Do you have a problem with shopping and a certain resin company in England? You’re not alone, come see!
Via Myles from ‘Lil Legend Studios (who has a shopping ‘problem’ as well).
Scrolling through the Forge World website and adding stuff to the cart is one of my internet sins (although not the worst if you talk to my web browser…).
I’ll just add a Sicaran to the order, and a contempt – every legion needs a contemptor and I must order a few arms for him so I can magentise them and swap them around game to game…and maybe a legion praetor to treat myself. Oh, if I add a set of shoulder pads I qualify for free shipping. Again.
It’s no secret that Forge World goods are a luxury niche item. You can make the argument that scuba diving is a much more expensive hobby, or that Golf course fees alone would cover the cost of several legions, but it doesn’t hurt any less when click that buy button. Where to start is a big question that many people stumble over when they first consider taking the plunge into a Heresy collection. You don’t want to spend several hundred pounds on miniatures that you would only feasibly use in apocalypse games, or be sequestered to the draw once your legion finally gets its upgrade packs and rules. There are a few simple guidelines you can follow to help you over this hump and make your first purchase.
1) Analyse your intentions.
What is the primary reason for buying this force? There are probably multiple but it helps sharpen your reason if you just choose the one. Are you buying this force to play with? Do you have an active gaming club in your area that you would like to introduce to Heresy? If so write a list (around 2k points that can scale down to 1500 ideally) and start buying toward that. Do you wish to recreate a specific moment in the Heresy? The mass assault of the Empreror’s children on the Laern homeward, or the spear tip of the Luna wolves make excellent themes. Thankfully the rules have been written to make such ‘historical’ list competitive in play so you will not feel like you have sold stymied your chances of winning in game. Do you just like the models and want some cool frigging miniatures? Then go buy that super model – if you save up during the month even a minimum wage income will be sufficient to buy these.
2) Plan a budget and save.
The Age of Darkness podcast have an excellent episode where they budget out a 2,500 point force and whatever advise I give here would be a reiteration of that. It’s episode 5 – go check it out.
And there’s always pride of the Legion. A couple of Terminators squads, a Land Raider and a Primarch will give you a cheap force that will get you gaming quickly.
3) If my legion hasn’t been released, keep it simple.
One of the major barriers to entry is that your preferred legion has not been released yet. How disparaging would it be to paint up 20 tactical marines only for Forge World to release an awesome shoulder pad with legion iconography? Well every legion runs tactical squads. Every Legion has multiple heavy support options (even those with limited amounts of super heavies will have at least some. So, keep it simple. Buy yourself a tactical squad in a rhino with a commander to lead the force. Buy a land raider and some terminators. These units are ubiquitous and will be used in some capacity in your collection even if their role becomes limited later on.
Thankfully Forge World are releasing rules of the remaining legions (save space wolves and Thousand sons) by the end of the year so you will have a clearer idea of what you would like to include in your force.
4) Don’t be afraid of what Forge World may release in the future.
Across the legions there are a myriad of different fighting formations and warrior clans. If you have a cool idea for a conversion in your head – do it. For example I have the idea that Sanguinary guard operate in a very different way in the Heresy. In my minds eye I imagine them to be mobile breachers, using shields to get in close to lacerate their foes with short encarmine blades. If the rules do not reflect this once the rules set is released – no big deal. I’ll adapt them and use them as something else.
So with the best of intentions I start buying. As a Blood Angel player I can expect the list to reflect the IX love of swift assaults on enemy positions. But I wish to theme the force as if it were fighting on the ramparts of terra. So my first purchase is a good trusty unit of 20 Tactical Space Marines armed with bolters. I mix the armour marks to represent that supply lines to loyalist forces have been cut a long time ago, and older marks of armour as well as the infamous mark V, have been pressed into front line service. I have also assembled the marines to have mixed armour to show that they have had to scavenge the battlefield for working copies of battle damages plates.
Knowing that these marines will be on Terra I make the decision to model the bases with fallen masonry, statues and destroyed architecture. The phrase “The final battle of mankind is fought across the million, million statues of Empire” has stuck with me, and I’d like to go about representing it.
My second purchase is a Legion Champion, which handily comes with a master of Signals. These purchases with form the corner stone of any legion force and will let me play small engagements, or Zone Mortalis.
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of LostSouls.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
