Ish

Inner NE Portland, Alberta Arts neighborhood.

The Mentor Legion are a 26th Founding Chapter, so there's some precedent in the canon for having Loyalist Chapters of later foundings using the Legion name. Although if you wanted to go with the sort of faux Latin that GW has been embracing more and more these days, you'd want Legiō Ursī. Plus, bears are cool.

It also must be remembered that the Astartes are modeled more on militaris ordinis of the medieval Church, rather than on any modern 20th/21st Century military. From the mindset of a monastic knight, spending your entire life at the rank of Knight or Dame doesn't carry any stigma... It's not like being a permanent buck private. If God sees fit, you will be called to service as a prelate, a deacon, or a marshal... or you'll remain a knight. That's what God wants. Deus vult. Companies are also rather small organizations, if you think about it, even in the "real world" an infantry company is usually only about 80-150 men (a U.S. Army platoon is 42 men, IIRC, with three or four platoons making up a company). That's a small enough size that every single man in the platoon can get to know every other man, at least a little, even with only three or five years of time together. The typical Space Marine can probably expect to spend a couple decades working their way up through the Reserve Companies and then probably a century or so of service in the Battle Company. These men are going to know each other quite well. So if Battle-Brother Vorenus has developed a reputation as being especially good at city fighting and was recruited from a hive-city gang, even if he's a "mere" Tactical Squad ranker, his Lieutenant or Captain may ask him for input when figuring out the best way to assault an Ork infested hab-block. If Battle-Brother Pullo is know to be especially clever with explosives, he'll be the guy tasked with drawing up the plans for where to plant the meltabombs on the enemy bunker, even though he's "just" a Devastator Squad gunner.

Bah! There’s no such thing as “meta.”

That Guy-ness is more a matter of attitude than army list, if you ask me. Play by the rules, play in a fair and sportsmanlike manner, and play for “the love of the game” and you can’t really be That Guy.

It also occurs to me that 32 mm isn’t terribly larger than 30 mm, which would avoid the clipping issue, but it is also a very popular size for miniature wargame figures bases...

It occurs to me that if you designed some 10 mm scale buildings and what have you that fit in those tree stand slots, these tiles would make great boards for Battletech, Team Yankee, Epic 40,000, and other such games.

Yeah, don’t feel like you need to deliberately handicap yourself, but don’t feel like you’re going into a knife-fight either. It’s a freindly competition. The emphasis is on the friendly bit, but that’s no reason to ignore the competition bit. Think “checkers with Grandpa” and not “chess with Gary Kasparov.”

I’ve known a couple people who’ve had good results with Blue Stuff for making spare weapons, shoulder pads, and the like.

Yeah, the Custom Character rules fall squarely under the unwritten “try not to be a dick” rule.

I’d go with +1 PL for every two custom traits. It’d actually make it so there was some incentive not to take the maximum number.

Oh, no, the guy I talked to was super friendly and helpfully explained things to the “Non-Hobbyist Dad.” Absolutely no faults there. He sounded quite sincere in his apology and when he said he’d pass the info along to the website team.

Maybe the curt attitude is just a Post-Christmas Rush thing. I don’t want to sound like Pollyanna, but GW’s Customer Service has always gone above and beyond for me so many times in the past twenty-five plus years — for crissakes I still have their phone number memorized! — that they have built up a lot of good will from me.

It’s a modifier, I more or less quoted the rulebook entry for it directly. I just cut out a parenthetical example where it explains that a 5+ becomes a 4+.

Yeah, just for the heck of it, I called them too. Pretended to be a clueless parent who didn’t know how the game works, got told that the two turrets at the front of the tank were the Gun Drones referred to... He even tried to tell me that the name Gun Drone wasn’t capitalized on the website (he quickly backpedalled on that point when I asked him to actually read it). Seems like the GW of the Nineties would’ve just popped a drone sprue in the mailbox, no questions asked.

I don’t remember it having gun drones, but the description on the product website clearly says “gun drones” are included.

They have a Servitor in the turret of the Hunter/Stalker as well, but generally speaking the “sticking of the cupola guy” is always an Astartes... So I’m left with the impression that they’re still being driven by a Marine. Servitors aren’t capable of the sort of independence of thought and creative problem-solving you’d want in charge of a combat vehicle.

Whole lotta dakka and a decent (for Marines) number of bodies on the field for 500 Points. Really lacking in mobility, but since Primaris Marines aren’t allowed to use Rhinos, whatcha gunna do? 🤷‍♂️ Biggest hurdle, I think, will be the lack of CP. No fancy Stratagems for this list! ++ Patrol Detachment (Imperium - Space Marines) [27 PL, 499pts] ++ + No Force Org Slot + **Chapter Selection**: Imperial Fists + HQ + Captain [6 PL, 124pts]: Champion of Humanity, Jump Pack, Storm shield, Thunder hammer, Warlord + Troops + Intercessor Squad [10 PL, 179pts]: 2x Auxiliary Grenade Launcher, Bolt rifle . 9x Intercessor . Intercessor Sergeant: Power fist Intercessor Squad [5 PL, 85pts]: Auxiliary Grenade Launcher, Stalker Bolt Rifle . 4x Intercessor . Intercessor Sergeant: Chainsword + Elites + Aggressor Squad [6 PL, 111pts]: 2x Aggressor, Aggressor Sergeant, Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets/Fragstorm Grenade Launcher ++ Total: [27 PL, 499pts] ++

The Man Who Would Be King (1975) it’s Sean Connery and Michael Caine in their prime, directed by John Huston, in the sort of epic quest adventure that was Huston’s signature style. Based on a short story by Kudyard Kipling, but in a greatly expanded story with a script by Huston... One of the rare cases where the film is better than the original prose (and I say that as a huge Kipling fanboy). Connery and Caine are a pair of former British infantry NCO’s turned conmen and grifters who set out across the Afghanistan Plain and over the Hindu Kush, seeking to take over the primative tribes of Kafiristan and become kings. Much epic questing ensues. If your the sort of person who always wonder what it’d be like if Road to El Dorado had been a Tarantino movie instead of children’s cartoon; if you’re the sort of person who — despite being a 21st Century American — feels their heart swell with patriotic pride whenever you watch Zulu or Sharpe’s Waterloo; or you just really want to see Sean Connery and Michael Caine on screen together... Highly recommended. 4.5 outta 5 stars.

I ran into a weird problem (for a GW kit) when building my Hellblasters: there were parts that were not labeled in the instructions. It was quite clear that they were a specific part to be used and the instructions were otherwise very easy to follow... Except they didn’t label which plasma hose bit on the sprue went with which gun and arm combination! I figured out, through test fitting trial and error, that the “trick” was that the part was sort of sequential. Gun #62 went with hose #63 and #64, or something like that... A real pain in the tuchus. Good news is that I don’t see myself needing anymore Heavy Plasma Incinerator Hellblasters past this first squad of ten. If and when I get around to adding a second squad of ten, I’m leaning towards standard Plasma Incinerators... and they don’t have the extra power hose bit. Heck, they’re even available in the Starter Set as easy-to-build models!

Australian trees!

There's four levels of Custom Character. Lt. König is a "Hero," the lowest tier, who gets four of the special abilities. Kommissar Yarrork is a "Mighty Hero," who gets six abilities, which were mostly chosen with an eye to replicating Commissar Yarrick and he's mainly intended as a bit of fun. I'd say the best way to make these Custom Characters work in a "balanced" way would be only if both players had one of the same tier: You get a Mighty Hero, I get a Mighty Hero.

So, as far as advancement goes, we know that the typical "career path" for a rank and file Space Marine is to spend some time in the Tenth Company as a Scout, then move to the Reserve Companies, first training as a Reserve Devastator, then a Reserve Assault Marine, then a Reserve Tactical Marine. After that, they move into one of the Battle Companies, as a member of whatever squad (Tactical, Assault, etc) they have the most aptitude for... Between the ranks of Marine and Sergeant, there is a rank that GW used to mention but doesn't seem to remember anymore: Corporal. These are the guys in the ten-man squad who carries the other back banner and when the squad splits into Demi-Squads, he will lead the element that doesn't have the Sergeant in it. He's essentially the Sergeant's second in command of the squad. The next step in the process is to either become a Sergeant or a Veteran. Some Veterans will move on to the First Company and join the Sternguard/Vanguard/Terminator Squads, some Veterans will remain in their Company as part of their Captain's Command Squad. A Sergeant is given leadership of a Squad in their Battle Company. From there, especially skilled Sergeants will actually go back into the Reserve Companies (or even the Tenth Company) in order to train the younger Battle-Brothers. Sergeants with an especially lengthy time in service will be awarded the rank of Veteran Sergeant. Veteran Sergeants do the same job as other Sergeants, but are sort of a "first among equals" when it comes to assignments and chain of command. The next step up the rung is to a position as a Lieutenant, two per Company, who act as the second(s)-in-command to the Captain. After that comes Captain. But, remember, not ever Marine rises through the ranks like this. Any Scouts who show an aptitude for science are sent to the Apothecarion, those with a knack for machinery are sent to the Armory, and any with psychic potential to the Librarium. Advancement through the ranks there is different from standard, but generally still follows the same path of working in the rear administrative echelons of the Fortress-Monastery, then spending time attached to a Reserve Company, then being attached to a Battle Company, and eventually getting attached to the First Company... Ultimately, ending up as the head honcho of your respective branch.

There's a hard limit on the number of "fighting men" within each Company. However, there's also a significant number of Astartes in positions that aren't counted against that limit: the Armory, Chaplaincy, Librarius, and Apothecarion all don't count against the total number of Marines as none of them are technically part of a Company. Likewise, the Captains, Lieutenants, and and Command Squads of each Company don't count. Every Chapter will also have a significant number of staff officers, support personnel, and the like that are responsible for the administration of the Chapter -- a lot of this work is done by Chapter Serfs, true, but they will be still supervised by an Astartes. The Chapter Master is allowed to keep a small number of personal Honor Guard, they also don't count against the numbers. Last, but not least, any Astartes who are seconded to the Deathwatch do not count as they are considered part of the Deathwatch Chapter for the duration of their time there and thus not part of any Company of their original Chapter. So a full-strength Battle Company out on campaign is probably going to have something closer to 125+ actual Marines in it: One Captain, two Lieutenants, one Techmarine*, one Chaplain*, one Librarian*, one Apothecrary*, one Company Ancient**, one Company Champion**, and three Company Veterans**. You then have ten squads of ten Marines each, officially six Tactical Squads, two Devastator Squads, and two Assault Squads. Each of these ten squads will have a Rhino or Razorback (with a crew of one or two Techmarines) assigned to it, sometimes Chapter Serfs may be allowed to drive these vehicles***. Interestingly, Rhinos, Razorbacks, and Drop Pods are Company-level assets and not Chapter-level, like Predators or Land Raiders. At one or two crewmen each, that's another 10-20 Marines. Finally, most Battle Companies also have a Dreadnought or two that is member of the Company. The Reserve Companies all have similar levels of man-power: Captain, officers, command squad, and ten squads of ten "fighting men," although the specific squad make up is different. The 1st Company is led by a Captain, his officers and command squad, and then will have up to one-hundred "fighting men," organized in up to twenty five-man Terminator Squads or up to ten ten-man Vanguard or Sternguard Veteran Squads. The exact composition will vary, since most Chapters have great difficulty in procuring enough Tactical Dreadnaught Armor to field 100 Terminators. (The Dark Angels and several of their Successor Chapters being a very notable exception to this.) Lastly, the 10th Company can be any size the Chapter wants (and is able to recruit) who don't count against the limit since they're not technically Astartes yet... although the Sergeants and Command Staff will be full Marines. So, I'd say you're probably looking at 2,000-3,000 Astartes, 100-200 Scouts, and 10-20 Dreadnoughts in a Codex Adherent Chapter that is at 100% strength. * Not technically part of the Battle Company, but attached to it from the Armory, Chaplaincy, etc. ** These guys form the Captain's Command Squad. The Ancient carries the Company Banner and serves as the focal point for the Company to maneuver around. The Champion is (supposed) to be a bodyguard for the Captain, letting him concentrate on commanding and not dueling Hive Tyrants. The Veterans are basically his aides-de-camp. *** Although GW only ever seems to sell them with Astartes crew.

The rules are found in Chapter Approved 2018 and are intended for Open Play. They don't change the Power Level, mostly because it assumes your only using these models in friendly games and aren't trying to be That Guy.