This article will chronicle the development of my latest Warhammer 40,000 army. It will be presented in a journal-style that will capture my thoughts and ideas from start to finish. I'll be using many of the concepts and ideas that I have talked about in previous articles in the Beginner's Guide. Hopefully, this particular article will serve as an inspiration to other gamers as well as a resource for army building.
01/16/01 - Choosing the Army
The first step in creating a new army is deciding what army list you want to use. My selection criteria was very simple: I wanted a shooty army with lots of character that was easy to paint. After browsing through the various army books, rule books, and White Dwarfs I decided that a Space Marine Army would fit my criteria. Further analysis into the specfic space marine army lists quickly narrowed my choice down to a plain Codex: Space Marines army, a Dark Angels army, or a Salamanders army. In the end, the background material for the Dark Angels was most appealing and so I decided to join the ranks of the first Space Marine Legion.
Research
Once I had decided on my army list I spent an evening reading the Dark Angel's Codex from cover to cover. This was followed-up with some research online at the various forums and websites that deal with Dark Angels. This step is crucial for any aspiring commander. It is important to note that I did all of this research before I went to my local hobby store. This step will help you avoid any puchases that you may regret later.
01/28/01 - The Rough Outline
Having a good idea of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the Dark Angels, my next step was to create a rough army list. This initial list, was intentionally created without any points values. My goal at this stage of the game was to develop a starting point. I'd have plenty of time to refine the list later.
The Dark Angels are unique in that they have three distinct army lists to choose from. In addition to the "typical" marine list, a DA player can choose to build an all-terminator Deathwing army or an all-bike/landspeeder Ravenwing army. I already knew that I wanted a standard Dark Angel army, but I also decided that I would include elements from the Deathwing and Ravenwing.
The rough army list looks like this:
HQ
Librarian
Elites
Deathwing Termie Squad with two cyclone missile launchers
Dread with twin lascannon and close combat weapon
Troops
6 man tactical squad with veteran sergeant (lascannon and flamer) in a razorback (twin linked hvy bolter)
6 man tactical squad with veteran sergeant (hvy bolter and plasma gun) in a razorback (twin linked lascannon)
10 man tactical squad (missile launcher and meltagun)
10 man tactical squad (missile launcher and flamer)
8 man scout squad with close combat weapons
Fast Attack
2 Ravenwing landspeeders
1 attack bike
Heavy Support
Predator Annihilator
This list takes advantage of the DA's strengths while minimizing their weaknesses. It is very shooty, yet mobile. Remember that this is just a rough draft, and I'm certain that as the army begins to take shape things will change.
My next step is to refine this list and develop some tactics for the army.
