Massive reorganization and rebuilding of my Blood Angels

It all starts with a spark.

When I started painting my Land Raider Crusader I was still undecided on a decision to revamp my entire Blood Angels army. I believe the noticeable difference in color from the original Land Raider and the Crusader helped provide the spark. The Devastator squad has since been paint stripped of all original color to match the new red color of the Crusader. If the Crusader provided the spark and the Devastators provided the fuel, then the original Land Raider provided the flame as it is now being paint stripped completely. The original Land Raider will be rebuilt and repainted to match along side the Crusader.

The Land Raider Crusader is almost done and it will make its blog and game debut soon. In the meantime I am working on the Devastator Squad which is painting up rather fast. With this added speed in mind I am beginning to look ahead for the best candidate.

I am strongly considering the Assault Marines, but I want to reorganize and rebuild them to suit dual roles which will require a lot of magnets. I have a large over thought document to help me plan the squads out, but I must post about them later to layout my plans and get some feedback as to good or bad ideas. The biggest reason to  work on the Assault Marines is to get rid of the Leman Russ box which has been their home for the past decade or so. The Leman Russ box and some bits are from a long abandoned, never used, and sold Imperial Army. I would have never known allies were in the mix back in 2009.

The other night I examined the inside of the Leman Russ box which is the current home to a bunch of models and bits and to my surprise I discovered the following. I knew of most of the items in the box, but was surprised at how many of certain items were in the box. I usually bring this box every time I go to a game.

The Leman Russ box contents

3 Forgeworld Blood Angel Rhino door sets 

Forgeworld errors in my favor.

1 Pewter Chaplain with jump pack

Received free from a friend and serves as the current Reclusiarch when needed.

3 Pewter Sanguinary Priests

1 is from the old 3rd edition Blood Angel Honor Guard box set who served as Sanguinary Priest and then a Captain with twin lightning claws which were eventually removed. The other 2 were ordered to serve as Sanguinay priests never releasing they were the same.

1 Pewter Emperor's Champion

Purchased long ago and serves as the current librarian who is prone to dying often.

5 Assault Marines

The remnants of an old 3rd edition Blood Angel Honor Guard and now serves as Assault Marines or Vanguard Veteran Marines when needed.

10 Tactical Marines with the same leg, chest, and backpack pattern and no heads.

Purchased during 3rd edition when Tactical Squads were in abundance. All of my Tactical Squads were built with a theme in mind. I have since abandoned the themes I suppose, but I could make this Tactical Squad a hazardous operations squad since they have all the vents and coils.

4 Tactical Marines with various leg, chest, arm, or head, but none are complete.

Spares and duds which never made it into any squad.

16 Tactical Marine legs glued to bases

10 Must be from another Tactical Squad or perhaps extra Assault Squad legs. I never knew I had so many unused without purpose. I know I fight Masta Cheef constantly with no heads and sometimes no arms or other missing equipment, but I don't think I have ever attacked with just metal underwear. I could take five of them to make some normal Devastator marines. Whether this is a good idea or a waste is undecided.

1 Tactical Marine sergeant with pinned Pewter Storm Bolter and chainsword

This was an attempt to copy the same sergeant from the 3rd edition Blood Angel codex. This one needs to be paint stripped and rebuilt with a power sword.

3 Pewter Blood Angel shoulder pads

The stocks are too low sire.

1 Pewter 3rd edition Blood Angel Honor Guard helmet

Unused gem I suppose.

10 Jump Packs

Sounds about right as I have the other five Assault Marines in another box magnetized for Meltaguns.

7 Small infantry bases

No idea.

2 Small slotted infantry bases

No idea.

1 Large infantry base

Probably from a Tyranid model who eventually moved on.

Various Land Raider bits

This Land Raider finally went into a simple green bath so these parts will be assimilated into it.

Various Landspeeder bits

These models will follow suit with the Land Raider, but possibly before or after the Assault Marines.

3 Primed Space Marine helmets, two being pinned

No memory of why they were pinned, unless they were for the Heavy Bolter marines which have no heads.

1 Bolter

Missing the clip.

1 Meltagun

Rare, valuable, has a role with one Tactical Squad which serves as a Sterguard squad.

Various Tactical Marine arms

Some of this might have been moved as spares for magnetizing the Meltaguns.

22 Space Marine helmets

You have NO idea!

It is sad to say I have been carrying all this extra crap with me every game, lol.

The most likely candidate to paint next would be the Baal Predator. This would build and paint the Baal and remove it from the storage box so I can finally be rid of it. The other option is to create the six extra normal bolter Devastator marines.

The main goal is to continue and not get stuck and if the color doesn't match, bath it in simple green.