it odd that at this point, the stuff that would not require drastic alterations in order to become part of the White Templars are three rhinos, two thundercannon, two dreadnoughts, and maybe ten bikes? What a world.