1850 Ultramarines
Now that I got the eye candy out of the way, here is his list.
Chaplain with Plasma Pistol
Librarian with Avenger and Null Zone and Storm Shield
10 man tactical with las canon, flamer and rhino
10 man tactical with rhino, fist, multi melta and melta
5 man tactical with razorback with TL las
Predator with autocannon turret and las sponsons
Ironclad Dread with Heavy flamer
land raider crusader with Extra armor and multi melta
5 assault terminators as pictured
5 Legion of the Damned with Meltagun and Plasma Cannon
First some background on Stanton. I met him two years ago when I transferred to this school. He ran an after school club where his kids painted roman gladiator type models and played a game with them in an arena. He is also the creator of a game called Gnome Wars, which is sort of like 40k, but way less relaxed on the rules part. Leprechauns are an army for example, and throw pumpkins for grenades.
So it was easy for Stanton to jump into 40k when he started coming around my room and seeing me messing with my Blood Angels and working on projects. This year our plan was simple. Take a total 40k nooby with wargaming experience, and turn him into a tournament contender. First of all I made him a competitive list drawing on units he liked from the SM Codex. I would never suggest some one jump into 40k and not play models he liked after all! He liked the termies and chaplain so those were a no brainer, but he very much liked the damned based on some pics he found over at
Dark Future Games blog. By the way his LoD are without a doubt the sexiest I have ever seen.
Jim liked my furioso and wanted to play one and we filled out his army with effective units, an ac/las pred and tactical squads with transports. By no means is this list an over the top uber list, but I know I could take it to a tournament and win games with it. Plus it was straight forward and reduced his tactical options to just a couple. Aim the Land Raider, send it forth, and shoot the crap out of any thing that can destroy it. Have the Damned meet up the termies on the other side. Simple!
Before painting his Ultramarines, he had never painted a 40k model. His first attempt was an assault squad, which he sprayed with a bad batch of blue primer and got the dreaded sand paper effect. Fail. But with some direct tutorial by me, he was able to get his army ship shape! Notice the red tabbards on the Sergeants. What kind of mentor would I be without influencing him into painting at least some red on his marines. :) The rest is pure Stanton. He decided early that he wanted to go with an extreme highlight approach. I showed him different styles online, and on my own work. I showed him my original extreme highlights, and my more recent "wet blended" stuff that has very few highlights at all. He wanted to take my approach and master the touch needed to edge first, then work into blending and shading.
The biggest difference he noticed right from the start was the incredible difference in level of detail between 40k models and the gladiator models he was painting before. Even basic space marine troops are heavily detailed. It took him some time to accept the idea that the better he wants to be, the more he will have to pick out every detail. We practiced on some Black Reach marines. He would paint some, and I would at the same time, then we would compare. I could use my examples to correct his painting and improve his work which drastically reduced the learning curve.
From there I showed him hand painting techniques for his Ultra symbols, and other techniques like painting bone and parchment and blammo! Welcome to 40k Stanton!
But that was only part of it. I also had to teach him how to play. For incentive, I made him sign up for a singles tournament that happened last weekend. Due to the mass amounts of snow days, we had little time to prep him though. All I managed to do was get him on a table and teach him the basic mechanics of 40k. WS, BS, etc. Then we were off to the tournament!
Before it started we had a little time so I spent two hours going over some advanced tactics, and possible responses to varied armies. Playing against Tau is a different game than playing against Blood Angels after all. Then it was game time!
In his first game he landed against a tough opponent with a good Blood Angels army. My buddy Bill! Who proceeded to table him in just a few turns. But thats ok. Jim learned a lot in defeat and would luckily be at the bottom of the heap for round two.
Then he drew a newer Tau player. Game on. I did not get a chance to watch most of the game, but from what I saw, his Legion of the Damned sgt accounted for no less than 44 dead fish heads. His Land Raider got popped in the middle of the table and the termies drew most of the fire, while the damned went on a rampage. Not long later, Stanton had his first 40k win and a life time record of 1-1. Not bad man.
Going into game three he wound up vs a Black Templar army played by a fairly experienced opponent. Jim was in for a fight. But following the basic 40k tactics I showed him he managed to pull out a win! 2-1 lifetime. Fantastic! So he went to his first tournament, played his first 3 full games of 40k ever, placed 6th overall, and got 2nd best sportsman. Not a bad day at all.
I have to say that I was pretty proud. He scored very well in painting, and on the tables. Now Fritz is in real trouble. I don't even need to try to corral him on the tables any more. I can let my padawan take care of my light work while I go for tougher prey. :)
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