I find myself writing this while still agonising over a list for my word bearers – its probably been through some 20 rewrites now and I have just come back full circle to where I started. This led me to a realisation about 30k and list building in general….
Have a goal and stay on target!
So what do I mean by that?
Define what you want from the army up front.
What are you building the army for? That seems straight forward right? Wrong! It occurred to me earlier (around version 19 of the list I think) that I had lost sight of WHY I was writing the list at all. Sure, I have an event to go to in November and I want to do well but that’s not why I play the heresy games at all – I play them because I love the stories, the unique models and units, the heroes and villains, the spectacle of having 2 armies face off on a table whose combined value is more than my first car (and then some!)
The Horus Heresy setting for me is about all that and more.
Its easy to get caught up in the hype of the moment but it means you can lose sight of what got you so passionate about the force you want to build in the first place.
So back to the original thought that got me writing this in the first place…
My Word Bearers are inspired mainly by the legendary author that is Aaron Dembski-Bowden and more accurately – the Horus Heresy book – Betrayer. It could very well be my favourite book of the series. First Heretic started it but Betrayer dug its gnarled, Gal Vorbak talons under my skin and into my soul and I have never been able to shake it. Its the reason I have World Eaters as well.
The black and white of traitor and loyalist is blurred and you question much of what 40k has told us of the period that is the Horus Heresy. We get to know Argel Tal and his conflicted nature – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We see Kharn and his torment within a legion he loves and almost despises at the same time.
So what from the 17th legion was the hook? The Gal Vorbak. Simple. The idea of truly possessed space marines who had glimpsed the eye of terror and come back. Who had invited daemons into their hearts and souls.
In many of the last lists I had written, the Gal Vorbak were no where to be seen – discarded as to expensive in a world of plasma cannons and volkite weapons. That needed to change!
So I have taken a step back and looked – really looked at the models and themes that drew me in. Combined with the new models I adore I will put an army together – much as I did as a (much) younger lad back in the 1990’s before the internet and forums – building an army because those look awesome or he is a bad ass in the stories. I think that, on reflection, its a method of list building that is missing from todays hyper information focussed younger players experience.
Build what you want to build, paint what you want to paint, play what (and how!) you want to play.
Don’t lose sight of what you want from your hard earned time and money.
For me – I am off to the Forge World web store… I need to buy a couple of things… in a reckless fashion!