What next for the Guardians?

I won't lie. The Guardians are on the back burner for the moment. I'm caught up in the Imperial Guard, Codex out soon, madness that has hit the community.

As I said over on my Eldar blog, I've been teaching a friend 40k. Fabby has been using the Guardians for his force while he is learning the game. During these games, I have noticed that the force I have is VERY vanilla. This might just be the Eldar player in me, but the Marines seem very plain. Here is the entire Greenhouse Guardian Force at the moment.

HQ: AoBR Captain
HQ: AoBR Captain modded with a Power Fist.

Elite: AoBR Terminator Squad modded with a Cyclone Missile launcher added.
Elite: AoBR Terminator Squad modded with a Cyclone Missile launcher added.
Elite: AoBR Dreadnaught
Elite: AoBR Dreadnaught, modded to have Quad AC's.

Troops: AOBR Marine Squad (Sgt Power Weapon, Flamer, Missile Launcher)
Troops: AOBR Marine Squad (Sgt Power Fist, Flamer, Plasma Cannon)
Troops: Marine Squad (Sgt Power Fist/Plasma Pistol, Plasma Gun, Plasma Cannon)

Dedicated Transport: Rhino
Dedicated Transport: Land Raider Crusader

I can easily get 2000 points using these minis. I really don't have a theme for the army yet. I was going to try and go plasma heavy with the troops, but after seeing how inaccurate the cannon is...I'm rethinking this path. The Crusader is really useful if you have Assault Termies, but less so with regular ones.

The force I had been building, used an 7 man squad of termies, with the second Termie SGT taking on the role of Librarian. Then the Librarian would attach to the termie squad and load up into the Crusader. That would free up the remaining elite slots for the Dreads.

The weakness I see for this force is the lack of heavy (Monolith / LR) killing firepower. I'm open to suggestions as to what to add to this force. Or even a rebuilt list with the troops listed.

That's all for now...

Lone Pilgrim Painting Points

Browsing some of the other 40k Blogs out there I stumbled across this...

An inventive system for tracking one's progress painting and compare it with others was posted awhile back on Lone Pilgrim. It is a cool system that is being picked up by some blogs, so I have decided that I will join in the fun.

The basics of the system are that a participant earns points for each model painted. The number of points earned depends on the size of the model.

Infantry = 1 point
Cavalry, bikes, or 40mm Monsters (Ogryns) = 2 points
Heavy Weapons Team = 3 Points
Monster or Dreadnought = 5 points
Vehicle = 10 points
Superheavy vehicle = 20 points

Special Thanks to Lone Pilgrim for introducing such a fun idea to the 40K blogsphere.

So far this year I have...0 Points.

I do have 50 points sitting on my painting table at the moment. But none are Marines.

My goal is 150 points by the end of the year. 100 points of Guard, 25 points of Eldar, 25 points of Marines.

The Rifleman...2nd Dreadnought

Somewhere in the galaxy during the 41 millennia

222 years ago…

Sergeant Brother Kyle was the most respected member of all the Greenhouse Guardian Scout Marines. Veteran of numerous engagements with all the enemies of the Emperor, Brother Kyle was an expert at avoiding detection and placing his unit in the perfect ambush position on any battlefield. His latest honor was being named best shot in the chapter, narrowly beating out Chapter Master Hillman.

All of that was of little comfort to Sergeant Brother Kyle at the moment. His squad had all been killed by a blast from a Chaos Defiler’s Battle Cannon. Kyle was in pretty bad shape himself as he lay there in the smoldering crater, left for dead. Both his legs and left arm were a tangled mess of flesh bone and armor, his left eye was useless, swollen shut or missing he couldn’t be sure.

The battle was going poorly for the Greenhouse Guardians. Chaos Marines were advancing in force, and causing damage than they were receiving. Sergeant Brother Kyle watched as a Nurgle Lord in ancient Terminator armor strode up to the crater. The crimson eyes of the Nurgle Lord flashed as looked down at the broken Scout Sergeant. Brother Kyle watched the pustules burst and reform on the surface of the putrid green armor as the Terminator Lord approached and heard the Lord laughing as he blacked out.

A nearby explosion woke Brother Kyle, as pieces of the Chaos Defiler rained about him. He looked about to gather his surroundings and see how long he has been unconscious. The Terminator Lord was closing with Sergeant Brother Davis and his squad of Devastators. The Devastators had apparently just dispatched the Chaos Defiler with concentrated fire, but that allowed the Chaos Lord to close on their position. Brother Kyle knew that the Lord would make short work of the Devastators; his lightning claw would easily catch the marines burdened with heavy weapons. Kyle’s Sniper rifle was still in his right hand, he knew what he had to do. He just hoped the rifle still functioned. His first shot was placed through the backside of the Terminator Lords right knee, one of the three weak points on the ancient terminator armor. The Lord of Nurgle roared and turned to glance back at had what caused him pain. That glance was all Kyle needed. The second shot was placed through one of the lords Eyepiece, a truly miraculous shot that some say was guided by the hand of the Emperor. The Lord clutched at his helmet covering the holed eyepiece with his armored gauntlet, as he tipped his head back and shrieked in pain. The shriek was cut short as the third weak point of the armor was exposed and penetrated by Sergeant Brother Kyle’s final shot. The bullet pierced the Lords larynx, shattered the vertebrae, and lodged in the wrong side of the neck armor. The last vision Brother Kyle saw from his natural eye, was the Nurgle Terminator lord falling, his armor clattering about him.

Chief Librarian Boynton and Brother Chaplain Glazier saw the Lord fall as well, and seized the moment. The counter attack by those two turned the tide of the battle and carried the Greenhouse Guardians to victory that day.

After the battle little could be done to save Sergeant Brother Kyle. Brother Apothecary Ralph after many hours was able to stabilize Kyle for transport back to the Guardian’s home world. Once there, the Chapter was unsure of what to do with Bother Kyle. Three limb bionic replacements are rare, and not conductive to the role of a Scout Marine. It was then that Chapter Master Hillman stepped in. The words of Chief Librarian Boynton and Chaplain Glazier had reached the Chapter Master. Hillman ordered that Brother Kyle be entombed in a new Dreadnaught, an honor never before given to a Scout Marine Sergeant. Brother Apothecary Ralph worked closely with Brother Master Techmarine Arnold in creating a dreadnaught that embodied Brother Kyle’s actions that day. The Chassis was given the rare Quad Autocannon configuration to represent the accuracy of the scout squad master. Extra Armor was added to represent the tenacity Brother Kyle displayed that day. Heavily modified legs were added to allow the chassis to raise itself over cover, and obtain better firing positions.

Current Day…

The Venerable Brother Kyle is a regular sight on any battlefield taken by the Greenhouse Guardians. Usually providing cover fire from the rear, Bother Kyle has become an expert at placing autocannon shots with the skill of a sniper into Heavy infantry and light vehicles. The brother marines know that Bother Kyle will find the weak point in the armor of any Wraithlord, Daemon, Terminator or Tau Battlesuit. Such consistent accuracy has earned Brother Kyle a nickname among the Guardians. They no longer call him Brother Kyle, he is simply known as “The Rifleman”.