More models to the collection

I made mention last week that I was building models just for fun.  That hasn't changed.  In fact, it's about all I can do in the hobby right now because I just went back to work and now only have a single day off each week.  Luckily, my time at the comic shop and rocking with my outstanding gaming group gives me that dedicated time I need to do anything at all right now.  After all, a hobby can be put down and ignored for a time if need be, but doesn't have to be if you make it a job.  Victory to me!

For the last two decades (and a little longer now), I have been an Ultramarines fanboy.  But the last ten years has seen me go hog-wild getting into any army I can get my hooves on.  For the last three, since retiring from the Emperor's service, I have been pretty well dedicated to my Blood Angels.  I've dabbled in some Chaos Marines, Dark Angels, Imperial Guard, and even Tau.  But I seem to find myself going back to the boys in red.  It's for no other reason than me liking the colour red so much.  When I find myself bored with an army, or simply not motivated enough to paint, I go back to the Blood Angels and goof around.  I want to pull out my Ultramarines, but they are my 'special' army and require my full attention.  But the XIIIth have some cool toys that my red boyz don't (mostly because I own everything for the Ultramarines, and usually twice- or thrice-over).

As it turns out, after building a couple of Furiosos and an Honor Guard, I wanted to copy something.  Staying with the Elites slot, I decided that the Blood Angels deserve a Sternguard Veteran squad.  I already have two Vanguard squads, so why shouldn't the Sternguard come out and play?  Initially, I was going to build a Tactical squad for the army, but I found that I didn't have enough marines laying around.  Luckily, I finally found enough (making sure to include a Mk I Veteran with an axe to act as the Sergeant).  But I realized that Sternguard are 'boss' and would come in really handy for killing all those monsters that seem to have made a resurgent come-back to the battlefields of this edition.

But wait!  I only have one squad of Sternguard in my Ultramarines!  What if I want to use a second someday?  Why not just steal the one squad and paint them red, leaving the extra bitz I found to make the Tactical squad, and leave the Ultramarines high and dry for the time being?  Well, I just can't do that.  And I surely can't use a red and a blue squad in the smurf-force if I wish to lay down the two.  And then I came up with the cunning plan (and no, it's not paint myself purple and tap-dance on a piano while singing horribly).

Has anyone ever heard of the Deathwatch Kill Teams?  I'm not talking about the RPG game from FF.  I'm talking about the Ordo Xenos squads first mentioned in the White Dwarf and then being amended in the Chapter Approved books.  This is a squad of marines, typically led by a Librarian, and chosen from different Chapters to form an elite unit and do the bidding of a particularly xenophobic Inquisitor.  While in that service, those marines gain access to significant wargear, additional training, and a ton of prestige earned while in the employ of the Holy Ordos.  That's right, they're the 'Delta Force' of the Imperium!

I had included a couple of them in my old Black Templar force.  Black armour, silver shoulder pads, and sweet multi-round-selector Boltguns marked them as special.  And therein lies my cunning plan- different ammo and universally black armour!  This means that I can use them easily as Sternguard and deploy them with my Blood Angels or my Ultramarines equally!  Sweet!  I get the unit for the army, don't sacrifice one force for another, and add a bit of 'fluff'.  And everyone knows how much I like fluff.  So I dug out my decade-old bitz for the Deathwatch (pads and bolters), slapped them on, and smiled proudly.  Sometimes I feel so smart.

The unit- 10 doods with bolters!  Who needs special and heavy weapons when you have all these rounds to choose from...

The leader of the squad- aka, the Sergeant.  Power Axe for that killing goodness!

As always, this unit will see some paint at some point and it will be displayed all over the blog.  But for now, I have them built and am eager to get them ready to go.  Here's my question for you guys- what Chapters should I paint them to be?  I know that I'm going to include the Ultramarines, Blood Angels, Dark Angels, and Space Wolves.  But that's four, so I need six more.  Better yet, which one should be the Sergeant?  Let me know, this will be up to you guys.

Until then, more models added to the growing pile of required painting...  Happy Hobbying!