#NewYearNewArmy – the story so far…

As the calendar now says ‘February’, I had a quick review of my hobby progress for the last month.

The plan was to paint up a 25 power Astra Militarum combat patrol in January:

Obligatory Before shot

So how did I actually do?:

Errm…

Combat Patrol – yes. 25 Power – no. I finished up the month on 19 with a half painted Heavy Weapons Squad and a primed Infantry Squad left to go. There were some changes to the plan like swapping the platoon commander, command squad, and one infantry squad out for the bullgryns and special weapons squad. This should’ve made it easier as there were fewer models to paint, but unfortunately hobby time and motivation was a bit more limited. Nevermind, Per Ardua Ad Astra as they say in the RAF.

I’ve set my plan for February:

Firstly, there’s the unfinished models from January to complete the Combat Patrol:
– Infantry Squad (Troops)
– Heavy Weapons Squad (Heavy Support)

I’ve decided that the aim for February will be promoting my Patrol into a Battalion Detachment:

The completed Combat Patrol has two Troops and two HQ so I need to up the troops by one to meet the minimum requirements for the Battalion.

I’ll be drafting in another Infantry Squad in the form of some Escher gangers. These represent a conscripted hive gang (EDIT: I was sure that I remembered a unit entry for hive gangers in 3rd edition – it was in Codex: Armageddon). The kit handily comes with enough lasguns for six of them, two autoguns I’ll be converting to more lasguns, and the bitz box will be providing another special weapon of some kind. This squad will max out the troops choices in the Patrol Detachment at three.

A Battalion gives me another HQ choice, so a Company Commander fits the bill here. It’ll be usable in Kill Team Commander missions too. Once he’s done, I’ll have another four Elite slots open up (why does the Guard codex have so many Elites?!) to fill out my command structure.

Colour Sergeant Kell plus the platoon commander and command squad from the original January plan provide three out of four. Commissar Severina Raine rounds out the fourth (encouraged by LeadBalloony’s Fembruary Challenge).

So what about that Van Saar box and the Ratlings from Blackstone Fortress?

Initially I was just going to use the Van Saar for another conscripted infantry squad, but now they are going to form the basis of another detachment. To do this, the unit of ten will be broken down into a unit of five Scions, a command squad of four Scions, and a Tempestor Prime. A HQ, Troops, and Elites in one box of ten models! Plus they also fit into Kill Team!

They will act as the personal elite commandos of my Rogue Trader, much like the Fedaykin of Paul Muad’Dib in Dune.

Quite a bit of Necromunda seems to be inspired by this old David Lynch movie.

Joined by Rein & Raus from Blackstone Fortress as a second Elite choice (also usable in Kill Team), this detachment can be filled out in future months. I may even get them a Valkyrie to potter about in.

Happy February!