Initial Plans for Raptors Legion

Well once again I apologize for the unplanned absence from the blog. Busy times, family stuff, taxes, etc... you know the routine. I am sorry though that I haven't gotten a chance to write anything lately, I'll get back to the Adepticon business soon enough hopefully. Staying true to diceRolla form, I'll be ready to go over my experiences at the convention once any remaining interest in the thing has finally died off. Tonight however I want to chat a little about the plans I've been working on for the Raptors Legion, a project which, along with my Dark Elves, I expect should receive a fair amount of my attention and hobby time for at least the next several months.

Sometime ago I decided I would aim for collecting an entire Battle Company of the Raptors Legion along with supporting elements attached from the first and the reserve companies. Once I began to seriously consider the scale of such an undertaking, it seemed a bit intimidating and so I realized I would need to break it down into more manageable chunks on which to work. But before writing any lists or building any more models for the army, I thought it would be best to check out the latest fluff concerning the chapter's organization and approach to warfare. So with all of the hustle leading up to Adepticon now past, I finally spent the previous few nights planning out the composition for my Battle Company, having only this past weekend opened my copy of IA9 for the first time.

I'm not too far into the book but based on what I've seen I am impressed with this first volume covering the Badab War and think it looks like a cool resource. All the background material provided concerning the Raptors chapter seems fantastic to me and I am really quite happy that I picked them out. I've a minor quibble or two with their special character, Lias Issodon, but otherwise I think he presents some interesting options for the army and should be a fun model to build. In general though I don't anticipate having to do anything drastically unusual in collecting and designing the army so as to stay faithful to their fluff. Although they are described as being an unorthodox chapter of Space Marines, my impression is that they are not distinguished by having an unusual organization or selection of equipment and weapons. Instead they come across as more distinctive attitudinally with regard to their combat doctrine and wider strategic vision. Refreshing stuff for the 41st millennium. :)

Enough about background for now, let's get on to the army lists. So as I mentioned above, I've decided to break up this project into several large sections to help me move things along and not get overwhelmed by the total number of models still to be built and painted. First off I want to be ale to start playing as soon as possible, and therefore my initial focus will be on getting a usable army ready to hit the table. With this army project I want to take the time to include squad markings and all those other fun little details I usually end up leaving off for the sake of flexibility with my collection of miniatures. To help me stay consistent with the assignment of minis to their various squads, over the weekend I wrote out a master list for the complete Battle Company from which I will select units to build whatever size army list I need.

Therefore to guide my early efforts on this project, I have put together an 1850 point army list along with some simple variants for different sized games. These are largely based on what I had already assembled before looking over the Imperial Armour book, and so I do not mean to suggest there is anything particularly characteristic of the Raptors Legions with the lists. Also a primary goal of mine was to use full units as they will appear in the completed Battle Company, and with their dedicated transports, so this is certainly not meant to be an "optimized" list either. Once the first 2000 points of my Raptors are built and painted I will figure out the next block to work on, but for now this is all I'm going to be concerned with. Like I said, I'm eager to begin playing some games while still being somewhat deliberate in my approach.

HQ

Space Marine Captain - combi-melta, power fist

ELITES

Dreadnought - heavy flamer, multi-melta, Drop Pod

Dreadnought - twin linked autocannons x 2

TROOPS

Tactical Squad - 5 additional Space Marines, plasma gun, lascannon, power weapon, Rhino

Tactical Squad - 5 additional Space Marines, meltagun, multi-melta, combi-melta, power fist, Drop Pod

Tactical Squad - 5 additional Space Marines, flamer, missile launcher, melta bombs, Rhino

Scout Squad - 5 additional Scouts, sniper rifles x 4, heavy bolter, camo cloaks

FAST ATTACK

Assault Squad - 5 additional Space Marines, flamers x 2, power fist and combat shield

Land Speeder Squadron - 1 Land Speeder with a multi-melta

HEAVY SUPPORT

Devastator Squad - 5 additional Space Marines, missile launchers x 4, Rhino

TOTAL POINTS = 1850

2000 point variant: Add an additional Land Speeder with multi-melta, add a Predator with Heavy bolter sponsons, add melta bombs to the first Tactical squad sergeant.

1750 point variant: Drop the 5 additional Scouts, the camo cloaks, and the sniper rifles from the Scout Squad, drop the melta bombs from the third Tactical squad sergeant.

1500 point variant: Drop the first Dreadnought and Drop Pod, drop the Scout Squad, drop the Captain, add either a Chaplin with a jump pack OR a Librarian with a plasma pistol (Null Zone and Might of the Ancients, perhaps?), switch the Drop Pod for a Rhino in the second Tactical Squad.

So all of that should keep me busy for a long time to come, as well as providing ample time for me to plan out the next block of Raptors that I will work on once these guys are done. I have a fairly clear sense of what units will comprise the other half of my Battle Company, in addition to some extras I will want to include. I imagine however there will be lots of occasions in which I can refine my plans as I get some experience playing these initial army lists. For now though I am happy with my starting point and feel comfortable enough with the lists to begin in earnest.

Hmmm, I suppose that's it for tonight. Happy gaming, everyone!