Lost in the Warp

I have been lots in the Warp for some time. A series of real-life events robbed me of the time and inclination to blog.

Now I am back. Bigger, badder and smellier than ever!
I was recently honoured with the title of Chapter Master by the Emperor's Pride, which means that hobby related activities has become much more important as I am no longer only responsible for enabling my own hobby but also that of others.

I continue working on the Iron Hands and progress is steady. Here is a groupshot:

I am also working on an Iyanden Eldar army with 1 Wraithseer, 2 Wraithlords, 3 Warwalkers, 10 Rangers and lots of Wraithguard. Problem is, Wraithguards are HIDEOUSLY expensive and the one I tried to sculpt myself (for casting) turned out really ugly. So, until I find a solution, I think this army is on hold. I will post some progress pictures some time soon, though.

Finally it seems that the Necrons are getting an update! Yay! Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy any of the stuff. Oh, well. EP will get a copy of the Codex and I can use my existing army for a while, I guess.

Unceasing vigil, eternal contempt

In the words of noble Farnsworth:”Good news everybody!”

I have secured the pistons for the left leg. Yay! I haven’t actually gotten them yet but I am confident that it won’t be long.

In other, but related news:
I peeled off the front of the sarcophagus and re-built the legs. I managed to shave a few centimeters off in the hip as well so he is less gangly now.

I have put supports in place for the shoulder-armor. I decided to not use the Space-Marine-like pauldron I made and instead go for something like a hybrid between a Titan carapace and pre-Heresy Terminator shoulderpads. I haven’t built them yet but they will start at the eagle and follow the shoulder curve towards the front.

I also gave him two Hunter-killer missiles. They are mounted on support-struts with eagle-heads,

The front of the sarcophagus is rather different from the previous one but I feel this one conveys the age and power of the Dread Commander better. He is encrusted in purity-seals, Iron Hands iconography and aquilas like you won’t believe. And I am just getting started!

Finally, he has gotten some armoring for the vital waist-pivot. I haven’t gotten around to putting bling on that but hooo-boy, it’ll be sweet. A bas-relief? A ton of purity-seals? Litanies of hatred and ontempt inscribed into the adamantium? Adds for sponsors? Who knows!

Interred He serves, forever loyal

More wip pictures and stuff!

A series of mockups. Much bluetack was hurt in the production of these pictures. Also, I need bits for the second leg and the Assault-cannon arm.

Twice the height of a normal dreadnought. I may have to remove the hip-joints (black part on the middle) and only use the Defiler-waist above it..

Side/rear shot of the leg. I am rather proud of its construction but I still need a piston for the shin. I probably also could cut out a bit of the thigh, to lower him further.

Here’s a better picture of him solo.

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With the help of my Battle-Brothers from Emperor’s Pride, I have come up with some homebrew rules for the old boy. I am told they are fairly balanced but feel free to comment or suggest!

HQ: Dread Commander Tirakhal   Cost: 200 pts

WS: 6 BS: 5 St: 6/10 FA: 13 SA: 13 RA: 11 In: 4 At: 2(4)  Veh Save: 5++

Walker; Extra Armor; Hunter Killer Missile x2; Smoke Launchers; Space Marine; Walker, Venerable, Mechanicus Protectiva, Servo-Arm, Doubt is for the Weak!, Blessed by the Omnissiah
Twin Linked Assault Cannon

2 x Heavy Flamer
Dreadnought CCW                                         
Servo-Arm (Dreadnought CCW)                                         
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Blessed by the Omnissiah - as Blessing of the Omnissiah but can also be used to repair self.
Mechanicus Protectiva - Refractor field, grants 5+ Invulnerable save
Servo-Arm - Dreadnought-sized Servo-arm. Counts as an extra DCCW.
Doubt is for the Weak! - Friendly units within 6" are Stubborn.

Take cover!

A friend requested wip pictures so here they are. That is all.

Ok, so you made a custom shoulder pauldron. Great.
Oh! That’s a big one!
Oh! Venerable Dreadnought on the right, Dread Warleader Tirakhal of the Iron Hands on the left.

There, there little brother…
The Dread Warleader will get pauldrons and a custom twin-linked assault-cannon. Weapons and lower legs will be modeled after Titan designs.

The 10th Legion never forgets

Ok, so I have not posted anything in a dogs age, sorry. I haven’t been completely inactive however.

Sorry about the quality of the pictures, it was a quick edit. All of these are in various stages of progress, from freshly assembled to nearly done. I would like to have finished one squad at a time but since I had to order many of the parts online, I opted to work with what I have when I have it, rather than wait for everything to arrive.

At present I am waiting for power cables from Black Cat Bases, 1 Iron Hands Squad box, 2 Drop Pods, 1 Techmarine with Servitors box and a Space Marine Assault Squad.

So, a small progress report with many pictures. Or a long one with little text? You decide.

Veteran SergeantIron Hands Marine

MeltagunnerIron Hands Marine

Veteran Sergeant

Iron Hands Marine

Iron Hands Marine

Iron Hands Plasmagunner

Iron Hands Marine with Powersword

Iron Hands Marine

Iron Hands Marine

Iron Hands Razorback

Iron Hands Gunservitor

Iron Hands Devastator Sergeant with Signum

Iron Hands Devastator Sergeant with Signum

Iron Hands Terminator with Chainfist and Combi-Flamer

Iron Hands Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher, Powerweapon and StormbolterIron Hands Techmarine

Iron Hands Venerable Dread Commander Tirakhal

Iron within, Iron-waaitaminute…

Yes, I know that the loyal Iron Hands may superficially have apparent slight similarities with the traitorous Iron Warriors. But I assure you, there is no connection.
I have refined the Iron Hands list a bit, with the aid of the indomitable Keizer (who apparently have the ear of the deity), and have come up with a slightly more aggressive list. I will add that to the end of the post, for those interested. The reason for this is mainly that the list I had made relied on combat-squads and Codex: Space Wolves don’t allow that =/
Also, this list should be a bit more aggressive and competitive.
I have made a preliminary guess as to the cost of this army and it is a bit more steep than expected. This is because of all the conversions and 3rd party bits. Still, I am in no particular hurry. I give myself a year.
This year I hope to play my Daemons of Slaanesh at Emperor’s Chosen and perhaps next year the Iron Hands. Unless GW releases some cool new stuff. And you know they will. *cough*Grey Knights*cough*Necrons*cough*
Enough of that. Next post I expect to list some of the bits and 3rd-party retailers I plan on using.
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1600 Pts - Space Wolves Roster

HQ: Warleader Tirakhal(1#, 270 pts)
1 Bjorn the Fell-Handed (Smoke Launchers; Wolf Tail Talisman; Dreadnought CCW; Heavy Flamer; Plasma Cannon; Ward of the Primarch, Banner)

Elite: Wolf Guard Pack (5#, 255 pts) Added to various squads as “Veteran Iron Hands Marine”

Elite: Techmarine Puritus (4#, 120 pts)
1 Iron Priest @ 120 pts (Runic Armour; Servo Arm; Bolter; Thunder Hammer; 1 Servo Arm)
3 Thrall-servitors (Servo Arm x1; Plasma Cannon x2)

Troops: Tactical Squad Honour (6#, 120 pts)
5 Grey Hunters Pack @ 120 pts (Meltagun; Razorback) 1 Veteran Iron Hands Marine (Power Armour; Combi-Meltagun x1; Power Fist x1), 1 Razorback (Twin Linked Heavy Bolter)

Troops: Tactical Squad Valor (6#, 120 pts)
5 Grey Hunters Pack @ 120 pts (Meltagun; Razorback)
1 Veteran Iron Hands Marine (Combi-Plasmagun x1; Power Fist x1)  
1 Razorback (Twin Linked Heavy Bolter)

Troops: Tactical Squad Pride (9#, 165 pts)
8 Grey Hunters Pack @ 165 pts (Plasmagun; Drop Pod)
1 Veteran Iron Hands Marine (Terminator Armour; Combi-Plasmagun; Chain Fist) 1 Drop Pod (Storm Bolter)

Troops: Tactical Squad Faith (9#, 165 pts)
8 Grey Hunters Pack @ 165 pts (Flamer; Drop Pod)
1 Veteran Iron Hands Marine (Terminator Armour; Combi-Flamer; Thunder Hammer) 1 Drop Pod (Storm Bolter)

Heavy Support: Devastator Squad Hatred (6#, 140 pts)
5 Long Fangs Pack @ 140 pts (Missile Launcher x5)
1 Squad Leader, 1 Veteran Iron Hands Marine (Terminator Armour; Power Weapon; Storm Bolter; Cyclone Missile Launcher)

Heavy Support: Vindicator - Scion of Mars (1#, 125 pts)
1 Vindicator @ 125 pts (Siege Shield)

Heavy Support: Predator - Fury of Medusa (1#, 125 pts)
1 Predator @ 125 pts (Dozer Blade; Autocannon; Lascannon (each side))

Total Roster Cost: 1600

From dark to black in 8 seconds flat

Ok, so I listened this podcast where the hosts made an Iron Hands armylist consisting of 2 Masters of the Forge with Conversion Beamers, 6 Venerable Dreadnoughts, Rifleman pattern and some stuff. I thought this sounded like a cool and fluffy and fun list, so I started researching the Iron Hands.
Unfortunately, I found out that the list was rather un-fluffy for several reasons. First off, the Iron Hands apparently have rather few Dreadnoughts and revere what few they have, even more than the other Chapters do. Most of their Dreadnoughts and Tactical Dreadnought Armors (Terminators) were lost in the early days of the Horus Heresy and I have found no sources saying that they have been restored. Additionally, the book “Iron Hands” clearly state that the left hand on an Iron Hands Dreadnought is always a close-combat weapon with a storm-bolter. This precludes the Rifleman-pattern, which is a twin-linked Auto Cannon on either side.
Just to confound me even further, I learned that the Iron Hands very rarely deploy their Terminators as a squad. Instead they prefer to have their Terminator brothers lead the Tactical squads into battle as Sergeants do in other Chapters. Further, because they so revere their Dreadnoughts and their experience, it is no uncommon for a Dreadnought to lead Iron Hands into battle. Lastly, there is a quote in Codex: Space Marines that sets a precedent for Iron Hands preferring Razorback transports.
So. I need a Codex that allows me to field Terminators as squad-upgrades, has a Dreadnought as HQ choice and can field Razorback transports.
You should already know the answer - Codex: Space Wolves.
I am going to avoid the more Wolf-like units and abilities, like Cyberwolves, Thunderwolves, etc.
This is the list as it stand at the moment:
Unit
Counts As
HQ
Bjorn the Fell-Handed
Dreadnought Warleader. Maybe even Bannus himself! With Twin-linked Lascannon like Bannus
Elite
3 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armor
Squad-leaders for Tactical Marines. No upgrades.
Venerable Dreadnought with Twin-linked Lascannon
Iron Priest
Techmarine with 4 Servitors (2 w. Plasma Cannon)
Troops
3x10 Grey Hunters
As Tactical Marine Squad. Upgrades: 1 Powerfist (modeled as a Servoarm), Flamer, Meltagun. Transport: Razorback w. Las/Plas, Dozer Blade.
Heavy
Either:
5 Long Fangs, 4 Missile Launchers
Veteran Devastators
or
1 Vindicator

The Tactical Squads will combat-squad and deploy separately. Half in Razorbacks, half on foot with Terminators. Footsloggers get the Flamer and Razorback-squad gets Melta and Powerfist. The Dreadnoughts will be deployed together-ish with the Techmarine as backup. From then on, I havent the foggiest notion what will happen. I have not played Space Marines since Rogue Trader =)

Let me know what you think!