This series of posts will track the progress of 5 courageous hobbyists as they embark on that most epic of quests: To build and paint a Warhammer 40,000 army from scratch! Each month you’ll be able to follow along as their armies grow from bare plastic sprues to fully painted units of battle-hardened warriors. Once the armies are ready they’ll meet on the battlefield to decide who’s worthy of claiming the title of Greatest WAAAGHlord for 2020!

We’ve just wrapped up Month 1 so it’s time to see what armies everyone’s chosen and what they’ve managed to get finished. Lets take a look!

Alex: Grey Knights were one of those armies that I’ve always thought looked amazing but have never got around to actually collecting. Luckily, that’s exactly what a Tale of Gamers is for so my choice of army this year was an easy one. The fact they’ve also received a book full of powerful new rules before the first month is even finished is clearly a sign from the Emperor that I made the right call!



With any project I always like to start with a test model so I can work out how I’ll be painting everything and this one was no different.

The swords were definitely my favourite part to work on. They really draw the eye and give some pop to the model. The techniques used for them were surprisingly simple though. In fact I’ve written a tutorial if you’d like to give it a go yourself:



https://www.thewaaaghstudios.com/articles/painting-power-weapons/



After all the painting steps were sorted it was then onto finishing the rest of the unit.

For their equipment I gave them Falchions and a Psilencer. Despite being elite troops Grey Knights are only 1 attack base and the Falchions fix this by giving them a +1. The Psilencer also gives them a bit more ranged punch and benefits from the new Tide of Convergence bringing it to Strength 5 and Damage D3+1!



With the squad done the next step was a character to lead them. I converted a Brother-Captain from the Terminator boxset and spent the rest of my time this month getting him painted.

Next up I’ll be doing another Strike Squad and a Chaplain. Chaplains aren’t something you usually see in a Grey Knights army but thanks to the new book they’ve just got access to a whole suite of litanies that I’m looking forward to trying out.

Army Progress:



Models assembled: 6

Models painted : 6

Points completed: 196



Pledge for next month: Another 5 Strike Marines and a Chaplain.

Rhaz: So this will be my first ever 40k project and I chose the army I’ve always liked the look of, Necrons.



The first unit I worked on was a unit of 10 Immortals with Tesla Carbines. I went for quite a traditional silver and green Sautekh Dynasty colour scheme with some blue on the shoulders; mostly because I wanted to try out a new contrast paint which had a really nice shine.

I’ve used an Egyptian hieroglyph roller on Green Stuff for the bases; as I thought this would go well with the Necron symbols.



Next, I completed the leader of my force; Imotekh the Stormlord. I wanted to get painting him out of the way early as I’ve heard the Finecast resin isn’t the best. Even though he was a bit of a struggle it was well worth it as Imotekh has some great abilities.

Lastly, two Crypteks. They’re great looking miniatures which I really enjoyed painting. For the bases I decided to use a sandy texture paint, and some broken pieces of the Egyptian-style Green Stuff to go with the stones on which the model is set.

Army Progress:



Models assembled: 13

Models painted : 13

Points completed: 460‬



Pledge for next month: Another Cryptek, 10 more Immortals and 3 Tomb Blades.

Dean: So you might find yourself asking “Why Dark Angels?”



Well my loosely assumed internet friends, it’s simple. I fell in love with the box art for the Rhino in the 2000’s and then with Forgeworld’s recent releases for the Horus Heresy it’s pushed me forwards.

So where do we start?



That’s where it’s a little tricky. I love the Horus Heresy Forgeworld models, the Terminator Captain in particular, but I didn’t want to go with the normal bone colours. Instead, I opted for those of the original First Legion which set the scheme for everything moving forwards.



The Captain’s where I began this month, with the bad boy getting a head-swap from the normal Praetor to mark him as a grizzled veteran:

Now before the next mini, lets go over the Hexagrammaton. I’ve always been a fan of the Wings in the Legion, and the one that caught my attention was the Iron Wing. A spearhead force with a heavy use of vehicles felt straight up my ally. I did debate doing a full Deathwing or Ravenwing army, however it’s not something the current edition makes viable.



That’s not to say the new codex supplement isn’t good for the faction. It just doesn’t support what I was hoping for from the Dark Angels book.



However, it does mean I can focus on the fun tanks and dreads I quite like. Here’s the first of my armour pieces, the new FW Contemptor:

It’s a nice kit, and I enjoyed working on it so much I started a Chaplain Dreadnought for next month.



Now before you assume I’m just chasing the meta I’ve been using the Chaplain Dreadnought since the beginning of 8th. It fulfilled a great function without being OP. Queue the Space Marine codex buffzilla monstrosity beating 8th edition with a sledgehammer until every event’s top tables were 60%+ Marines. They’ve changed the dreadnought’s role from fun character support to game-breaking murder machine.



The fix they’re going for? It’s out of production, so it’s probably going to Legends. For the game this is an absolute win but for me it’s an absolute loss. It’s one of my favourite unit’s in the Space Marine arsenal.



However given the changes to the game it’s confirmed one thing for me; I don’t want to play space marines competitively. It’s a sad thing to realise you’re making a project you’ll never take to a tournament but it’s also kind of liberating.



So what’s next? Well for month 2 you’ve guessed it; A Chaplain Dreadnought. However he’s bringing a friend who might as well be a Legends unit aswell for all the use they see – The humble Space Marine Predator.

Army Progress:



Models assembled: 2

Models painted : 2

Points completed: 241



Pledge for next month: A Chaplain Dreadnought and a Predator.

Paul: When initially planning my 2020 army I decided I wanted to step away from Tzeentch and Thousand Sons and try something entirely different, so I looked into the Aeldari.



At the time Phoenix rising had just been released and I was tempted by a mix of Banshees and Harlequins for maximum melee with a supporting Ynnari detachment. However, after weighing up budget and time constraints I’ve ended up going with an all clown legion.

For Month One I’ve made a start on my Troupe for Troops campaign. I’ve painted 6 Players who will be part of a 15 strong Soaring Spite Battalion. Under the Soaring Spite Masque they’ll be able to advance in flying transports and still blast high toughness targets without penalty with their Fusion Pistols.

For Month Two I’ll be aiming to complete the other 9 Soaring Spite Players along with two more Starweavers to carry them. If there’s time I’ll also paint up a Shadowseer Warlord and Troupe Master. That would then be the first of two battalions complete for my 2020 army.

Army Progress:



Models assembled: 20

Models painted : 7

Points completed: 188



Pledge for next month: 9 Players and 2 more Starweavers.

Rob: Dragging myself away from Necrons and my many conversions for them I decided to go with the poster boys of GW, SPACE MARINES!



So without further ado I bring to you “The Pride of Terra”. A Successor Chapter of the Iron Hands, these bad boys are a hunting party sent out before a siege starts to “Cut the head from the beast”. With speed and precision they strike for the head of the enemy force and leave no chain of command to guide the enemy to victory.

Once the head is removed from the beast, the actual “beasts” set in to eliminate any remaining enemies with close quarters fire power and brute strength. At the head of the “beasts” stands the unrelenting driving force of the Chaplain ‘Johan Cravan’.

Having set out my force with 60% coming from the Conquest magazines I’ll be able to keep my costs very low. Then with the model count also not exceeding 50 I’m going to be able to focus on some kick ass conversions. (Watch out for those in months 3-4-5)



For month 2 I’m planning on bringing in the next 2 units of Sniper Scouts to add to the Troops. Along with the librarian ‘Raphi-key’ to add some bone castings to the force to predict maneuvers and deployment. The Scouts will have transports following shortly thereafter. Giving them some much needed speed and maneuverability.

Army Progress:



Models assembled: 17

Models painted : 6

Points completed: 157



Pledge for next month: 10 Scouts and a Librarian.

Have you started a new army of your own recently? What do you think of the ones we’re working on? Let us know in the comments.

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