Silver Skulls, Act One
When I got back into 40K in mid-3rd edition, I started collecting stray Chaos figs, but the first actual army I put together was the Silver Skulls. When I was deciding what Chapter to do it came down to Space Sharks and Silver Skulls, but the Skulls narrowly won out. I wanted to do an all-beakie (aka Mk VI armor) army, and the force is a mix of old RTB01 box guys, beakie metal figs and more modern plastics with beakie heads.
The army has the distinction of having been painted in three countries - the USA of course, as well as Canada and India while I was traveling for work. In fact I bought my 3rd ed. Space Marine codex from a little hobby shop in Kamloops, British Columbia. I'd enjoyed drop pods in Epic and liked the idea and imagery, so when I saw that 40K SM could do it as well, I was sold on an all-drop pod force and built toward that end.
This was back in the day when drop podding was just deep strike, no model for the pod, no special protections, and deep strike mishaps just killed you - no fancy table that might send you back to reserve or place you somewhere else on the table. Just dead. And we had to roll our dice uphill in the snow! Err, sorry, got carried away there.
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| Captain using the torso from the White Scar biker set. |
Silver Skulls, Act Two
I didn't really use them much at all during 4th edition, but revised them when the 5th edition Space Marine book came out. I had to add a few guys and reorganize things into ten-man squads and get actual physical pods, but not much changed. The army went from 1500 in 3rd ed to 1850 in 5th, primarily from the cost of the pods themselves. I started out with some home-made pods, but switched over to using some from CNC Workshop after finding a cheap ebay deal.
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| Old pic, the tan ML guy has since been painted. Also featured is perhaps my favorite marine model, the communication officer (front row, second from right). |
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The List
Silver Skulls, 1850pts
HQ
Captain – Power Weapon, Bolt Pistol
(110)
Troops
Tactical Squadx10 Melta, multimelta, Sgt PF
Drop Pod
(235)
Troops
Tactical Squadx10 Flamer, Missile Launcher, Sgt PF
Drop Pod
(230)
Troops
Tactical Squad X10 Plasma, Heavy Bolter, Sgt PF
Drop Pod
(240)
Elite
Dreadnaught Heavy Flamer, Twin-linked lascannon, extra armor
Drop Pod, Deathwind
(215)
Elite
Dreadnaught Heavy Flamer, Twin-linked lascannon, extra armor
Drop Pod, Deathwind
(215)
Fast Attack
10xAssault Marines 2xFlamer, Sgt PF
no jetpacks, Drop Pod
(255)
Fast Attack
Land Speeder, Multimelta
(60)
Heavy Support
10xDevastators 4xMissile Launchers, Sgt PF
Drop Pod, Deathwind
(290)
The captain rides with the assault squad. The basic idea is for the first wave to be the dreads and devs dropping into firing positions and assault squad landing to be able to support them/intercept threats. Tac squads come in on objectives in subsequent waves. Adjust to situation as needed, like if fighting horde will drop closer to flame/heavy flame and have deathwinds for subsequent rounds. Speeder will usually start on the table when permitted and try for an early kill but will sometimes deep strike as well.
That is a whole lot of beakie helmets. I do like the look of the army.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing you notice is how dark it is; I like that a whole lot better than the shiny versions I have seen.
Awesome! I love the old stuff. A RT marine chapter with RT marines. Excellent mate. Great to see. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks guys.
ReplyDelete@Mags - Thanks. Yeah, the official version is to have shiny helmets, but I'd rather have it consistent. I used a craft store paint called "Gun Metal".
@Ska - Them being on the old box was a plus, as was the Catechism of Hate. Warmed my heart! ;-)
Ahh, the Silver skulls, time to feel all nostalgic... I used to have an army of them, though is was bulked out with the 2nd ed starter box marines. I still have the predator from that army as its the first 40k model I ever purchased (technically its retired though it shows up with the CSMs on occasion). I used to have one of those drop pods too, but screwed up the assembly, and eventually tossed it after my 'repairs' (read: bad putty job) didn't help.
ReplyDeleteNice looking army indeed. Love the CNC pods; have 3 of them myself (for my Space Wolf Terminator army).
ReplyDeleteThat is alot of old beakie helmets. I love those myself. I started in 3rd ed, so seeing armies from back then is alot of fun. A buddy of mine (ultramarines) is the only place I really see these old models anymore
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see one of your older armies detailed this way, it looks awesomeI It really is impressive to see an army with so many of the old marines and I like how you've still incorporated more recent models into the collection. When I was in NY I checked out an early post of yours about these guys but had trouble at the time seeing all the details as I was using my phone's internet browser. I intended to go back and look again using a real screen but of course forgot... thanks for posting this review!
ReplyDelete@DMC - glad I could help give you a warm fuzzie...for the Emperor!
ReplyDelete@MJ - Thanks! Popped over to your site; looks nice and your tagline made me laugh. Looks like you're not too far away, maybe we'll run into each other sometime.
@Natfka - Being an RT junkie, beakies are what really says "marines" to me. Back in college I had a friend who was building up a whole company of Blood Drinkers, and they looked awesome. At the time collecting an entire company seemed crazy to me, nowadays that's called a mid-sized army! ;-)
@Papa JJ - Glad to deliver. Unfortunately they're recycled pics, but hopefully I can do a few repairs and get updated ones up sometime, maybe even break them out for a batrep. In a lot of cases I think the older stuff can stand alongside newer figs for some armies(marines, chaos marines, orks, eldar, ig).
dude the old mark 6 armor is the best!!!!That box set changed my life
ReplyDeleteI have a fondness for MkII and III as well, but the old beakies have a special place in my twin hearts.
ReplyDelete