Hi friendos, by now you know the drill. If not, have a gander at the introduction post of the Road to Nova series or one of the prior posts by the talented TheChirugeon/ANAmal.net/Corrode
New Poster, who dis?
Unlike other people who are taking part in this series, I only took the plunge into 40K with the advent of 8th edition after numerous failed starts. This makes me a bit of the novice to all this, despite being a longtime fan of the universe via reading Black Library books or playing games like Dawn of War or Space Marine.
I got into 40K with a Primaris Blood Ravens force, but quickly found the play style a bit castley and list building a bit one dimensional (Hellblasters++). By the end of 2018, I had set my heart on starting a Genestealer Cult army just in time for the release of their new codex.
The call to adventure
While madly assembling and painting up the new force, I was listening to the 40K Badcast,hearing all about Nova and the Nova Narrative. I really wanted to be a part of that experience, but flying to the US to play Warhams seemed a tad impractical.
So when the hotel tickets went up at the venue earlier this year, I asked my wife on a whim if I could go – fully expecting her to say no.
She didn’t.
Crossing the threshold
When tickets went up at 1AM local time on a Saturday morning, after much furious clicking, I was fortunate enough to get into both the Nova Narrative and the AT Princeps Formal. In my mind, this would be great motivation to paint up two both fledgling armies and meet some cool people.
I didn’t however fully think about how much effort getting two armies ready in time is going to be.
The road of trials
Genestealer Cults
After nearly six months, I managed to finish painting 1250 points of GSC for their first event at my local club. I had a blast, learning heaps and looking forward to playing many more games with the army. The main challenge now is deciding how to expand the army and getting it painted in time.
I had been flirting with the idea of getting a Baneblade chassis tank to complement my Tank Commanders in a Supreme Command detachment. But if I do that I feel I have stopped playing the Cult and started playing mostly Guard. Maybe later for Apocalypse…
The idea that I like the most at the moment from both a fluff and competitive perspective is an Ascension Day army, with loads of allied Genestealers rushing the enemy’s front lines. If I run them as Kraken the turn one charges could be quite filthy. This option has two main downsides
- Painting up the 50 Genestealers I have on sprue in time
- Fitting a Tyranid detachment with my GSC + and Tank Commanders in 2000 points will be rather snug
I think I’ll start with assembling the Genestealers and having a few test games to see if I like the playstyle enough to justify painting up another horde in time.
Xestobiax
A friend of mine introduced me to Adeptus Titanicus and convinced me to join him late last year. I was a big fan of how important each decision was, and the cinematic way the game plays. After rushing to get the previously mentioned GSC army ready, I’ve had no time to paint or play more than a handful of games.
At this point I still need to decide on pretty much everything. I am leaning towards something revolving around a Venator or Regia maniple, as Warhounds are my jam. I’ll need to catch up with the recent Doom of Molech release and get cracking on painting, otherwise I won’t stand a chance.
Entering the Abyss
Ideally, by my next post I will have a better idea of what I’m doing and have some progress to show for it. Here’s hoping my plan involves more than just banking on the Contrast paint range solving all my problems.
