Bloody Old

Following my game of second edition, I had a 40k itch that needed a scratch. However, I don't really have a lot of miniatures from the grim darkness of the 41st millennium hanging around. With the exception of a Venerable Dreadnought I picked up for a fiver from Vapnartak, all I had was a handful of old metal Death Company (but no chainswords, bolt pistols or jump packs), half a squad of single pose Tactical Marines (which have since been given to Matt) and my very limited pile of bits.

It was time to get a little bit creative.

 

First up was this metal heavy weapons Marine which I've had for years but never had a heavy weapon to give him. However, building a heavy support squad for 30k had left me with a few heavy bolters spare.

Admittedly, it's the wrong kind of weapon and didn't quite fit the arms perfectly, it was still something I could work with (with the help of a little filler). Additionally, one of my Tactical Squads is short of a heavy weapon, and I suspect that a heavy bolter will be a welcome addition the next time the Tyranids show up.

I should note that I've not done any transfers as I tend to save things up to do one big transfer session at a different time.

Next up is a slightly more Frankenstein piece. A 'Tech-Marine' on a bike.

When I made my Attack Trikes I was left with two bikes missing their front forks and mudguards. I was also missing the bolters. Therefore I've used some 30k bolters trimmed to fit, a spare crotch piece from a Leviathan for the front mudguard, and two zombie spears as a way to make the wheel be actually attached to the bike rather than hovering by itself.

The rider is a mix of 40k and 30k bits to make him more 'techy'. I'll hopefully be able to get him a Mechanicum transfer for his shoulder pad to strengthen the look. I think putting a Tech-Marine on a bike so he can keep up with the vehicles isn't a terrible idea, however, giving this one wound model a plasma pistol might lead to issues.

It's all a bit weird, but it's 40k so that's fine.

As I mentioned earlier, I picked up a cheap Venerable Dreadnought at Vapnartak's bring and buy and was pleased to discover that not only was it in pretty good condition, but it also came with a number of spare bits, more on this later.

After stripping the paint and cleaning up some badly clipped sprue gates I got to work covering it in red and silver paint. The previous owner had clearly decided to use every decorative piece on the sprues that they could and so there are shields and skulls in some odd places, and some of them aren't as straight as I'd like.

I did need to fashion a couple of bolters into an ad hoc storm bolter under the power fist as that was the only piece that was missing.

As mentioned earlier, there were plenty of bits that came with it and I was delighted to find that not only had it come with three weapon options: an assault cannon, a lascannon and a plasma cannon, but not of the arms had been secured, so I will be able to swap them out as I please.

The lascannon will be essential when Pete finally gets his Land Raider Spartan done for his Alpha Legion, and I think the assault cannon might find employment in pest control against the Tyranids. What's more, Mike has said he possibly has a missile launcher I can swap out for the power fist to make a focused fire-support Dreadnought.

Finally, I gave my Rhino/Razorback a storm bolter it didn't have before. Not exciting, or even codex complaint, but at least it's wysiwyg now.

 I knew I'd got my maths wrong last time. I'd deducted the Marines I gave to Matt from the acquired tally, but not from the Lead Mountain. Rest assured, this error has been addressed and from here on the figures to see will be robust and totally accurate...I think.

Acquired: -7

Painted: 63

Lead Mountain: 511