Cathar Based SM Army

So I have been thinking of starting a marine chapter for a while, but wanted to avoid the generic/vanilla armies that I always see. I am a pretty big history buff, and last year I took a trip to the city Carcassonne in southern France. Carcassonne is I believe the largest citadel city still standing in Europe. It was also home of the Cathars, a Gnostic sect of the catholic church.

The Cathars were a confederation of many houses of southern France. They participated in crusades for the church, and were able to become a weatlhy force in the region. Eventually this got them into trouble, as the Catholic church and king of France decided they wanted it for themselves. The Cathars were the target of the only crusade fought on European soil. It was a long, drawn out affair that eventually saw the Cathars defeated. Officially they were persecuted for being heretics (their Gnostic idea's did not sit well with the church), while unofficially it was essentially a land grab made by the French.

So that's the history. I thought it would be neat to base a chapter off some of the noble houses of the Cathars, using their heraldry and family names as the bases for my fluff/paint scheme. Currently, I have three Coats of Arms that I am thinking of using; The Cross of Toulouse (used by its counts, red with gold cross), the House of Tencavel (yellow and gold) or the coat for the Kings of Aragon (yellow with red vertical stripes).





An example of a model using the Trencavel color scheme:


I am thinking of two different rules sets; Black Templars or Dark Angels. They already have good fluff for crusading knights, and I think the rules may be a good fit. I am also deciding on some of the models that will be used, and I think I will try my hand at doing conversions for this army...more to follow!

Updates

It has been a long time since I have added anything on here, as life seems to have taken over. I had a week in the middle of March where I was able to get almost a dozen games in with my Brother. We had a pretty awesome time playing his Tau (a beautiful fully painted army that puts mine to shame) against my IG/WH. I also brought about 850 points of orcs, and we did a few lower point battle missions with them as well. It was great to be able to game with him, and I look forward to the next time we can meet up and do battle!

I have been in Arizona for a month and a half, and have not had much of a chance to play. I have gotten some painting done, and have finished up my 6 Death Cult Assassins for the 40K Radio April motivational challenge. I've had these girls for a long time, and it feels good to have them done!




Next up, I have some details to finish on my Callidus Assassin, and she will be done as well!

My boyz are done!

So I have built the 7 slugga & choppa boyz, 2 rokkit boys, 1 big shoota boy and 26 shoota boyz! This brings me up to the full compliment that I need for my army. Now all that remains are the lootas, bikers and wagon!

My Waaaaaghh begins!

So here is the list:
1750 Pts - Orks Roster - Ground pounding orkies 1750

HQ: Warboss
Power Klaw, Twin Linked Shoota, Stikkbombs,'Eavy Armour, Attack Squig, Bosspole

EL: 5 Lootas

TR: 9 Nobz, Big Choppa x3, Choppa x5, Power Klaw x1,Shoota/Skorcha Kombi-weapon x1; Bosspole, Painboy, Trukk w/ Big Shoota x1; Boarding Plank, Red Paint Job, Reinforced Ram, Stikkbomb Chukka

TR: 29 Boyz Choppa & Slugga, Big Shoota x3, Nob,Power Klaw,'Eavy Armour; Bosspole

TR: 29 Boyz Choppa & Slugga, Rokkit Launcha x2, Nob,Power Klaw,'Eavy Armour; Bosspole

TR: 10 Ard Boyz Choppa & Slugga, Ard Nob,Power Klaw,Bosspole

FA: 9 Warbikers, Nob, Power Klaw, Bosspole

FA: 3 Deffkoptas; Buzzsaw, TL Rokkit Launcha x3

FA: 3 Deffkoptas; Buzzsaw, TL Rokkit Launcha x3

As you can see, I have a lot to put together. The nob on the left will needs his 29 boyz with 2 rokkit launcha's. The Nob on the right will be getting two more boys which will be made into ard boyz. I also need to make all the lootas, bikers and the wagon. More to follow!

GW Annapolis

I introduced myself to the folks at my local Games Workshop in Annapolis, MD. The staff there are really friendly, and their store is pretty respectable, with 4 or 5 full sized tables. They also seem well organized, with a good listing of events.

I also went ahead and splurged by getting myself the ork megabattle box. This will give me my full ork force of 1750 (minus a painboy) I will be starting a project log detailing the full construction of my force. This will be my first army that will be built and painted from scratch, so I am stoked about it.

Goodbye to Gobstyks

I had to say goodbye to Gobstyks last night. They were a great club, with many patient gamers willing to take the time to help a new 40K player learn the ropes. Unfortunately I got tied up with work and was not able to make it for my game. It was supposed to be against the fellow who was the first opponent I had at the club, and it would have been interesting to be able to play against him as my closing match.

I did get to check out some interesting matches that were entertaining watch. Dark Eldar vs. a 3 Valk/3 Russ list that ended up being a very very close match, with DE just pulling off the win, and Tyranids chomping all over some unfortunate old school Space Wolves.

Some of the Vets that I went to Warhammer World with a couple of weekends ago hooked me up with some Gobstyks dice and a club pin, which will look great on my bag...thanks guys!

All I can hope is that I am lucky enough to find a club as good as the one I am leaving when I get to the states!

GW Lincoln Vets Night

I played a 1750 game tonight against some Ultra Marines with my valiant Charlie Company. It ended up being a draw, mostly due my inability to take out his Whirlwind Tank, and the massive damage it was able to inflict on my objective holding veteran squad. My Executioner did well in its first game (taking out multiple terminators and other troops), and my flamer veteran squad was able to prove itself yet again to pull off the draw! I also picked up a commissar, as I am thinking of running either a lord commissar as my HQ or as a commissar in one of my mobile veteran squads to add some serious punching power.

Welcome!

Hello,

This is my attempt at logging my journey as I build and play my Warhammer 40,000 armies. I currently have a couple mostly complete armies (1750 points), Witch Hunters and Imperial Guard. I also own about 1,000 points or so of Orks, but have not made much of an attempt to get them going yet. However, I have a bad habit of expanding my armies before I finish painting them.

I have been playing for less than a year, and my current goal is to finish painting/basing all my models for my armies before I move on to any others. I will also be starting to keep track of my wins and losses, which is something I have not done before. I am only recently starting to win games with any consistency.

I currently play at Gobstyks Gaming Club (http://www.gobstyks.co.uk/) in Lincoln, UK. They have been a great bunch of gamers that have been patient with my noobishness, although I will shortly be moving back to the US, and will have to find another club soon!

I will be posting army pictures, and squad by squad pictures as I finish them. Thanks for checking out my blog, and I welcome any comments!